Heterogeneity in R&D Cooperation and Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Italian Firms

Journal title STUDI ECONOMICI
Author/s Otello Ardovino, Luca Pennacchio, Giuseppe Piroli
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2013/109
Language Italian Pages 31 P. 68-98 File size 186 KB
DOI 10.3280/STE2013-109004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

In recent decades firms have stepped up cooperation in R&D to improve their innovation capability by exploiting the external knowledge. Using data from the Community Innovation Survey, this paper analyzes the effect of cooperation on the propensity to innovate of Italian firms. Overall, the main results show that cooperation in research and development has a positive effect on this propensity. However, the effect varies according to the type of partner chosen by the firm. The greatest benefits derive from collaborations with non-competitive partners, such as suppliers and clients, but cooperation with competitors may also stimulate the firms’ innovation capabilities. Instead, cooperation with universities and other public research organizations shows a weak positive correlation with innovation propensity of firms. Size, R&D intensity, public support and internationalization also play an important role. The work takes into account the simultaneity and heterogeneity in firms’ innovation and collaboration strategies.

Keywords: R&D cooperation, innovation, partner selection, multivariate probit model, microeconometrics, community innovation survey

Jel codes: L13, O30, O32

  1. Aghion P., Griffith R. and Howitt P. (2006), Vertical integration and competition, American Economic Review, 96, 2: 97-102.
  2. Archibugi D. and Iammarino S. (1999), The policy implications of the globalisation of innovation, Research Policy, 28: 317-336.
  3. Aschhoff B. and Schmidt T. (2008), Empirical Evidence on the Success of R&D Cooperation – Happy Together?, Review of Industrial Organization, 33: 41-62.
  4. Ardovino O. and Pennacchio L. (2012), The Determinants of Cooperation in Government-Sponsored Innovation Networks: Empirical Evidence from Italian Technological Districts, Studi Economici, 3: 121-149.
  5. Becker W. and Dietz J. (2004), R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firmsevidence for the German manufacturing industry, Research Policy, 33, 2: 209-223.
  6. Belderbos R., Carree M., Diederen B., Lokshin B. and Veugelers R. (2004a), Heterogeneity in R&D cooperation strategies, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 22, 8: 1237-1263.
  7. Belderbos R., Carree M. and Lokshin B. (2004b), Cooperative R&D and firm performance, Research Policy, 33: 1477-1492.
  8. Berg S.V., Duncan J. and Friedman P. (1982), Joint venture strategies and corporate innovation, Cambridge, MA: Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain.
  9. Cassiman B. and Veugelers R. (2002), R&D Cooperation and Spillovers: Some Empirical Evidence from Belgium, American Economic Review, 92, 4: 1169-1184.
  10. Caloghirou Y., Ioannides S. and Vonortas N.S. (2003), Research Joint Ventures, Journal of Economic Surveys, 17, 4: 541-570.
  11. Chesbrough H.W. (2003), Open Innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
  12. Cohen W.M. and Levinthal D.A. (1990), Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 1: 128-152.
  13. Contractor F.J. and Lorange P. (1988), Why should firms cooperate? The strategy and economics basis for cooperative ventures, in F.J. Contractor, P. Lorange (eds.), Cooperative Strategies in International Business, Lexington Books, Lexington, MA.
  14. Das T. and Teng B.S. (2000), A resource-based theory of strategic alliances, Journal of Management, 26, 1: 31-61.
  15. D’Aspremont C. and Jacquemin A. (1988), Cooperative and noncooperative R&D in duopoly with spillovers, American Economic Review, 78, 5: 1133-1137.
  16. D’Aspremont C. and Jacquemin A. (1990), Cooperative and noncooperative R&D in duopoly with spillovers: Eratum, American Economic Review, 80, 3: 641-642.
  17. De Bondt R. (1997), Spillovers and innovative activities, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 15, 1: 1-28.
  18. Del Monte A. (2013), Issues on the policy to implement innovative networks, mimeo.
  19. Dussauge P. and Garette B. (1999), Cooperative Strategy-Competing Successfully Through Strategic Alliances, Wiley, Chichester.
  20. Geweke J. (1989), Bayesian Inference in econometric Models Using Monte Carlo Integration, Econometrica, 57: 1317-1340.
  21. Janz N., Lööf H. and Peters B. (2004), Firm level innovation and productivity-Is there a common story across countries? Problems and Perspectives in Management, 2: 184-204.
