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on Small Business Management |
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Issue of 2013‒05‒11
nineteen papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Lilian Santos (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto); Aurora A.C. Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Porto; OBEGEF; UTEN) |
| Abstract: | The acknowledged importance of innovation and the increasingly decisive role played by the service sector make innovation an issue of major relevance to the economy. Using a sample of 6593 companies that answered the Community Innovation Survey 2008, we assessed the determinants of innovation of Portuguese companies by comparing the service sector and other sectors of activity (specifically, manufacturing industry, utilities and construction). Among the main results obtained, we highlighted: 1) the non-linear impact of human capital on the innovation performance of companies – Master degree emerges as a critical factor in corporate innovation, whereas the PhD level is negatively related to companies innovation performance; 2) knowledge-sourcing activities (systematic R&D achievements, innovation-based training, purchase of machinery and equipment for innovation) appear as central to firms’ innovation process; 3) although university-company relationships are weak and have a neglible impact on the generality of companies’ propensity to innovate, they tend to be rather important for the innovation performance of services companies; 4) participation in innovation activities in cooperation with foreign partners appears as a key factor in the innovative performance; 5) companies in the service sector in general, and in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services in particular, that effectively and continuously invest in R&D activities are most innovative. |
| Keywords: | Innovation performance; Services; Types of innovations; Innovation determinants; Portugal |
| JEL: | O31 O32 L25 L80 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:494&r=sbm |
| By: | Peter Voigt (University of Barcelona); Pietro Moncada-Paterno-Castello (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates how sector composition and the magnitude of R&D investment in the EU may differ in 2020 in comparison to the past, if a selection of top R&D-investing SMEs were assumed to be on a fast growth track while the top R&D-investing large-scale companies continue to grow as before. The background of this research objective is the emerging focus on SMEs – and in particular the fast-growing among them – with regard to the "Europe 2020" policy strategy. The study relies on the sample of top R&D-investing firms as given by the latest available "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" editions, building there from an unbalanced panel. Scenarios were developed by distinguishing SMEs' assumed growth paths vs. that of large scale companies. A lin-ear prediction model has been used to calculate the scenario simulations. Overall, the study indicates that if one expects the (R&D-intensive) small firms to be a driving force for a substantial structural change in the EU economy, from being driven by medium-tech sectors towards a high-tech based economy, it requires either a significant longer-term horizon of the assumed fast growth track than the simulated 10 years, or small firms' growth figures which even exceed the assumed annual 30% (as in the most optimistic scenario). Neither case appears to be particularly realistic. Hence, we need more top R&D investors in Europe to further intensify their engagement in R&D (increasing volume and R&D intensity) as well as numerous small firms that start and/or significantly increase their existing R&D activities and thus seek to become large firms and (global) leading R&D investors. Accordingly, a broad R&D and innovation (policy) strategy is needed with policy interventions which also target well all these options; i.e. stimulating firm growth and R&D and innovation-intensity across firm-sized classes. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Economics, Corporate R&D and innovation; productivity; business trends; technological innovation; intangible assets; competitiveness; growth and employment; company growth; Europe 2020 strategy. |
| JEL: | L11 L25 R38 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc69761&r=sbm |
| By: | Daria Ciriaci (Inter-American Development Bank); Fernando Hervas Soriano (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This Policy Brief presents recent results on the impact of training, marketing and design expenditures on European firms' innovative performance. The new evidence drawn from recent JRC research suggests that these expenditures, in combination with R&D, are crucial drivers of innovation. Drawing on these results, policy implications for the European Research and Innovation Agenda are discussed and additional research questions identified. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Economics, Corporate R&D and innovation; productivity; business trends; technological innovation; intangible assets; competitiveness; growth and employment; company growth; Europe 2020 strategy. |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc75493&r=sbm |
| By: | Chiara Franco (Catholic University of Milan); Alberto Marzucchi (Catholic University of Milan); Sandro Montresor (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The paper aims at extending the analysis of the firm’s absorptive capacity (AC) by taking stock of its manifold nature. Innovation cooperation is recognised as one of its antecedents, along with R&D, but with different possible outcomes, depending on the kind of partner. Human capital is claimed to be as important as other organisational mechanisms for the AC impact on innovation. The empirical application, carried out on about 10,500 firms located in 3 EU countries (i.e. Germany, Italy and Spain), confirms the role of these factors. Interacting with research organisations, for example, increases the firm’s AC providing it occurs within the national boundaries. The transformation of AC into actual innovation is favoured by the human capital of the firm, while it is actually hampered by socialisation mechanisms of an organisational nature. |
