Research networks of pharmaceutical firms: Geographical patterns of research collaboration within and between firms

Industry's scientific output in terms of research articles are one of industry's collaborative quantifiable research outcomes. Large-scale systemic measurements of worldwide trends and sectoral patterns can be disclosed from scientific and technical articles that are (co)authored by industrial researchers and published in the peer-reviewed international scientific journals. Co-authored research papers are assumed to signal research cooperation and associated knowledge flows and exchanges. We focus our attention on the large science-based Pharmaceuticals multinational enterprises (MNEs) that are active in many countries and produce many research articles - either with partners both within the MNE and/or with external partners within the private sector. The study is based on research articles jointly written by corporate researchers and published in peer-reviewed scientific and technical journals during 1996-2001. The network analyses of co-publication linkages indicate structural differences between types of Pharmaceuticals MNEs and geographical regions. A general typology is developed of MNEs in terms of their patterns of research cooperation linkages. Separate aggregate analyses are conducted for exemplars of each type broken down by the geographical region in which the partnering companies are located. Some patterns indicate a centralized research cooperation profile; others reflect geographical dispersion of research partners - both within and outside the NINE.