Innovation in China's strategic emerging industries : integrating the historical perspective

In recent years, China's economic growth model has started to undergo a fundamental shift away from an export-led capital investment focus toward domestic consumption, productivity and higher levels of innovation. In this transition towards a more innovative, balanced and sustainable model, China's government has used a range of policies and other measures to increase indigenous (i.e. China-based) innovation in an effort to turn China into a global leader in R&D and innovation. In this vein, between 2010 and 2015, China's government has committed about 1.7 trillion US dollars to support a selection of seven "Strategic Emerging Industries" (SEI) - for example, renewable energy related industries - that are considered as key sectors that will drive China's future economic growth and prosperity. The share of these industries in China's GDP is supposed to increase to eight percent in 2015 and to 15 percent by 2020. While an increasing number of recent contributions on this topic reflect the growing significance of China as a hub for global innovation, they have largely underestimated the value of taking a more long-term perspective on this issue to adequately assess these ongoing developments as well as the country's overall innovation trajectory. One way to use such an approach is to ask how a historical perspective on China's government policies to support indigenous innovation in Strategic Emerging Industries can increase our understanding of relevant theoretical as well as managerial issues in the current debate. The present study investigates this question. It examines the economic, institutional and sociocultural patterns of innovation systems across different geographies and time periods - from the First and Second Industrial Revolution up to the period following the Second World War - and applies the gained insights to four case studies of Chinese and foreign corporations conducting research and development in China's Strategic Emerging Industries...