Sleeping with competitors: the impact of NPD phases on stock market reactions to horizontal collaboration

Firms are increasingly collaborating with their competitors for new product development (NPD), yet the literature is almost silent on stock market reactions to these horizontal collaborations. Given the different skills and activities needed in each NPD phase, we analyze the differential stock market reactions to horizontal collaborations in the initiation, development, and commercialization phases of NPD. Analyses of a unique and comprehensive dataset with 831 NPD announcements of horizontal collaborations over 12 years reveal that, on average, the stock market reacts favorably to NPD-related horizontal collaboration in the initiation phase, but unfavorably in the development and commercialization phases. Further, these effects are asymmetrically moderated by the innovativeness of the new product and the collaborating competitor’s relative market and technological powers. Overall, our results highlight that failing to examine the specific NPD phase leads to an incomplete understanding of stock market reactions to horizontal collaboration for NPD. We offer theoretical and managerial implications regarding horizontal collaboration for each NPD phase, along with the relevant NPD project and competitor contingencies.