Spatial Interaction Modelling of Cross-Region R&D Collaborations: Empirical Evidence from the 5th EU Framework Programme

TL;DR

This study models cross-region R&D collaborations in Europe, revealing that geographical proximity, technological similarity, and border effects significantly influence collaboration intensity, with technological proximity being the most impactful.

Contribution

It introduces a Poisson spatial interaction model to analyze the effects of geography and technology on cross-region R&D collaborations in Europe.

Findings

Geographical proximity strongly influences collaboration intensity.

Technological proximity has a greater effect than spatial effects.

Border effects are present but less significant.

Abstract

The last few years have witnessed an increasing interest in the geography of innovation. As noted by Autant-Bernard et al. (2007a), the geographical dimension of innovation deserves further attention by analysing such phenomena as R&D collaborations. In this study we focus on cross-region R&D collaborations in Europe. The European coverage is achieved by using data on collaborative R&D projects funded by the EU Framework Programmes (FPs) between organisation that are located in 255 NUTS-2 regions of the 25 pre-2007 EU member-states, as well as Norway and Switzerland. The objective is to identify separation effects - such as geographical or technological effects - on the constitution of cross-region collaborative R&D activities. We specify a Poisson spatial interaction model to analyse these questions. The dependent variable is the intensity of cross-region R&D collaborations, the independent variables include origin, destination and separation characteristics of interaction. The results provide striking evidence that geographical effects play an important role in determining R&D collaborations across Europe. Geographical proximity and co-localisation of organisations in neighbouring regions are important determinants of cross-region collaboration intensities. The effect of technological proximity is stronger than spatial effects. R&D collaborations occur most often between organisations that are located close to each other in technological space. R&D collaborations in Europe are also affected by language- and country border effects, but these are smaller than geographical and technological effects.