Research collaboration in the European community: Lessons for the US

Abstract

Research collaboration between government, universities, and industry, as well as among member nations, has been a prominent strategy in the European Community's science and technology policy through the 1980s and into the 1990s. In the perspective of the Single European Act and 1992 Plan, this paper outlines the lessons from European research collaboration for the United States. The structure of the European Community's cooperative R&D programs are reviewed and support for the development of advanced materials is highlighted. In the context of the benefits from the European Community's programs, five policy implications can be discerned for the US: establishment of forums for industry and government to dialogue about research priorities, institution of programs to promote strategic industrial R&D through cost-sharing, encouragement of small and medium-size firms to cooperate in R&D in high-technology sectors, monitoring of European research and development programs, and development of reciprocity policies for foreign-company membership in national collaborative R&D programs.