First draft- Please do not cite without permission of the authors We apply social network analysis methods to describe the evolution of the innovator network of Jena, Germany in the period from 1995 to 2001. We find this evolution to be directed towards an increasing focus on core competencies of the local innovation system. Further we analyze the network resulting from R&D cooperations and explain- by means of network regression techniques- that the job mobility of scientists and the technological overlap between the actors, rather than past cooperations, can best predict the resulting structure. We also observe an increasing importance of the university while the former “Kombinate ” begin to lose their prominent role.

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Innovation is associated to high cost and high level of risk. Many rms cannot nance this activity with internal nancial resources. They need outside investors to nance their innovative projects. Venture capitalist funding seems to be an appropriate alternative especially when the rm is young. In this paper we study the relationship between a rm's innovation activity and venture capital. We have used di erent databases on innovative activity and venture capital nancing in France's manufacturing sector for the period 1993-2006. First we examine the e ect of venture capital nancing on innovation, and second the impact of rms ' innovation on venture capitalists ' behaviour towards these rms. Our results show that the presence of venture capitalists enhances the innovation intensity of a rm. Innovation is also an indicator that attracts venture capitalist.

Firms often cooperate explicitly in certain interactions, such as research joint ventures, while competing in other markets. Cooperation in research and development can allow firms to internalize the external benefits of knowledge creation and increase the returns from R&D expenditures. Such cooperation may spill over to facilitate collusion in the market, however, potentially lowering welfare and efficiency. This paper uses a laboratory experiment to examine if sellers successfully coordinate to fund a joint research project to reduce their costs, and how this collaboration affects their pricing behaviour. The experiment includes control treatments with separate R&D cooperation and markets. Our results show that although subjects usually cooperate when given an opportunity, cooperation is less common when they also compete in the market. Communication between individuals improves cooperation in all environments, particularly when the market is present. Nevertheless, the data provide no evidence of seller collusion in the market.