Specialized, refined, differentiated and innovative (SRDI) enterprises, as the main carrier of innovation-driven strategy, have become the key stabilizer of the new development paradigm. SRDI enterprises driven by independent innovation have shown a good development trend in their industries. Against the backdrop of building an innovative country, it has become an important issue whether SRDI enterprises can play an exemplary role in innovation and affect the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Some scholars have paid attention to the peer effect of manufacturing enterprises, general enterprises, leading enterprises and competitors. However, no studies have yet examined the peer effect of innovative leading enterprises such as SRDI enterprises.
In view of this, this study selects listed companies from 2011 to 2021 as research samples,and examines the direct impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry as well as the moderating roles of industry competition degree and financing constraint;it further investigates the heterogeneity of the above impacts across enterprises with different ownership nature and different scales, and analyzes the threshold effect of the impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry.
The conclusions include three aspects. Firstly, from the perspective of peer effect, the innovation of SRDI enterprises positively affects the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Industry competition degree and financing constraint respectively exert positive and negative moderating roles in the impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Secondly, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that in terms of the enterprise ownership nature, the moderating role of financing constraint is not significant in state-owned enterprises in the same industry, but it is significantly negative in non-state-owned enterprises. In terms of the enterprise scale, the innovation of SRDI enterprises has a significant impact on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry of different scales, with large-scale enterprises being more affected; the moderating role of industry competition degree is not significant in large-scale enterprises in the same industry, but it is significant in small-scale enterprises; compared with small-scale enterprises in the same industry, the moderating role of financing constraint is stronger in large-scale enterprises. Thirdly, there is a double threshold effect on the innovation of SRDI enterprises positively affecting the innovation of enterprises in the same industry, and the promotion role weakens as the threshold value increases.
The theoretical contributions include three aspects. Firstly, this study focuses on the peer effect of SRDI enterprises, and expands the research on the relationship between the innovation of SRDI enterprises and the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Secondly, this study clarifies the moderating roles of industry competition degree and financing constraint, and enriches the situational research on the impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Thirdly, this study reveals the threshold effect of the impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry, clarifies the differential impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry at different levels, and deepens the research on the peer effect of SRDI enterprises.
The management implications include four aspects. Firstly, enterprises in the same industry should pay attention to the importance of the peer effect, actively keep pace with SRDI enterprises, adjust imitative behavior according to the innovation level of SRDI enterprise, and stimulate innovation vitality. Secondly, enterprises in the same industry should actively face the industry competition, give full play to the positive role of industry competition degree in the impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Thirdly, enterprises in the same industry should take the initiative to deal with financing constraint, alleviate the negative role of financing constraint in the impact of the innovation of SRDI enterprises on the innovation of enterprises in the same industry. Fourthly, enterprises in the same industry should adjust innovative strategies based on the present situations of ownership nature and scale.