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CenSES annual report 2015
Education
State Entrepreneurship and Innovation in
China
2015 dissertation: Marius Korsnes, NTNU
Many people may wonder if something truly novel and
innovative can originate from China. In my PhD thesis about
China’s offshore wind industry I seek to better understand
innovation in a Chinese context, and whether Chinese
innovation and entrepreneurship may eventually lead to
a transition towards more renewable energy. Here I briefly
present my recently defended PhD dissertation entitled
‘Chinese Renewable Struggles: Innovation, the Arts of the
State and Offshore Wind Technology’.
We know that China has an authoritarian government,
with a dominating Chinese Communist Party. To what
extent does innovation happen in an authoritarian
system, and how, if at all, does the Chinese government
accommodate for innovation activities? One way of
understanding this question is to use Mazzucato’s concept
of the ‘entrepreneurial state’. Mazzucato (2013) defines
entrepreneurs as actors who are willing and able to take on
risk and genuine uncertainty. She finds that the courage,
foresightedness and stability of the government have
been crucial for paving the way for new technological
developments, such as renewable energy technologies. In
my research on China’s offshore wind industry I find that the
Chinese government is an important force in catering for
an environment favourable to innovation and innovation
processes. I describe this as the ‘arts of the state’ in China,
and there are at least two characteristics that promote new,
renewable energy initiatives:
1) Chinese institutions are characterised by flexibility,
supporting or constraining enterprises that to a varying
degree are controlled by the central government;
2) Experimentation is an important learning strategy that
provides competencies and experiences to Chinese firms,
but that involves higher risks. Experimentation is also an
important tool for policy learning and policy development.
In China’s offshore wind industry we observe strong state
support of industrial innovation and manufacturing of
technologies that already exist elsewhere, but we also
observe that the Chinese government and industry actors
are willing and able to take on risk and genuine uncertainty.
This risk is related to the uncertainty of rendering
technologies and practices in China, and whether or not
something new will come out of it in the end. In short,
Chinese actors take risks to learn. Chinese actors appear
to be avid learners, willing to take chances and quick to
seek and create new opportunities. Attempts at innovation
usually fails, which is why innovation activities always are
embedded with risk. But a Chinese innovation environment
as described through studying the offshore wind industry
can be considered a space where experimentation, learning
and exchange of knowledge and experiences eventually
will lead to innovation.
Literature:
Mazzucato, M., 2013. The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private
Myths in Risk and Innovation, London, New York, Delhi: Anthem Press.
PhD student Marius Korsnes defended his thesis “Chinese
Renewable Struggles. Innovation, the Arts of the State and Off-
shore Wind Technology” December 1st 2015.