The Handbook of Global Science, Technology, and Innovation

Chapter 7International R&D Alliances by Firms: Origins and Development

Rajneesh Narula and Andrea Martínez-Noya

Introduction

One of the hallmarks of globalization has been the growing interdependence of firms across borders, and the greater variety of organizational modes deployed by companies (see this volume, Ietto-Gillies, Chapter 6 and Guy, Chapter 28). Globalization has not always been a force for positive outcomes: Firms have greater opportunities, but these are matched by commensurate challenges. The liberalization of markets, the decline of barriers to trade and investment, and the greater cross-border enforceability of contracts has expanded the de facto markets available to firms, while also increasing cross-border competition. New systemic technologies and the growing need for firms to have a greater breadth and depth in a variety of scientific and technological areas have also changed the competitive landscape. The dynamism and complexity of the marketplace and the intertwining of such technological and economic forces has meant that it is difficult for firms to effectively compete when relying entirely on their own resources.

Globalization and technology are deeply interconnected and concatenated at multiple levels, and the growing international, cross-border aspect of collaboration is regarded as one of the primary categories of the well-known tripartite taxonomy proposed by Archibugi and Michie (1995). The greater interaction between users and producers of scientific ...