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Effects of coordinated strategies on product and process R&D
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  • Open Access
  • Published: 10 September 2008

Effects of coordinated strategies on product and process R&D

  • Elena Cefis1,2,
  • Stephanie Rosenkranz2,3 &
  • Utz Weitzel2 

Journal of Economics volume 96, pages 193–222 (2009)Cite this article

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  • 30 Citations

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Abstract

Using a game theoretical model on firms’ simultaneous investments in product and process R&D, we advance and empirically test hypotheses on the role of externalities on the optimal R&D portfolio of cooperating firms and independently competing firms. We use Community Innovation Survey data on 3,696 Italian manufacturing firms. In line with our model we find that members of a group of firms invest significantly more into product, process, and aggregate R&D than independent firms. Further, their R&D portfolios tend to show a higher product versus process ratio. However, with regard to R&D performance and efficiency we find that independent firms are superior.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Rob Alessie, Karen Klomp, Hans Schenk, the participants at the ECIS seminar, Eindhoven University, March 2005, at the EARIE Conference, Porto, Portugal, 1–4 September 2005, and at the 2nd IASTED International Conference on Alliances, Mergers and Acquisitions, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA, 8–10 November 2004, for helpful comments and suggestions. This work has been accomplished with the cooperation of the Italian Statistical Office (ISTAT) and in particular of Andrea Mancini and Roberto Monducci, whose collaboration made this work possible. The research has been supported by the University of Bergamo (Elena Cefis, grant ex 60% n.60CEFI07, Department of Economics)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy

    Elena Cefis

  2. Utrecht School of Economics, Utrecht University, Janskerkhof 12, 3512 BL, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Elena Cefis, Stephanie Rosenkranz & Utz Weitzel

  3. CEPR, London, UK

    Stephanie Rosenkranz

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  1. Elena Cefis
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Correspondence to Stephanie Rosenkranz.

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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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Cefis, E., Rosenkranz, S. & Weitzel, U. Effects of coordinated strategies on product and process R&D. J Econ 96, 193–222 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00712-008-0041-z

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  • Received: 06 August 2007

  • Accepted: 06 August 2008

  • Published: 10 September 2008

  • Issue Date: April 2009

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00712-008-0041-z

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Keywords

  • Coordination
  • R&D
  • Innovation
  • Efficiency
  • Cost reduction
  • Product differentiation

JEL Classification

  • C72
  • L1
  • L13
  • O32
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