Abstract

This study empirically tests the long-term security price performance of research and development (R&D) alliance announcements, across industries, among the top US R&D spenders. Using a sample of 73 of the top US R&D spenders, listed on a major US exchange, 792 R&D alliance announcements were identified over the period from 1994 to 1998. There are four main issues addressed in this paper: (1) do R&D partnership announcements create value in the long-run; (2) to what extent does the type of partner chosen influence the potential value created in the long-run; (3) is level of experience in partnering a factor affecting long term results; and (4) do industry considerations result in different findings regarding long term performance of R&D alliances. The chosen method of estimating long run abnormal returns was the calendar-time portfolio approach. Given that the main difficulty with long term studies is its reliance on a model of asset pricing, both unadjusted and adjusted results are reported and compared in order to determine the robustness of the findings. Additionally, the mean calendar-time abnormal returns are also reported.