IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v88y2023icp843-860.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

R&D investment management and ambidextrous technological innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Duan
  • Jiang, Yuntian
  • Zhou, Qianzhen
  • Yao, Shujie

Abstract

Firm-level technological innovation is in part driven by R&D management motivation. This paper studies the effect of Chinese listed firms’ R&D investment management on their ambidextrous technological innovation performance. In the prospective of internal financial constraints and earnings management, three R&D motivations are identified: strategically proactive intervention, resource-constrained passive adjustment, and R&D manipulation for earnings purposes. Based on the Chinese listed firm level data during 2007–2019, this paper analyzes the effects of these three different R&D management motivations on the ambidextrous innovation patent portfolio, cutting-edge innovation possibility and patent diversification. The empirical results reveal that R&D management significantly promotes ambidextrous innovation, particularly exploration innovation. Firms with more internal financial resources are more likely to engage in proactive R&D activities than those with less financial resources who are more likely to place earnings before R&D investment as the top priority. A robustness test that controls for the 2008 financial crisis also verifies our results.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Duan & Jiang, Yuntian & Zhou, Qianzhen & Yao, Shujie, 2023. "R&D investment management and ambidextrous technological innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 843-860.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:88:y:2023:i:c:p:843-860
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2023.07.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056023002319
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2023.07.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Norman Baker & James Freeland, 1975. "Recent Advances in R&D Benefit Measurement and Project Selection Methods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(10), pages 1164-1175, June.
    2. Kahn, Kenneth B. & Candi, Marina, 2021. "Investigating the relationship between innovation strategy and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 56-66.
    3. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    4. Degryse, Hans & Matthews, Kent & Zhao, Tianshu, 2018. "SMEs and access to bank credit: Evidence on the regional propagation of the financial crisis in the UK," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 53-70.
    5. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    6. Borisova, Ginka & Brown, James R., 2013. "R&D sensitivity to asset sale proceeds: New evidence on financing constraints and intangible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 159-173.
    7. Matthew Yiu & Wai-Yip Alex Ho & Daniel Choi, 2010. "Dynamic correlation analysis of financial contagion in Asian markets in global financial turmoil," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 345-354.
    8. Mavroudi, Eva & Kesidou, Effie & Pandza, Krsto, 2020. "Shifting back and forth: How does the temporal cycling between exploratory and exploitative R&D influence firm performance?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 386-396.
    9. Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of the Economics of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    10. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.
    11. Burgstahler, David & Dichev, Ilia, 1997. "Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 99-126, December.
    12. Driessen, Joost & Van Hemert, Otto, 2012. "Pricing of commercial real estate securities during the 2007–2009 financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 37-61.
    13. Liu, Duan & Wang, Lili & Yan, Jing & Wan, Hong, 2023. "R&D manipulation and SEO pricing in the Chinese capital market: The information effect of inefficient investment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Chuanxin & Jiang, Yingbing, 2024. "Impact of online communication on the ambidextrous innovation investment of enterprises," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Zhang, Xiekui & Gong, Dayong & Huang, Yihan & Li, Yiting, 2024. "The Government's fiscal and taxation policy effect on enterprise productivity: Policy choice and optimal allocation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 28-41.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    2. Davis, Frederick & Khadivar, Hamed, 2024. "Accrual and real earnings management by rumored takeover targets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Atawnah, Nader & Eshraghi, Arman & Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Bhatti, Ishaq, 2024. "Managerial ability and firm value: A new perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    4. Allen, Arthur & Francis, Bill B. & Wu, Qiang & Zhao, Yijiang, 2016. "Analyst coverage and corporate tax aggressiveness," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 84-98.
    5. Chunghyeok Im & Xiyu Rong & Myung-In Kim & Jin-Cheol Bae, 2025. "Does State-Owned Enterprises’ Performance Evaluation Detect Earnings Manipulation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Campa, Domenico & Camacho-Miñano, María-del-Mar, 2015. "The impact of SME’s pre-bankruptcy financial distress on earnings management tools," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 222-234.
    7. Yu, Zeng, 2024. "Essays on incentive contract and corporate finance," Other publications TiSEM 6f66f49e-d710-44f6-943d-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Alexandre Garel & Jose Martin-Flores & Arthur Petit-Romec & Ayesha Scott, 2021. "Institutional investor distraction and earnings management," Post-Print hal-03096196, HAL.
    9. Saoussen Boujelben & Hela Khemakhem-Feki & Ahmad Alqatan, 2020. "Real earnings management and the relevance of operating cash flows: A study of french listed firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 218-229, December.
    10. Trimble, Madeline, 2018. "A reinvestigation into accounting quality following global IFRS adoption: Evidence via earnings distributions," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 18-39.
    11. Stephen J. Smulowitz & Didier Cossin & Hongze Lu, 2023. "Managerial Short-Termism and Corporate Social Performance: The Moderating Role of External Monitoring," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(4), pages 759-778, December.
    12. Hibbert, Ann Marie & Kang, Qiang & Kumar, Alok & Mishra, Suchi, 2020. "Heterogeneous beliefs and return volatility around seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(2), pages 571-589.
    13. Phillip J. Quinn, 2018. "Shifting corporate culture: executive stock ownership plan adoptions and incentives to meet or just beat analysts’ expectations," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 654-685, June.
    14. Sheng Yao & Yadan Liu, 2020. "Air Quality Uncertainty and Earnings Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-19, July.
    15. James Jianxin Gong & S. Mark Young & Aner Zhou, 2023. "Real earnings management and the strategic release of new products: evidence from the motion picture industry," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 1209-1249, September.
    16. Craig J. Chapman & Thomas J. Steenburgh, 2011. "An Investigation of Earnings Management Through Marketing Actions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(1), pages 72-92, January.
    17. Gilliam, Thomas A. & Heflin, Frank & Paterson, Jeffrey S., 2015. "Evidence that the zero-earnings discontinuity has disappeared," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 117-132.
    18. Nitai Chandra Debnath & Suman Paul Chowdhury & Safaeduzzaman Khan, 2022. "The impact of audit quality on real earnings management: evidence from Bangladesh," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 218-231, June.
    19. Xie, Xinmei & Chang, Yu-Shan & Shiue, Min-Jeng, 2022. "Corporate life cycle, family firms, and earnings management: Evidence from Taiwan," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    20. Qin, Yiyi & Cai, Jun & Rhee, S. Ghon, 2021. "Do Japanese firms systematically inflate expected rate of returns from defined benefit pension plans?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D management; Earnings manipulation; Ambidextrous innovation; Patent diversification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:88:y:2023:i:c:p:843-860. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.