Arts Entrepreneurship in China: Exploring the Professional Career Development Model for Chinese Emerging Western Classical Musicians

Artists’ career management has become an urgent topic in the scholarship of arts administration and the creative economy in many Western countries. Although Chinese creative and cultural industries have also experienced significant attention and growth, the worklife experiences of Chinese cultural workers are rarely discussed in the international academic literature. Addressing that gap, this study investigates artistic careers and professional development of a small sample of emerging Western classical musicians in a Chinese second-tier city. We found similar patterns in career portfolios and strategies of career entrepreneurship between Western and Chinese musicians, although differing career opportunities and explicit career strategies seem related to local context.     

中国制造业走出国门的知识产权保护问题

入世后,中国产业尤其是制造业面临着专利技术侵权的严峻考验,在国际大企业不断的侵权诉讼中,寻找问题的关键和突破重围成为国内企业走出国门的当务之急。本文结合2003年里发生的中国制造业在国内外所受的专利侵权案件,分析其产生的原因,以江苏省制造业为例,试对我国制造业在WTO大背景下出口的知识产权保护问题提出相应的解决方案。     

Entrepreneurship and country-level innovation: investigating the role of entrepreneurial opportunities

Since the work of Schumpeter, entrepreneurship has been regarded as a concept that is in close relation to innovation. However, recent country level investigations show that technology innovation and new business creation can be regarded as two separate phenomena. In this paper we provide an explanation for the above contradiction through the distinguishing between two types of entrepreneurship, necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship. Building on opportunity theory and rational choice theory, we investigate the influence of both types of entrepreneurship on country-level innovation, and furthermore, pay particular attention to the interaction between opportunity entrepreneurship and the amount of opportunities available. We find that necessity entrepreneurship is inversely related to country-level innovation, whereas opportunity entrepreneurship is positively linked to technological progress. The positive effect of opportunity entrepreneurship, however, diminishes with an increased amount of entrepreneurial opportunities. This interaction indicates that opportunity availability is an important element of a country’s entrepreneurship environment.     

Does context matter in academic entrepreneurship? The role of barriers and drivers in the regional and national context

With pressure on universities to better contribute to society, academic entrepreneurship is an increasingly recognised source of new knowledge and technologies as well as being a driver of the movement to a knowledge society. However, whilst growing, the level of academic entrepreneurship in Europe is still relatively low. Two reasons that are factors influencing this are inhibitors (barriers) and facilitators (drivers), however the understanding of how their interplay influences academic entrepreneurship, particularly across different context is lacking. For this reason, this study focussed on two environmental settings, European regions and countries, seeking to understand if it is the hurdle (barrier) or (and/or) tail-wind (drivers) that most impacts academic entrepreneurship and how does the regional or national context influence this. An online survey was translated into 22 languages and undertaken in 33 countries in Europe and the European Economic Area. From the original data set, 12 countries in four European regions provided a sample of 2925 responses, with a second step to focus on four ‘lead’ countries within those regions. The results show that there is a significant difference in the university-business cooperation barriers and drivers that effect academic entrepreneurship in the European regions. Furthermore, different barriers and drivers were found to significantly affect the four lead countries with barriers and drivers being able to provide a good explanation of the extent of academic entrepreneurship in the UK and Germany, and a limited explanation of entrepreneurial activity by Spanish and Polish academics. Overall the article contributes to the literature of resource-based theory and also the understanding of factors influencing European academic entrepreneurship.     

The role of universities in the location of innovative start-ups

Start-ups increasingly find the prospect of university–industry collaborations to be a powerful driver of innovation and entrepreneurship activity. Moreover, at the geographical level, they are attracted by teaching and research institutions, either public or private. This paper focuses on the role played by universities. Our hypothesis is that geographical proximity favors the transfer of knowledge and technology from universities to industries and, consequently, represents a positive factor for regional economic development. Results show that university spillovers are positively correlated with the creation of innovative start-ups. Furthermore, the presence of human capital (graduates) exerts a significant influence on the location decisions of start-ups, being a source for competitiveness for firms close to universities. Research quality, especially in the social sciences area, attracts innovative start-ups, while third-mission activities have a weak impact on locational choice.     

