企业对外直接投资如何赋能国内创新协作？

康茂楠¹　阎虹戎²　马洪福¹

（1.天津财经大学；2.上海对外经贸大学）

摘要：在经济不确定性构成环境新常态的当下，创新协作超越了传统合作范畴，成为组织构建动态能力、获取持续竞争优势的基础性战略。既有研究较为广泛地关注到企业对外直接投资（OFDI）的逆向技术溢出及创新效应，但鲜有针对OFDI与国内创新协作关系的考察。本文选取2007—2021年沪深A股上市公司数据与专利数据，基于技术邻近度概念量化OFDI溢出，从知识溢出视角探究OFDI赋能国内企业间创新协作的影响效果与作用机制。研究结果表明，OFDI知识溢出促进了企业创新协作，知识多元化效应和人力资本增进效应是OFDI促进企业间创新协作的两条主要途径。拓展性分析发现，企业间创新协作动机多指向核心技术攻关或产品功能改进，而非外观设计型创新协作；OFDI知识溢出提升了创新协作强度和深度，并促使企业间形成持久的创新合作关系；供应商依存度负向影响OFDI企业对创新协作的作用效果。本文的研究对利用“外循环”赋能中国企业创新驱动发展战略以及创新韧性提升具有重要的政策启示。

关键词：对外直接投资；创新协作；知识溢出；知识多元化；人力资本增进

作者简介：康茂楠，天津财经大学经济学院讲师，天津，300222；阎虹戎，上海对外经贸大学国际经贸研究所/国际发展合作研究院副研究员，通信作者，上海，201103；马洪福，天津财经大学经济学院讲师。

基金项目：天津市高等学校人文社会科学研究项目“‘双碳’目标下数字化赋能天津市制造业绿色转型发展的机理与路径研究”（2022SK193）

引用格式：康茂楠,阎虹戎,马洪福.企业对外直接投资如何赋能国内创新协作?[J].经济与管理研究,2026,47(5):82-97.

How does Outward Foreign Direct Investment Empower Domestic Innovation Collaboration?

KANG Maonan¹, YAN Hongrong², MA Hongfu¹

(1. Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin 300222;

2. Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai 201103)

Abstract: In an era where uncertainty constitutes the new normal of the business environment, innovation collaboration has emerged as a foundational strategy for organizations to cultivate dynamic capabilities and secure sustainable competitive advantages. Knowledge spillovers from outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) firms serve as a strategic channel for acquiring frontier heterogeneous knowledge and act as a driving force propelling the leap in innovation capabilities of indigenous firms. However, the relationship between OFDI and domestic innovation collaboration remains underexplored. Therefore, investigating how and under what conditions OFDI fosters inter-firm collaborative innovation holds theoretical value for understanding the enhancement of corporate innovation resilience in an open economy.

Using data from A-share listed firms and patent records in China from 2007 to 2021, this paper quantifies OFDI spillovers based on the concept of technological proximity and investigates their impact on domestic inter-firm innovation collaboration from a knowledge spillover perspective. The findings show that OFDI knowledge spillovers promote innovation collaboration among firms. This conclusion remains valid after addressing endogeneity issues and performing a series of robustness checks. Mechanism tests identify knowledge diversification and human capital enhancement as two primary pathways. Extended analyses reveal that the motivation for innovation collaboration is often geared towards core technology breakthroughs or product functionality improvements, rather than design-oriented innovation collaboration. Furthermore, OFDI knowledge spillovers enhance the intensity and depth of collaborative innovation and facilitate the formation of enduring cooperative relationships between firms. Supplier concentration weakens the positive effect of OFDI knowledge spillovers on collaborative innovation, whereas the results for customer concentration are not statistically robust, indicating an asymmetric effect of upstream (supplier) and downstream (customer) concentration on corporate innovation collaboration.

This paper offers important policy implications for leveraging external circulation to empower China’s innovation-driven strategy and enhance innovation resilience. First, policymakers should continue to improve the quality of outward investment to foster high-quality external circulation. Second, efforts should be intensified to establish R&D exchange platforms, encourage firms to invest in diverse technological fields, and attract high-level overseas talent, thereby providing essential support for innovation collaboration. Third, emphasis should be placed on cultivating firms’ absorptive capacity to facilitate the adoption and assimilation of advanced technologies, while policy guidance should aim to optimize supply chain structures to mitigate the negative effects of supply chain dependence on innovation collaboration.

Keywords: outward foreign direct investment; innovation collaboration; knowledge spillover; knowledge diversification; human capital enhancement

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