Technological Performance Impacts of the Overlaps with Coopetitors

Abstract

Whereas extant research tends to conceptualize coopetitors in homogeneous terms, we explicitly consider the heterogeneity of coopetitors in terms of technological and market overlap with the focal firm. We expect that the level of technological and market overlap between the focal firm and its coopetitors substantially influences focal firms’ ability to maximize technological value creation opportunities from coopetitors and minimize technological value appropriation risks. Based on a panel dataset from 323 firms in the global solar photovoltaic industry, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between the focal firm’s technological overlap with coopetitors and its technological performance. In addition, we find that market overlap moderates this relationship. Jointly, these findings enrich extant coopetition literature, pointing to the relevance and importance of making more fine-grained distinctions between different types of coopetitors.