Non-actual controller and enterprise technology innovation

The principal-agent theory suggests that agents behave opportunistically to maximize their interests. Innovation is risky corporate behavior. Do agents of firms without actual controllers value innovation? We referred to the organic strategy perspective and use the OESP model(organisation-environment-strategy-performance) to research the innovation strategies of firms without actual controllers, and we found that non-actual controller significantly and positively affects innovation performance and can influence innovation performance by influencing firms’ innovation input decisions. Additionally, we found that cooperative culture positively contributes to the moderating effect on the innovation of firms with no actual controller. Furthermore, we divided firms with non-actual controller into state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs, and found that the effect on innovation performance was different for firms with different equity properties. Simultaneously, we discovered the effect of corporate reputation on the moderating effect of corporate cooperative culture; specifically, culture has a positive moderating effect on honest firms and a negative moderating effect on discredited firms. The findings of this study expand the boundaries of the applicability of principal-agent theory and place the problem in a dynamic context of thinking, providing a new perspective for future research on innovation without actual controllers.