Innovation Coherence and Entrepreneurial Scaling Among Technology Ventures in East Asian Growth Markets

Abstract

East Asian technology ventures operate in environments where innovation is highly visible, financing is selective, and entrepreneurial scaling often depends on coordination across research, commercialization, and external legitimacy. This study examines whether innovation coherence, defined as the alignment among strategic innovation disclosure, R&D commitment, patent output, product commercialization, and externally oriented collaboration, predicts subsequent venture performance. Using a synthetic but empirically calibrated unbalanced panel of 386 publicly listed young technology firms from mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan during 2014--2023, the analysis estimates dynamic panel models, fixed-effects specifications, mediation equations, and selection-adjusted robustness tests. The results indicate that innovation coherence is positively associated with next-year Tobin's Q, revenue growth, and equity-financing capacity, while it is negatively associated with cash-flow volatility. A one-standard-deviation increase in coherence is associated with a 0.082 increase in Tobin's Q, a 2.7% increase in revenue growth, and a 1.9% increase in the probability of successful seasoned equity financing. The valuation association is partially mediated by innovation conversion efficiency, measured as market-facing innovation output per unit of lagged R&D expenditure. Moderation tests show that the coherence effect is stronger under moderate product-market competition and weaker when technological search is excessively concentrated. The findings suggest that entrepreneurial firms benefit not merely from high innovation intensity, but from an internally consistent innovation architecture that allows stakeholders to connect resources, knowledge outputs, and scaling intentions.