The Impact Of Trust And Learning On Firm Innovativeness In Clusters: The Moderating Role Of Environmental Competitiveness

This paper aims to examine the effects of two aspects of tie characteristics-trust and learning -to the firm's subsequent innovation output. We argue both learning and trust behavior lead to high level of joint problem solving which in turn influence innovation performance. In addition, a‘climatic’ characteristic, namely environmental competitiveness was also involved in the framework to explore the contingency role of the two relational characteristics on innovation performance. Using survey data from a sample of 194 firms from mainland China, we found that trust and learning both have a positive impact on innovation performance because they facilitate joint problem solving at the firm level and the relationship between trust, learning and joint problem solving was moderated by environmental competitiveness. We also find that trust and learning have a positive interaction effect on the outcome variable. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.