Science is increasingly defined by multidimensional collaborative networks. Despite the unprecedented growth of scientific collaboration around the globe-the collaborative turn-geography still matters for the cognitive enterprise. This book explores how geography conditions scientific collaboration and how collaboration affects the spatiality of science.This book offers a complex analysis of the spatial aspects of scientific collaboration, addressing the topic at a number of levels: individual, organizational, urban, regional, national, and international. Spatial patterns of scientific collaboration are analysed along with their determinants and consequences. By combining a vast array of approaches, concepts, and methodologies, the volume offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for the geography of scientific collaboration. The examples of scientific collaboration policy discussed in the book are taken from the European Union, the United States, and China. Through a number of case studies the authors analyse the background, development and evaluation of these policies. This book will be of interest to researchers in diverse disciplines such as regional studies, scientometrics, R&D policy, socio-economic geography and network analysis. It will also be of interest to policymakers, and to managers of research organisations.

Half a century of centrally planned policy in the Central and Eastern European countries resulted in outdated technologies, inefficient allocation of resources and low productivity. Following the end of communism there was a fifteen year process of transition which ended in 2004 with eight post-communist countries joining the European Union (EU) of which Poland was the largest. As part of the EU these countries now face the challenge of the common EU strategy Europe 2020, which has set the target of achieving R&D expenditure to GDP ratio (called the R&D intensity) of 3% by 2020 for the Union as a whole in an effort to increase the competitiveness of the region. Poland, like the other post-communist countries, faces a lower target of R&D intensity, set at 1.7%. Nevertheless, the challenge is immense, since the country is still at only half that level and has little experience in developing policies to help achieve it. In this paper we tested two possible policy options to achieve the target: (1) to increase government expenditures on R&D and; (2) to provide tax relief on R&D to businesses. The method applied to assess the options is a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Poland with an explicit link between productivity and R&D stock. The results show that achieving the R&D intensity target via the use of tax relief is 2.5 times more costly to the government budget, but it has a greater impact on the economy in terms of a higher GDP growth. Tax relief proved efficient in the short run while in the long run the government expenditure policy provides better value for money.

This paper analyzes the impact of air transport connectivity and accessibility on scientific collaboration. Numerous studies demonstrated that the likelihood of collaboration declines with increase in distance between potential collaborators. These works commonly use simple measures of physical distance rather than actual flight capacity and frequency. Our study addresses this limitation by focusing on the relationship between flight availability and the number of scientific co-publications. Furthermore, we distinguish two components of flight availability: (1) direct and indirect air connections between airports; and (2) distance to the nearest airport from cities and towns where authors of scientific articles have their professional affiliations. Based on Zero-inflated Negative Binomial Regression, we provide evidence that greater flight availability is associated with more frequent scientific collaboration. More flight connections (connectivity) and proximity of airport (accessibility) increase the expected number of coauthored scientific papers. Moreover, direct flights and flights with one transfer are more valuable for intensifying scientific cooperation than travels involving more connecting flights. Further, analysis of four organizational sub-datasets

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This paper is part of the Special Issue of European Environment devoted to the outputs of the EU SRDTOOLS project, 1 which developed and applied a new model of regional sustainable development evaluation. The paper fi rst discusses the application of the four-capital model to evaluate, in the light of an exercise carried out in collaboration with the authorities of the Lubuskie voivodship, the impact of the implementation of the regional strategy on the status of the four capitals. The fi ndings are then contrasted with the opinions of the local government authorities and entrepreneurs. This helped identify the weaknesses of the strategy implementation and outline potential confl icts between the development of different types of capital. The same method was applied to the regional operational programme, which resulted in the formulation of recommendations for the updating of the regional development strategy and better adapting the regional operational programme to adopted goals related to sustainable regional development.

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