IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ulr/wpaper/dt-18-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Knowledge searching strategies, testing for complementarities on the innovation behavior of the firm

Author

Listed:
  • Alejandro Bello-Pintado

    (Universidad Pública de Navarra (España))

  • Felipe Berrutti

    (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economí­a)

  • Carlos Bianchi

    (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economí­a)

  • Pablo Blanchard

    (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economí­a)

Abstract

According to two basic building blocks of neo-Schumpeterian economics, firms innovation process shows idiosyncratic features related to their specific characteristics of the firm and of the environment where it acts. Moreover, firms innovation is recognized as an interactive process. Hence, due to systemic functioning, it is expected that the effect of two simultaneous external linkages will be different from the sum of their isolated effects. However, the external search for knowledge and information sources (KISs) may present constraints related to the searching costs and the cognitive distance between the firm and the KISs. This paper aims to contribute empirical evidence to revisit these theoretical building blocks by analyzing the search strategies conducted by firms. We identify three types of external KISs and analyze the effects of eight search strategies (KIS combinations) on firms innovation behavior. In addition, we test the complementarity or substitution effects of the simultaneous use of different KISs on the innovation behavior – effort and performance – of Uruguayan firms. We identify the specific effect of different KIS combinations but find no evidence of a linear relation between search scope and innovation behavior. Moreover, we find evidence of complementary effects between relatively closer and more distant KISs and substitution effects between relatively near KISs.

