This study examines firm internal network structures as a defense of intellectual property rights (IPR) in high-risk environments with inadequate IPR protection. Specifically, we investigate firm social and knowledge-based network structures individually. A foreign subsidiary can intensify social complexity by strengthening the small-worldness in its collaboration networks and attenuate knowledge-relatedness by decreasing the small-worldness in its knowledge networks. In a subsidiary, the effectiveness of these measures depends to some extent on the parent firm’s experience in the host country. Longitudinal data on 401 foreign subsidiaries in the pharmaceutical industry from 1980 to 2017 have been analyzed in a quasi-experiment using difference-in-differences and two-stage regression. The results provide empirical support for these ideas. Findings highlight the explanatory power of internal network structures when discussing knowledge protection and show the utility of taking an internal network defense perspective in examining IPR protection.

这项研究检查了企业内部网络结构，以在知识产权保护不足的高风险环境中保护知识产权（IPR）。具体来说，我们分别调查公司的社会和基于知识的网络结构。外国子公司可以通过增强协作网络中的小世界性来加剧社会复杂性，并通过减少其知识网络中的小世界性来减弱知识相关性。在子公司中，这些措施的有效性在一定程度上取决于母公司在东道国的经验。利用准差和两阶段回归，通过准实验分析了1980年至2017年制药行业401家外国子公司的纵向数据。结果为这些想法提供了经验支持。