Research On The Influence Of Interlocking Directorates Network On R&D Of Enterprises Under Economic Policy Uncertainty

The economic policy in China has been continuously adjusted since the financial crisis,which makes the enterprises face great macro risks of economic policy uncertainty(EPU).With the systematization and diversification of the operation and management mode in Chinese enterprises,the interlocking directorates network formed by interlocking directors has been very common.It is a kind of useful invisible social resources,embedded in the framework of various cultures and institutions,linking individual enterprises together,and promoting the flow and integration of capitals among enterprises during the period of economic policy turbulence.However,the interlocking directorates network has two sides for the enterprises which are facing high economic policy uncertainty and waiting to be innovated.On the one hand,the interlocking directorates network can alleviate financing constraints,asymmetric information and other difficulties in the process of innovation,which promote the flow of tacit knowledge and broaden access to finance.New market opportunities and creativity often burst forth from economic policy uncertainty,which encourages more innovative strategies in the enterprises with the advantages of network resource.On the other hand,many high-tech enterprises in China are still in the stage of development,without a solid foundation.Some enterprises ignore the internal optimization of their network structure and fall into embedded trap while blindly expanding the scale of network,which increases the difficulties of radical innovation.Especially,the continuous change of economic policy will further increase the search cost of beneficial information and the difficulties of interpreting policies in the interlocking directorates network,thus reducing the innovation efficiency of enterprises.Based on this,this paper explores the impact of interlocking directorates network on the R&D of enterprises under economic policy uncertainty.Firstly,through social network analysis,the interlocking directorates network among high-tech enterprises in China is constructed,and Degree,Structure Hole(SHI)and Network-size,these three network indicators are calculated.We find that the scale of interlocking directorates network among high-tech enterprises has gradually changed from sparse to intensive,concentrating on some enterprises and radiating outwards,covering most enterprises in the whole network.Using the unbalanced panel data from 2008 to 2017,this paper takes these three network indicators as explanatory variables and takes the economic policy uncertainty(EPU)from macro and micro levels respectively as moderating variables to explore the moderating effect of interlocking directorates network on R&D.We find that Degree has a significant positive correlation with R&D,while the Network-size and SHI do not play a significant role in promoting enterprise innovation,and to some extent,it will inhibit enterprise innovation.Macro-EPU and micro-EPU has a significantly positive moderating effect on the positive relationship between Degree and R&D.Macro-EPU has a significantly negative moderating effect on the positive relationship between Net-size and R&D,and has a significantly positive moderating effect on the negative relationship between Network size and R&D.Macro-EPU has a significantly positive moderating effect on the negative relationship between the SHI and R&D.Based on the empirical results,this paper gives some suggestions to enterprises on how to take advantages of interlocking directorates network to innovate under economic policy uncertainty,optimize the structure and scale of networks to improve the innovation level of high-tech listed enterprises in China.