Prof. Dr. Robin Cowan


Professorial Fellow

Research group(s):
1. Economics of Knowledge and Innovation

Robin Cowan is Professor of the Economics of Technical Change at the  University of Maastricht, and Professor of Management at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Strasbourg.  He began his official affiliation with  UNU-MERIT in 1997 as a Professorial Fellow.  He is currently the Director of the PhD programme in Econonics, Innovation and Governance for Development and UNU-MERIT. He studied at Queen's  University in Canada and at Stanford University where he received a PhD in  economics and an MA in philosophy.  Robin Cowan was Assistant Professor of  Economics at the University of Western Ontario until 1998.  His current  research includes several topics: the changing economics of knowledge;  social networks and innovation; network structure and network performance; universities and science in emerging economies; interacting agents models.  In  the past he has done consulting research for the OECD on the economics of  standards, the European Commission on innovation policy, and the National  Renewable Energy Laboratory on technological lock-in and renewable energy  technologies. In 2004 he won one of 15 prestigious Chaires d'Excellence of the Ministry of research and Education in France, and in 2013 was made a Senior Member of the Institut Universitaire de France. 




Selected publications by Robin Cowan


Articles (journal, professional, popular)
Rossello, Giulia, Robin Cowan & Jacques Mairesse, 2023, Ph.D. publication productivity: the role of gender and race in supervision in South Africa, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Online, DOI: 10.1007/s11123-023-00681-4, More information
Vaez-Alaei, Maliheh, Ioana Deniaud, François Marmier, Didier Gourc & Robin Cowan, 2021, A partner selection framework for strategic alliances based on project complexity and partner’s past experience, Enterprise Information Systems, Online, DOI: 10.1080/17517575.2021.1889038, More information
Innocenti, Stefania & Robin Cowan, 2019, Self-efficacy beliefs and Imitation: a two armed bandit experiment, European Economic Review, 113: 156-172, DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2018.12.009, More information
Müller, M., Robin Cowan & Helena Barnard, 2018, On the value of foreign PhDs in the developing world: Training versus selection effects in the case of South Africa, Research Policy, 47(5): 886-900, DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2018.02.013, More information
Cowan, Robin & Giulia Rossello, 2018, Emergent structures in faculty hiring networks, and the effects of mobility on academic performance, Scientometrics, 117(1): 527-562, DOI: 10.1007/s11192-018-2858-8, More information
Kamath, Anant & Robin Cowan, 2015, Social cohesion and knowledge diffusion: understanding the embeddedness–homophily association, Socio-Economic Review, 13(4): 723-746, DOI: 10.1093/ser/mwu024., More information
Cowan, Robin, C. Autant-Bernard & N. Massard, 2014, Editors’ introduction to spatial knowledge networks: structure, driving forces and innovative performances, Annals of Regional Science, 53: 315-323, DOI: 10.1007/s00168-014-0642-0, More information
Fauchart, E. & Robin Cowan, 2014, Weak links and the management of reputational interdependencies, Strategic Management Journal, 35(4): 532-549, DOI: 10.1002/smj.2122, More information
Baum, Joel, Robin Cowan & Nicolas Jonard, 2014, Does evidence of network effects on firm performance in pooled cross-section support prescriptions for network strategy?, Strategic Management Journal, 35(5): 652-667, DOI: 10.1002/smj.2133, More information
Babutsidze, Zakaria & Robin Cowan, 2014, Showing or telling? Local interaction and organization of behavior, Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, 9(2): 151-181, DOI: 10.1007/s11403-013-0117-x, More information
Cowan, Robin & Natalia Zinovyeva, 2013, University Effects on Regional Innovation, Research Policy, 42(3): 788-800, DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.10.001, More information
Cowan, Robin, Helena Barnard & Moritz Müller, 2012, Global excellence at the expense of local diffusion, or a bridge between two worlds? Research in science and technology in the developing world, Research Policy, 41: 756-769, DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2011.12.002, More information
Barnard, Helena, Robin Cowan & Moritz Müller, 2012, Global excellence at the expense of local relevance, or a bridge between two worlds? Research in science and technology in the developing world, Research Policy, 41(4): 756-769
Weehuizen, Rifka, Bulat Sanditov & Robin Cowan, 2011, Productivity effects of innovation, stress and social relations, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 79(3): 165-182, DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.01.028, More information
