Resumo

Innovation is an essential source of competitive advantage for companies that seek to maintain their performance in a dynamic economic environment (Koller, Goedhart & Wessels, 2015). Companies that operate in sectors characterized by the rapid and constant change have innovation as an ally in obtaining competitive advantages and improving organizational performance. Nevertheless, maintaining a diversified product portfolio is essential for maximizing shareholders' financial return (Cooper, Edgett, & Kleinschmidt, 2001).

Companies in the pharmaceutical industry, while needing to innovate to remain competitive in the market, also face challenges in developing new drugs, which makes this innovation process risky (Grewal, Chakravarty, Ding & Liechty, 2008). Therefore, this research aimed to verify whether, by assuming higher levels of market risk (Beta), pharmaceutical companies listed on B3 would be able to convert, with greater intensity, the resources and investments allocated in Research and Development (R&D), potentializing the value creation effect (Tobin's Q) over time.

We complement Higson (2001) and Bardhan et al. (2013) propositions by replacing IT with a more comprehensive proposition, market risk. For it is expected that risk should be proportional to the return to be obtained (Kayo et al., 2006) - therefore, by assuming higher levels of risk, it is expected that this effect could enhance value creation. However, this process would occur with the interaction of investment in R&D. We also complement the study of Greenhalgh and Rogers (2006), who, instead of testing the role of market risk, used variables such as competition intensity and market size.

We used secondary data sources collected in Capital IQ referring to publicly traded companies in the pharmaceutical sector listed on B3 over a 10-year period, between 2010 and 2019, and the analyses performed with the aid of Stata IC 15.1 software (StataCorp, 2017) with the conjunction of the theoretical econometric models of Levitas and Chi (2010) and Teh, Kayo and Kimura (2008) and based on panel data with simultaneous equations (Haavelmo, 1943; Cornewell et al., 1992; Johansen, 1995).

The highest correlation in the matrix is observed between debt and R&D. The value creation is not linearly related to the amount of R&D investment but is significantly related to market risk (Beta). This result is repeated in the regression model but has no support in the full model of simultaneous equations. In this case, the moderation relation not only showed significance, but the market risk became non-significant, and so did the R&D investment. In this case, the literature points to this type of relationship as pure moderation.

There is strong evidence for confirming hypothesis H1: There is a positive relationship between innovation and value creation of pharmaceutical companies listed on B3. This result can be confirmed in studies such as the one conducted by Bardhan et al. (2013) for the technology sector. Unlike H1 and despite pointing to vital statistical significance, it was not possible to confirm hypothesis H2: Companies in the pharmaceutical sector listed on B3 that invest in innovation, measured by R&D, have greater exposure to risk management to achieve higher levels of innovation.

Ge, F., & Xu, J. (2020). Does intellectual capital investment enhance firm performance? Evidence from pharmaceutical sector in China. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 1-16. Kayo, E. K., Kimura, H., Martin, D. M. L., & Nakamura, W. T. (2006). Intangible assets, life cycle and value creation. Journal of Contemporary Management, 10, 73-90. Levitas, E., & Chi, T. (2010). A look at the value creation effects of patenting and capital investment through a real options lens: the moderating role of uncertainty. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 4(3), 212-233. doi:10.1002/sej.92