‘R&D Strategies in a Global Economy: Intramural Investment, Competition and International Business Profitability’

María Dolores Añón Higón, Pilar Beneito López, María Engracia Rochina Barrachina, Amparo Sanchis Llopis, Juan A. Máñez Castillejo, Juan A. Sanchis Llopis and José J. Sempere Morerris, University of Valencia; Miguel Manjón Antolín, Universitat Rovira i Virgilli; Ana Mauleon Echevarria, Université Saint-Louis-Bruxelles; Vincent Vannetelbosch, University of Louvain; Johantan Haskel, Imperial College London; and Nigel Driffield, Aston University.

The recent global crisis has shaken the foundations of western economies, in many cases holding back the growth of productivity. Restoring competitiveness is vital for recovery, and this depends, among other factors, on R&D and innovation investment and the existence of a business fabric capable of translating this investment effort into innovative outcomes that confer a global innovation advantage at both national and enterprise level.

In this context, which R&D strategies can help firms position themselves better in a global market? What criteria should guide public and private investment? What factors count most in confronting the international dimension of competition?

This project sets out to offer answers to these questions and to put forward recommendations both from a managerial standpoint and for those charged with implementing economic (industrial and commercial) policy. It will revolve around four lines of research, as defined below:

1. Study the complementarity or substitutability between company R&D investment and technology acquisition strategies, the idea being to assess their impact on R&D returns in terms of productivity.
2. Analyze the impact of lowering tariff barriers on the relationship between degree of competition and firms’ incentives to innovate, and the effects of the interaction between the protection of industrial property and the strength of competition.
3. Determine the role of the technological and geographical distance between Spanish and foreign firms in determining the existence and intensity of the spillovers generated by investment in foreign R&D.
4. Analyze whether R&D activities can reduce or offset the negative impact of the crisis on company profit margins.