Core technology plays a pivotal role with implications for national security and high-quality economic development. Currently, China faces significant challenges in various high-tech sectors, including semiconductors, where there is an urgent need to develop core technologies in these key fields. Enterprises are key players in innovation, and their core-technology competence has a profound impact on the development of core technologies as well as achieving breakthroughs in these technologies within key fields.
External heterogeneous resources provide innovative solutions to enhance core technology competence in enterprises. Limited research has examined the impact of external resources and how they are acquired on core technology competence, including factors such as government subsidies, supply chain, technology diversity, and digital transformation. As a crucial conduit for enterprises to acquire external resources, there has been limited scholarly attention directed towards understanding the influence of interlocking directorates on the advancement of a company's core technology competence and the mechanisms through which this occurs. Compared to other interlocking directorates, technical interlocking directorates — as a distinct type of directorate within corporations — have received comparatively less scholarly attention. Technical interlocking directorates not only link with external resources but also excel in fostering internal technological innovation. Therefore, technical interlocking directorates enhance a company's core-technology competence by bolstering its innovative propensity, enhancing its capability to absorb external technological resources, and promoting a profound integration of internal and external resources. This study investigates how the varied technical backgrounds of interlocking directors impact a company's core-technology competence, holding significant practical and theoretical value.
This study focuses on enterprises and examines how technical interlocking directorates influence their core-technology competence and underlying mechanisms. Firstly, it clarifies the connotation of technical interlocking directorates and core-technology competence and seletct appropriate proxy variables. Next, a moderated mediation model is constructed from the interaction perspective of technical capital accumulation and R&D productivity. Lastly, it examines the impact of interlocking strength and the technical strength of technical interlocking directorates on core-technology competence, using data from 2 698 listed manufacturing companies from 2010 to 2022, and investigates the mediating role of technical capital accumulation and the moderating role of R&D productivity. The research indicates that the interlocking strength and technical strength of technical interlocking directorates have a significant positive impact on core-technology competence. Technical capital accumulation partially mediates the relationship between the interlocking strength and technical strength of technical interlocking directorates and core-technology competence. R&D productivity plays a positive moderating role between technical capital accumulation and core-technology competence. R&D productivity positively moderates the indirect effects of interlocking strength and technical strength of technical interlocking directorates on core-technology competence through technical capital accumulation. Robustness tests using alternative variables and methods confirm the validity of the conclusions.
The novelty of this article is highlighted in that, firstly, according to the technical and interlocking characteristics of technical interlocking directorates, the study divides them into technical strength and interlocking strength, enriching the theoretical connotation of technical interlocking directorates. Secondly, it examines the effect of technical interlocking directorates on core-technology competence, which further enriches current research on the influencing factors of core technology competence and puts forward the theoretical viewpoint that technical interlocking directorates do not intensify agency problems. Lastly, it analyzes how technical capital accumulation mediates the impact of technical interlocking directorates on a company's core-technology competence. Additionally, the analysis of the moderating effect of R&D productivity contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and boundary conditions that advance the development of core-technology competence.
These conclusions not only provide new theoretical insights for companies in developing their core-technology competence, but also offer practical guidance for companies to effectively establish their board of directors. Meanwhile, with the limited samples, the universality of the research conclusion needs further verification. Secondly, this study has only focused on the mediating role of technical capital accumulation, and the "black box" of the impact of technical interlocking directorates on core-technology competence has not been fully opened. Thirdly, the assessment of core-technology competence is primarily based on the number of patents owned by a company in a specific technological subdomain, without considering patent quality. Therefore, further exploration is required in sample coverage, variable measurement, and underlying mechanisms.