Suggested Citation

  • Alejandro Bello-Pintado & Felipe Berrutti & Carlos Bianchi & Pablo Blanchard, 2019. "Knowledge searching strategies, testing for complementarities on the innovation behavior of the firm," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 19-18, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-18-19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/22329
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alessandra Colombelli & Francesco Quatraro, 2014. "The persistence of firms' knowledge base: a quantile approach to Italian data," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7), pages 585-610, October.
    2. Ballot, Gérard & Fakhfakh, Fathi & Galia, Fabrice & Salter, Ammon, 2015. "The fateful triangle: Complementarities in performance between product, process and organizational innovation in France and the UK," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 217-232.
    3. Andræs Barge-Gil, 2013. "Open Strategies and Innovation Performance," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 585-610, October.
    4. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Mohnen, Pierre & Roller, Lars-Hendrik, 2005. "Complementarities in innovation policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 1431-1450, August.
    6. Stefano Brusoni & Orietta Marsili & Ammon Salter, 2005. "The role of codified sources of knowledge in innovation: Empirical evidence from Dutch manufacturing," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 211-231, January.
    7. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    8. Paola Criscuolo & Keld Laursen & Toke Reichstein & Ammon Salter, 2018. "Winning combinations: search strategies and innovativeness in the UK," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 115-143, February.
    9. Cowan, Robin & Foray, Dominique, 1997. "The Economics of Codification and the Diffusion of Knowledge," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(3), pages 595-622, September.
    10. Keld Laursen & Nicolai J. Foss, 2003. "New human resource management practices, complementarities and the impact on innovation performance," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(2), pages 243-263, March.
    11. Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein, 2010. "Critiques of Transaction Cost Economics: An Overview," Chapters, in: Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics, chapter 25, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Diederen, Bert & Lokshin, Boris & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2004. "Heterogeneity in R&D cooperation strategies," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(8-9), pages 1237-1263, November.
    13. Laursen, Keld & Salter, Ammon, 2004. "Searching high and low: what types of firms use universities as a source of innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1201-1215, October.
    14. Manuel Guisado-González & Len Tiu Wright & Manuel Guisado-Tato, 2017. "Product–process matrix and complementarity approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 441-459, June.
    15. Dutrénit, Gabriela & Natera, José Miguel & Puchet Anyul, Martín & Vera-Cruz, Alexandre O., 2019. "Development profiles and accumulation of technological capabilities in Latin America," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 396-412.
    16. Inter-American Development Bank & Matteo Grazzi & Carlo Pietrobelli (ed.), 2016. "Firm Innovation and Productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-58151-1.
    17. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 1997. "Internal R & D expenditures and external technology sourcing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 303-315, October.
    18. Aija Leiponen & Constance E. Helfat, 2010. "Innovation objectives, knowledge sources, and the benefits of breadth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 224-236, February.
    19. Becker, Wolfgang & Dietz, Jurgen, 2004. "R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms--evidence for the German manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 209-223, March.
    20. Laursen, Keld & Salter, Ammon J., 2014. "The paradox of openness: Appropriability, external search and collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 867-878.
    21. Spyros Arvanitis & Florian Seliger & Tobias Stucki, 2016. "The relative importance of human resource management practices for innovation," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(8), pages 769-800, November.
    22. Arora, Ashish & Athreye, Suma & Huang, Can, 2016. "The paradox of openness revisited: Collaborative innovation and patenting by UK innovators," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1352-1361.
    23. Achim Hecker & Alois Ganter, 2014. "Path and past dependence of firm innovation," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5-6), pages 563-583, September.
    24. Frank T. Rothaermel & Maria Tereza Alexandre, 2009. "Ambidexterity in Technology Sourcing: The Moderating Role of Absorptive Capacity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 759-780, August.
    25. Christoph Grimpe & Ulrich Kaiser, 2010. "Balancing Internal and External Knowledge Acquisition: The Gains and Pains from R&D Outsourcing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1483-1509, December.
    26. Alessandra Colombelli & Francesco Quatraro, 2014. "The persistence of firms' knowledge base: a quantile approach to Italian data," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7), pages 585-610, October.
    27. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    28. Kodde, David A & Palm, Franz C, 1986. "Wald Criteria for Jointly Testing Equality and Inequality Restriction s," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(5), pages 1243-1248, September.
    29. Jaider Vega-Jurado & Antonio Gutiérrez-Gracia & Ignacio Fernández-de-Lucio, 2009. "Does external knowledge sourcing matter for innovation? Evidence from the Spanish manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 18(4), pages 637-670, August.
    30. Borrás, Susana & Edquist, Charles, 2013. "The choice of innovation policy instruments," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(8), pages 1513-1522.
    31. Homburg, Christian & Kuehnl, Christina, 2014. "Is the more always better? A comparative study of internal and external integration practices in new product and new service development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1360-1367.
    32. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Vahter, Priit, 2014. "Dynamic complementarities in innovation strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1774-1784.
    33. Olivier Bertrand & Michael J. Mol, 2013. "The antecedents and innovation effects of domestic and offshore R&D outsourcing: The contingent impact of cognitive distance and absorptive capacity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(6), pages 751-760, June.
