International breadth in coopetition and innovation performance: evidence from the Spanish biotechnology industry
利用西班牙生物技术产业数据，研究发现企业需与多个国际区域的竞争对手合作才能提升创新绩效，且技术信息匮乏时国际广度价值更高，市场不确定性高时则宜限于单一区域。
Collaboration with competitors – coopetition – enables access to valuable knowledge and resources for innovation and is seen as common practice in some knowledge-intensive sectors. Using longitudinal data from the Spanish biotechnology sector (a total of 1605 observations), this study examines the relationship between the international breadth of coopetition – the sum of the different international areas in which a firm’s coopetitors are located – and innovation performance. The results show that a firm must collaborate with competitors in more than a single geographical area to begin to experience the positive effect of international breadth on innovation performance. Furthermore, the results vary significantly in the presence of two different contingencies. Under conditions of lack of technological information, international breadth increases in value. When perceived market uncertainty is high, however, optimal results are achieved when the international breadth is limited to a single area.