This paper investigates multinational enterprises (MNEs) as a potential referent for local firms making decisions on eco-innovation. By analyzing Korean innovation survey and patent data, we find local firms’ eco-innovation scope converges with that of the most profitable foreign MNEs within an industry, i.e., profitability is considered a reliable signal for imitation. The imitation tendency changes contingent on previous eco-innovation experience and innovation networks in other local firms. The degree of imitation is then negatively associated with local firms’ eco-innovation outputs. This study shows how local firms can use social proof from selected foreign MNEs to supplement their sense-making in a non-routine environment.

中文翻译：

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外资跨国企业与本土企业生态创新：模仿效应

本文将跨国企业 (MNEs) 作为当地企业进行生态创新决策的潜在参考进行调查。通过分析韩国创新调查和专利数据，我们发现本地企业的生态创新范围与行业内最赚钱的外国跨国公司的生态创新范围趋同，即盈利能力被认为是模仿的可靠信号。模仿倾向的改变取决于其他本地公司以往的生态创新经验和创新网络。模仿程度与当地企业的生态创新产出呈负相关。本研究展示了本地公司如何利用来自选定的外国跨国公司的社会证明来补充他们在非常规环境中的判断力。