Abstract
Acquisitions by Chinese firms have increased markedly in recent years. So far, we know little about the effects of these acquisitions on the acquirer’s innovation performance. Our paper focuses on two interrelated research questions. First, to what extent can Chinese firms increase their patent output following an acquisition? Second, which factors influence the post-acquisition patent output? Using a comprehensive dataset of 697 publicly listed Chinese firms in the manufacturing sector that conducted 1545 acquisitions from 2000 to 2012, we find no significant overall effect of acquisitions on patent output. However, we find that several acquisition-specific factors have a positive effect on the post-acquisition patent output (e.g., size of the acquired knowledge base, relatedness of the acquired knowledge base, cross-border acquisitions). Our study extends prior research on post-acquisition innovation performance to the context of Chinese acquirers.
Highlights
15 years before, Chinese applicants filed 2% of the patents they filed in 2014
We find no significant effect of acquisitions on patent output of Chinese acquirers
Assessing deal-specific variables, we find that a larger absolute size of the acquired knowledge base, technological relatedness, and cross-border acquisitions have a positive effect on post-acquisition patent output
Summary
15 years before, Chinese applicants filed 2% of the patents they filed in 2014. While Chinese entities increased their applications 50-fold since applications by US applicants grew twofold and applications by Japanese applicants even decreased by 3% (WIPO 2017). Prior research on post-acquisition innovation performance draws on absorptive capacity and organizational learning frameworks to explain increases in patent output, with scholars frequently stressing the need to better understand the contextual dimension surrounding the phenomenon (Muehlfeld et al 2012; Argote 2013) We contribute to this line of research by introducing the unique context of Chinese acquirers. There are studies that analyze Chinese acquisitions with regard to financial performance (Deng 2009; Zhao et al 2011; Buckley et al 2014), an in-depth empirical investigation of the effects on innovation output and its antecedents is still lacking This is intriguing because access to technological know-how is one of the main reasons for Chinese acquisitions (e.g., Deng 2004; Morck et al 2008; Anderson et al 2015).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
