Publications
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1. The birth of new HGEs (2021): internationalization through new digital technologies
This paper explores the relationship between new digital technologies, internationalisation activity and its impact on High Growth Enterprises (HGEs), using… Show more the EIB Group Survey of Investment and Investment Finance and ORBIS data for 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom. After controlling for sample selection bias, our results suggest that being a HGE is positively associated with the probability that a firm conducts international activities, particularly FDI. Conversely, the internationalisation process seems to trigger strong subsequent firm-growth only for FDI, not for exports. Furthermore, we show evidence on the positive association between firms that are internationalised and those adopting new digital technologies. The adoption of new digital technologies is indirectly related to the status of being a HGE via internationalisation activity in the current period. Our results highlight the complex influence of exporting and FDI on the capacity to become a HGE and the role of new digital technologies in this process. Show less
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PDF Policy Brief: GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS AND INNOVATION NETWORKS IN THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL ERA
This policy brief provides insights into several issues from a policy perspective that are closely related to the implementation of… Show more I4.0 in the European context of digitalisation. The successful implementation of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) within the European Union (EU) should build upon existing global innovation networks (GINs) and global value chains (GVCs) and the ecosystem of EU firms, especially in the manufacturing industry where I4.0 could play an important role. Due to the large share of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that define the EUs competitiveness, it is vital to integrate I4.0 by ensuring these companies can benefit from their efforts in implementing it and create and offer value. It is important to address training, requalification and workers’ concerns about I4.0 in order to support its implementation while maintaining the EU social model. Harnessing the EU’s strength in industrial application, while bearing in mind its lag in traditional ICT industries, could make I4.0 a viable policy option ensuring future leadership of the European economy, if certain factors discussed in this policy brief are included in future industrial policies. Show less
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PDF Technological and innovation challenges for industry: Science for policy insights
This JRC Science for Policy report addresses the technological and innovation challenges that the EU industry has to face during… Show more the next decade. The report focuses on the following themes: Technology diffusion and industrial dynamics; Innovation and company value chains; Financing innovation; Industrial innovation for transitions and transformation; Employment and skills for industrial transformations; Integration of global to local industrial innovation perspectives; and new data, standards and methods. Show less
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A Preliminary Index of SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Testing Patents
Diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is an important part of the management of the current pandemic. In this paper we reason… Show more that previous knowledge in diagnostic testing for Coronaviruses (such as MERS-Cov and SARS-Cov) might prove critical to the development and deployment for COVID-19 testing. By extracting keywords from this knowledge, we construct an indicator of inventive activity in the area of Coronavirus diagnostic tests and analyse this over time and measure where this knowledge is located in the world, with potentially important implications for the development and deployment of diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2. Show less
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Deriving new anticipation-based policy instruments for attracting research and development and innovation in global value chains to Europe
In this paper, we discuss new anticipation-based policy instruments to improve the attractiveness of Europe for innovative activities in a… Show more world of accelerating innovation. The case studies and interviews with company representatives which we collected in relation to developments in Global Value Chains Journal Pre-proof (GVC) show a high level of interest in these new anticipatory policy instruments. Since the companies analysed are active in different sectors and Research and Development and Innovation (R&D&I) Global Value Chains, we suggest that the policy instruments and options discussed be linked with current and future sectoral initiatives organised within the framework of the Smart Specialisation Strategy. This gives numerous established and new stakeholders from business, politics, science and society across Member States, regions and cities, and from outside the EU, the chance to develop bright ideas for new products, services, processes and employment, and to work in a well-structured and open-minded environment. In addition, this participatory, foresight-based approach helps regions to approach their development systematically in new fields of innovation and industry which are appropriate for the region's innovation ecosystem and for their stakeholders. This approach fits very well with the new innovation and foresight labs which are currently extremely popular in companies highly active in R&D&I. These labs have a highly experimental character and lots potential for gamechanging innovations. The same approach might be necessary for an ambitious policy to upgrade European industry and R&D&I capabilities in order to tap into transnational corporations' GVCs by creating a process for engaging, anticipating, assessing and responding on an ongoing basis. Show less
