Do Multinationals' R&D Activities Stimulate Indigenous Entrepreneurship? Evidence from China's "Silicon Valley"

Using a unique firm-level dataset from China's "Silicon Valley," we investigate how multinational enterprises (MNEs) affect local entrepreneurship and R&D activities upon entry. We find that R&D activities of MNEs in an industry stimulate entry of domestic firms into the same industry and enhance R&D activities of newly entering domestic firms. By contrast, MNEs' production activities or domestic firms' R&D activities do not have such effect. Since MNEs are technologically more advanced than domestic firms, our findings suggest that diffusion of MNEs' advanced knowledge to potential indigenous entrepreneurs through MNEs' R&D stimulates entry of domestic firms.