Exploring the spatial dimensions of nanotechnology development in China: the effects of funding and spillovers

Abstract

This paper investigates the factors driving nanotechnology development in Chinese regions. Advanced regions of China have spearheaded the country's rapid growth in nanotechnology, aided by substantial support from the government. While this head start could potentially perpetuate regional inequalities through agglomeration economies, the results suggest that knowledge spillovers exert a substantially greater impact in peripheral regions compared with the advanced ones, and may thus be compensating for the limited institutional support they receive and their weak technological capabilities. This research contributes to the regional innovation literature by highlighting that a formal scientific network can counteract the forces of agglomeration economies and spur innovation in peripheral regions.

Knowledge flows from public science to industrial technologies

“…Extensive financing of nanotechnology research has been set by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Science and Technology Commission (Bai 2005). In consequence, China's efforts to promote nanotechnology have led to skyrocketing nanotechnology patents and nanotechnology-related publications (Wang et al 2019).…”

“…how these people master codified and tacit knowledge. Recent empirical studies also show that high physical R&D investment does not necessarily generate a high knowledge output (Wang et al 2019). In the knowledge-based economy, as pointed out by Audretsch and Link (2019), the competitive advantage of innovation agents has "shifted away from the traditional factor of physical capital toward knowledge" (Audretsch and Link 2019, p. 146).…”

The effect of collaborations on scientific research output: the case of nanoscience in Chinese regions

“…However, it is important to point out that a generalised estimation assuming that a nation presents a homogeneous level of development can lead to inaccurate suggestions. This is in particular the case of China where large internal disparities persist (Fan et al 2011;Wang et al 2013b;Wang et al 2019) but are often overlooked in scientific collaboration studies. A region's development stage associated with its absorptive capacity has been shown to be closely connected with its innovation output (Wang et al 2019).…”

“…This is in particular the case of China where large internal disparities persist (Fan et al 2011;Wang et al 2013b;Wang et al 2019) but are often overlooked in scientific collaboration studies. A region's development stage associated with its absorptive capacity has been shown to be closely connected with its innovation output (Wang et al 2019). However, the relationship between regional development stage and scientific collaborative performance has hardly been investigated.…”

“…As a promising, rapidly developing hightech sector (Zheng et al 2014), nanotechnology has a great potential for the future development of a wide-range of areas. This is also the field where extensive research funding has been fuelled by Chinese government (Bai 2005) and remarkable development has been observed in different regions (Wang et al 2019).…”