Generative artificial intelligence (AIGC) is being integrated into social life and is participating in knowledge production. It also creates new digital inequalities, and scholars are concerned about deepening the digital divide. This article explores the theoretical context of artificial intelligence and its impact on society and tries to answer how AIGC shapes the "AI divide" in the context of the development of Digital China. At the technical level, the "AI divide" involves three dimensions: data, algorithms, and computing power. Data sets serve as the foundation of AIGC, similar to soil. The scale parameters, source channels, content types, and even languages of the data sets invisibly shape the "AI divide". The algorithm model consists of self-supervised learning and human feedback reinforcement learning. It is similar to the roots and stems of a plant, which determines the vitality of AIGC to bloom and bear fruit. Computing power is AIGC's information infrastructure, connecting the real world (chips) and the virtual world (data and algorithms), determining the processing speed of computing operations and the depth of integration in the digital industry. As modern technology becomes increasingly dominant in shaping our understanding of the world and history, social stratification theory can help us understand the impact of the "AI divide". The first level involves the divide among individuals, specifically between ordinary users, in accessing and utilizing AI technology. This includes language barriers, paywalls, practical skills, willingness to use, perception of benefits, and the desire to learn. The second aspect pertains to human-machine differentiation, which, on the surface, refers to the distinction between humans and autonomous AI agents. However, at its core, it represents the divide between the majority who lack technological initiative and the minority who wield it due to their control over digital resources. It refers to using digital resources by countries, regions, or individuals to participate in the development, share knowledge, and overcome differences in capabilities for autonomous growth. To bridge the "AI divide", it is important to establish an independent and self-sufficient technological innovation system. We should also explore and optimize application scenarios to make the most of this system. China needs to take the lead in AI development in the future and promote the construction, transformation, and application of AIGC resources by different enterprises, scientific research institutions, and industry organizations. It must also establish a fair and standardized platform governance ecosystem and create a good technology atmosphere. Equality should be embedded into AIGC's technology process, including algorithm design, training data selection, model generation, and optimization. This will give people of different countries, ethnic groups, and classes the right to participate in scientific development. Finally, China should plan more diverse ecological alliance forms and participate in cooperation platforms under multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. China should transform games and competitions into consultation and cooperation, connect wider upstream and downstream resources, and try to build a global AI governance community. The article proposes the concept of the "AI divide", which deepens the third-generation digital divide theory in artificial intelligence and has significant practical implications for understanding the development of digital China and the economic and social transformation.
Technological innovation and employment stability are of great significance to the high-quality development of China's economy, but technological progress inevitably raises concerns about potential employment problems.Using a quasi-natural experiment produced by the SRDI ‘little giants’ enterprises identification policy, this paper takes China's A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2022 as samples, and explores the effects and mechanisms between the policy and enterprise labor employment by difference-in-difference approach. The paper finds that the identification of SRDI ‘little giants’ enterprises significantly promotes the increase of labor employment, especially in private enterprises and in private enterprises, key industries with higher density of ‘little giants’ enterprises, more competitive industries, and areas with low regional innovation level. Further tests show that tax incentives, bank loans and financial constraint are the main mechanisms．Finally，the increase of labor employment also significantly promotes enterprise human capital structure upgrading and boosts enterprise high-quality development. The results of this paper show that the identification and cultivation of SRDI ‘little giants’ enterprises is an effective policy to promote technological progress and achieve employment growth, which is instructive for optimizing the cultivation policy of small and medium-sized enterprises, stabilizing employment and safeguarding people's wellbeing.
