从产业升级中的龙头企业角色理解创新的非线性特征

Lead Firms in the Non-Linear Industrial Evolution

基于线性模型的创新与转型政策极易忽视在位企业、尤其是龙头企业在产业升级中的极端重要性。这也显示出政策与学术研究对创新的非线性特征的理解仍有待深化。鉴于此,该研究首先以西方发达国家的三个材料工业(化工与制药工业、半导体工业与液晶工业)为研究对象,讨论了产业史上的若干关键节点案例,从引入新产品、重塑产业结构与产业组织、构建国家—市场—社会关系三个角度出发,讨论了龙头企业为经济体系引入"新奇"的情形,并由此总结形成了龙头企业主导产业升级的三个命题。基于产业史案例,从科学—技术关系、技术—经济关系和技术—社会关系三个层面出发,给出了上述三个命题的理论解释,并完成了对创新过程非线性特征的系统讨论。研究最后指出,充分理解创新的非线性特征,有助于研究跳出传统的线性思维模式,更加深刻地理解线性政策范式、科技成果转化、企业创新能力建设、营商环境优化、新型举国体制等关键议题。

If policy makers simply regard innovation-driven development as a linear relationship between suppliers and users, take it as a process of achievement transformation from the upstream to downstream in the innovation chain,they will be at the very risk to neglect the importance of incumbent enterprises, especially leading enterprises, in the process of innovation, transformation and upgrading. Such misunderstanding of innovation not only aggravates the resource tension in the existing economic system, but also increases the risks and uncertainties of innovative achievements entering reality and creating economic value. Thus, only if the linear understanding of innovation is fundamentally reversed can enterprises improve the efficiency of policy design and consolidate the foundation of transformation and upgrading.In order to make a more comprehensive understanding of the nonlinear characteristics of innovation process, this study based on a necessary literature review, takes three material industries(chemical and pharmaceutical industries,semiconductor industry and liquid crystal industry) in developed countries as research objects and discusses several critical junctures in the process of transformation and upgrading. Then this study discusses the role of incumbents in the introduction of novelties, which includes three different forms, i.e. to introduce new products, to reshape industrial structure and organization, and to(re)build a state-market-society relationship. These empirical evidence shows that the leading enterprises are:(1) the main force that introduces scientific discoveries or related inventions into real economic life and even the direct leader of the invention-discovery cycle in many cases,(2) the important leader in promoting the development and evolution of industrial structure and organization, which has led to the transformation of many scientific and technological achievements today,(3) the core organization to shape and guide the social atmosphere and political environment, which is precisely the institutional conditions necessary to create new industries and introduce revolutionary products.Based on the empirical evidence and preliminary conclusions above, the study further analyze the causes of the role of leading enterprises in industrial upgrading from the theoretical level. In short, innovation in the real world is by no means a linear channel of the "science→technology→industry" : in this process, science-technology relationship, technology-economic relationship and technology-society relationship are complex and mixed, among which there are many critical limitations and reverse forces that directly change the relationship between various links. This means that the nonlinear characteristics are the profoundly essential ones in the innovation process. This determines not only the activity space for incumbent enterprises to effect the technology trend and innovation process fundamentally, but also the powerlessness of the linear model and its policy thinking.A full understanding of the nonlinear characteristics of innovation will help enterprises break out of the traditional linear thinking model and have a deeper understanding of a range of key issues in innovation policy. Therefore, the study finally gives three suggestions on innovation, science and technology policy:(1) Understand the serious limitations of Bush-paradigm in China’s transformation and upgrading and innovation-driven process, and reflect on the thinking-stereotype that links basic research with solving the neck-jamming problem;(2) Understand the relationship between the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and enterprise innovation ability, and reconstruct the policy resource structure centered on improving enterprise innovation ability;(3) Understand the business environment and new national system required for independent innovation, reconstruct the state-market-society relationship required for innovation-driven development with the empowerment of the state to society, and jump out of the limitations of the "state-market" dichotomy.