Innovative performance with interactions between technological proximity and geographic proximity: evidence from China electronics patents

ABSTRACT

A lot of researches have shown that geographic proximity and technological proximity influence firms’ innovative performance. Little work has been done to explore how technological proximity interacts with geographic proximity. Using the theories of recombinant innovation and economic geography, this study develops and tests a theory of how firms’ abilities to reap local benefits and generate innovation are influenced by technological features. Data on technological and geographic proximity of the top 100 firms in China’s electronics industry from 1985 to 2012 are used to test the hypotheses. This study shows that, for a firm with high geographic proximity or located in a dense area of R&D, a low technological proximity in the industry facilitates the process of recombinant innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation studies
• China
• technological proximity
• geographic proximity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jie Liu is currently a PhD student in the School of Business at the East China University of Science and Technology. Her research is concerned with the various issues related to technological innovation and technological changes.

Dr Tieju Ma is a professor in the School of Business at the East China University of Science and Technology. He is also a research scholar at International Institute for Applied System analysis. He received a bachelor degree (1998) in the management of industrial engineering and a master’s degree (2000) in systems engineering, both from the Dalian University of Technology. He received his PhD (2003) in knowledge systems from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. His research interests are ABM and technological dynamics.

ORCID

Jie Liu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5930-0599

Tieju Ma http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1190-2504

Notes

1 The list is published by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [71571069].