Recently, a team consisting of NUBS China PhD candidates Hu Jianwei and Wang Yali supervised by Professor Hua Xiuping, attended the New Structural Economics Case Competition in Peking University and won an award. More than 500 participants, making up 115 teams from a variety of institutions, think tanks, government bodies, and industries based at home and abroad participated in the competition. Apart from the NUBS China team, other award-winning teams were from Peking University, Zhejiang University, Wuhan University, Capital University of Economics and Business, Sun Yat-sen University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Guizhou University and China Development Bank.
Dr Xu Jiajun, Executive Associate Dean of INSE, pointed out that case studies are an important source of innovation as well as supporting the development of teaching with first-hand information and critical thinking.
NUBS China team’s case study titled ‘Industrial Policy and Enterprise Innovation from the Perspective of New Structural Economics--A Case Study of Ningbo Exciton Technology’ explores the Ningbo Exciton Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Exciton), a successfully listed high-tech enterprise. The study provides an in-depth analysis of the government’s facilitating role in the development of industry and enterprise innovation, based on new structural economics theory. The government adopts the following strategies relevant to industrial policies: supporting high-tech enterprises in cultivating their viability; encouraging technological innovation and development of industrial clusters; accelerating the optimisation of regional resource endowment to promote the transformation and upgrade of regional industrial structures; and encouraging the realisation of a dynamic and sustainable development of the economy. The establishment and development process of Exciton fully reflects the successful application of the strategy of comparative advantage, enterprise viability theory and the facilitating state theory in the high-tech industry, all advocated by new structural economics. This is a typical instance of the positive interaction between the "efficient market" and the "facilitating state", under which Exciton has become one of the leading enterprises engaged in the research, development, production, and marketing of optical films for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in the world after 10 years of development, grounded in strong viability. Moreover, it has been leading relevant industry clusters in the further development of optical films for displays. Thus, through absorbing and integrating a large amount of capital, technology and talent, the company’s local resource endowment has been optimised, while also achieving industrial transformation and upgrades, as well as economic growth.
The Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University (INSE) is a pilot academic institute in China that aims to achieve independent and theoretical innovation in the social sciences. Its predecessor, the Center for New Structural Economics, was founded by Professor Justin Yifu Lin, former World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, in December 2015, and was one of China’s top think tanks. In June 2018, Nottingham University Business School China established the Ningbo New Structural Economics Research Centre together with Peking University and the Ningbo Development and Planning Research Institute.
Professor Hua commenting on the case study said, “During our research, we found that in the future, how can Ningbo bring in leading enterprises that can drive the development of the whole ecosystem upstream and downstream of the industry; how can Ningbo promote more industries into leading industries; and how can Ningbo further foster and support technology consumer products and services enterprises that have influence on the national and global markets, are the most urgent issues needed to be solved by Ningbo. The cases of industrial upgrading and enterprise innovation in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan and other cities in China, especially with the experience of cultivating and expanding their "curve-overtaking" industries, have certain referential and inspirational significance for Ningbo’s future policies on innovation and government strategy. The empirical experience of how the "efficient market" and the "facilitating state" interact with each other and promote the development of various industries still needs more research by various circles. With the case of Exciton, we hope to play a role in attracting talent, and look forward to more enterprise developments, academic progress and industrial policy innovations.”
We also interviewed Dr Zhang Yan, the President of Ningbo Exciton Technology Co., Ltd., and he said, “It is an honour that the NUBS China team can take the development of Exciton as a case study and achieve outstanding results. I thank the team for their conscientious research and elaborate summary of the experience. There are many factors that make an enterprise successful, and industrial policy and enterprise innovation, as mentioned in the case study, are two key factors. Exciton cannot thrive without the favourable environment for entrepreneurship in Ningbo. For example, Ningbo is the first pilot demonstration city of the 'Made in China 2025' strategy, making the city one of the national innovation demonstration zones, and one of the integrated pilot zones of the Belt and Road Initiative. All of these policies have created outstanding conditions for Exciton’s growth into a larger, stronger and better company. Innovation is the main driving force for enterprise development. In our company, innovation culture has become a general trend. Lately, we have won two national honours: the National Technological Innovation Demonstration Enterprise and the National Enterprise Technological Centre. Exciton standing out from more than 100 cases across the country is also recognition of the company’s rapid development. I hope the experience of Exciton can give inspiration to other enterprises, and we can embrace prosperous times together and become excellent Chinese enterprises together too.”