ABSTRACT
Is there a mutual relation between technical co-operative agreements stipulated by firms in high-tech industries and their own R&D effort? Do technological leaders exhibit a greater propensity to engage in collaborative technological ventures than other firms or are laggard firms that have the most powerful incentives to resorting to alliances, with the aim of supporting catch-up technological strategies or more simply of gaining access to process and product technologies which cannot be developed in-house? What impact have such agreements on the R&D expenses of the partners? What other firm-, industry-and country-specific factors influence the relationships between technical agreements and inframural R&D?
