Good to Go First? Position Effects in Expert Evaluation of Early-Stage Ventures

There is often considerable anxiety and conflicting advice concerning the benefits of presenting/being evaluated first. We thus investigate how expert evaluators vary in their evaluations of entrepreneurial proposals based upon the order in which they are evaluated. Our research setting is a premiere innovation fund competition in Beijing, China, where the prize money at stake is economically meaningful, and evaluators are quasi-randomly assigned to evaluate written grant proposals without the possibility of peer influence. This enables us to credibly recover a causal position effect. We also theorize and test how heterogeneity in evaluators’ prior (context-specific) judging experience moderates position effects. Overall, we find that a proposal evaluated first requires total assets in the top 10th percentile to merely equal the evaluation of a proposal in the bottom 10th percentile that is not evaluated first. Firm and evaluator fixed-effects models yield consistent findings. We consider evaluation design elements that may mollify these position effects in the discussion section. This paper was accepted by Sridhar Tayur, entrepreneurship and innovation.

A NATO útja a DIANA létrehozásáig és főbb fókuszterületei a védelmi innováció keretében

A NATO 2021. júniusi brüsszeli csúcstalálkozóján minden korábbinál részletesebben foglalkoztak a feltörekvő és felforgató technológiák kérdéskörével, valamint a védelmi innováció terén két új intézmény létrehozásáról is határoztak. Az újonnan létrehozandó intézmények tekintetében a DIANA betűszóval fémjelzett Észak-atlanti Védelmi Innovációs Akcelerátor (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) és a NATO Innovációs Alap (NATO Innovation Fund) biztosítanak szervezeti támogatást a kettős felhasználású technológiák fejlesztésén dolgozó startupok számára. A tanulmány feldolgozzaa NATO útját a védelmi innovációs törekvések területén, és ajánlásokat fogalmaz meg a hazai védelmi ipar, valamint a haderő számára, amelyek segítségével kapcsolódni tud a NATO-kezdeményezésekhez.

Role of QRS amplitude, fractionation and duration in predicting clinical response to anti-inflammatory treatment in cardiac sarcoidosis

Background Low QRS amplitude (QRSa), QRS fractionation (QRSf) and longer QRS duration (QRSd) are markers of myocardial fibrosis and inflammation in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM). Objective To determine if reduction of inflammation with treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) may reverse these 12 lead ECG parameter changes. Methods 21 patients (pts) with CS and VT ablation with a positive baseline positron emission tomographic (PET 1) scan were studied. All pts received prednisone ≥40 mg for 4 to 8 weeks followed by a taper and maintenance with methotrexate ± low-dose prednisone, <10 mg/day, until clinically stable and resolution of inflammation on PET 2 one year after initial. In addition, pts with low LV ejection fraction (13/21) received guideline directed medical therapy for heart failure. Pts at 1yr with positive PET2 (9) were compared to those with negative PET2 (12). Baseline and 1yr 12-lead ECGs were analyzed for QRSd, ≥2QRSf contiguous leads and QRSa in the limb leads. Results Pts in PET2(+) vs PET2(−) groups has similar gender (men 89% vs 100%, p=0.42), age (57±8 vs 56±10 years, p=0.8) and LV ejection fraction (41±11 vs 46±11, p=0.31). Baseline 12-lead ECGs showed similar QRSd, ≥2QRSf contiguous leads and QRSa for PET2(+) vs PET2(−); P all >0.15 (Table 1). At 1 yr there was a lower prevalence of ≥2QRSf contiguous leads and strong trend for shorter QRS duration and larger QRSa in lead DI if PET2(−) vs PET2(+). 4 pts demonstrated loss of QRSf 2 contiguous leads and/or increase in QRSa in DI by at least 0.15 mV from baseline if PET2(−) and none if PET2(+). Conclusions In pts with CS and VT, reversal of inflammation may result in a greater QRSa and reduction in QRSf. An increase in QRSa in lead 1 by >0.15mV and/or loss of QRSf identifies a clear positive response to treatment and negative PET at 1 year. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Richard T and Angela Clark Innovation Fund in Cardiovascular Medicine, the Mark S Marchlinski EP Research and Education Fund and the Winkelman Family Fund in Cardiovascular Innovation. Table 1

