The general impetus to institutionalized collaborative working arrangements was the 1984 enactment of the National Cooperative Research and Development Act, which was expanded in scope by the Production Amendments of 1993 and 2004. This national legislation and its subsequent modification signaled fundamental chance in traditional Justice Department antitrust philosophy. The basic legislation, as supplemented by administrative rulings, encouraged firms to develop collaborative initiatives in an effort to increase the global competitiveness of U.S.-based firms. Widespread realization that cooperation is both permissible and encouraged served to stimulate formation of supply chain arrangements.