#[This book] addresses the relevant topic of collaborations in research and development at two complementary levels. First, it focuses on their determinants, performance and impact through a survey of more than 500 companies in seven European countries and through case studies on several research joint ventures. Second, it examines public policy in support of R&D cooperation in various European countries and by doing that it emphasizes similarities and differences. Thus, the book represents a very rich and insightful analysis of the characteristics of collaborations in research. The conclusion that one can draw from this work is that research collaborations are now a pervasive and diffused way to get access to knowledge and generate innovation, but that firms differ widely in the motivations for collaborations and the benefits gained, and governments follow a wide variety of policies in this respect . . . No doubt this book greatly advances our understanding about the characteristics and policy aspects of collaborations in R&D.# # From the foreword by Franco Malerba The last twenty years have witnessed a tremendous increase in industrial collaboration in research and development (R&D) both in Europe and the world at large. Firms have increasingly opted for collaboration in an effort to deal with the uncertainties that stem from rising research costs, rapid technological change and the development of a network economy. Governments have been quick to support this trend in order to promote competitiveness and, in the European context, to foster cohesion.