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on Economics of Strategic Management |
| By: | Michele Cincera; Anabela Marques Santos |
| Abstract: | The aim of the paper is to explore which factors explain the reasons for firms’ decisions to delocalize their R&D activities outside or within the EU. Special attention is given to the influence of public policies to support R&D on the decisions to (de)localize R&D activities. The main source of information is “The EU survey on R&D Investment Business Trends” for the years 2007-2013. The methodology is based on a descriptive analysis of these surveys, on benchmarking with other economic studies in the field and a SWOT analysis of R&D activity location in the EU. The analysis reveals that the quality of R&D personnel and access to network knowledge (with firms, universities and public organizations) are the most important factors for locating R&D activities in a given region or country. Public support for R&D appears to be relegated to a secondary position in the decision to locate R&D activities. |
| Keywords: | R&D localization; public support; Europe |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ict:wpaper:2013/266751&r=cse |
| By: | Christian Rupietta (University of Wuppertal); Johannes Meuer (ETH Zurich); Uschi Backes-Gellner (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Amounting evidence shows how, that is the development and implementation of new organizational practices, processes, and structures, increase firms' propensity to develop new and improve existing products and processes. When investigating the initiators of organizational innovation, most research has focused on internal and external change agents at upper echelons neglecting hybrid change agents at lower echelons. We argue that hybrid change agents, because of their unique ability to integrate external and internal knowledge, are particularly important for organizational innovation and may positively influence the technological innovation process. We examine how apprentices in the Swiss VET system, key individuals who integrate external knowledge through school-based education with internal knowledge through on-the-job training, moderate organizational innovation's influence on technological innovation. Drawing on a sample of 1,240 firms, we show that apprentices leverage the positive effect of innovations in a firm's business processes and organization of work on incremental innovations. We contribute to the literature on complementarities between organizational and technological innovation by revealing how different types of organizational innovation affect technological innovation across the innovation process. Moreover, by revealing the significant role of apprentices, as hybrid change agents at the lower echelons, for a firm's innovation activities, we also contribute to the current debate on the salience of VET systems for a knowledge-based economy. |
| Keywords: | Hybrid change agents, technological innovation processes, organizational innovation, Vocational Education and Training (VET), apprenticeships |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0145&r=cse |
| By: | Cristiana Benedetti Fasil (European Commission - JRC); Federico Biagi (European Commission - JRC); Mark Boden (European Commission - JRC); Peder Christensen (European Commission - JRC); Andrea Conte (European Commission - JRC); Francesco Di Comite; Xabier Goenaga Beldarrain (European Commission - JRC); Mathieu Doussineau (European Commission - JRC); Issam Hallak (European Commission - JRC); Fernando Hervas (European Commission - JRC); Koen Jonkers (European Commission - JRC); Pietro Moncada Paterno Castello (European Commission - JRC); Giuseppe Munda (European Commission - JRC); Miguel Sanchez Martinez (European Commission - JRC); Robert Marschinski (European Commission - JRC); Valentina Montalto (European Commission - JRC); Michela Nardo (European Commission - JRC); Daniel Nepelski (European Commission - JRC); Dimitrios Pontikakis (European Commission - JRC); Katarzyna Szkuta (European Commission - JRC); Daniel Vertesy (European Commission - JRC); Thomas Zacharewicz (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | The present report discusses innovation challenges under the following headings: The 3% R&D target and industrial structure: is it still a relevant goal? if we cannot achieve the 3% target, does it make sense to keep it? Technology diffusion: how can we combat its sluggishness and speed up adoption? Access to finance: is the large amount of liquidity being funnelled to "zombie" companies instead of highly innovative ones? Universities and skills: are higher education institutions adequately playing their role in driving innovation? The governance of the R&I system: how to remove administrative barriers and increase flexibility? Can SSH research contribute more to shaping R&I policies? |
| Keywords: | Innovation, research, policy |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc108368&r=cse |
| By: | Asongu, Simplice; Tchamyou, Vanessa; Acha-Anyi, Paul |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the knowledge economy (KE) performance of lagging African countries vis-à-vis their frontier counterparts with regard to the four dimensions of the World Bank’s knowledge economy index (KEI). The empirical exercise is for the period 1996-2010. It consists of first establishing leading nations before suggesting policy initiatives that can be implemented by sampled countries depending on identified gaps that are provided with the sigma convergence estimation approach. The following are established frontier knowledge economy countries. (i) For the most part, North African countries are dominant in education. Tunisia is overwhelmingly dominant in 11 of the 15 years, followed by Libya which is a frontier country in two years while Cape Verde and Egypt lead in a single year each. (ii) With the exception of Morocco that is leading in the year 2009, Seychelles is overwhelmingly dominant in ICT. (iii) South Africa also indomitably leads in terms of innovation. (iv) While Botswana and Mauritius share dominance in institutional regime, economic incentives in terms of private domestic credit are most apparent in Angola (8 years), the Democratic Republic of Congo (3 years) and Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Malawi (each leading in one year). |
| Keywords: | Knowledge economy; Benchmarks; Policy syndromes; Catch-up; Africa |
| JEL: | O10 O30 O38 O55 O57 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84043&r=cse |