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The 2020 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The main objective of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) is to benchmark the performance of EU innovation-driven… Show more industries against main global counterparts. The 2020 edition of the Scoreboard analyses the 2500 companies investing the largest sums in R&D in the world in 2019. A main difference in the presentation of data in this Scoreboard edition regards the new composition of the EU following the departure of the UK on 31 January 2020. Henceforth, in this report, the EU is understood as EU27 (i.e. without the UK). The 2020 Scoreboard total R&D is equivalent to approximately 90% of the world’s business-funded R&D. The sample includes 421 companies based in the EU, accounting for 20.9% of the total R&D in the sample, 775 US companies (38.5%), 309 Japanese companies (12.7%), 536 Chinese (13.1%) and 459 from the rest of the world (14.8%). This is the tenth consecutive year of R&D increases driven by R&D investments in ICT, Health and Automotive industries. Companies based in the EU increased significantly R&D (5.6%) but well below the US (10.8%) and Chinese companies (21%) rates. Show less
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PDF The 2020 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends
This fifteenth Survey on Industrial R&D investment trends has been separated into two dedicated questionnaires, one related to the impact… Show more of the COVID-19 pandemic (45 responses) and one regular R&D Survey (61 responses). The participating EU firms expect R&D investment to rebound by 7% in 2021 after a small decrease in 2020. While the impact on employment (both R&D and non-R&D) for the financial year of 2020 is expected to be small, the impact on Capital expenditures and Net Sales show more negative expectations, with foreseen decreases of 4.5% and 5.9%. Show less
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How the “EU Innovation Champions” successfully absorbed and reacted to the shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
• The COVID-19 pandemic presented great challenges, but also opportunities, to SMEs across Europe. • We examine how the “European Innovation… Show more Champions” successfully absorbed and reacted to the shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. • Five different paradoxical behaviors (i.e., planning, liquidity, time and velocity, partnership, resources and technology) characterized the European Innovation Champions during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. • We distill 10 management principles representing key actions and decisions that allowed the European Innovation Champions to manage each paradox. • This report provides policymakers and business leaders both within and outside the European Union with insights to enhance the capability of SMEs to succeed through a crisis. Show less
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The role of gender in linking external sources of knowledge and R&D intensity
Scholars examining the effect of knowledge spillovers on R&D and innovation all agree on one thing--there is a strong relationship… Show more between the firm's R&D effort and knowledge spillover. The sign of this relationship depends, however, on many things, such as the type of spillovers (horizontal, vertical, or from other sources), the level of appropriability , the type of firm (e.g., age and sector), and the measurement of the spillover itself. A missing piece of evidence to this literature is the role of gender in the founding team of the firm. Our contribution is to fill this gap by explicitly analyzing the role played by gender in the founding team. Given that the relationship between a firm's R&D intensity and external knowledge spillovers is ultimately context-specific, we analyse the differences between male-owned and female-owned young entrepreneurial firms with respect to the influence that knowledge spillovers have on their R&D intensity. Show less
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Regulations and technology gap in Europe: the role of firm dynamics
In this paper, we develop a new firm-level measure of distance to the productivity frontier that accounts for international technology… Show more spillovers stemming from the use of imported intermediate goods. The trade-weighted technological distance to frontier is matched with sector- and country-level data on regulation and firm dynamics (entry and exit rates) of 16 European countries. Using our measure of trade-adjusted technology gap, we investigate the role of labour, capital, and product market regulatory frameworks in the technology catch-up process, gauging the effect of firms' dynamics in mediating and moderating the impact of regulation on the technology gap. Our study offers a novel perspective and insights to the analysis of the link between framework conditions and technological distance to frontier. While most scholars argue that less regulation always favours productivity growth and the diffusion of technology, our results provide a more nuanced picture. Deregulation is not a one-size-fits-all solution that leads to faster technology diffusion, instead heterogeneity in business dynamism and countries' regulatory structures need to be considered. Show less