TAPPING REGIONAL AND CORPORATE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE FOR INNOVATION: THE MODERATING ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE DURATION

Abstract

We develop and test how business entities tap regional and corporate scientific knowledge for their innovations in a revolutionary technology. Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we argue that while both regional and corporate scientific knowledge may improve a business entity's innovation, it is the business entity's own accumulative research efforts that improve its ability to absorb regional scientific knowledge. In contrast, we expect and find that the longer the entity has been researching the revolutionary technology, the less likely corporate scientific knowledge will impact the focal entity's innovation. Our results support this theory regarding the moderating effect of a business entity's own accumulative research efforts with corporate scientific knowledge but not with regional knowledge. Further, we find different effects between regional scientific knowledge and innovation among single and multi-location firms.