Blockchain application and collaborative innovation in the manufacturing industry: Based on the perspective of social trust

We use Chinese A-share listed firms from the manufacturing industry during 2016–2019 to examine the impact of social trust and blockchain application on firms’ collaborative innovation. The results reveal that social trust among acquaintances and social trust among strangers have heterogeneous impacts on corporate collaborative innovation: Trust in strangers promotes firms’ collaborative innovation more than trust in acquaintances. We then analyze the external governance effects of blockchain applications, including the direct impact of blockchain applications on firms’ collaborative innovation, and the indirect impact of blockchain applications on the relationship between social trust and corporate collaborative innovation. We find that blockchain application enhances collaborative innovation and strengthens the positive impact of social trust on collaborative innovation. These results indicate that the application of blockchain technology improves the performances of firms’ collaborative innovation. It is therefore advisable for firms and governments to construct an ecosystem to facilitate the application of blockchain technologies.