R&D cooperative agreements between firms and research organisations: a comparative analysis of the characteristics and reasons depending on the nature of the partner

Abstract

This paper is intended to present a descriptive analysis of a representative set of Spanish cooperative agreements in R&D activities between firms and Research Organisations (RO), including universities, public research centres and private institutes or associations. For this purpose, we have examined 800 collaborations (1995–2000) boosted by the public agency, Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI). Firstly, the main characteristics of the project have been studied such as investment, public subsidies, kind and number of partners and duration. Secondly, the various partners have been inquired about the reasons that have led them to cooperate in R&D. Finally, the results have been analysed from a global point of view and classified according to the nature of the partner with the aim of adopting a comparative perspective of the data. The results show that cooperation between firms and RO still is not the general pattern of behaviour in Spain for technological activities.