TY - JOUR
T1 - Does separation hurt? The impact of premature termination of R&D alliances on knowledge acquisition and innovation
AU - Hohberger, Jan
AU - Kruger, Heidi
AU - Almeida, Paul
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2020/7
Y1 - 2020/7
N2 - While there is vast research on alliance formation linked to knowledge acquisition and innovation, research is limited on the impact of alliance termination on these same dimensions. Addressing this gap and building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we analyze the impact of premature alliance termination on knowledge acquisition and innovation outcomes. We apply a difference-in-differences and matching-based estimation to a sample of terminated and non-terminated R&D alliances in the life sciences. Our analysis suggests that alliance termination reduces innovation performance and that innovation output becomes less technologically diverse, while knowledge acquisition becomes less externally oriented. However, we find no relevant drop in acquisition of knowledge from alliance partners post alliance termination. Our exploration of conditional effects shows that firm-level factors, particularly a firm's alliance portfolio, moderate termination effects, while alliance-specific conditions have little impact.
AB - While there is vast research on alliance formation linked to knowledge acquisition and innovation, research is limited on the impact of alliance termination on these same dimensions. Addressing this gap and building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we analyze the impact of premature alliance termination on knowledge acquisition and innovation outcomes. We apply a difference-in-differences and matching-based estimation to a sample of terminated and non-terminated R&D alliances in the life sciences. Our analysis suggests that alliance termination reduces innovation performance and that innovation output becomes less technologically diverse, while knowledge acquisition becomes less externally oriented. However, we find no relevant drop in acquisition of knowledge from alliance partners post alliance termination. Our exploration of conditional effects shows that firm-level factors, particularly a firm's alliance portfolio, moderate termination effects, while alliance-specific conditions have little impact.
KW - Alliance portfolio
KW - Alliance termination
KW - Difference-in-differences
KW - Innovation
KW - Knowledge-based view
KW - Patents
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085766267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.respol.2020.103944
DO - 10.1016/j.respol.2020.103944
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085766267
SN - 0048-7333
VL - 49
JO - Research Policy
JF - Research Policy
IS - 6
M1 - 103944
ER -