The determinants of inter-¯rms R&D cooperation and partner selection. A literature overview

Firms which want to augment their technological capabilities can do it through in-house efforts or external R&D activities, such as R&D contracting or R&D cooperation. In this paper I focus on R&D coop- eration, developing an originally structured and detailed review of its main determinants with a particular attention to the selected coop- eration partners. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight points in which literature has not still achieved clear cut conclusions on the factors affecting ¯rms' propensity to engage in R&D coopera- tions with other ¯rms or science institutions, suggesting open ¯elds of research.R&D cooperation, Innovation.