Performance of knowledge interactions between public research centres and industrial firms in Spain: a project-level analysis

This paper examines cooperation between public research centres (PRCs) and industrial firms. We analyse two types of impact—scientific and techno economic—using objective and subjective measures, and explore the determinants of these impacts by investigating the pre-project context, and the way that relationships are implemented and managed. The main novelty of this paper is that the empirical analysis focuses on project level relationships, based on an original database for the Spanish case; it is the characteristics of these relationships that are the core of our analysis. The results show that the impacts identified are contingent on different characteristics in the relationships between PRCs and industrial firms, and that the influence of these characteristics varies depending on the type of impact considered.     

The economic impact of engineering research centers: preliminary results of a pilot study

This article describes the results of a pilot study that tested the feasibility of estimating quantitatively the regional and economic impacts of NSF-supported Engineering Research centers. For regional impacts, we combined estimates of the direct plus indirect and induced economic impacts of ERC expenditures generated from a regional input–output model with estimates of the additional impact on the state due to center-based start-up companies, licensing income from intellectual property produced by the center, the cost savings enjoyed by local firms that had hired center graduates, and advice and consulting to local firms by center faculty. For national economic impact, a suitably modified version of the regional approach was employed, supplemented by use of a consumer surplus model to estimate the net public benefits of newly commercialized technologies based in center research. As the project proceeded, it became clear that efforts to focus solely on economic impacts that could be quantified relatively easily would greatly underestimate the actual national economic impact of ERCs. The types of impacts included and the kinds of data collected from centers and their collaborating companies were therefore expanded in the later case studies. Results of the first three cases are described here; findings from the remaining two studies did not change our overall results or conclusions. The profile of regional and, especially, national economic impact estimates varied widely across the centers studied. Only some of these variations could be attributed to ERC characteristics; most were the result of variations in the amount and type of data that could be obtained from the centers involved and the companies they worked with. We concluded that even the most conscientious and costly data collection efforts would be unlikely to yield comparable data across centers because the accessibility of key data, especially proprietary data, will differ unpredictably from center to center. Further, focusing on narrowly-conceived, quantifiable economic data alone should be avoided in these kinds of impact studies. Doing so distorts the amount and characteristics of actual impacts, many of which—perhaps most of which—cannot feasibly be converted to monetary terms. Such a narrow focus will greatly underestimate the impact of ERC-like centers, masking the much broader and, based on our findings, larger and more significant impacts on society.     

Workers’ mobility and patterns of knowledge diffusion: evidence from Italian data

The channels through which firms access and acquire new and relevant knowledge for their innovative activities is a critical issue to the geography and the management of innovation. In this regard, recent studies have suggested that the mobility of workers across firms is a primary source of new knowledge for the hiring firm and, more in general, of knowledge diffusion across firms. However, little evidence has been presented and discussed about the role and the impact of workers’ mobility on the processes of knowledge transfer across firms. The present paper, thus, aims precisely at contributing to this stream of research by making use of unique data on Italian inventors’ curriculum vitae. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that the mobility of inventors is a mechanism that spurs processes of cumulative knowledge and innovation building from the departure firm to the destination one and significantly impacts on knowledge diffusion across firms.     

Building Trust: Social Capital, Distributive Justice, and Loyalty to the Firm

Trust is essential to successful business relations, particularly to the efficient operation of law firms. Trust fosters productive working relationships, favorable reputations, and a lucrative clientele. This paper contributes to research on law firm development through a consideration of social dynamics within law firms beyond traditional emphases on trading relationships and community solidarity. We introduce a social capital perspective on the evolution of trust and its consequences for commitment to the law firm. We argue that trust, specifically in the form of perceived distributive justice, is created and nurtured through social integration among law firm members. Yet, for women, who continue to be denied full access to these social networks and professional rewards, trust is undermined. Exclusion and emerging distrust prompt women to contemplate leaving their respective firms. This paper examines the bases of differential levels of trust and their impact on lawyers'intentions to leave practice.     

FDI spillovers on firm survival in Italy: absorptive capacity matters!

The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of spillovers driven by competition and forward and backward linkages between foreign firms and Italian firms. We adopt the firm dynamics framework, which allows us to test the impact of foreign firms’ activity on the probability that local firms will exit. The empirical analysis relies on continuous survival models (Cox proportional hazard models) and uses a representative firm level database from the period of 2002–2010 with data concerning more than 4,000 Italian manufacturing firms. Our estimates regarding the whole sample show that horizontal and vertical linkages have no impact on firm survival. To further test this finding, we perform a more disaggregated analysis that allows for heterogeneity across firms and sectors. We obtain evidence that the effects of FDI spillovers on firm survival follow specific patterns at both the intra- and inter-industry levels based on differences in productivity between Italian firms and foreign firms and on the technological intensity of the industry. Foreign firms’ activity reduces the exit probability of competitors and of downstream local customers (through forward linkages) with low productivity gap but has no impact on high productivity gap firms. Firms in high technology intensive sectors do not benefit from horizontal FDI while in low and medium technology sectors they do. Differences in absorptive capacity may explain these results. However, we also find that vertical linkages with foreign firms in the upstream supplying industries spur firm duration in medium and high tech sectors.     

