Exploring Taxonomies and Governance Challenges of Sponsored R&D Consortia: Evidence from the EU Framework Program

This paper aims to explore the taxonomies of EU-funded R&D consortia. Detailed taxonomies are needed to fully understand sponsored consortia features in order to better address their governance challenges. This study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by highlighting the implications of public sponsorship and involving a large set of features related to several aspects of the consortium. Adopting an exploratory approach, we use the cluster analysis method for data analysis. Based on a sample of 207 observations of firms engaged in R&D consortia formed under the EU framework program (Horizon 2020 & Eureka), the results identify four groups of EU-sponsored R&D consortia. The findings show the influence of public sponsorship on the consortium taxonomy as well as the organizational pitfalls and solutions related to each consortium type. This research provides public policy-makers with key features of recent EU-funded R&D consortia and important elements to understand how they influence, through bureaucratic and institutional mechanisms, the consortium governance.