Under the background of protectionism and anti-globalization, how domestic foreign direct investment enterprises should adjust their investment strategies and knowledge strategies to cope with changes in their own knowledge needs and changes in the international investment environment has become an urgent problem to be solved. In view of this, our paper firstly uses the knowledge structure theory and 10 Chinese cases to construct a theoretical model of enterprises' outward direct investment driving technological progress, and believes that the paths of outward direct investment driving enterprises' technological progress include: ① Knowledge base of foreign affiliates → reverse spillover knowledge (breadth × intensity) → knowledge absorption → knowledge base of domestic investment enterprises (number of knowledge reserves) → technological progress; ② knowledge base of foreign affiliates → reverse spillover knowledge (depth × intensity) → Knowledge absorption → domestic investment enterprise knowledge base (knowledge frontier level) → technological progress. However, in different investment stages, the utility of the breadth and depth of reverse spillover knowledge has changed, as shown in: In the early stage of foreign direct investment, investment enterprises are restricted by the disadvantages of ownership and internalization, and tend to choose a canyon-type structure characterized by depth or a pool-type structure with balanced and less investment activities; With the improvement of corporate ownership and internalization advantages, and the weakening of the location advantages of the host country, investment enterprises will gradually tend to choose a lake-type reverse spillover knowledge structure characterized by breadth.
Compared with other research, our paper has three contributions: ① We combine knowledge structure theory with the concept of reverse spillover knowledge, exploring how reverse spillover knowledge promotes technological progress in investment enterprises from different dimensions of knowledge, aiming to fill the theoretical gap in the drive of technology progress by outward direct investment of enterprises. ② Our paper used internalization theory and investment development cycle theory to summarize the phased characteristics of foreign direct investment goals and knowledge structure adjustment of enterprises, aiming to extend the original static research perspective to a more practical dynamic perspective. ③ Our paper re-examines the differences between the dimensions of knowledge depth and knowledge intensity from a spillover perspective, addressing the issue of unclear concepts of knowledge intensity and knowledge depth in current research.
In the process of vigorously promoting the development of strategic emerging industries by the central government, the response behavior and effectiveness of local governments have received much attention, but opinions are divergent. From the perspective of multiple institutional logics, the study analyzes the mechanism, type and effect of the government's response to the central government's new energy vehicle promotion and application policies in nine cities in the the Pearl River Delta. The study found that in the process of the promotion and application of new energy vehicles, the incompatibility of the central government logic, local government logic, market logic and other multiple institutional logic and the heterogeneity of local attributes, especially the heterogeneity of local resources and capabilities, under the interaction, the governments of nine cities in the the Pearl River Delta have gradually formed three different response strategies, namely, "pilot", "support", and "auxiliary" strategies; The differentiated response behavior of local governments has not only achieved their respective goals of new energy vehicle promotion and application and the development of new energy vehicle industry, but also promoted the rapid formation of new energy vehicle industry clusters in the the Pearl River Delta with the "leader" as the core and the "auxiliary" and "supporter" as the radiation. The study provides a new analytical approach based on the perspective of multiple institutional logics to explain the heterogeneity and effectiveness of local government response behavior, and also provides a reference for the implementation of "effective government, effective market".
In the era of digital economy, the application of the patent "exception for scientific research and experimental use" system is of great significance to the healthy development of the entire innovation ecosystem. By means of historical and comparative research, this paper combs the path of strict and loose interpretation of the system, and finds the problems of abstract generalization of legislation and limited application of judicial cases in our country. The patent "experimental use exception" system originated from the common law practice in the early 19th century, and has been interpreted in a strict way. In 1984, the "Hatch-Waxman Act" was passed in the United States, which provided an independent statutory basis for the "experimental use" of patents for generic drugs and medical devices for administrative approval. European civil law countries such as France and Germany also included the "experimental use exception" system in their patent legislation in the 1960s and 1970s, with a slightly looser interpretation path than the United States. In 1984, the first Patent Law of China established the system of "scientific research and experimental use exception" on the basis of foreign experience. However, this system is abstract and general, has not been revised in each amendment, and has been rarely applied in judicial practice. On this basis, according to the characteristics of technology innovation in the digital economy era, such as iterative acceleration, subject collaboration, data dependence and cross integration, have an important impact on the demand and form of patent use, this paper analyzes that the "four elements" standards of judging copyright fair use can be used for reference to determine whether relevant patent uses constitute "scientific research and experimental use exception" from the aspects of the purpose, object, subject and behavior of use, as well as the influence of use on the patentee's market interests. From the point of view of the purpose of use, the use of a patent to verify whether a patent is "fully disclosed", whether it is patentable and whether it meets the requirements of statutory authorization, the use of a patent to improve a specific patented technology, and the use of a patent purely for scientific research and technological development constitute the "scientific research and experimental use exception" of a patent. From the perspective of the object of use, the use of existing patents for invention-creation activities of "the same subject" and the use of patents for "research tools" under urgent and necessary circumstances belong to the "scientific research and experimental use exception" of patents. From the perspective of the subject and behavior of use, the specific nature of universities and scientific research institutions, the source of funds and the organizational form of scientific research activities, as well as the nature, environment, scale, time, scope and results of the use of patents by market operators are the factors to determine whether they constitute "scientific research and experimental use exception" of patents. From the perspective of the impact on the patentee's market interests, the "scientific research and experimental use" of a patent must not interfere with the patentee's normal production and operation of the market interests can be considered as an exception that does not constitute infringement.
