School of Business and Economics TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN (INTERNATIONAL) R&D ALLIANCES, 1970- 2006 John Hagedoorn * Department of Organization & Strategy and UNU-MERIT School of Business and Economics Maastricht University
Dec 27, 2015
School of Business and Economics
TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN (INTERNATIONAL) R&D ALLIANCES, 1970-2006
John Hagedoorn
* Department of Organization & Strategy and UNU-MERIT School of Business and Economics
Maastricht University
Definition
R&D alliances refer to cooperation between two or more firms, that remain independent economic agents and organizational entities, that share some oftheir R&D activities.
As such they represent a part of the value chain in the ‘swollen middle’, in between market transactions and hierarchies.
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Annual growth in number of R&D alliances
source : CATI
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Share of equity alliances (joint ventures) in R&D al-liances
Advantages and disadvantages of equity alliances (joint ventures) and non-equity (contractual) alliances
Advantages of equity alliances (joint ventures):
• Solid organization (firm)• Intensive cooperation• Control and monitoring (governance)
embedded in organization• Embedded transfer of tacit knowledge and
knowledge accumulation • Long-term perspective
Disadvantages of equity alliances:
• Long and costly implementation process• High switching costs• Complex organization (two-tiered agency
problems)• Inflexibility
Advantages of non-equity (contractual) alliances:
• Short implementation process• Low switching costs• Project-based• Flexibility• Short-term perspective
Disadvantages of non-equity alliances:
• Arm’s length control and monitoring (contracts)
• Fragmented transfer of tacit knowledge and knowledge accumulation
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
R&D alliances, sectoral distribution, %
hightech %medtech %lowtech %
Recent trends:
• Growth of R&D alliances• Mainly found in high-tech industries• Growing importance of non-equity R&D alliances• Need for flexibility
• Implications for inter-firm R&D networks:– flexible networks– complex networks
Networks of inter-firm R&D alliances in bio-pharma, 1975-1979
NNetworks of inter-firm R&D alliances bio-pharma, 1980-1984
ch industry, 1985-1989
Networks in the biotech industry, 1995-1999Networks of inter-firm R&D alliances in bio-pharma, 1995-1999
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
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30%
40%
50%
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70%
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90%
100%
R&D alliances, share of international alliances
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
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70%
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90%
100%
R&D alliances, international distribution
OECDNICLDC
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
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30%
40%
50%
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70%
80%
90%
100%
US participation in total R&D alliances
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
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70%
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90%
100%
US participation in international R&D alliances
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
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90%
100%
Share of international US R&D alliances
source : CATI
19701972
19741976
19781980
19821984
19861988
19901992
19941996
19982000
20022004
20060.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
R&D alliances, share of firms from India and PRC
INDIAPRC
source : CATI
hightech medtech lowtech0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
R&D alliances, sectoral distribution, India and PRC, numbers
INDIAPRC
So what have we learned?
• Increase in R&D alliances• More flexible forms of R&D partnering• Concentrated in high-tech industries• Complex network configurations• Share of int. R&D alliances stable (+/- 60%)• Dominance of OECD countries• US has become the main player• Increasing role of NIC, recently China and India
source : CATI
Thank you for your attention
source : CATI