Abstract In this study, we use patent data of China automobile industry from 1995 to 2011 in 738 firms. We discuss the impact of knowledge network centralization on firms’ exploitative and exploratory innovation performance. We also analyze the moderating effect of knowledge variety on the relationship of knowledge network centralization and innovation performance. The empirical results show that knowledge network centralization has a positive relationship with a firm’s exploitative innovation performance, and has a negative relationship with a firm’s exploratory innovation performance. Knowledge variety also positively affects firms’ exploitative and exploratory innovation performance. At the same time, knowledge variety weakens the negative relationship between knowledge network centralization and exploratory innovation performance, but the moderating effect of knowledge variety on the positive relationship between knowledge network centralization and exploitative innovation performance is not significant.
2017, Vol. 14 
