Analysis of the International Cooperation Network in Alternative Energy Production Technology Development Based on Co-Patents

This paper analyses international cooperation in alternative energy production research and development. Therefore, patents of the technological domain, registered at the European Patent Office from 1997 until 2016, are analysed. International cooperation is considered when patents involve co-assignment or co-inventorship comprising two or more different countries. Generally, international R&D cooperation tends to be increasing over time in alternative energy production. In total, 2234 co-patents from 87 countries are identified. Through social network analysis the cooperative relationships between countries are examined. The most significant states of the network are the United States of America and Germany. Innovative clusters and strong partnerships are identified. Alternative energy technologies that involve international cooperation most extensively are harnessing energy from manmade waste, solar energy and bio-fuels. The paper clarifies which countries are cooperating with each other for what purpose. The findings can be used for establishing R&D strategies in the domain of alternative energy production

University-Industry Technology Transfer: Empirical Findings from Chinese Industrial Firms

The knowledge and innovation generated by researchers at universities is transferred to industries through patent licensing, leading to the commercialization of academic output. In order to investigate the development of Chinese university-industry technology transfer and whether this kind of collaboration may affect a firm's innovation output, we collected approximately 6400 license contracts made between more than 4000 Chinese firms and 300 Chinese universities for the period between 2009 and 2014. This is the first study on Chinese university-industry knowledge transfer using a bipartite social network analysis (SNA) method, which emphasizes centrality estimates. We are able to investigate empirically how patent license transfer behavior may affect each firm's innovative output by allocating a centrality score to each firm in the university-firm technology transfer network. We elucidate the academic-industry knowledge by visualizing flow patterns for different regions with the SNA tool, Gephi. We find that innovation capabilities, R&D resources, and technology transfer performance all vary across China, and that patent licensing networks present clear small-world phenomena. We also highlight the Bipartite Graph Reinforcement Model (BGRM) and BiRank centrality in the bipartite network. Our empirical results reveal that firms with high BGRM and BiRank centrality scores, long history, and fewer employees have greater innovative output

Exploring the position of cities in global corporate research and development: a bibliometric analysis by two different geographical approaches

Global cities are defined, on the one hand, as the major command and control centres of the world economy and, on the other hand, as the most significant sites of the production of innovation. As command and control centres, they are home to the headquarters of the most powerful MNCs of the global economy, while as sites for the production of innovation they are supposed to be the most important sites of corporate research and development (R&D) activities. In this paper, we conduct a bibliometric analysis of the data located in the Scopus and Forbes 2000 databases to reveal the correlation between the characteristics of the above global city definitions. We explore which cities are the major control points of the global corporate R&D (home city approach), and which cities are the most important sites of corporate R&D activities (host city approach). According to the home city approach we assign articles produced by companies to cities where the decision-making headquarters are located (i.e. to cities that control the companies’ R&D activities), while according to the host city approach we assign articles to cities where the R&D activities are actually conducted. Given Sassen's global city concept, we expect global cities to be both the leading home cities and host cities. The results show that, in accordance with the global city concept, Tokyo, New York, London and Paris surpass other cities as command points of global corporate R&D (having 42 percent of companies’ scientific articles). However, as sites of corporate R&D activities to be conducted, New York and Tokyo form a unique category (having 28 percent of the articles). The gap between San Jose and Boston, and the global cities has consistently narrowed because the formers are the leading centres of the fastest growing innovative industries (e.g. information technology and biotechnology) in the world economy, and important sites of international R&D activities within these industries. The emerging economies are singularly represented by Beijing; however, the position of Chinese capital (i.e. the number of its companies’ scientific articles), has been strengthening rapidly

Collaboration objectives and the location of the university partner: evidence from the Piedmont region in Italy

This study examines firms' decisions to collaborate with universities in their region as opposed to non-regional universities, focusing on the role of collaboration objectives. Through a survey of a representative sample of manufacturing firms in the Piedmont region (Italy), we find that firms seeking business advice are more likely to collaborate with regional universities while firms seeking R&D support and testing and analysis services are more likely to collaborate with both regional and non-regional universities. The partner university's location is endogenous to the level of investment in the collaboration; and the collaboration objectives provide good instruments. Some implications for regional policy are discussed