Baum, Joel, Robin Cowan & Nicolas Jonard, 2010, Network-independent partner selection and the evolution of innovation networks, Management Science, 56(2094-2110), DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1100.1229, More information
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2009, Knowledge Portfolios and the Organization of Innovation Networks, Academy of Management Review, 34: 320-342
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2007, Structural Holes, Innovation and the Distribution of Ideas, Journal of Economics of Interaction and Co-ordination, 2(2): 93-, DOI: 10.1007/s11403-007-0024-0
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2007, Structural Holes, Innovation and the Distribution of Ideas vol (2), pp 93-101, Journal of Economics of Interaction and Co-ordination, DOI:, DOI: 10.1007/s11403-007-0024-0
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2007, Merit, approbation and the evolution of social structure, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 64: 295-315
Cowan, Robin, 2007, Network architecture, barter exchange and the diffusion of ideas, International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 6(2): 165-178
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2007, Bilateral Collaboration and the Emergence of Networks, Management Science, 53(7): 1051-1067
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2006, Evolving Networks of Inventors, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 16(1-2): 155-174
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2006, Evolving Networks of Inventors, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 16(1-2): 155-174
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2006, Network architecture,barter exchange and the diffusion of ideas, International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2005, Network Architecture, Barter Exchange and the Diffusion of Ideas, International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology, 5(1)
Cowan, Robin, William Cowan & Peter Swann, 2004, Waves in Consumption with Interdependence among Consumers, Canadian Journal of Economics-Revue Canadienne d'Economique, 37(1): 149-177
Harison, Elad & Robin Cowan, 2004, On Substitution of Intellectual Property and Free Disclosure in Software Platforms: An Ex-Ante Analysis of R&D Strategies, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 13(5): 477-487
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2004, Network Structure and the Diffusion of Knowledge, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 28(8): 1557-1575
Cowan, Robin & Elad Harison, 2004, On Substitution of Intellectual Property and Free Disclosure: An Analysis of R&D Strategies In Software Technologies, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 13(5): 477-487
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Müge Ozman, 2004, Knowledge Dynamics in a Network Industry, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 71(5): 469-484
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2003, The Dynamics of Collective Invention, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 52(4): 513-532
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2003, La Dynamique Conjointe de la Connaissance et des Reseaux, Revue d'Economie Industrielle, 103: 253-274
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2002, The Joint Dynamics of Networks and Knowledge (Lecture Notes), Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, 521: 155-174
Cowan, Robin, 2002, On the Number of Firms and the Amount of R&D, Economics Bulletin, 12(6): 1-9
Cowan, Robin, 2001, 'Review of The Organization of Economic Innovation in Europe' by Alfonso Gambardella and Franco Malerba (Eds.), Research Policy, 30(7): 1162-1164
Cowan, Robin, 2000, 'Review of Computer Simulations in Science and Technology Studies' by P. Ahreweiler and N. Gilbert. (eds.), Research Policy, 29(9): 1193-1195
Cowan, Robin & Dominique Foray, 1997, The economics of codification and the diffusion of knowledge, Industrial and Corporate Change, 6(3): 595-622
Cowan, Robin, William Cowan & Peter Swann, 1997, A model of demand with interactions among consumers, International Journal of Industrial Organization, 15(6): 711-732
Cowan, Robin & M.J. Rizzo, 1996, The genetic?causal tradition and modern economic theory, Kyklos, 49(3): 273-317
Cowan, Robin & Staffan Hultén, 1996, Escaping lock-in: The case of the electric vehicle, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 53(1): 61-80
Cowan, Robin & Philip Gunby, 1996, Sprayed to death: Path dependence, lock?in and pest control strategies, Economic Journal, 106: 521-42
Cowan, Robin, 1990, 'Review of The Demise of Nuclear Energy? Lessons for Democratic Control of Technology' by Joseph G. Morone and Edward J. Woodhouse, Journal of Economic History, 50: 234-236
Cowan, Robin, 1989, 'Review of The Suppression of the Automobile: Skulduggery at the Crossroads' by David S. Beasley, Journal of Economic Literature, 27: 1681-1684


