Are firms withdrawing from basic research? An analysis of firm-level publication behaviour in Germany
(2021) In Scientometrics 126(12). p.9677-9698- Abstract
Previous research has expressed concerns about firms engaging less in basic research. We contribute to this debate by studying trends in the scientific publishing activities of firms located in Germany. Our results indicate that the firms’ aggregate volume of scientific publications stayed constant between 2008 and 2016. However, the number and share of publishing firms declined, and publication activities became more concentrated among publishing firms. Beyond that, we observe positive trends in publishing in basic research journals compared to journals focused on applied research, and publishing in collaboration with academic partners compared to publishing alone. Thus, our results paint an ambiguous picture. While they do not confirm... (More)
Previous research has expressed concerns about firms engaging less in basic research. We contribute to this debate by studying trends in the scientific publishing activities of firms located in Germany. Our results indicate that the firms’ aggregate volume of scientific publications stayed constant between 2008 and 2016. However, the number and share of publishing firms declined, and publication activities became more concentrated among publishing firms. Beyond that, we observe positive trends in publishing in basic research journals compared to journals focused on applied research, and publishing in collaboration with academic partners compared to publishing alone. Thus, our results paint an ambiguous picture. While they do not confirm a decrease in firms’ basic research engagement in the aggregate, the figures document a concentration of publishing activities on fewer firms. We argue that this concentration of basic research activities in firms may pose a threat to the longer-term innovativeness of the German economy.
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- author
- Krieger, Bastian ; Pellens, Maikel ; Blind, Knut ; Gruber, Sonia and Schubert, Torben LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-10-09
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Basic research, Corporate publishing, R&D strategy
- in
- Scientometrics
- volume
- 126
- issue
- 12
- pages
- 9677 - 9698
- publisher
- Akademiai Kiado
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85116727376
- ISSN
- 0138-9130
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11192-021-04147-y
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This study was funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research; grant number: 01PU17008. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
- id
- d3a616e3-fa6f-4bcd-8fcd-cdbb04cb9b8e
- date added to LUP
- 2021-10-27 10:22:33
- date last changed
- 2024-01-20 15:10:09
@article{d3a616e3-fa6f-4bcd-8fcd-cdbb04cb9b8e, abstract = {{<p>Previous research has expressed concerns about firms engaging less in basic research. We contribute to this debate by studying trends in the scientific publishing activities of firms located in Germany. Our results indicate that the firms’ aggregate volume of scientific publications stayed constant between 2008 and 2016. However, the number and share of publishing firms declined, and publication activities became more concentrated among publishing firms. Beyond that, we observe positive trends in publishing in basic research journals compared to journals focused on applied research, and publishing in collaboration with academic partners compared to publishing alone. Thus, our results paint an ambiguous picture. While they do not confirm a decrease in firms’ basic research engagement in the aggregate, the figures document a concentration of publishing activities on fewer firms. We argue that this concentration of basic research activities in firms may pose a threat to the longer-term innovativeness of the German economy.</p>}}, author = {{Krieger, Bastian and Pellens, Maikel and Blind, Knut and Gruber, Sonia and Schubert, Torben}}, issn = {{0138-9130}}, keywords = {{Basic research; Corporate publishing; R&D strategy}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{10}}, number = {{12}}, pages = {{9677--9698}}, publisher = {{Akademiai Kiado}}, series = {{Scientometrics}}, title = {{Are firms withdrawing from basic research? An analysis of firm-level publication behaviour in Germany}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-04147-y}}, doi = {{10.1007/s11192-021-04147-y}}, volume = {{126}}, year = {{2021}}, }