Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society (기술혁신학회지)

Korea Technology Innovation Society (한국기술혁신학회)
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Productivity Effect of Firms' External R&D and the Moderating Effect of Firm Size

기업 외부 연구개발투자의 생산성효과와 기업규모의 조절효과

  • 김경호 (한국농촌경제연구원) ;
  • 정진화 (서울대학교 농경제사회학부, 농업생명과학연구원)
  • Received : 2018.05.31
  • Accepted : 2018.07.17
  • Published : 2018.09.30
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Abstract

The present study analyzed the effect of firms' external research and development (R&D) on corporate productivity, while investigating the moderating effect of firm size on the external R&D-productivity nexus. In the empirical analysis, we estimated South Korean manufacturing firms' total factor productivity (TFP) using the firm level data drawn from the Survey of Business Activities (Korea National Statistical Office) for the years 2006-2015. Thereafter, focusing on the role of external R&D and its interaction with the firm size in determining firms' TFP, the productivity function was estimated as well. To this end, we used ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression to highlight the heterogeneous impacts of external R&D by companies' productivity level. Empirical results confirmed that firms' external R&D significantly enhanced corporate productivity in all manufacturing industries, from high-tech to low-tech. The moderating effect of firm size in determining the productivity effect of external R&D was not as prominent as in the case for internal R&D, which exhibited some degree of the size premium in the productivity-enhancing effect. These results suggest that regardless of the firm size, external R&D can be an important channel for corporate productivity improvement, and can be a particularly effective strategy for SMEs with relatively limited internal R&D capacities.

본 연구는 외부기관에 R&D 투자를 위탁하는 외부 R&D 활동이 기업의 생산성에 미치는 영향과 이에 대한 기업규모의 조절효과를 분석하였다. 외부 R&D는 개방형 혁신활동의 한 형태로 혁신의 비용효율성을 제고하고 지식자원을 다양화할 수 있다는 점에서 주목받고 있다. 실증분석에서는 2006년부터 2015년까지의 "기업활동조사"의 제조업 기업 자료를 활용하여 기업별 총요소생산성을 추정하였고, 생산성 결정요인으로 외부 R&D 투자의 효과와 기업규모의 조절효과를 분석하였다. 분석방법으로는 통상최소자승법(OLS)과 함께 분위회귀분석(Quantile regression)을 사용하여 생산성 수준에 따른 외부 R&D 투자 효과의 이질성을 확인하였다. 분석결과, 기업의 외부 R&D 투자는 기업의 생산성을 유의하게 증대시켰으며, 이러한 생산성 증대 효과는 기술수준에 관계없이 제조업 전 부문에서 공통적으로 확인되었다. 외부 R&D 투자의 생산성효과에 대한 기업규모의 조절효과는 내부 R&D 투자의 경우와 비교하여 뚜렷하지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 분석결과는 외부 R&D가 기업의 생산성을 높이는 유효한 혁신수단이며, 특히 상대적으로 자체 연구역량이 부족한 중소기업의 경우 중요한 혁신전략일 수 있다는 점을 시사한다.

Keywords

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