Discussion of Results and Conclusion

The research objectives of the present thesis were threefold (see section 1.2.1): (1) To account for the diversity in the use of and research on corporate collaboration, (2) to extend existing research to the specific setting of European biotechnology firms, and (3) to incorporate dynamic aspects of collaborative value creation, which have so far been neglected. Together, these three factors were expected to explain a large proportion of the valuation effects observed.

Providing the base for the ensuing empirical study, a broad review of general alliance literature (chapter 2) identified five main schools of thought, most of which are assembled of several of sub-theories. For instance, the market-based perspective (section 2.2) includes both industrial organization approaches regarding collaboration as a means of reducing competitive rivalry (or internalizing technological spillovers) as well as corporate strategy arguments viewing alliances as strategic tools to gain strategic advantage vis-à-vis existing or potential competitors. This review produced an extensive set of propositions, which reflect the breadth of alliance- related thought