International R&D networks of firms : a country-level analysis of the EU framework programmes

Empirical studies have shown that the internationalization processes of firms in re-search and development (R&D) are slower compared to those of trade or investments. The pioneers of R&D internationalization have been high-tech companies in small mar-kets with little research resources in their home countries. The motives for internation-alization in R&D besides widening the R&D resource base concern the search for the novelty value of collaboration for innovation, but the costs are associated with collab-orative capacity and lack of experience. EU has aimed at boosting Europe's industrial leadership and competitiveness via different policy instruments, mainly R&D subsidies to SMEs and larger firms for collaborative partnerships with various institutional and geographical scopes. By comparing FP7 and Horizon2020, two recent Framework Pro-grammes (FPs), the innovation focus has strengthened besides basic research within subsidized R&D activities. Additionally, the projects involve more partnerships between higher education and research institutions, private firms and public sector bodies. The picture of the network formed by supported projects shows a concentration around larger and older EU member states while the smaller countries, but also EU13 (the new member states) locating on the periphery. Individual countries are engaged in international R&D networks with different patterns, but for EU13 countries the network-ing barriers seem to be higher, even in the most successful cases the single partner (mostly SME) projects dominate. In gaining stronger hub roles in the private firm R&D networks, the economies in all countries need to improve connectivity within and out-side their communities.