INDUSTRY CULTURE AND INDUSTRY ECONOMY: CORRELATES OF TAX NONCOMPLIANCE IN SWEDEN*

Industry culture and industry economy have been used, with mixed results, to explain violations of law by corporate enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to use these theoretical concepts to examine differential noncompliance with tax law across Swedish industry in the early 1980s. A measure of noncompliance by industry is developed using tax audit data. The impact of audit policy on measured noncompliance is evaluated. Differences in industry culture are indicated by information on the presence and diffusion of techniques for noncompliance. Differences across industries in incentives to violate are indicated by bankruptcy rates and opportunities to gain through noncompliance. A hypothetical model is offered that explains the dynamic interaction of these factors and that could generate the static results reported. The paper concludes with a discussion of industry-level analysis in predicting corporate violations.     

The summer of union discontent portends a season of employer discomfort

The recent splintering of the unions of the Change to Win Coalition from the AFL-CIO has received a great deal of attention in the media. Few have watched these developments with greater interest than employers in a broad variety of employment settings. As union prospects in the manufacturing industries have dwindled, employers in the service industries such as healthcare have become especially sensitive to changes in the labor movement and the opportunities to organize. This Article explores the philosophical differences responsible for the AFL-CIO schism, the likely effect this division will have on union organizing efforts in the healthcare industry, and the negative consequences these organizing efforts could have on employee free choice within the industry. In addition, this Article outlines some of the steps healthcare employers can take to protect their ability to communicate freely and directly with their employees.     

Scientist entrepreneurship across scientific fields

Knowledge generated in universities can serve as an important base for the commercialization of innovation. One mechanism for commercialization is the creation of a new company by a scientist. We shed light on this process by examining the role of scientist characteristics, access to resources and key university conditions in driving the likelihood of a scientist to start a company. Our sample comprises 1,899 university scientists across six different scientific fields. We make a methodological contribution by using self-reported data from the scientists themselves, whereas most previous research relied on university or public data. Our consideration of six scientific fields is a substantive contribution and reveals that scientist startups are heterogeneous in nature. Our findings are largely consistent with extant research on the role of individual and university variables in scientist entrepreneurship; in addition, we uncover the novel finding that the type of research field is also a key driver of scientist startup activity.     

Skills and regional entrepreneurship capital formation: a comparison between Germany and Portugal

Entrepreneurship capital has frequently been characterized as an important determinant of regional economic growth. Yet, we have limited knowledge about what explains why certain regions are more successful in creating entrepreneurship capital in general and in particular in technology- and knowledge-intensive sectors. In this paper, we shed light on the skill base of a region in terms of its endowment with human capital and the composition, i.e. specialization or diversity, of skills. Moreover, we look at the context in which entrepreneurship capital formation takes place by focusing on differences in the institutional infrastructures for entrepreneurship in two European countries: Germany and Portugal. Based on harmonized datasets, our results indicate important differences between the countries. Specifically, our results suggest that both specialization and diversity theories hold, and that the effects are thus contingent on regional factors.     

Towards a model of effective knowledge transfer within transnationals: The case of Chinese foreign invested enterprises

In this paper Chinese foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) are employed as prototypes to generate a model of how transnationals can transfer both tacit and explicit knowledge between their units as well as between FIEs and the parent organization. We propose that successful intra-organization knowledge transfer depends upon: (1) collective creation of knowledge as intellectual and social capital available throughout the organization; (2) trust-based collaboration among geographically dispersed entities that form the transnational organization; and (3) the willingness and ability of organizational units to use that knowledge. The paper further proposes that organizational knowledge should ideally flow in multiple directions, providing learning opportunities for both investing and host organizations. Implications for transfer of best practices, a specific form of tacit knowledge, are also offered.     

