IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v155y2020ics0040162517301737.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

External complexities in discontinuous innovation-based R&D projects: Analysis of inter-firm collaborative partnerships that lead to abundance

Author

Listed:
  • Islam, Nazrul
  • Gyoshev, Stanley
  • Amona, Daniel

Abstract

As a discontinuous technology, nanotechnology is a highly intensive research and development (R&D) field with a high level of interaction between actors across sectors and international borders. This paper analyses the external complexities that influence the key dimensions of collaborative partnerships in discontinuous innovation-based nanotech R&D projects across Europe. Drawing on theories of inter-organizational partnerships, we examine the external determinants of size, mechanism, strength, and duration of the cooperative engagements, while controlling their innovative capacity, venture capital (VC) participation, and organizational size. We used mixed research methods to utilize both secondary and primary data, which were derived from the BvD Orbis database, to initially examine nanotech companies and then merged with our survey of 97 top executives and senior administrators of nanotech R&D projects across 12 European countries. Using multiple and logistic regression models, we show that a predictable legal system, a high level of tolerance for uncertainty, the prevalence of feminine values, geographical and functional nearness to key partners, high level of export demand for high-tech products, and periods of expansionary economic policies all simplify the complexities in the external environment of nanotech R&D projects. This simplification facilitates highly valuable and long-term inter-firm relationships, producing optimal partnership size with an effective organizational structure. This leads to abundance – the securing of industrial patents and/or the establishment of new product developments.

