Cooperation in non-R&D activities: the influence on the product innovation performance of Dutch manufacturing firms
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2020-07-20
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en
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Abstract
It has been found that many firms are innovative without having an own R&D-department. Based on the endogenous growth theory, a possible explanation for this is that firms without an R&D-department become innovative through cooperation with other firms because that might result in the spillover of knowledge. Therefore, this thesis seeks to explain to what extent non-R&D-cooperation between manufacturing firms results in knowledge spillovers contributing to their product innovation performance. Additionally, the influence of spatial proximity between cooperation partners and the influence of a firm’s absorptive capacity on this relationship have been investigated. In order to answer the research questions, a mixed-methods study has been conducted. For the quantitative analysis, data from the 2015 European Manufacturing Survey has been used. For the qualitative analysis, five interviews have been held with employees of five different firms. The results have made clear that non-R&D-cooperation has no significant effect on a firm’s product innovation performance. Moreover, it has been found that spatial proximity between cooperation partners has no significant influence on this relationship. Additionally, the qualitative analysis has revealed that the absorptive capacity of a firm has an influence on the amount of knowledge that spills over due to non-R&D-cooperation. Finally, the qualitative analysis has made clear that there are more possible explanations for the innovativeness of firms without an own R&D-department. However, future research is necessary to generalize these findings.
Key words: non-R&D-cooperation, spatial proximity, absorptive capacity, product innovation, manufacturing industry
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen