The impacts of intellectual protection and R&D collaborations on firm-level innovations: the moderating role of internal funding

Abstract

Investments in research and development (R&D) and innovations are proven to be vital catalysts for the successful transition into knowledge-based economies. Despite the growing importance attached to innovations and R&D, they have yet to receive enough scholarly attention in developing countries. This research aims to examine whether intellectual protection and innovation collaborations influence R&D and technological innovations. The empirical results involving 549 firms revealed that trademarks positively and marginally influence technological innovations but not R&D. The findings also revealed that domestic and international innovation collaborations with other firms and universities have a positive marginal effect on both technological innovations and R&D. The results also show that firms’ internal funds significantly moderate the relationship between intellectual protection, technological innovations, and R&D. The main implication from our finding is that Ghanaian firms should consider investing in intellectual protection and forging collaborations with domestic and foreign firms and universities to increase their innovation performance and competitiveness.