Patterns of collaboration in ICT projects in the Framework Programme: Is there a European Research Area?

Abstract

This paper investigates the intensity of international cooperation of ICT R&D projects by means of a gravity model and examine the factors associated with the strength of bilateral collaborations between different EU countries. On the basis of an original dataset of FP projects in the ICT domain, we analyze the patterns of collaborations of different countries as a function of a series of variables accounting for geographical and cultural distance, as well as country-specific economic and technological characteristics.