Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance

This paper investigates the mediating role of innovation performance in the effects of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance, using 1540 firm-year observations from a balanced panel of 385 privately-owned firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Res...

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Main Authors: Leung, Tak Yan, Sharma, Piyush
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2021
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82991
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author Leung, Tak Yan
Sharma, Piyush
author_facet Leung, Tak Yan
Sharma, Piyush
author_sort Leung, Tak Yan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper investigates the mediating role of innovation performance in the effects of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance, using 1540 firm-year observations from a balanced panel of 385 privately-owned firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Results show a negative effect of R&D intensity on short-term (profitability) and positive effect on long-term (firm value) financial performance but no significant effect on export (sales) performance. In contrast, R&D internationalization has a positive effect on export performance but no significant effect on short- or long-term financial performance. Moreover, innovation performance (number of patents) partially mediates the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance and these effects vary based on firm age and size. Besides extending current literature on R&D investments, these results have useful implications for firms especially those from emerging markets with international R&D operations or those aiming to internationalize their R&D activities.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:21:12Z
publishDate 2021
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-829912025-01-17T07:36:20Z Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance Leung, Tak Yan Sharma, Piyush This paper investigates the mediating role of innovation performance in the effects of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance, using 1540 firm-year observations from a balanced panel of 385 privately-owned firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Results show a negative effect of R&D intensity on short-term (profitability) and positive effect on long-term (firm value) financial performance but no significant effect on export (sales) performance. In contrast, R&D internationalization has a positive effect on export performance but no significant effect on short- or long-term financial performance. Moreover, innovation performance (number of patents) partially mediates the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance and these effects vary based on firm age and size. Besides extending current literature on R&D investments, these results have useful implications for firms especially those from emerging markets with international R&D operations or those aiming to internationalize their R&D activities. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82991 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.060 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Elsevier fulltext
spellingShingle Leung, Tak Yan
Sharma, Piyush
Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance
title Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance
title_full Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance
title_fullStr Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance
title_full_unstemmed Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance
title_short Differences in the impact of R&D intensity and R&D internationalization on firm performance – Mediating role of innovation performance
title_sort differences in the impact of r&d intensity and r&d internationalization on firm performance – mediating role of innovation performance
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82991