A Spin-in Model of Nanomaterials Innovation in China

While China has rapidly expanded scientific research on nanotechnology, the development of entrepreneurial technology-oriented small nanotechnology companies faces a series of challenges. While institutions and incentives for academic scholarship are well-established in China, mechanisms to support technology-based entrepreneurship are new and relatively fragile. New enterprises in the emerging area of nanotechnology face problems of technology transfer and intellectual property management, capital acquisition, market uncertainty, and constrained access to global markets. This paper explores issues and trajectories of nanotechnology SME commercialization, probing the particular characteristics of the Chinese context and the ways in which innovation frameworks, institutions and business strategies are enmeshed. We examine in detail the case of an innovative Chinese indigenous small firm engaged in nano-fumed silica development, investigating the strategies and pushand pull-factors underlying its innovation practices. We find that the technology is company-driven but also highly connected to public R&D support which stimulates “spin-in” development as this small firm embeds technology and business development strategies with host institutions. We explore the proposition that the institutional relationships which are 1 Corresponding author :Li Tang, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, 685 Cherry St. N.W. Atlanta, GA 30318, USA. Tel.:+1 678 896 3133; E-mail address: [email protected]