Interest in the role that science and scientific research play in economics and the other social sciences has exploded in the last fifty years. This attention undoubtedly reflects the increased importance that scientific research is contributing more and more to employment and economic growth,...

Nowadays the governments of industrialised countries, in the presence of reduced public resources, have to assign clear objectives to public research laboratories to increase the competitiveness of firms. The purpose of this article is to analyse the public research bodies of the National...