Evaluating R&D efficiency of China’s listed lithium battery enterprises

Bai, S. and Bi, X. and Han, Chunjia and Zhou, Q. and Shang, W. and Yang, Mu and Wang, L. and Ieromonachouc, P. and He, H. (2022) Evaluating R&D efficiency of China’s listed lithium battery enterprises. Frontiers of Engineering Management 9 , pp. 473-485. ISSN 2096-0255.

Abstract

Promoting the growth of the lithium battery sector has been a critical aspect of Chi-na’s energy policy in terms of achieving carbon neutrality. However, despite significant supports on research and development (R&D) investments that have resulted in increasing size, the sector looks to be falling behind in technological areas still. In order to guide future policies and understand proper ways of promoting R&D efficiency, we, thus, looked into the lithium battery industry of China. Specifically, data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used as the primary approach based on evidence from 22 listed lithium battery enterprises. The performance of the five leading players was compared to that of the industry as a whole. There was little indication of a meaningful improvement in R&D efficiency throughout our sample from 2010 to 2019 indicated in the result; though, during this period, a significant increase in R&D expenditure was witnessed. This finding was supported as the result shows the average technical efficiency of the 22 enterprises being 0.442, whereas the average pure technical efficiency at 0.503, suggesting they are suffering from de-creasing returns to scale (DRS). On the contrary, the performance of the five leading players seems to be superior because their average efficiency scores are higher than the industry’s average, and that they are experiencing increasing scale efficiency (IRS). We draw on these findings to suggest for policymakers that supporting technologically intensive sectors should entail more than simply increasing investment scale; rather, it should also encompass assisting businesses in developing efficient managerial processes for R&D.

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