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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of governments in resolving collective action dilemmas arising in R&D collaboration between university-research institutes (URI) and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). The paper focusses on R&D collaboration in South Korea in light of its major industrial reforms since the 1980s in strengthening the national science and technology innovation system.

To examine factors explaining the likelihood of SMEs to collaborate with URIs in R&D activities, the authors used data that were collected in the Seoul Metropolitan Area by the Seoul Institute in 2010. A logistic regression analysis was performed with data from the Open Innovation System survey, which consists of 336 SMEs; and supplemented by firm-level data retrieved from the government official statistics on structural characteristics of SMEs. The Mann-Whitney Test of Difference was employed to test the perceived importance of R&D activities in various stages of product development.

This research found that SMEs having government certified R&D facilities and higher investments in R&D activities explain their likelihood in engaging in R&D collaboration with URIs. SMEs in the chemical sector also are more likely to establish R&D collaboration with URIs compared to those in the information technology (IT) sector. In terms of the importance of R&D activities, there are marked differences between SMEs collaborating with URIs and those that do not. The differences are found in R&D’s needs related to acquisition of information, basic research, pilot testing of products, and product manufacturing. Most SMEs in the sample reported several barriers to R&D activities, particularly in securing human resources and the operation of R&D; and that, they believe the government can assist them in research and development activities and human resource training.

This study provides new insights into the way in which R&D facilities of SMEs may facilitate R&D collaboration with URIs. The results broaden the understanding on the scope of R&D collaboration adopted by SMEs and strategies that can be adopted and implemented by government agencies to attract and retain firms that are innovative. While the findings also provide insights on the scope of management decisions adopted by SMEs, the sample was limited to 336 SMEs in the Seoul Metropolitan area, making generalization to other regions of the country limited.

From the institutional collective action framework, this research provides a critical lens to build R&D collaboration between the URI and SMEs, highlighting the role of government with considerable efforts to facilitate SMEs to enter into arrangements with URIs by focussing on the importance of R&D facility and stages of product development.

This paper aims to examine the challenges experienced by Russian research and development (R&D) organisations in international technology collaboration in the global innovation arena.

A total of 33 Russian R&D organisations were selected from a sample of 138 potential participating organisations from the Central, Nord‐Western and Volga Federal Districts of Russia to take part in a qualitative interview study. Organisations were selected based on their responses to a questionnaire which measured the extent and nature of their experience in international technology collaborations. Participants were interviewed about their experiences of engaging in international technology collaboration under two different modes of collaboration: short term customer‐supplier relationships vs longer‐term strategic alliances. The semi‐structured interviews focused on 15 different issues which had been derived from the previously published literature on international technology collaboration and a thematic analysis was conducted on the resultant data.

The analysis indicates which of the issues reported as problematic in the literature were pertinent to the Russian organisations in the sample under each mode of collaboration. The findings also provide some evidence that Russian R&D organisations have made progress in the transition from the command to the market economy and are adjusting to the new environment, albeit gradually in some cases.

The paper presents interpretive, qualitative findings, which were analysed from a Russian perspective in three out of seven Federal Districts of Russia. The research sample does not include non‐Russian counterparts and the analysis is restricted to those variables which have previously been identified as exerting an influence over international technology collaborations.

The study reveals a broad range of insights into the types of issues which warrant close managerial attention from both Russian managers and their international partners in engaging in international technology collaborations with contemporary Russian R&D organisations.

The research suggests that different sets of challenges emerge for organisations engaged in different modes of international collaboration and provides insight into the unique context of Russia, challenging some of the previously published analyses of the influence of Russian business and managerial practices on the innovativeness of contemporary Russian organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the collaboration strategies employed by collaborating small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and university researchers for initiating and optimizing the process and outcome of R&D collaboration.

The paper is based upon a qualitative study of the total population of university departments and SMEs involved in collaborative research projects sponsored by a new governmental programme in Denmark, the aim of which was to build new R&D alliances between industry and universities.

The findings show how partners choose to pursue difference short‐ or long‐term strategies to optimize the process and outcome of university‐industry (UI) collaboration. Some collaborations were thus informed by a short‐term strategy aimed at achieving immediate R&D results. However, to a high extent, many SME partners relied upon a long‐term strategy aiming at developing UI relations beyond the immediate project and practical learning. A variety of shifting strategies shape researchers' decisions during UI collaborations, which thus convey different notions of success.