The German Innovation Fund (Innovationsfonds)

The Innovationsfonds was launched by the German Federal Government in 2016 and funds both experimental new care models and health services research projects. The applicants respond to annual funding announcements with a broad range of topics. Insights from more than five years of experience encompass prioritisation of topics, types of projects funded, governance pathways and potential future directions.

Natural resource funds for innovation in emerging countries: an assessment of the Chilean experience

Purpose This study aims to explore the institutional complexities associated with the design and implementation of a natural resource fund for innovation. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the case of Chile's Innovation Fund for Competitiveness by means of a historical approach building on interviews with key informants. Findings The proper functioning of a natural resource fund for innovation requires efficient institutional and operational structures, as well as strong coordination with innovation system actors. In particular, the case of Chile highlights the challenges inherent in adopting a regional approach when implementing this type of strategy, due to the institutional voids that hamper the role of regional governments in emerging countries. Originality/value Natural resource funds for innovation constitute a strategic mechanism for developing the innovative capabilities necessary to enhance the competitiveness of resource-rich emerging countries. This is one of the first studies addressing the institutional challenges involved in setting up this kind of fund in practice, focusing on one of the most relevant and longstanding examples from Latin America.

Possibilities for Modernization of Conciliation Board Procedures in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe - Online Dispute Resolution and Electronic Communication

Conciliation bodies are the main European forums for alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes, providing an institutionalized opportunity to remedy consumer infringement cases quickly, cheaply and efficiently. The institution has excellent dispute resolution efficiency not only in Hungary, but also at the international level, which greatly contributes to the enforcement of the consumer protection legislation of the countries concerned. The scientific examination of the work of the bodies and the legislation related to them, the number of domestic and international scientific works resulting from them are modest, while the efficient operation of the bodies depends not only on practical and legal factors, but also on the theoretical basis. Although legislative reforms in this area have led to a number of innovations and modernizations, they have left untouched a number of theoretical and practical issues that also pose significant problems in law enforcement, such as the satisfactory settlement of cross-border disputes, electronic communication and even communication, that it is possible to involve artificial intelligence, other software solutions in decision-making or online dispute resolution within the framework of the procedure. Applied research on the operation of conciliation bodies covered bodies and bodies in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Due to the large number of consumer legal relations, the significance of these research results in the national economy cannot be considered negligible either. The research supported by the ÚNKP-20-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.

Organizational hybridity and mission drift in innovation partnerships

PurposeInnovation partnerships are a popular model for organizing publicly supported innovation projects. However, partners often have different timelines and planning horizons, understanding of purpose and concepts of value. This hybridity poses organizational challenges pertaining to trust, goal setting, learning and coordination, which may lead to “mission drift,” i.e. compromising or displacement of intended goals. Despite the risk mission drift poses, its underlying dynamics are not sufficiently understood, and the means to mitigate it are unclear. This study aims to address these questions.Design/methodology/approachThrough eight broad and one deep case study of innovation partnerships funded by Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD), the authors investigate how partnerships reconcile multiple expectations and interests within the IFD framework and how this might lead to mission drift. The authors draw upon existing theories on the organizational challenges of innovation partnerships and supplement these with new empirically based propositions on the risk of mission drift.FindingsThis study identifies a core tension between partnership complexity and the degree of formalization. Depending on how these dimensions are combined in relation to particular goals, the partnership mission is likely to become narrower or more unpredictable than intended. Thus, the authors theorize the significance of partnership composition and requisite formalization for a given innovation purpose.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the theoretical understanding of mission drift in innovation partnerships by opening the organizational black box of partnerships. The findings underscore the value of explorative case studies for specifying the contingencies of organizational design and governance mechanisms for different innovation goals.