Mitigating Diminishing Returns to R&D: The Role of Information Technology in Innovation
研究信息技术能否帮助公司应对研发投入增加时收益递减的问题，基于161家公司1991-2003年的数据发现IT能缓解这一递减效应，且对研发复杂度高的公司作用更强。
Increasingly, firms across many industries are grappling with the challenge of declining returns to research and development (R&D). In this study, we investigate if and how information technology (IT) can help firms deal with this problem. We theorize that IT systems can help firms to cope with the complexity and inefficiency in managing innovation when R&D investments scale. We explicate the mechanisms through which IT enables firms to cope with the challenges they face when scaling their R&D and we posit that IT will mitigate the diminishing returns to R&D. Using archival data for 161 firms from 1991 to 2003 we find support for our conjecture that IT mitigates the diminishing returns to R&D. The mitigating effect of IT is stronger for firms facing greater complexity in their R&D activities, as measured by inventor intensity and geographical and technological complexity. We interpret and discuss these findings and their practical and theoretical implications.