Global market integration, national security salience, and new product development alliances in aircraft manufacturing
Journal
Research Policy
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2026-11
Author(s)
Abstract
We investigate how the global market integration of a firm's home country and the security salience of specific projects shape firms' propensity to form alliances during new product development. The Resource-Based View suggests that the development of technologically complex products often requires unique resources that may be unavailable domestically, driving firms to seek international partnerships. However, we propose that, in high-technology industries where national interests are at stake, alliances in the product development phase face unique constraints. They involve partner firms committing non-redeployable resources to a specific, well-defined product and to new assets and processes to manufacture it. Moreover, because this phase determines which specific features become available for commercial or military deployment, these alliances attract heightened scrutiny from governments, especially in security-sensitive projects. We thus propose that the well-established relationship between product complexity and alliance formation is negatively moderated by two major geopolitical factors: (i) the global market integration of the firm's home country and (ii) the national security salience of the project. Both conditions enable or enhance alternative pathways to resource access that reduce dependence on alliances. Using data on new aircraft development projects, we find support for our predictions. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how home-country global market integration and project national security salience shape firms' innovation strategies by affecting alliance formation decisions during product development.
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
55
Number
9
Subject(s)
Division(s)