Book chapters
Cowan, Robin, Bulat Sanditov & Nicolas Jonard, 2013, Fits and misfits: Technological matching and R & D networks , in: Thierry Burger-Helmchen (eds), The Economics of Creativity: Ideas, Firms and Markets, Taylor & Francis, UK, DOI: 10.4324/9780203073414, More information
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Bulat Sanditov, 2013, Technological matching and R&D networks, in: Thierry Burger-Helmchen (ed.), The Economics of Creativity Ideas, Firms and Market, Routledge, UK
Cowan, Robin, William Cowan & Patrick Llerena, 2009, Running the Marathon, in: Maureen McKelvey & Magnus Holmén, (eds.), European Universities Learning to Compete: From Social Institution to Knowledge Business, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, More information
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2008, If the Alliance Fits... : Innovation and Network Dynamics, in: J.A.C. Baum and T.J Rowley (eds.), Network Strategy: Advances in Strategic Management, JAI/Elsevier, Oxford UK
Cowan, Robin & M.J. Rizzo, 2006, The Genetic-Causal Tradition and Modern Economic Theory, in: Peter J. Boettke and Peter T. Leeson (eds.), The Legacy of Ludwig von Mises, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Vol 1
Cowan, Robin, 2006, Network models of innovation and knowledge diffusion, in: S Breschi & F Malerba (Eds.), Clusters, Networks and Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2006, Network formation, innovation and IT use, in: L Soete & B ter Weel (Eds.), The Economics of the Digital Society, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Cowan, Robin, E. Fauchart, Dominique Foray & Philip Gunby, 2006, Learning from Disaster, in: A. Pyka and H. Hanusch (eds.), Applied Evolutionary Economics and the Knowledge-Based Economy, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2005, Network Formation, Innovation and IT Use, in: LLG Soete & B ter Weel (Eds.), The Economics of the Digital Society, Edward Elgar, Aldershot
Cowan, Robin, 2004, Economic Overview of Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Scientific and Technical Information, in: J.M. Esanu & P.F. Uhlir (Eds.), Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science, National Academic Press, Washington D.C.
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2004, On the Creation of Networks and Knowledge, in: M Gallegati, A.P. Kirman & M. Marsili (Eds.), The complex Dynamics of Economic Interaction: Essays in Economics and Econophysics, Springer, Berlin
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2004, Knowledge Creation and Flows in Science, in: D Fornahl, C Zellner & D Audretsch (Eds.), The Role of Labor Mobility and Informal Networks for Knowledge Transfer, Springer, Berlin
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2003, The Workings of Scientific Communities, in: Geuna, A, Salter, A & Steinmueller, E (Eds.), Science and Innovation. Rethinking the rationales for funding and governance, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2003, The Joint Dynamcis of Networks and Knowledge, in: Cowan, R & Jonard, N, eds. (Ed.), Heterogeneous agents, Interaction and Economic Performance, Springer, Heidelberg
Cowan, Robin & Staffan Hultén, 2003, The Automobile Industry and Technology, in: Mokyr, J (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopaedia of Economic History, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Cowan, Robin, 2003, Technology of Pest Control, in: Mokyr, J (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopaedia of Economic History, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Cowan, Robin, 2003, Jay Gould, in: Mokyr, J (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopaedia of Economic History, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2002, Preface, in: Robin Cowan, & Nicolas Jonard, (Eds.), Heterogenous Agents and Interactions and Economic Performance in Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Springer, Berlin
Cowan, Robin & René Wintjes, 2001, Criação da mudança tecnológica localizada: exemplos de intervenção pública, in: C. Antonelli & J. Ferrão, Comunicação Conhecimento Colectivo e Inovação; As vantagens da aglomeração geográfica, Imprensa de Ciencias Sociais, Lisboa
Cowan, Robin & Dominique Foray, 1996, The changing economics of technological learning: Implications for the distribution of innovative capabilities in Europe, in: S. Metcalfe and X. Vence Deza (eds.), The European Periphery Facing the New Century, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht


