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Knowledge intensive business services and their impact on innovation in China

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Abstract

This study investigates the impact of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) on innovation in China. First, we review the development of KIBS in China by analyzing the agglomeration, utilization, and quality of KIBS. Second, regression techniques are employed to investigate the impact of KIBS on innovation in the Chinese economy. We found that KIBS are becoming a major force in promoting innovation, especially in eastern China. Furthermore, we also found that the effect of KIBS on innovation is highly related to the average level of human capital. Given the findings in this study, we provided some policy suggestions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 71171183), National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 08&ZD043) and the Australian Research Council (DP1092913). They also thank participants of CESA2012 (July ANU), anonymous referees, Catherine Ying Zhang and Rebecca Doran-Wu for helpful comments and suggestions.

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Correspondence to Yanrui Wu.

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Shi, X., Wu, Y. & Zhao, D. Knowledge intensive business services and their impact on innovation in China. Serv Bus 8, 479–498 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-013-0202-1

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