In the context of promoting the high-quality development of intellectual property rights, the cognition of patent quality and the construction of the evaluation index system are important bases for improving patent quality and creating a high-quality innovation mechanism. Reviewing the existing research from the aspects of the concept of patent quality, patent quality evaluation index system and evaluation method, we can find that there is no unified conclusion on the definition of patent quality and the lack of definition of patent quality itself, which leads to the unclear patent quality cognition system, and the evaluation indexes and evaluation methods put forward on this basis are different and lack of systematic combing.In view of the shortcomings of the existing research, it puts forward the outlook of future: the entity carrying the patent quality should be the patent object, so as to determine the concept of patent object quality, and on this basis, establishing a patent quality cognition system centered on the quality of patent object, and constructing corresponding index system and evaluation method based on the systematic patent quality cognition system.
Recognizing the roles that regions play in the growth of high-level scientific and technological talents based on their mobility is crucial for promoting rational talent distribution and coordinated development. This study, grounded in the curriculum vitae information of recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from 2011 to 2020, categorizes talent growth stages into the incubation period, development period, accumulation period, and maturity period based on key time points. The standard deviation of talent growth stages is used to calculate indicator weights for a comprehensive assessment of regional roles, the Gini coefficient is utilized to depict the spatial distribution patterns of talents across different growth stages. Finally, social network analysis methods are employed to study the regional and global distribution characteristics of regional roles, the regional training characteristics of talents in various disciplines, and the features of the regional role relationship network. The research reveals that domestic provinces and cities exhibit a distinct "core-periphery" structure in their regional relationship networks. Collaboration and cross-regional exchanges among talents in various disciplines are gradually strengthening. The involvement of multifunctional centers supports talents at all stages in various disciplines. The number of peripheral provinces and cities is declining, with some discipline differences among provinces and cities. Developed countries such as the United States and Germany play a supporting role in all stages of talent development across various disciplines. This study provides a quantitative basis for a detailed characterization of the role types assumed by each province and city in China in talent growth. It contributes to a comprehensive and objective understanding of the characteristics of talent mobility between regions, offering important insights for personalized talent distribution in regions and the overall coordinated development of talents.
In the era of big science,organized research in universities has become an important form of providing systematic and institutionalized support for national strategic needs.Based on the data related to the three major State Science and Technology Awards in universities from 2010 to 2020, this research focuses on award-winning teams and adopts a combination of mathematical statistics and case studies to analyze the basic conditions and principles of the role of core elements in organized research, systematically deconstructs and enriches the connotation and extension of organized research in universities.The research finds that the National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC),State Key Laboratories and Key Laboratories of the Ministry of Education, multi-Principal Investigator (PI) cross-border teams,system and mechanism as well as culture play key roles in organized research practices. Based on the integrated route of “project traction, platform integration, team tackling, and ecology supporting”, the research proposes targeted suggestions to promote the construction of organized research system in universities with Chinese characteristics and provide scientifically and feasibly oriented solutions to enhance the effectiveness of organized research in universities.