External collaborations in multinational pharmaceutical companies

Traditionally, the internal research and development (R&D) departments of multinational companies (MNCs) have served as a main driver of MNCs innovative capacity. Today’s high pace of change and competitive landscape have forced MNCs however to look beyond their organizational boundaries and to involve external organizations in their R&D for technological advancement and innovation. In particular, MNCs are using R&D collaborations as a means to create and access new knowledge. Collaborations are particularly relevant in science-based sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry where R&D mainly relies on complex and basic scientific knowledge. In this sector, the sources of expertise are widely dispersed and drug discovery and development requires coordination between different actors. The globalization trend has facilitated collaborations across long distances and companies have adopted a combination of long and short distance collaborations in their innovation process. The role of geographic proximity in collaboration continues to puzzle researchers. In fact, it may be more complex than previously addressed in the literature, most of which has considered external collaborations in a MNC as a homogenous entity in terms of knowledge. A MNC consists of different R&D units that specialize in different research areas and are active at different stages of the innovation process. Furthermore, a MNC collaborates with a large variety of external organizations and individuals. Thus, R&D collaborations in a MNC can be considered heterogeneous in terms of the knowledge and actors involved. The various types of knowledge and actors well differ in how important the role of geographic proximity is for successful collaborations. This thesis studies the role of geographic proximity in the R&D collaborations of MNCs when creating, accessing and embedding different types of knowledge. In particular, I examine these aspects by differentiating between (1) the nature of knowledge (basic science vs clinical science, core vs explorative knowledge), and (2) the actors involved on the organization level (university, hospital, research institute and company) as well as on the individual level (star scientists). The different levels of analysis describe different aspects of the R&D collaboration and how these affect the internal knowledge of MNCs. I used co-publications and patents as a proxy for R&D collaborations and analysed the role of geographic proximity using descriptive, social network and econometric analysis. The results show an increasing openness of pharmaceutical MNCs to collaborate over the past 20 years in terms of the organizations and countries involved in drug discovery and development. While the main patents behind innovative drugs are still mainly owned by companies themselves, external organizations increasingly contribute indirectly to knowledge creation, as visible from an increasing proportion of cited patents and publications from external organizations. This substitutes for biotech and pharmaceutical companies decreasing investments in R&D. Furthermore, considering the nature of knowledge, the results show that collaborations in basic science and core knowledge areas are more positively affected by geographic proximity than collaborations within clinical science and knowledge exploration of the MNCs. I also find that different types of actors embed different natures of knowledge. The knowledge accessed by MNCs from universities is more positively affected by geographic proximity during the collaborative process, compared to hospitals or companies. However, highly skilled individual scientists who work at MNCs (star scientists), can help to maintain local collaborations. Based on these findings I conclude that the role of geographic proximity in R&D collaborations of MNCs varies between the types of collaboration and must be more precisely assessed distinguishing between each R&D collaboration between a MNC and another organization or actor. This thesis underlines the crucial role of R&D collaborations for MNCs and emphasizes the importance of geography for the R&D management of MNCs to create and access knowledge effectively in collaborations. From a policy perspective, the importance of different knowledge types in R&D collaborations should be kept in mind when facilitating the development of R&D collaborations, particularly when local actors are trying to attract foreign MNCs

Generación de conocimiento y conectividad internacional en España: un análisis a través de patentes

Esta tesis doctoral se enmarca en el contexto amplio que ha venido perfilando tanto la importancia de la generación del conocimiento y su transmisión como la elevada conectividad internacional, apoyada por las (TIC), en el desarrollo industrial y el avance económico y social que ha acompañado el proceso de la globalización de la actividad económica, científica y tecnológica. La innovación y las redes globales tienen implicaciones importantes para la formulación de políticas (OCDE, 2008) y, al mismo tiempo, la vinculación entre instituciones de investigación y el ámbito productivo local, sigue siendo una cuestión relevante para la toma de decisiones de política pública. Tal es así que, en pleno proceso de cambio tecnológico, ante la emergencia de la denominada cuarta revolución industrial (o industria 4.0) y ante el reto de la digitalización y el desarrollo sostenible, gana todo el sentido estudiar las formas que adopta la conectividad internacional, las claves de la generación de entornos innovadores y el problema de la brecha de género, en la generación de las tecnologías más dinámicas. Ello justifica realizar esta investigación haciendo uso de un análisis minucioso del indicador de patentes españolas en la Oficina de Patentes de Estados Unidos (USPTO)..

