经济与管理研究2026，Vol.47Issue(5)：82-97,16.DOI:10.13502/j.cnki.issn1000-7636.2026.05.006
企业对外直接投资如何赋能国内创新协作?
How does Outward Foreign Direct Investment Empower Domestic Innovation Collaboration?
摘要
Abstract
In an era where uncertainty constitutes the new normal of the business environment,innovation collaboration has emerged as a foundational strategy for organizations to cultivate dynamic capabilities and secure sustainable competitive advantages.Knowledge spillovers from outward foreign direct investment(OFDI)firms serve as a strategic channel for acquiring frontier heterogeneous knowledge and act as a driving force propelling the leap in innovation capabilities of indigenous firms.However,the relationship between OFDI and domestic innovation collaboration remains underexplored.Therefore,investigating how and under what conditions OFDI fosters inter-firm collaborative innovation holds theoretical value for understanding the enhancement of corporate innovation resilience in an open economy. Using data from A-share listed firms and patent records in China from 2007 to 2021,this paper quantifies OFDI spillovers based on the concept of technological proximity and investigates their impact on domestic inter-firm innovation collaboration from a knowledge spillover perspective.The findings show that OFDI knowledge spillovers promote innovation collaboration among firms.This conclusion remains valid after addressing endogeneity issues and performing a series of robustness checks.Mechanism tests identify knowledge diversification and human capital enhancement as two primary pathways.Extended analyses reveal that the motivation for innovation collaboration is often geared towards core technology breakthroughs or product functionality improvements,rather than design-oriented innovation collaboration.Furthermore,OFDI knowledge spillovers enhance the intensity and depth of collaborative innovation and facilitate the formation of enduring cooperative relationships between firms.Supplier concentration weakens the positive effect of OFDI knowledge spillovers on collaborative innovation,whereas the results for customer concentration are not statistically robust,indicating an asymmetric effect of upstream(supplier)and downstream(customer)concentration on corporate innovation collaboration. This paper offers important policy implications for leveraging external circulation to empower China's innovation-driven strategy and enhance innovation resilience.First,policymakers should continue to improve the quality of outward investment to foster high-quality external circulation.Second,efforts should be intensified to establish R&D exchange platforms,encourage firms to invest in diverse technological fields,and attract high-level overseas talent,thereby providing essential support for innovation collaboration.Third,emphasis should be placed on cultivating firms'absorptive capacity to facilitate the adoption and assimilation of advanced technologies,while policy guidance should aim to optimize supply chain structures to mitigate the negative effects of supply chain dependence on innovation collaboration.关键词
对外直接投资/创新协作/知识溢出/知识多元化/人力资本增进Key words
outward foreign direct investment/innovation collaboration/knowledge spillover/knowledge diversification/human capital enhancement分类
管理科学引用本文复制引用
康茂楠,阎虹戎,马洪福..企业对外直接投资如何赋能国内创新协作?[J].经济与管理研究,2026,47(5):82-97,16.基金项目
天津市高等学校人文社会科学研究项目"'双碳'目标下数字化赋能天津市制造业绿色转型发展的机理与路径研究"(2022SK193) （2022SK193）
