Projects
(in)active
maybe someday
completed
(in)active
The determinants of interregional collaboration in the the EU Framework Programmes
joint work with Stefan Zeugner
Does technology affect network structure? A quantitative analysis of collaborative research projects in two specific EU programmes
(joint work with Bernhard Dachs)The promotion of collaborative R&D through Framework Programmes is a top priority of European RTD policy. However, despite the considerable sums involved, surprisingly little is known about the structure of the resulting research networks. Arguing that the underlying technological regime critically affects the structure of collaborative R&D, this article examines the structure and topology of collaborative research networks in the telecommunications and the agro-industrial industry in two specific programmes of the 4th EU Framework Programme. We find systematic differences which we attribute to differences in the underlying knowledge base, the research trajectories pursued in EU-funded R&D and the organisation of knowledge production in the two industries. As expected on the basis of prior research, we show that collaborative research projects involve a larger number of partners and require greater funding in the telecommunications industry, and that actors from science are positioned more prominently in the agro-industrial collaborative R&D network. Contrary to expectations, we find fewer and less intense interactions between science and industry in the agro-industrial industry. We provide a tentative explanation for this result and discuss policy implications.
UNU-MERIT working paper, 2006-041 (download pdf).
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maybe someday
These are almost or semi-finished papers that I have been working on in the past and have never quite found the time to complete and polish.
Environmental regulation and innovation: A Neo-Schumpeterian perspective
This paper draws on the neo-Schumpeterian literature on innovation and technological change to examine the question on whether and how environmental regulation may stimulate the development of green technology. The key argument ist that environmental regulation needs to be politically feasible and administratively enforceable, and while discontinuous technological advance cannot be predicted with reasonable accuracy. Thus,environmental regulation at most induces the diffusion and incremental improvement of current technological best practice.The paper reviews the properties of technological advance and its determinants, examines the possibilities and limitations of environmental regulation in stimulating different types of technological change and discusses lessons for policy makers and firms.
Best available technology from a Neo-Schumpeterian perspective: a re-evaluation
In actual policy making, the real challenge to environmental policymakers is not moving beyond current technological best practice, but not staying too far behind it. In such a situation, designing regulation based on current technological best practice may actually be a sensible and highly effective strategy to fully exploit the potential of environmental policy. Moreover, the different theoretical perspective suggests policy implications that are quite distinct from the ones typically put forward in the mainstream economics literature.
The political negotiation of environmental regulation and technological change – the case of Austrian VOC emission standards
Anecdotal evidence suggests that environmental regulation may trigger innovation at the firm level. Technological responses range from incremental improvements of products and processes to the diffusion of existing technology. However, contrary to widely held beliefs, actual costs of compliance appear to represent only a minor fraction of total production costs. In this paper, a conceptual argument is advanced to explain these three empirical observations. It is argued that due to uncertainty about virtually all decision parameters, actual environmental regulation is negotiated in a 'political market'. In this market, stakeholders attempt to secure their preferred level of stringency through influencing political decision makers. Because of the need to strike a balance between these conflicting interests, in most cases compliance needs to be technologically and economically feasible. Both conditions are only ensured if firms are able to comply with existing technology or predictable advances over the current state of technology. The argument is illustrated with data on the negotiation of three Austrian VOC emission standards.
Mapping evolutionary economics – a bibliometric analysis
(joint work with Bernhard Dachs)Taking data from the EconLit database, we extract the set of publications that can be labelled "evolutionary". We then proceed to explore whether the body of evolutionary writing in economics has become more important over time, as is sometimes argued by economic methodologists.
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Network models, governance and R&D collaboration networks (NEMO), www.nemo-net.eu
Project Co-ordinator and Work Package LeaderThe objective of NEMO (EU-NEST-2006-028875) is to investigate the interplay between political governance, structure and function of politically induced R&D collaboration networks, in particular the networks that have emerged in the European Framework Programmes. The ultimate goal is to identify ways to create and to appraise desirable ('optimal') network structures for typical functions of such R&D collaboration networks (e.g. knowledge creation, transfer and (distribution). This will aid policymakers at all political levels in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of network-based policy instruments at promoting the knowledge economy in Europe. Assembling leading researchers from mathematics, physics, economics and sociology in a single project, we will explore modelling strategies to create new theoretical frameworks, building blocks and classes of models. To this end, solid mathematical foundations will be provided for the class of models developed in this project. Theoretical results will be validated via two comprehensive empirical data sets and networks generated by multi-agent simulation. The empirical analyses will yield detailed knowledge on the structural properties of the R&D collaboration networks that have emerged in the EU Framework Programmes. Desirable network structures will be identified and new quantitative methods for evaluating the governance of network based instruments will be developed.
reclip:strat
Project Co-ordinator and Principal Investigatorreclip:strat (Research for Climate Protection:strategy) looked into possibilities for promoting collaborative research within science. Drawing on insights gained from the reclip project, a collaborative venture between ARC systems research and several Austrian universities, and a survey on the institutional organisation of collaborations between large research centres and universities in Europe, reclip:strat drafted a science policy instrument that would facilitate research collaborations within science (i.e. science-science as opposed to science- industry) in Austria. By integrating dispersed competencies, this instrument promised create sustainable, internationally visible groups that would strengthen the Austrian system and increase its attractiveness to Austrian and international researchers.
Research and Development in South East Europe
ResearcherThis project analysed the national innovation systems and the research infrastructure of South Eastern European countries (Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia). It characterised Austria's position and current acitivities in the region. The project output will aid the strategic orientation of bilateral and multilateral research co-operations. The project provided detailed information on: inputs and outputs of national innovation systems, national strategies in science and technology policy, co-operation patterns of Austrian firms and research institutes and Austrian co-operation policy. It was funded by the Austrian Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Forschung (GFF), the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour (bmwa).
Innovationssysteme im Internationalen Vergleich
ResearcherUntersuchung der Beteiligungsmuster europäischer Stadt-Umland-Regionen am 4. und 5. Rahmenprogramm für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung der Europäischen Union. Diese lieferte Aufschlüsse über das Profil der einzelnen Regionen in der präkompetitiven Forschung in Europa und damit über ihre Positionierung im europäischen Forschungsraum.
Forschungs- und Technologiebericht der Österreichischen Bundesregierung [Austrian Science and Technology Report]
ResearcherThe annual Austrian Science and Technology Reports are prepared by tip, a research and consulting program for Austria's research, technology and innovation policy, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit), the Federal Ministry of Science and Research (bmwf) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour (bmwa). tip is a joint project of Austria's leading research institutes in the field.
The Science and Technology Reports annually review current developments in Austrian research, technology and innovation and provide data, comments and appraisals on Austrian science, technology and innovation policy.
EICSTES
ResearcherThe EICSTES Project, funded by the European Union (IST-1999-20350), developed indicators of how the Science-Technology-Economy system is being affected by the growth of the Internet.
The project created agents for automatic collection of data, performed studies into the physical structure of the Internet, completed case studies on the effects of the Web on Institutions and geographical space, analysed the role of Intermediaries and develop visual representations of the indicators.
European Innovation System (EIS)
Project Co-ordinator and Principal InvestigatorThe EIS project built a comprehensive dataset and developed a set of tools that would allow to analyse the structure and position of Austrian participations in European collaborative research networks. EIS was pivotal in providing the initial funding for the sysres EUPRO Database, a comprehensive dataset comprising all publicly available information on EU projects and participants.