    34. James Love & Stephen Roper, 2009. "Organizing the Innovation Process: Complementarities in Innovation Networking," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 273-290.
    35. Hagedoorn, John & Wang, Ning, 2012. "Is there complementarity or substitutability between internal and external R&D strategies?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1072-1083.
    36. Richard R. Nelson, 1991. "Why do firms differ, and how does it matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 61-74, December.
    37. René Belderbos & Martin Carree & Boris Lokshin, 2006. "Complementarity in R&D Cooperation Strategies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 28(4), pages 401-426, June.
    38. Davide Antonioli & Alberto Marzucchi & Maria Savona, 2017. "Pain shared, pain halved? Cooperation as a coping strategy for innovation barriers," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 841-864, August.
    39. Oecd, 1996. "Information Infrastructure Policies," OECD Digital Economy Papers 20, OECD Publishing.
    40. Keld Laursen, 2012. "Keep searching and you'll find: what do we know about variety creation through firms' search activities for innovation?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(5), pages 1181-1220, October.
    41. repec:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:s2:p:1483-1509 is not listed on IDEAS
    42. Gkypali, Areti & Filiou, Despoina & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2017. "R&D collaborations: Is diversity enhancing innovation performance?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 143-152.
    43. Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John, 1990. "The Economics of Modern Manufacturing: Technology, Strategy, and Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 511-528, June.
    44. Arora, Ashish & Gambardella, Alfonso, 1990. "Complementarity and External Linkages: The Strategies of the Large Firms in Biotechnology," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 361-379, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peeters, T.J.G., 2013. "External knowledge search and use in new product development," Other publications TiSEM 300ebb34-b090-4210-b95e-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Mendi, Pedro & Moner-Colonques, Rafael & Sempere-Monerris, José J., 2020. "Cooperation for innovation and technology licensing: Empirical evidence from Spain," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Heuschneider, Sara & Herstatt, Cornelius, 2016. "External search for exploration of future discontinuities and trends: Implications from the literature using co-citation and content analysis," Working Papers 92, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Technology and Innovation Management.
    4. Martin Carree & Boris Lokshin & René Belderbos, 2011. "A note on testing for complementarity and substitutability in the case of multiple practices," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 263-269, June.
    5. Mário A.P.M. Silva, 2024. "Substitutability in R&D and Open Innovation: Why Competing Firms Face a Paradox of Openness?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 5204-5229, June.
    6. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Haus-Reve, Silje & Fitjar, Rune, 2019. "Does combining different types of collaboration always benefit firms? Collaboration, complementarity and product innovation in," CEPR Discussion Papers 13622, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Haus-Reve, Silje & Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2019. "Does combining different types of collaboration always benefit firms? Collaboration, complementarity and product innovation in Norway," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1476-1486.
    8. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Vahter, Priit, 2014. "Dynamic complementarities in innovation strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1774-1784.
    9. Schmiedeberg, Claudia, 2008. "Complementarities of innovation activities: An empirical analysis of the German manufacturing sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1492-1503, October.
    10. Gómez, Jaime & Salazar, Idana & Vargas, Pilar, 2020. "The Role Of Extramural R&D And Scientific Knowledge In Creating High Novelty Innovations: An Examination Of Manufacturing And Service Firms In Spain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    11. Sánchez-González, Gloria & González-Álvarez, Nuria & Nieto, Mariano, 2009. "Sticky information and heterogeneous needs as determining factors of R&D cooperation with customers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1590-1603, December.
    12. Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2017. "Breadth of external knowledge sourcing and product innovation: The moderating role of strategic human resource practices," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 261-272.
    13. Grimpe, Christoph & Sofka, Wolfgang, 2016. "Complementarities in the search for innovation—Managing markets and relationships," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 2036-2053.
    14. Martínez-Noya, Andrea & García-Canal, Esteban, 2021. "Innovation performance feedback and technological alliance portfolio diversity: The moderating role of firms’ R&D intensity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    15. Buss, Philipp & Peukert, Christian, 2015. "R&D outsourcing and intellectual property infringement," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 977-989.
    16. Abel Lucena, 2011. "The Organizational Designs of R&D Activities and their Performance Implications: Empirical Evidence for Spain," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 151-176.
    17. Jun Hou & Pierre Mohnen, 2013. "Complementarity between In-house R&D and Technology Purchasing: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 343-371, September.
    18. James Love & Stephen Roper & Priit Vahter, 2013. "Paradigm Shift or Business as Usual? Dynamic Complementarities in Innovation Strategies," Research Papers 0006, Enterprise Research Centre.
    19. Vahter, Priit & Vadi, Maaja, 2024. "The relationship of technological and organizational innovation with firm performance: Opening the black box of dynamic complementarities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    20. Manuela Gussoni, 2009. "The determinants of inter-firms R&D cooperation and partner selection. A literature overview," Discussion Papers 2009/86, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    information sources; search strategy; complementarity; supermodularity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-18-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Lorenza Pérez (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ierauuy.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.