Regional planning of R&D and science–technology interactions in Andalucia: a bibliometric analysis of patent documents

Abstract

Andalucia is a southern European LFR (less‐favoured region) with a high degree of self‐government that has allowed it to design its own R&D policies that complement those implemented throughout Spain and the European Union (EU). Recently the Regional Government passed the Third Andalucian Research Plan 2000–2003, an R&D planning instrument that, as has become customary in previous Plans, attributes considerable budgetary weight to the scientific aspects of the science–technology–industry system (Andalucia allocates more of its own resources to promoting research than any other region in Spain). This paper provides deeper insight into the role played by science in driving the technological development of Andalucia, one of the LFRs of the EU. The aim was to answer five fundamental questions: How is basic science utilized by industry in Andalucia? Which sectors are the most dynamic in the employment of scientific know‐how? Which scientific fields are most in demand by industry? Which types of institution utilize scientific knowledge most profusely? What delay is there in incorporating science into technology? The methodology that has been applied for investigating the links between science and technology is based on scientific citations in patent documents (NPC). The results in this article provide relevant information about the interconnection of scientific and technological systems and thus constitute a good point of reference for the development of future R&D plans.

Notes

Pursuant to Art. 13.29 of the Statute of Autonomy, the Andalucian Regional Government (Junta de Andalucía) has exclusive jurisdiction over research and its institutions, subject to the provisions of Art. 149.15 of the Spanish Constitution, which gives the State exclusive jurisdiction over the promotion and general coordination of scientific and technical research. The coordination of the scientific policies of the State Ministries and the Regional Governments is regulated by the ‘Science Act’ (Law 13/1986, dated 14 April), which is the legal framework within which the current 3rd Andalucian Research Plan (PAI) was drawn up. The PAI is planned, coordinated and monitored by the Interdepartmental Science and Technology Committee, which is formed by representatives from each Department and chaired by the Councillor of Education and Science. Consequently, here the planning process is controlled by educational rather than industrial interests, as in other Autonomous Regions of Spain.

Two problems are usually adduced in relation to this model (Malecki, 1997, p. 52): the first is the exaggerated emphasis placed on basic scientific research as the source of new technologies; the second, a purely technocratic point of view of innovation, as the path for the production of a new technical instrument. The theoretical background of this model rests on the neo‐classical postulates (free availability of scientific knowledge), in which the justification for public intervention is based on the need to correct the failures of the market.

The common characteristic of the new theories of innovation and technological change is the perception of innovation as a complex process that involves elements of uncertainty and of accumulation of knowledge (Dosi et al., 1988, p. 222). The majority of authors concur in identifying the work of Dosi et al. (1988) as the point of origin of these ideas. The ideas of Freeman (1990, 1994) are also solid contributions to the definition of the characteristics of innovation. The work published by the group of Danish economists of the University of Aalborg, led by B.A. Lundvall, on the ‘learning economy’ have provided a solid theoretical framework for explaining innovation from the evolutionary perspective, defining it as a process of learning that generates cumulative knowledge and in which the institutions play an essential role.

All the theoretical arguments outlined here would be sterile if regional policy decision‐making bodies lacked sufficient room for manoeuvre to bring into play the measures necessary to implement the plans to reinforce research, technological development and innovation. As we shall analyse later in this paper, in Andalucia, as in other Autonomous Regions of Spain, this room for manoeuvre does exist.

The document in question is the 3rd PAI (http://www.cec.junta‐andalucia.es/dgui/pai_iii/pai‐IIICG.pdf).

For example, the limited availability of patents in particular technological fields owing to the rapid advance of certain technologies and the consequent time‐lag in the publication of the patent documents, the legal context of patents (their obligatory nature, and the responsibility of including discussion of the prior art, utility, novelty, etc. of the invention), the social nature of the process (involvement of various actors‐inventor, examiner, attorney, etc.) are integral elements in the development of the patent and exert influence on its final form. In addition, there are differences in national practices (different patent offices have different working methods; it is well known that, in USPTO patents, the frequency of citations is higher in comparison with EPO patents).

An extensive review of this methodology is to be found in Acosta and Coronado (2003).

These 500 patents are those that refer to Andalucia as the place of residence of the first applicant; this procedure of indicating area of residence became general from 1988 onwards; therefore the true number of patents registered by residents of the Region in the period 1984–1989 is larger than the figure used here.

The patents have been classified in accordance with a suitable criterion to distinguish between five technological areas and thirty sub‐fields based on the International Classification of Patents (IPC). This classification has been produced jointly by the FhG‐ISI, the French Office of Patents (INPI), and the Observatory of Sciences and Techniques (OST).

In order to allocate a scientific citation to one or other scientific field, the authors sought the help of specialists from the University of Cádiz and the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC—Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas).