Institutional incentives and pressures in Chinese manufacturing firms' innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Chinese firms' innovation is related to their perceived incentives and pressures from the transitioning institutional environment. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 166 manufacturing firms located in Guangdong Province (China) is analyzed using binomial and moderated multiple regression models. Findings The results show that institutional incentives are more effective in promoting incremental innovations than radical ones, whereas institutional pressures are more pronounced in facilitating radical innovations than incremental ones. In addition, the interaction between the two divergent institutional forces is negatively related to innovation performance. Originality/value The study contributes to existing literature on institutions and innovation by disentangling incentive and pressure effects of institutions, regulation and innovation policies, as well as the combined and interaction effects intrinsic within institutional mixes.