| Keywords: | Absorptive capacity, Innovation cooperation, Human capital |
| JEL: | O33 O32 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc77090&r=sbm |
| By: | d'Artis Kancs (JRC-IPTS); Boriss Siliverstovs (ETH Zurich - KOF Swiss Economic Institute) |
| Abstract: | The present paper studies the relationship between R&D investment and firm productivity growth by explicitly accounting for non-linearities in the R&D-productivity relationship and inter-sectoral firm heterogeneity. In order to address these issues, we employ a two step estimation approach, and match two firm-level panel data sets for the OECD countries, which allows us to relax both the linearity and homogeneity assumptions of the canonical Griliches (1979) knowledge capital model. Our results suggest that: (i) R&D investment increases firm productivity with an average elasticity of 0.15; (ii) the impact of R&D investment on firm productivity is differential at different levels of R&D intensity – the productivity elasticity ranges from -0.02 for low levels of R&D intensity to 0.33 for high levels of R&D intensity; (iii) the relationship between R&D expenditures and productivity growth is non-linear, and only after a certain critical mass of R&D is reached, the productivity growth is significantly positive; (iv) there are important intersectoral differences with respect to R&D investment and firm productivity – high-tech sectors’ firms not only invest more in R&D, but also achieve more in terms of productivity gains connected with research activities. |
| Keywords: | R&D investment, firm productivity, generalised propensity score |
| JEL: | C14 C21 D24 F23 O32 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc77247&r=sbm |
| By: | Alberto Marzucchi (Catholic University of Milan); Davide Antonioli (University of Ferrara); Sandro Montresor (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to show how policy makers can stimulate firms' cooperation with research organisations in innovation. We argue that the administration of an R&D subsidy can be effective. Furthermore, this should be more so for extra-regional than intra-regional cooperation. The firms' propensity to extend cooperation across the region is assumed to increase with the amount of support. However, the support must overcome a threshold, for firms to cover the fixed costs of distant interactions. These research hypotheses are tested with respect to a sample of firms in a region of Italy. Propensity score matching is applied to identify the impact of the subsidy receipt. A generalised propensity score technique is employed to investigate the effect of an increasing amount of support. All the hypotheses are not rejected. Firms' cooperation is policy sensitive, but the size of the support is crucial for its effects. |
| Keywords: | Industry-Research Cooperation, Regional Innovation Systems, Behavioural Additionality |
| JEL: | O32 O38 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc76320&r=sbm |
| By: | Fernando Hervas Soriano (JRC-IPTS); Joerg Zimmermann (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This report presents the findings of the seventh survey on trends in business R&D investment. These are based on 187 responses of mainly larger companies from the 1000 EU-based companies in the 2011 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. These 187 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €56 billion, constituting around 40% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies. The main result is that these top R&D investing companies expect their global R&D investments to grow by 4% annually from 2012 to 2014. The average share of sales coming from new innovative products and services was 18%, varying from 33% in high R&D intensity sectors to 10% in low R&D intensity ones. The differences between the sectors were not in all cases related to R&D intensity or net sales of the companies but rather seemed to reflect different sectoral innovation cycles. Collaboration agreements are considered a more important form of knowledge sharing activities than licencing (except for high R&D intensity sectors), which could be a sign of the increasing importance of open innovation. For the impact of factors and policies on the company’s innovation activities, national public support had the most positive effect, followed by availability of qualified personnel and EU public support. As in previous surveys, labour costs and conditions of IPR (enforcement, time and costs) continued to be perceived as negative factors for company innovations. This reveals the importance of fostering an efficient IPR regime for companies’ innovation activities. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Economics, Corporate R&D and innovation; productivity; business trends; technological innovation; intangible assets; competitiveness; growth and employment; company growth; Europe 2020 strategy. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc72991&r=sbm |
| By: | Link, Albert N. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Scott, John T. (Dartmouth College) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we overview a key national program that supports the development of new technology and innovation in small, entrepreneurial firms. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was established by the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982. We conclude from our years of study of the SBIR program that it is indeed bending the arc of innovation. The majority of firms that received SBIR project funding reported that they would not have undertaken the project in the absence of SBIR support. And, it seems clear to us that the SBIR support has had a positive impact on the employment trajectory of firms and on their ability to commercialize innovations resulting from their funded research. |
| Keywords: | SBIR program; innovation; technology; entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | L26 O31 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2013–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2013_008&r=sbm |
