Title: Inter-country technological linkages in European Framework Programmes: a spur to European integration?

Authors: Anastasia Constantelou, Aggelos Tsakanikas, Yannis Caloghirou

Addresses: Department of Financial and Management Engineering, School of Management Sciences, University of the Aegean, 31 Fostini Str., Chios, 82 100 Greece. ' Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, 11 Tsami Karatasou Str., 117 42 Athens, Greece. ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou Str, Zografou Campus, 157 80, Athens, Greece

Abstract: The paper alludes an enhanced interpretation to the ||cohesion|| objective of the European Union and addresses the question of whether the European Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development have prompted the intermingling of research teams from countries in a way that abolishes the traditional boundaries between the more advantaged European north and the less advantaged south. Drawing upon a unique database of 9,335 collaborative research ventures covering 64 major programmes over a 15-year period (1984–1998), the paper presents the linkages established among different actors (firms, Universities, and Research Institutes) and seeks to identify the existence of a systematic pattern in the formation of the collaborative consortia at the national level. The analysis unveils a picture of significant collaborative activity among clusters of neighbouring countries that are found in a similar state of economic and technological development and observes that actors from neighbouring countries tend to collaborate more often.

Keywords: collaborative R&D; European cohesion; technological partnerships; European Framework Programmes; collaborative consortia; research and development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2004.004993

International Journal of Technology Management, 2004 Vol.27 No.8, pp.773 - 790

Published online: 11 Aug 2004 *

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