IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ejores/v268y2018i2p740-754.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cooperation royalty contract design in research and development alliances: Help vs. knowledge-sharing

Author

Listed:
  • Yu, Xinning
  • Lan, Yanfei
  • Zhao, Ruiqing

Abstract

We study a cooperation royalty contract design problem in a three-party research and development (R&D) alliance: A marketer offers royalty contract to hire innovator A to conduct the research stage of this process and innovator B to conduct the development stage of this process. Both innovators need to exert costly effort, which is unobservable to the marketer. Innovator A may (i) not be involved in the development stage (the non-cooperation contract); (ii) directly help innovator B by exerting effort during the development stage (the help contract); or (iii) share task-related knowledge with innovator B that would lower the latter’s costs (the knowledge-sharing contract). To capture the inherent incentive alignment problems under moral hazard and evaluate the efficiency of cooperation, we compare the efficiency of the non-cooperation contract, the help contract and the knowledge-sharing contract and identify the conditions under which the marketer benefits most. We find that when the efficiency of knowledge-sharing is high, regardless of how efficient help is, the marketer prefers the knowledge-sharing contract. Interestingly, when the efficiency of help is low and the efficiency of knowledge-sharing is moderate, the marketer prefers the help contract. In addition, when the efficiencies of both types of cooperation are low, the non-cooperation contract would benefit the marketer most. Furthermore, for an R&D task with high technical risk, the best strategy for the marketer is to offer the knowledge-sharing contract.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, Xinning & Lan, Yanfei & Zhao, Ruiqing, 2018. "Cooperation royalty contract design in research and development alliances: Help vs. knowledge-sharing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(2), pages 740-754.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:268:y:2018:i:2:p:740-754
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2018.01.053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221718300894
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejor.2018.01.053?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Yung-Ming & Jhang-Li, Jhih-Hua, 2010. "Knowledge sharing in communities of practice: A game theoretic analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 207(2), pages 1052-1064, December.
    2. Patrick Bolton & Mathias Dewatripont, 2005. "Contract Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262025760, December.
    3. Pascale Crama & Bert De Reyck & Zeger Degraeve, 2008. "Milestone Payments or Royalties? Contract Design for R&D Licensing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(6), pages 1539-1552, December.
    4. Sreekumar R. Bhaskaran & V. Krishnan, 2009. "Effort, Revenue, and Cost Sharing Mechanisms for Collaborative New Product Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(7), pages 1152-1169, July.
    5. Jochen Schlapp & Nektarios Oraiopoulos & Vincent Mak, 2015. "Resource Allocation Decisions Under Imperfect Evaluation and Organizational Dynamics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(9), pages 2139-2159, September.
    6. Itoh, Hideshi, 1991. "Incentives to Help in Multi-agent Situations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(3), pages 611-636, May.
    7. Jaber, Mohamad Y. & Guiffrida, Alfred L., 2008. "Learning curves for imperfect production processes with reworks and process restoration interruptions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 93-104, August.
    8. Sugato Bhattacharyya & Francine Lafontaine, 1995. "Double-Sided Moral Hazard and the Nature of Share Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(4), pages 761-781, Winter.
    9. Nalin Kulatilaka & Lihui Lin, 2006. "Impact of Licensing on Investment and Financing of Technology Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(12), pages 1824-1837, December.
    10. HOLMSTROM, Bengt, 1979. "Moral hazard and observability," LIDAM Reprints CORE 379, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    11. Morton I. Kamien & Yair Tauman, 1986. "Fees Versus Royalties and the Private Value of a Patent," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 101(3), pages 471-491.
    12. Vergara, Marcos & Bonilla, Claudio A. & Sepulveda, Jean P., 2016. "The complementarity effect: Effort and sharing in the entrepreneur and venture capital contract," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 254(3), pages 1017-1025.
    13. Silbermayr, Lena & Minner, Stefan, 2016. "Dual sourcing under disruption risk and cost improvement through learning," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(1), pages 226-238.
    14. Holmstrom, Bengt & Milgrom, Paul, 1991. "Multitask Principal-Agent Analyses: Incentive Contracts, Asset Ownership, and Job Design," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 24-52, Special I.
    15. Nicos Savva & Stefan Scholtes, 2014. "Opt-Out Options in New Product Co-development Partnerships," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(8), pages 1370-1386, August.