Books (monograph or edited volume)
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2002, Heterogenous Agents and Interactions and Economic Performance. Lecture Notes in Economicsand Mathematical Systems, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 339 pp, More information
Cowan, Robin & Staffan Hultén, 2000, Electric Vehicles: Socio-economic Prospects and Technological Challenges:, Ashgate Press, Aldershot, More information


UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Gonzalez Amador, Michelle, Robin Cowan & Eleonora Nillesen, 2022, Peer networks and malleability of educational aspirations, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2022-028
Cowan, Robin, Mortiz Müller, Alan Kirman & Helena Barnard, 2021, Overcoming a legacy of racial discrimination: Competing policy goals in South African academia, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2021-040
Konda, Bruhan, Mario Gonzalez Sauri, Robin Cowan, Yashodha Yashodha & Prakashan Chellattan Veettill, 2021, Social networks and agricultural performance: A multiplex analysis of interactions among Indian rice farmers, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2021-030
Rossello, Giulia, Robin Cowan & Jacques Mairesse, 2020, Ph.D. research output in STEM: the role of gender and race in supervision, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2020-021
Rossello, Giulia & Robin Cowan, 2019, Far from random? The role of homophily in student supervision, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2019-024
Cowan, Robin & Giulia Rossello, 2017, Emergent structures in faculty hiring networks, and the effects of mobility on academic performance, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2017-046
Rivera Leon, Lorena, Jacques Mairesse & Robin Cowan, 2016, An econometric investigation of the productivity gender gap in Mexican research, and a simulation study of the effects on scientific performance of policy scenarios to promote gender equality, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2016-072
Innocenti, Stefania & Robin Cowan, 2016, Mimetic behaviour and institutional persistence: A two-armed bandit experiment, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2016-028
Barnard, Helena, Robin Cowan, Alan Kirman & Moritz Müller, 2016, Including excluded groups: The slow racial transformation of the South African university system, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2016-024
Barnard, Helena, Robin Cowan & Moritz Müller, 2016, On the value of foreign PhDs in the developing world: Training versus selection effects, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2016-006
Cowan, Robin & Anant Kamath, 2013, Interactive knowledge exchanges under complex social relations: A simulation model, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2013-004
Kamath, Anant & Robin Cowan, 2012, Community cohesion and inherited networks - A network study of two handloom clusters in Kerala, India, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2012-073
Baum, Joel, Robin Cowan & Nicolas Jonard, 2012, Prescriptions for network strategy: Does evidence of network effects in cross-section support them?, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2012-044
Cowan, Robin & Anant Kamath, 2012, Informal knowledge exchanges under complex social relations: A network study of handloom clusters in Kerala, India, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2012-031
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Rifka Weehuizen, 2012, The co-evolution of organizational performance and emotional contagion, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2012-012
Barnard, Helena, Robin Cowan & Moritz Müller, 2010, Global excellence at the expense of local relevance, or a bridge between two worlds? Research in science and technology in the developing world, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2010-051
Babutsidze, Zakaria & Robin Cowan, 2009, Inertia, Interaction and Clustering in Demand, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2009-045
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Bulat Sanditov, 2009, Fits and Misfits: Technological Matching and R&D Networks, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2009-042
Baum, Joel, Robin Cowan & Nicolas Jonard, 2009, Network-independent partner selection and the evolution of innovation networks, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2009-022
Babutsidze, Zakaria & Robin Cowan, 2008, Habit Formation, Information Exchange and the Social Geography of Demand, A new version of this paper has been published as "Inertia, Interaction and Clustering in Demand," UNU-MERIT working paper 2009-045, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2008-047
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2008, If the Alliance Fits . . . : Innovation and Network Dynamics, This paper will appear in J.A.C. Baum and T.J Rowley (eds.), Network Strategy: Advances in Strategic Management, 25. Oxford UK: JAI/Elsevier, 2008. This paper also circulates as a paper in the working paper series of BETA, Université Louis Pasteur, Stras, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2008-022
Weehuizen, Rifka, Bulat Sanditov & Robin Cowan, 2008, Productivity effects of innovation, stress and social relations, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2008-015
Cowan, William, Robin Cowan & Patrick Llerena, 2008, Running The Marathon, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2008-014
Cowan, Robin & Natalia Zinovyeva, 2007, Short-term effects of new universities on regional innovation , UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2007-037
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2006, Structural Holes, Innovation and the Distribution of Ideas , UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2006-039