| By: | Daria Ciriaci (Inter-American Development Bank); Pietro Moncada-Paterno-Castello (JRC-IPTS); Peter Voigt (University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This study examines serial correlation in employment, sales and innovative sales growth rates in a balanced panel of 3,300 Spanish firms over the years 2002-2009, obtained by matching different waves of the Spanish Encuesta sobre Innovacion en las Empresas, the Spanish innovation survey conducted annually by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). The main objective is to verify whether the changes (increase/decrease) in these figures are persistent over time, whether such persistence (if any) differs between SMEs and larger firms, and if it is affected by a firm's age. To do so, we adopted a semi-parametric quantile regression approach. This methodology is well suited to cases where outliers (high-growth firms) are the subject of investigation and/or when they have to be assumed as being very heterogeneous. Empirical results indicate that among those innovative firms experiencing high employment growth, the smaller and younger grow faster than larger firms, but the jobs they create are not persistent over time. However, while being smaller and younger helps growing more in terms of employment and sales, it is not an advantage when innovative sales growth is considered: in this case larger firms experience faster growth. |
| Keywords: | Serial correlation; quantile regression model; Spanish firms; firm size, firm age; job creation; fast growing firms. |
| JEL: | L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc74052&r=sbm |
| By: | David Carey; Christopher Hill; Brian Kahin |
| Abstract: | The US innovation system has many strengths, including world class research universities and firms that thrive in innovation-intensive sectors. However, fissures have begun to appear, notably in the areas of human capital development, the patent system and manufacturing activity, while public investments in R&D and research universities are at risk of being curtailed by budget cuts. Revitalizing the dynamism of innovation has become a priority for US policymakers. To this end, it is important that federal and state governments sustain financial support for knowledge creation. The US workforce’s skills will need to be upgraded, especially in STEM fields, and measures taken to provide more favourable framework conditions for developing advanced manufacturing in the United States. While the recent patent reform is a big step in the right direction, patent reform needs to be taken further by ensuring that the legal standards for granting injunctive relief and damages awards for patent infringement reflect realistic business practices and the relative contributions of patented components of complex technologies.<P>Renforcer l'innovation aux États Unis<BR>Le système d’innovation des États-Unis possède de nombreux atouts, en particulier des universités de recherche de rang mondial et des entreprises dynamiques dans les secteurs à forte intensité d’innovation. Cependant, certaines failles commencent à apparaître, notamment en termes de formation du capital humain, de brevets et d’activité manufacturière, et les investissements publics en faveur de la R-D et des universités de recherche risquent de pâtir des réductions budgétaires. Pour les décideurs américains, réactiver la dynamique de l’innovation est devenu une priorité. À cette fin, il importe que le gouvernement fédéral et les exécutifs des États continuent de soutenir financièrement la création de connaissances. Il faudrait améliorer le niveau de qualification de la main-d’oeuvre, en particulier dans le domaine des sciences, de la technologie, de l’ingénierie et des mathématiques (STIM), et prendre des mesures pour assurer la mise en place de conditions-cadres plus favorables au développement de la fabrication de pointe. La récente réforme des brevets représente un grand pas dans la bonne direction, mais elle doit être poursuivie en garantissant qu’en cas d’atteinte à un brevet, les critères juridiques sur lesquels se fondent les tribunaux pour prendre des décisions conservatoires et accorder des dommages-intérêts reflètent les pratiques effectives des entreprises et les contributions relatives des composantes brevetées des technologies complexes. |
| Keywords: | innovation, entrepreneurship, patents, R&D, green innovation, knowledge spillovers, MFP growth, complex technologies, cluster, advanced manufacturing, tertiary education attainment, STEM, immigration Visa, R&E tax credit, innovation, entrepreneuriat, brevets, R&D, l'innovation verte, crédits d'impôt pour R&E, externalités de connaissances, croissance de la productivité multifactorielle (PMF), pôles d'entreprises, activités manufacturières de pointe, niveau d'éducation tertiaire, STIM, visa d'immigration |
| JEL: | I2 O3 |
| Date: | 2012–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1001-en&r=sbm |
| By: | Aaron Chatterji; Edward L. Glaeser; William R. Kerr |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews recent academic work on the spatial concentration of entrepreneurship and innovation in the United States. We discuss rationales for the agglomeration of these activities and the economic consequences of clusters. We identify and discuss policies that are being pursued in the United States to encourage local entrepreneurship and innovation. While arguments exist for and against policy support of entrepreneurial clusters, our understanding of what works and how it works is quite limited. The best path forward involves extensive experimentation and careful evaluation. |
| JEL: | H70 L26 L52 L53 M13 O25 O38 R00 R10 R12 R50 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19013&r=sbm |
| By: | T. VANACKER; V. COLLEWAERT; I. PAELEMAN |
