Structural changes in industrial R&D in Europe and the US: towards a new model?

Abstract

We analyse the structural changes that have characterised the organisation of industrial R&D over the last 25 years. Taking Mowery's work (Industrial and Corporate Change, 2009, 18(1), 1-50) on the US as a starting point, we reconsider the different aspects of structural change he examined, discuss their impact and the overall logic underlying them. We then examine Europe to discover to what extent these structural changes have occurred in recent years. While a certain structural evolution is perceptible, it is not on the same scale as that analysed for the US. Finally, we consider the extent to which the new structures are more or less 'efficient' than previous ones. We conclude with the implications for R&D and innovation policy implications. HIS PAPER ANALYSES THE structural changes that have characterised the organisation of industrial R&D over the last 25 years. Taking Mowery's work (2009) concerning the case of the US as a starting point, we reconsider the different aspects of structural change examined by him, discuss their impact and attempt to bring to light the overall logic of these transformations. According to Mowery, the fundamental reorganisation of R&D, as developed during the last 30 years in the US, is particularly characterised by more complex forms of industrial structures (vertical disintegration) in which a new sector occupies an important place (firms specialising in R&D and innovation 'services') and by the larger role played by market transactions in the coordination of innovative activities. The intensive use of intellectual property (IP) and licence agreements is the logical completion of this development, something that is occurring especially in the new high-tech industries.We then examine the case of Europe to discover to what extent these same structural changes have occurred. While a certain structural evolution is perceptible, it is not on the same scale as that analysed for the US. We try to understand why this is so by identifying the effects of industrial specialisation in particular. Europe's difficulty in achieving a leading position in the new high-tech industries is closely linked with the weakness of structural change, although the direction of causality is obviously difficult to determine.Finally, we ask ourselves to what extent the new structures are more or less 'efficient' than previous ones. In this respect we note that these new structures, in which the technology market is a powerful incentive mechanism facilitating the coordination of activities, still have significant inefficiencies, which in actual fact stem from the functioning of this market. We conclude with R&D and innovation policy implications, which in our opinion logically derive from this analysis, in general and for Europe in particular. Structural changes in industrial R&D in the US: 1980-2005The structural changes that industrial R&D has undergone over the last 25 years are considerable. We draw heavily on Mowery's work to identify the main aspects of these changes. We then try to identify some coher...

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“…In other words, we assess the degree of structural change experienced by the major knowledge-intensive economies (Gambardella et al, 2007;Moncada-Paternò-Castello, 2010). Our results somehow contradict conventional wisdom (see, for example, Foray & Lhuillery, 2010;Bajgar et al, 2019): the EU shows an appreciable dynamism compared to the USA, which, however, underwent a rather visible shift towards information and communication technology-related sectors (ICT sectors). Interestingly, the different transformative patterns followed by the two areas resulted in a rather consistent difference in their shares of world corporate R&D investment (Hernández et al, 2018).…”

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