Does technology affect network structure? - A quantitative analysis of collaborative research projects in two specific EU programmes
Thomas Roediger-Schluga & Bernhard Dachs
#2006-041
The promotion of collaborative R&D through Framework Programmes is a top
priority of European RTD policy. However, despite the considerable sums
involved, surprisingly little is known about the structure of the
resulting research networks. Arguing that the underlying technological
regime critically affects the structure of collaborative R&D, this
article examines the structure and topology of collaborative research
networks in the telecommunications and the agro-industrial industry in
two specific programmes of the 4th EU Framework Programme. We find
systematic differences which we attribute to differences in the
underlying knowledge base, the research trajectories pursued in
EU-funded R&D and the organisation of knowledge production in the two
industries. As expected on the basis of prior research, we show that
collaborative research projects involve a larger number of partners and
require greater funding in the telecommunications industry, and that
actors from science are positioned more prominently in the
agro-industrial collaborative R&D network. Contrary to expectations, we
find fewer and less intense interactions between science and industry in
the agro-industrial industry. We provide a tentative explanation for
this result and discuss policy implications.
JEL Classification: O33, O38, C69
Keywords: framework programmes, research collaborations, technological
regime, sectoral innovation system, social network analysis,
science-industry interactions
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
ISSN 1871-9872