Governance and effects of public R&D subsidies: evidence from China

Guo, Di; Guo, Yan; Jiang, Kun

Abstract

This study examines the effects of public research and development (R&D) subsidies and the governance of such subsidies on firm productivity based on the analysis of a firm-level panel dataset between 1998 and 2007 in China. It is found that public R&D subsidies tend to support more productive firms and the productivity of these government-backed firms is improved further after they get the government support. Less attention is paid to the observable or measurable performance measurements in ex-ante project selection, and the ex-post effects are stronger when the governance of the public R&D subsidies becomes more decentralized due to an exogenous policy change. In other words, better decentralization of governance is associated with more pronounced effects of R&D subsidies. Identification concerns are addressed with various approaches to confirm the treatment effect of public R&D subsidies and the governance of such subsidies.

Citation

Guo, D., Guo, Y., & Jiang, K. (2018). Governance and effects of public R&D subsidies: evidence from China. Technovation, 74-75, 18-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2018.04.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 12, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 24, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Apr 16, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 25, 2020
• Journal: Technovation
• Print ISSN: 0166-4972
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-2383
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 74-75
• Pages: 18-31
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2018.04.001
• Keywords: Public R&D subsidies; Productivity; Governance; Decentralization, China
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/943359
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497218302372