Rural entrepreneurship is an important way to promote rural economic development, help rural revitalization and promote common prosperity. Since the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, the countryside has possessed a certain amount of population and capital conducive to entrepreneurship as a result of improved infrastructure, higher incomes and weakened barriers to population mobility. In particular, rural areas on the outskirts of cities have become ideal venues for entrepreneurial activities, thanks to the advantages of their location and the relatively low cost of land and labor. In recent years, the platform economy has developed rapidly, covering many industries such as e-commerce, digital media, online education, transportation, short-term rentals, and home services. It has many advantages such as broadening market boundaries, improving the efficiency of resource allocation, expanding employment, improving income distribution, and promoting common prosperity in urban and rural areas. Platform economy has made up for the disadvantages of rural areas in location space, alleviated the difficulties faced by rural residents such as blocked information and incomplete industrial chain services, and shaped the era background that can not be ignored in the current research on rural entrepreneurship. In summary, platform economy brings new opportunities for promoting rural entrepreneurship and employment. Exploring the intrinsic law of the platform economy affecting rural entrepreneurial activity is of great significance in stimulating the vitality of rural economic development and realizing rural revitalization. The main work of this paper is threefold. First, based on the clarification that the platform economy lowers the entrepreneurial threshold and widens the entrepreneurial channel, this paper constructs a two-way fixed-effects model using provincial panel data from 2013-2019 to systematically examine the impact of the platform economy on rural entrepreneurial activity. Second, this paper empirically examines how the platform economy enhances rural entrepreneurial activity through channels such as lowering the entrepreneurial threshold of rural residents and attracting factor inflows. Finally, this paper innovatively examines the threshold role of rural financial development level and urban-rural income gap on the entrepreneurial effect of platform economy. According to geographical location, it also explores the impact of platform economy development index, platform-based infrastructure, platform-based application, and platform-based output on rural entrepreneurship activity. The relevant conclusions can provide reference for the government to formulate accurate rural entrepreneurship policies. It is found that the development of the platform economy can significantly contribute to the increase of rural entrepreneurial activity, and the results remain robust after accounting for endogeneity issues. Mechanism analysis shows that the platform economy promotes rural entrepreneurship by reducing the difficulty of starting a business for rural residents and attracting capital inflows and labor returns. The threshold test shows that the promotion effect of the platform economy on rural entrepreneurship activity is characterized by increasing marginal benefits as the level of rural financial development increases, and the urban-rural income gap makes the impact of the platform economy on rural entrepreneurship activity show an "inverted U-shaped" trend of first expanding and then decreasing. In addition, there is regional heterogeneity in the impact of platform economy on rural entrepreneurial activity. The platform economy has a significant promoting effect on entrepreneurial activity in the eastern region, but its development in other regions has not yet achieved the expected results. To this end, local governments should continuously strengthen policy support and guidance for the development of the platform economy, continuously optimize the rural entrepreneurial environment and improve the availability of financial services for rural entrepreneurs, in order to reduce the cost of entrepreneurship for farmers and promote rural revitalization.
Under the background of digital economy, how to efficiently orchestrate other actors’ resources in the platform to achieve value creation is the core issue for digital platform firms to cope with highly uncertain environmental challenges. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on the unique process mechanism of resource orchestration for digital platform firms. Opportunity set provides a new perspective for this paper to reveal the resource orchestration process mechanism of digital platform firms. Based on the LCOR entrepreneurship theory, digital platform firms will continue to build opportunity set in the process of orchestrating other actors’ resources in the platform, which can further guide the orchestration of resources. Moreover, the continuous interaction between opportunities and resources is conducive to the creation of value. Nevertheless, few scholars have deeply explored the relationship between resource orchestration and opportunity set of digital platform firms.
Therefore, this paper uses the Rootcloud case to analyze the resource orchestration process mechanism of digital platform firms from the opportunity set perspective, based on the construction logic of "dimensions development of the core concept—description of the relationship between concepts—analysis of the relationship effect results". It is found that the resource orchestration of digital platform firms includes three dimensions: resource sharing, resource coordination and resource renewal. The interaction between resource orchestration and opportunity set based on effectuation and causation iterative logic is the deep mechanism of resource orchestration process of digital platform firms. The interaction between resource orchestration and opportunity set is beneficial to digital platform firms’ value creation.
