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Does public subsidy promote sustainable innovation? The case of Chinese high-tech SMEs

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Abstract

Government public support is an important policy tool to support enterprises in carrying out innovation and R&D in China. However, there is a lack of systematic research on the effect of direct and indirect government support on the innovation ability of Chinese high-tech enterprises, especially the relatively weak SMEs. This paper aims to explore the impact of public support on sustainable innovation by SMEs in China and identify the differences, if any, between direct and indirect support. By using the survey data of 2600 Chinese SMEs, we found that government support significantly and positively impacts both innovation input and output. In particular, we found that R&D intensity acts as a mediator between direct government support and innovation output; however, indirect support did not exhibit a significant mediating effect. Additionally, it was found that innovative sales can promote innovation investment by alleviating financial constraints; this is known as sustainable innovation.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, Shandong Normal University, 1 Daxue Rd, Changqing, Jinan, 250000, Shandong Province, China

    Dong Xiang

  2. School of Management, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), 3501 Daxue Rd, Changqing, Jinan, 250000, Shandong Province, China

    Tianzhen Zhao

  3. Institute of Blue and Green Development, Shandong University, 180 Wenhua West Rd, Huancui, Weihai, 264200, Shandong Province, China

    Ning Zhang

Authors
  1. Dong Xiang
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  2. Tianzhen Zhao
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  3. Ning Zhang
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Contributions

Dong Xiang designed the research and wrote the manuscript. Tianzhen Zhao performed data analysis and contributed to the writing of the manuscript; Ning Zhang reviewed and edited the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ning Zhang.

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Xiang, D., Zhao, T. & Zhang, N. Does public subsidy promote sustainable innovation? The case of Chinese high-tech SMEs. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 53493–53506 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14555-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14555-5

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