Innovative Events

We take a fresh look at firms’ innovation-productivity linkages, using novel data capturing new aspects of innovative activity. We combine UK administrative micro data, media and website content to develop experimental metrics – new product / service launches – for a large panel of SMEs. Extensive validation and descriptive exercises show that launches complement patents, trademarks and innovation surveys. We also establish connections between launches and previous innovative activity. We then link IP, launches and productivity, controlling for media exposure and firm heterogeneity. Launch activity is associated with higher SME productivity, especially in the service sector. High-quality launches and medium-size firms help drive this result.

Who is innovating and how in the education sector? Combining subject and object approaches

The choice between the subject and the object approaches and their combination is one of the challenges designers of innovation surveys face. Although it is encouraged by the Oslo manual, the combined use of these two approaches is rare. The paper presents a large scale education sector innovation survey using these approaches simultaneously in a matched employer/employee data collection with a special focus on small innovations initiated at grassroots level.

Innovation Surveys as Evidence for Technological Upgrading and Catch-Up Studies

This chapter looks at the contribution to the innovation capability measurement that is made through innovation surveys. The increased availability of data at the firm level provides new and comprehensive indicators on the accumulation of innovation capabilities. Better understanding of long-term dynamics and the heterogeneity of sectoral trajectories of innovation capabilities sets the stage for adaptable and targeted innovation policy and facilitates new insights on the technology upgrading and economic catch-up mechanics. The chapter presents an approach to assessing innovation capabilities at the national and sectoral levels using composite indicators of output-based innovation modes and illustrates the proposed ideas using the data from the Russian innovation survey. The proposed indicators bring empirical evidence to the discussions of path dependence and gradual change in the technological upgrading studies. Identification of the heterogeneity of innovation capabilities at firm and industry level contributes to a more profound understanding of the upgrading dynamics and helps to draw implications for effective policymaking.

Cooperation and novelty innovation: a study for Argentina

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the influence of cooperation on the degree of novelty of technological innovations introduced by industrial firms in Argentina. This influence is analysed from three perspectives: cooperation by partner type [business partners or scientific and technological centres (S&T) partners]; cooperation by number of partner types, from no cooperation to cooperation with two partner types; and cooperation by goals pursued by firms. Design/methodology/approach The data come from one of the last national innovation surveys conducted in Argentina. The study controls for endogeneity, using instrumental variable procedures within the conditional mixed-process (CMP) framework. Findings The main result is the influence of cooperation with universities and S&T centres on the introduction of more novel innovations, which was found both in estimations with and without endogeneity correction. This influence was verified for more complex goals (R&D, technology transfer and industrial design and engineering) as well as for less complex ones (tests and trials, human resources training, quality management and certification). Business cooperation seems to impact only on a lower degree of novelty for more complex goals. The increase in the number of partners that the firm cooperates with, from no cooperation to joint cooperation with two partner types, influences more novel innovations. Research limitations/implications Limitations and proposals for future research are discussed at the end of the study. Practical implications The results of this study contrast with the high propensity to cooperate with business partners shown by firms in Argentina and other Latin American countries. Therefore, this paper may help formulate more effective policies to promote cooperation conducive to firm innovation performance. Limitations and proposals for future research are discussed at the end of the study. Originality/value Although there is empirical evidence on this topic for developed countries, firm-level studies on cooperation and degree of novelty are scarce for Latin America. In addition, this paper analyses cooperation not only by type of partner but also by type of goal. This study attempted to control for endogeneity by using instrumental variables within the CMP framework.

Endogenous financial constraints and innovation

We investigate which indicators of a firm’s innovation activities are associated with financial constraints and analyze the nature and direction of causal links between innovation and financial constraints. By estimating simultaneous bivariate probit models on data from the UK Innovation Surveys, we show that among innovation inputs, research and development (R&D) activity increases the likelihood that firms face financial constraints. Among innovation outputs, only new-to-market products generate financial constraints. Reverse effects on innovation appear limited to external R&D.

Formal and Non-Formal Education and Training As an Instrument Fostering Innovation and Competitiveness in EU Member Countries

An important role in economic development and competitiveness is played by human capital, that is believed to lead to the growth of innovation. The innovative activities of companies, with a well-educated workforce as an essential component, are a necessary condition for any economy to achieve a competitive advantage in the international arena. The study objective was to investigate the relationship between the type of education (formal or non-formal) of individuals aged 25-64 and the level of innovation in the European Union member countries. The study uses data provided by Eurostat from three international surveys: The Labor Force Survey (LFS), Adult Education Survey (AES) and Community Innovation Surveys (CIS). The econometric analysis was carried out using tobit regression models. The study shows that innovation levels of EU countries, as measured by the synthetic SII index strongly depend on 1) the share of people with tertiary education undertaking additional formal or non-formal education, 2) the share of employees undertaking additional formal education, and 3) the share of persons undertaking additional formal or non-formal education. Among the variables studied, the smallest impact on the innovativeness of economies was that of the share of persons undertaking additional formal education. The results indicate a significant and positive role of additional education in increasing the level of innovation and competitiveness in the EU economies.

Public procurement for innovation: firm-level evidence from Italy and Norway

Controlling for factors affecting the participation in the procurement market, this article attempts to identify the main determinants of firms’ propensity to undertake innovative activities as part of public procurement contracts. The empirical analysis is carried out by using micro-data from two Community Innovation Surveys for Italian and Norwegian firms. We find that small- and medium-sized firms, as opposed to larger companies, have a lower capability to enter into the procurement market; however, once they succeed, they are equally capable of offering innovative solutions to public buyers. Another major result regards firms’ cooperation with universities and public research institutes, which seems to play a key role in order to facilitate firms’ involvement in public procurement for innovation. Although there are some differences in the estimated coefficients of explanatory variables, these results are consistent between Italy and Norway.

Analyzing the Medium-Low and Low- Technology Firms’ Innovative Behavior in an Emerging Economy

Objective. Design a model that shows what factors favor the development of technological innovation in manufacturing companies of medium-low and low technological intensity. Methodology. A sample of 1106 manufacturing companies that participated in the innovation surveys in 2012 and 2015 was used, applying the partial structural equations approach and estimating the invariance between the two groups. Results. The results of this study from the structural model, which allow obtaining the positive and statistically significant coefficients, which allow empirically validating the hypotheses. Conclusions. It was evidenced that non-technological innovation, absorption capacity and technologicalacquisition favor technological innovation in companies with low technological intensity.This article confirms that manufacturing companies should guide efforts to improve their capacity for innovation.

Measuring dynamic absorptive capacity in national innovation surveys

PurposeThe dynamic capability view reshaped the understanding of how firms can achieve a sustained competitive advantage through innovation. However, studies based on national innovation surveys have not incorporated this vision when measuring absorptive capacity, especially the evolutionary aspects of dynamic capabilities. This study addresses this gap.Design/methodology/approachWe empirically validate a scale using a national innovation survey based on the Oslo Manual standards. Using a five-wave survey, we demonstrate the scale's reliability, convergent and discriminant validity and stable structure across industries and over time.FindingsThis research integrates the dynamic capability literature with absorptive capacity measurement to propose and validate a multi-item and bidimensional scale for national innovation surveys.Originality/valueWe provide a measurement model that captures an evolutionary conceptualization of absorptive capacity as a dynamic capability. Hence, our contribution enhances the quality and validity of studies on absorptive capacity and advances the understanding of how firms develop and deploy absorptive capacity to drive performance.