The spatial and temporal evolution of R&D Networks

Today it is widely agreed that R&D network arrangements play a crucial role in developing and integrating new knowledge in the innovation process, and thus have a profound impact on innovative competitiveness. Organisations must collaborate more actively and more purposefully with each other in order to cope with increasing market pressures in a globalising world, new technologies and changing patterns of demand. One of the fundamental questions in the theoretical literature is the role of the spatial and temporal dimensions of R&D collaborations, with a specific focus on how collaborative activities modify the diffusion of knowledge in space and time (see, for instance, Autant-Bernard 2007a). However, there have been relatively few empirical studies that investigate the geographical and dynamic dimension of R&D collaborations. The focus of this project is on the spatial and temporal evolution of R&D collaborations in Europe as captured by collaborative research projects of organizations that are funded by the European Framework Programmes (FP) for Research and Technological Development (RTD). The objectives of this project are as follows: First, we will analyse the spatial dimension of R&D collaborations in Europe by identifying spatial collaboration patterns. In this context, we will identify separation effects on the constitution of cross-region R&D collaborations by using different kinds of econometric methods. In particular, we are interested whether geographical space and technological distance between regions are significant determinants of R&D cooperation in Europe. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms of knowledge diffusion, spatial analysis will be accompanied by a detailed structural analysis of R&D collaborations. Second, we will analyse the temporal evolution of European R&D collaboration. In this context, we examine the evolution of collaborative activities over time with respect to their structural and spatial dimension. The proposed research will open up a new line of investigating knowledge diffusion in space and time that uses unique data on R&D collaborations in Europe, recently developed methods of spatial analysis and spatial econometrics, as well as new techniques of empirical network analysis. The results to be produced will have significance by enriching our understanding of the spatial and temporal dimensions of knowledge diffusion in European R&D collaboration networks funded by the EU FPs. Recognising this, a deeper understanding of these processes is urgently needed for future governance of technology and innovation policies in the EU.

Today it is widely acknowledged that R&D network arrangements play a crucial role in developing and integrating new knowledge in the innovation process, and, thus, have a profound impact on innovation-led competitiveness. Organisations must collaborate more actively and more purposefully with each other in order to cope with increasing market pressures in a globalising world, new technological developments and changing patterns of demand. One of the fundamental questions in the theoretical literature is dealing with the role of the spatial and temporal dimensions of R&D collaborations, with a specific focus on how collaborative activities modify the diffusion of knowledge in space and time. However, there have been relatively few empirical studies that investigate the geographical and dynamic dimensions of R&D collaborations. Thus, the focus of this project was on the spatial and temporal evolution of R&D collaborations in Europe as captured by collaborative research projects of organisations, which are funded by the European Framework Programmes (FP) for Research and Technological Development (RTD). The objective was, first, to analyse the spatial dimension of R&D collaborations in Europe by identifying spatial collaboration patterns. In this context, we identified separation effects on the constitution of R&D collaborations by using different kinds of spatial interaction models. In particular, we were interested whether geographical and technological distance between organisations are significant determinants of R&D cooperation in Europe. Second, we aimed to analyse the temporal evolution of European R&D collaboration, laying special emphasis on the evolution of separation effects influencing R&D collaboration patterns over time. We employ panel versions of Eigenvector spatially filtered spatial interaction models to address this question. The main results can be stated as follows: First, the spatial interaction analysis provides striking evidence that geographical factors are important determinants of R&D collaboration patterns across Europe. Geographical distance exerts a negative effect on the collaboration probability between two organisations. This effect seems to be stronger in the industry sector than for universities and research organisations. However, longitudinal analyses reveal that these spatial effects significantly decrease over time. The same is true for negative effects that are related to country borders and language barriers. In this context, we find systematic statistical evidence for progress towards more integration in the European Research Area (ERA) which is an important finding in a European policy context. The FPs indeed helped to increase the probability for large distance collaborations, and, thus, contribute to integrate different national research systems across Europe.