The Structure and Evolution of Intersectoral Technological Complementarity in R&D in Germany from 1990 to 2011

Tom Brökel and Matthias Brachert ()
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Tom Broekel ()

No 13/2014, IWH Discussion Papers from Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH)

Abstract: Technological complementarity is argued to be a crucial element for effective Research and Development (R&D) collaboration. The real structure is, however, still largely unknown. Based on the argument that organizations' knowledge resources must fit for enabling collective learning and innovation, we use the co-occurrence of firms in collaborative R&D projects in Germany to assess inter-sectoral technological complementarity between 129 sectors. The results are mapped as complementarity space for the Germany economy. The space and its dynamics from 1990 to 2011 are analyzed by means of social network analysis. The results illustrate sectors being complements both from a dyadic and portfolio/network perspective. This latter is important, as complementarities may only become fully effective when integrated in a complete set of different knowledge resources from multiple sectors. The dynamic perspective moreover reveals the shifting demand for knowledge resources among sectors at different time periods.

Keywords: collaborative R&D projects; resource complementarity; co-occurrence analysis; FuE-Kooperation; Komplementarität; Co-Occurrence-Analyse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L14 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The structure and evolution of inter-sectoral technological complementarity in R&D in Germany from 1990 to 2011 (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:iwh-13-14

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