하도급 생산에서 거래처 다양성이 기술 다양성에 미치는 영향: 국내 자동차 부품산업을 중심으로

초록

This study empirically examines how client portfolio diversity influences the technological diversity of automotive parts suppliers in Korea. Prior research has generally found that diversified client relationships enhance suppliers’ financial and innovation performance, but the pathways through which such effects arise remain insufficiently understood. Using panel data from 598 automotive parts suppliers subject to external audit between 2018 and 2024, this study estimates a two-limit Tobit model. The baseline results indicate that client diversity does not exert a statistically significant effect on technological diversity. However, when incorporating interaction terms with global patenting intensity, joint patent applications, and the production of electric/electronic components, the effect becomes positive and statistically significant. These findings indicate that the benefits of diversified client relationships arise primarily for firms with strong global engagement, active external R&D collaboration, and specialization in electric and electronic components. This study contributes to the literature by empirically demonstrating that the relationship between client diversity and technological diversity exhibits conditional effects across firms in the Korean automotive parts industry. In doing so, it extends the determinants of technological diversity beyond internal R&D toward external network factors.

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