Research joint ventures: Patterns from Federal Register filings

Abstract

The National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 was passed to encourage the formation of research joint ventures (RJVs). Since its passage, the majority of research on RJV activity has been theoretical, focusing on the private profitability and social desirability of cooperative R&D. The few empirical analyses have relied on survey data or the case studies. The purpose of this paper is to describe a newly-assembled and publicly-available RJV data base constructed from information contained in the Federal Register filings, and to present, in a descriptive manner, selected patterns of collaborative research activity.