The nature of innovation in emerging industries in China: an exploratory study

In China, traditional manufacturing industries have been world leaders in low-cost manufacturing for overseas multinationals. It is well-known that these “traditional industries” depend on overseas parent firms for innovation. In recent decades, China’s desire is to encourage and promote innovation-based emerging industries within its borders. By definition, “emerging industries” are composed of domestic Chinese firms without an overseas parent firm. We know very little about the innovation practices in these emerging Chinese industries; we hypothesize that the innovation practices in these firms are quite different from traditional Chinese industries with overseas parents. The Kunshan region in China has attracted both traditional and emerging industries that have contributed to unparalleled economic growth in the region. This is a significantly large region with a population of 1.65 million with a regional GDP of USD 32 billion (2010). In this study, we use survey data from companies in this thriving region to compare R&D and innovation practices of the firms in the traditional and emerging industries in this region. We do not know enough about the innovation practices of emerging industrial firms in China, who may have a profound influence on the industrial China of the future much like South Korean firms such as KIA, Hyundai, Samsung, etc. The findings of this exploratory study based on data collected from the Kunshan region enables us to recommend avenues for future research.     

Country level efficiency and national systems of entrepreneurship: a data envelopment analysis approach

This paper tests the efficiency hypothesis of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. Using a comprehensive database for 63 countries for 2012, we employ data envelopment analysis to directly test how countries capitalize on their available entrepreneurial resources. Results support the efficiency hypothesis of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship. We find that innovation-driven economies make a more efficient use of their resources, and that the accumulation of market potential by existing incumbent businesses explains country-level inefficiency. Regardless of the stage of development, knowledge formation is a response to market opportunities and a healthy national system of entrepreneurship is associated with knowledge spillovers that are a prerequisite for higher levels of efficiency. Public policies promoting economic growth should consider national systems of entrepreneurship as a critical priority, so that entrepreneurs can effectively allocate resources in the economy.     

The Impact of Gravity-Weighted Knowledge Spillovers on Productivity in Manufacturing

This paper tests for localized knowledge spillovers from out-of-state innovations in U.S. manufacturing from 1977 to 1997. The source of these spillovers is innovations categorized into six technologies based on U.S. patent classes and patent data. Using a gravity-weighting for out-of-state innovations, knowledge spillovers are found from mechanical technologies and drug and medical technologies for a broad group of manufacturing industries. Innovations from chemical-related technologies are found to generate spillovers for the Chemical and Allied Products Industry and for the Transportation Equipment Industry. Additionally, specialization of production at the two-digit Standard Industrial Classification of industry level is also found to increase state-level productivity in manufacturing.     

Skilled unemployment and the creation of academic spin-offs: a recession-push hypothesis

Push factors associated with necessity entrepreneurship are largely neglected in the academic entrepreneurship literature. We link research on technology transfer to the literature on opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship, showing that the rate of academic spin-off creation is positively associated with the skilled unemployment rate. This longitudinal study of 559 spin-offs launched between 1999 and 2013, which controlled for several university- and context-level factors, showed that a higher level of unemployment reduced the probability of academic spin-off creation up to a threshold, beyond which the effect was reversed. By contrast, the relative skilled unemployment level was related positively to the probability of academic spin-off, particularly high-tech spin-off, creation. The relationship between the level of skilled unemployment and the creation of high-tech spin-offs was moderated positively by university research orientation and regional research and human capital intensity.     

Labour as a knowledge carrier: how increased mobility influences entrepreneurship

According to the knowledge-based spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE), entrepreneurship is positively associated with the knowledge endowment level. An increase in knowledge expands the opportunity set, which is then exploited by heterogeneous entrepreneurs. The objective of this paper is to empirically test the validity of the KSTE by employing a detailed database comprising more than 19 million observations for the period 2001–2008 at the level of individuals, firms and regions in Sweden. Knowledge is claimed to be partly embodied in labour, implying that an increase in labour mobility can be expected to influence knowledge endowment at the regional level. Our dependent variable is an individual who has remained in a region throughout the time period considered. Controlling for a number of other variables, inter-regional labour inflows and intra-regional mobility levels are shown to exert a strong positive effect on entrepreneurship. This contrasts with inter-regional outflows, which negatively affect entrepreneurial entry. Another noteworthy result is that the probability of exploiting an increased knowledge stock through entrepreneurship increases by 15 % points if the individual has previous experience in starting a firm.     

