Working Paper

Innovation Strategies in a Competitive Dynamic Setting

Ruslan Lukach, Joseph Plasmans, Peter M. Kort
CESifo, Munich, 2005

CESifo Working Paper No. 1395

This paper presents a dynamic model of a competitive R&D and production duopoly subject to knowledge spillovers. Two asymmetric firms operate for a limited period of time and dispose their knowledge capital in the end. Both firms and the social planner prefer the R&D-cooperative strategy over the competitive one regardless of the intensity of knowledge spillovers. Accumulation of knowledge capital results allows the monopolist to have lower marginal cost of production and charge a lower market price than a fully competitive duopoly. Being able to define the degree of knowledge exchange when creating a research joint venture, the firms do not necessary choose the highest degree of cooperation available.

Keywords: innovation, R&D, spillovers, cooperation