The innovative performance of alliance block members: Evidence from the microelectronics industry

The primary goal of this paper is to improve our understanding of the relationship between the positioning of companies in technology alliance blocks –substructures in the alliance network- and their innovative performance. In particular, we expect that a firm’s innovative performance depends partly on its position in specific alliance network settings: block membership or non-block membership. Firms in alliance blocks derive their competitive advantage from the superior and particular technologies they develop and exploit together. Incorporating the moderating effect of the degree of technological specialization in alliance blocks yields more insight in the contextual issues affecting the relationship between alliance block membership and innovation performance.