Cooperation among Firms
Prof. Arrighetti
IBD
20132014
University
of Parma
Albiona Cokaj
Silvia Idiris
Tommaso Rossi
Cooperation
o Extend technological capabilities
o Integrate into firm production processes technological
knowledge coming from different sources;
o R&D alliances strategies followed starting from the late '80s
2 aspects inherent to the R&D cooperation process:
the need
to share costs and risks with partners
to access to complementary knowledge
Aim of Firms’
cooperation
strategies
o Introduce a new product (or process) in a brief time span;
o Have a rapid and privileged access to new knowledge increasing the
firms' understanding of scientific developments (Belderbos)
The main research interest resides in four broad areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The motives which induce firms to form these alliances;
the selection of partners;
the management of the alliances,
the measurement of alliance performance (Bayona et al.,
2001)
PROCEED
Partner selection
 The partner selection is one of the most critical decision
for a firm when forming an alliance as the simultaneous
management with multiple partners cause a rise in
complexity and coordination costs

use of a multinomial logit model
The choice among
three main strategies
Three different cooperation strategies:
mixed cooperation
market cooperation
science cooperation
with both market and science
partners.
R&D cooperation with market
partners (suppliers, clients or
competitors)
R&D cooperation with science
partners
(public research institutes and
universities)
2 Theoretical Approaches
in the Analysis
1.
The industrial organization literature (IO)has focused on
incoming and outgoing spillover as the major
determinants of R&D cooperation strategies.
2.
The second theoretical approach followed is grounded in
the management literature. It applies transaction cost
approach that may favour the sharing of costs and risks
among partnership participants (e.g. Das and Tend, what
determines how firms choose different partners)
Firms cooperating with…
o
Public
institutions
Universities
Foreign and
Domestic
partners
Competitors
Face less cost constrains while it is not the case for
firms cooperating with rivals.
are targeted in order to pool complementary
resources together.
Cincera et al., (2003) found negative result on firms'
productivity collaborating with foreign partners and
may be affected even by international R&D cooperation
Lhuillery and Pfister (2009) collaboration with
competitors may induce failures differentiating among
vertical partners.
Determinants of R&D cooperation
o Incoming spillovers
o Appropriality
o Firm size
o Cost of innovation
o Subsidies
o Participation in a multinational group
o International status
o R&D expenditures
MAJOR FACTORS
INCOMING SPILLOVER:
external flows of knowledge
that a firm may be able to grasp
directly from partners or from
other sources of technology
such as patents, publications,
meetings and so on….
COST OF INNOVATIONS:
high costs for innovation induce
firms to search for a partner to
alleviate financial problems and
reduce costs
http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/instrument/5171_Q1_V2-eng.pdf
Incoming spillovers
If they are high:
may induce firms to collaborate and it may result more profitable than
non cooperating strategy. Firms in high-tech sectors prefer horizontal
cooperations especially when the costs of innovation are high .
o On the other hand, the possibility of knowledge leakages may
increase firms' willingness to take advantage of partners R&D
investments.
o collaborating with research organizations
= higher incoming
spillovers
o Firms attempt to minimize outgoing spillovers and maximize
incoming spillovers.
EU GUIDELINES FOR R&D
COOPERATION
“Collaboration in the field of research and development as well as
knowledge transfer activities between the Community and third countries
should be based on clear and uniform recommendations and practices
that ensure equitable and fair access to intellectual property generated
through international research collaborations, to the mutual benefit of all
partners involved.”
STAGES TO CHOOSE A
PARTNER
o Identification of the respective
interests of the parties
o Participant’s knowledge transfer
policy
o IP* strategy and exploitation model
of the partner
o Identification of background IP
o Identification of personnel
o Identification of the partners
o Due diligence evaluation of new
partners
o Freedom-to-operate
o Analysis of the legal system,
particularly the IP framework, of a
o partner's country
o Cultural issues relating to contract
negotiation and execution of
o contracts
o Drafting R & I collab.agreement
*intellectual property
Case Studies
Science Cooperation
UCB and Harvard University announce new
research alliance
The new alliance creates a unique drug discovery bridge between industry and academia.
It pairs Harvard’s long-standing excellence in medical research with UCB’s expertise in drug
development
-It’s about collaboration
-it’s about innovation
-it’s about sharing ideas.
Harvard will benefit from UCB’s strengths and industry experience in drug discovery and
development; while Harvard’s exceptional research will complement UCB’s internal
expertise.’’
Market cooperation
+
Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., a global manufacturer and supplier of industrial,
medical, electronics and specialty gases and welding supplies
headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., has announced the completion of
the acquisition of Continental Carbonic Products Inc., an Illinois-based
manufacturer and supplier of dry ice and liquid carbon dioxide.
Going forward, CCPI presents a tremendous opportunity for MATHESON by
providing a new platform for growth and extension of our product
offering.
Mixed cooperation
+
Prompt, Québec’s premier ICT R&D consortia, altogether with
McGill University and the California Institute for
Telecommunications and Information Technology has announced
another key milestone towards the development and application of
environmentally sound ICT-based infrastructure and networks
Benefits
 increase energy efficiency
 reduce carbon emissions across university campuses, companies and
government departments.
Continue…
 Focus on maximizing the positive environmental benefits of ICT
 Building on the results of an initial strategic planning meeting hosted in
October in San Diego, California, the workshop brought together more
than 35 participants from industry, academia and government. This
included representatives from emerging companies across Quebec to
multinational industry leaders such as Ericsson, IBM and DMR-Fujitsu that
maintain a strong R&D presence in the province.
Delegates identified three key priorities for the proposed consortium:
 green telecommunications,
 wireless access,
 intelligent transportation systems.
Partnerships create new opportunities
 "This workshop enabled us to develop specific tactics that will
help translate our vision into action, while making important
progress on the implementation of our Green ICT Strategy,”
Together with our partners, we will focus on technological
collaboration, governance and intellectual property
management support the launch this new Canada-California
Consortium, and provide entrepreneurs with new
opportunities to capitalize on growing market for Green ICT.”
 said Dr, Charles Despins, President and CEO of Prompt.
Continue…
 “The University of California recently hosted the Third Governors’ Global
Climate Change Summit, which called for collaborative action that
enables the development of a green economy; technology will play an
important role in this equation,” said Jerry Sheehan, Chief of Staff at
Calit2. “This workshop reinforced how Canada-California R&D
cooperation in green ICT could help to achieve this goal and influence
others around the world.”
 “This bilateral consortium promotes the development of a sustainable
environment and global ICT industry,” said Pierre Coderre, Sr. Director of
Technology with DMR-Fujitsu, which has three offices in Quebec. “It will
enable multinational companies such as Fujitsu to leverage a network of
Green ICT partners, optimize the development of new technology-based,
climate change solutions, and demonstrate Fujitsu leadership in green
ICT.”
References
 Reading on «Firms’ R&D cooperation strategies:
Partner Selection, written by Gussoni and Franco
 http://promptinc.org/documents/pressrelease_033110_eng.pdf
 http://knowledge.essec.edu/research-highlights/research-and-developmentdo-alliances-always-help.html
 http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovationunion/pdf/international_cooperation_guidelines_erac_kt_group.pdf
 http://win-health.org/ucb-and-harvard-university-announce-new-researchalliance-demonstrating-how-academia-and-industry-team-up-with-theinterest-of-the-patient-in-mind/
 www.rdmag.com
 http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3Instr.pl?Function=getInstrumentList&Ite
m_Id=137294&UL=1V&
 http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/instrument/5171_Q1_V2-eng.pdf
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMnhEfvF3og
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!