Title: Does R&D investment affect export intensity? The moderating effect of ownership

Authors: Mario Ossorio

Addresses: Department of Economics, Università degli Studi della Campania – Luigi Vanvitelli Corso Gran Priorato di Malta, 1 – 81043, Capua (CE), Italy

Abstract: The present work aims to highlight the relationship between R&D investment and firms' internationalisation degree and to investigate whether family ownership and state ownership exert a moderating role on the abovementioned relationship. Based on a sample of 106 Italian listed firms during the period 2010-2013, this study finds that R&D investment has a positive impact on the ratio of sales in foreign countries to total sales. Furthermore, family ownership positively influences the relationship between R&D investment and firms' internationalisation degree because of patient capital and family owners' altruism. Conversely, the findings show that state ownership negatively affects the relationship under examination because state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operate in domestic protected markets and are characterised by severe agency conflicts and low competitiveness.

Keywords: R&D investment; internationalisation; export intensity; family ownership; state ownership.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMFA.2018.091075

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 2018 Vol.10 No.1, pp.65 - 83

Received: 26 Aug 2017
Accepted: 21 Dec 2017

Published online: 09 Apr 2018 *

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