Title: Multi-market contacts as a challenge to open innovation theory

Authors: Henar Alcalde

Addresses: Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness and Deusto Business School, C/ Mundaiz 50 20012, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain

Abstract: In this article, I examine the implications that competition and contacts on behalf of firms in multiple markets have upon assumptions underlying the principles of open innovation. Ultimately, I propose to integrate conceptual viewpoints from the multimarket contact paradigm into the open innovation model in order to raise the explanatory power of the latter. The study investigates how inter-firm competition and contacts on multiple markets can act as a trigger for R&D contractual agreements. The accompanying hypotheses are tested through an intra-industry analysis, finding that multi-market contact is curvilinear (taking an inverted U-shape) related to the development of R&D agreements among competing firms. I also explore the role of firm's patents stock as a key intervening variable in the relationship between MMC and R&D contractual agreements.

Keywords: multimarket contacts; open innovation; international sample; panel data; technological agreements; patents stock; competition; cooperation; negative binomial regression; multiple markets; R&D agreements; contractual agreements; research and development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2012.049584

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2012 Vol.7 No.4, pp.408 - 425

Received: 17 Apr 2012
Accepted: 14 May 2012
Published online: 29 Aug 2014 *

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