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An inquiry on dimensions of external technology search and their influence on technological innovations: evidence from C hinese firms
Author(s) -
LiYing Jason,
Wang Yuandi,
Salomo Søren
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/radm.12038
Subject(s) - extant taxon , license , dimension (graph theory) , business , industrial organization , set (abstract data type) , panel data , technological change , marketing , knowledge management , economic geography , economics , computer science , econometrics , mathematics , evolutionary biology , pure mathematics , macroeconomics , biology , programming language , operating system
A central part of technological innovation for industrial firms involves search for new external knowledge. A well‐established stream of literature on firms' external knowledge search has demonstrated that firms investing in broader search may have a great ability to innovate. In this paper, we explore the influences of technology search on firms' technological innovation performance along three distinctive dimensions: technical, geographic, and temporal dimensions, using a unique panel data set containing information on C hinese firms that were active in technology in‐licensing and patenting during the period 2000–2009. Our findings reveal that C hinese firms' technological innovation performances are related to external technology search in quite different ways from the ones suggested in the extant literature using evidence from developed countries. We find that C hinese firms searching ‘locally’ along the technical dimension have better technological innovation performance than those searching ‘distantly’. However, when a C hinese firm in‐license relatively old (mature) technologies or those from geographically nearby areas, it will be less bounded to searching familiar technical knowledge.