@article {1971056,
	title = {Governance in multilateral R\&D alliances},
	journal = {Organization Science},
	volume = {23},
	year = {2012},
	month = {2012},
	pages = {1191-1210},
	abstract = {In research and development (R\&D) alliances, the partner firms must balance the tension between knowledge sharing and knowledge leakages because knowledge sharing, designed to support the alliance{\textquoteright}s technology development goals, can often lead to unintended and potentially damaging knowledge leakages. Governance structure is a well-understood knowledge protection strategy designed to reduce knowledge leakage concerns and thereby encourage desired knowledge transfers in two-party R\&D alliances. Whether governance structure can be an important balancing mechanism for R\&D alliances with multiple partner firms, or multilateral R\&D alliances, however, requires further study. Because increasing the number of alliance partners introduces additional complexities to managing an alliance, the appropriate governance mechanism for a multilateral R\&D alliance is likely to differ from that for a bilateral alliance. Drawing insights from social exchange theory, we explore governance decisions in multilateral R\&D alliances. First, we examine the potential for variance between multilateral and bilateral R\&D alliances in governance decisions as a means of knowledge sharing and knowledge protection. Results based on our analysis of 2,423 R\&D alliances, 1,690 bilateral and 733 multilateral, are consistent with predictions drawn from social exchange theory. We next focus on three-partner R\&D alliances, or trilateral R\&D alliances, and compare governance mechanisms between two types of trilateral R\&D alliances: chain and net. We find that equity governance structures are more likely to be used in net-based than in chain-based trilateral R\&D alliances; we also find that alliance scope moderates the relationship between the type of alliance and governance structure. Finally, we find that multilateral R\&D alliances with predicted (aligned) governance structures perform better, in terms of alliance longevity, than those with misaligned structures.},
	keywords = {Strategy \& Entrepreneurship},
	author = {Li,D. and Eden,L. and Hitt,M. and Ireland,R. and Garrett,Robert}
}
