Innovation in Chinese cluster-based leading enterprises

The paper offers an analysis of the innovation performance of cluster‐based leading enterprises in Guangdong Province (China). It is a first attempt in the international literature to examine the innovation strategy of cluster‐based leading enterprises in the context of a transition economy. To this aim we explore a unique data‐set of leading enterprises in Guangdong specialized towns and we investigate the relationship between the patenting activity of such enterprises and other variables of interest among which the magnitude of policy intervention, the response of firms to policy measures, firm’s specific characteristics (such as ownership and export propensity) and entrepreneur’s specific characteristics (such as previous experience in policy‐making or previous government appointments).