Mergers and Innovation Portfolios
Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 2019-085/VII
53 Pages Posted: 31 Dec 2019
There are 3 versions of this paper
Mergers and Innovation Portfolios
Mergers and Innovation Portfolios
Mergers and Innovation Portfolios
Date Written: December 6, 2019
Abstract
This paper studies mergers in markets where firms invest in a portfolio of research projects of different profitability and social value. The portfolio nature of the investment problem brings about novel insights on the external effects of firms’ investments. The investment of a firm in one project imposes a negative business-stealing externality on the rival firms because it lowers the probability they win the innovation contest for that project; however, the investment of a firm in one project also exerts a positive business-giving externality on the rival firms because it increases the likelihood they win the contest for the alternative project.
Keywords: innovation portfolios, R&D contests, mergers
JEL Classification: O32, L13, L22, O31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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