| Abstract: | In this study, we seek to further delineate factors that condition the relationship between slack resources and firm performance. To do so, we develop and test a model that establishes the role of venture capital (VC) and angel investors as powerful external stakeholders who positively moderate the slack-performance relationship. In addition, we provide more insight into this relationship by examining differences between these two types of private investors and by examining the role of their ownership stakes. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 1,215 private firms, including VC-backed firms, angel-backed firms and similar firms without such investors. We find that the presence of VC investors positively moderates the relationship between both financial and human slack resources and firm performance, while angel investors only positively moderate the effect of human resource slack. Further, VC investors are only marginally better at helping entrepreneurs to extract value from human resource slack than angel investors and they are no better when it comes to financial slack. Finally, we find that the impact of financial and human resource slack on firm performance is more positive in VC-backed firms when investors hold high ownership stakes, an effect which is significantly stronger than when angel investors hold high ownership stakes. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:13/837&r=sbm |
| By: | Fernando Hervás Soriano (JRC-IPTS); Peter Voigt |
| Abstract: | The aim of CONCORD-2011 was to provide a forum for an academic discussion about recent findings on the role of R&D and innovation in terms of industrial dynamics and company growth. From the 102 abstracts sub-mitted in response to the initial call, 30 papers were selected and subject to a detailed presentation and discussion during the Conference. In addition, 20 posters were displayed. The conference was structured along three thematic strands: IV. R&D and innovation: Sources and constraints at company level V. Industrial dynamics & the role of R&D and innovation for Europe's competitiveness VI. New avenues for policy and for management practices The papers and the presentations during the conference examined very different topics and issues, ranging from evidence of certain sector specifics in terms of industrial innovation to broad systemic issues. At the same time, the papers shared a common methodology: they were all empirical, based on relatively unique (micro) datasets, and most of them used advanced econometric tools. This methodological consistency was very welcomed and contributed positively to the scientific quality of the conference. Obviously, data limitations prevented some papers from going too far in terms of interpretations and policy implications. In some cases, in fact, the unavailability of longitudinal datasets hindered a better investigation of causal links rather than focusing on simple correlations. This was the case, for instance, in terms of several analyses on the EU innovation deficit. The scientific findings come to reinforce the broad existing evidence on the subjects covered and, in a number of cases, present conclusions with clear policy implications, as illustrated in this report. This synthesis is structured along the logic of the three thematic strands of CONCORD-2011: (1) micro-level evidence and firm behaviour, (2) evidence at mesolevel, i.e. sector and industry dynamics, and (3) evidence from the assessment of concrete policy tools and management practices. Along the text, reference is made to the papers from which the corresponding evidence and conclusions were extracted. The list of papers is provided in Annex I. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Economics, Corporate R&D and innovation; industrial R&D investment; economic performance of the private sector; business trends; research; innovation; competitiveness; growth; scoreboard; survey; economic analysis; policy analysis; Europe 2020 strategy |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc68674&r=sbm |
| By: | Daria Ciriaci (Inter-American Development Bank); Daniela Palma (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | The rise of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) may be considered as one of the decisive trends of economic evolution of industrialised countries in recent decades. This paper uses the concept of vertical integrated sectors and the subsystem approach to input-output matrix analysis to study the vertical integration of knowledge-based business services into manufacturing sectors. To date, companies increasingly rely on outside innovation for new products and processes and have become more active in licensing and selling results of their innovation to third parties. At the same time, they may rely on the marketing and financial consulting offered by third parties. As a consequence, considering manufacturing and KIBS as vertically inter-related sectors, the hypothesis of a virtuous circle can be expressed in the following way: the higher the degree of integration between KIBS and manufacturing sectors along what we could define as a ‘knowledge-based value chain’, the easier the knowledge diffusion and the competitiveness of the economic system as a whole. The study covers Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom over the period 1995-2005. Results decisively support both the existence of structural differences among the countries considered, and a significant heterogeneity to the extent to which manufacturing outsources to knowledge-intensive business services. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge-intensive business services; subsystem approach; input-output analysis; knowledge diffusion |
| JEL: | L60 L84 O33 O32 P00 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc71097&r=sbm |
| By: | Jeitschko, Thomas D.; Zhang, Nanyun |
| Abstract: | The conventional wisdom is that the formation of patent pools is welfare enhancing when patents are complementary, since the pool avoids a double-marginalization problem associated with independent licensing. This conventional wisdom relies on the effects that pooling has on downstream prices. However, it does not account for the potentially significant role of the effect of pooling on downstream innovation. The focus of this paper is on downstream product development and commercialization on the basis of perfectly complementary patents. We consider development technologies that entail spillovers between rivals, and assume that final demand products are imperfect substitutes. When pool formation facilitates information sharing and either increases spillovers in development or decreases the degree of product differentiation, patent pools can adversely affect welfare by reducing the incentives towards product development and product market competition|even with perfectly complementary patents. The analysis modifies and even negates the conventional wisdom for some settings and suggests why patent pools are uncommon in science-based industries such as biotech and pharmaceuticals that are characterized by tacit knowledge and incomplete patents. -- |
