The analysis of relationship between R&D outsourcing and firm innovative performance from the perspective of open innovation

R&D outsourcing has become a new trend and gains more and more concern in recent years. This paper empirically examines the relationship between R&D outsourcing intensity and firm performance. Based on the literature review of outsourcing and outsourcing intensity measurement, we put forward the determinants of R&D outsourcing intensity, which is composed of R&D outsourcing depth and R&D outsourcing breadth. Using a large-scale sample of industrial firms, this paper empirically links R&D outsourcing intensity to innovative performance, finding that the innovative R&D outsourcing intensity is curvilinearly (taking on inverted U-shape) related to performance while efficient R&D outsourcing intensity is linearly related to performance.