External working papers
Ito, Rodrigo, Diego Chavarro, Tommaso Ciarli, Robin Cowan & Fabiana Visentin, 2024, Connecting the Dots: The Role of Internationally Mobile Scientists in Linking Nonmobile Scientists With Foreign Scientists, IDB Working Paper Series 1544, More information
Babutsidze, Zakaria & Robin Cowan, 2007, Habit Formation, Information Exchange and Geography of Demand, Manuscript, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Cowan, Robin, E. Fauchart, Dominique Foray & Philip Gunby, 2000, Technological accidents: Learning from disaster, IMRI Working paper, 00/08, Université Dauphine
Cowan, Robin, Dominique Foray & Pierre Mohnen, 1998, The Relationship between military R&D and the civilian innovation system, Working paper commissioned by CRAD, Department of National Defense, Canada, circulated as IMRI, Université Dauphine, Paris, WP98/06


Research memoranda
Cowan, Robin, 2005, Universities and the Knowledge Economy, MERIT Research Memoranda 2005-027
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2005, Merit, Approbation and the Evolution of Social Structure, MERIT Research Memoranda 2005-026
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2004, Evolving Networks of Inventors, MERIT Research Memoranda 2004-018
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2004, Networks as Emergent Structures from Bilateral Collaboration, MERIT Research Memoranda 2004-017
Cowan, Robin, 2004, Network models of innovation and knowledge diffusion, MERIT Research Memoranda 2004-016
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2004, Information Technology and the Dynamics of Joint Innovation, MERIT Research Memoranda 2004-014
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Jean-Benoit Zimmermann, 2004, On the creation of networks and knowledge, Published in: In M Gallegati, A.P. Kirman & M. Marsili (Eds.), The complex Dynamics of Economic Interaction: Essays in Economics and Econophysics (pp. 337-354) berlin: Springer., MERIT Research Memoranda 2004-010
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2003, Social Sorting, MERIT Research Memoranda 2003-032
Cowan, Robin, Nicolas Jonard & Müge Ozman, 2003, Knowledge Dynamics in a Network Industry, Published in: Technological Forecasting and Social Change 71 (5), 469-484. (2004), MERIT Research Memoranda 2003-003
Sanditov, Bulat, Robin Cowan & Clemens Kool, 2002, Mutual Illusions and Financing New Technologies: Two-Sided Informational Cascades (revised version Aug 11, 2003), MERIT Research Memoranda 2002-006
Cowan, Robin, 2001, On The Variance of Market Innovation with the Number of Firms, MERIT Research Memoranda 2001-034
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2001, The Workings of Scientific Communities, MERIT Research Memoranda 2001-031
Cowan, Robin & Elad Harison, 2001, Protecting the digital endeavour: prospects for intellectual property rights in the information society , MERIT Research Memoranda 2001-028
Cowan, Robin & Elad Harison, 2001, Intellectual property rights in a knowledge-based economy, Paper drawn from a report commissioned by AWT (Adviesraad voor het Wetenschaps- en Technologiebeleid) published as AWT Background Study No. 21 (June, 2001), MERIT Research Memoranda 2001-027
Cowan, Robin, Luc Soete & Oxana Chervonnaya, 2001, Knowledge Transfer and the Services Sector in the Context of the New Economy, MERIT Research Memoranda 2001-021
Cowan, Robin, 2001, Expert Systems: Aspects of and Limitations to the Codifiability of Knowledge, MERIT Research Memoranda 2001-005
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 2000, The Dynamics of Collective Invention, MERIT Research Memoranda 2000-018
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard, 1999, Network Structure and the Diffusion of Knowledge, Published in Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 28 (8), 1557-1575, 2004, MERIT Research Memoranda 1999-028
Cowan, Robin, Paul A. David & Dominique Foray, 1999, The Explicit Economics of Knowledge Codification and Tacitness, MERIT Research Memoranda 1999-027
Cowan, Robin & William Cowan, 1998, Technological Standardization with and without Borders in an Interacting Agents Model, MERIT Research Memoranda 1998-018
Cowan, Robin, William Cowan & Peter Swann, 1998, Waves in Consumption with Interdependence among Consumers, MERIT Research Memoranda 1998-011
Cowan, Robin & Dominique Foray, 1997, Counterfactual History and Evolutionary Economics, MERIT Research Memoranda 1997-012
Cowan, Robin & Dominique Foray, 1997, The economics of codification and the diffusion of knowledge, MERIT Research Memoranda 1997-005