The theoretical contributions of this research are as follows: Firstly, under the digitalization context, this paper gives new meanings to resource sharing and resource coordination, then refines the new dimension of resource renewal to show the uniqueness of resource orchestration in digital platforms. Furthermore, we reveal the influence mechanism of digital platform firms’ resource orchestration process on value creation from the opportunity set perspective, enriching and expanding resource orchestration theory. Secondly, this study deeply reveals the relationship between digital platform firms’ resource orchestration and opportunity set based on the logic of effectuation and causation iteration, which lays the foundation for the construction of opportunity set theory under the digitalization context. Thirdly, by analyzing the interactive mechanism between resource orchestration and opportunity set of digital platform firms, this research emphasizes the key role of data resources and multi-actor, and reveals the dynamic matching mechanism between opportunities and resources at inter-organizational level under the digitalization context, expanding LCOR entrepreneurship theory.
The conclusions of this paper provide important insights for the resource orchestration practice of digital platform firms in China. Specifically, it can help digital platform firms make full use of digital technologies and data resources for resource sharing, resource coordination and resource renewal with other actors in the platform. Moreover, our findings lead digital platform firms to think about the logic of converting platform resources into value from the perspective of opportunity set, which is conducive for them to promote the interaction between resource orchestration and opportunity set, so as to realize the creation of economic and social value.
Establishing ties with scientific partners create an important way for technology-based SMEs to obtain the necessary technological innovation resources for growth. How ties with scientific partners will affect the growth of technology-based SMEs is a question that lacks sufficient attention and needs to be answered. In view of this, according to the resource dependence theory, dynamic capability theory and resource bricolage theory, this paper establishes a chain mediating effect model to explore the impact mechanism of ties with scientific partners on the growth of technology-based SMEs, and further uses 312 survey data of technology-based SMEs for empirical analysis. The research results found that: (1) ties with scientific partners has a significant positive effect on the growth of technology-based SMEs; (2) ties with scientific partners indirectly influences the growth of technology-based SMEs by resource bricolage and technological dynamic capability respectively; (3) resource bricolage and technological dynamic capability play a chain mediating effect between ties with scientific partners and the growth of technology-based SMEs. The research conclusion is beneficial for enhancing the understanding of the relationship between ties with scientific partners on the growth of technology-based SMEs, providing important theoretical basis and practical significance for promoting the growth of technology-based SMEs.
Previous studies have suggested that the catching up and surpassing of latecomers have progressive characteristics, but in the special situation of rapid turnover and "bottleneck", there has been a practice of latecomers with dual identities of "catcher" and "surpasser" coexisting. However, existing research has rarely paid attention to the dual identity dilemma in this unique situation. Therefore, this study takes the optimal distinctiveness theory as the entry point. Based on the coexistence practice of catching up and surpassing in the chip field of Hisense, this paper explores the core issue of how to use the optimal distinctiveness mechanism to achieve a late breakthrough in the "bottleneck" situation when enterprises have dual identities at the same time. Research has found that: (1) in the context of "bottleneck" places the latecomer practice of this dual identity needs to go through two stages: the incubation period and the independent operation period. During the incubation period, the identities of "catcher" and "surpasser" need to cross performance and technical thresholds respectively, based on which differentiated compensation concertos can be carried out. During the independent operation period, it is necessary to cross the threshold of rapid iteration in order to perform differentiated compensation concertos. (2) We have studied and constructed a dual identity integrated concerto mechanism, including a leapfrog integrated concerto that runs through the incubation and independent operation periods, and a phased integrated mechanism that only applies to the corresponding stages. Finally, this study constructed a theoretical framework diagram for the optimal distinctiveness mechanism of dual identity latecomers under a rapidly iterative and "bottleneck" scenario, in order to provide some reference for latecomers facing the dilemma of dual identity.
