A study on the influence of government subsidies on enterprises' innovative performance in Chinese patent-intensive industries

The purpose of this article is to analyse the impact of government subsidies on investments in research and development (R&D) and the innovative performance of Chinese patent-intensive industries. Patent-intensive industries listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges from 2013 to 2019 were chosen as the research samples, and the study methods included univariate linear regression and exponential regression analyses. The principal results were as follows: 1) government subsidies had a direct positive effect on firms' innovative performance, and R&D investment played a mediating role; 2) this facilitation effect was greater in state-owned enterprises; 3) the facilitation was also higher in the Greater Bay Area. Accordingly, the government should increase innovation R&D subsidies for patent-intensive enterprises, while enterprises should improve their R&D capabilities, thereby boosting their efficiency of innovation transformation.