Measuring the economic impact of research joint ventures supported by the EU Framework Programme

The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of international R&D cooperation on firms?? economic performance. Our approach, based on a complete data set with information about Spanish participants in research joint ventures supported by the EU Framework Programme during the period 1995?C2005, establishes a recursive model structure to capture the relationship between R&D cooperation, knowledge generation and economic results, which are measured by labour productivity. In the analysis we take into account that the participation in this specific type of cooperative projects implies a selection process that includes both the self-selection by participants to join the consortia and the selection of projects by the European Commission to award the public aid. Empirical analysis has confirmed that: (1) R&D cooperation has a positive impact on the technological capacity of firms, captured through intangible fixed assets and (2) the technological capacity of firms is positively related to their productivity.     

Learning through foreign market participation: the relative benefits of exporting,importing, and foreign direct investment

A growing literature explores the degree to which firms learn from exporting. Although this literature finds that firms that export subsequently enjoy enhanced innovative performance, there has been little research that compares the effect of exporting to that of alternative internationalization activities. In this paper, we extend the literature to explore theoretically the differential effects of a firm’s exporting, foreign direct investment, and importing activity on its innovative outcomes. We test the resulting hypotheses using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms from 2000 to 2008. We find that (1) learning associated with exporting is more pronounced than that associated with a firm’s FDI activities, (2) exporting and FDI operate as substitutes in their effect on a firm’s learning, and (3) although importing is positively associated with learning as manifested in new product introductions, it is not associated with learning as manifested in patenting activity.     

The Dynamic of Corporate Self-Regulation: ISO 14001, Environmental Commitment, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This article examines the institutional impact of environmental management systems (EMSs), focusing on ISO 14001. It develops a pluralistic framework for thinking about the dynamic of corporate self-regulation that we term the polyphonic model. It argues that the adoption of ISO 14001 can move the firm into a new equilibrium trajectory, which enmeshes together environmental and economic goals and reflects greater sensitivity to ecological concerns. There is a positive reciprocal cycle between the pro-environmental structural changes induced by ISO 14001 and the employees' attitudes toward the firm and the environment. In order to examine ISO 14001 institutional impact, we conducted a series of interviews with managers and administered questionnaires to employees in 24 Israeli firms with and without certification. The findings indicate that the perceived environmental commitment of certified firms was higher than that of noncertified firms and was higher among employees that perceived the EMS as more highly integrated in the firm. Perceptions of the standard's integration were also found to be positively correlated with personal environmental commitment. The results also indicate that the increase in the firm's environmental commitment was positively associated with employees' organizational citizenship behavior within certified firms. Further indications of the pro-environmental dynamic induced by ISO 14001 were found in the in-depth interviews.     

The Puzzle of Firm Performance in China: An Institutional Explanation

China has achieved phenomenal economic growth in an institutional environment that defies conventional economic rationales. Researchers offer different theories to explain this puzzle. But so far, due to the lack of data, little effort has been made to test these theories at the firm level. We develop a framework of endogenous institutional change to explain this puzzle and we test our framework with firm-level data. We argue that the decentralization from the central to the local governments and from government to firms are the driving forces behind China's institutional changes that have shaped the roles of government and market, which in turn significantly affect firm performance. We then submit our theory to a vigorous empirical test using data from China's industrial census, covering all 2000 counties and over 500 manufacturing industries. The test shows that two results of decentralization, the involvement of low-level governments in business and the process of privatization, positively affect firm performance.     

Capturing Technological Opportunity Via Japan's Star Scientists: Evidence from Japanese Firms' Biotech Patents and Products

Using detailed data on biotechnology in Japan, we find that identifiable collaborations between particular university star scientists and firms have a large positive impact on firms' research productivity, increasing the average firm's biotech patents by 34 percent, products in development by 27 percent, and products on the market by 8 percent as of 1989–1990. However, there is little evidence of geographically localized knowledge spillovers. In early industry formation, star scientists holding tacit knowledge required to practice recombinant DNA (genetic engineering) were of great economic value, leading to incentives motivating their participation in technology transfer. In Japan, the legal and institutional context implies that firm scientists work in the stars' university laboratories in contrast to America where the stars are more likely to work in the firm's labs. As a result, star collaborations in Japan are less localized around their research universities so that the universities' local economic development impact is lessened. Stars' scientific productivity is increased less during collaborations with firms in Japan as compared to the U.S.     