The findings of the present research point to the importance of taking the diverse reasons and micro strategies informing collaborative efforts into account when studying UI collaborations.

Different strategies may prove successful in optimizing the outcome of UI collaborations depending upon, e.g. partners' previous collaborative experiences. Policies should incorporate some openness towards the differential premises and reasons for UI collaboration.

Relatively little research has addressed the development of UI relationships from the micro‐level perspective of the discretionary decisions and strategies of collaborating researchers.

Product innovations are often the result of combinations of internal and external knowledge. A significant amount of open innovation literature has argued that working with external partners can be beneficial, in particular, when this is complemented by internal R&D, yet a wholesale shift to open innovation has not occurred. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate two new limits of openness, grounded in attention-based theory, that help explain why such a shift has not occurred. This study argues that specific combinations of identities a firm collaborates with, that is, whether a partner is classified as a customer, supplier, competitor or university and/or technological center, predictably increase and decrease product innovation.

This study demonstrates these findings using econometric techniques on a large-scale panel data set, comprising 14,682 observations.

The authors observe positive effects of customer collaboration, partner scope (collaboration with other outside identities) and internal R&D when considered separately. Critically, they observe two important situations where these positive effects are reduced. First, they argue and observe that when customers are added to the mix of identities, diminished returns on product innovation result. Second, they argue and observe that technological customer collaboration reduces the benefits from an internal R&D department (more than collaboration with other identities). The findings of this study are robust in that singling out another partner identity does not reveal such patterns.

The findings stress the importance of considering the identity of collaborating parties in studying the impact of openness on innovation success. This study conceptually and empirically rejects the – implicitly held – assumption in the literature that different partners provide similar benefits and are interchangeable.

This study proposes new limits to the “open innovation” literature. As identities are easy to observe by managers and are shown to impact product innovation, this study argues they are highly relevant to managerial decision-making. This study also observes, through counterfactual analysis, that attention limits are critical, as a theoretical setting of no attention limits would significantly lift product innovations.

This study shows important limitations to the open innovation literature by showing that customer collaboration leads to declining rates of product innovation when combined with greater collaboration scope or the internal R&D department. This study adds the novel insight that customer collaboration weakens the positive effect of collaboration scope and internal R&D on product innovations.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the types of R&D‐activities within science‐based firms and the knowledge transfer channels used for industry‐science collaboration. Rooted in a contingency approach, it seeks to identify patterns in the organization of knowledge transfer and to disclose ways that may support R&D‐managers in achieving effective knowledge transfer.

The paper is an exploratory study in order to obtain a deep understanding of the relationship. At first, both the types of R&D‐activity and the knowledge transfer channels were conceptualized based on an extensive literature review. Second, data were collected by means of semi‐structured interviews with 17 (assistant) R&D‐managers of ten large European chemical firms.

The analysis suggests that almost each of the knowledge transfer channels used for industry‐science collaboration has a more or less unique link to a specific type of R&D‐activity. An empirically based model is developed that visualizes the linkages. In addition, explanations for observed links are proposed.

The empirical analysis reported focuses on multinational firms in the science‐based European chemical industry, because they invest heavily in R&D and are hence more interested in collaboration with scientific partners. Further research is needed to determine the model's applicability in other empirical settings, both within and outside science‐based industries.

The paper provides R&D‐managers with a model that may support them in deciding how to organize their collaboration with scientific partners based on the type of their internal R&D‐activity to achieve effective knowledge transfer.

The paper is one of the first studies that empirically assesses the relationship between the types of R&D‐activities in firms and the knowledge transfer channels that are used for industry‐science collaboration.

Scientific collaborations represent informal external ties that together with formal R&D alliances constitute a multichannel knowledge sourcing network in science-based industries. Although such multichannel knowledge sourcing benefits firms by providing more thorough access to external sources, it also entails potentially significant redundancies worthy of consideration. This paper aims to take a step by first verifying their existence, followed by an examination of key contingencies determining the extent of these redundancies, i.e. firm absorptive capacity, balanced utilization of ties and firm size.

