Do slack resources matter in Chinese firms’ collaborative innovation?

Abstract This study investigates the influence of slack resources on firms' collaborative innovation performance. Based on a two-stage research design, including interviews and a research survey of 451 high-tech manufacturing firms, the results show that while collaborations within the value chain and scientific partners have a positive impact on firms’ innovation performance, unabsorbed slack resources have a significant positive moderating role in these positive impacts. However, absorbed slack resources show a direct positive impact only on innovation performance and do not appear to have a significant moderating effect on scientific collaboration.

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