Global Innovation Networks, External Technology Blockade and Corporate Innovation in China

【Authors】

YANG Jun, WU Hongyu, JIANG Mobing, XU Xiaohui

【WorkUnit】

Zhejiang Sci-tech University, 310018.

【Abstract】

Summary: The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasizes the need to “form an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness”. Integrating into global innovation networks is a key step toward achieving this goal, but it faces the challenge of external technological blockades. Therefore, addressing how to promote open innovation in enterprises is an urgent issue for China.
This paper integrates knowledge supply, innovation demand, and their effective matching into a theoretical framework. It examines the innovation effect of integrating into global innovation networks and explores the impact of external technology blockades on innovation, using the random forest method. The results show that Chinese A-share listed companies are shifting their focus from enhancing their depth to expanding their breadth in the integration of global innovation networks; integrating into global innovation networks, with enhanced depth and breadth, can improve the quality and efficiency of innovations. Mechanism analysis reveals that integrating into global innovation networks promotes the quality and efficiency of innovation through three channels: diversification of knowledge supply, diversification of innovation demand, and improved information accessibility. Enhanced information accessibility further strengthens the impact of knowledge supply and innovation demand, improving the match between supplied and demanded knowledge, thereby further promoting innovation. Further analysis reveals that external technological blockades exert a dual effect on innovation quality through integration into global innovation networks: A short-term inhibitory effect and a long-term reinforcing effect, with no significant impact on innovation efficiency. In the short term, expanding the breadth of integration, while leveraging new technological research and diversifying innovation, enables enterprises to achieve “leapfrogging” in the long term, serving as a crucial strategy to circumvent external technological blockades.
This paper makes several contributions to the literature. First, while traditional open innovation theory assumes the free global allocation of innovation factors, which contrasts with the fragmented nature of current global innovation networks, this paper integrates global innovation networks, external technological blockades, and enterprise innovation into a unified framework, aligning with the new dynamics of these networks. Second, as a non-parametric method, the random forest approach effectively mitigates confounding variables and handles complex nonlinear relationships. Its application strengthens the robustness of the conclusions by identifying causal links between integrating into global innovation networks and corporate innovation. Third, while existing research often examines the impact of global innovation networks from a knowledge-driven innovation perspective, demand-driven innovation studies tend to overlook these networks. This paper explores the mechanisms of knowledge supply, innovation demand, and their matching. It deepens the understanding of the micro-mechanisms through which integration into global innovation networks influences enterprise innovation and makes a valuable contribution to the debate on innovation drivers. Fourth, while existing literature often focuses on the static effects of external technological blockades, this paper, by integrating long-term and short-term effects, deepens the understanding of how Chinese enterprises achieve independent innovation in the face of such blockades.

【KeyWords】

Innovation Networks, Technological Blockade, Knowledge Supply, Innovation Demand, Information Accessibility