Impact of Public Funding on the Development of Nanotechnology : A Comparison of Quebec, Canada and the US

RÉSUMÉ : La nanotechnologie est la haute technologie la plus prometteuse de ce siècle. L’investissement mondial dans cette technologie a augmenté rapidement dans les deux dernières décennies. En outre, cet investissement va probablement contribuer de façon non négligeable à la croissance économique future. La recherche dans cette nouvelle technologie basée sur la science nécessite un financement public important pour faciliter la production de connaissances, réduire les incertitudes et les risques connexes, et assurer le succès du développement de la nanotechnologie. Compte tenu de son potentiel dans une large variété de domaines, les gouvernements et les décideurs politiques ont cherché à allouer efficacement des fonds, afin de maximiser les avantages économiques. Il est donc essentiel d’améliorer et d’approfondir notre compréhension concernant la façon dont les financements publics pourront influencer la performance de la recherche. Le but principal de cette thèse consiste à analyser l’impact du financement public sur le développement de la nanotechnologie, avec un accent tout particulier sur les résultats de la recherche scientifique et technologique. Les objectifs de la recherche portent sur deux volets : Tout d’abord, nous cherchons à examiner l’influence du financement. Le deuxième volet consiste à explorer l’impact de la collaboration et des réseaux innovants sur le développement de la nanotechnologie. Ensuite, notre but est de comparer l’impact du financement et des réseaux de collaboration de nanotechnologie entre le Canada et les États-Unis. Cette recherche porte sur les extrants importants de la recherche académique : les publications et les brevets. Elle permet de caractériser les réseaux de collaboration en utilisant les liens de co-publication et de co-invention entre les scientifiques et les inventeurs. Cette thèse contribue de manière significative aux questions de recherche suivantes : Comment l’augmentation du financement public pour les scientifiques œuvrant en nanotechnologie peut améliorer les publications et les brevets liés aux nanotechnologies en terme de nombre (a) et en terme de qualité (b)? Est-ce que les chercheurs qui détiennent une position plus influente au sein des réseaux de co-publication/co-invention sont plus productifs et plus cités? Est-ce que l’influence du financement public sur les recherches en nanotechnologie est différente au Canada par rapport aux États-Unis? Pour répondre à ces questions, des informations sur les articles de nanotechnologie, les brevets et le financement ont été extraites à partir de diverses bases de données au Canada et aux États-Unis. De plus, cette information a été utilisée pour construire les réseaux scientifiques et technologiques, et pour analyser l’influence du financement par des analyses économétriques. En ce qui concerne la première question de recherche, nos résultats montrent que le financement public fait augmenter généralement le nombre et la qualité des publications et brevets. Toutefois, cet impact positif est plus important aux États-Unis. Le financement est également moins susceptible d’influencer les brevets de nanotechnologie au Canada. En ce qui concerne l’analyse du financement de l’industrie au Québec, les fonds privés sont moins susceptibles de faire augmenter la qualité des publications. Quant à notre deuxième question de recherche, les études montrent que les résultats scientifiques et technologiques sont en corrélation avec la position des chercheurs dans les réseaux de collaboration. Les résultats de la recherche en nanotechnologie, particulièrement au Canada, montrent que le rendement est plus élevé au niveau des publications, des brevets et des réseaux de collaboration. Enfin, bien que l’impact entre le Canada et les États-Unis soit légèrement différent, cette recherche suggère que le financement et les réseaux de collaboration jouent un rôle important dans la stimulation de la quantité ainsi que de la qualité de la recherche académique.----------ABSTRACT : Nanotechnology is considered to be the most promising high technology of this century. Worldwide investment in this technology has rapidly increased in the past two decades, and it will likely drive future economic growth. Research in this new science-based technology requires significant public funding to facilitate knowledge production, reduce related uncertainties and risks, and ensure the success of nanotechnology development. Given its potential in a wide range of domains, governments and policymakers have sought to efficiently allocate funding to maximize economic benefits. It is therefore essential to further our understanding of how public funding influences research performance. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the impact of public funding on nanotechnology development, with a special focus on scientific and technological research outputs. The research objectives are twofold: we first seek to examine this funding influence, and second to explore the impact of collaboration and related scientific and innovative networks on nanotechnology development. Afterwards, our goal is to compare the impact of funding and of nanotechnology collaborative networks between Canada and the US on scientific and technological research outputs. This research deals with the prominent outputs of academic research, publications and patents, and characterizes collaborative networks using the co-publication and co-invention links between scientists and inventors. This thesis contributes significantly to the following research questions: how increased public funding to nanotechnology scientists enhances nanotechnology-related publications and patents in terms of (a) number and (b) quality? Are researchers who hold a more influential network position in co-publication/co-invention networks more productive and more cited? Is the influence of public funding on nanotechnology research different in Canada compared with the US? To answer these questions, information about nanotechnology articles, patents and funding was extracted from various databases in Canada and in the US and was used to build the scientific and innovation networks, and to analyze the influence of funding by econometric analyses. Regarding the first research question, our results show that public funding generally increases the number and quality of these outputs. However, this positive impact is more significant in the US and funding is less likely to influence nanotechnology patents in Canada. Regarding the analysis of industry funding in Quebec, private funds are less likely to increase the quality of publications. Concerning our second research question, results show that scientific and technological outputs are correlated with the position of researchers in collaborative networks. Nanotechnology research outputs particularly in Canada show greater returns on publications and patents on network collaborations. Finally, although the impacts are somewhat different between Canada and the US, this research suggests that both funding and collaborative networks play an important role in boosting the quantity and quality of academic research

