Pain shared, pain halved? Cooperation as a coping strategy for innovation barriers

The paper analyses the relationship between the perception of barriers to innovation and the firm’s propensity to cooperate to mitigate their effect. First, we look at whether cooperation with research organizations or private firms is associated with experiencing different types of barriers, for example, financial constraints, lack of human capital or uncertain market demand. Second, we test whether experiencing several types of barriers simultaneously has a super-modular effect on the propensity to cooperate tout court, and the choice of cooperation partner. We find that having to face a single, specific constraint leads to firms ‘sharing the pain’ with cooperation partners—both research organization and other firms. However, the results of a super-modularity test show that having to cope with different barriers is a deterrent to establishing cooperation agreements, especially when firms lack finance, adequate skills and information on technology or markets. The paper adds to the innovation literature by identifying the factors associated with firms’ coping with different barriers by applying a selective cooperation strategy

‘Better late than never’: the interplay between green technology and age for firm growth

This paper investigates the relationship between green/non-green technologies and firm growth. By combining the literature on eco-innovations, industrial organisation and entrepreneurial studies, we examine the dependence of this relationship on the pace at which firms grow and the age of the firm. From a dataset of 5498 manufacturing firms in Italy for the period of 2000–2008, longitudinal fixed effects quantile models are estimated, in which the firm’s age is set to moderate the effects of green and non-green patents on employment growth. We find that the positive effect of green technologies on growth is greater than that of non-green technologies. However, this result does not apply to struggling and rapidly growing firms. With fast-growing (above the median) firms, age moderates the growth effect of green technologies. Inconsistent with the extant literature, this moderation effect is positive: firm experience appears important for the growth benefits of green technologies, possibly relative to the complexity of their management

Environmental investments and firm's productivity: a closer look

In this paper we investigate the relationship between investments in environmentally-oriented equipment and firms\u2019 productivity. Drawing on Porter hypothesis, we estimate the impact of capitalembodied environmental innovations on the level of firm productive efficiency (TFP), distinguishing between investments aimed at reducing the environmental impact of production (Target 1) and investments aimed at reducing the use of raw materials (Target 2). Relying on a rich firm-level dataset on Italian manufacturing, and using a quantile regression approach, we show that Target 1 investments enhance the TFP level of low-performing firms, whereas the productivity effect of Target 2 investments concerns medium-high performing firms. When interacted, the two targets show an additive positive short-term effect on productivity for medium-low, medium and medium-high performing firms. This effect partially vanishes through time

Green investment strategies and export performance: a firm-level investigation

In this paper we empirically investigate the relationship between investments in environmentally-oriented equipment and firms\u2019 export performance. Drawing on Porter hypothesis and firm heterogeneity theory, we adopt a structural model where first we estimate the impact of green investment strategies on the level of productive efficiency (TFP), and second we assess whether induced productivity influences the extensive and intensive margin of exports. Relying on a rich firm-level dataset on Italian manufacturing, our results show that firms with higher productivity, induced among other factors by green investment involving environmental protection and reduction in the use of raw materials, have increased commitment to, and profits from, exports, especially towards countries adopting a more stringent environmental regulatory framework. Our evidence provides a \u2018green investment-based\u2019 explanation for the link between TFP-heterogeneity and trade

From green investment strategies to internationalization: a firm-level investigation

In this paper we empirically investigate the relationship between investments in environment-oriented equipment and firm internationalization entry choices. Drawing on the Porter hypothesis and on the firm heterogeneity theory, we adopt a structural model where we first estimate the impact of green investment strategies on the level of productive efficiency (TFP). Subsequently, we assess if induced productivity influences the likelihood to engage in internationalization activities, first through exports and then through FDI or offshoring. Relying on a rich firm-level dataset on Italian manufacturing, our results show that firms increase their commitment to internationalization when their higher productivity is induced, among other factors, by a green investment strategy that integrates environmental protection with the reduction in the use of raw materials. In so doing, we provide a ‘green investment-based’ explanation for the link between TFP-heterogeneity and trade

Research cooperation within and across regional boundaries . Does innovation policy add anything ?

The paper aims to show how policy makers can stimulate firms' cooperation with research organisations in innovation. We argue that the administration of an R&D subsidy can be effective. Furthermore, this should be more so for extra-regional than intra-regional cooperation. The firms' propensity to extend cooperation across the region is assumed to increase with the amount of support. However, the support must overcome a threshold, for firms to cover the fixed costs of distant interactions. These research hypotheses are tested with respect to a sample of firms in a region of Italy. Propensity score matching is applied to identify the impact of the subsidy receipt. A generalised propensity score technique is employed to investigate the effect of an increasing amount of support. All the hypotheses are not rejected. Firms' cooperation is policy sensitive, but the size of the support is crucial for its effects

Resilience, Performance and Strategies in Firms’ Reactions to the Direct and Indirect Effects of a Natural Disaster

This work investigates the impacts of the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake and looks at the capacity of the regional economic system to adapt to the shock generated by the seismic event. We contribute to the literature by distinguishing two different effects: direct (i.e. damages to production factors of the focal firm) and indirect effects (e.g. disruptions that affected industrial and business partners). The original dataset used and the chronological sequence of the information allow us to provide insightful evidence. The analysis of the two related effects generated by the same shock provides insights on the overall capacity of a regional system to adapt. Namely, the indirect damages appear as relevant as the direct damages, especially when looking at indicators of firm performance. In addition, indirect impacts are also relevant in shaping firm strategies and thus firm resilience

Regional innovation policy and innovative behaviours . A propensity score matching evaluation

The paper aims at evaluating the additionality of innovation pol- icy in terms of innovative behaviours at the regional level.Innovation behaviours are distinguished, depending on their occurrence within and across the firms and the regional boundaries.The policy role with respect to them is evaluated for a sample of firms in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, by making use of an original, survey-based dataset, to which a Propensity Score Matching approach is applied. Funded firms are more likely to upgrade their competencies, when compared to similar non subsidised companies. On the other hand, their innovation cooperation with other business partners is not significantly affected by the policy, both within and outside the region, unless in the interaction with particular partners. All in all, the investigated innovation policy in the ER region seems to show more of what could be termed ‘cognitive capacity additionality’, rather than ‘network additionality

A performance evaluation approach for GSM-based information services

The ever increasing diffusion of mobile communications will lead to massive mobile access to the Internet. This paper focuses on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) for providing mobile information services, as envisaged by the Personalized Access to Local Information and Services for Tourists (PALIO) project within the fifth research framework of the European Commission. In particular, we consider a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network where WAP traffic is transported by the Short Message Service (SMS) on specific GSM signaling channels. We develop suitable traffic models for both the WAP downlink traffic and the signaling traffic. An analytical approach is described that allows evaluation of the mean transmission delay of a WAP page. Finally, a downlink traffic scheduling policy is proposed in order to reduce the delay variance so that users experience a more regular traffic behavior (service usability requirement). The theoretical derivations shown in this paper for the GSM-SMS scenario are general and can also be tailored for other mobile communication systems. Such study allows dimensioning both the service and the downlink signaling traffic capacity in order to fulfill quality-of-service requirements for the users