Das Kapital is the first work of innovation theory, which points out that the external competition rules and the internal surplus value laws generate the impetus for enterprises to adopt new technology. On this basis, Marx proposed to rely on system construction to promote innovation.The first is the institutional arrangement, which ensures the enterprises that first adopt advanced technology to obtain innovation profits. Individual capital increases its labor productivity by technological progress. Accordingly, the value of individual goods decreases, so it is lower than the social value, resulting in the excess surplus value.The second is to establish a mechanism for the innovation achievements diffusing to the whole society. The final result is that the new production mode is widely adopted, and the labor productivity of the whole society is generally improved.The third is that sci-tech innovation needs investment. The transformation of scientific discoveries into new technologies and products requires not only extremely expensive equipments, but also material and human investment. In order to stimulate China’s innovation at this stage, we should encourage sci-tech investment from this perspective.The fourth is to improve the quality of workers. The quality and ability of workers should meet the needs of innovation-driven development strategy.
