Buyers' Role in Innovation Procurement

44 Pages Posted: 11 Jun 2019 Last revised: 7 Oct 2019

See all articles by Francesco Decarolis

Francesco Decarolis

Bocconi University - Department of Economics

Gaétan de Rassenfosse

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Leonardo M. Giuffrida

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research; Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Elisabetta Iossa

University of Rome Tor Vergata; IEFE Bocconi University; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Vincenzo Mollisi

University of Rome Tor Vergata

Emilio Raiteri

Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE) - Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences

Giancarlo Spagnolo

University of Rome Tor Vergata; EIEF; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Stockholm School of Economics (SITE)

Date Written: June 2019

Abstract

What is the impact of buyers on the performance of innovation procurement? In which phase of the procurement process are buyers most crucial and why? We address these questions by exploiting a novel dataset that links U.S. federal R&D contracts to their follow-on patents, citations and claims. Using the deaths of managers in the offices close to where contracts are performed as shocks to the functioning of these offices, we measure a positive and sizable effect of public buyers on all three outcome measures. The buyer's role is stronger in the pre-award, tender-design phase, where cooperation between different specialists is essential, than in the following contract-management phase typically performed by individual officers. Consistently, bureaus where employees perceive high level of cooperation within the office are associated with better R&D outcomes.

Keywords: Buyers, Innovation, Management Practices, patents, Procurement, R&D Procurement

JEL Classification: H11, H57, O31, O32, O38

Suggested Citation

Decarolis, Francesco and de Rassenfosse, Gaétan and Giuffrida, Leonardo Maria and Iossa, Elisabetta and Mollisi, Vincenzo and Raiteri, Emilio and Spagnolo, Giancarlo, Buyers' Role in Innovation Procurement (June 2019). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP13777, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3401864

Francesco Decarolis

Bocconi University - Department of Economics ( email )

Via Gobbi 5
Milan, 20136
Italy

Gaétan De Rassenfosse (Contact Author)

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) ( email )

Station 5
Odyssea 1.04
1015 Lausanne, CH-1015
Switzerland

Leonardo Maria Giuffrida

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
Mannheim, 68034
Germany

Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation ( email )

L 7, 1
Mannheim, 68131
Germany

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Elisabetta Iossa

University of Rome Tor Vergata ( email )

Via Columbia n.2
Rome, 00133
Italy

IEFE Bocconi University ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, Milan 20136
Italy

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Vincenzo Mollisi

University of Rome Tor Vergata ( email )

Via di Tor Vergata
Rome, Lazio 00133
Italy

Emilio Raiteri

Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE) - Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences ( email )

Den Dolech 2
Eindhoven
Netherlands

Giancarlo Spagnolo

University of Rome Tor Vergata ( email )

Faculty of Economics - DEF
Via Columbia 2
Rome, RM 00133
Italy

EIEF ( email )

Via Due Macelli, 73
Rome, 00187
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://WWW.EIEF.IT

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Stockholm School of Economics (SITE) ( email )

P.O. Box 6501
Stockholm
Sweden

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/giancarlospagnoloshomepage/

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