中国企业R&D国际化:时空格局与区位选择影响因素

R&D globalization of Chinese companies: Spatial-temporal pattern and influencing factors of location selection

基于中国企业海外R&D投资数据和零断尾负二项回归分析方法,探讨了1998-2015年中国企业R&D国际化的时空格局特征,并从东道国角度分析影响其区位选择的主要因素。结果表明:研究期内中国新建海外R&D机构数量快速扩张;海外R&D投资区域分布广泛,呈现分散和集聚并存的特征;以华为为例分析了典型中国企业海外R&D投资的空间布局特征,认为目前华为海外R&D投资呈现集中布局在欧洲,零散分布在亚洲、美洲、非洲的空间特征,主要是由其以全球技术升级和满足多样化的市场需求等R&D国际化的战略动机所决定。回归分析结果表明,中国企业对发达国家和发展中国家进行R&D投资的影响因素有共同点但也存在一定的差异:①现阶段东道国的R&D需求不是影响中国企业对其进行R&D投资的主要因素;②代表中国与东道国经济往来密切程度的关联要素是影响中国企业R&D投资的重要决策因素;③发达国家吸引中国企业对其进行R&D投资主要是因其创新能力强、R&D资源数量多,而政策及制度供给是影响中国企业对发展中国家进行R&D投资的主要因素;④地理距离对中国企业R&D"走出去"的阻碍作用主要体现在对发展中国家的R&D投资中。

With the integration of global economy being strengthened constantly and the value chain being disassemble rapidly, innovation resources such as talent, technology, information flow are recombined fast worldwide. With the booming development of multinational R&D investment, the model of international foreign investment has hanged significantly. While China has long been a host country of MNCs overseas R&D investment, Chinese MNCs have increasingly invested their R&D overseas. This paper investigates how Chinese companies, as latecomers in R&D globalization, have strategically determined the locations for their R&D investment. Using the data of overseas R&D investment of Chinese enterprises from 1998-2015 and zero tail negative binomial regression analysis, it first describes the spatio-temporal pattern, then examines the factors affecting location decision of Chinese R&D investment. It found that the number of oversea R&D institutions of Chinese companies has grown rapidly during the study period. Moreover, while most of Chinese oversea R&D institutions are located in developed countries, they are widely distributed and have the trends of both concentration and dispersion. For example, Huawei has concentrated about 2/3 of its overseas R&D institutions in Europe and scattered the rest in Asia, America and Africa, due to its strategy that the R&D institutes shall first meet local, then regional and global markets and the strategic consideration of Europe as an important region for more basic R&D research. The zero tail negative binomial regression analysis reveals main country-level factors determining the overseas R&D investment of Chinese companies, as illustrated by the following findings:(1)R&D demands of host countries are not the key factors that attract R&D investment of Chinese companies.(2) Correlation between China and host countries indicates that the number of China’s outward foreign direct investment to the host country is a key factor.(3) Innovation capacity and rich R&D resources in developed countries, but policy and institutions in developing countries are main factors for R&D investment of Chinese companies.(4)Geographic distance between China and host countries seems only matter for Chinese R&D investment in developing countries.