Suggested Citation

  • Islam, Nazrul & Gyoshev, Stanley & Amona, Daniel, 2020. "External complexities in discontinuous innovation-based R&D projects: Analysis of inter-firm collaborative partnerships that lead to abundance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:155:y:2020:i:c:s0040162517301737
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.05.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162517301737
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.05.014?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. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    2. Rosenfeld, Stuart A., 1996. "Does cooperation enhance competitiveness? Assessing the impacts of inter-firm collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 247-263, March.
    3. Cooray, Arusha, 2011. "The role of the government in financial sector development," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 928-938, May.
    4. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Pablo Fajgelbaum & Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2011. "Income Distribution, Product Quality, and International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(4), pages 721-765.
    6. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    7. Poh Kam Wong & Yuen Ping Ho & Casey K. Chan, 2007. "Internationalization and evolution of application areas of an emerging technology: The case of nanotechnology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(3), pages 715-737, March.
    8. Susanna Mancinelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2009. "Innovation, networking and complementarity: evidence on SME performances for a local economic system in North-Eastern Italy," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(3), pages 567-597, September.
    9. Corinne Autant‐Bernard & Pascal Billand & David Frachisse & Nadine Massard, 2007. "Social distance versus spatial distance in R&D cooperation: Empirical evidence from European collaboration choices in micro and nanotechnologies," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 495-519, August.
    10. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    11. Chua, Roy Y.J. & Morris, Michael W. & Mor, Shira, 2012. "Collaborating across cultures: Cultural metacognition and affect-based trust in creative collaboration," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 116-131.
    12. Hagedoorn, John, 2002. "Inter-firm R&D partnerships: an overview of major trends and patterns since 1960," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 477-492, May.
    13. Carsten Eckel & J. Peter Neary, 2010. "Multi-Product Firms and Flexible Manufacturing in the Global Economy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(1), pages 188-217.
    14. Holger Strulik, 2005. "The Role of Human Capital and Population Growth in R&D‐based Models of Economic Growth," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 129-145, February.
    15. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    16. Beñat Bilbao‐Osorio & Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose, 2004. "From R&D to Innovation and Economic Growth in the EU," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 434-455, September.
    17. Roderik Ponds & Frank Van Oort & Koen Frenken, 2007. "The geographical and institutional proximity of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 423-443, August.
    18. Guerrero, Maribel & Cunningham, James A. & Urbano, David, 2015. "Economic impact of entrepreneurial universities’ activities: An exploratory study of the United Kingdom," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 748-764.
    19. Jong, Simcha & Slavova, Kremena, 2014. "When publications lead to products: The open science conundrum in new product development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 645-654.
    20. Hofstede, Geert, 1994. "The business of international business is culture," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 1-14, March.
    21. Tamer Cavusgil, S. & (Manek) Kirpalani, V. H., 1993. "Introducing products into export markets: Success factors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-15, May.
    22. Kabo, Felichism W. & Cotton-Nessler, Natalie & Hwang, Yongha & Levenstein, Margaret C. & Owen-Smith, Jason, 2014. "Proximity effects on the dynamics and outcomes of scientific collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1469-1485.
    23. Schertler, Andrea & Tykvová, Tereza, 2012. "What lures cross-border venture capital inflows?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1777-1799.
    24. van Rijnsoever, Frank J. & Hessels, Laurens K., 2011. "Factors associated with disciplinary and interdisciplinary research collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 463-472, April.
    25. Broocks, Annette & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2017. "The impact of export promotion on export market entry," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 19-33.
    26. Steinmo, Marianne & Rasmussen, Einar, 2016. "How firms collaborate with public research organizations: The evolution of proximity dimensions in successful innovation projects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 1250-1259.
    27. Wagner, Caroline S. & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2005. "Network structure, self-organization, and the growth of international collaboration in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1608-1618, December.
    28. Roijakkers, Nadine & Hagedoorn, John, 2006. "Inter-firm R&D partnering in pharmaceutical biotechnology since 1975: Trends, patterns, and networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 431-446, April.
    29. Wang, Lanfang & Wang, Susheng, 2011. "Cross-border venture capital performance: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 71-97, January.
    30. Jia Zheng & Zhi-yun Zhao & Xu Zhang & Dar-zen Chen & Mu-hsuan Huang, 2014. "International collaboration development in nanotechnology: a perspective of patent network analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(1), pages 683-702, January.
    31. Andre Torre, 2008. "On the Role Played by Temporary Geographical Proximity in Knowledge Transmission," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(6), pages 869-889.
    32. Richard H. Franke & Geert Hofstede & Michael H. Bond, 1991. "Cultural roots of economic performance: A research noteA," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 165-173, June.
    33. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    34. Beaudry, Catherine & Allaoui, Sedki, 2012. "Impact of public and private research funding on scientific production: The case of nanotechnology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 1589-1606.
    35. Pierre-Alexandre Balland, 2012. "Proximity and the Evolution of Collaboration Networks: Evidence from Research and Development Projects within the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Industry," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(6), pages 741-756, September.
    36. Douglas Cumming, 2008. "Contracts and Exits in Venture Capital Finance," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(5), pages 1947-1982, September.
    37. Fiedler, Marina & Welpe, Isabell M., 2010. "Antecedents of cooperative commercialisation strategies of nanotechnology firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 400-410, April.
    38. Contractor, F. J. & Lorange, P., 2002. "The growth of alliances in the knowledge-based economy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 485-502, August.
    39. Aashish Mehta & Patrick Herron & Yasuyuki Motoyama & Richard Appelbaum & Timothy Lenoir, 2012. "Globalization and de-globalization in nanotechnology research: the role of China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(2), pages 439-458, November.
    40. Joachim Schummer, 2004. "Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and patterns of research collaboration in nanoscience and nanotechnology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 59(3), pages 425-465, March.
    41. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum, 2011. "Income Distribution, Product Quality and International Trade," 2011 Meeting Papers 415, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    42. Manfred Paier & Thomas Scherngell, 2011. "Determinants of Collaboration in European R&D Networks: Empirical Evidence from a Discrete Choice Model," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 89-104.
    43. Scott W. Cunningham & Claudia Werker, 2012. "Proximity and collaboration in European nanotechnology," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(4), pages 723-742, November.
    44. Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner, 2001. "The Venture Capital Revolution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 145-168, Spring.
    45. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    46. Curzi, Daniele & Olper, Alessandro, 2012. "Export behavior of Italian food firms: Does product quality matter?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 493-503.
    47. Scandura, Alessandra, 2016. "University–industry collaboration and firms’ R&D effort," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1907-1922.
    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. Benhayoun, Lamiae & Le Dain, Marie-Anne & Dominguez-Péry, Carine & Lyons, Andrew C., 2020. "SMEs embedded in collaborative innovation networks: How to measure their absorptive capacity?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    2. Haessler, Philipp & Giones, Ferran & Brem, Alexander, 2023. "The who and how of commercializing emerging technologies: A technology-focused review," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    3. Chen, Chao & Gu, Junjian & Luo, Rongxi, 2022. "Corporate innovation and R&D expenditure disclosures," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    4. Ogunjimi, Ayotunde & Rahman, Mizan & Islam, Nazrul & Hasan, Rajibul, 2021. "Smart mirror fashion technology for the retail chain transformation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Maran, Thomas K. & Liegl, Simon & Davila, Andrés & Moder, Sebastian & Kraus, Sascha & Mahto, Raj V., 2022. "Who fits into the digital workplace? Mapping digital self-efficacy and agility onto psychological traits," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

