Scientific research groups’ cooperation with firms and government agencies: motivations and barriers

The behavior of academic researchers who engage in cooperation with industrial partners has already been the subject of considerable research. A lack of understanding exists regarding the motivations of scientific research groups to engage in cooperation with other types of external non-academic organizations and the perceived barriers that may inhibit this activity. In this paper we analyse the motivations and perceptions of risks that shape scientific research groups’ cooperation with industry and government partners. We find that motivations to cooperate are partly dependent on the type of partner organization involved, with advancing research goals mainly acting as an inducement to cooperate with government agencies, while searching for opportunities to apply knowledge motivates partnerships with firms. We also find that the majority of research groups cooperate with both firms and government, with their major motivation being to apply their knowledge. Among research groups that only cooperate with firms, interaction effects between motivations influence the likelihood of cooperation. Research groups do not consider risk to scientific autonomy a barrier to cooperating with firms, while risk to scientific credibility inhibits cooperation independently of the type of external partner. However, being motivated to advance research can reduce the effect of perceived barriers, independent of the type of partner organisation.     

Taiwan and East Asian Security

This article offers an assessment of cross-Strait relations almost 30 months into the Ma Ying-jeou administration, and two years before Hu Jintao likely will begin to give up the titles that make him China's paramount leader. The article briefly describes the essential character of cross-Strait relations before President Ma came to office; reviews what has happened during his administration; clarifies what this process represents; examines what might happen in the future, and concludes with implications for other countries— particularly the United States.     

Full circle: New principals and old consequences in the modern diplomatic system

Originally written for a conference marking the 350th anniversary of the treaties of Westphalia, the article argues that, although the surrounding circumstances are very different, there are some interesting parallels to be drawn between the problems of the early seventeenth century and those of the end of the twentieth. The principal shared characteristic is that power was then and is now on the move between one type of institution and another. This resulted and results in the development of unusually complex relationships between new institutions unfamiliar with each other and a continuing need for them to deal with decaying but surviving entities from the past. In such circumstances both the structures for forming and managing policy and the machinery for conducting relations underwent and are undergoing marked and stressful change, as the old strives to adjust and the successors attempt to construct new and appropriate means of representation. Where the Westphalian period, under the pressure of state formation began the construction of ministries with sole responsibility for foreign affairs, the present period is seeing a corresponding dismantling of the autonomous foreign ministry under the pressure of globalization. In diplomatic services a similar correspondence may be seen: state services decline, but private entities, whether commercial or civil, are beginning to create means of representing themselves both to each other and to national governments: old problems, but new principals.     

Australia and China： A Joint Report on the Bilateral Relationship

The authors of this article believe that all sectors should play an active role in supporting serious,mature discussions about how to improve bilateral relations and expand areas of cooperation based on mutual acknowledgement of differences and disagreements.Regular face-to-face contact at all levels is also necessary.     

Feeling Blue: Officer Perceptions of Public Antipathy Predict Police Occupational Norms

American Journal of Criminal Justice - Recent protests against law enforcement have spurred claims by practitioners and editorialists that public antipathy toward the police may influence police...