Drivers influencing the governance of inter-firm relationships in the biopharmaceutical industry: an empirical survey in the Italian context

Abstract

This paper focuses on factors influencing the choice of the governance form in inter-firm relationships (IFRs) between pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. By reviewing the relevant literature on transaction cost economics, property right theory, real option and resources-based view, we located some drivers that might influence such relationships and we formulated a set of hypotheses linking them to governance forms. Such a theoretical framework has been empirically tested through a survey conducted among the Italian companies associated to Farmindustria. Empirical results provide some interesting insights on how shaping bio-pharmaceutical deals; we found that the developmental stage of the product/technology object of the agreement, the existence of previous collaborations between firms and the number of products marketed by the biotech company are able to influence the selection of a specific governance form.

Keywords:

• biopharmaceutical industry
• inter-firm relationship
• governance form
• survey

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Farmindustria for the support given to this research. They would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers who, with their suggestions, helped improve this paper.