School of Business and Economics TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN (INTERNATIONAL) R&D ALLIANCES, 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 of their R&D activities. As such they represent a part of the value chain in the ‘swollen middle’, in between market transactions and hierarchies.

source : CATI

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

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,

N Networks of inter-firm R&D alliances bio-pharma, ch industry,

Networks in the biotech industry, Networks of inter-firm R&D alliances in bio-pharma,

source : CATI

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