Co-patent, financing constraints, and innovation in SMEs: An empirical analysis using market value panel data of listed firms

Abstract

We have studied how small and medium-sized firms (SME) can overcome the liability of smallness (Clegg et al., 1996; Thorgren et al., 2012) and obtain value from co-patents. We examined the relationship between the co-ownership of the patent and the firm's market value, along with the moderating role of government subsidies and upstream supplier's trade credit. The study finds that co-patent intensity is negatively correlated with the SME's market value. Further, supplier financing mitigates the negative relationship between the co-patent intensity and the market value of SMEs while the government subsidies strengthen the negative relationship between the co-patent intensity and the market value of SMEs. The results above imply that because the patent needs to be shared among the partners, this raises capital market' perception of the SME's commercial uncertainty and has a negative impact on the market value of SMEs. However, like general patent in which it signals the strength of SMEs in R&D, co-patent also reduces the external market's perception of an SME's technological uncertainty. The SME thus attracts more external funding. These findings provide us a more comprehensive understanding of the motivation of SMEs in co-patenting and how SMEs overcome the liability of smallness in capturing value from the co-patent.