Ownership and Execution of Regional Corporate R&D - Methodological Hints from the Italian Case

The paper aims to provide methodological suggestions on the measurement of regional corporate R&D, by using a new approach to disentangle corporate R&D by region of ownership and of execution. We make distinction in the concepts: what we call “region of ownership” is where the R&D performer has its registered office and “region of execution” is where the R&D actually takes place. This duplicity allows for the calculation of three regional indicators: regional R&D Autonomy, regional R&D Inward and regional R&D Outward. Using micro-data for Italy in the period 2001-2005, a high level of R&D concentration in a few Italian regions is confirmed; furthermore, information on the strengths and weaknesses of Italian regions are added, addressing regions’ R&D performance as not univocal but representing a complex phenomenon. The growing importance of regional figures at the EU level asks for a more refined overview of economic phenomena, included Science and Technology ones. Given its general approach and the reference to official statistics, the methodology is considered replicable at international level and overtime.