On April 16th, ZIBS, in collaboration with the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, successfully hosted the "Smith Around the World" Lecture Series to celebrate the 301st birthday of Adam Smith. The lecture, themed "Adam Smith's Philosophy—Inspiring Future Innovation in Entrepreneurship," took place under the "Triple Helix" framework of university-industry-government collaboration. Cross-border representatives gathered together to discuss the economic ideas of Adam Smith, promote cross-border cooperation and stimulate innovation. The event was chaired by ZIBS Assistant Professor Jomel NG.
In the welcome speech, ZIBS Dean BEN Shenglin expressed his honor in partnering with Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, to co-host the representative "Smith Around the World Lecture Series". Despite the various challenges facing globalization, the vigor of the free market and the spirit of Adam Smith remain undiminished. He hopes to explore the contemporary relevance of Smith's ideas through interactive discussions, inviting policymakers and industry leaders to contribute.
In the keynote address, ZIBS Assistant Professor Sheikh Fayaz Ahmad highlighted the significance of frugality and frugal innovations during times of crisis. By revisiting the works of Adam Smith and examining the role of governments, he noted that frugality was central to Smith's writings. According to Fayaz, Smith believed that people who are frugal possess more than just a value; they are the saviors of a nation. Smith considered "prodigality" at both the personal and national levels, a threat to prosperity. Fayaz explained that Smith viewed every prodigal as a public enemy and every frugal individual as a public benefactor, indicating that nations could decline from prosperity to impoverishment due to individual and governmental prodigality. Smith believed that frugality enhances public capital. In his seminal works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776), the term "frugality" is mentioned more than 50 times, including 38 appearances in The Wealth of Nations alone. Fayaz also mentioned that Smith's work is often grossly misrepresented and misused, emphasizing that Smith advocated for inclusion, the role of government, and the promotion of justice and empathy. According to Fayaz, Smith opposed exploitative business practices and detested "projectors" who would manipulate governments and prioritize "profits" over "people".
Roundtable Discussion
During the roundtable discussion, Eleanor Shaw, Head of the Adam Smith Business School, believes that universities, business associations, and governments can promote the development of social enterprises by establishing an innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem. She highlighted the significant impact of social enterprises on national welfare, especially their potential to address social issues such as food poverty and housing shortages. Social enterprises not only contribute to creating an inclusive society but also drive economic growth, job creation, and expansion into new markets. She also pointed out that innovation, entrepreneurship, and their solutions to social problems are crucial for the effective functioning of the economy, facilitating equal access to resources and benefiting all members of society.
BEN Shenglin explored the potential synergies between finance and innovation over the next decade, emphasizing the importance of venture capital and government roles in fostering an innovation ecosystem. He noted that Chinese financial institutions will prioritize support for technological innovations, which will also enhance the efficiency of financial services and reduce costs. He expects that a beneficial interaction between finance and technology will promote the commercialization of innovations and build a sustainable ecosystem.
ZIBS Associate Professor WAN Feng discussed how cost innovation can help Chinese companies gain a competitive edge in the global market by offering high-quality products at low costs. He emphasized that Chinese companies are adopting cost innovations, focusing on both product quality and cost-effectiveness, unlike traditional low-cost strategies. He also suggested that companies should internationalize their R&D activities, leveraging the cost advantages of emerging markets to further drive cost innovation and enhance global competitiveness. This strategy has effectively improved product quality and maintained competitive pricing, helping businesses succeed in the international market.
While discussing the concept of "Combinatorial explosion" introduced by Paul Romer, Nobel laureate and the proponent of "new growth theory", Fayaz cited Romer's analogy of ideas being like chemical elements combined in novel ways. Romer compared historical inventions where tin and copper were merged to create bronze, and carbon mixed with iron to forge steel. Fayaz used Romer's insights to illustrate that if we consider just 10 elements, the possible combinations exceed the number of seconds since the universe's inception at the Big Bang. He emphasized the limitless potential of ideas, encouraging new innovators to explore diverse fields, particularly focusing on cost-effective, sustainable, and green innovations. Fayaz also highlighted China as a prime example of a country providing valuable innovation lessons to the global community.
QIU Jinyue, Second Grade Researcher from Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, shared the strategic measures adopted by the government in creating and optimizing an environment conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as the government's multidimensional support for promoting the transformation of scientific research results and encouraging corporate technological innovation. The government has not only established professional service institutions and teams but also formulated a series of policies to support innovation and entrepreneurship. These include policies encouraging foreign-funded enterprises to establish research and development centers, as well as efforts to secure provincial and national resources to create a distinctive business environment integrating science - education - industry - city. Finally, she emphasized the significant role of intellectual property protection in entrepreneurship and innovation, along with the efforts made by Jiaxing City in this regard.
XU Zhonghua, National Chair for Carbon Market WG of EUCCC, VP and Head of R&D for Asia TotalEnergies, analyzed the crucial role of enterprises in fostering an innovation culture and advancing innovative practices through open innovation and ecosystem development, stimulating creative thinking and cross-disciplinary cooperation. He noted that enterprises should demonstrate the value of innovation through products and services, manage innovation risks effectively, and promote connections with academia and innovation in business models through initiatives like incubation programs and international cooperation platforms, thereby reducing costs and advancing environmental goals.
Q&A Session
During the Q&A session, the audience engaged extensively with the speakers on topics such as the readiness of solar and other renewable energies and how artificial intelligence can aid organizational innovation.
Finally, Eleanor Shaw emphasized in her closing remarks the advocacy of a fair, just, and inclusive economy in Adam Smith's writings, highlighting the importance of economic redistribution and government intervention in achieving social equity, justice, and sustainability. She expressed sincere gratitude to the participants and looked forward to ongoing cooperation with ZIBS.
Focusing on key issues such as policy support, industrial ecology construction, academic research promotion, etc., representatives from government, industry and academia actively exchanged their views and discussed how to promote cross-border cooperation and stimulate innovation vitality, which provided a valuable collision of ideas and strategic guidance for the future development of innovation and entrepreneurship, and also provided a solid foundation for the cooperation of all parties.
