Collaboration with External Organizations and Technological Innovations: Evidence from Spanish Manufacturing Firms

The impact of network positions in scientific collaboration on pharmaceutical firms' technological innovation performance: Moderating roles of scientific collaboration strength and patent stock

Scientific knowledge is an underlying basis for technological innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Collaboration is the main way to participate in the creation of scientific knowledge for pharmaceutical firms. Will network positions in scientific collaboration affect their technological innovation performance? Moreover, what factors moderate the firms' scientific collaboration network positions and technological innovation link? Using a dataset based on 194 Chinese publicly traded pharmaceutical companies, this paper constructs the dynamic scientific collaboration networks among 1,826 organizations by analyzing 4,092 papers included in CNKI and Web of Science databases. Then we probe the impact and boundaries of positions in the scientific collaboration network of pharmaceutical firms on their technological innovation performance through the negative binomial modeling approach. Our study confirms that degree centrality has an inverted U-shaped impact on pharmaceutical firms' technological innovation performance, while structural holes benefit it. Moreover, this article identifies that the strength of scientific collaboration positively moderates the U-shaped relationship between degree centrality and technological innovation of pharmaceutical firms, the matching of high patent stock and high structural holes can promote their technological innovation performance. The results deepen the present understanding of scientific collaboration in the pharmaceutical industry and offer new insights into the formulation of pharmaceutical firms' scientific collaboration strategies.

The influence of organizational learning and external cooperation configuration on enterprise technological innovation: A study based on fsQCA approach

This study explores the influence of organizational learning and external cooperation configuration on enterprise technological innovation and constructs a comprehensive theoretical framework of "organizational learning-external cooperation-technological innovation" based on the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method. The results show the following. (1) A single episode of organizational learning or external cooperation cannot affect the enterprise’s technological innovation, which requires the mutual linkage of the two to improve enterprise technological innovation performance. (2) The technological innovation model in which organizational learning and external cooperation interact is an effective way for enterprises to improve technological innovation performance. There are four technological innovation models that produce high technological innovation performance, namely consciousness-system synergy, consciousness-led, quasi-full, and all-around drive. (3) There are four models of non-high-tech innovation performance, which are not opposed to the technological innovation model of high-tech innovation performance. This research expands the technological innovation perspective of organizational learning and external cooperation matching, provides enterprises with effective technological innovation activities, and provides a theoretical reference and practical guidance for improving technological innovation performance.

Instrument policy mix and firm size: is there complementarity between R&D subsidies and R&D tax credits?

Nowadays, a rising number of evaluations investigates a multifaceted concept of the policy mix. Our study specifically focuses on the mix of two most frequently used supply-side instruments–R&D subsidies and R&D tax credits. Drawing on the longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, we investigate whether there is a complementary interaction between these policy instruments with respect to product and process innovations. Moreover, by employing a dynamic random-effects probit estimator, we account for the persistence of innovation and endogeneity of public support. The results, that are separately estimated for SMEs and large firms, uniformly show evidence of no interplay between two policy instruments either in SMEs or large firms. However, among factors that influence the propensity to product and process innovations, by far, the largest effect is generated by true state dependence. These findings provide some policy implications for fostering product and process innovations in the long run.

The Effect of Formal and Informal External Collaboration on Innovation Performance of SMEs: Evidence from China

External collaboration is an effective way for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve innovation performance and obtain sustainable competitiveness. This study focuses on the influence of external collaboration on innovation performance of SMEs. Specifically, this study classifies external collaboration into formal and informal external collaboration, and explores their different impacts on innovation performance of SMEs, respectively. Moreover, this study examines the moderating effects of managers’ entrepreneurial orientation and organizational legitimacy on the relationships between formal and informal collaboration and innovation performance of SMEs. Survey data from 213 high-tech manufacturing SMEs in China reveals that: (1) Both formal and informal external collaboration have positive effects on innovation performance of SMEs, and informal external collaboration offers greater benefits than formal external collaboration; (2) managers’ entrepreneurial orientation positively moderates the relationship between informal external collaboration and SMEs’ innovation performance; (3) organizational legitimacy positively moderates the relationships between formal and informal external collaboration and SMEs’ innovation performance. This study enriches the research on the relationship between external collaboration and innovation performance of SMEs, and advances the understanding of the contextual factors between formal and informal external collaboration-SMEs’ innovation performance relationships through elucidating the moderating role of managers’ entrepreneurial orientation and organizational legitimacy.