Entrepreneurial performance of principal investigators and country culture: relations and influences

The paper focuses on the role of a country’s culture in influencing the entrepreneurial attitudes of Principal Investigators, in shaping their ability to combine knowledge theory and business practice, in determining their capacity to strengthen the cooperation between the two domains of research and business, and in supporting research spin-off creation in entrepreneurial universities. To make Principal Investigators’ orientation match Entrepreneurial Universities’ goals of the marketing of innovation and entrepreneurship is not an easy task. A research-oriented approach, rather than an explorative entrepreneurial orientation, is still predominant in Principal Investigators. Among the factors influencing the strategic orientation towards entrepreneurship of Principal Investigators, the paper argues that the country’s culture could be key. Evaluating the influence of the entrepreneurial culture on a Principal Investigator’s activity is critical in predicting his performance and comparing it with that of Principal Investigators in other countries.     

Do R&D strategies in high-tech sectors differ from those in low-tech sectors? An alternative approach to testing the pooling assumption

Most studies investigating the determinants of R&D investment consider pooled estimates. However, if the parameters are heterogeneous, pooled coefficients may not provide reliable estimates of individual industry effects. Hence pooled parameters may conceal valuable information that may help target government tools more efficiently across heterogeneous industries. There is little evidence to date on the decomposition of the determinants of R&D investment by industry. Moreover, the existing work does not distinguish between those R&D determinants for which pooling may be valid and those for which it is not. In this paper, we test the pooling assumption for a panel of manufacturing industries and find that pooling is valid only for output fluctuations, adjustment costs and interest rates. Implementing the test results into our model, we find government funding is significant only for low-tech R&D. Foreign R&D and skilled labour matter only in high-tech sectors. These results suggest important implications for R&D policy.     

Competing with MNEs: developing manufacturing capabilities or innovation capabilities

A challenge facing local firms in China is the selection of effective technology strategies to compete against MNEs in the era of globalization. The existing literature suggests two alternatives, developing strong manufacturing capabilities or developing innovation capabilities, but provides no clear answer to the question of how to select one strategy or the other. This paper explores this issue by introducing two concepts: “barriers to appropriability” and “opportunities for improvement.” We develop four propositions to specify the boundary conditions for local firms to choose their technology strategies and analyze two local firms’ technology strategies to illustrate two of the propositions. We find that development of strong manufacturing capabilities will not necessarily be an effective strategy for local firms competing against MNEs. If there are opportunities for improvement, it might be possible for local firms to compete against MNEs by developing innovation capabilities and core technologies.     

Determinant factors of university spin-off: the case of Korea

Increasingly more research has examined the creation of university spin-off firms as are seen as an important source of regional and national economic growth. However little is known about the factors influencing the formation of university spin-off in Asian countries, especially in Korea. This paper contributes to the literature on academic entrepreneurship by deepening our understanding on determinant factors of university spin-off in the case of Korea. We investigate organizational and institutional factors highlighted in the literature as influencing the creation of university spin-off companies. The Korean government has implemented the INNOPOLIS Research Institute Spin-off (IRIS) program to enable universities to create new firms within special research and development (R&D) zones to commercialize public R&D output. The capability of universities to establish new firms through the program varies; consequently, this study utilized 122 universities from 2013 to 2015 to analyze determinant factors that affect university spin-offs. Panel logit and negative binomial analysis results indicate that university location has the highest positive influence on IRIS. Government-sponsored funding has a negative impact; however, the likelihood that universities create spin-offs and the number of IRIS firms are positively and significantly affected by publications, patents, research funding, and number of university spin-offs.