가치사슬 내부 및 외부의 지식원천이 급진적 혁신 및 점진적 혁신에 미치는 영향 : 지식원천들의 연구개발투자-혁신성과 관계에 대한 조절효과

This paper examined the nonlinear relationships between external knowledge sources and the innovation performance of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). Using 3,218 firm-year panel data in South Korea, this study found that increasing the number of external knowledge channels out of the value chain increases radical innovation. Meanwhile, increasing the number of external knowledge channels within the value chain increases the incremental innovation. Further, the external sources of knowledge both out of and in the value chain had inverted U-shaped relationships on radical and incremental innovation respectively. This finding implies that a mechanism of diminishing returns works in the relationship between the external sources of knowledge and innovation. The study also identified the synergistic effects between the external sources of knowledge out of the value chain and within the value chain, and confirmed that the synergistic effects strengthen the linear mechanism between the external sources of knowledge and innovation. In addition, this study found that the sources of knowledge both out of and within the value chain positively moderate the relationships between R&D investment and radical innovation of SMEs.