Hochschulkooperationen und betriebliche Innovationsaktivitaeten Ergebnisse aus der deutschen Automobilzulieferindustrie

The development and adaption of new technologies are based on the interrelation of academic research and applied industrial innovation activities. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate empirically the importance of R&D cooperations with universities for the innovation activities of suppliers in the German automobile industry. Relevance, motives, and benefits of contractual R&D cooperation between automobile suppliers and universities will be analyzed for the first time in great variety. It will be shown that in the German automobile supply industry the high preference of firms to cooperate with universities depends on the size of the firm as well as on their absorptive capacities. Formal R&D arrangements with universities are prefered because automobile suppliers can enhance their technological innovation capacities to develop new or improved products and use their automobile-specific innovation potentials, developed inhouse, more efficiently. Further, by establishing formal cooperative R&D arrangements with universities suppliers in Germany rather save R&D costs than realize quality improvements of products.