This is an empirical study that uses scientific collaborations and R&D alliances of US pharmaceutical companies to test the proposed hypotheses.

This paper verifies the existence of multichannel knowledge sourcing redundancies, followed by an examination of key contingencies determining the extent of these redundancies, i.e. firm absorptive capacity, balanced utilization of ties and firm size.

To the knowledge, this is a first attempt at clarifying redundancies in innovative knowledge sourcing and their implications for firm innovation performance.

Las colaboraciones científicas representan vínculos externos informales que, junto con las alianzas formales de I + D, constituyen una red de abastecimiento de conocimiento multicanal en industrias basadas en la ciencia. Aunque esta fuente de conocimiento multicanal beneficia a las empresas al proporcionar un acceso más completo a fuentes externas, también implica impotantes potencailes redundancias que merecen consideración. Dichas redundancias tienen su origen en conocimientos específicos que se superponen y en los requisitos de recursos clave similares, incluido el presupuesto y prsonal de investigación. A pesar de su importancia, la literatura no ha ofrecido una descripción completa de las posibles causas y contingencias de estas redundancias. El presente estudio da un paso en esta dirección al verificar primero su existencia, seguido de un estudio de las contingencias clave que determinan el alcance de estas redundancias.

este es un artículo empírico que utiliza el contexto de la industria farmacéutica para probar la interacción entre las colaboraciones científicas y las alianzas de I + D como impulsores del desempeño de innovación de una empresa farmacéutica que se manifiesta en la productividad de sus patentes.

El análisis empírico revela que el efecto de las colaboraciones científicas y las alianzas de I + D es de hecho parcialmente sustitutivo o redundante, y que dicha redundancia es mayor para las empresas con baja capacidad de absorción, utilización desequilibrada de los dos tipos de vínculos externos y su tamaño.

Este es uno de los primeros intentos empíricos de explorar los efectos sustitutivos de las colaboraciones científicas y las alianzas de I + D a nivel de empresa. La incorporación de contingencias clave como la capacidad de absorción, la utilización equilibrada de las relaciones y el tamaño de la empresa mejoran aún más la novedad y originalidad de nuestra investigación.

Colaborações científicas representam links externos informais que, juntamente com alianças formais de P&D, constituem uma rede de fornecimento de conhecimento multicanal em indústrias baseadas na ciência. Embora essa fonte multicanal de conhecimento beneficie as empresas ao fornecer um acesso mais completo a fontes externas, ela também envolve redundâncias potenciais significativas que merecem consideração. Essas redundâncias resultam da sobreposição de conhecimentos específicos e requisitos de recursos chave semelhantes, incluindo orçamento e pessoal de pesquisa. Apesar de sua importância, a literatura não fornece uma descrição completa das possíveis causas e contingências dessas redundâncias. O presente estudo dá um passo nessa direção, primeiro verificando sua existência, seguido por um estudo das contingências-chave que determinam a extensão dessas redundâncias.

Este é um artigo empírico que usa o contexto da indústria farmacêutica para testar a interação entre colaborações científicas e alianças de P&D como impulsionadores do desempenho inovador de uma empresa farmacêutica manifestada na produtividade de suas patentes.

A análise empírica revela que o efeito das colaborações científicas e alianças de P&D é de fato parcialmente substituto ou redundante, e que a referida redundância é maior para empresas com baixa capacidade de absorção, utilização desequilibrada dos dois tipos de links externos e seu tamanho.

esta é uma das primeiras tentativas empíricas de explorar os efeitos substitutos de colaborações científicas e parcerias de P&D no nível da empresa. Incorporar contingências importantes, como capacidade de absorção, utilização equilibrada de relacionamentos e tamanho da empresa, aumenta ainda mais a novidade e originalidade de nossa pesquisa.

Starting from the model of the initiation and evolution of inter-firm knowledge transfer in R&D relationships developed by Faems et al. (2007), the purpose of this paper is to refine and improve this model, assessing its reliability in a different and wider context and extending it according to the outcomes.

A multiple case-study approach was implemented, examining 34 dyadic inter-firm R&D relationships. This methodology suited the research goal of exploring the validity of a model in an area where little data or theory exists.

