Corporate strategic technological partnerships in the European information and communications technology industry

In the era of ''alliance capitalism'', the increasing number of strategic technological partnerships (STPs) has been mainly recorded in the science-based fields, of which information and communications technology (ICT) is a leading sector. The establishment of STPs has also characterised the European ICT industry. The growing technological interrelatedness and the need to acquire capabilities in related fields have been identified in the literature as major explanations for the increase in corporate technological co-operation. This paper investigates the role of corporate technological specialisation factors in the conclusion of STPs in the European ICT industry by carrying out a dynamic analysis. Accordingly, the patterns followed by corporate technological partnerships in the industry in question are investigated since the late 1970s. Based on US patent data granted to the world's largest firms as well as STPs data, the results of the econometric analysis are consistent with the view that the more similar partners' technological portfolios are with one another, the easier it is to absorb each other's capabilities. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.