How Does Digital Government Construction Affect Enterprise Exploratory Innovation Orientation? Insights Based on Invention Knowledge Inertia

Following up on digital government construction, will enterprises passively shape the inertia of invention knowledge, and will it affect their exploratory innovation? We explored the impact of digital government construction (DGC) on firms’ exploratory innovation (Exploratory) using data from China’s1528 A-share firms over a decade. We find that DGC significantly promotes Exploratory. Firms are compelled to cultivate invention knowledge inertia (KI) in response to DGC to promote Exploratory. The knowledge openness of the senior leadership team (KOM) moderates the link between KI and Exploratory. Notably, the diversified knowledge of executives with financial backgrounds weakens the DGC→KI, and the effect is obvious in state-owned and high-tech enterprises. While knowledge without such backgrounds strengthens the KI→Exploratory. This study provides valuable insights into government-enterprise cooperation, emphasizing the role of innovation knowledge inertia in that.