IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurasi/v15y2025i1d10.1007_s40821-024-00287-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

National culture, institutional quality and firm R&D investment: evidence from the Asia-pacific IT industry

Author

Listed:
  • Tamanna Dalwai

    (Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University)

  • Vincenzo Scafarto

    (University of Cassino and Southern Lazio)

  • Syeeda Shafiya Mohammadi

    (Muscat College)

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of national culture and formal institutions on firm R&D investment from an institution-based perspective. Specifically, we investigate whether national culture affects the extent to which firms rely on the quality of formal institutions in making their R&D investment decisions. Using a panel of IT firms from the Asia-Pacific region, we find evidence that (1) the quality of formal institutions stimulates firm R&D after controlling for other potential determinants of R&D at firm and country level, and (2) this positive association is more pronounced for firms embedded in short-term oriented and individualistic cultures. This suggests that the impact of formal institutions on firm-level R&D may be contingent on the configuration of informal institutions in the firm’s environment. Regarding practical implications, policymakers are made aware that national culture may affect the extent to which firms respond to institutional reforms aimed at stimulating R&D investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Tamanna Dalwai & Vincenzo Scafarto & Syeeda Shafiya Mohammadi, 2025. "National culture, institutional quality and firm R&D investment: evidence from the Asia-pacific IT industry," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 15(1), pages 29-59, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurasi:v:15:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s40821-024-00287-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s40821-024-00287-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40821-024-00287-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40821-024-00287-2?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. Zheng, Xiaolan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y., 2012. "National culture and corporate debt maturity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 468-488.
    2. Yang, Chih-Hai & Huang, Yi-Ju & Lin, Hsuan-Yu, 2014. "Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Induce More Innovations? A Cross-Country Analysis," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 55(2), pages 167-188, December.
    3. Bronwyn Hall, 2004. "The financing of research and development," Chapters, in: Anthony Bartzokas & Sunil Mani (ed.), Financial Systems, Corporate Investment in Innovation, and Venture Capital, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Sweet, Cassandra Mehlig & Eterovic Maggio, Dalibor Sacha, 2015. "Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Increase Innovation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 665-677.
    5. Lily H. Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2446-2477.
    6. Ibhagui, Oyakhilome W. & Olokoyo, Felicia O., 2018. "Leverage and firm performance: New evidence on the role of firm size," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 57-82.
    7. Olufemi A. Aluko & Michael Adebayo Ajayi, 2018. "Determinants of banking sector development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 18(2), pages 122-129, June.
    8. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    9. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2012. "Do financing constraints matter for R&D?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1512-1529.
    10. James S. Ang & Yingmei Cheng & Chaopeng Wu, 2014. "Does Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Matter in China? Evidence from Financing and Investment Choices in the High-Tech Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 332-348, May.
    11. Luigi Aldieri & Cristian Barra & Nazzareno Ruggiero & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2020. "Innovative performance effects of institutional quality: an empirical investigation from the Triad," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(50), pages 5464-5476, October.
    12. Kennedy, Peter, 1985. "A rule of thumb for mixed heteroskedasticity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 157-159.
    13. Anokhin, Sergey & Schulze, William S., 2009. "Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 465-476, September.
    14. Lewellyn, Krista B. & Bao, Shuji ‘Rosey’, 2015. "R&D Investment in the Global Paper Products Industry: A Behavioral Theory of the Firm and National Culture Perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1-17.
    15. Ginarte, Juan C. & Park, Walter G., 1997. "Determinants of patent rights: A cross-national study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 283-301, October.
    16. Peter Rodriguez & Donald S Siegel & Amy Hillman & Lorraine Eden, 2006. "Three lenses on the multinational enterprise: politics, corruption, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 733-746, November.
    17. Amjad Naveed & Ghulam Shabbir, 2022. "Effect of Formal and Informal Institutional Indicators on Innovation Activities: An Empirical Analysis for a Global Sample," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 665-691, November.
