Computational results of membership in R&D cooperation networks: To be or not to be in a research joint venture

Abstract

In this study, we analyze firms' membership in R&D (Research and Development) cooperation networks trough simulation methods. Our main research hypothesis is that the membership in cooperation networks is related to the degree of the knowledge spillover. The approach has two scenarios: cost symmetry and cost asymmetry. We first develop an analytical model with three stages: firstly, firms decide whether to participate in a cooperative research network; secondly they simultaneously choose the level of R&D output, and finally they choose the level of output. Then we proceed with computational simulations to verify our hypothesis. From our results, we were able to conclude that cooperation leads to an improvement on RJV firms' position in the market as they produce more than others with the same production conditions. Additionally, cooperating firms have to spend fewer resources on research, which turns the network a tremendous success on the productive efficiency level. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.