influence of public programs on inter-firm R&D collaboration strategies: project-level evidence from EU FP5 and FP6

Inter-firms R&D collaborations are often seen as an effective mean to access new resources, to innovate and/or to enter new markets in a turbulent environment characterized by fierce competition. However, all R&D partnerships do not have the same strategic importance. We analyze the strategi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of technology transfer 2012-12, Vol.37 (6), p.885-916
Main Authors: Matt, Mireille, Robin, Stéphane, Wolff, Sandrine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Business and Management
Collaboration
Commercial Law
Competition
Cooperation
Costs
Econometric analysis
Econometrics
Economic Growth
Economics and Finance
Empirical analysis
European Union
Humanities and Social Sciences
Incentives
Industrial Organization
Innovation/Technology Management
issues and policy
Joint ventures
Management
Markets
Monitoring
new markets
Partnership
Partnerships
R&D
Research & development
Simplification
Spontaneous
Strategic management
Strategy
Studies
Success
Turbulence
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Summary:Inter-firms R&D collaborations are often seen as an effective mean to access new resources, to innovate and/or to enter new markets in a turbulent environment characterized by fierce competition. However, all R&D partnerships do not have the same strategic importance. We analyze the strategic features of two types of partnerships that are seldom compared in the academic literature on R&D alliances: EU-sponsored inter-firms collaborations on the one hand, and non-sponsored, spontaneous inter-firm collaborations on the other. We compare their incentives and coordination mechanisms, and derive theoretical propositions that we test empirically. Our econometric analysis uses original data on (sponsored and non-sponsored) projects conducted by participants in the 5th and 6th European R&D Framework Programs. Our empirical findings support our main propositions. EU-funded collaborations are more exploratory and more focused on peripheral competences than spontaneous R&D collaborations. They are also less flexible, due to rigid monitoring rules which are nevertheless crucial to the projects’ success. However, there is no major difference between the different types of EU-sponsored collaborations, which pleads for a simplification of these policy instruments.
ISSN:0892-9912
0892-9912
1573-7047
DOI:10.1007/s10961-011-9232-9