Purpose: This paper compares four external technology acquisition channels' (foreign technology transfer, exporting, inter-industry R&D spillover and domestic technology transfer) contributions to Chinese high-tech enterprises' innovation in the moderating role of absorptive capacity (AC).Design/methodology/approach: Using technological catch-up theory and China Statistics Yearbook on High Technology Industry, this research investigates 16 Chinese high-tech industries from 2004 to 2015 via negative binomial regression.Findings: The results show that indigenous knowledge transfer improves foreign-funded enterprises' (FFEs) innovation, while transnational knowledge transfer is the main channel for state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) technology acquisition. AC strengthens the positive relationship between transnational knowledge transfer and innovation in SOEs and improves FFEs' innovation and exported tacit knowledge absorption.Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature on external technology acquisition (ETA) and innovation by examining the different mechanism of ETA instead of isolated strategy considering the AC and ownership structure of Chinese high-tech enterprises, which enrich the technological catch-up theory.

It has been widely assumed and proven that a firm’s research and development (R&D) investment is limited if the availability of cash flow is constrained. The purpose of this study is to verify the opposite proposition: whether firms invest heavily in R&D when more cash flow is available. This paper discusses the heterogeneous relationship between cash flow from different sources and the R&D investment of firms. The study divides the firm’s cash flow into three categories according to the business activities that generate firm finance: cash flow from operating activities (CFO), cash flow from investing activities (CFI), and cash flow from financing activities (CFF). On this basis, a dynamic R&D investment model is constructed, and the relevant data for Chinese listed firms are used for the empirical research. The study finds that Chinese listed firms do not necessarily spend more cash on R&D investment, even if the availability of cash flow is not constrained. For young firms, CFO and CFI do not significantly correlate with R&D investment, and CFF significantly negatively correlates with R&D investment. For mature firms, the correlations between cash flow generated from different activities and R&D investment are nonsignificant.

Purpose: This study empirically investigates the moderating effect of institutions (including formal institutions and informal institutions) on the relationship between FDI and regional technology-based entrepreneurship in China’s emerging economy.Design/methodology/approach: By collecting data on technology-based entrepreneurship at the regional level in China, our final balanced panel comprises 81,926 technology start-ups in 29 provinces at the regional level from 2000 to 2014.Findings: The results show that FDI is critical to encouraging technology-based start-ups. We also argue that the institutions positively moderate the relationship between FDI and regional technology-based entrepreneurship. This study supports the negative interaction effect of FDI and corruption on technology-based entrepreneurship in eastern regions, suggesting that corruption weakens FDI’s entrepreneurial enthusiasm.Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the critical role of regional formal institutions in moderating the positive effects of FDI on technology-based entrepreneurship. This enriches the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship and the OLI paradigm, offering a fresh perspective on this complex relationship. Additionally, it provides nuanced insights into how corruption, as an informal institution, interacts with FDI in different regional contexts.