Searching for Alliance Partners: Effects of Geographic Distance on the Formation of R&D Collaborations

Jeffrey J. Reuer () and Nandini Lahiri ()
Additional contact information
Jeffrey J. Reuer: Krannert School of Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
Nandini Lahiri: Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122

Organization Science, 2014, vol. 25, issue 1, 283-298

Abstract: We investigate how geographic distance influences which firms engage each other in research and development (R&D) collaborations. Given advances in technology, geographic distance might not be expected to affect who partners with whom, yet recent research has reported on the localization of exchanges in numerous market settings. We identify factors that shape the degree to which geographic distance matters to alliance formation by considering the heterogeneity in adverse selection risk across exchange partners. Specifically, we argue that the effects of geographic distance depend on the extent to which partners are able to evaluate each others’ resources and prospects. Empirical evidence from R&D collaborations in the semiconductor industry indicates that the likelihood of alliance formation is negatively related to geographic distance, even within clusters. The extent to which alliance formation falls off with geographic distance is diminished when the firms have prior ties, operate in the same product market, or possess similar technological knowledge.

Keywords: strategic alliances; partner selection; information economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (42)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0805 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:1:p:283-298

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Organization Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().