New article by Joern Hoppmann on funding of research institutes published in Research Policy

In the article, entitled "Hand in hand to Nowhereland? How the resource dependence of research institutes influences their co-evolution with industry," Joern Hoppmann draws on a comparative case study of the world's two largest research institutes for solar photovoltaic power to study how differences in their financial resource dependence influence patterns of co-evolution. The study shows that when a research institute is heavily reliant on industry funding, it leads to close co-evolution of science and industry, thereby raising the risk of a mutual lock-in into specific technologies. A heavy reliance on public funding, on the other hand, contributes to the decoupling of science and industry evolution, which entails the risk of research having limited impact on practice. By developing a framework that shows how co-evolution between science and industry is affected by resource dependence, the study contributes to the literature on science-industry collaboration, co-evolution, and technological paradigms. Moreover, the study bears important implications for policy makers and managers of research institutes interested in spurring technological change toward sustainability.

The article can be downloaded for free until January 13, 2021, Download here