The Effect of Production Structure Roundaboutness on the Innovation Capability of High-Tech Enterprises—The Mediating Role of Technology Absorption Path

Abstract

From the perspective of production structure sustainability, this study investigates the source of innovation power of high-tech enterprises. It proposes that the roundaboutness of production structure is the sustainable driving force for improving innovation capability in high-tech enterprises, and enterprises can improve their innovation capability by absorbing technology from three paths. The proposed model was tested based on the survey data from 315 enterprises in 10 robotics industrial parks in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. The results show that the roundaboutness of production structure has a positive influence on the innovation capability of high-tech enterprises, which is mediated by technology absorption paths (i.e., independent development in high-tech enterprises, technology acquisition in high-tech enterprises and government policy compliance in high-tech enterprises). Meanwhile, the enterprise has different technology absorption path at different position in production structure. The findings have important enlightenment for enterprises to improve market competitiveness, production efficiency and technological innovation capability, and provides a practical basis for better ways of leveraging market and capital and more effective government processes in industrial innovation.