In the context of the knowledge economy where competition advantage is largely dependent on innovation and where external cooperation often leads to innovation at reduced development expenditures, there is no doubting the necessity of engaging in collaborative innovation. In an emerging economy collaborative innovation is more important. Thus, this paper examines the difference in innovative pofirmance between collaborative innovation and independent innovation in China and India. The empirical results are consistent with the hypotheses we propose, based on analysis of a patent and citation dataset comprised of all patents granted by the US Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) to inventors residing in India and China from 1980–2009. The study shows that the innovative performance of collaborative innovation is better than that of independent innovation whether in China or India. In addition, the partners of collaborative innovation also influence its innovative performance. This paper finds that when collaborating with countries with advanced technologies, the quality of collaborative innovation will be higher and result in better innovative performance.
