An Integrated Agency–Resource Dependence View of the Influence of Directors' Human and Relational Capital on Firms' R&D Spending

Abstract

In this paper, we contribute to the agency and corporate entrepreneurship literatures by focusing on board antecedents of research and development (R&D). Some researchers in this stream find outside directors negatively influence R&D spending, yet popular opinion suggests boards should be composed of outsiders, and at the same time, firms should be innovative and entrepreneurial. We begin to address this conflict by extending agency theory and incorporating resource dependence views in order to explore the influence of a wider range of director characteristics on R&D spending, a precursor of innovation and entrepreneurial activity. Our empirical results demonstrate that aspects of directors' human and relational capital (e.g. education, entrepreneurial finance experience, technical experience, and interlocks) significantly influence R&D spending. Our findings illustrate that boards can be configured to improve efficiencies, thereby reducing R&D spending, and/or to augment R&D spending. They reveal the merits of considering inside and outside directors separately and show how the independence (i.e. inside/outside status) of directors shapes the effect of their human and relational capital on R&D spending.

Does Firms' Risk Management Human Capital Reduce the Likelihood of Financial Distress?

“…The results show that the amount of experience of RMC members was positively related to firms' accounting performance, which is consistent with previous literature (Carpenter and Westphal, 2001;Dalziel, Gentry and Bowerman, 2011;Khanna, Jones and Boivie, 2014). Specifically, research has suggested that previous experience is valuable, as directors need to understand and evaluate the actions taken by managers and analyse the potential impact of those actions .…”

“…Specifically, research has suggested that previous experience is valuable, as directors need to understand and evaluate the actions taken by managers and analyse the potential impact of those actions . More experienced directors have more relevant skills and are able to generate abstract principles from specific situations (Dalziel, Gentry and Bowerman, 2011). Experience can help an RMC member to understand large and complex risk management information, thereby improving their risk management efficiency, leading to an increase in firm performance (Carpenter and Westphal, 2001).…”

Dynamic Approach to Defining Intellectual Capital of Board of Directors and Its Structure

“…Согласно [Carpenter, Westphal, 2001;Certo, 2003;Dalziel, Gentry, Bowerman, 2011;Hillman, Dalziel, 2003], человеческий ка-питал совета директоров -это знания, опыт и навыки членов совета директоров, имманентно принадлежащие последним. В то же время, как отмечалось в [Руус, Пайк, Фернстрем, 2010, с.…”

“…В исследовании [Dalziel, Gentry, Bowerman, 2011] проводится тестирование предположения о том, что знания членов советов директоров и опыт работы в вен-чурном бизнесе, а также предыдущий опыт, связанный с привлечением финан-сирования, приводят к большей готовности членов СД принимать стратегически важ-ные решения, связанные с инвестирова-нием в НИОКР. На выборке 225 компаний США авторы проанализировали зависи-мость между наличием высшего образова-ния, дополнительного высшего образова-ния, а также опыта работы в определенной сфере (венчурном бизнесе, технической сфере или инвестиционном банкинге) и уровнем расходов на НИОКР в компании в период с 2001 по 2003 г. Были сделаны выводы о взаимосвязи человеческого ка-питала совета директоров и величины ин-вестиций в НИОКР для исполнительных и неисполнительных директоров.…”

Influência da estrutura de capital nos investimentos em inovação das indústrias listadas na BM&FBOVESPA

“…Como a estrutura de capital gera impacto sobre a escolha das estratégias, especialmente em empresas preocupadas com inovação (Yuke & Xiaomin, 2015) e aquelas detentoras de estrutura de capital com baixos níveis de dívida são mais propensas a desenvolver e utilizar as capacidades inovadoras (Li & Simerly, 2002), conjectura-se, então, um relacionamento entre a estrutura de capital e investimentos em inovação (Canto & Gonzalez, 1999;Dalziel, Gentry, & Bowerman, 2011;Lai, Lin, & Lin, 2015). Assim, formula-se a seguinte hipótese de pesquisa: A estrutura de capital da empresa influencia os investimentos em inovação.…”