In the field of science-based innovation, science-based enterprises bear the mission of commercializing fundamental scientific achievements while concurrently engaging in supplementary research, becoming a tangible driving force for advancing economic and social development. Constructing internal governance mechanisms for science-based enterprises has become a key factor in nurturing innovation capabilities. This paper employs a case study method to systematically explore issues such as the formation logic of internal governance mechanisms, the construction of governance functions, and the expansion of governance boundaries. The discussion encompasses the coupling mechanisms of internal and external factors, leading to the extraction of a theoretical model for internal governance mechanisms of such enterprises. In terms of sample selection, adhering to the principles of representativeness and theoretical sampling, this paper chooses firms listed on Sci-Tech innovation board (STAR Market) that are engaged in the “scientific research and technical services” industry. Subsequently, it further selects biopharmaceutical firms involved in research and experimental development. Through a review of corporate materials, five firms are identified that are engaged in the transformation of basic scientific achievements while concurrently conducting supplementary scientific research. This paper encodes case data in three steps, forming a data structure consisting of first-order constructs, second-order themes, and theoretical categories. Based on this data structure, the paper proposes propositions, discusses the operation of science-based corporate internal governance mechanisms, and ultimately presents a model of coupling mechanisms in internal governance. The study reveals that the dominant logic in the formation and development of governance mechanisms for scientific-based enterprises is centered around “emphasizing original innovation and breakthroughs in core technologies”. In terms of configuring the talent pool for innovative research and development, the core leadership team is centered around individuals with a “scientific background”, supported by an innovative research and development team. Regarding personnel incentive mechanisms, a combination of “short-term compensation incentives” ensuring market competitiveness and “long-term equity incentives” with binding effects is adopted. In the equity arrangement mechanism, a hybrid equity model involving “long-term oriented strategic investors” and “scientists holding significant control rights” is implemented. Furthermore, the governance boundaries are blurred, with diverse governance entities such as “universities, science parks, government, and customers” expanding the governance boundaries of these enterprises, leveraging the coupling effects of internal and external governance mechanisms. The main theoretical contributions of this paper are as follows. Firstly, the paper elucidates the “dominant logic” of science-based corporate governance mechanisms, contributing to an understanding of the cognitive foundation and behavioral logic in the formation process of these governance mechanisms. This fills a gap in previous literature, which only focused on the external behavioral manifestations of such corporate governance mechanisms. Secondly, the paper goes beyond the analysis of the impact of team heterogeneity on firm performance and systematically explores, from a governance function perspective (personnel team configuration mechanisms, incentive mechanisms, and equity allocation mechanisms), how to build a talent pipeline for innovative R&D, how to motivate employees, and how to establish a long-term oriented equity structure. Taking a systemic approach emphasizes the coupling mechanism between personnel configuration, personnel incentive, and equity allocation, highlighting their impact on the innovation governance logic of such enterprises. Thirdly, from a resource dependence perspective, the paper discusses how science-based enterprises can incorporate external governance elements into internal governance functions, fully leveraging the coupling mechanism of internal and external factors on innovation goals. To sum up, this paper enriches and expands the research framework for internal governance of science-based enterprises, providing valuable reference for the construction of theoretical models and management practices for internal governance under the Chinese context.
The innovative breakthrough of key core technologies is not only an important means to break free from foreign technological blockades and ensure the security of China's industrial and supply chains, but also an inevitable choice to achieve technological self-reliance and high-quality development. However, this innovation process involves high technological uncertainty and high market uncertainty, which seriously weakens the innovation motivation of enterprises and puts higher demands on their capabilities. External policy opportunities, market opportunities, and technological opportunities provide a favorable environment for breakthroughs in key core technological innovation. How can the opportunity windows trigger key core technological innovation breakthroughs for enterprises? This issue is crucial. Previous studies have confirmed the impact of external opportunity windows on corporate technological innovation from the perspectives of learning and resources. However, there is a lack of effective explanation for the triggering mechanism and boundary conditions of the opportunity windows for key core technology innovation breakthroughs.
