Although the practice of downsizing is prevalent, its effects on organisational outcomes remain poorly understood. This article examines how and when downsizing affects organisational innovation. Using a unique data set of UK firms over a period of 22 years, we test the effect of downsizing on innovation outputs by considering the moderating role of resource slack and constraints. We argue and empirically demonstrate that downsizing has a dual effect on innovation, contingent on the firm’s level of resources. Our results reveal that downsizing affects innovation outputs positively in firms experiencing resource slack and negatively in firms experiencing resource constraints. We also show that the effect is more immediate in resource-constrained firms. Theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed.

JEL Classification: J63, L25, M51, O32

尽管缩小规模的做法很普遍，但是对于组织结果的影响仍然知之甚少。本文研究了精简如何以及何时影响组织创新。我们使用22年间英国公司的独特数据集，通过考虑资源短缺和约束的调节作用，测试了缩小规模对创新产出的影响。我们争论并凭经验证明，裁员对创新有双重影响，取决于公司的资源水平。我们的研究结果表明，裁员对经历资源短缺的公司的创新产出产生积极影响，而对经历资源短缺的公司则产生负面影响。我们还表明，在资源有限的公司中，这种影响更为直接。讨论了这些结果的理论和管理意义。

JEL分类：J63，L25，M51，O32