    18. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    19. Beladi, Hamid & Deng, Jie & Hu, May, 2021. "Cash flow uncertainty, financial constraints and R&D investment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Andersen, Birgitte & Konzelmann, Sue, 2008. "In search of a useful theory of the productive potential of intellectual property rights," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 12-28, February.
    21. Mogha, Vipin & Williams, Benjamin, 2021. "Culture and capital structure: What else to the puzzle?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    22. Umar Farooq & Jaleel Ahmed & Khurram Ashfaq & Ghias ul Hassan Khan & Shamshair Khan, 2020. "National culture and firm financial performance: A mediating role of firm financing decision," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1858640-185, January.
    23. Xiao, Gang, 2013. "Legal shareholder protection and corporate R&D investment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 240-266.
    24. Douglass C. North, 2005. "Introduction to Understanding the Process of Economic Change," Introductory Chapters, in: Understanding the Process of Economic Change, Princeton University Press.
    25. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Ho, Shan-Ju, 2020. "Country governance, corruption, and the likelihood of firms’ innovation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 326-338.
    26. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2017. "What promotes R&D? Comparative evidence from around the world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 447-462.
    27. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    28. Nordhaus, William D, 1969. "An Economic Theory of Technological Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 18-28, May.
    29. Murray, Fiona & Stern, Scott, 2007. "Do formal intellectual property rights hinder the free flow of scientific knowledge?: An empirical test of the anti-commons hypothesis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 648-687, August.
    30. Fiona E. Murray & Scott Stern, 2007. "Do Formal Intellectual Property Rights Hinder the Free Flow of Scientific Knowledge?: An Empirical Test of the Anti-Commons Hypothesis," NBER Chapters, in: Academic Science and Entrepreneurship: Dual Engines of Growth, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    32. Lin Zhou & Xiao Liu, 2024. "The new government–business relationship and corporate philanthropy: An analysis based on political motivation," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 14(3), pages 807-840, September.
    33. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Marco Di Cataldo, 2015. "Quality of government and innovative performance in the regions of Europe," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 673-706.
    34. Thai-Ha Le & Jungsuk Kim & Minsoo Lee, 2016. "Institutional Quality, Trade Openness, and Financial Sector Development in Asia: An Empirical Investigation," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 1047-1059, May.
    35. Patricio Duran & Marc van Essen & Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens & Tatiana Kostova & Mike W. Peng, 2019. "The impact of institutions on the competitive advantage of publicly listed family firms in emerging markets," Post-Print hal-02312178, HAL.
    36. José María Díez-Esteban & Jorge Bento Farinha & Conrado Diego García-Gómez, 2019. "How does national culture affect corporate risk-taking?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(1), pages 49-68, March.
    37. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2015. "Do good institutions enhance the effect of technological spillovers on productivity? Comparative evidence from developed and transition economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 133-154.
    38. Wang, Yizhong & Wei, Yueling & Song, Frank M., 2017. "Uncertainty and corporate R&D investment: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 176-200.
    39. Jayasekara, Dinithi N. & Fredriksson, Per G., 2021. "Culture, intellectual property rights, and technology adoption," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 317-330.
    40. Sharma, Abhijit & Sousa, Cristina & Woodward, Richard, 2022. "Determinants of innovation outcomes: The role of institutional quality," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    41. Shane, Scott, 1993. "Cultural influences on national rates of innovation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 59-73, January.
    42. Wei Li, 2017. "Can intellectual property rights protection and governmental R&D investment promote Chinese enterprises’ R&D investment?," Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 551-559, November.
    43. Boubakri, Narjess & Chkir, Imed & Saadi, Samir & Zhu, Hui, 2021. "Does national culture affect corporate innovation? International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    44. Wang, Chengqi & Kafouros, Mario & Yi, Jingtao & Hong, Junjie & Ganotakis, Panagiotis, 2020. "The role of government affiliation in explaining firm innovativeness and profitability in emerging countries: Evidence from China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    45. Huang, Chia-Hui & Hou, Tony Chieh-Tse, 2019. "Innovation, research and development, and firm profitability in Taiwan: Causality and determinants," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 385-394.
