Abstract
In the literature on business model innovation (BMI) in multinational corporations (MNCs), the influence of cross-border R&D (Research and development) sourcing on innovation performance has been widely discussed; however, from a BMI perspective, apart from innovation performance, the innovation quality is also important. In addition, absorptive capacity and institutional distance are important indicators of MNCs’ innovation quality, although there have been few studies of the moderating effects on the relationship between R&D sourcing and innovation quality. Based on this research gap, starting from the perspective of BMI and by constructing a research framework that includes R&D intensity, R&D diversity, and innovation quality, this paper takes China’s high-tech MNCs as the research object to obtain a sustainable innovative business model. Further, absorptive capacity and institutional distance serve as moderating variables to study the moderating role of the relationship between R&D sourcing and the innovation quality of MNCs. This paper presents the following research findings. During the process of cross-border BMI, R&D intensity has a significant, inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation quality; R&D diversity has a significant negative linear relationship with innovation quality; and absorptive capacity and institutional distance each have a moderating effect on the above relationships.
Highlights
This paper mainly attempts to answer the following two key questions.: (1) from the perspective of business model innovation (BMI), do different dimensions of R&D sourcing affect the innovation quality of multinational corporations (MNCs)?; and (2) do absorptive capacity and institutional distance affect the relationship between cross-border R&D sourcing and innovation quality?
This paper excludes import and export firms from emerging markets, and it exfirms from emerging markets, and it excludes firms that mainly invest in tax havens
In Model 7 of Table 5, to add interactions of R&D intensity and institutional distance, the results showed that coefficient α5 is 0.066, which is significant at the 1% level, proving that institutional distance positively moderates the relationship between R&D intensity and innovation quality
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Compared to those in developed countries, the innovation incentive system of MNCs in emerging economies is not perfect, which leads to high R&D inputs; those firms gradually embark on cross-border R&D sourcing [7]. The research on cross-border R&D sourcing and MNC innovation mainly focuses on firms in developed countries, while research on firms from emerging economies is rare. This paper mainly attempts to answer the following two key questions.: (1) from the perspective of BMI, do different dimensions of R&D sourcing affect the innovation quality of MNCs?; and (2) do absorptive capacity and institutional distance affect the relationship between cross-border R&D sourcing and innovation quality?. The last part presents conclusions and insights, including analysis of the research findings, theoretical contributions, management implications, limitations, and prospects for future research
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