Systemic aspects of R&D policy subsidies for R&D collaborations and their effects on private R&D

This paper analyses how context- and time-dependent factors determine the impact of R&D subsidies on firm behaviour with respect to private R&D expenditures. Based on German R&D survey data, we combine propensity score matching with a difference-in-difference estimator in order to measure the causal influence of public direct R&D project funding on firm behaviour. Our results indicate that (i) repeated participation in R&D projects on average leads to a higher increase in R&D expenditures than once-off funding; (ii) the aggregate effect of R&D funding on R&D expenditures of business firms is somewhat higher for business–business collaboration projects than for science–business collaboration projects; (iii) R&D expenditures of business firms that cooperate with science show a higher share of external R&D spending. Results of one particular cluster programme indicate that at least the short-term development of R&D does not so much depend on which programme direct R&D project funding is applied to.     

Technology strategies,innovation without R&D

The key to the success of Italian industrial districts lies in their flexibility and innovation. Yet except for a few rare cases, investments in R&D have been very limited. The paper explores this apparent conundrum. Even though there are alternative methods to introduce innovations (for example, the supply of machinery), it still remains difficult, from a traditional point of view, to adequately explain the widespread creation of original knowledge that is no doubt present in these enclaves, and that is able to bring about effective product and process innovation in order to maintain competitiveness. By using evolutionary theories and numerous empirical examples, the paper outlines the mechanisms for generating knowledge, the learning patterns and the specialisation processes that appear to characterise the most dynamic Italian districts.     

Business Group Affiliation and R&D

This paper analyzes whether belonging to a business group enhances firms' propensity for and intensity of R&D based on the greater opportunities to finance and co-ordinate R&D strategies and internalize knowledge spillovers. Compared with the existing literature, this paper has the following novelties: (a) it examines how the organization and diversification of business groups influence the R&D investment of affiliated firms; (b) it analyzes the role of R&D spillovers among affiliated firms; and (c) it distinguishes between propensity for and intensity of R&D. We find that less diversified groups are more likely to centralize R&D, while in more diversified groups firms are more likely to be autonomous. We find that controlled companies are more likely to benefit from knowledge spillovers than firms at the head of the group. Finally, we find that R&D autonomy is significantly associated with both a higher propensity for and intensity of R&D in controlled companies.     

Energy R&D: investment challenge

Despite dependence on foreign oil that keeps countries like the US embroiled in the Middle East, and amid fears of global warming, research and development (R&D) funding for energy technologies has declined significantly during the last two decades throughout the industrial world. Investments in energy technology R&D, and in associated human and institutional capacity, are fundamental to our ability to respond to changing economic, energy, and environmental needs.Although there has been a recent wave of interest in R&D policy in general, and energy R&D in particular, this has not been translated into the needed increases in funding. In most OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries, government energy technology R&D budgets have been declining significantly in real terms since the early 1980s. The trends are particularly troubling given the pressing need to develop and utilize the clean energy and low carbon fossil-fuel energy technologies that will be critical in meeting our future energy needs, while addressing the local and global environmental problems we are facing.     

Hot-bed of fuel cell R&D

Late in 2001, the University of Connecticut unveiled a center of excellence devoted to fuel cell science and technology, the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center (CGFCC). The product of a unique collaboration between the State of Connecticut, local industry, and the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering, the Center supports cutting-edge research, design and commercial development, education, and transfer of fuel cell technology. Though nestled near the University’s main campus in pastoral Storrs, the CGFCC is no rustic, sleepy laboratory. The Center is rapidly emerging as a recognized hub, gaining research momentum in the red-hot fuel cell arena. Analysts project the US fuel cell market will climb dramatically in coming years, $10-50 billion by 2010, with the greatest growth potential in the portable/mobile markets. The industry received a strong boost early in 2002 when President Bush voiced his budget support for integration of hydrogen fuel cells in the US auto industry.Anticipating the approaching trend, the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering began negotiating in 2000 with Connecticut companies and government/private sector venture capitalists to establish a state-of-the-art center devoted to fuel cell science and technology. The Center was born in December 2001 as a partnership between the School of Engineering, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (the state’s renewable energy investment fund), and local industry.     

R&D,worker training and innovation: firm-level evidence

Firms that invest in R&D and also in worker training are expected to be successful innovators; yet, the extent to which these investments are mutually reinforcing has not been established. This paper addresses that question by analysing the decision to innovate and the number of innovations introduced. Our findings, which are based on a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, confirm that R&D is more effective when firms also invest in worker training. Moreover, for some smaller firms, investing in workers’ skills (via training programs) boosts innovation even in absence of R&D. Meanwhile, on-the-job training in large firms might serve mainly to reinforce the effects of R&D. Regarding the number of innovations, our result signals that a higher absorptive capacity via higher ability of qualified workers (through schooling or training) leads to improved innovation performance.     

Correction to: How R&D partner diversity influences innovation performance: an empirical study in the nano-biopharmaceutical field

Scientometrics - In the original publication of the article, the Acknowledgements section was omitted. The Acknowledgements section is given in this correction.     

Public R&D as a Standard-Setting Device

We propose a simple two-firm model with complementarities and imperfect knowledge about the optimal technology. Firms receive two signals about the technology, a public and a private one. We show that with complementarities public signals can serve as a coordination device between firms, even if the private signal is more precise. Our results point to an important function of standard-setting organizations and public R&D: providing a focal point for firms that might not coordinate otherwise.