The Effect of Operations Risk on Cooperation Efficiency of Industry-University-Research Knowledge Innovation Alliance in China

Abstract

The dramatic change of economic environment triggers the more complicated complex cooperation among firms, governments, and research institutions. Actually, cooperation efficiency (CE) of some industry-university-research (IUR) knowledge innovation alliances has not achieved expected levels. Accordingly, this paper organizes an empirical analysis of 296 groups of China's IUR alliances and then investigates the effect of risk among stakeholders, operations process risk, and environmental risk on alliances' CE. Empirical results present that decreasing stakeholders' risk improves alliances' CE. Further, alliances' cooperative R&D mode, human capital, digestion and absorption capabilities of technology progress, degree of R&D output sharing by firms, firms' compliance for R&D funds input, and universities and research institutions' compliance for R&D activities all positively affect alliances' CE. Additionally, alliances' favorable external environmental improves such efficiency and further strengthen the effect of stakeholders' risk on this efficiency. Our findings will help participants of IUR alliance and policy-makers to enhance alliances' CE with the fall of actual risk they need to deal with, also providing a flexible way to establish an effective partner-selection mode.