External funding and emergent technology inputs

The research and development (R&D) process is critical to a firm’s competitive advantage and often requires external funding. Yet, we know little about how different types of investors respond to the cash needs of established R&D intensive firms nor about how external financial analysts influence those decisions. We address these gaps by examining how a firm’s patenting activity affects its ability to raise cash. We distinguish the motivations of two investor groups: open-market and alliance partners. We focus on how patents based on emergent technologies impact two types of investors and their willingness to fund the R&D process. We develop theory and test our hypotheses using data from publicly traded biopharmaceutical firms by drawing upon knowledge-based view, alliance, and investment theories. We find evidence that patents built upon emergent technologies are viewed differently by the two types of investors. We find open market investors were less likely to invest in emergent technologies and invested less when they did. Conversely, alliance partner investors would be more appreciative of the opportunities new technology inputs present, thus, more likely to invest in firms using emergent technologies and invest more.