Ownership and firm innovation in a transition economy: Evidence from China

The Individual’s Influence on Low-Technology Innovation: A Critical Realism Based Case Study on North-West Pakistan’s Marble Sector

“…These three variants of small firm ownership are an interesting discovery hitherto not found within previous works, e.g. Choi et al (2011) who investigate ownership structure of large firms only, Becheikh et al (2006) who focus only on foreign ownership, and Gudmundson, Tower, and Hartman (2003) who identify only one variant of ownership structure in small firms similar to variant 3. It is pertinent to note that the above mentioned ownership structures define the diverse nature of business stakes for these individuals discussed later.…”

“…These findings present a very interesting perspective on critical realism whereby one entity or object is influencing the other entity through its causal powers resulting in non-occurrence of the event, a key concern for critical realists (Bhaskar, 1991). Moreover, the divergent stakes of owners, managers and supervisors or 'munshis' resulting in limited events of LT innovation offer a unique perspective compared to some of the earlier works such as Choi et al (2011) and Gudmundson et al (2003). These studies suggest that large and small firms perform poorly on innovation due to insider ownership whereby stakes of the owner and manager converge.…”

“…This is in line with Chang (2003), Chang and Hong (2000) and Jensen and Meckling (1976) who argue that firms with insider ownership whereby the owner and manager are the same or own the business jointly can result in improved innovation performance of the business. However, Choi et al (2011) found the opposite in the case of large firms. This contrasting view yet again brings to the forefront the longstanding differences between how ownership structures and business stakes can have completely different influences on performance of large vs. small firms.…”

“…Additionally, these firms were characterized by having no formal processes (as opposed to theory which suggests that best performing incremental SMEs have formal processes), a functional team structure and an internal climate that is entrepreneurial in nature. According to Choi, Lee, and Williams (2011) firms with foreign ownership tend to innovate more while firms with insider ownership (owners and managers are relatives or the same) perform poorly on innovation. However, the study is focused only on large firms.…”

The spatial configuration of innovation networks in China

“…The set of related variables that has been included in empirical studies on Chinese firms varies, but usually incorporates measures of innovation input or output as well as superordinate factors such as age, industry, or ownership (Choi et al 2011;Liefner et al 2013). This paper uses ownership and innovation ability, following the logic that SOEs often enjoy a better resource endowment, which allows them to collaborate internationally, and acknowledging the fact that profound innovation ability should have the same effect on collaboration space.…”