R&D Internationalization And Innovation Performance Of Multinational Enterprises

R&D internationalization,as an activity for multinational enterprises to collect R&D resources on a global scale,has provided a huge opportunity for them to accumulate innovation resources.More and more multinational enterprises regard R&D internationalization as a "springboard" to achieve technological breakthroughs,and build the global R&D networks to realize cross-border transfer and utilization of knowledge resources,which give new impetus to innovation.However,under the impact of COVID-19,overseas R&D faces more and more uncertainties and risks,which brings great challenges to the R&D internationalization of multinational enterprises.Therefore,under the new international situation,how can Chinese multinational enterprises make better use of R&D internationalization to improve innovation performance and achieve technological catch-up? And how to make R&D location decisions? Sorting out these problems has important practical and theoretical significance.Based on this,this paper selects Chinese listed companies in knowledge-intensive industries and have established overseas R&D subsidiaries from 2009 to 2015 as samples.This paper uses poisson panel regression with two-way fixed effects to analyze the impact of R&D internationalization on innovation performance from two levels of depth and breadth,then the moderating effects of dynamic capability and institutional quality in host country on R&D internationalization and innovation performance are studied.This paper finds that: Firstly,the depth and breadth of R&D internationalization will promote the improvement of innovation performance;Secondly,dynamic capabilities positively moderates the relationship between R&D internationalization and innovation performance,which is an important internal factor that causes differences in innovation performance;Thirdly,institutional quality positively moderates the relationship between R&D internationalization and innovation performance,Chinese multinational enterprises tend to conduct R&D activities in host countries with high institutional quality.Finally,with the increase of the dynamic capability,the impact of the host country institutional quality on R&D internationalization and innovation performance will become weaker.Therefore,dynamic capabilities can effectively help multinational enterprises to cope with the unfamiliar and complex host country environment and overcome institutional defects,so as to better utilize R&D internationalization to improve innovation performance.To sum up,this paper analyzes the impact of R&D internationalization on innovation performance of multinational enterprises based on the dual perspectives of dynamic capabilities and institutional quality,which has important theoretical value and practical significance for latecomer multinational enterprises to better use R&D internationalization as a springboard to improve innovation performance and realize technological catch-up.The contributions are as follows: Firstly,different from previous studies on developed countries,this paper places R&D internationalization in the context of emerging economies,which further enriches the theoretical analysis of overseas R&D and innovation performance in underdeveloped regions.Secondly,different from previous studies focusing on the single dimension of "whether to carry out R&D internationalization",this paper explores the impact of R&D internationalization on innovation performance from the perspective of depth and breadth,and deeply reveals the relationship between the two in a deeper level.Thirdly,different from previous studies that analyzed R&D internationalization and innovation performance based on resource-based view,this study explored the impact of R&D internationalization on innovation performance based on dynamic capability theory and institution-based view,which enriched the research framework of "R&D internationalization-innovation performance".Finally,different from previous studies that analyze R&D internationalization and innovation performance from a single perspective,this study incorporates dynamic capabilities and host country institutional quality into the same framework,which provides a new path for multinational enterprises to expand internationally based on dynamic capabilities,and provides theoretical support for better use of dynamic capabilities to match the host country institutional environment,thereby improving innovation performance.