University - Industry Cooperation in Research and Development

This paper tries to investigate some of the characteristics of the UniversityIndustry RJVs established in Europe in the context of the European Framework Programmes. UI-RJVs are examined against the non UI-RJVs on their duration, size, technology areas, frequency of participation and country distribution. In addition the objectives, benefits and problems from cooperation with Universities, are analyzed, building on the results of a European survey of 312 firms. Results show that there is an increasing trend in UI collaboration during the last 13 years. Universities are involved in large and longer-term consortia. Significant participation from peripheral regions is identified along with the emergence of a small group of Universities with involvement in a large number of RJVs. From the firms’ perspective the primary motive for cooperation with Universities seem to be that of accessing complementary resources and exploiting research synergies. Firm’s impact on their knowledge base is the most important benefit from such collaboration, whereas no problems from collaborating were found significant. a Laboratory of Industrial and Energy Economics, National Technical University of Athens. b Center for International Science and Technology Policy and Department of Economics, the George Washington University Corresponding author Center for International Science and Technology Policy, the George Washington University, 2013 G Street, N.W., Suite 201, Washington D.C. 20052. E-mail: [email protected]