Publications
-
List item
PDF R&D and Innovation across Global Value Chains: Insights for EU Territorial Innovation Policy
Firms organise innovation activities across a wider range of geographically dispersed and specialized units, as compared to previous decades. Moreover… Show more corporate innovation processes are broken up into ever finer stages and tasks at the global scale. The global dispersion of R&D and innovation activities occurs at a higher pace and goes hand in hand with a stronger regional polarization. Yet, corporate R&D remains a domestic activity, although functional and industry-specific patterns can be observed. The increased internationalisation of R&D and innovation activities does not imply the hollowing-out of domestic ones. Foreign innovation activities may actually support domestic increases in innovation. The internal and external connections of national and regional systems matter for their innovation performance. The quality of the regional learning and innovation systems is important to attract "relevant activities or segments" of the GVC. On the other hand, better connecting regions to the global innovation network is important for local growth and employment. The extent to which firms co-locate production and innovation activities depends on industry, product and process-specificities. Evidence is needed on how R&D and innovation activities are sliced and diced across GVCs, on how these global corporate dynamics interact with national and regional innovation systems and on how they impact on local growth and employment. Show less
-
List item
PDF Significant Business R&D Growth in 2016
This document shows first estimates on territorial R&D funded by the business sector, based on recent R&D and patent data… Show more from a representative sample of worldwide companies from the EU R&D Scoreboard. R&D funded by the business sector increased in the EU by 3.2%, below the 5.7% global rate and the US R&D growth (4%). As in the previous year, the worldwide growth of industrial R&D in 2016 was driven by ICT related industries. Among the three EU largest countries in terms of industrial R&D investment, Germany showed higher growth rates than France and the UK. However, only France recorded a better performance for 2016 compared to the previous year. Show less
-
List item
PDF 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
-
List item
PDF 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… Show more operating 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
-
List item
PDF Top R&D investors' location decisions: How to succeed in the global regulatory contest?
Headlines Product regulation policies and employment policies show strong combined effects on decisions regarding top R&D investment locations. The higher… Show more the level of product market regulation (PMR), the higher the negative effect of employment protection legislation (EPL), and vice-versa. Reforms in these two policy areas should therefore be coordinated to be more efficient. Scientific evidence suggests a threshold of product regulation above which existing employment policies can start deterring investment decisions. Some Member States would particularly benefit from diminishing current levels of product regulation. Lowering barriers to trade and investment is more effective for attracting knowledge-intensive foreign investment than reducing the cost of starting a business or deducing the corporate income tax rate. Show less
-
-
List item
PDF Industrial Research and Innovation: Evidence for Policy
This policy brief addresses the results of the fifth European Conference on Corporate R&D and Innovation CONCORDi 2015, on 'Industrial… Show more Research and Innovation: evidence for policy'. Taking stock from the underlined background issues, the document presents the main evidence-based insights for policy drawing upon the contributions and debates. It also highlights the main implications for industrial and innovation policies making and for the science-policy interface. A series of open questions for policy and evidence makers conclude the brief. Show less
-
List item
PDF Leading R&D Investors for the Dynamics of Innovation Ecosystems
This policy brief discusses the key role of large R&D investors in the dynamics of innovation ecosystems. In a context… Show more of accelerated technological change and increasing global competition, firms should develop complex innovative solutions requiring the interaction of multiple-players. Therefore, knowledge integration becomes a key strategic dimension to keep the edge in the global competition and ecosystems of innovation are privileged 'places' where it can be organised in a way that ensures the creation of a higher collective value. Evidence shows that leading R&D investors can play a pivotal role in the establishment and development of such ecosystems, by bringing the necessary assets (resources, knowledge, capabilities and leadership) to activate their dynamics (along the three dimensions of interdependence, integration and initiative). This brief identifies a number of policy interventions to support the functioning of such innovation ecosystems and calls to tailor the interventions in accordance to the stage of development of the given ecosystem. Show less
-
List item
PDF Innovation, competitiveness and growth without R&D? Analysis of corporate R&D investment - A country approach: Italy
The objective of this policy brief is to analyse the status of private R&D investment in Italy based on recent… Show more evidence and to indicate possible policy actions to boost private R&D investment. For our analysis, we rely on microdata from an unbalanced 10 years' panel data-set (2004-2013), built using several waves of the European Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. Moreover, we also take into consideration other sources of quantitative and qualitative information (e.g. OECD, ISTAT, EUROSTAT, ERAWATCH Country Report Italy 2013, State of the Innovation Union 2014), and recent academic literature on the topic. In this document we argue that: i) innovation in firms' without their engagement in R&D activities is not sustainable in the medium and long term; ii) the Italian R&D and innovation (and competitiveness) gap is due to 'systemic'/structural reasons and thus targeted high quality policies are needed to address these issues; iii) such policy interventions will have little positive impact without comprehensive reform aimed at improving the innovation environment as a whole. Careful design of an 'innovation strategy' that includes support for R&D is needed. This strategy should be fine-tuned to tackle the actual specificities of the Italian economic context and its R&D-led innovation difficulties. Show less
-
List item
PDF Boosting the EU Attractiveness to International R&D Investments: What matters? What works?
The Policy Brief discusses recent evidence on patterns and trends in the internationalisation of EU corporate R&D activities and the… Show more factors which drive location choices. This evidence suggests that boosting international investment in R&D activities requires a combination of policy measures aimed at enhancing the knowledge base of locations, and investment promotion policies tailored to investors from different countries. The policy mix should include measures aiming at improving the efficiency of national and regional innovation systems, particularly through: a) Increasing the quality of education systems and skills, to enable the emergence of centres of research excellence, b) Facilitating the clustering of R&D activities, given the importance of proximity for knowledge spillovers. Show less