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on Project and Portfolio Management |
| By: | Roediger-Schluga, Thomas (Department of Technology Policy, ARC systems research); bernhard.dachs@arcs.ac.at (Department of Technology Policy, ARC systems research) |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| Keywords: | framework programmes, research collaborations, technological regime, sectoral innovation system, social network analysis, science-industry interactions |
| JEL: | O33 O38 C69 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2006041&r=ppm |
| By: | Akcomak, Semih (UNU-MERIT); ter Weel, Bas (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the interplay between social capital, innovation and economic growth in the European Union. We identify innovation as an important mechanism that transforms social capital into economic growth. In an empirical investigation of 102 European regions in the period 1990-2002, we show that higher innovation performance is conducive to economic growth and that social capital affects growth indirectly by fostering innovation. Our estimates suggest that there is only a limited role for a direct effect of social capital on economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Social capital, Innovation, Economic growth, European Union |
| JEL: | O1 O3 O52 Z13 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2006040&r=ppm |
| By: | Quamrul Ahsan |
| Abstract: | The focus of this paper is on the rural poor of south Asia and their struggle to cope with the seasonal risk of unemployment and the ensuing income risks. In the absence of formal credit or insurance markets the rural poor typically resort to, among other options, the following informal strategies to cope with seasonal income risks: (i) seasonal rural-to-urban migration, and (ii) mutual (ex-post) transfers between families of friends and relatives. Access to credit through a microfinance institution could also provide a competing source of insurance. The question raised in this paper is how the access to credit may affect the more traditional/time honoured means of risk coping, such as seasonal migration. Given that credit, i.e., a credit-financed activity, is potentially a substitute for seasonal migration, it is reasonable to argue that easy access to credit (or high return on credit) will lower the incidence of migration. However, there also exists a potential complementarity between the two activities (if implemented jointly) in terms of gains due to diversification of income risks. That is, given that income from migration is not typically subject to the same shocks as income generated by a credit-financed activity, a joint adoption of both activities creates opportunities for diversification of risk in the family incomes portfolio. If the diversification gains are large enough then the adoption of both activities jointly will be preferred to adopting either of the activities individually. In that event, introduction of microfinance in rural societies may result in raising the incidence of migration. The joint adoption case for rural households is modelled using a choice theoretic framework, and exact conditions are derived for when joint adoption is preferable to adoption of a single project. The model of joint adoption is estimated by applying a Bivariate Probit regression model on a single cross-section of household survey data from rural Bangladesh. Our preliminary results show that indeed the probability of participation in migration by household members is positively related to the probability of the household being a credit recipient. |
| Keywords: | Development, South Asia, Poverty, Microfinance, Rural labour markets, Rural-to-urban migration, Risk-coping strategies |
| JEL: | D1 D81 J43 J61 O1 Q12 R23 |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:deg:conpap:c010_032&r=ppm |
| By: | Elise Brezis |
| Abstract: | In most countries, governments intervene in the process of R&D by financing a substantial part of it. The mechanism employed for choosing the projects to be financed is a committee composed of experts who evaluate projects in their field of specialization, and decide which ones should be funded. This mechanism for evaluating projects is conservative. Proposals of new ideas are too often rejected, and inventions are commonly thrown out of the set of potential projects. In this paper, I propose a mechanism that will allow less conformity: focal randomization. Focal randomization mechanism (FRM) states that projects which are unanimously ranked at the top by all reviewers, will be adopted. Projects perceived as valueless by all are rejected, while projects that are ranked differently will be randomized. I compare the average return under the present and proposed mechanism. I examine under which conditions this new mechanism is preferable, and its consequences on economic growth. |
| Date: | 2006–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:deg:conpap:c011_035&r=ppm |
| By: | Geert Leemans |
| Abstract: | Belgium’s Flemish government recently approved a EUR 1 billion investment in school infrastructure through public-private partnerships, its first major initiative of this kind. The Flemish Community’s variant of public-private partnerships in school building allows the government to meet urgent needs in the short run, but also to spread the costs over a longer period. |
| Keywords: | public private partnerships, financing, maintenance, management |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaa:2006/6-en&r=ppm |
| By: | Geert Leemans |
| Abstract: | Le gouvernement flamand de Belgique a récemment approuvé l’affectation d’un investissement d’un milliard d’euros à des infrastructures scolaires dans le cadre de partenariats public-privé ; il s’agit de son premier grand projet de ce type. Les partenariats public-privé, tels qu’ils sont envisagés par la Communauté flamande, permettent au gouvernement de répondre rapidement aux besoins urgents, mais aussi de répartir les coûts sur une plus longue durée. |
| Keywords: | partenariats public-privé, gestion, financement |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaa:2006/6-fr&r=ppm |