Regional Innovation, Inward FDI and Industrial Structure: A Provincial and Firm Level Study of China

PhDInward foreign direct investment (FDI) is believed to be a carrier of advanced knowledge to host countries, but how regional factors might impact FDI spillover effects is still uncertain. Meanwhile, regional industrial structure, i.e. specialization and diversity, has been frequently discussed in the literature, but there is no consensus about which type of industrial structure can promote regional innovation. In this thesis, the above two streams of literature are integrated and a theoretical model is proposed in which regional FDI and industrial structure are hypothesized to have direct and interactive effects on regional innovativeness. Provincial- and firm-level panel datasets (2000-2010) were compiled for empirical analyses. The results indicate that a foreign presence is beneficial for both regional and firm innovation capability while these associations are contingent on the level of industrial structure, namely the degree of specialization and diversity. A greater level of regional specialization is less likely to facilitate regional innovators to gain positive spillovers from FDI while an increase in diversity is more likely to reinforce the positive effects of foreign presence on regional innovativeness. As China has become the biggest FDI recipient country in the world in recent years and the Chinese industrial structure has been changing rapidly during the last few decades, an empirical study in the Chinese context would be ideal to examine the debate on the roles of industrial structure and FDI in promoting regional innovativeness. Overall, this research aims to advance the understanding about the moderating role of regional industrial structure in affecting the spillover effect of FDI on regional and firm innovation. The findings not only provide empirical evidence for the specialization versus diversity debate, but also highlight the essential role of contextual factors in facilitating regional innovativeness

Innovation in General Purpose Technologies : How Knowledge Gains when It Is Shared

This book tackles the different aspects of the creation and transmission of knowledge in the context of the characteristics of a general purpose technology. Nanotechnology is investigated as showcase example. Particular emphasis is put on the role of the composition of knowledge as well as the corresponding knowledge spillovers on the one hand and on the concrete impact of collaboration and knowledge sharing in innovator networks on the other hand