| Abstract: |
This paper investigates empirically different ways to organise R&D within
Swiss firms. Based on a longitudinal data set comprising three cross sections
(1999, 2002, and 2005) of the Swiss innovation survey, four different types of
R&D strategies could have been separated; firms combine in-house R&D with R&D
co-operations (coop), or in-house R&D with external R&D (buy), or they conduct
in-house R&D, external R&D and R&D co-operations (mixed), or they exclusively
rely on in-house R&D (make). It is the aim of this paper to understand what
drives firms to go for different strategies. Based on econometric estimations
controlling for correlations between the dependent variables and endogeneity
among the independent variables it was found that concepts related to the
absorptive capacity, incoming spillovers and appropriability, the importance
of different knowledge resources, the competitive environment, costs and skill
aspects as well as technological uncertainty are essential factors to
determine firm’s decision to choose a specific way to organise R&D. |