The role of EU policy in supporting technological innovation in SMES : a Bayesian network analysis of firm-level data from Poland

We study the effectiveness of the \u2018Technological Credit\u2019 (TC) instrument in supporting innovation in Polish SMEs. Our research question is: to what extent does providing credit to SMEs tied to technological investment affect capital expenditure and how does this change the innovativeness of firms? So far, the evidence on the impact of this policy instrument is unsystematic. To answer the question, we use an approach which is novel in innovation policy studies: we perform a Bayesian Network Analysis of survey data. Our data include a unique sample of 200 Polish firms that received TC support during the 2007-2013 programming period. Our findings confirm short-term positive effects (i.e. a wider range of products/services offered and increased sales and exports) and we also have many interesting results related to behavioural changes in firms (which are not necessarily quantifiable economically). We also find that only more financially solid and more internationalized firms were able to take advantage of the policy. These findings suggest that schemes based on technological credits are not appropriate for promoting innovation in all types of SME and should be designed to shift the technological frontier rather than to sustain a catching up process for firms lagging behind the frontier

Ultrastructural visualization of 3D chromatin folding using volume electron microscopy and DNA in situ hybridization.

The human genome is extensively folded into 3-dimensional organization. However, the detailed 3D chromatin folding structures have not been fully visualized due to the lack of robust and ultra-resolution imaging capability. Here, we report the development of an electron microscopy method that combines serial block-face scanning electron microscopy with in situ hybridization (3D-EMISH) to visualize 3D chromatin folding at targeted genomic regions with ultra-resolution (5 × 5 × 30 nm in xyz dimensions) that is superior to the current super-resolution by fluorescence light microscopy. We apply 3D-EMISH to human lymphoblastoid cells at a 1.7 Mb segment of the genome and visualize a large number of distinctive 3D chromatin folding structures in ultra-resolution. We further quantitatively characterize the reconstituted chromatin folding structures by identifying sub-domains, and uncover a high level heterogeneity of chromatin folding ultrastructures in individual nuclei, suggestive of extensive dynamic fluidity in 3D chromatin states

Efficiency of European public higher education institutions: a two-stage multicountry approach

The purpose of this study is to examine efficiency and its determinants in a set of higher education institutions (HEIs) from several European countries by means of non-parametric frontier techniques. Our analysis is based on a sample of 259 public HEIs from 7 European countries across the time period of 2001–2005. We conduct a two-stage DEA analysis (Simar and Wilson in J Economet 136:31–64, 2007), first evaluating DEA scores and then regressing them on potential covariates with the use of a bootstrapped truncated regression. Results indicate a considerable variability of efficiency scores within and between countries. Unit size (economies of scale), number and composition of faculties, sources of funding and gender staff composition are found to be among the crucial determinants of these units’ performance. Specifically, we found evidence that a higher share of funds from external sources and a higher number of women among academic staff improve the efficiency of the institution

The EU enlargement and domestic employment

We propose a study on the interdependence among EU member states, focusing on their labor markets over the period 1995-2005. Increased accessibility of detailed sector level labor statistics allows us to consider trade based linkages and interaction mechanisms between domestic and foreign employment in manufacturing and tradable business services in "Old" and "New" partners in the EU. From the estimate of the empirical model, the domestic demand for labor in the EU-15 is negatively affected by other "Old" EU members'' average cost of labor and positively affected by the average cost of labor in ''New'' partners: "Old" EU members'' domestic labor then appears as a complement with respect to other "Old" EU partners'' labor and as a substitute with respect to workers in ''New'' members. Finally, employment in the latter group of countries is not really affected by wage conditions in partners regardeless of the level of their development

Export Diversification and Development - Empirical Assessment

Università Politecnica delle Marche - Dipartimento di Economia - Quaderni di ricerca n. 35