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Abstract As an important informal institutional arrangement, the interlocking directorate network is embedded in enterprises, and it is an important source for enterprises to obtain external resources and information. Based on the method of social network analysis, this study uses the Chinese high-tech listed companies during the period 2008-2014 as research samples and empirically examines the effects of enterprise’s position in interlocking directorate networks on innovation investment, from the perspective of structural embeddedness. This study finds that network centrality and structural holes are positively correlated with R&D investment, which indicates that enterprises which are located in the center of interlocking directorate network and occupy the structure holes are more likely to use the location advantage to acquire and control more information and resources so as to promote the enterprises to actively carry out R&D activities. It also verifies the positive impact of director network as an informal governance mechanism on enterprise innovation behavior. It further examines the effect of environmental uncertainty on the location advantage of the network, suggesting that environmental uncertainty negatively moderates the interlock-innovation relationship. In other words, environmental uncertainty will reduce the positive effects of central position in interlocks on enterprise innovation investment.
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Received: 05 September 2016
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2017, Vol. 14 
