Promoting collaborative R&D in Taiwan: An empirical study focused on the information processing component of the decision making process

Abstract

A general decision making framework to approach the initial adoption of callaborative R&D is proposed and a path model is used to study the information processing component within thr general framework. Survey data from electronics and information industry, chemical industry, and the industrial machinery equipment industry in Taiwan are used to rest the causal relationship. The results show that the current status on the awareness, pursuing of knowledge, extent of interest, and probability of adoption are modest. Intensity of competition, understanding of the availability of government incentives, relative technology posture, and motivations provide the positive influences. On the basis of the relative position of the firm within these influencing factors, firms or industries can be classified into four types: proactive, policy-induced, passive, and parochial. To be effective, government would have to follow different policies and strategies to promote collaborative R&D effort.