Cooperative Strategy, Technology Innovation and Competition Policy in the United States and the European Union

The widespread adoption of joint ventures in the 1980s and strategic alliances in the 1990s by a spectrum of businesses across industries has resulted in cooperative strategy emerging as the corporate and business strategy of the global economy. Of further significance, however, is the relaxation by antitrust authorities in the USA and the EU of policies forbidding or restricting horizontal or competitor collaborations. Beginning in the 1980s, legislation, regulations and guidelines have established a business environment conducive to competitor collaborations. This evolution in competition policy is justified by the need for accelerating technology-based innovations at the firm level, thus improving competitiveness at the national level. The US government and the European Commission have provided firms with "safe harbors' to develop strategic technology alliances with competitors, albeit with notable differences in specific market share thresholds and emphases on qualitative versus quantitative perspectives in their respective competition policy frameworks.     

The degree of integration in strategic alliances in biotechnology

This paper looks at the spection of strategic alliances in biotechnoloy in the late 1980s from the point of view of whether the alliance was of a contractual type or, at the other end of the spectrum, have integrated the two companies of the alliance were. It uses an ordered probit model to test for any systemalic association between alliances within indeustrial sectors and of different size types, and the type of alhance that occurred. The paper find that more contractual, less integrated types of alliance were concentrated in the healtheare secters of thenapeutics and diagnostics and where at least one of the firms was small in size. More integrated types of alliance revailed in the agriculature and cheicals sectors and between two lage companies. It relates these results to conditions of appropriability, the impact of the new lechnologies on existing compelencies and absorptwe capacity within the different industrial sectors at that time. It compares the situation of the late 1980s with more recnt developments in corporate strategy lowards allliance formation.     

The degree of integration in strategic alliances in biotechnology

This paper looks at the spection of strategic alliances in biotechnoloy in the late 1980s from the point of view of whether the alliance was of a contractual type or, at the other end of the spectrum, have integrated the two companies of the alliance were. It uses an ordered probit model to test for any systemalic association between alliances within indeustrial sectors and of different size types, and the type of alhance that occurred. The paper find that more contractual, less integrated types of alliance were concentrated in the healtheare secters of thenapeutics and diagnostics and where at least one of the firms was small in size. More integrated types of alliance revailed in the agriculature and cheicals sectors and between two lage companies. It relates these results to conditions of appropriability, the impact of the new lechnologies on existing compelencies and absorptwe capacity within the different industrial sectors at that time. It compares the situation of the late 1980s with more recnt developments in corporate strategy lowards allliance formation.     

Bridge over troubled waters? problems and opportunities in interfirm research collaboration

Effective interfirm collaboration is an incresingly significant factor in technological innovation. A wide and complex range of options exists within collabotative arrangements which affect the outcome and rewards for both partners. Firms are often unaware of the strategic implications of collaborative ventures. While some large firms may be invloved in strategic alliances at the corporate level in order to establish or maintain competitiveness, many remain unaware or unconvinced of the potential for the generation of innovations through collaborations with small, flexible, 'hi-tech” firms. the pace of change and the challenge of international competition threatens Western European firms with a 'technology gap' within a 'disorganized capitalist' setting. Various forms of interfirm cooperation within and across natinal boundaires may be important responses to such uncertainty and amy ultimately provide successful strategic remedies to the situation. This article presents the findings of a recently completed research project in which 27 pairs (mostly small/large) of collaborating, innovative firms were studied in order to examine the strategic and operational issues involued in interfirm research cooperation. Whilst highlighting the advantages of collaboration, and the potential problems for both the small and the large partner, we argue that the adoption of 'cooperative game' rules id vital for successful collaborative innovation. Additionally, we attempt to posit our findings within the current debate on organized/disorganized capitalism.     

战略视角下的资本结构研究

20世纪80年代以来,从战略视角研究资本结构引起了战略管理研究者以及财务理论研究者的关注,从战略的角度看,企业的资本结构决策是基于公司战略、竞争战略以及企业所面临的竞争环境所作出的理性选择。连接战略和资本结构,开辟了资本结构研究的新领域。文章对战略视角的资本结构研究的理论基础,公司战略、竞争战略、竞争环境与资本结构之间的内在联系等内容进行综述,以期为我国开展该领域的研究提供借鉴。     

美国对华5G科技竞争策略与对策研究——基于“大战略”理论视角

5G是引领未来的战略性技术，是实现产业升级的重要基础设施，也是中美科技竞争的关键领域。梳理美国对华5G科技竞争策略对于提升我国5G治理能力、创造竞争优势具有重要意义。运用“大战略”理论，从目标、手段、威胁、效益4个层面对美国5G策略进行分析，指出美国5G策略体现了维护国家安全和国际领导地位的目标，通过成立专职机构、加大科研投入、培养通信人才、提升频谱和基建能力等手段促进本国5G发展，并运用出口管制、外资审查、限制投资、外交结盟等方式对中国进行打压和防范。中美5G竞争日益激烈且存在彼此封闭、割裂的风险，国际关系将成为影响竞争态势的关键因素。中国应坚定战略目标，优化战略手段，应对挑战并把握机遇，积极推动中国5G健康发展。     

