European Research Networks, Innovation Capabilities and Territorial Dynamics: Evidence from Horizon 2020

The European Union Framework Programmes constitute one of the main instruments for promoting research and innovation at a supranational scale. Although their linkages with scientific and technological output are widely recognized, empirical evidence regarding the mechanisms connecting institutional participation, innovative performance, and territorial innovation dynamics remains limited. This study investigates these relationships using data from the 27 European Union member states and indicators associated with Horizon 2020. The analysis considers three dimensions of institutional participation—funding, projects, and participating organizations—and four innovative performance indicators related to traditional and green patents. The empirical strategy combines regression models, panel data models, feedback analyses, and spatial econometric diagnostics based on Moran’s I statistics and LM tests, using a collaboration matrix derived from Horizon 2020 project networks. The results indicate that project participation and organizational involvement show more consistent associations with innovative activity than funding volumes considered in isolation. However, the panel models reveal that these associations are concentrated in structural differences between countries rather than short-term temporal variations. The feedback analyses point to a bidirectional relationship between institutional participation and innovative performance, suggesting mutually reinforcing associations between technological performance and integration into research networks over time. The results also show that the observed associations are particularly relevant for green technologies. Finally, the spatial diagnostics indicate persistent patterns of relational concentration in both innovative capabilities and collaboration networks, though without robust evidence of residual spatial dependence in the estimated models. The study contributes to the literature on innovation systems and innovation policy by suggesting that supranational programmes operate less as direct mechanisms for resource transfer and more as institutional structures for coordination, integration, and the reinforcement of previously accumulated innovative capabilities.