Networked by design: Can policy requirements influence organisations' networking behaviour?

Abstract

An important, but under-researched, question in relation to policies funding networks of innovators is:what kind of innovation networks should be supported, if the policy objective is not just to sponsor successful innovation projects, but also to encourage the participants to form networks with desirable characteristics? Focusing on a set of policy programmes implemented by the regional government of Tuscany, in Italy, between 2002 and 2008, aimed at funding networks of collaborating organisations, we investigate whether the imposition of requirements on the composition of the networks that would be eligible for funding -in particular, the demand that networks should comply with minimum size and heterogeneity thresholds -influenced the participants' networking behaviour in the context of successive policy interventions. Our results show that these requirements immediately affected the size and composition of the project networks that applied for funding, although not always in the intended direction. However, these effects did not extend to the successive periods, when those requirements were no longer in force. This suggests that the imposition of policy requirements, per se, is unlikely to induce persistent changes in organizations' networking behaviour. Other approaches such as implementing outreach actions in order to encourage new organisations to participate in existing innovation networks and to form new ones, and additional measures designed to foster learning opportunities for the participants, might be more effective tools to influence the networking behaviour of participating organisations.

The Impact of Co-Inventor Networks on Smart Cleantech Innovation: The Case of Montreal Agglomeration

“…This may be due to the policies undertaken by the local and federal governments aimed at strengthening the local cleantech cluster, as well as Écotech Quebec cluster association that explicitly fosters local collaborations. These results are in line with the literature that argues that public policy and public innovation intermediaries (such as Écotech Quebec) play an important role in shaping collaborative networking among individuals, firms and organizations [71,72].…”

“…Similarly, we can expect the geography of innovations in smart cleantech to be shaped by this factor. Moreover, the existing literature argues that public policy also plays a role in fostering collaborative networking [71,72]: cleantech being a rather regulated sector affected by public policies, cleantech clusters around the world show the presence of strong cluster associations (such as Écotech Quebec in Montreal) who in collaboration with policymakers try to influence the growth and competitiveness of local cleantech. Therefore, it is logical to expect that the global geography of co-inventor networks will be strongly influenced by the presence of strong cleantech clusters.…”

Effects of Cluster Policies on Regional Innovation Networks: Evidence From France

“…It is therefore crucial for policymakers to setup the right mechanisms to support such type of collaborations in order to reinforce the resilience of innovation networks. Though the underlying mechanisms need further exploration, recent studies suggest that implementing outreach actions in order to encourage collaboration between central and peripheral actors might be more effective than imposition of policy requirements (Rossi et al 2016).…”

What kinds of R&D consortia enhance SMEs productivity? A hierarchical Bayesian approach for the analysis of a regional innovation policy

“…Both size and composition of each consortium were only partly influenced by the rules set by the public agency, and specified within each tender. For instance, some tenders required to include at least one university or one intermediary (innovation centre, technology transfer centre), while some other tenders did not impose any constraint (Rossi, Caloffi, & Russo, ).…”