Distance to Customers, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation in High‐Tech Firms: The Dark Face of Geographical Proximity

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of the Untransformed Variables

	Average	S.D.	Min	Max
Innovation	7.3	6.1	1	25
Size (€0.000)	814.33	1116.75	100	10,000
CustSize (€0.000)	530.63	542.68	40	3,000
CustAge	18.01	12.86	2	90
FirmAge	18.16	13.44	2	80
AbsCap	3.67	3.04	0.01	0.15
RelProx	4.13	2.29	1	7

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations

	Average	S.D.	Size [1]	CustSize [2]	CustAge [3]	FirmAge [4]	AbsCap [5]	RelProx [6]	GeoProx [7]
[1]	814.33	1116.75	1
[2]	530.63	542.68	0.287^***	1
[3]	2.70	0.60	0.189 ^**	0.354^***	1
[4]	2.68	0.65	0.471^***	0.409^***	0.584^***	1
[5]	0.739	1.35	0.354^***	0.271^***	0.395^***	0.575^***	1
[6]	1.18	0.751	0.054	0.066	0.183 ^**	0.205^***	0.201 ^**	1
[7]	–	–	−0.281^***	−0.211^***	−0.382^***	−0.481^***	−0.584^***	−0.289^***	1

^***p < .01.

^**p < .05.

^*p < .1.

Table 3. Factor Analysis on Relational Proximity

Factor name	Measurement item	Standardized loading	Cronbach's alpha
Relational proximity	Social dimension		0.822
	The firm sends the products to the customer before receiving the full payment.	0.88^**
	The transaction with the customer is based on standard procedures without formal agreements.	0.59^**
	The customer and the firm are strongly tied by common investments aimed to reinforce their growth.	0.65^**
	Cognitive dimension
	The firm has never had problems with the client because they have similar interests.	0.71^**
	The customer often comes to the firm's head office without reasons related to work.	0.75^*
	The purchase order was defined in a nonworking environment.	0.85^**
	Goodness‐fit‐index (GFI) > 0.91

^***p < .01.

^**p < .05.

^*p < .1.

Table 4. Regression Results^a

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Size	0.00159^***	0.00154^***	0.00157^***	0.0014^***
	(0.000312)	(0.000296)	(0.000294)	(0.000294)
CustSize	0.00166^***	0.00172^***	0.00175^***	0.00177^***
	(0.000619)	(0.000588)	(0.000583)	(0.000561)
CustAge	−1.036	−1.348^**	−1.398^**	−1.422^**
	(0.629)	(0.601)	(0.596)	(0.576)
FirmAge	−0.0531	−0.400	−.477	−0.458
	(0.700)	(0.669)	(0.664)	(0.648)
AbsCap	2.774^***	2.271^***	2.263^***	2.257^***
	(0.273)	(.285)	(0.282)	(0.408)
GeoProx		−3.233^***	−2.948^***	−2.007^***
		(0.761)	(0.768)	(0.777)
RelProx			0.758^*	0.269
			(0.395)	(0.417)
GeoProx×AbsCap				−1.732^***
				(0.534)
RelProx×AbsCap				0.594^**
				(0.270)
Constant	6.029^***	9.291^***	8.600^***	8.266^***
	(1.709)	(1.793)	(1.813)	(1.767)
Observations	158	158	158	158
R‐squared	62.9%	66.9%	67.6%	70.40%
Adj. R‐squared	61.6%	65.5%	66.4%	68.60%
F(e;dof)	F(5, 152) = 51.50	F(6, 151) = 50.75	F(7, 150) = 44.80	F(9, 148) = 39.11
Prob > F =	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000
VIF (mean)	1.61	1.67	1.60	2.16

^aStandard errors are in parentheses.

^***p < .01.

^**p < .05.

^*p < .1.

Figure 1. Innovation Activity: The Interaction Effect of Geographical Proximity and Absorptive Capacity

Figure 2. Innovation Activity: The Interaction Effect of Relational Proximity and Absorptive Capacity