Using original survey data on Japanese small businesses, this paper analyses the impact of the organizational and contractual
characteristics of cooperative R&D, such as membership structure, partner relationship, external support, and rules of cost and
outcome sharing, on the probability of the technological and commercial success of the project. Empirical results suggest that
cooperative R&D is more successful, the higher the quality and quantity of external resources available through cooperation, and
the lower the transaction and coordination costs required for such arrangements. Moreover, we found that the determinants of
technological and commercial success differ considerably.