The theoretical model proposed by Faems et al. (2007) was improved, confirming the adequacy of the overall structure of their intuition and highlighting several differences in terms of factors that lead to the dissolution of R&D relationships. These differences mainly refer to partners’ similarities before starting R&D relationships, co-opetition situations, knowledge leakage/opportunistic behavior and reputation issues.

This work is the first to investigate two open research gaps related to the model of the initiation and evolution of inter-firm knowledge transfer in R&D relationships: the need for additional case studies in other contexts to develop a more general theory and the lack of research incorporating issues such as relational capital between partners, governance form and alliance scope in an integrated analysis.

It is widely accepted that enterprises obtaining academic discoveries through R&D collaboration improve their innovation performance. However, it is not necessarily true in emerging economies, such as China and post-socialist countries in Europe. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap by investigating how R&D collaboration between industry and academia (i.e. universities and research institutes) affects the industrial innovation performance; and whether and how intermediaries moderate their relationships.

This paper constructs the research model according to the knowledge production function, and the pooled ordinary least square regression is used to verify our hypotheses.

Evidence from a sample of Chinese industrial enterprises in thirty provinces spanning from 2009 to 2014 suggests that R&D collaboration with research institutes (CWR) is positively related to innovation output, while R&D collaboration with universities (CWU) exerts negative effect on innovation output measured by sales revenue of new product (NPSR). The significant moderating role of technology transfer institutions is confirmed in the negative relationship between CWU and NPSR.

This paper empirically examines the moderating role of intermediary organisations in academia–industry cooperation and industrial innovation, and has practical implications for the government to formulate policies to improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation between academic and industrial sectors. These results vary in inland and coastal areas, which suggest the policy makers to formulate policies according to local conditions not only in China but also in other countries, like European countries.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to analyze to what extent innovation output of R & D collaborations, proxied by co-patenting activities in terms of quantity, characteristics and value, differs depending on whether the engaged R & D partners have a certain type of relationship (allies, suppliers and subsidiaries); to identify possible automakers co-patenting patterns taking into account the differences in the innovation output with their R & D partners.

To reach the aims, the authors matched two types of data: co-assigned patent portfolio of four automakers and relationship type between automakers and their co-assignees. Matching the company names of the two data sources allowed the authors to obtain the final data set used to carry out extensive descriptive and regression analysis, both on a firm- and patent-level.

Results show differences in the characteristics and the technological value of patented inventions in relation with the type of collaboration partner; they also support the authors in the identification of four co-patenting patterns (contingent, purposive, watchful and advanced) according to the co-patenting propensity and the presence of a preferred relationship type.

The paper contributes to the literature by investigating the presence of differences across the patenting activities of a selection of automakers and their supplier, allied and subsidiary firms. The issue related to patent value represents an emerging area of interest in the field of collaborations for innovation. The methodology constitutes a novelty by matching two different sources and standardizing the company names (“name game”) through an automated algorithm and a double manual check, by searching company web sites and corporate trees.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze to what extent spending on innovation activities and collaboration at the industry level affects the relationship between firm innovation and performance.

A conceptual model was proposed and empirically tested using multiple linear regression. The data were obtained from the Community Innovation Survey 2012, composing a sample of 890 Italian manufacturing firms.

The results provided full support for the positive moderating effect of intra-industry innovation spending and partial support for the positive moderating effect of intra-industry collaboration, both regarding the relationship between firm innovation spending and performance. Knowledge spillovers derived from intra-industry innovation spending and intra-industry collaboration affect firm performance. While this finding corroborates other studies that have found that the intra-industry R&D spending influences firms’ innovation and performance, it also contributes to improve the understanding about the complementarity of internal innovation activities and knowledge spillovers.

This study contributes to theory by filling a gap concerning the complementarity of internal innovation activities and the effect of knowledge spillovers to improve firm performance. Our findings suggested that intra-industry openness to collaboration and innovation spending, as proxies of knowledge spillovers, plays an important role in complementing firm level innovative efforts, even in the case of firms that spend less on innovation and have a lower degree of collaboration. This is especially relevant for small and medium enterprises, which can take advantage of access to the necessary information to overcome their internal resource constraints for R&D and innovation. The originality of these findings adds value in terms of furthering the understanding of this phenomenon.