Abstract We have studied how small and medium-sized firms (SME) can overcome the liability of smallness ( Clegg et al., 1996 ; Thorgren et al., 2012 ) and obtain value from co-patents. We examined the relationship between the co-ownership of the patent and the firm's market value, along with the moderating role of government subsidies and upstream supplier's trade credit. The study finds that co-patent intensity is negatively correlated with the SME's market value. Further, supplier financing mitigates the negative relationship between the co-patent intensity and the market value of SMEs while the government subsidies strengthen the negative relationship between the co-patent intensity and the market value of SMEs. The results above imply that because the patent needs to be shared among the partners, this raises capital market' perception of the SME's commercial uncertainty and has a negative impact on the market value of SMEs. However, like general patent in which it signals the strength of SMEs in R&D, co-patent also reduces the external market's perception of an SME's technological uncertainty. The SME thus attracts more external funding. These findings provide us a more comprehensive understanding of the motivation of SMEs in co-patenting and how SMEs overcome the liability of smallness in capturing value from the co-patent.

中文翻译：

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中小企业的共同专利、融资约束与创新——基于上市公司市值面板数据的实证分析

摘要 我们研究了中小型企业 (SME) 如何克服小型企业的责任 (Clegg et al., 1996 ; Thorgren et al., 2012) 并从共同专利中获得价值。我们研究了专利的共同所有权与公司市场价值之间的关系，以及政府补贴和上游供应商贸易信用的调节作用。研究发现，共同专利强度与中小企业的市场价值呈负相关。此外，供应商融资缓解了共同专利强度与中小企业市场价值之间的负相关关系，而政府补贴则加强了共同专利强度与中小企业市场价值之间的负相关关系。上述结果意味着，由于专利需要在合作伙伴之间共享，这增加了资本市场的 对中小企业商业不确定性的看法，并对中小企业的市场价值产生负面影响。然而，如同一般专利标志着中小企业在研发方面的实力，共同专利也降低了外部市场对中小企业技术不确定性的认知。因此，中小企业吸引了更多的外部资金。这些发现让我们更全面地了解中小企业在共同专利中的动机，以及中小企业如何克服小规模从共同专利中获取价值的责任。