The Effect of Product Market Competition Network Structure on Firm-level Disposition to offer Technology for Licensing

Keld Laursen, Solon Moreira, Vivek Tandon

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Based on a competition network perspective and the licensing literature, we argue that who competes directly with whom in downstream markets, and how competitive ties are distributed among firms are critical for firms’ upstream R&D strategies and in particular their decisions regarding technology offerings for out-licensing. We focus on industry network centralization or the concentration of competitive ties in many or a few firms. We argue that this aspect is especially relevant for potential licensor firms since it affects the pool of less-threatening exchange partners and the motivations to transfer knowledge to other firms via licensing. High levels of centralization concentrate competitive pressure on a few firms, increase the shared competitive threats within a given industry, and increase the incentives for potential licensor firms to reshape their competitive environments by selective strengthening of other firms through knowledge transfer. We argue also that this effect of industry centralization on the number of technologies offered for out-licensing will be stronger for firms with higher numbers of direct competitors, and that this interaction effect will be particularly strong if competitive threats are non-redundant. We find support for our ideas from an analysis of biopharmaceutical industry firms.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2022
Number of pages41
Publication statusPublished - 2022
EventDRUID22 Conference - Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Duration: 13 Jun 202215 Jun 2022
Conference number: 43
https://conference.druid.dk/Druid/index.xhtml?confId=64

Conference

ConferenceDRUID22 Conference
Number43
LocationCopenhagen Business School
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityFrederiksberg
Period13/06/202215/06/2022
Internet address

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