    46. Taylor, Mark Zachary & Wilson, Sean, 2012. "Does culture still matter?: The effects of individualism on national innovation rates," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 234-247.
    47. Laursen, Keld & Salter, Ammon J., 2014. "The paradox of openness: Appropriability, external search and collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 867-878.
    48. Horstmann, Ignatius & MacDonald, Glenn M & Slivinski, Alan, 1985. "Patents as Information Transfer Mechanisms: To Patent or (Maybe) Not to Patent," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(5), pages 837-858, October.
    49. David Hillier & Julio Pindado & Valdoceu de Queiroz & Chabela de la Torre, 2011. "The impact of country-level corporate governance on research and development," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(1), pages 76-98, January.
    50. Liang Shao & Chuck C Y Kwok & Ran Zhang, 2013. "National culture and corporate investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(7), pages 745-763, September.
    51. Xu, Zhaoxia, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty, cost of capital, and corporate innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    52. Chi-Lin Yang & Jung-Ho Lai, 2021. "Influence of Cross-Listing on the Relationship between Financial Leverage and R&D Investment: A Sustainable Development Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-14, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Alam, Ashraful & Uddin, Moshfique & Yazdifar, Hassan, 2019. "Institutional determinants of R&D investment: Evidence from emerging markets," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 34-44.
    2. Li, Guoxing & Yeh, Yin-Hua, 2023. "Western cultural influence on corporate innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    3. Zhao, Shan & He, Xinming & Ma, Baichao & Zuo, Wenming, 2025. "Customer concentration, firm R&D investment and moderation effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    4. Wang, Xiaoyu & Long, Zhineng & Zhao, Xiangfang, 2024. "Merchant guild culture and cash holdings: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    5. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    6. Shigang Li & Kexin She & Li Zhang, 2024. "Bureaucratic Culture and Innovation," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(3), pages 31-66, May.
    7. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2017. "What promotes R&D? Comparative evidence from around the world," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 447-462.
    8. Alam, Ashraful & Uddin, Moshfique & Yazdifar, Hassan & Shafique, Sujana & Lartey, Theophilus, 2020. "R&D investment, firm performance and moderating role of system and safeguard: Evidence from emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 94-105.
    9. Su, Zhongfeng & Wang, Chenfeng & Peng, Mike W., 2022. "Intellectual property rights protection and total factor productivity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3).
    10. Leonardo M. Klüppel & Lamar Pierce & Jason A. Snyder, 2018. "Perspective—The Deep Historical Roots of Organization and Strategy: Traumatic Shocks, Culture, and Institutions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 702-721, August.
    11. David Urbano & Sebastian Aparicio & Victor Querol, 2016. "Social progress orientation and innovative entrepreneurship: an international analysis," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 1033-1066, December.
    12. Xu, Jian & Liu, Yu & Abdoh, Hussein, 2022. "Foreign ownership and productivity," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 624-642.
    13. Alipour, Ali & Yaprak, Attila, 2022. "Indulgence and risk-taking behavior of firms: Direct and interactive influences," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(2).
    14. Cao, Zhongyu & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck, 2020. "National culture and the choice of exchange rate regime," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2017. "Individualism, democracy, and contract enforcement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 284-306.
    16. Abdin, Joynal & Sharma, Abhijit & Trivedi, Rohit & Wang, Chengang, 2024. "Financing constraints, intellectual property rights protection and incremental innovation: Evidence from transition economy firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    17. Chi, Jianxin Daniel & Su, Xunhua & Tang, Yun & Xu, Bin, 2020. "Is language an economic institution? Evidence from R&D investment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Yoon, Hyungseok (David) & Boudreaux, Christopher & Kim, Namil, 2024. "Connecting the dots between democracy and innovation: The role of pro-market institutions and information processing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(8).
    19. Lina Mao & Guangfan Sun & Yining He & Shanshan Zheng & Changwei Guo, 2024. "Regional cultural inclusiveness and firm performance in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    20. Haifeng Hu & Minjing Qi, 2022. "New Evidence on National Culture and Corporate Financing: Does Institutional Quality Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-24, October.

    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:spr:eurasi:v:15:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s40821-024-00287-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.