The R&D Boundaries of the Firm: An Empirical Analysis
研究了交易成本如何影响制药公司在内部和外部进行研发项目的选择，发现小数量讨价还价问题促使企业将研发内部化，同时研发经验、业务依赖度和国家来源也影响决策。
Gary P. Pisano Harvard University This paper examines how two sources of transaction costs, small-numbers-bargaining hazards and appropriability concerns, may affect established firms' choices between in-house and external sources of R&D when technological change shifts the locus of R&D expertise from established enterprises to new entrants, and established firms face a make-or-buy decision for R&D projects. The relationships of other organizational characteristics to the R&D procurement decision are also considered. Hypotheses are tested with data on 92 biotechnology R&D projects that major pharmaceutical companies have sponsored either in-house or through external contractual arrangements. The results suggest that small-numbersbargaining problems motivate firms to internalize R&D. Evidence is also found that a firm's R&D experience, its dependence on the pharmaceutical business, and its national origin affect R&D procurement decisions.'