International and domestic R&D coopetition: the influence of information redundancy on innovation performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT We delve into the heterogeneity of R&D coopetition to understand when this complex relationship contributes to innovation. To do this, we examine two dimensions: (i) geographic location of the competitor – in the home-country or abroad; and (ii) prior knowledge acquired from competitors that leads to the theoretical concept of ‘information redundancy.’ We analyse how these dimensions result in innovations with different levels of novelty (new-to-the-market and new-to-the-firm). Using a large panel data of firms (2004–2016), we find that international R&D coopetition exerts a higher positive effect on new-to-the-market innovations than does domestic R&D coopetition. In contrast, the positive impact of domestic R&D coopetition is higher on new-to-the-firm innovations. For its part, prior knowledge from competitors weakens the relations between R&D coopetition and innovation performance, thus revealing the importance of information redundancy in bettering our understanding of the innovation results of R&D coopetition.