ABSTRACT The digital economy has brought innovative power to the manufacturing transformation. This study aims to investigate the nonlinear effects of digital development on manufacturing innovation using provincial panel data from China from 2011 to 2018. A two-way fixed effects model is used to examine the inverted U-shaped curve that represents the nonlinear impact of digital development on innovation. To explore the reasons behind the nonlinear digital innovation spillover, this study considered both the internal factors and external boundary conditions. We employ a moderation effect model to verify the interaction between digital development and user literacy which has a positive impact on manufacturing innovation. Especially, higher education can help users enhance digital literacy in driving digital innovation spillovers. Threshold effect model is used to examine the boundary conditions such as Internet penetration rate, information resources, and protection of intellectual property rights that contribute to the nonlinear effects. The research findings suggest that when these factors reach a critical point, the positive impact of the digital economy on manufacturing innovation turns towards a declining trend. The study provides insights into the complex relationship between digital development and manufacturing innovation and proposes policy implications.

Telehealth services in China rapidly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The work stress of health care providers (HCPs) associated with providing telehealth care services in China has been less studied. Our study describes the telehealth services provided by hospitals in China and examines the relationships between telehealth use and work stress of HCPs in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a survey research design, HCPs aged 18 or older in China were electronically recruited from October 19 to November 10, 2021 (n=1,073). After preprocessing, data from 1,036 HCPs were used for further analyses, which included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models. Results showed that 64.29% of Chinese hospitals reported virtual physician-to-physician consultations, and 59.94% of Chinese HCPs conducted online physician consultations. Lower levels of HCP work stress was associated with live video conferencing (p=0.04), online physician consultations (p=0.00), and higher levels of team collaboration (p=0.00) and team trust (p=0.00). Work stress was also positively correlated with COVID-19 stress (p=0.00), working hours (p=0.00), and the interaction between live video conferencing and COVID-19 stress (p=0.04). HCPs’ work stress decreased by using live video conferencing and online patient care. However, the positive effects of live video conferencing may decrease with the increase in COVID-19 stress for HCPs. Our findings encourage efforts to develop extensive coverage of telehealth service systems in China to promote HCPs’ virtual communication and collaboration to relieve HCPs’ work stress and support their well-being.

Building resilient cities is a novel concept for dealing with risk crises and achieving sustainable urban development in modern times. This paper utilized data from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (BTHUA) spanning from 2009 to 2019, along with the CRITIC-Entropy weight method, coupling coordination degree (CCD) model and spatial correlation analysis to measure urban resilience and investigate subsystem coupling coordination relationships while considering spatial clustering characteristics. The results indicate that: (1) Spatially, there is a significant gap between the UR index of cities in Hebei Province and that of Beijing-Tianjin, with a “Beijing-Tianjin dual-core driven” trend. Regarding temporal evolution, the growth trend of the UR index is consistent with that of the subsystem resilience index. (2) In general, the CCD of the urban resilience subsystem is slowly trending upwards, with the overall CCD level of BTHUA ranging from primary coordination to moderate coordination. (3) The degree of spatial correlation of subsystem CCD in BTHUA is weak, and more cities exhibit heterogeneous agglomeration. These findings provide valuable inspiration and reference for resilient city construction and coordinated regional development to a certain extent.

ABSTRACT The functions of the stock market such as investment exit mechanism (IPO), interest incentive and capital allocation are beneficial for corporate to engage in innovation activities with higher risk and longer cycle, but IPO underpricing will hinder the realization of such functions. This paper uses the fixed effect model for empirical analysis and finds that the long-term innovation performance of corporate s with IPO underpricing is poor. Mechanism analysis shows that IPO underpricing corporates will have management myopia, lack of R&D enthusiasm that inhibit corporate innovation. Further analysis shows that the improvement of corporate information transparency and institutional investor field research can alleviate this negative impact can alleviate this negative impact. The conclusion of this paper aims to improve efficiency of the capital market, promote the effective pricing of the capital market, and provide certain reference significance for the relevant policies of the capital market to support the high-quality development of the real economy.

PurposeThe aim of this research is to explore the impact of digital resilience on firms' international performance. Using internal operation efficiency and innovation as channel variables, this paper explores the relationship between digital resilience and international firm performance of Chinese listed firms.Design/methodology/approachThe research design follows a quantitative approach. Using firm-level panel data from 2007 to 2020, this paper tests the hypotheses between digital resilience and international firm performance through internal efficiency and innovation.FindingsThe results note that digital resilience has a positive effect on internationalization while operation efficiency is a channel through which digital resilience promotes internationalization. Digital resilience also facilitates innovation by improving research and development (R&D) efficiency and matching innovation collaborators.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first to explore digital resilience in the context of internalization and international firm performance. This paper extends the notion of resource-based view (RBV) to examine the relationship between digital resilience, internal efficiency and innovation on international firm performance.

This research investigates the relationship between scientific disclosure and innovation in Chinese listed firms from 2006 to 2018. Our findings indicate a positive correlation between scientific disclosure and both the quantity and quality of a firm's patents. Scientific disclosure enhances innovation by enhancing market credibility, pursuing standards, and attracting high-quality talent. The positive impact of scientific disclosure is particularly notable in firms with high levels of knowledge and R&D density, as well as those with independent central research institutes and state-owned enterprises. Overall, our investigation emphasizes the crucial significance of scientific disclosure in promoting innovation in emerging markets.

Input-Output (IO) data describing supply-demand relationships between buyers and sellers for goods and services within an economy have been used not only in economics but also in scientific, environmental, and interdisciplinary research. However, most conventional IO data are highly aggregated, resulting in challenges for researchers and practitioners who face complex issues in large countries such as China, where firms within the same IO sector may have significant differences in technologies across subnational regions and different ownerships. This paper is the first attempt to compile China’s interprovincial IO (IPIO) tables with separate information for mainland China-, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan-, and foreign-owned firms inside each province/industry pair. To do this, we collect relevant Chinese economic census data, firm surveys, product level Custom trade statistics, and firm value-added tax invoices and consistently integrate them into a 42-sector, 31-province IO account covering 5 benchmark years between 1997–2017. This work provides a solid foundation for a diverse range of innovative IO-based research in which firm heterogeneity information about location and ownership matters.

ABSTRACT This paper examines how COVID-19 affects firm research and development (R&D) using the data of Chinese-listed companies from 2018 to 2020. Our results show that COVID-19 significantly inhibits firm R&D input. However, such significant evidence mainly exists on firms classified as private enterprises, with smaller size, or belonging to high-technology industries. Moreover, we find evidence that the epidemic reduces firm revenue but, in the meantime, increases the financing constraint, leading to less R&D investment. The conclusion of this study provides a theoretical basis and practical reference for enterprises to make better decisions on innovative activities.

<p>This study investigates the impact of inventor CEOs on firm performance using a manually collected database of firms' inventors. Our findings reveal that, on average, firms with inventor CEOs experience a one- and two-percentage-point increase in ROA and ROE, respectively, compared to firms with noninventor CEOs. To address potential endogeneity issues, we employ turnover analysis, an instrumental variable approach, and propensity score matching. The estimation results suggest that inventor CEOs significantly enhance firm performance by fostering innovation and total factor productivity. This research contributes novel evidence on the relationship between inventor CEOs and firm performance.</p>