Analysis of the resource concentration on size and research performance: The case of Italian National Research Council over the period 2000-2004

Nowadays the Government of industrialised countries, in presence of reduced public funds, has to manage the public research laboratories to increase the efficiency and research performance, necessary to the competitiveness of firms and of economic systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between size and performance of public research organisations within of the Italian national system of innovation, for the period 2000-2004, which is characterised by two different research policies. The comparative analysis shows that the results can supply useful information to policy makers on the behaviour of these structures. The new research policy based on merger among the research institutes generates higher research performance and scale economies. However some elements suggest to be cautious about this relationship and to further investigate.