R&D cooperation and spillovers: Some empirical evidence

Different aspects of external information flows have typically been lumped together under the name "spillovers". We attempt to refine our understanding of external information flows through the construction of firm-specific measures of incoming spillovers and appropriability from survey data on Belgian manufacturing firms. Incoming spillovers measure the importance of publicly available information for the innovation process of the firm. Appropriability is defined as the effectiveness of several protection mechanisms for appropriating the benefits of successful innovations. The importance of this distinction between incoming spillovers and appropriability is revealed when contrasting their effects on different types of cooperative agreements. The decision to cooperate with research institutes is mainly affected by the level of incoming spillovers, while appropriability plays an important role for cooperating with suppliers or customers.