Strategic Trade Policy and Vertical Structure

We introduce intermediaries into the Brander-Spencer model of strategic trade policy. A key finding is that in regimes involving independent retailers, output competition and linear pricing (and two-part tariffs under certain restrictions), the optimal policy involves an export tax instead of a subsidy. If firms commit to vertical structure before governments commit to policy then under output competition firms choose integration, whereas if policy precedes structure then at least one firm chooses separation. Under price competition separation is a dominant strategy regardless of whether the structure decision is made before or after the policy decision.     

The strategic value of partial vertical integration

We investigate the strategic incentives for partial vertical integration, namely, partial ownership agreements between manufacturers and retailers, when retailers privately know their costs and engage in price competition with differentiated goods. The partial misalignment between the profit objectives within a partially integrated manufacturer–retailer hierarchy implies a higher retail price than under full integration. This ‘information vertical effect’ translates into a ‘competition horizontal effect’: the partially integrated hierarchy's commitment to a higher price induces the competitor to increase its price, which strategically relaxes competition. Our analysis provides implications for vertical merger policy and theoretical support for the recently documented empirical evidence on partial vertical acquisitions.     

How technology policy facilitates technology diffusion and improves firm capability: a dynamic survey from a network perspective

Strategic alliances have been regarded as a potent tool of technology policy for the advancement of research and development (R&D) in developing countries. However, the effectiveness of this ‘visible hand’ has not been dynamically understood as a useful means of building up firm capability. To see how strategic alliances help small-sized firms improve their competitive advantage, this research investigates a government-supported strategic alliance for technology development. Using a two-stage model from the network perspective and methodology, the results show that via a government-sponsored strategic alliance, the network factors embedded in the alliance significantly help the firm develop a competitive advantage by facilitating technology diffusion among alliance members and improved firm-level technology capability. Thus, technology policy in the form of strategic alliances appears to serve as a ‘visible hand’ that homogenously upgrades firm technology capability and diffuses technology.     

Globalization, Lobbying, and International Environmental Governance

Globalization may require supranational coordination of environmental policies to prevent strategic policy competition weakening environmental standards. This raises concerns about a democratic deficit at the supranational level, and the possibility of capture by special interest groups. The authors develop a model in which environmental policy can be set at the national or supranational level. Governments at each level act in the interests of the group they represent, and interest groups lobby to influence the probability of getting their type of government elected. Using asymmetries in lobbying costs, the authors analyze the effects of a democratic deficit and differential access to influence by different interest groups on the welfare of groups and nations. The paper shows: (i) asymmetries may have unexpected effects; (ii) asymmetries have greater effect when policy is set at the national rather than supranational level; and (iii) despite asymmetries groups and nations are better off when policy is coordinated at the supranational level.     

Hedonic and environmental quality: A hybrid model of product differentiation

In this paper, we analyze how strategic competition between a green firm and a brown competitor develops when their products are differentiated along two dimensions: hedonic quality and environmental quality. The former dimension refers to the pure (intrinsic) performance of the good, whereas the latter dimension has a positional content: buying green goods satisfies the consumer's desire to be portrayed as a socially worthy citizen. We consider the case in which these quality dimensions are in conflict with each other so that the higher the hedonic quality of a good, the lower the corresponding environmental quality. We characterize the equilibrium configurations and discuss the policy implications deriving from our analysis.     

The Political Economy of Strategic Trade Policies*

This paper applies Grossman and Helpman's (1994 ) common agency model to investigate the formation of strategic export subsidy and strategic import tariff under both Cournot competition and Bertrand competition. The results of this paper indicate that even with political pressure, the Grossman–Helpman politically‐determined export policy is identical to the rent‐shifting export policy, which is export subsidy (export tax) in Cournot (Bertrand) competition. The politically‐determined import tariff will be higher than the optimal level. This paper highlights the possibility that lobbying can restore the level of trade intervention to a more efficient one in the absence of the benevolent dictator.     

