A study of the R&D efficiency and productivity of Chinese firms

This paper investigates the influence of ownership on the research and development (R&D) efficiency of Chinese firms. In a sample of 8341 Chinese industrial firms, ownership is found to be a contributing factor in the cross-sectional variance of both R&D and productive efficiencies. The state sector has significantly lower R&D and productive efficiency than the non-state sector. Within the non-state sector, foreign firms have higher R&D and productive efficiency than domestic collective-owned enterprises and joint stock companies. The higher R&D efficiency of foreign firms appears to be due to a higher R&D intensity, which in turn leads to higher productivity. (C) 2003 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.