Friends, Acquaintances, or Strangers? Partner Selection in R&D Alliances
研究了企业在研发联盟中如何根据创新目标选择合作伙伴，将潜在伙伴分为朋友、熟人和陌生人，发现创新目标越激进越倾向选择朋友而非陌生人，但陌生人优于熟人，且伙伴选择、治理结构和联盟范围可相互替代以保护技术资产。
Like governance structure and alliance scope, partner selection may serve to safeguard firms' intellectual assets in R&D alliances. We categorize potential alliance partners into friends, acquaintances, and strangers, depending on their previous alliance experience. Data on 1,159 R&D alliances indicate that the more radical an alliance's innovation goals, the more likely it is that partners are friends rather than strangers. However, strangers are preferred to acquaintances, suggesting partner selection preferences are not transitive. Moreover, results suggest that firms use partner selection, governance structure, and alliance scope as substitute mechanisms to protect valuable technological assets from appropriation in R&D alliances.