INDUSTRIAL USE OF PUBLIC-SECTOR RESEARCH IN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES - ACOMPARISON OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CERAMICS

Industrial use of public sector research (PSR) is characterised by con siderable diversity: both the nature and extent of linkage varies acco rding to, amongst other factors, firm size, industrial sector and rese arch field. The study reported here aims to understand better some of this diversity by comparing two fields - biotechnology and advanced ce ramics. It employs a methodology which focuses on the precise characte r of scientific and technological inputs (STI) which companies seek an d obtain during new product development. The results reveal significan t similarities between the technologies: the importance to innovation of a synthesis between formal knowledge and tacit firm-specific skills ; and the reliance on PSR for both new knowledge and new research tech niques and instruments. Variance in STI flows appears to be related to the particular character of new product development in the relevant i ndustrial sectors; differences in the development and dynamism of the technologies; and in the availability of requisite expertise and knowl edge in PSR.