IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/por/fepwps/222.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The ‘de-territorialisation of closeness’ - a typology of international successful R&D projects involving cultural and geographic proximity

Author

Listed:
  • Paulo Santos

    (MIETE, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto)

  • Aurora A.C. Teixeira

    (CEMPRE, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto)

  • Ana Brochado

    (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto)

Abstract

Although there is a considerable amount of empirical evidence on inter-firm collaborations within technology-based industries, there are only a few works concerned with R&D cooperation by low-tech firms, especially SMEs. Providing further and new evidence based on a recently built database of CRAFT projects, this study analyzes the relationship between technology and proximity in international R&D networks using Homogeneity Analysis by Means of Alternating Least Squares (HOMALS) and statistical cluster techniques. The resulting typology of international cooperative R&D projects highlights that successful international cooperative R&D projects are both culturally/geographically closer and distant. Moreover, and quite interestingly, geographically distant projects are technologically more advanced whereas those located near each other are essentially low tech. Such evidence is likely to reflect the tacit-codified knowledge debate boosted recently by the ICT “revolution” emphasized by the prophets of the “Death of Distance” and the “End of Geography”.

Suggested Citation

  • Paulo Santos & Aurora A.C. Teixeira & Ana Brochado, 2006. "The ‘de-territorialisation of closeness’ - a typology of international successful R&D projects involving cultural and geographic proximity," FEP Working Papers 222, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:222
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/workingpapers/06.07.25_WP222_santosteixeirabrochado.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Masao Nakamura & John Hagedoorn & Hans van Kranenburg & Richard N. Osborn, 2003. "Joint patenting amongst companies - exploring the effects of inter-firm R&D partnering and experience," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2-3), pages 71-84.
    2. Lee Branstetter & Mariko Sakakibara, 1998. "Japanese Research Consortia: A Microeconometric Analysis of Industrial Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 207-233, June.
    3. Hagedoorn, John & Link, Albert N. & Vonortas, Nicholas S., 2000. "Research partnerships1," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 567-586, April.
    4. Saxenian, AnnaLee, 1991. "The origins and dynamics of production networks in Silicon Valley," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 423-437, October.
    5. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Maarten Cornet, 2002. "'A Far Friend is Worth More than a Good Neighbour': Proximity and Innovation in a Small Country," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 6(2), pages 169-188, May.
    6. Fritsch, M. & Lukas, R., 1998. "Innovation, Cooperation, and the Region," Papers 98/1, Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    7. Wang, Jiann-Chyuan, 1994. "Cooperative research in a newly industrialized country: Taiwan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 697-711, November.
    8. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    9. Tsang, Eric W. K., 1998. "Motives for strategic alliance: A resource-based perspective," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 207-221, March.
    10. Knut Koschatzky & Rolf Sternberg, 2000. "R&D Cooperation in Innovation Systems—Some Lessons from the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS)," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 487-501, August.
    11. Asheim, Bjorn T & Isaksen, Arne, 2002. "Regional Innovation Systems: The Integration of Local 'Sticky' and Global 'Ubiquitous' Knowledge," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 77-86, January.
    12. Becker, Wolfgang & Dietz, Jurgen, 2004. "R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms--evidence for the German manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 209-223, March.
    13. Cooke, Philip & Wills, David, 1999. "Small Firms, Social Capital and the Enhancement of Business Performance through Innovation Programmes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 219-234, November.
    14. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    15. Tether, Bruce S., 2002. "Who co-operates for innovation, and why: An empirical analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 947-967, August.
    16. Senker, Jacqueline, 1995. "Tacit Knowledge and Models of Innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 4(2), pages 425-447.
    17. Michael Fritsch, 2003. "Does R&D-Cooperation Behavior Differ between Regions?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 25-39.
    18. Steinmueller, W Edward, 2000. "Will New Information and Communication Technologies Improve the 'Codification' of Knowledge?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(2), pages 361-376, June.
    19. Jung Won Sonn & Michael Storper, 2008. "The Increasing Importance of Geographical Proximity in Knowledge Production: An Analysis of US Patent Citations, 1975–1997," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(5), pages 1020-1039, May.
