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Quality-improving and cost-reducing strategic alliances

Author

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  • Fabio Dio

    (European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Directorate B-Growth and Innovation, Unit B1-Finance and Economy)

  • Luca Correani

    (University of Tuscia)

Abstract

We develop a two-stage Salop-type model to examine quality-improving and process innovation alliances in an oligopolistic context. In the first stage, a network of alliances among firms is assumed while in the second stage firms set prices, product quality and cost-reducing process innovation. We find that quality-improving networks tend to be denser than networks characterized by process innovation sharing, while the quality effort decreases with the number of connections. Furthermore, link formation is welfare improving if both absorptive capacity and quality spillovers are sufficiently small. Although the empirical evidence on cooperation in R&D is fragmentary it nonetheless supports most of the theoretical predictions. We also formulate some variants of the model to assess the robustness of the previous results.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Dio & Luca Correani, 2020. "Quality-improving and cost-reducing strategic alliances," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(2), pages 493-524, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:37:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s40888-020-00177-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-020-00177-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Rammer, Christian, 2023. "Measuring process innovation output in firms: Cost reduction versus quality improvement," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Networks; Salop model; Process and product innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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