Abstract:     In practice, it is a common phenomenon that executives hold concurrent positions in enterprise management, which may form different forms of executive′s ties and have differentiated effects, and it is of great practical significance to identify which types of executive′s ties can help enterprises to innovate and develop. The existing research shows that different types of executive′s ties can produce different loose coupling structures, and the theory of loose coupling helps to explain why executive′s ties may have different effects on corporate innovation. However, there are few literatures to investigate the influence of different types of executive′s ties on corporate innovation. Combining the theory of loose coupling and peer effect, based on the data of listed companies in China automobile industry from 2008 to 2020, this paper tested the above-mentioned innovation paradox by the negative binomial regression analysis. The results showed that: (1) the diversity of executive′s ties positively promotes corporate innovation, while the depth of executive′s ties has a U-shaped effect on corporate innovation. (2) The increase of geographical overlap strengthens the positive influence of the diversity of executive connections on corporate innovation; However, it makes the U-shaped effect of the depth of executive′s ties on corporate innovation smooth. (3) The mediating effect of market contact degree between the diversity of executive′s ties and corporate innovation has been verified, while the effectiveness of market contact plays a masking role between the depth of executive′s ties and corporate innovation. This result will undoubtedly enrich the differentiation effect of executive linkage on innovation in theory, expand the theoretical boundary between loose coupling theory and peer effect theory, and help the academic circles to dialectically understand the peer effect of executive′s ties. In practice, it will provide some valuable suggestions for enterprises to reasonably maintain the contact distance with chain companies, guide enterprises to better stimulate the innovative potential of executive′s ties, and prevent them from falling into blind peer imitation.

Key words: orporate innovation, executive′s ties, loose coupling, peer effect