R&D employee training, the stock of technological knowledge, and R&D productivity

Abstract

This paper investigates the conditioning role of R&D employee training in the effect of the stock of technological knowledge on firm R&D productivity. We suggest that the development of R&D human capital through training enhances firm‐specific technological competence, thereby enabling firms to better utilize their stock of technological knowledge as a source of technological opportunities. Specifically, while a trap of path dependency may hamper the proper utilization of the firm‐specific stock of technological knowledge, R&D employee training reinforces the standing‐on‐the‐shoulders effect of the stock of technological knowledge, thereby offsetting, at least partially, its fishing‐out effect due to depleting technological opportunities. Using panel data of Korean manufacturing firms, we show that R&D employee training positively moderates the effect of the stock of technological knowledge on firm R&D productivity. Furthermore, we suggest several factors that influence the positive moderating effect of R&D employee training such as the degree of knowledge sharing among R&D employees within each firm, the strength of industry R&D appropriability, and the industry R&D intensity.