R&D investment, innovation output and enterprise competitiveness: A perspective of employee education

Abstract

The study examines whether employee education plays a role in firm's competitiveness, particularly in innovation activities. The innovation activity has two paths: technologic output and the transformation of scientific achievements. Using the sample of 174 listed companies of top 500 companies in china, we find that innovation output and enterprise competence have significant "inverted U" relationship; constrained by efficiency in achievement transformation path, R&D investment has significant negative effect on enterprise competence. Innovation output plays a completely mediating role in the relation between R&D investment and enterprise competence. Employee education has negative regulating effect on the first path, but the study has not found significant regulating effect on achievement transformation path.