Collaboration for innovation: Determinants of R&D alliance governance and its effect on firm innovation

Abstract

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Learning Objectives: To provided indications that R&D alliances, which are situated at different stages of the technological innovation trajectory, have a different impact on the innovation performance of organizations. Studies, examining the governance of these different kinds of R&D alliances have still remained absent for biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract Body: This study examines the determinants of R&D alliance governance and its effect on innovation within the biotechnology industry, and the effect on its innovative performance. We developed theoretical propositions departing from the national regulatory stringency, resource based view and knowledge-based theory. We argue that a firm’s national position, resource capability and knowledge-right regime within a science-based collaboration will have an influence on the innovation collaboration. The collaborative forms of R&D collaborations have effect by the national regulatory stringency, resource based view and knowledge-based theory, and the collaborative form will affects the subsequent innovation output within the allied firms in the biopharmaceutical sector. These propositions will be tested using a dataset we are constructing. We used the USPOT patent and ReCap.com biotech alliance database to select companies that formed inter-firm R&D agreements with royalties during the period 1990-2005 in the biopharmaceutical industry. We are linking innovation measures to the firms of these R&D alliances. Overall, we argue the national regulatory stringency, resource based view and knowledge-based theory arguments that the idiosyncrasy in the technological and regulatory traits influences which type of alliance forms would be selected by allying firms for innovation.

Research Support: INER, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research