Hiring Teams,Firms, and Lawyers: Evidence of the Evolving Relationships in the Corporate Legal Market

How are relationships between corporate clients and law firms evolving? Drawing on interview and survey data from 166 chief legal officers of S&P 500 companies from 2006–2007, we find that—contrary to standard depictions of corporate client‐provider relationships—(1) large companies have relationships with ten to twenty preferred providers; (2) these relationships continue to be enduring; and (3) clients focus not only on law firm platforms and lead partners, but also on teams and departments within preferred providers, allocating work to these subunits at rival firms over time and following “star” lawyers, especially if they move as part of a team. The combination of long‐term relationships and subunit rivalry provides law firms with steady work flows and allows companies to keep cost pressure on firms while preserving relationship‐specific capital, quality assurance, and soft forms of legal capacity insurance. Our findings have implications for law firms, corporate departments, and law schools.     

When should a firm collaborate with research organizations for innovation performance? The moderating role of innovation orientation,size, and age

Little is known about the conditions strengthening or weakening the impact of a firm’s collaboration with research organizations on innovation performance. Thus, this study uses a sample of 542 manufacturing firms in Korea to examine how innovation orientation and firm size and age as internal characteristics influence the relationship between collaboration with research organizations and innovation performance. The results show that collaboration with research organizations has a positive impact on innovation performance. More importantly, this effect is stronger (weaker) for firms with a strong orientation toward exploration (exploitation). In addition, older or larger firms obtain greater benefits from collaboration with research organizations. This study contributes toward clarifying a firm’s collaboration with research organizations.     

Do graduated university incubator firms benefit from their relationship with university incubators?

Business incubators have become a popular policy option and economic development intervention tool. However, recent research shows that incubated firms may not benefit significantly from their incubator relationships, and may even be more vulnerable to failure post departure (graduation) from an incubator. These findings suggest that the impact of business incubation on new venture viability may be contingent on the type of support offered by an incubator and attributes of business environments within which incubation services are provided. Incubation services that protect and isolate ventures from key resource dependencies may hinder venture development and increase subsequent vulnerability to environmental demands. Alternatively, incubation services that help ventures connect and align with key resource dependencies are likely to promote firm survival. We propose that incubators vary in the services and resources they offer, and that university incubators typically provide greater connectivity and legitimacy with respect to important contingencies associated with key industry and community stakeholders. This leads us to propose that university affiliation is an important contingency that affects the relationship between firms’ participation in incubators and their subsequent performance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate this contingency by examining whether firms graduating from university incubators attain higher levels of post-incubation performance than firms participating in non-university affiliated incubators. We test this by evaluating the performance of a sample of graduated firms associated with the population of university-based incubators in the US contrasted against the performance of a matched cohort of non-incubated firms. The analysis uses an enhanced dataset that tracks the number of employees, sales, and the entry and graduation (departure) points of incubated firms from a university incubation program, so as to delineate the scope of influence of the incubator.     

Scalability versus flexibility: firm size and R&;D in Indian industry

This article has examined the impact of firm size on R&D spending for a panel of several thousand Indian firms, for a period of seven years from 1999–2000 to 2005–2006. The average levels of R&D spending are low but for firms that do undertake R&D the average levels of R&D spending are much higher. The results of the analysis for all the manufacturing sector firms have shown that larger firm size is associated with a higher probability of R&D spending. In non-linear estimation the squared term is negative denoting that after a particular threshold firm size has no effect on R&D spending. When only the R&D spending firms are evaluated then size has a mild impact on R&D spending and in a non-linear framework the effect of size disappears signifying that both the relatively smaller and larger firm alike seem to be motivated in building capabilities in the post-liberalization period of the Indian economy.     

The Bosman ruling and the presence of native football players in their home league: the Spanish case

This paper examines whether the Bosman ruling plays a role in the presence (participation and performance) of native football (soccer) players in their home league, focusing on the Spanish case. By abolishing transfer fees after the expiration of contracts, as well as liberalizing the migration of professional football players within the European Union, the Bosman ruling could negatively impact the participation of national players in their home league. To explore this issue, we use data from the First Division of the Spanish League for the seasons 1980/1981–2011/2012. The results suggest a decline in the number of native Spanish players as a consequence of the Bosman ruling, although the impact does not appear to be permanent. However, we find that the Bosman case has a negative and lasting impact on the performance of Spanish players in their home league. Our findings do not change when we use different subsamples or introduce controls for unobserved characteristics, or for observed characteristics that could drive the presence of Spanish players, such as participation in European competitions, the performance of the Spanish national team, and the success of teams’ youth academies, among others. This work also takes into account other changes in the nationality quota rules and the impact of other post-Bosman legislative changes, such as the Kolpak case and the Cotonou agreement.     

