Transfer more, benefit more? An institutional framework for understanding the use of interorganizationally and intraorganizationally transferred knowledge

Firms’ use of the interorganizational and intraorganizational transferred knowledge is critical for product innovation in emerging economies. Based on institutional theory, this research examines the moderating effects of firms’ institutional environments on the relationships between firms’ transferred knowledge and their product innovation. The empirical results supported the proposed research hypotheses including the proposition that firms’ macro-institutional environment positively moderates relationships between the transferred knowledge and firms’ product innovation. Comparing privately owned enterprises and state-owned enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises would benefit more from intraorgani-zational transferred knowledge and benefit less from interorganizational transferred knowledge.