  22. Hagedoorn J. (1993), Understanding the rationale of strategic technology partnering: Interorganizational modes of cooperation and sectoral differences, Strategic Management Journal, 14, 5: 371-385. Hagedoorn J. and Schakenraad J. (1993), A comparison of private and subsidized inter-firm linkages in the European IT industry, Journal of Common Market Studies, 31: 373-390.
  23. Hajivassiliou V. and McFadden D. (1998), The method of simulated scores for the estimation of LDV models, Econometrica, 66: 863-896.
  24. Hajivassiliou V., McFadden D. and Ruud P. (1996), Simulation of multivariate normal rectangle probabilities and their derivatives theoretical and computational results, Journal of Econometrics, 72: 85-134.
  25. Hall B., Link A. and Scott J. (2003), Universities as Research Partners, Review of Economics and Statistics, 85, 2: 485-491.
  26. Hamel G. (1991), Competition for competence and inter-partner learning within international strategic alliances, Strategic Management Journal, 12: 83-103.
  27. Huang K.F. and Yu C.M. (2011), The effect of competitive and non-competitive R&D collaboration on firm innovation, Journal of Technological Transfer, 36: 383-403.
  28. Kamien M.I., Mueller E. and Zang I. (1992), Research joint ventures and R&D cartels, American Economic Review, 82, 5: 1293-1306.
  29. Keane M. (1994), A Computationally Practical Simulation Estimator for Panel Data, Econometrica, 62, 1: 95-116.
  30. Laursen K. and Salter A. (2004), Searching high and low: what types of firms use universities as a source of innovation? Research Policy, 33, 8: 1201-1215.
  31. Lin B.W. (2003), Technology transfer as technological learning: A source of competitive advantage of firms with limited R&D resources, R&D Management, 33, 3: 327-341.
  32. Lööf H. and Broström A. (2008), Does knowledge diffusion between university and industry increase innovativeness? The Journal of Technology Transfer, 33, 1: 73-90.
  33. Mäkinen S. and Seppänen M. (2007), Assessing business model concepts with taxonomical research criteria, Management Research News, 30, 10: 735-748.
  34. Milgrom P. and Roberts J. (1990), The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization, American Economic Review, 80, 3: 511-528.
  35. Moser P. (2005), How Do Patent Laws Influence Innovation? Evidence from Nineteenth-Century World’s Fairs, The American Economic Review, 95, 4: 1214-1236.
  36. Nieto M. and Santamaria L. (2007), The importance of diverse collaborative networks for the novelty of production innovation, Technovation, 27, 6: 367-377.
  37. Nooteboom B. (1999), Inter-Firm Alliances-Analysis and Design, Routledge, London.
  38. Parkhe A. (1991), Interfirm diversity, organizational learning, and longevity in global strategic alliances, Journal of International Business Studies, 22, 4: 579-601.
  39. Peters L., Groenewegen P. and Fiebelkorn N. (1993), A comparison of networks between industry and public sector research in materials technology and biotechnology, Research Policy, 27: 255-271.
  40. Rahm D., Kirkland J. and Bozeman B. (2000), University–Industry R&D Collaboration in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Boston and London.
  41. Sakakibara M. (1997), Heterogeneity of firm capabilities and cooperative research and development: An empirical Examination of Motives, Strategic Management Journal, 18, 6: 143-165.
  42. Siebert R. (1996), The impact of research joint ventures on firm performance: An empirical assessment, WZB Discussion Paper No. 96, Berlin.
  43. Teece D.J. (1992), Competition, cooperation, and innovation: Organizational arrangements for regimes of rapid technological progress, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 18: 1-25.
  44. Tether B.S. (2002), Who co-operates for innovation, and why: An empirical analysis, Research Policy, 31: 947-967 Tsang E.W.K. (1999), A preliminary typology of learning in international strategic alliances, Journal of World Business, 34, 3: 211-229.
  45. Von Hippel E. (1988), Sources of Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford

  • La collaborazione nel settore dell'artigianato artistico in Campania: il caso dell'oreficeria Alfredo Del Monte, Alessandro De Iudicibus, Sara Moccia, Luca Pennacchio, in STUDI ECONOMICI 117/2016 pp.77
    DOI: 10.3280/STE2015-117005

Otello Ardovino, Luca Pennacchio, Giuseppe Piroli, Cooperazione in ricerca e sviluppo e attività innovativa delle imprese: un’analisi empirica della realtà italiana in "STUDI ECONOMICI " 109/2013, pp 68-98, DOI: 10.3280/STE2013-109004