Research reports
Overwalle, G. van, B. Bedsted, Robin Cowan, M. Elsmore, F. Lissoni, P. Lotz, J. Schovsbo & J. van der Eijk, 2007, Policy options for the improvement of the European patent system, Denmark: STOA, 71 p
Cowan, Robin & Gert van de Paal, 2000, European innovation policy in the knowledge-based economy, Brussels, European Commission Directorate General, DG Enterprise
Cowan, Robin & René Wintjes, 1999, Analysis of Cluster Policy Issues and Policy Recommendations, Workpackage 4 and 5, TSER-INLOCO, Industrial Districts and Localized Technological Knowledge”, DG XII, contractnr: SOE1-CT97-1058
Cowan, Robin, Dominique Foray & Pierre Mohnen, 1998, The Relationship between Military R&D and the Civilian Innovation System, report to CARD, Department of National Defence, Jan. 1998, (IMRI, Université Paris-Dauphine working paper 98/06)


Conference contributions
Cowan, Robin & Helena Barnard, 2017, On the social value of a foreign PhD: Spillovers in knowledge and networks, Workshop on Academic Science in South Africa” CREST and STIAS, Stellenbosch, South Africa, April 2016
Cowan, Robin & Lorena Rivera Leon, 2017, 3. Formation and persistence of research communities in Middle Income Countries: the case of South Africa, Workshop on Academic Science in South Africa” CREST and STIAS, Stellenbosch, South Africa, April 2016
Barnard, Helena, Robin Cowan & Mortiz Müller, 2016, Transformation of the SA academic science system, “Workshop on Academic Science in South Africa” CREST and STIAS, Stellenbosch, South Africa, April 2016
Harison, Elad & Robin Cowan, 2002, On Substitutional of Intellectual Property and Free Disclosure in Software Platforms: An Ex-Ante Analysis of R&D Strategies, Copenhagen, DRUID Summer Conference
Cowan, Robin & Elad Harison, 2002, Revealing Obscure Sources: The Paradoxical Evolutionof Software Appropriation Regimes, Aalborg, Druid Winter Conference
Cowan, Robin & Elad Harison, 2002, Mobilizing Digital Sounds: Appropriation and Dispute of Music Recordings, Madrid, Conference of the Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues


Other (editorship, media appearance, keynote, etc.)
Cowan, Robin, 2017, Networks and Innovation: Recent developments, Keynote Address: International Conference: “What’s new in the economics of innovation? Theory, empirics and public policy”, Keynote address on the issue of recent developments in network analysis and innovation
Baum, Joel, Robin Cowan & Nicolas Jonard, 2009, Network-independent Partner Selection and the Evolution of Innovation Networks, George Solomon (ed.), Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. CD-ROM. August. Best Paper Award, Organization and Management Theory Division, Academy of Management
Cowan, Robin & Nicolas Jonard (eds.), 2003, Heterogeneous Agents, Interactions and Economic Performance, vol. 521 Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Springer
Schinkel, M. P., Robin Cowan, P. J. J. Herings & Pierre Mohnen, 2002, The Development of analytical tools for assessing market dynamics in the knowledge based economy, Maastricht: MERIT
Cowan, Robin, 2001, Book review of 'The Organization of Economic Innovation in Europe' by Alfonso Gambardella and Franco Malerba (eds.), Research Policy, 30 (7), 1162-1164
Cowan, Robin, 2000, Book review of 'Computer Simulations in Science and Technology Studies' by P. Ahrweiler and N. Gilbert (eds.), Research Policy, 29


UNU-MERIT