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Furtune favors the well-located firm: Absorptive capacity and the geography if inter-firm alliances
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Gittelman, Michelle |
| Copyright Year | 2011 |
| Abstract | This study proposes that local and distant locations provide distinct opportunity spaces for sourcing external knowledge through alliances: local spaces create opportunities for serendipitous, unplanned encounters, whereas the ?invisible colleges? of researchers working on common problems connect readily across spatial boundaries. I hypothesize that different kinds of prior knowledge will be important in exploiting these distinct opportunities for partnering. The context is the geography of alliances between small biotechnology firms and the world?s largest pharmaceutical firms. The results show that absorptive capacity exerts a strong influence on the geography of alliances, and that the heterogeneity of prior knowledge matters for the choice of partners in space: for large firms, broadscope knowledge predicts alliances with co-located firms whereas domain-specific knowledge predicts non-local alliances. The results support the hypothesis that local spaces represent opportunistic, unplanned search that generates technological variety whereas distant ties reflect problem-oriented search that exploits firms? prior R&D investments in domain-specific knowledge. There is no support for two alternative mechanisms that proximity lowers transactional hazards or facilitates collaboration. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://conference.druid.dk/acc_papers/4l5ojf9fxlb32b2elv86kpq9abgq.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
