Effects of Knowledge Recombination on Technological Innovation Quality from the Perspective of Contingency——Evidence from Chinese Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

Abstract: Drawing upon the patent data of 982 Chinese pharmaceutical firms between 1999 and 2014, this paper uses the knowledge-based theory to investigate, from the perspective of contingency, how firm age impacts the relationship between different knowledge recombination, i.e., recombinant exploration and recombinant exploitation, and firms’ technological innovation quality. A negative binomial regression of the fixed effects model is incorporated to test the theoretical hypotheses, and the empirical analysis shows that both recombinant exploration and recombinant exploitation positively and significantly affect technological innovation quality, and the positive effect of recombinant exploration is stronger than that of recombinant exploitation. However，recombinant exploration and exploitation jointly and negatively influence firms’ technological innovation quality. Further, firm age strengthens the positive impact of recombinant exploration on technological innovation quality while it weakens the positive impact of recombinant exploitation on technological innovation quality. In the process of technological innovation, firms should not only consider the merits and disadvantages of knowledge recombination but also consider the matching degree of knowledge recombination and their own conditions.

Key words: recombinant exploration, recombinant exploitation, firm age, technological innovation quality

Zeng Deming, Luo Zhen, Wen Jinyan, Feng Ke. Effects of Knowledge Recombination on Technological Innovation Quality from the Perspective of Contingency——Evidence from Chinese Pharmaceutical Industry[J]. Management Review, 2022, 34(9): 87-97.

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