    20. Akbar Zaheer & Varghese P. George, 2004. "Reach out or reach within? Performance implications of alliances and location in biotechnology," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6-7), pages 437-452.
    21. Anthony Arundel & Aldo Geuna, 2004. "Proximity and the use of public science by innovative European firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 559-580.
    22. Zucker, Lynne G & Darby, Michael R & Armstrong, Jeff, 1998. "Geographically Localized Knowledge: Spillovers or Markets?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 65-86, January.
    23. Mowery, David C. & Oxley, Joanne E. & Silverman, Brian S., 1998. "Technological overlap and interfirm cooperation: implications for the resource-based view of the firm," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 507-523, September.
    24. Bayona, Cristina & Garcia-Marco, Teresa & Huerta, Emilio, 2001. "Firms' motivations for cooperative R&D: an empirical analysis of Spanish firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1289-1307, October.
    25. Meric S. Gertler, 2003. "Tacit knowledge and the economic geography of context, or The undefinable tacitness of being (there)," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 75-99, January.
    26. Cohendet, Patrick & Steinmueller, W Edward, 2000. "The Codification of Knowledge: A Conceptual and Empirical Exploration," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(2), pages 195-209, June.
    27. Giovanni Dosi, 2000. "Sources, Procedures, and Microeconomic Effects of Innovation," Chapters, in: Innovation, Organization and Economic Dynamics, chapter 2, pages 63-114, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    28. von Zedtwitz, Maximilian & Gassmann, Oliver, 2002. "Market versus technology drive in R&D internationalization: four different patterns of managing research and development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 569-588, May.
    29. Jon Sigurdson, 1998. "Industry and State Partnership: The Historical Role of Theengineering Research Associations in Japan," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 209-241.
    30. Hagedoorn, John & Schakenraad, Jos, 1992. "Leading companies and networks of strategic alliances in information technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 163-190, April.
    31. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    32. John Hagedoorn, 1993. "Understanding the rationale of strategic technology partnering: Interorganizational modes of cooperation and sectoral differences," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 371-385, July.
    33. Gary Hamel, 1991. "Competition for competence and interpartner learning within international strategic alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 83-103, June.
    34. Kleinknecht, Alfred & Reijnen, Jeroen O. N., 1992. "Why do firms cooperate on R&D? an empirical study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 347-360, August.
    35. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Editorial: Role of Proximity in Interaction and Performance: Conceptual and Empirical Challenges," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 41-45.
    36. John Hagedoorn & Rajneesh Narula, 1996. "Choosing Organizational Modes of Strategic Technology Partnering: International and Sectoral Differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 27(2), pages 265-284, June.
    37. Kamien, Morton I & Muller, Eitan & Zang, Israel, 1992. "Research Joint Ventures and R&D Cartels," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(5), pages 1293-1306, December.
    38. Audretsch,David B. & Thurik,Roy (ed.), 1999. "Innovation, Industry Evolution and Employment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521641661, September.
    39. Katz, J. Sylvan & Martin, Ben R., 1997. "What is research collaboration?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-18, March.
    40. Spence, Michael, 1984. "Cost Reduction, Competition, and Industry Performance," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(1), pages 101-121, January.
    41. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    42. Deepak K. Sinha & Michael A. Cusumano, 1991. "Complementary Resources and Cooperative Research: A Model of Research Joint Ventures Among Competitors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(9), pages 1091-1106, September.
    43. Kevin Morgan, 2004. "The exaggerated death of geography: learning, proximity and territorial innovation systems," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 3-21, January.
    44. Roberta Capello, 1999. "Spatial Transfer of Knowledge in High Technology Milieux: Learning Versus Collective Learning Processes," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 353-365.
    45. Mathews, John A., 2002. "The origins and dynamics of Taiwan's R&D consortia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 633-651, May.
    46. Bennett Harrison, 2007. "Industrial Districts: Old Wine in New Bottles? (Volume 26, Number 5, 1992)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(sup1), pages 107-121.
    47. Joe Tidd, 1997. "Complexity, Networks & Learning: Integrative Themes for Research on Innovation Management," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(01), pages 1-21.
    48. Michael L. Katz & Janusz A. Ordover, 1990. "R&D Cooperation and Competition," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1990 Micr), pages 137-203.
    49. Nooteboom, Bart, 1999. "Innovation and inter-firm linkages: new implications for policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 793-805, November.
