Cross-border R&D, absorptive capacity and innovation performance

Tingzhu Li and Debin Du

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 2025, vol. 73, issue C, 460-471

Abstract: In the process of innovation, the importance of utilizing external knowledge by countries has gradually been recognized. Against the backdrop of economic globalization, accessing and absorbing external knowledge through cross-border R&D has become a significant means for both countries and enterprises to enhance innovation performance. Within the increasingly frequent global network structure formed by cross-border R&D investments, national innovation performance is jointly influenced by external network relations and absorptive capacity. Combining network theory and absorptive capacity theory, this paper portrays the global cross-border R&D investment network structure, empirically examines the relationship between network position, absorptive capacity, and innovation performance using panel data consisting of 16060 cross-border R&D investment projects spanning from 2003 to 2020. The results indicate that global cross-border R&D investments have formed a complete topological network structure characterized by a core-periphery feature, indicating heterogeneous distribution of countries’ positions in the network. Countries in different positions exhibit varying impacts of cross-border R&D on innovation performance. Countries with higher node strength and richer structural holes tend to have higher innovation output. Additionally, absorptive capacity plays a positive moderating role between network position and innovation performance, although this role varies heterogeneously between developed and developing countries. This research serves as a valuable theoretical resource for guiding the design of cross-border R&D and innovation policies.

Keywords: Cross-border R&D; Foreign direct investment; Network structure; Absorptive capacity; Innovation performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:streco:v:73:y:2025:i:c:p:460-471

DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.02.010

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