| Keywords: | Patent Pools,Research and Development,Innovation,Tacit Knowledge,BioTechnology,Pharmaceutical |
| JEL: | O3 L1 L2 L4 L6 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:92&r=sbm |
| By: | Zhu Wang (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond); Daniel Yi Xu (Duke University); Luis Cabral (New York University) |
| Abstract: | Taking the early U.S. automobile industry as an example, we evaluate two competing hypotheses on geographic concentration of industry: local externalities versus employee spinoffs. Our findings suggest that both forces contribute to industry agglomeration through their specific channels, and the spinoff effect can be viewed as a special form of local externalities. Calibrating our model to the quantitative pattern of industry evolution reveals that traditional local externalities are main driving forces of agglomeration. Particularly, the local economy and related industries play an important role by fostering new entrants. Spinoffs play a secondary role and contribute to an increased concentration at later stages of the industry life cycle. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed012:615&r=sbm |
| By: | Maliranta, Mika |
| Abstract: | In this study, the patterns of occupational restructuring and their micro-level mechanisms are examined by applying standard measures of job and worker flows at the occupation and firm levels using longitudinal employeremployee data from the Finnish business sector for the years 2000-2006. Special attention is given to determining how global firms (i.e., multinational enterprises and offshoring firms) contribute to occupational restructuring and to establishing the role of occupational structures when explaining productivity and profitability gaps between global and local firms. The findings indicate that global firms have contributed to reshaping occupational structures, and although this contribution is clearly reflected in their productivity, it is not as clearly reflected in their profitability.The findings imply that employees have captured a dominant share of the productivity advantage of global firms. |
| Keywords: | globalization, offshoring, occupational restructuring, productivity, profitability |
| JEL: | J24 F23 |
| Date: | 2013–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:5&r=sbm |
| By: | Van den Berg A.; Grift Y.; Van Witteloostuijn A.; Boone Ch.; Van der Brempt O. |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we contribute to the extant Industrial Relations literature, which is almost completely confined to estimating the effects of worker participation within a single country, by conducting a comparative multi-country study using unique data from the European Company Survey 2009. We compare representation regimes within the European Union. We categorize the EU Member States into five clusters with similar participation characteristics: the Germanic, French, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and transition cluster. Across these clusters, we first estimate the effects of the presence of what we refer to as an information and consultation body on firm performance, measured by economic performance of the establishment as assessed by managers-respondents. Second, we estimate the effects of managerial attitudes on performance, as we assume – and find – that only taking into account the mere presence of a worker representation is insufficient, as mutual understandings between management and employee representatives affect the functioning of the employee representation body, and hence firm performance. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2013008&r=sbm |
| By: | Nikulainen, Tuomo; Tahvanainen, Antti-Jussi |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to identify factors that relate to scientists’ propensity to make commercially significant scientific discoveries (inventions) and to describe how these inventions are commercialized. Based on a large survey of academics active in different fields of science at U.S. universities, the paper benchmarks the top 20 universities against the rest, identifying the impact of different institutional settings. To highlight the institutional setting, the paper also compares these results to similar survey data from Finland, representing a small, highly educated European country. This comparison addresses the ‘European paradox’ in university technology commercialization, which is characterized by high investments in university research and disappointingly low levels of inventions and related commercialization activity. The results show that the likelihood of making commercially valuable scientific discoveries in the U.S. is driven by motivations related to the identification of commercial opportunities and working in interdisciplinary research environments. There are also significant differences between the various fields of science. In the top U.S. universities, the funding sources for scientists more likely to make inventions are more diversified and unique. The results for Finland are surprisingly similar, suggesting that the cause of the ‘European paradox’ seems to originate in the commercialization of inventions rather than their generation. When focusing on inventors who actively pursue commercial goals, both U.S. and Finnish inventors prefer licensing as the most popular way of taking scientific discoveries to the market. Consulting and entrepreneurship rank second and third, respectively. The countries differ with respect to both the inventors’ motivations to commercialize inventions and their reasons to refrain from it. In Finland, the motivations for not pursuing commercial opportunities are much more prominent than among U.S. scientists. |
| Keywords: | academic inventions, innovation, commercialization of research, academic entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | O30 O38 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2013–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:8&r=sbm |