    16. Wenqiang Xiao & Yi Xu, 2012. "The Impact of Royalty Contract Revision in a Multistage Strategic R&D Alliance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(12), pages 2251-2271, December.
    17. Elitzur, Ramy & Gavious, Arieh & Wensley, Anthony K.P., 2012. "Information systems outsourcing projects as a double moral hazard problem," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 379-389.
    18. Shantanu Bhattacharya & Alok Gupta & Sameer Hasija, 2014. "Joint Product Improvement by Client and Customer Support Center: The Role of Gain-Share Contracts in Coordination," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 137-151, March.
    19. Nicos Savva & Niyazi Taneri, 2015. "The Role of Equity, Royalty, and Fixed Fees in Technology Licensing to University Spin-Offs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(6), pages 1323-1343, June.
    20. Christian Terwiesch & Yi Xu, 2008. "Innovation Contests, Open Innovation, and Multiagent Problem Solving," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(9), pages 1529-1543, September.
    21. Yeon-Koo Che & Seung-Weon Yoo, 2001. "Optimal Incentives for Teams," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 525-541, June.
    22. Anupam Agrawal & Shantanu Bhattacharya & Sameer Hasija, 2016. "Cost-Reducing Innovation and the Role of Patent Intermediaries in Increasing Market Efficiency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(2), pages 173-191, February.
    23. Bengt Holmstrom, 1982. "Moral Hazard in Teams," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 324-340, Autumn.
    24. Shantanu Bhattacharya & Vibha Gaba & Sameer Hasija, 2015. "A Comparison of Milestone-Based and Buyout Options Contracts for Coordinating R&D Partnerships," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(5), pages 963-978, May.
    25. Dechenaux, Emmanuel & Thursby, Jerry & Thursby, Marie, 2011. "Inventor moral hazard in university licensing: The role of contracts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 94-104, February.
    26. Fangruo Chen, 2005. "Salesforce Incentives, Market Information, and Production/Inventory Planning," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(1), pages 60-75, January.
    27. Bergmann, Rouven & Friedl, Gunther, 2008. "Controlling innovative projects with moral hazard and asymmetric information," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1504-1514, October.
    28. Yaozhong Wu & Karthik Ramachandran & Vish Krishnan, 2014. "Managing Cost Salience and Procrastination in Projects: Compensation and Team Composition," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(8), pages 1299-1311, August.
    29. Faure-Grimaud Antoine & Laffont Jean-Jacques & Martimort David, 2003. "Risk Averse Supervisors and the Efficiency of Collusion," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-32, January.
    30. Zhao, Dan & Chen, Hongmin & Hong, Xianpei & Liu, Jingfang, 2014. "Technology licensing contracts with network effects," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 136-144.
    31. Crama, Pascale & De Reyck, Bert & Degraeve, Zeger, 2013. "Step by step. The benefits of stage-based R&D licensing contracts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 224(3), pages 572-582.
    32. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    33. Raul O. Chao & Kenneth C. Lichtendahl Jr. & Yael Grushka-Cockayne, 2014. "Incentives in a Stage-Gate Process," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(8), pages 1286-1298, August.
    34. Enno Siemsen & Sridhar Balasubramanian & Aleda V. Roth, 2007. "Incentives That Induce Task-Related Effort, Helping, and Knowledge Sharing in Workgroups," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(10), pages 1533-1550, October.
    35. Arnd Huchzermeier & Christoph H. Loch, 2001. "Project Management Under Risk: Using the Real Options Approach to Evaluate Flexibility in R...D," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 85-101, January.
    36. Sanjiv Erat & Stylianos Kavadias, 2006. "Introduction of New Technologies to Competing Industrial Customers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(11), pages 1675-1688, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jinjin Liu & Hua Ke & Yuan Gao, 2022. "Manufacturer’s R &D cooperation contract: linear fee or revenue-sharing payment in a low-carbon supply chain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 318(1), pages 323-355, November.
    2. Yanping Xu & Lilong Zhu, 2022. "Pharmaceutical Enterprises’ R&D Innovation Cooperation Moran Strategy When Considering Tax Incentives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.
