Cooperation in Research and Development / Edition 1

by Nicholas S. Vonortas

Overview

Cooperation in Research and Development provides an empirical and theoretical analysis of a distinct form of inter-firm collaboration in Research & Development (R&D): research joint ventures (RJVs). Of all types of cooperation, RJVs have received the most attention in both formal industrial organization and science and technology policy literature. The emerging theoretical economic literature on incentives of firms to join RJVs has not been followed by much empirical work. Cooperation in Research and Development attempts to fill the void caused by this lack of consistent data on the rate of RJV formation, RJV characteristics, and RJV member characteristics.
Significant attention is paid to the role of RJVs in facilitating ‘virtual' firm diversification as necessary to pursue particular technological objectives. An effort is also made to blend the reported theoretical and empirical analyses with conceptual models of the process of technological innovation and models of industrial evolution in order to provide answers beyond the reach of the received economic theory. Cooperation in Research and Development should be of interest to academic economists, policy makers, and business representatives. The microeconomic issues the book deals with overlap significantly with the interests of decision makers both in government and business.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780792380429
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	10/31/1997
Series:	Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation , #11
Edition description:	1997
Pages:	289
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.- I Conceptualizing Research Joint Ventures.- 2 Research Joint Ventures: Conceptual Foundations - Practical Implications.- 3 The Theory of Inter-Firm Cooperation in R&D.- 4 The Process of Technological Innovation.- II Empirical Analysis of Research Joint Ventures.- 5 Research Joint Ventures in the United States.- 6 Incentives to Form Research Joint Ventures I.- 7 The Effect of Research Joint Ventures on R&D.- 8 The Effect of Research Joint Ventures on Profits.- 9 Incentives to Form Research Joint Ventures II: Virtual Diversification.- III Policy Challenges of Research Joint Ventures.- 10 With an Eye on Policy.- 11 Conclusion.- Name Index.

Editorial Reviews

‘...On the whole, however, the book is a valuable contribution both to the economics literature and for decision makers in government and business. In particular, it impresses strongly upon the reader an important underlying tension in both management and public policy towards industry - the paradox of promoting both competition and co-operation.'
Technovation 19:133-134 (1999)

From the Publisher

Through a synthesis of a variety of approaches including economic theory, business reports, and policy analyses, the author studies inter-firm cooperation in research and development in the form of research joint ventures (RJVs). After constructing a theoretical model for the study of RJVs, he devotes the core of the book to empirical studies (on the levels of both industry and firm) of RJV effects on profitability and R&D, incentives to form RJVs, and the role of RJVs in facilitating a form of firm diversification as necessary to pursue particular technological objectives. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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