The MOA theory builds a framework for analyzing the antecedents of organizational behavior that covers opportunities, motivations, and capabilities, providing an effective perspective on how opportunity windows affect key core technological innovation breakthroughs. This study constructs a moderated mediation model based on MOA theory and conducts empirical analysis using sample data from 315 companies in strategic emerging industries. The research results show that: (1) the technological opportunity window, market opportunity window, and policy opportunity window are external triggering conditions for breakthroughs in key core technological innovation. (2) Technical expectations and market expectations are important bridges connecting opportunity windows and breakthroughs in key core technology innovation, as well as internal driving forces for breakthroughs in key core technology innovation. (3) Technical capability is an important support for enterprises to bridge the gap between innovation expectations and actions. Enterprises with higher technical capabilities, stimulated by the opportunity windows, generate stronger technical and market expectations that drive breakthroughs in key core technology innovation.
This study contributes to the literature in two ways. Firstly, the intermediary mechanism and boundary conditions that trigger breakthroughs in key core technology innovation through the opportunity windows were explored. Existing research are difficult to effectively explain the relationship between opportunity windows and key core technological innovation breakthroughs. On the basis of closely grasping the two uncertain characteristics of key core technology innovation breakthroughs, this study reveals the mechanism between opportunity windows triggering key core technology innovation breakthroughs, identifies the bridge role of innovation expectations between opportunity windows and key core technology innovation breakthroughs, and the supporting role of technological capabilities in transforming innovation expectations into key core technology innovation breakthroughs. This conclusion deepens the exploration of the roles of expectations and capabilities in the innovation process and enriches the research on the breakthrough mechanism of key core technology innovation.
Secondly, it enriches the application research of MOA theory in the field of technological innovation. Current research mainly applies MOA theory to fields such as marketing management, organizational management, and knowledge management, focusing on revealing the impact of opportunities, motivations, and abilities on organizational behavior. This article expands the MOA theory to the field of innovation management and explores the relationship between opportunity windows and key core technology innovation breakthroughs, as well as the bridging role of motivation and the supporting role of capabilities. It provides new evidence and insights for the roles and roles of the three elements in MOA, and also expands the application scope of MOA theory in the field of technological innovation.
In recent years, China's technological innovation strength has made significant progress, but it still faces problems such as weak basic research and original innovation capabilities, lack of key core technologies, and disconnection between innovation and industry. The reasons for these problems are complex, and the insufficient development of technology intermediaries may be one of the important reasons. Technology intermediaries play an important role in urban innovation and development. The National Technology Transfer Regional Center (NTTC) is a high-level technology intermediary and an important component of the national technology innovation system. As of August 2023, China has built 12 NTTCs, and the construction effectiveness of these NTTCs has always been a concern.
Based on the panel data of 278 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2010 to 2021, this paper uses the staggered difference-in-difference model to conduct an in-depth examination of the causal relationship and key mechanisms between technology intermediaries represented by NTTC and urban innovation. The results show that NTTC significantly promotes the improvement of general and core technological innovation levels in the city, but more importantly, it promotes the improvement of general technological innovation levels in the city. The government support effect, innovation factor inflow effect, and enterprise agglomeration effect are the key mechanisms of NTTC promoting the improvement of urban innovation level. NTTC has a spatial spillover effect of “∽” type on the innovation level of surrounding cities, which can promote the improvement of innovation level in cities within suitable distances, but has no significant impact on cities in closer or farther distances. The regional characteristics and administrative levels of a city can lead to differences in the improvement effect of NTTC on the level of urban innovation.
This paper has the following policy implications. First, the government should continue to strongly support the construction of NTTC, actively promote the construction of various types of technology intermediaries while ensuring the quality of existing NTTC construction. Second, the government should strengthen policy support, optimize the foreign investment and business environment, fully amplify the government support effect, innovation factor inflow effect, and enterprise agglomeration effect of NTTC establishment, and assist urban innovation and development. Third, the government should implement a differentiated technology intermediary construction strategy, making technology intermediaries an important support for bridging the regional innovation gap.
This paper may have the following marginal contributions: (1) Distinguishing from the existing literature on technology intermediaries, this paper focuses on technology intermediaries represented by NTTC and urban innovation, emphasizing the causal relationship between the two to enrich the existing research.(2) In addition to testing the policy effect of NTTC, this paper also discusses the key mechanism of NTTC on urban innovation level from theoretical and empirical analysis, which helps to clarify the internal logic of technology intermediary affecting urban innovation.(3) The conclusion of this paper may have reference value for the government to optimize the construction of technology intermediaries, and it is also of great significance to improve the national technology innovation system and accelerate the realization of self-reliance science and technology.
