Abstract. Since the 1980s Spain has developed an ambitious road building programme with the construction of approximately 12,000 km of new motorways. This article analyses the factors related to the placement of these new motorways during two distinct planning periods from 1983 to 1993 and 1994 to 2004. Motorway placement strongly followed the existing radial road network dating back as far as…

Abstract. This paper presents an analytical framework for the comparative analysis of National Research Systems. We follow evolutionary accounts of the research system in combination with insights from functionalist economics of innovation and organisational theorists. We also illustrate the potential use of this framework by applying it to an analysis of the Chinese research system's…

Abstract. This article explains the existence of policy gridlock in systems with divided government, even when there are policies that are universally preferred to the status quo. It is shown analytically that one dimension of party institutionalization (the degree of party-voter discipline) may create incentives for veto players to block policies that, ideologically, they might like. This is the…

Abstract. This paper analyses relationships between university research performance and concentration of university research. Using the number of publications and their citation impact extracted from Scopus as proxies of research activity and research performance, respectively, it examines at a national level for 40 major countries the distribution of published research articles…

Abstract. An overview is given of research in the major countries of Europe in the area of renewable energies. The analysis used the Scopus (Elsevier) database of scientific literature, calculating bibliometric indices (primary production, average citations per document, percentage variation, SJR, etc.) for the geographical domain of Europe during the period 2002–2007. The aim of the study is to…

Abstract. Patent citations added by examiners are often used as indicators of technological impact and knowledge flows, despite various criticisms. In this study we analyze the distribution of examiner patent citations according to patent characteristics in order to show their limitations. According to our findings, the number of applicant citations included is dependent on the science-base of the…

Abstract. After reviewing the Kyoto Protocol rules for carbon sequestration accounting and the different carbon accounting methods proposed in the literature for forest management, for reforestation and, more recently, for avoided deforestation or degradation, we discuss possible carbon accounting rules for a post-Kyoto world. We then apply the results of this discussion to micro-applications in…

Abstract. A bibliometric analysis of the 50 most frequently publishing Spanish universities shows large differences in the publication activity and citation impact among research disciplines within an institution. Gini Index is a useful measure of an institution’s disciplinary specialization and can roughly categorize universities in terms of general versus specialized. A study of the…

Abstract. In a recently published Blog, de Moya Anegon (2011) presents aggregated bibliometric data for 50 countries worldwide having the highest paper output in the period 2004…

Abstract. This paper develops the concept of ‘shadow landscape’ in order to describe the essential otherness and seemingly distinctive if ever contingent properties of in-between rural places characterised by historical depopulation and cultural marginalisation. It does so first of all through a critically sympathetic assessment of how these areas have been portrayed in the fields of political…