Client Influence and the Contingency of Professionalism: The Work of Elite Corporate Lawyers in China

This study examines how the professional work of elite corporate lawyers is constructed by influence from different types of clients. The data presented include interviews with 24 lawyers from six elite corporate law firms in China and the author's participant-observation in one of the firms. For these elite Chinese corporate law firms, foreign corporations, state-owned enterprises, and private enterprises constitute their extremely diversified client types. Accordingly, lawyers' work becomes flexible and adaptive to accommodate the different demands of the clients. Meanwhile, client influence on lawyers' professional work is mediated by the division of labor within the corporate law firm: whereas partners have solid control over the process of diagnosis, inference, and treatment and thus enjoy a high degree of professional autonomy, associates are largely stripped of this cultural machinery in the workplace, and their work becomes vulnerable to client influence. As a result, client influence on professional work appears to decrease with a lawyer's seniority.     

Economic status,social status,and rate of internationalization in US law firms

We note that in the legal industry, socially constructed status may be an especially powerful type of firm position, and may also relate to internationalization through opening offices in new foreign markets. Hence, in this analysis we offer the first effort to simultaneously consider relationships between socially derived firm status and internationalization, and economic status and internationalization in a legal industry context. Specifically, we use longitudinal data on large US corporate law firms from 1984 to 2008. We find an inverted U-shaped relationship between social status and rate of internationalization. Additionally, we identify an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic status, or domestic market share, and rate of internationalization.     

Estimating economic impacts of new dimensional control technology applied to automobile body manufacturing

CONSAD analysts investigated the effects of the ATP-sponsored project on controlling dimensional variation in manufacturing (the “2mm project”). They looked first at the firm level to determine the technological changes that resulted from the project; the role played by the ATP; and the direct impacts on automobile production and maintenance costs. They then used macroeconomic interindustry modeling to project preliminary impacts on the national economy of adoption of the technology by the automobile industry. A challenge was to estimate the impacts based on preliminary and partial information characterizing industry experience. Some potential effects of the ATP-sponsored project were considered too uncertain at this early stage to attempt quantification and were omitted from the analysis. The results of the macroeconomic analysis provide a very preliminary projection of national economic impacts of this ATP-sponsored project. This paper is based on a study performed by CONSAD Research Corporation of a project funded by the Advanced Technology Program.     

Beyond innovation: the Small Business Innovation Research program as entrepreneurship policy

Entrepreneurship or new firm formation plays an increasingly important role in knowledge-based economic development. Public policy to encourage new firm formation has not focused on high quality, high potential firms, and the search for entrepreneurship policy with high economic impact is still needed. This research evaluates the efficacy of the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program from the perspective of promoting high technology entrepreneurship. In particular, we examine whether the local presence of SBIR awards is associated with increased new firm formation rates in the high technology sector. Although the primary objective of SBIR is to facilitate technological commercialization in small businesses, our policy analysis based on spatial multivariate methods suggests that this program may also serve as an effective entrepreneurship policy.     

Assessing the relationship between R&D subsidy,R&D cooperation and absorptive capacity: an investigation on the manufacturing Spanish case

Private companies want to eliminate outgoing spillovers while policymakers seek to maximize them. With subsidized R&D cooperation agreements both agents partially achieve their objectives. For this reason, in Europe, policymakers grant subsidies for R&D activities with the condition of establishing R&D cooperation agreements. This study explores the relationship of complementarity between R&D subsidy, R&D cooperation and absorptive capacity in the context of its contribution to labor productivity of enterprises. The data used comes from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC), managed by the Spanish National Statistics Institute. We selected manufacturing companies in the period 2008–2013. We evaluate the existence of complementarity through the systems approach and the interaction approach. The econometric technique that we used to estimate the coefficients of our empirical model was maximum-likelihood random effects. As a consequence of the low absorptive capacity of Spanish manufacturing firms we find that R&D subsidies and R&D cooperation agreements are not complementary variables, i.e., receiving public subsidies as a result of establishing R&D cooperation agreements has a lower impact on productivity than the sum of the individual impacts of R&D cooperation and R&D subsidies. In consequence, this result calls into question the convenience of using subsidized R&D cooperation agreements as a tool for promoting innovation in EU countries as there are notable differences between the companies in these countries in terms of absorption capacity.