Le determinanti della cooperazione nei distretti tecnologici italiani finanziati dal governo

This paper aims to identify the factors that result in cooperation in R&D in high-tech industrial sectors. Our research focused on Italian technological districts created under a specific public policy to promote innovation and regional economic development. The most interesting results concern the effect of the structural characteristics of the individual districts upon collaboration choices: the probability of cooperating is higher in districts in which universities and public research centres have a major weight and in districts with governance more geared to market logic. Network effects, captured with key indicators typical of social network analysis, also play an important role in causing the propensity to cooperate. Our findings confirm the importance of factors identified by the traditional’literature and which may be chiefly ascribed to the transfer and absorption of knowledge. However, the latter would appear to have less impact on collaboration strategies than specific district factors and network effects.