Decision of institutional cooperation on R&D : Determinants and sectoral differences

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the differences between manufacturing and service sector firms regarding the determining factors for the decision to cooperate with research institutions to perform R&D activities. The second key contribution provided is the identification of institutional cooperation profiles, based on the determining variables of institutional cooperation. Design/methodology/approach – On the one hand, drawing on the Community Innovation Survey for Spain, a Logit Regression Model is used to study the determining factors for institutional cooperation decision. On the other hand, in order to identify institutional cooperation profiles a confirmatory analysis was carried out applying the cluster methodology. Findings – The empirical study confirms that the differences are fundamentally related to transaction cost theory and resource‐based view with respect to the costs. Specifically, these theories' proposal dealing with the variable cost is not empirically confirmed for firms in the service sector. Research limitations/implications – The principal limitation of this paper derives from the data available, which made it impossible to extend the research to cover a longer time period and affected the manner in which some variables were constructed. Practical implications – The main implication of the paper can be understood in terms of managerial implications due to the importance of the institutional cooperation on R&D as an innovation management decision. Along this line, the results of the study indicate the existence of various options associated with the active posture on institutional cooperation. Originality/value – The contribution of the paper is the identification of institutional cooperation profiles, based on the determining variables of cooperation with institutions on R&D activities as well as the identification of the differences between manufacturers and services related to them.