Embeddedness of regions in EU-funded R&D networks and regional knowledge production in Europe

Research and development (R&D) networks are regarded as important means to transmit knowledge across geographical space. For regions, strong embeddedness in the R&D Network structure is assumed to deliver access to external knowledge and new impetus for innovation. However, the fact that R&D network linkages are often established in a selective and stratified way, across different actors and across regions, raises the question which regions can benefit from the ongoing integration of research and knowledge creation activities across Europe. The overall objective of this dissertation is to measure the embeddedness of regions in EU-funded R&D networks, to empirically identify its determinants and estimate its impacts on regional knowledge production in Europe. The notion of network embeddedness of regions is understood in terms of a region´s structural positioning in the network, assessed by its network centrality and its proximity to other regions. Particular emphasis is laid on the operationalisation of R&D Network embeddedness at the aggregated level of regions as well as on unravelling its relationship to region-internal knowledge resources and knowledge creation capabilities. The contribution to the research on the geography and role of R&D networks for regions is threefold: First, new approaches to measure network centrality and network proximity between regions are proposed in order to enhance the characterisation of network embeddedness also on the aggregated level. Both approaches are highly useful for modelling the effects of R&D networks within and across regions. Second, the determinants of regional embeddedness and its impacts on regional knowledge creation are investigated in a European context. Important empirical insights in the spatial and spatio-temporal evolution of the effects arising from EU-funded R&D networks, within and across regions, are provided. Third, the empirical results on the role of regional embeddedness in R&D networks, in particular regarding its conditional relationship with respect to region-internal knowledge generation factors, may contribute to further theoretical advancements in the question of how regional knowledge creation processes are understood. From these findings, important anchor points for conclusions in a European research and regional policy context become apparent.