Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Bodas Freitas, Isabel Maria
Author-Email: i.m.freitas@tue.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Grenoble Ecole de Management, and DISPEA
Author-Name: Clausen, Tommy
Author-Email: tommy.clausen@nforsk.no
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Oslo, and Nordland Research Institute
Author-Name: Fontana, Roberto
Author-Email: roberto.fontana@unibocconi.it
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Pavia, and CESPRI, Bocconi University
Author-Name: Verspagen, Bart
Author-Email: b.verspagen@algec.unimaas.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Maastricht University, and UNU-MERIT
Title: Formal and informal external linkages and firms' innovative strategies. A 
	 cross-country comparison
Abstract: Firms increasingly rely upon external actors for their innovation 
	 process. Interaction with these actors may occur formally (i.e. through 
	 a collaboration agreement) or informally (i.e. external actors acts as 
	 sources of knowledge). This paper analyses the reasons why firms 
	 consider it to be important to develop formal and informal external 
	 linkages in the innovation process by looking at the role played by 
	 firms' innovative strategies and by taking into account that a 
	 complementarity or substitutive relationship might exist between formal 
	 and informal linkages. Data come from the Third Community Innovation 
	 Survey (CIS 3), where we have access to firm level micro-data from 
	 Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
Classification-JEL: O31, O33, O38 
Keywords: External knowledge sources, Innovation strategy, Formal cooperation,
	 Multinomial Probit 
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2008
Number: 065
File-URL: http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2008/wp2008-065.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2008065