Bandwagon pressures and interfirm alliances in the global pharmaceutical industry

This study examines the applicability of a bandwagon explanation for interfirm alliances in the global pharmaceutical industry. A sample of alliances undertaken by 43 firms, with headquarters in the United States, Europe, and Japan, in the period 1975 to 1989, was analyzed. Bandwagon pressures, measured by the proportion of other firms in one's peer group undertaking alliances and their average number of alliances, was found to influence both the probability that a firm will undertake at least one alliance and the number of alliances if undertakes.