Does technological proximity accelerate innovation speed in R&D collaboration? The evidence of rapid vaccine R&D for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic Online publication date: Thu, 01-Feb-2024
by Xintong Wu; Weinan Wang
International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM), Vol. 94, No. 3/4, 2024
Abstract: With the urgency of COVID-19, international appeals encourage worldwide collaborations in rapid vaccine R&D. Rapid R&D projects raise the priority of innovation speed and call for the reconsideration of R&D collaboration mechanisms. This research focuses on R&D collaboration teams and examines the impact of technological proximity on innovation speed and its contingencies absorptive capacity and government involvement. Specifically, adopting the data of COVID-19 vaccine R&D projects from the WHO database, the results indicate that in R&D collaboration, technological proximity among partners makes an inverted U-shaped effect on innovation speed, which is positively moderated by the team's absorptive capacity. However, the moderating effect of government involvement is insignificant. This result provides implications for government officials and developers to balance technological similarity and heterogeneity, choose cooperation partners based on technological proximity, and achieve innovations rapidly.
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