R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms - evidence for the German manufacturing industry

The aim of the paper is to investigate in a simultaneous equation framework the role of R&D cooperation in the innovation process-in context with other factors-from two specific aspects. First, analysis focuses on the impact of R&D cooperation on firms' innovation input and output. Second, analysis is undertaken as to how the number of cooperation partners affects the innovation behaviour of firms. Starting with the discussion of theoretically expected effects of successful R&D cooperation on the innovation activities of firms, the importance of inter-organizational arrangements in R&D is empirically investigated in respect of firms in the German manufacturing industry. The estimation results can be summarized as follows: joint R&D is used to complement internal resources in the innovation process, enhancing the innovation input and output measured by the intensity of in-house R&D or the realization of product innovations. On the input side, the intensity of in-house R&D also stimulates the probability and the number of joint R&D activities with other firms and institutions significantly. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.