Publications
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Sources of Knowledge Used by Entrepreneurial Firms in the European High-Tech Sector
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between an entrepreneur's experience and education and his/her reliance on… Show more alternative sources of knowledge for exploring new business opportunities. The extant literature that is at the crossroads between sources of knowledge and the experiential and intellectual base of an entrepreneur (i.e., dimensions of his/her human capital) suggests that it is through experience and through education that an entrepreneur obtains knowledge. Using information on a sample of high-tech manufacturing firms across 10 European countries, we explore heterogeneities in the influence of experience, age, and education of the firm's primary founder on the perceived importance of (i.e., use of) alternative sources of knowledge. We find that the association of these characteristics differs significantly across sources of knowledge, and across European regions. Education is positively related to the importance of knowledge from research institutes and internal know-how, while age is negatively related to the importance of research institutes and positively related to publications and conferences. On the one hand, in South/East European countries, the importance of internal know-how is positively associated with age and education, but negatively associated with experience. On the other hand, the characteristics of primary founders of North/West European firms are more linked to the importance of the participation to funded research programmes. This source of knowledge is related positively with age and education and negatively with experience Show less
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Persistent heterogeneity of R&D intensities within sectors: Evidence and policy implications
Do firms in the same sector converge towards the same R&D intensities? Previous research has often assumed this to be… Show more true. A closer examination, using microdata from the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard for the years 2000-2015, shows a large amount of heterogeneity in R&D intensities among firms in the same sector, and that this heterogeneity persists over time. Statistical tests of convergence show that the variation in R&D intensities does not decrease over time (i.e. no s-convergence), although firms with an R&D intensity below the industry average do seem to catch up with the leaders (i.e. evidence of ß-convergence). Overall, firms in the same industry do not converge to a common R&D intensity. Policy implications are discussed. Show less
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European R&D networks: A snapshot from the 7th EU Framework Programme
Recent empirical studies have investigated the territorial impact of Europe's research policies, in particular the contribution of the European Framework… Show more Programmes to the integration of a European Research Area. This paper deepens the analysis on the integration and participation of peripheral regions, by focusing on the differences in intensity and determinants of inter-regional collaborations across three groups of collaborations. We consider collaborations among more developed regions, between more and less developed regions, and among less developed regions. Building on the recent spatial interaction literature, this paper investigates the effects of physical, institutional, social and technological proximity on the intensity of inter-regional research collaboration across heterogenous European regions. We find that the impact of disparities in human capital and technological proximity on regional R&D cooperation is relevant and differs across subgroups of collaborations. Moreover, despite the efforts of integrating marginal actors, peripheral regions have lower rates of collaborations. Show less
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Manufacturing the future: is the manufacturing sector a driver of R&D, exports and productivity growth?
Many industrialized countries in Europe and North America have experienced a steady decline in the manufacturing sector over the last… Show more few decades. Amid growing concerns that outsourcing and offshoring have destabilized European economies, policymakers have suggested that a large manufacturing sector can: i) boost R&D, ii) encourage exporting, and iii) raise productivity. We examine these claims. Non-parametric plots and regressions show a robust positive association between the manufacturing sector and Business R&D expenditures (BERD), while the relationship between manufacturing and exports or productivity is more elusive. Finally, we explore whether a manufacturing sector target of 20% of value-added will help reach a BERD target of 3% of GDP. Show less
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PDF The 2017 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The 2017 edition of the EU R&D Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) comprises the 2500 companies investing the largest sums in R&D… Show more in the world in 2016/17. These companies, based in 43 countries, each invested over €24m in R&D for a total of €741.6bn which is approximately 90% of the world's business-funded R&D. They include 567 EU companies accounting for 26% of the total, 822 US companies for 39%, 365 Japanese companies for 14%, 376 Chinese for 8% and the rest-of-the-world (RoW) for 13%. Show less
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EU corporate R&D intensity gap: structural features call for a better understanding of industrial dynamics
In order to achieve its 3% target of R&D intensity and boost its competitiveness and job creation, the EU needs… Show more to adapt its industrial structure and increase economic activity in the high-R&D-intensive sectors. A focus on fostering the conditions for the creation and growth of 'new-emerging innovative sectors' (NEIS) is recommended. Show less
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Disentangling the processes of firm growth and R&D investment
Headlines Sales growth kick-starts the growth process, having large effects on subsequent growth of capital expenditures, R&D investment, employment and operating… Show more profits. Policy interventions designed to boost business R&D investment should seek to remove the obstacles to firm growth, because it is sales growth that drives R&D investment. If Europe is to have 'smart growth' whereby firms growth occurs alongside investments in R&D and innovation, there is a key role of demand. Show less
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PDF Trademark patterns of top R&D-driven innovators. World Trademark Review, Issue 60, April/May 2016, pp. 19-22
Historically, studies seeking to map innovation levels at the corporate level have focused on the prevalence of patent rights and… Show more other indicators. In recent years, though, a growing number of studies in the field of economics of innovation have paid more attention to trademark-based indicators as a proxy for companies' innovative activities. There are many reasons for this, including trademarks' importance in the commercialisation phase of innovations, their wide use across different sizes of firms and types of industry, their direct links with products and the fact that they can be used to protect innovations that are not always patentable. This note considers trademark activity at industry and company levels and compares the trademarks and R&D activity of the top 20 R&D investors. Further research is needed but the findings confirms the role of trademarks as a key intangible asset in the corporate strategies of R&D-driven innovators. Show less
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PDF A reappraisal of the impact of corporate R&D and innovation on employment
The aim of this report is to provide updated quantitative and qualitative analyses of the impact of corporate R&D and… Show more innovation on employment in industries and firms in the European Union member states. Over the last decades, the paradigm based on ICT and automation has led to a dramatic adjustment of the employment structure raising again a widespread fear of an upcoming "technological employment". After a critical survey of the more updated empirical evidence on the topic, new econometric analyses (longitudinal data), based on a dynamic labour demand, are provided. The first one is at the sectoral-level and uses OECD STAN-ANBERD data; the second one is at firm-level and uses European R&D top-performers Scoreboard data. In addition, two microeconometric studies, based, respectively, on Italian and Spanish firm-level data, are provided. Finally, in order to offer evidence of the "qualitative" impact of innovation, a tentative study matching, at the sectoral-level, OECD STAN-ANBERD and EU-SILC data, has been provided. Overall, R&D seems to have a positive and significant impact on employment, especially in high-tech industries. Moreover, R&D positively affects the categories of tertiary educated workers, high-skilled white-collars and the employees handling non-routinized tasks. Show less
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My First Employee: An Empirical Investigation. Small Business Economics, forthcoming. DOI:10.1007/s11187-016-9748-3
The challenge for solo entrepreneurs to add their first employee is arguably the single biggest growth event facing any growing… Show more firm. To understand how this event affects performance, and the antecedents of hiring, we analyse Danish matched employer–employee data. Those who hire enjoy superior sales outcomes in subsequent years, while the dispersion in profits increases. Furthermore, those that hire enjoy faster sales growth in the previous year, suggesting that sales growth precedes the first hire. Finally, we show that founders with a stronger profile in terms of education and previous income are more likely to increase profits, while the characteristics of the employee are less important. The latter finding is important from a job creation perspective, in light of the suggested sorting of more marginalized employees into new and established firms. Show less