벤처기업 외부협력에 대한 특허의 신호효과: 벤처캐피탈과 성장단계의 조절효과

This study examines the impact of venture firms' patents on the diversity of collaboration partners from the perspective of signaling theory. Additionally, it investigates how the growth stage and venture capital ownership size of venture firms moderate the relationship between patents and the diversity of collaboration partners. Previous research on external collaborations of venture firms has predominantly focused on verifying the impact of such collaborations on the sustainable innovation or performance of companies. While there have been numerous studies on the antecedents of external collaborations, they have primarily centered around the needs of venture firms requiring collaboration, with little attention given to the needs of collaboration partners. In this study, we propose the hypothesis that patents serve as signals indicating the qualitative level of venture firms and influence the diversity of collaboration partners. Additionally, we suggest that the size of venture capital ownership and the growth stage of venture firms moderate this relationship. To validate this hypothesis, we utilized data from the <벤처기업정밀실태조사> conducted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups from 2016 to 2018. The analysis revealed that the number of patents held by venture firms positively influenced the expansion of diversity among collaboration partners. Furthermore, venture capital ownership enhanced this relationship, while the growth stage of the venture firms attenuated it, demonstrating significant moderating effects.