European Collaboration in Research and Development: Business Strategy and Public Policy

The last twenty years have witnessed a tremendous increase in industrial collaboration in research and development (R&D) both in Europe and the world at large. Firms have increasingly opted for collaboration in an effort to deal with the uncertainties that stem from rising research costs, rapid technological change and the development of a network economy. Governments have been quick to support this trend in order to promote competitiveness and, in the European context, to foster cohesion. The contributions collected in this volume focus explicitly on cooperative R&D in Europe. The first part of the book offers empirical evidence on the extent, scope and direction of this collaboration and explores the motives and problems of the participating firms, as well as the perceived benefits they have enjoyed. The second part deals with the difficult policy issues that diverse national R&D regimes create for successful cooperative research and international convergence. The extensive survey results of European firms allow the authors to compare collaborative research policies in various EU countries and contrast the policy design that has emerged in the EU with that of the USA. This book offers the most comprehensive account of collaborative industrial research in Europe and explores both the business strategies that have motivated it and the public policies that have promoted it. Academics, graduate students, government agencies and European institutions involved in science and technology policy and R&D management will find this volume to be invaluable. It will also be of great practical use to companies interested in forming strategic technical alliances.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Foreword by Franco Malerba 1. General Introduction Part I: Collaboration in Research and Development: Theory and Practice 2. Research Joint Ventures: A Survey of the Theoretical Literature 3. Subsidized Research Joint Ventures in Europe 4. RJV Formation by European Firms: Strategic Considerations 5. R&D Cooperation: A Case Study Analysis on Subsidised European Projects 6. Determinants of RJV Formation – RJV Returns 7. RJVs in Europe: Trends, Performance, Impacts Part II: Policy 8. European Union Science and Technology Policy, Research Joint Venture Collaboration and Competition Policy 9. United Kingdom Public Policies and Collaboration in Research and Development 10. Collaborative Research and Technology Policy in France 11. Italian Policy Regarding Cooperative R&D 12. Science and Technology Policy in Spain: 1980–2000 13. US Policy Towards Research Joint Ventures 14. Policies for Cooperative R&D 15. Policy Implications Index

About the Author :
Edited by Yannis Caloghirou, Associate Professor of Economics of Technology and Industrial Strategy, Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics, National Technical University of Athens, Greece, Nicholas S. Vonortas, Professor, Center for International Science and Technology Policy & Department of Economics, The George Washington University, US and The late Stavros Ioannides, formerly Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Political Science and History, Panteion University, Athens, Greece

Review :
"'[This book] addresses the relevant topic of collaborations in research and development at two complementary levels. First, it focuses on their determinants, performance and impact through a survey of more than 500 companies in seven European countries and through case studies on several research joint ventures. Second, it examines public policy in support of R&D cooperation in various European countries and by doing that it emphasizes similarities and differences. Thus, the book represents a very rich and insightful analysis of the characteristics of collaborations in research. The conclusion that one can draw from this work is that research collaborations are now a pervasive and diffused way to get access to knowledge and generate innovation, but that firms differ widely in the motivations for collaborations and the benefits gained, and governments follow a wide variety of policies in this respect... No doubt this book greatly advances our understanding about the characteristics and policy aspects of collaborations in R&D.' - From the foreword by Franco Malerba"