    3. (Ryan) Choi, Ji-Hung & Yoon, Jiho & Song, Ju Myung, 2023. "Adaptive R&D contract for urgently needed drugs: Lessons from COVID-19 vaccine development," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. Xiaoxing Zhang & Changyuan Gao & Shuchen Zhang, 2021. "Research on the Knowledge-Sharing Incentive of the Cross-Boundary Alliance Symbiotic System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Yu, Xinning & Lan, Yanfei & Zhao, Ruiqing, 2021. "Strategic green technology innovation in a two-stage alliance: Vertical collaboration or co-development?," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Spanellis, Agnessa & MacBryde, Jillian & Dӧrfler, Viktor, 2021. "A dynamic model of knowledge management in innovative technology companies: A case from the energy sector," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(2), pages 784-797.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu, Xinning & Lan, Yanfei & Zhao, Ruiqing, 2021. "Strategic green technology innovation in a two-stage alliance: Vertical collaboration or co-development?," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Li, Qing & Zhang, Huaige & Hong, Xianpei, 2020. "Knowledge structure of technology licensing based on co-keywords network: A review and future directions," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 154-165.
    3. Morvarid Rahmani & Guillaume Roels & Uday S. Karmarkar, 2017. "Collaborative Work Dynamics in Projects with Co‐Production," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 686-703, April.
    4. Niyazi Taneri & Arnoud De Meyer, 2017. "Contract Theory: Impact on Biopharmaceutical Alliance Structure and Performance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 453-471, July.
    5. Shantanu Bhattacharya & Vibha Gaba & Sameer Hasija, 2015. "A Comparison of Milestone-Based and Buyout Options Contracts for Coordinating R&D Partnerships," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(5), pages 963-978, May.
    6. Moussawi-Haidar, Lama & Çömez-Dolgan, Nagihan, 2017. "Percentage rent contracts between co-stores," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(3), pages 912-925.
    7. Jochen Schlapp & Nektarios Oraiopoulos & Vincent Mak, 2015. "Resource Allocation Decisions Under Imperfect Evaluation and Organizational Dynamics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(9), pages 2139-2159, September.
    8. Fosco, C. & Mengel, F., 2008. "Incentives and informal networks," Research Memorandum 022, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    9. Jingqi Wang & Xiaole Wu & Viswanathan Krishnan, 2018. "Decision Structure and Performance of Networked Technology Supply Chains," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 199-216, May.
    10. (Ryan) Choi, Ji-Hung & Yoon, Jiho & Song, Ju Myung, 2023. "Adaptive R&D contract for urgently needed drugs: Lessons from COVID-19 vaccine development," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Tat Y. Chan & Jia Li & Lamar Pierce, 2014. "Compensation and Peer Effects in Competing Sales Teams," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(8), pages 1965-1984, August.
    12. Stylianos Kavadias & Karl T. Ulrich, 2020. "Innovation and New Product Development: Reflections and Insights from the Research Published in the First 20 Years of Manufacturing & Service Operations Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 84-92, January.
    13. Pascale Crama & Bert De Reyck & Niyazi Taneri, 2017. "Licensing Contracts: Control Rights, Options, and Timing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(4), pages 1131-1149, April.
    14. Ittner, Christopher D. & Larcker, David F. & Pizzini, Mina, 2007. "Performance-based compensation in member-owned firms: An examination of medical group practices," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 300-327, December.
    15. Crama, Pascale & De Reyck, Bert & Degraeve, Zeger, 2013. "Step by step. The benefits of stage-based R&D licensing contracts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 224(3), pages 572-582.
    16. Koch Alexander K & Morgenstern Albrecht, 2010. "Coordination under the Shadow of Career Concerns," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-40, March.
    17. Niyazi Taneri & Pascale Crama, 2021. "Turning the Tables in Research and Development Licensing Contracts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5838-5856, September.
    18. Evans, Shane, 2010. "Innovation contracts with leakage through licensing," Working Papers 10282, University of Tasmania, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, revised 05 Oct 2010.
    19. Francine Lafontaine & Margaret E. Slade, 1998. "Incentive Contracting and the Franchise Decision," NBER Working Papers 6544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Kai Yang & Yanfei Lan & Ruiqing Zhao, 2017. "Monitoring mechanisms in new product development with risk-averse project manager," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 667-681, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:268:y:2018:i:2:p:740-754. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.