基于LRUH模型的战略联盟成员相关性测度研究

战略联盟成员相关性对于战略联盟的稳定性、风险水平和绩效具有重要影响,借鉴研究集团多元化战略的LRUH模型,测度战略联盟成员相关性,将战略联盟划分为低度多元化联盟、非相关战略联盟、相关战略联盟和高度多元化联盟4种类型。以中国汽车产业中代表性企业战略联盟为例,应用LRUH模型对汽车行业战略联盟的相关性进行了测度。最后,分析了用LRUH模型的优点和不足,并展望了未来的研究方向。     

Rights and relations in modern economic theory

The paper is the 1980 Böhm-Bawerk-lecture given at the University of Innsbruck. Starting from Böhm-Bawerk's book. ‘Rights and relations from the point of view of the economic theory of goods’ the paper tries to evaluate rights and phenomena like goodwill from the perspective of innovation. A framework of three levels of economic activity is developed. The three levels are: consumption (the lowest level), production and innovation (the highest level). Rights are interpreted as instruments of protection of higher level activity from lower level activity. Focus of attention are industries with very high rates of technical progress and innovation. There the most important positive externality of innovation is the increased potential for even more innovations. It is argued that competition policy, as a rule of thumb, must foster competition by innovation and must discourage competition by imitation.     

POLITICAL ECONOMY OF STRATEGIC EXPORT POLICY IN A DIFFERENTIATED DUOPOLY*

This paper investigates the effect of a home firm's lobbying on a strategic export policy in a third market with a differentiated duopoly. We focus on its effect on domestic welfare under Bertrand and Cournot competition. Regardless of the mode of competition, the strategic export policy cannot improve domestic welfare in the presence of lobbying if the degree of product differentiation is high or the government is overly concerned with political contribution relative to domestic welfare. Moreover, for the same degree of product differentiation, the lobbying‐induced export policy is more likely to deteriorate domestic welfare relative to free trade under Cournot competition.     

基于联盟的数字产业技术标准国际化路径研究——以昕诺飞为例

数字产业具有前沿性、复杂性和高度不确定性,技术标准国际化是数字产业保持全球竞争力的重要举措。采用纵向单案例研究法,以昕诺飞为研究对象,探索企业推进技术标准国际化的路径及机制。结果表明,昕诺飞实现技术标准国际化的主要路径是基于自主研发或收购专利组建标准联盟或专利联盟并制定发布联盟标准,进而将其转化为国际标准、目标国国家标准和团体标准;企业可基于标准开展相应认证检测,形成“联盟+标准+专利+认证检测”的闭环,实现“技术专利化—专利标准化—标准国际化—市场垄断化”的良性循环,以维持企业长期竞争优势;推进技术标准国际化的关键在于组建联盟,我国数字产业可通过“标准联盟+专利联盟”的双联盟策略,形成核心层稳固的开放式战略联盟,通过构建共生演化生态系统推进技术标准国际化。     

Lifetime Employment Contract and Strategic Entry Deterrence: Cournot and Bertrand

This paper is based on a two-stage model of an incumbent firm and a potential entrant, and studies both quantity-setting competition and price-setting competition. We consider a lifetime-employment-contract policy as a strategic commitment that generates kinks in the reaction curve. Furthermore, demand functions are classified into two cases in terms of the strategic relevance between both firms. Therefore, we examine the following four cases: 'quantity-setting competition with strategic substitutes', 'quantity-setting competition with strategic complements', 'price-setting competition with strategic substitutes' and 'price-setting competition with strategic complements'. The purpose of this paper is to analyse entry deterrence in the four cases and to show the effectiveness of the lifetime-employment-contract policy as a result of its analyses.     

Personal strategic alliances: enhancing the scientific and technological contributions of university faculty in Malaysia

Scientific and technological human capital is a critical element for the economic and social advancement of countries in the developing world. Using Malaysia as an example, this paper examines the relationship between the research productivity of university faculty and human capital development with a specific focus on personal strategic alliances. The results show that educational attainment, location at a designated research university, and consulting experience positively influence faculty publication productivity. Furthermore, alliances established through consulting, applied research, and entrepreneurial experiences are critical for the development of new technologies stemming from university research. Malaysia's experience may hold lessons for developing countries: the full development potential of human capital investments may only be realized by simultaneously strengthening and supporting personal strategic alliances with communities outside academia.     

Small-Firm Strategic Research Partnerships: The Case of Biotechnology

This paper provides an overview of the theoretical motivation and the empirical literature on small firm strategic alliances in biotechnology, an industry where these alliances have proliferated. We begin by examining the alliance strategy for knowledge-based small firms in general and then turn our attention to the case of biotech.     

The inflation tax in an open economy with imperfect competition

This paper studies the national welfare maximizing inflation tax in an open economy with imperfect competition. It shows that the presence of a monopolistic distortion dampens the incentive to engage in strategic use of the inflation tax. If this dampening effect is strong enough, monetary policy becomes completely inward-looking, restoring the Friedman rule as an equilibrium strategy regardless of the actions of the foreign government. This aspect of the policy interaction—driven entirely by the presence of imperfect competition—is important because it determines the underlying structure of the policy game and is therefore crucial for determining whether or not there exist welfare gains from international monetary cooperation.