(Correspondent Qi Zhiping) The 54th Xi Xian Forum on Income Distribution and Modern Finance, co-hosted by the Innovation and Talent Base for Income Distribution and Public Finance and the School of Public Finance and Taxation of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, was held in Conference Room 101 of Wenquan Building on May 17, 2024. Prof. Huang Can from the School of Management of Zhejiang University, as a keynote speaker at the 54th Xi Xian Forum, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Complementarity Between Imports and R&D for Emerging Market Firms". This academic forum was presided over by Prof. Zeng Jingjing from the School of Public Administration, and attended by more than 30 teachers and students, including Prof. Ye Jingjing from the School of Public Finance and Taxation and Dr. Wang Qiao from Huazhong Agricultural University.
In China and other emerging market economies, enterprise innovation has always been the focus of academia and policy makers as a key factor to promote economic growth and enhance international competitiveness. Prof. Huang elaborated on the complementarity between imports and R&D from the perspective of enterprise innovation learning pathway. He clearly defined the complementarity concept based on existing literature and real-world cases. In order to study the relationship between imports and R&D, he used industrial enterprise survey data, customs data and enterprise patent data from 1998 to 2007 as research samples to systematically analyze the potential impact of imports on R&D. Research shows that imports and R&D complement with each other. First, enterprises can enhance their R&D capabilities with advanced technology and knowledge obtained through imports, thus realizing positive complementarity between imports and R&D. Second, the complementarity is relatively strong in industries with fierce competition and high foreign capital participation. Finally, research also shows that the complementarity is relatively weak in enterprises with strong technical competence and rich internationalization experience.
Prof. Huang gave a wonderful lecture to the teachers and students present, which triggered in-depth contemplation among them. In the discussion session, teachers and students actively shared their ideas on research background, research problems and topic selection, writing and contribution of English papers. Then, this academic forum was successfully concluded. Prof. Huang's lecture promoted the sharing and exchange of different academic views and created a strong academic atmosphere.
Huang Can is currently a professor and deputy dean of the School of Management of Zhejiang University, a Young Changjiang Scholar of Ministry of Education, chief expert of major projects of National Social Science Fund of China, executive deputy director of National Institute for Innovation Management of Zhejiang University, and director of Institute for Intellectual Property Management of School of Management of Zhejiang University. He is a member of the Global Future Council of the World Economic Forum, a member of the ISO 56000 Technical Committee on Innovation Management, and a member of the National Technical Committee on Knowledge Management Standardization. He served as associate editor-in-chief of Technovation, one of the academic journals with the highest impact factors in innovation management, from 2020 to 2024, and senior editor and associate editor-in-chief of Management and Organization Review published by International Association for Chinese Management Research from 2017 to 2023. His research interests include innovation and intellectual property management, science and technology policy analysis.