Are Collaborative Agreements in Innovation Activities Persistent at the Firm Level? Empirical Evidence for the Spanish Case

Abstract

We provide evidence on the dynamics in firms' cooperation behaviour in innovation activities. Our main objective is to analyse if collaborative agreements are persistent at the firm level; and, in such a case, to study what are the main drivers of this phenomenon. We also study to what extent such persistence is different from persistence in R&D, so that the former exists on top of the latter. Finally, we deal with the differentiated persistence pattern of collaboration agreements for different types of partners, as well as the possibility of finding persistence across them. We follow a dynamic approach in the analysis of cooperation persistence: We take into account the unobserved individual heterogeneity and address the initial conditions problem. We use a representative sample of Spanish firms for the period 2002-2010.Keywords: Cooperation in innovation; Innovative Spanish firms; Persistence; Technological partners JEL classification: L24; O32; D22; C23 3 IntroductionEmpirical contributions to the study of cooperation in innovation have expanded significantly in the last decades (Tether, 2002;Miotti and Sachwald, 2003;López, 2008;Abramovsky et al., 2009 We follow a dynamic approach in the analysis of cooperation persistence: We take into account unobserved individual heterogeneity and address the initial conditions problem for a sample of Spanish firms in the period 2002-2010. On average, we find that a firm that cooperates in t-1 has a probability of cooperating in t that is around 33 percentage points higher than that of a firm that did not cooperate in the previous period. We also show that such persistence is genuine in the sense that it is beyond the persistence that is observed in R&D. While the highest persistence is found in the case of vertical collaboration, we also observe that cooperation agreements with research-based agents increase the likelihood of cooperating in the future with a different type of partner.After this introduction, Section 2 proceeds with the literature review. Section 3 describes the database that is used, and Section 4 presents the empirical model. In Section 5 we present and discuss our results; and the main conclusions of the paper are presented in Section 6. Literature review and hypothesis Persistence in cooperation in innovation activitiesThe degree of cooperation persistence of a firm could be defined as the positive impact of past collaborations on present cooperation agreements. In principle, there are several potential sources for persistent behaviour (Heckman, 1981a). First, it might be caused by true state dependence: The decision to innovate through cooperation in one period in itself enhances the 5 probability to cooperate in the subsequent period. Second, firms may have some specific characteristics that make them prone to cooperate. To the extent that these characteristics persist over time, they will inevitably induce persistence in cooperation agreements as well.Such features can be classified into observable attributes, such as firm size or a firm's ...

Is the corporate social responsibility–innovation link homogeneous?: Looking for sustainable innovation in the Spanish context

“…The model specification is as follows (Badillo & Moreno, ; Frees, ): …”

“…First, we select panel data due their benefits listed in the literature (Hsiao, 1985(Hsiao, , 1986Kelvmarken, 1989;Solon, 1989;Baltagi, 2002;p.5) as controlling for individual heterogeneity or allowing for identification and measurement of effects that are simply not detectable in pure cross-section on pure time-series data, among others. Second, we use a random effects probit model due to its advantages regarding a fixed-effect probit estimation (Hsiao, 2003;Badillo & Moreno, 2016) as overcoming the "incidental parameter problem," being appropriate to random samples from large populations or allowing for the treatment of omitted factors.…”

Collaboration with External Organizations and Technological Innovations: Evidence from Spanish Manufacturing Firms

“…Collaboration is a complex phenomenon because firms usually collaborate with a variety of partners [7]. Scholars have typically unpacked it based on partnering entity (e.g., [3,[7][8][9]. We follow this tradition by distinguishing between different types of partners.…”

“…We follow this tradition by distinguishing between different types of partners. Similar to [8,9], we consider ties with competitors and universities or Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Moreover, we distinguish between collaborative partners, customers, and suppliers, in a vertical collaboration.…”

Organizational Innovation and Tech Innovation Persistence

“…Ghauri et al (2016) argue that the development of the ability to connect through networks facilitates the development of product innovations. Also, Badillo & Moreno (2016), who analyzed Spanish firms that participated in the Panel Technological Panel between 2002 and 2010, found that firms that persistently collaborated with customers, suppliers, and competitors were better able to develop innovations persistently.…”