In the context of an innovation ecosystem, the acquisition and its evolution of ecosystem legitimacy is an effective mechanism for start-ups to successfully carry out disruptive innovation. Through the longitudinal case analysis of Maixin from 1993 to 2023, it was found that the process of start-ups achieving disruptive innovation through ecosystem legitimacy is actually that start-ups build an innovation ecosystem around a disruptive value proposition, and constantly overcome various obstacles to ecosystem legitimacy during this period, so as to gradually get the understanding and recognition of internal and external actors of the ecosystem, and finally disrupting or partially replacing the existing ecosystem value proposition. In the formation process of disruptive innovation, the ecosystem legitimacy of start-ups has experienced the dynamic evolution of “norm legitimacy”, “cognition legitimacy” and “value legitimacy”. Accordingly, the corresponding legitimacy can be obtained through the ecological legitimation strategies of “discursive legitimation”, “performative legitimation” and “meaning legitimation”. The conclusions of this article provide important insights for start-ups to successfully carry out disruptive innovation.
This study focuses on exploring the dynamic acquisition of organizational legitimacy in multinational corporations through innovation networks based on standard competition and cooperation. A vertical single case study was conducted on Huawei Technology Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in the new generation of information technology industry, to explore the internal and dynamic mechanisms of obtaining the legitimacy of innovative networks based on standard competition and cooperation. Research has found that, The innovation network model based on standard competition and cooperation constructed by multinational enterprises at different stages of standard internationalization is triggered by the institutional logic of "professional logic, market logic, community logic, and national logic" of the focus legitimacy evaluator, presenting "utilization standard competitive-cooperative innovation network—exploratory standard competitive-cooperative innovation network—dominant standard competitive-cooperative innovation network—autonomous and controllable standard competitive-cooperative innovation network" .
The utilization standard competitive-cooperative innovation network constructed by Huawei in stages based on standard competition and cooperation, as well as the formed standard tracking capability and network orchestration capability obtained from network resource assessment, are the internal mechanisms for multinational enterprises to dynamically obtain regulatory legitimacy. The exploratory standard competitive-cooperative innovation network based on standard competition and cooperation built by Huawei, as well as the capability to integrate standards, arrange network resources for migration, and lead cooperation, are the internal mechanisms for multinational enterprises to dynamically obtain normative legitimacy. The dominant standard competitive-cooperative innovation network built by Huawei based on standard competition and cooperation and the formed standard dominant capability, network orchestration capability obtained from network innovation resource exclusive, and competition dominant competition and cooperation capability are the internal mechanisms for multinational enterprises to dynamically obtain cognitive legitimacy. The autonomous and controllable standard competitive-cooperative innovation network built by Huawei based on standard competition and cooperation and the formed standard independent and controllable capability, stable network arrangement capability, and balanced competition and cooperation capability are the internal mechanisms for multinational enterprises to dynamically obtain new legitimacy after transition.
The core competency level and integration depth formed by innovation networks based on standard competition and cooperation in different modes are dynamic mechanisms that cross legitimacy thresholds. The two low-level core competencies formed during the 1G and 2G periods are dynamic mechanisms for breaking through regulatory legitimacy thresholds in the early stages of standard internationalization. During the 3G era, three types of mid-level core competencies were formed, and the low degree of integration of capabilities was a dynamic mechanism that broke through the threshold of normative legitimacy. The three high-order core competencies formed before 4G and 5G present a dynamic mechanism of moderate integration of capabilities that breaks through the threshold of cognitive legitimacy. The three high-order core competencies formed in the post 5G era exhibit a highly integrated capability, which is a dynamic mechanism for breaking through the new legitimacy threshold after the transition.
This study analyzes the process mechanism of multi-stage legitimacy dynamic acquisition and threshold crossing under the background of standard internationalization, providing important insights for the new generation of information technology industry multinational enterprises to use innovation networks based on standard competition and cooperation as legitimacy acquisition strategies.
