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Institutions and entrepreneurship development: High-technology indigenous firms in China and Taiwan

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Abstract

This study takes an inductive approach in analyzing the roles played by the state, the market, and the social sector in indigenous entrepreneurship development. Data collected from six high-technology companies in China and Taiwan serve to broaden our prior knowledge on how the three institutions work collectively in nourishing indigenous firms at three stages of entrepreneurship development. At the start-up stage, the state influences a firm’s entrepreneurial motivation by creating contexts, providing necessary financial resources, and setting up policy hurdles. At the growth stage, the social sector facilitates technology transfer to indigenous firms and protects them from lawsuits filed by multinational corporations. At the mature stage, the market allows multinational corporations to either enhance or destroy the technological capabilities of local firms. These findings provide strong theoretical and policy implications.

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Correspondence to Cheng-Hua Tzeng.

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The authors appreciate valuable comments from Henry Mintzberg, Jan Jorgensen, Paola Perez-Aleman, David Ahlstrom, and anonymous reviewers of APJM. They thank Rae Pinkham for editing this manuscript. This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 70802014) and the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (grant no. 08JC630018).

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Tzeng, CH., Beamish, P.W. & Chen, SF. Institutions and entrepreneurship development: High-technology indigenous firms in China and Taiwan. Asia Pac J Manag 28, 453–481 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-010-9244-2

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