Abstract: Original innovation always requires considerable resources that exceed the firm’s boundary. The transitional economy and Chinese democratization development make firms gradually possess capabilities influencing the shape of government decision and public policy. Drawing on institution based view and resource dependence theory, this study develops and empirically tests a set of hypotheses, aiming at explaining how corporate political activities affect original innovation outcome, and the role of organizational slack in influencing the relationship between corporate political action and original innovation. Data collected form 404 Chinese manufactory firms serve to test the hypotheses. Results highlight that corporate political action increases firm’s political legitimacy, and then original innovation outcome. In addition, organizational slack positively moderates relationship between political legitimacy and original innovation. That is, the positive effect of political legitimacy on original innovation is higher on the higher level of organizational slack. This paper contributes to a better understanding of encouraging mechanism of firm’s original innovation, and provides some suggestions to firms’ practices.

摘要： 原始性创新对企业资源与能力提出较高要求，而随着中国市场经济的转型和民主化进程的加快，企业逐渐具备了通过政治行为影响政府决策与公共政策的能力。基于制度视角和资源依赖理论，研究企业政治行为影响原始性创新的路径以及企业组织冗余对这一关系的影响。404家中国企业调研数据的实证研究表明，企业政治行为有利于其获得政治合法性，进而促进企业的原始性创新。另外，组织冗余正向调节政治合法性与原始性创新之间的关系，即企业组织冗余水平较高时，政治合法性对原始性创新的促进作用更大。研究结论有助于我们更好地理解促进企业原始性创新的机制，对现阶段中国企业的创新实践具有一定的参考价值。

关键词: 企业政治行为, 企业原始性创新, 政治合法性, 组织冗余, Corporate political action, Original innovation, Political legitimacy, Organizational slack