Contingency distance factors and international research and development (R&D), marketing, and manufacturing alliance formations

This study contributes to the international alliance formation literature by extending and examining the differences between international Research and Development (R&D), and international marketing and manufacturing alliances in terms of distance. Distance is conceptualized as multiple contingency factors: national, industry, and firm. With a sample of 110 pharmaceutical alliances, spanning 11 years, from 2000 to 2010, we find that there are significant differences among the different types of international alliance formation regarding distance. The results support the view that R&D alliances tend to have a smaller national, industry, and firm-specific distance than marketing and manufacturing alliances. In addition, the pattern of R&D alliance formation confirms the argument that firms take advantage of both exogenous and endogenous location economies by forming international R&D alliances with infrastructural, institutional, and technological proximity between countries of partnering firms. On the other hand, firms get involved in international marketing and manufacturing alliances even though when the distance between partnering firms with regard to institutional, infrastructure, industrial environments, and technological bases is large.