RAND Europe was established in 1992 as an international, not-for­profit research organisation and has its head office in Cambridge (United Kingdom). RAND Europe is the European subsidiary of the RAND Corporation, and can benefit from nearly 60 years of policy analyses in a wide range of areas.

The mission of RAND Europe is to conduct objective, independent, high-quality policy analysis that informs public and private sector decision-making throughout Europe.

• Objectivity means that our research methods are empirically based and logically consistent, and that the assumptions underlying our analyses are explicit. Our objectivity is maintained through our policy of fully describing our methods and assumptions.
  
• Independence means we have no stake in the outcomes of our research and that our conclusions are based upon our objective analyses. Our independence has been demonstrated repeatedly and consistently, and is respected throughout the governmental and private sectors.
  
• High quality standards are the foundation for all RAND work. A strong quality assurance program and rigorous internal and external peer review - as well as a policy of extensive public dissemination of our research results - have consistently affirmed the quality of the work on which our findings rest.

RAND, the parent organisation of RAND Europe, is located in Santa Monica, California, USA, and was chartered in 1948 as a non-profit research institution to "further promote scientific, educational, and charitable purposes." It provides objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. Through independent research and analysis, RAND provides decision makers and the public with a better understanding of the policy issues surrounding significant concerns. RAND , including RAND Europe, has a record of accomplishment in many policy areas (in addition to the primary foci of RAND Europe), including criminal and civil justice, education and training, economic development, environmental protection, and international security issues.

UNU-MERIT is a research and training centre of United Nations University.

UNU-MERIT was formally established on 1 January 2006 following the integration of the former UNU- Institute for New Technologies in Maastricht and the Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, MERIT. UNU-MERIT is located at, and works in close collaboration with the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands.

UNU-MERIT focuses on the particular role of science, technology and innovation, in the broadest sense, in bringing about development and the improvement of social welfare at the national and international level. It addresses how individuals, private and public organizations, institutions, and countries at all stages of development, can make better use of knowledge to create and enhance growth and development opportunities.

Located in the centre of Europe, UNU-MERIT explores how a diverse range of countries - developing nations, emerging and transition economies, as well as industrialized economies in Europe - some of which have been lagging behind while others have forged ahead - can catch up in the global, unequal playing field of the 21 st century, without increasing inequality and social exclusion. UNU-MERIT seeks to demonstrate how social inclusion and the widening of access to knowledge can be fully integrated into economic development theory and policy advice. The Centre's research and policy work brings to the forefront the particular role of the state, of the structure and governance of national institutions, their characteristics, and their effectiveness, to inform emerging economies on how they can catch up and compete at the technological frontier.