Business of Innovation

CHAPTER FOUR

NURTURING INNOVATION

AS ECONOMIC HISTORIAN AT THE prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Jiang Tzu Peng often pondered the remarkable past of the Heavenly Kingdom. His life’s work had been devoted to understanding the economic accomplishments and disappointments of his native China. China produced so many inventions, but the most populous nation on earth had relatively little to show for them. It was left to other nations, usually European nations, to exploit China’s many discoveries commercially.

History documents a remarkable series of Chinese inventions. Printing, first used in China, became an accomplishment that altered the creation of knowledge beyond anything the world had known. Yet, it was the 15th-century printing press ...