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Who explores further? Evidence on R&D outsourcing from the survey of research and development
Author(s) -
Yamaguchi Shotaro,
Nitta Ryuji,
Hara Yasushi,
Shimizu Hiroshi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/radm.12437
Subject(s) - outsourcing , complementarity (molecular biology) , business , absorptive capacity , human capital , survey data collection , business administration , order (exchange) , industrial organization , knowledge management , economics , marketing , finance , computer science , mathematics , statistics , economic growth , genetics , biology
Building off the resource‐based view and the knowledge‐based view, our study aims to examine determinants of firms’ R&D outsourcing, using annually‐conducted firm‐level survey data of Japanese R&D companies from 1984–2012. This survey allows us to measure strategic R&D outsourcing, isolated from those more for cost‐reducing, such as prototyping, testing and inspecting. The results corroborate the argument of complementarity in scale between internal R&D and R&D outsourcing. We also find that firms employing more doctorate holders and diversifying in knowledge spaces tend to make more use of R&D outsourcing. This study sheds light on firms’ absorptive capacity, associated both with higher‐order R&D human capital and diversified knowledge spaces, as determinants of R&D outsourcing.