Corporate R&D

Researchers at the Duke ISP Lab study how firms develop, acquire, and commercialize innovations in competitive markets. Our research examines fundamental questions about corporate R&D strategy—including make-versus-buy decisions, the role of firm size and organizational structure, and how companies access and benefit from external knowledge. We have particular expertise in understanding how intellectual property, patents, and markets for technology shape innovation incentives and outcomes; how firms collaborate and share knowledge through alliances; and how regulatory, geopolitical, and policy environments influence corporate innovation. Our work spans multiple industries including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, chemicals, semiconductors, and biotechnology, providing insights into the economic and organizational determinants of firms’ and economies’ innovative performance.

Corporate R&D

2025

Belenzon, Sharon, and Larisa Cioaca. “Guaranteed demand and corporate R&D.” Management Science (forthcoming).

Masclans, Roger, Sharique Hasan, and Wesley M. Cohen. “Measuring the commercial potential of science.” Strategic Management Journal 46, no. 9 (2025): 2199-2236.

2024

Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, Matt Marx, and Dror Shvadron. “When does patent protection spur cumulative research within firms?” The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 40, no. 3 (2024): 694-728.

Arora, Ashish, Andrea Fosfuri, and Thomas Rønde. “The missing middle: Value capture in the market for startups.” Research Policy 53, no. 3 (2024): 104958.

Feigenbaum, James and Daniel P. Gross. “Answering the call of automation: How the labor market adjusted to mechanizing telephone operation.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 139, no. 3 (2024): 1879-1939.

Feigenbaum, James and Daniel P. Gross. “Organizational and economic obstacles to automation: A cautionary tale from AT&T in the twentieth century.” Management Science 70, no. 12 (2024): 8520-8540.

2023

Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, and Bernardo Dionisi. “First-mover advantage and the private value of public science.” Research Policy 52, no. 9 (2023): 104867.

Cuddy, Emily, Yun Peng Lu, and David B. Ridley. “FDA Global Drug Inspections: Surveillance Of Manufacturing Establishments Remains Well Below Pre-COVID-19 Levels: Study examines FDA surveillance inspections of manufacturing establishments around the world.” Health Affairs 42, no. 12 (2023): 1758-1766.

Arora, Ashish, Wesley M. Cohen, Honggi Lee, and Divya Sebastian. “Invention value, inventive capability and the large firm advantage.” Research Policy 52, no. 1 (2023): 104650.

2022

Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, and Jungkyu Suh. “Science and the market for technology.” Management Science 68, no. 10 (2022): 7176-7201.

Samila, Sampsa, Alexander Oettl, and Sharique Hasan. “Helpful behavior and the durability of collaborative ties.” Organization Science 33, no. 5 (2022): 1816-1836.

2021

Gross, Daniel P. “Collusive investments in technological compatibility: Lessons from US railroads in the late 19th century.” Management Science 66, no. 12 (2020): 5683-5700.

Gross, Daniel P. “Creativity under fire: The effects of competition on creative production.” Review of Economics and Statistics 102, no. 3 (2020): 583-599.

Cohen, Wesley M., Henry Sauermann, and Paula Stephan. “Not in the job description: The commercial activities of academic scientists and engineers.” Management Science 66, no. 9 (2020): 4108-4117.

2019

Belenzon, Sharon, Victor Bennett, and Andrea Patacconi. “Flexible production and entry: Institutional, technological, and organizational determinants.” Strategy Science 4, no. 3 (2019): 193-216. 

Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, and Andrea Patacconi. “A theory of the US innovation ecosystem: Evolution and the social value of diversity.” Industrial and Corporate Change 28, no. 2 (2019): 289-307.

2018

Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, and Honggi Lee. “Reversed citations and the localization of knowledge spillovers.” Journal of Economic Geography 18, no. 3 (2018): 495-521.

Arora, Ashish, Sharon Belenzon, and Andrea Patacconi. “The decline of science in corporate R&D.” Strategic Management Journal 39, no. 1 (2018): 3-32.

Hawn, Olga, Aaron K. Chatterji, and Will Mitchell. “Do investors actually value sustainability? New evidence from investor reactions to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).” Strategic Management Journal 39, no. 4 (2018): 949-976.

Gross, Daniel P. “Scale versus scope in the diffusion of new technology: evidence from the farm tractor.” The RAND Journal of Economics 49, no. 2 (2018): 427-452.

2017

Gross, Daniel P. “Performance feedback in competitive product development.” The RAND Journal of Economics 48, no. 2 (2017): 438-466.

2016

Arora, Ashish, Suma Athreye, and Can Huang. “The paradox of openness revisited: Collaborative innovation and patenting by UK innovators.” Research Policy 45, no. 7 (2016): 1352-1361.

Cohen, Wesley M. and Jon Fjeld. “The three legs of a stool: Comment on Richard Nelson, The sciences are different and the differences matter.” Research Policy 45, no. 9 (2016): 1708-1712.

Arora, Ashish, Wesley M. Cohen, and John P. Walsh. “The acquisition and commercialization of invention in American manufacturing: Incidence and impact.” Research Policy 45, no. 6 (2016): 1113-1128.

Chatterji, Aaron K. and Kira R. Fabrizio. “Does the market for ideas influence the rate and direction of innovative activity? Evidence from the medical device industry.” Strategic Management Journal 37, no. 3 (2016): 447-465.

Ridley, David B. Jennifer Dent, and Christopher Egerton-Warburton. “Efficacy of the priority review voucher program.” Jama 315, no. 15 (2016): 1659-1660.

Ridley, David B. and Stephane A. Régnier. “The commercial market for priority review vouchers.” Health Affairs 35, no. 5 (2016): 776-783.

Ridley, David B., Xiaoshu Bei, and Eli B. Liebman. “No shot: US vaccine prices and shortages.” Health Affairs 35, no. 2 (2016): 235-241.

Basu, Anirban, Kirsten Axelsen, David C. Grabowski, David O. Meltzer, Daniel Polsky, David B. Ridley, Daniel Wiederkehr, and Tomas J. Philipson. “Real-world data: policy issues regarding their access and use.” Medical Care 54, no. 12 (2016): 1038-1044.

2015

Arora, Ashish, and Wesley M. Cohen. “Public support for technical advance: The role of firm size.” Industrial and Corporate Change 24, no. 4 (2015): 791-802.

Ridley, David B. “Payments, promotion, and the purple pill.” Health Economics 24, no. 1 (2015): 86-103.

Regnier, Stephane A., and David B. Ridley. “Forecasting market share in the US pharmaceutical market.” Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 14, no. 9 (2015): 594-595.

Belenzon, Sharon, and Mark Schankerman. “Motivation and sorting of human capital in open innovation.” Strategic Management Journal 36, no. 6 (2015): 795-820.

Scroll to Top