| By: | Jing Chen (Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University); Randall Jackson (Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University) |
| Abstract: | The year 2015 marked the fiftieth anniversary of West Virginia University’s (WVU) Regional Research Institute (RRI), which has played an important role in many scientific collaboration networks. Through social network analysis (SNA) focusing on the RRI research community since its inception in 1965, this article illustrates the role that organizations and the networks they promote can play in scientific problem domains, promoting scholarly collaborations and coauthorship in the field of regional science. We analyzed an evolving WVU RRI coauthorship network that has grown and gained in complexity over time in terms of (1) global metrics, (2) components and cluster analysis, (3) centrality, and (4) PageRank and AuthorRank. The results of these analyses depict a well-developed and influential scientific collaboration structure within both WVU and the regional science research community. |
| Keywords: | coauthorship, regional science, social network analysis, Regional Research Institute |
| JEL: | R00 O18 A12 B31 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rri:wpaper:2016rp03&r=cse |
| By: | Max Nathan (University of Birmingham); Anna Rosso (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | Policymakers need to understand innovation in high-profile sectors like technology. This can be surprisingly hard to observe. We combine UK administrative microdata, media and website content to develop experimental measures of firm innovation – new product/service launches – that complement existing metrics. We then explore the innovative performance of technology sector SMEs – firms also of great policy interest – using panel fixed effects settings, comparing conventional and machine-learning-based definitions of industry space. For companies with event coverage, tech SMEs are substantially more launch-active than non-tech firms, with suggestive evidence of firm-city interactions. We use instruments and reweighting to handle underlying event exposure probabilities. |
| Keywords: | innovation, ICT, data science |
| JEL: | L86 |
| Date: | 2017–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:429&r=cse |
| By: | Gabriel Rissola (European Commission - JRC); Hank Kune; Paolo Martinez |
| Abstract: | The present Methodology Handbook is conceived to encourage regions and cities from all over Europe to adopt the Innovation Camps methodology as a tool to address collectively and effectively societal and economic challenges concerning local societies in a European context - notably in the field of Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3) through an open, collaborative and inclusive Entrepreneurial Discover Process (EDP) between Quadruple Helix actors (i.e. government, industry, academia, and civil society). |
| Keywords: | smart specialisation, S3, entrepreneurial discovery process, EDP, quadruple helix, QH, 4H, participatory approach, stakeholders engagement, collaboration, co-creation, policy innovation, regional innovation, regional development, urban development |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc102130&r=cse |
| By: | Smriti Sharma; Finn Tarp |
| Abstract: | Using novel data from micro, small, and medium firms in Viet Nam, we estimate the relationship between behavioural and personality traits of owners/managers—risk attitudes, locus of control, and innovativeness—and firm-level decisions. We extend the analysis beyond standard metrics of firm performance such as revenue and growth to study intermediate investments, including product innovation, worker training, and adoption of workplace safety measures that are potentially conducive to observed firm performance. Our results show that innovativeness and locus of control are positively correlated with revenue while risk aversion predicts lower revenue. Risk aversion is positively correlated with the adoption of safety measures. Innovativeness, as expected, is associated with an increased probability of product innovations. An internal locus of control predicts higher probability of investments, innovations, and worker training. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that innovativeness and risk aversion matter more for firm outcomes in provinces characterized by better business climate. Our results are robust to a variety of checks. We contribute to a nascent and rapidly growing literature on the importance of managerial capital by shedding light on the role of managerial personality characteristics for decision-making in firms in a dynamic transition economy. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2018-17&r=cse |
| By: | Castaldi Carolina (School of Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology); Mafini Dosso (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the links between the market capability of top corporate R&D investors (EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboards), as captured by trademark data and their economic performance in terms of net sales growth. It provides empirical evidence to better understand the extent to which companies, operating in different industrial sectors, combine technological capabilities with commercialization efforts to generate and appropriate the economic returns of their R&D investments. This paper shows how different dimensions of firms’ market capabilities can be captured through trademark indicators. The results suggest that complementing R&D efforts and patenting activities with strong and specific market capabilities can indeed yield significant growth premiums. Moreover, offering services seems to pay off depending on the intensity of R&D investments. Yet, a quantile regression approach and a series of robustness checks indicate that such effects differ across the quantiles of the conditional sales growth distribution. |
| Keywords: | R&D, trademarks, innovation, sales, services |
| JEL: | O32 O34 L10 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201801&r=cse |
| By: | Kul B. Luintel; Mosahid Khan |
| Abstract: | Research and development (R&D) activities of emerging countries (EMEs) have increased considerably in recent years. How important are knowledge transfers from developed countries and other emerging countries? This wide-ranging but rigorous macro-level study of 31 EMEs provides some much-needed evidence. |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wip:wpaper:35&r=cse |