2022 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 14-19
Inter-organization collaboration has been attracting attention to overcome the issues of declining innovation of Japanese firms. It is because inter-organization collaboration brings in external knowledge and increases the diversity of knowledge to create opportunities for new combinations (Schumpeter, 1934). On the other hand, inter-organization collaboration may have negative impacts on innovation because it increases transaction costs (Williamson, 1975) and information leakage due to openness. However, few prior studies empirically examine any impacts of collaboration on innovation. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between joint patent application (collaboration) and innovation productivity by analyzing patent data of the eight Japanese chemical firms. There are two findings. First, the firm's resources increase quantitative productivity of innovation, but too much inter-organization collaboration declines innovation productivity. Second, innovation productivity increases as firms collaborate with other firms in different industries (not with universities or other research institutes). In conclusion, firms can improve their capability of innovation by controlling the scale of collaboration and increasing collaboration with other firms in different industries.
