Technological collaboration and R&D alliances: an assessment of the impact on the economical performance of EU regions

This paper investigates the impact of technological alliances on the technical and economical performance of regions in the EU-27 area. While recent research mainly focused on spillovers and externalities, especially on industry-science interactions, it can be noticed that limited attention has been paid to the whole spectrum of interactions (alliances) that could be present within a (regional) innovation system. Within this contribution we analyze the occurrence and nature of technological and R&D alliances at the level of NUTS2 regions. Building on data contained in the EPO Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT), we obtained exhaustive information on copatents, distinguishing between different types of actors (firms, universities, PROs, individuals, governmental agencies) involved. These data have been complemented by R&D alliances data – the Cooperative Agreements and Technology Indicators (CATI) database – which have been allocated to the NUTS2 level. We constructed a panel dataset covering a 12 year time period (1994-2005); besides indicators pertaining to alliances and collaborations (co-patenting), economical and R&D indicators (Eurostat regional statistics) have been collected and introduced as dependent variable (GDP) or control variables (Investments in R&D, Human Resources in Science & Technology). Applying multivariate regression models allows assessing the distinctive impact of collaborative activities on the technological and economical performance of regions. Findings clearly indicate positive effects of technological alliances (measured by means of co-patenting), while the effects of commercial alliances (CATI) are less outspoken.