    50. Stefano Breschi & Francesco Lissoni, 2003. "Mobility and Social Networks: Localised Knowledge Spillovers Revisited," KITeS Working Papers 142, KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Mar 2003.
    51. Rolf Sternberg, 1999. "Innovative Linkages and Proximity: Empirical Results from Recent Surveys of Small and Medium Sized Firms in German Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 529-540.
    52. Audretsch, David B & Stephan, Paula E, 1996. "Company-Scientist Locational Links: The Case of Biotechnology," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 641-652, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mathews, John A., 2002. "The origins and dynamics of Taiwan's R&D consortia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 633-651, May.
    2. Rosina Moreno & Ernest Miguélez, 2012. "A Relational Approach To The Geography Of Innovation: A Typology Of Regions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 492-516, July.
    3. Manuela Gussoni, 2009. "The determinants of inter-firms R&D cooperation and partner selection. A literature overview," Discussion Papers 2009/86, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    4. Bayona, Cristina & Garcia-Marco, Teresa & Huerta, Emilio, 2001. "Firms' motivations for cooperative R&D: an empirical analysis of Spanish firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1289-1307, October.
    5. Faria, Pedro & Schmidt, Tobias, 2007. "International cooperation on innovation: empirical evidence for German and Portuguese firms," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2007,30, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    6. Sánchez-González, Gloria & González-Álvarez, Nuria & Nieto, Mariano, 2009. "Sticky information and heterogeneous needs as determining factors of R&D cooperation with customers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1590-1603, December.
    7. Santamaría Sánchez, Luis & Surroca Aguilar, Jorge, 2004. "Idoneidad del socio tecnológico : un análisis con datos de panel," DEE - Documentos de Trabajo. Economía de la Empresa. DB db040704, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    8. Sakakibara, Mariko, 2001. "Cooperative research and development: who participates and in which industries do projects take place?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 993-1018, August.
    9. Edwards-Schachter, Mónica & Anlló, Guillermo & Castro-Martínez, Elena & Sánchez-Barrioluengo, Mabel & Fernández De Lucio, Ignacio, 2012. "Motives for inter-firm cooperation on R&D and innovation: empirical evidence from Argentine and Spain," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201204, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), revised 04 Jun 2012.
    10. Sakakibara, Mariko, 1997. "Evaluating government-sponsored R&D consortia in Japan: who benefits and how?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 447-473, December.
    11. Segarra Blasco, Agustí & Arauzo Carod, Josep Maria, 2005. "External sources of innovation and industry-university interaction:evidence from Spanish firms," Working Papers 2072/1751, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    12. Koen Frenken & Roderik Ponds & Frank Van Oort, 2010. "The citation impact of research collaboration in science‐based industries: A spatial‐institutional analysis," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(2), pages 351-271, June.
    13. Santamaría, Luis & Nieto, María Jesús & Rodríguez, Alicia, 2021. "Failed and successful innovations: The role of geographic proximity and international diversity of partners in technological collaboration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    14. Maietta, Ornella Wanda, 2015. "Determinants of university–firm R&D collaboration and its impact on innovation: A perspective from a low-tech industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 1341-1359.
    15. Broström, Anders, 2010. "Working with distant researchers--Distance and content in university-industry interaction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1311-1320, December.
    16. Carboni, Oliviero A., 2012. "An empirical investigation of the determinants of R&D cooperation: An application of the inverse hyperbolic sine transformation," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 131-141.
    17. Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli & Gianluca Murgia, 2020. "University–Industry collaborations and international knowledge spillovers: a joint-patent investigation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 958-983, August.
    18. Thomas Doring & Jan Schnellenbach, 2006. "What do we know about geographical knowledge spillovers and regional growth?: A survey of the literature," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 375-395.
    19. Silipo, Damiano B., 2008. "Incentives and forms of cooperation in research and development," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 101-119, June.
    20. Veugelers, Reinhilde & Cassiman, Bruno, 2005. "R&D cooperation between firms and universities. Some empirical evidence from Belgian manufacturing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 355-379, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research and Development (R&D); proximity; SMEs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:222. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fepuppt.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.