海外研发、贸易摩擦与创新绩效：来自中国高科技上市公司的经验证据

海外研发被视为后发国家实现技术赶超的有效路径,现有文献基于经贸自由化的前置条件证实了海外研发提升创新绩效的反哺作用。然而在全球贸易保护主义抬头的背景下,资源要素的自由流动愈发困难,海外研发能否发挥应有的作用尚不得而知。为此,基于中国高科技上市公司的数据,本文探索了中美贸易摩擦如何影响中国企业的海外研发绩效。研究发现,中美贸易摩擦非但没有侵蚀中国企业的海外研发绩效,反而产生倒逼效应,推动中国企业提升投资效率并积累国际投资经验,继而增强了海外研发的反哺作用。通过区分海外研发目的地,本文进一步发现倒逼效应在赴非美国家的样本中更显著。赴美研发受到贸易摩擦的冲击更为直接,稀释了提升投资效率和积累国际化经验所带来的收益。研究结论深化了国际商务理论关于贸易保护和壁垒如何影响跨国企业投资绩效的相关研究,为中国企业在高度不确定的投资环境下如何充分释放海外研发的潜能提供启示。

Overseas R&D, Trade Frictions and Innovation Performance: Empirical Evidence from Chinese High-tech Listed Companies

Overseas R&D is recognized as an effective path for developing countries to achieve technological catch-up. Extant literature has confirmed the feedback role of overseas R&D in enhancing innovation performance based on the antecedents of economic and trade liberalization. However, against the backdrop of increasing global trade protectionism, the free flow of resources has become more difficult, and it remains uncertain whether overseas R&D can play its intended role. To this end, based on data from Chinese high-tech listed companies, this study explored how trade friction affects the overseas R&D performance of Chinese enterprises in the specific context of China-US trade friction. It is found that instead of eroding the overseas R&D performance of Chinese firms, trade friction between China and the US has a push effect, which drives Chinese firms to improve investment efficiency and accumulate international investment experience, and then enhances the feedback role of overseas R&D. By distinguishing the destination of overseas R&D, the study further finds that the feedback role is more pronounced in samples from non-US countries. In contrast, R&D in the US is more directly impacted by trade friction, which dilutes the benefits of improving investment efficiency and accumulating international experience. The research findings not only deepen the relevant research on how trade protectionism and barriers affect the investment performance of multinational enterprises in international business theory but also provide insights into how Chinese enterprises can fully unleash the potential of overseas R&D in a highly uncertain investment environment.