Science Research Management ›› 2022, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (4): 1-10.

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Policy uncertainty and innovation digitization——A study from the perspective of ambidextrous innovation

Yang Zhen1,2, Li Jizhen1,2, Ling Hongcheng3,4   

  1. 1. School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 
    2. Research Center for Technological Innovation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 
    3. Industrial Economy Research Institute, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, Jiangxi, China;
    4. Center for Regulation & Competition, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, Jiangxi, China
  • Received:2021-04-20 Revised:2021-12-26 Online:2022-04-20 Published:2022-04-19

Abstract:

   A new interactive environment is required for organization and management of the R&D and innovation of traditional manufacturing enterprises. In the digital context, the main body of traditional innovation has gradually changed from closed to open, from opposition to cooperation, from value separation to value symbiosis and value cocreation, while the mode of enterprise innovation has gradually changed from entrepreneur-led individual innovation to user-led user innovation and open innovation. From the perspective of enterprise innovation, this paper analyzes the actual impact of each link of digital technology enabled enterprise innovation chain on enterprise innovation performance, and investigates the internal mechanism and boundary mechanism of digital enabled R&D innovation on enterprise innovation performance.
   The results show that: first, policy uncertainty intensifies the R&D digital transformation of enterprises, that is, the uncertain policy environment helps enterprises promote the digitization of innovation chain and reduce the transaction coordination cost in the innovation process. After considering the endogeneity, the research conclusion is still valid. Second, the test results of intermediary mechanism show that policy uncertainty helps to strengthen the adoption of two kinds of ambidextrous innovation behaviors which include exploration and exploitation, and this ambidextrous innovation behavior plays a partial intermediary role between policy uncertainty and enterprise innovation digital transformation. Third, the boundary mechanism test results show that informal competition suppresses the positive relationship between policy uncertainty and innovation digitization, that is, informal competition directly distorts the positive impact of policy uncertainty on innovation digitization in the state of formal competition. The economic consequence test results show that policy uncertainty ultimately promotes enterprise innovation performance by strengthening innovation digitization. Fourth, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that the driving effect of policy uncertainty on enterprise innovation digitization is more obvious in the samples with high degree of marketization, large-scale enterprises and low financing constraints.
    There are three management and policy implications in this paper. First, for the government, optimize the policy environment for digital innovation and digital enabling, provide policy expectations for digital transformation for all kinds of innovation subjects based on various industrial policies, innovation policies and science and technology policies, and strive to create a relatively stable policy expectations and institutional environment, provide a gradual policy change environment for the policy of enterprise digitization process. Second, the government needs to further optimize the construction of intellectual property protection system, especially the high penetration of digital technology in the era of digital intelligence. Its intellectual property protection system is particularly important. Based on the institutional effect of formal system, it will reverse the unfair competition of informal sector in the process of enterprise digital transformation for a long time. Third, for enterprises, actively accept and embrace digitization in a highly dynamic competitive environment, increase investment in enterprise digital transformation, promote innovation digitization, and enable enterprise innovation performance. At the same time, in the digital context, it is necessary to strengthen the ambidextrous innovation ability construction of enterprises, improve the ability of knowledge mining, knowledge utilization, knowledge absorption and knowledge integration according to the resource base and digital infrastructure of enterprises, and gradually master the dynamic ability to obtain the knowledge of key knowledge subjects in the digital context.

Key words: policy uncertainty, R&D digitization, exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation, innovation performance