مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

The emergence of the market for technology has a considerable influence on firms’ innovation process through the division of innovative labor and technology transactions in this market (Arora et al., 2001a, 2001b). Traditional perspectives on innovation have regarded the innovation process from idea generation to commercializationas being wholly conducted withinthe boundary of afirm. However,the growing marketfor technology implies that firms can profitfrom licensing their technologies and thatformal licensing-in becomes a window of access to external technologies (Arora et al., 2013; Laursen et al., 2010).

Recently,the literature on the marketfor technology has mainly focused on the supply side of the market. The demand side of the market also deserves scholarly attention to elucidate the nature of the market for technology (e.g., Arora and Gambardella, 2010; Laursen et al., 2010). From the licensee’s perspective, previous studies suggested several reasons for firms adopting external technologies through licensing-in. By engaging in licensing-in, firms can reduce the risks and costs associated with the innovation process, keep up with technological advances, and facilitate tech- ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: leejs@business.kaist.ac.kr (J.-S. Lee), jihoonpark@business.kaist.ac.kr, jihoonpark@kaist.ac.kr (J.-H. Park), ztbae@business.kaist.ac.kr (Z.-T. Bae). nological learning (Atuahene-Gima, 1993; Johnson, 2002; Lowe and Taylor, 1998). Additionally, firms sometimes enter into a licensing-in agreement to acquire industry standards or freedomto-manufacture (Grindley and Teece, 1997; Lowe and Crawford, 1984). Prior studies examined how licensing-in affects various outcomes, such as financial performance, innovation, and the speed of invention (Laursen et al., 2010; Leone and Reichstein, 2012; Tsai and Wang, 2007; Wang and Li-Ying, 2014; Wang et al., 2013a).

Despite the considerable body of literature, we ensured that value exists in highlighting whether adopting external technology through licensing-in is always beneficial for innovative performance and when does this effect become stronger according to the technological environment. First, in response to the academic need for a better understanding of the demand side of the market for technology, this study examined the treatment effect of licensingin on innovative performance (Arora and Gambardella, 2010; Kani and Motohashi, 2012). Furthermore, this study attempted to contribute to the literature on the market for technology by identifying the boundaries or environmental contingency factors for licensing-in practices that are advantageous to firms’ innovative performance (e.g., Lichtenthaler, 2011; Natalicchio et al., 2014). A technological regime reflects a significant environment that affects firms’ innovative activities and performance (Nelson and Winter, 1982). Technological regimes are characterized by three dimensions: technological opportunity, cumulativeness, and appropriability conditions (Malerba and Orsenigo, 1993). Thesethree dimensions influence firms’ innovative activities and the benefit from participating in the market for technology. The effects of licensing-in may vary with the technological regimes under which firms operate.