    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. Bastien Bernela & Rachel Levy, 2017. "Collaboration networks within a French cluster: Do partners really interact with each other?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(1), pages 115-138, March.
    2. Pier Paolo Angelini, "undated". "The role of inter-organizational proximity on the evolution of the European Aerospace R&D collaboration network," CERIS Working Paper 201402, CNR-IRCrES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth - Torino (TO) ITALY - former Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Moncalieri (TO) ITALY.
    3. Marie Ferru & Alain Rallet, 2016. "Proximity dynamics and the geography of innovation: diminishing returns or renewal?," Post-Print hal-02025328, HAL.
    4. Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2015. "Proximity and Innovation: From Statics to Dynamics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 907-920, June.
    5. Fengchao Liu & Na Zhang & Cong Cao, 2017. "An evolutionary process of global nanotechnology collaboration: a social network analysis of patents at USPTO," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(3), pages 1449-1465, June.
    6. Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2020. "Proximity, Innovation and Networks: A Concise Review and Some Next Steps," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2019, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Mar 2020.
    7. Cilem Selin Hazir & Corinne Autant-Bernard, 2012. "Using Affiliation Networks to Study the Determinants of Multilateral Research Cooperation Some empirical evidence from EU Framework Programs in biotechnology," Working Papers 1212, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    8. Laurent R. Bergé, 2017. "Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(4), pages 785-815, November.
    9. Ferretti, Marco & Guerini, Massimiliano & Panetti, Eva & Parmentola, Adele, 2022. "The partner next door? The effect of micro-geographical proximity on intra-cluster inter-organizational relationships," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    10. Davids, Mila & Frenken, Koen, 2015. "Proximity, knowledge base and the innovation process The case of Unilever’s Becel diet margarine," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/7, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    11. Rune Dahl Fitjar & Franz Huber & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2016. "Not too close, not too far: testing the Goldilocks principle of ‘optimal’ distance in innovation networks," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 465-487, August.
    12. Christian Omobhude & Shih-Hsin Chen, 2019. "The Roles and Measurements of Proximity in Sustained Technology Development: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-30, January.
    13. Villani, Elisa & Rasmussen, Einar & Grimaldi, Rosa, 2017. "How intermediary organizations facilitate university–industry technology transfer: A proximity approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 86-102.
    14. Maria Tsouri, 2022. "Knowledge networks and strong tie creation: the role of relative network position," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 95-114, January.
    15. Negin Salimi & Rudi Bekkers & Koen Frenken, 2015. "Governance mode choice in collaborative Ph.D. projects," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(5), pages 840-858, October.
    16. Luigi Aldieri & Gennaro Guida & Maxim Kotsemir & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2019. "An investigation of impact of research collaboration on academic performance in Italy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 2003-2040, July.
    17. Ron Boschma & Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Mathijs de Vaan, 2014. "The formation of economic networks: a proximity approach," Chapters, in: André Torre & Frédéric Wallet (ed.), Regional Development and Proximity Relations, chapter 7, pages 243-266, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Delorme, Donatienne, 2023. "The role of proximity in the design of innovation intermediaries' business models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    19. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    20. Sidonia Proff & Thomas Brenner, 2014. "The dynamics of inter-regional collaboration: an analysis of co-patenting," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(1), pages 41-64, January.

    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:tefoso:v:155:y:2020:i:c:s0040162517301737. 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.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.