RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT AND REGIONAL NETWORKS DYNAMICS IN DUTCH PHARMACEUTICAL-INDUSTRY

National conditions, particularly regulation, have been an important f actor in the competitiveness of the Dutch pharmaceutical industry in t he past decades. Regulation had no uniform impact on the sector, as wi tnessed by a loss of strength in the innovative segment and a gain in strength in the segment producing generic drugs. New product technolog y is the major basis for competition in the innovative segment. This k nowledge is highly specialized and often protected against a free flow . Consequently, regional networking between companies can only be rele vant for related companies within the same corporation. Since the late 1980s, there has been a trend for out-sourcing-of R&D to universities , associated with different needs in the various stages of R&D. In som e respects, there is a poor match between demand and supply of knowled ge. Both at the national and regional level attempts are now being mad e in order to improve the economic use of knowledge.