한국 재생에너지 기업의 혁신에 대한 정부정책 효과

The Effects of Government Policies on Innovation of the Korean Renewable Energy Technology Firms: Dynamic Panel Approach

Purpose: This study is to investigate the effects of government supports on firms’ innovation creation, taking into account interactions with their in-house R&D efforts. Research design, data, and methodology: Panel data for the Korean renewable energy technology manufacturing firms over the 30-year period from 1980 to 2019 are used to test the nexus between the variables, government R&D and non-R&D subsidy, firms’ in-house R&D expenditure, firm size, firm age, and industry competition. Considering the results of various panel framework tests to confirm the characteristics of the data, the empirical model, first-differenced dynamic panel vector autoregressive model, is established, and tested using one-step generalized method of moments estimator. Results: The study demonstrates the presence of dynamic path in firms’ innovation creation, showing that innovation creation in the pervious period significantly affects the enhancement of innovation in the next period. The study also shows that government R&D subsidy does not significantly affect firms’ innovation creation, but has a significant positive effect on firms’ innovation creation, by interacting with firms’ in-house R&D expenditure. Firms’ in-house R&D expenditure and firm size significantly contribute to enhancing their innovation. However, non-R&D subsidy from the government and firm age have significant negative effects on firms’ innovation creation. Implications: Under the situation where few studies has been conducted at the firm level, this study contributes to promoting an understanding of the nexus between government supports and firms’ innovation, especially considering interactions with firms’ in-house innovation efforts.