THE IMPACT OF RESEARCH SPONSORSHIP UPON RESEARCH EFFECTIVENESS

Abstract

This study investigates how the relationship between the nature of sponsorship and research effectiveness varies according to four categories of R&D project characteristics; research stage, research object, research area, and the status of the research in advanced countries according to the technology life cycle. In this study, the existing concepts of 'demand-pull' and 'technology-push' are reexamined from the perspective of research sponsorship, which classifies research projects as either 'user-activated' or 'researcher-activated project'. The findings suggest that in the case of basic research, researcher-activated projects have a higher degree of achievement of technological objectives, while in applied and development research, user-activated projects have more commercial success. Process development research has a high rate of technical success when it is researcher activated, while product development has a high rate of commercial success, when user activated. Parts and components development shows no significant differences between the two project types. Concerning research area, user-activated projects in chemistry and chemical engineering and food and biological engineering have a higher degree of technical success, while user-activated projects in electronics and electrical engineering and mechanical engineering have a higher degree of commercial success. As regards the technology's stage in the technology life cycle in advanced countries, user-activated projects in all stages have a higher degree of achievement for commercial success than for technical success.