Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how family governance and technological capabilities influence the conversion of new knowledge obtained from exports into various innovation outputs, a phenomenon called “learning-by-exporting (LBE).”

Design/methodology/approach

To properly examine the causal links proposed in the study, first, the control for endogeneity. Second, a propensity-score matching longitudinal analysis is conducted, a particularly robust empirical method that enhances reliability in non-experimental data, over an average sample of 663 manufacturing companies for the period 2007 to 2014.

Findings

Family firms’ innovation strategies and abilities render them more likely to convert the new knowledge from exporting into product innovation and more efficient in this endeavor than non-family firms. This diverts family firms’ typically limited resources from process innovation, and they have a smaller LBE effect than non-family firms in terms of process innovation.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the internationalization literature by producing a more nuanced view of the learning-by-exporting effect which considers the type of innovation outcomes developed following export activity. It also helps to identify some of the firm-specific factors that shape the relationship between exports and innovation, by empirically examining for the first time the role of family governance in innovation capabilities and decisions.

中文翻译：

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家族企业通过出口进行选择性学习：产品与流程创新以及技术能力的作用

目的

这项研究的目的是研究家庭治理和技术能力如何影响从出口获得的新知识到各种创新产出的转化，这种现象称为“出口学习（LBE）”。

设计/方法/方法

为了适当地检查研究中提出的因果关系，首先是内生性的控制。其次，对倾向评分匹配的纵向分析进行了分析，这是一种特别健壮的经验方法，可提高2007年至2014年期间663家制造公司的平均样本的非实验数据的可靠性。

发现

家族企业的创新战略和能力使其比非家族企业更有可能将新知识从出口转化为产品创新，并且在这种努力中效率更高。这将家族企业通常有限的资源从流程创新中转移出来，就流程创新而言，它们的LBE效应小于非家族企业。

创意/价值

该研究对出口学习效果产生了更为细微的看法，从而为国际化文献做出了贡献，该研究考虑了出口活动之后发展起来的创新成果的类型。通过首次实证检验家族治理在创新能力和决策中的作用，它还有助于确定某些特定于公司的因素，这些因素塑造了出口与创新之间的关系。