Value and barriers in the creation of intellectual property in advanced manufacturing: a country comparison

Purpose: The basic aim of this research is to determine to what extent intellectual property owners of advanced manufacturing technologies compensate the disadvantages of their small size and peripheral company location by innovations in these areas. Design/methodology/approach: We developed an empirical study of patents from two completely different economic areas, a central and a peripheral one, represented by Germany and Spain, respectively, in the domain of the Key Enabling Technology (KET) of advanced manufacturing technologies in robotics and automation. From the population of 211 Spanish patents granted and a random sample of 500 German patents, from the files of the US Patent and Trademark Office, we developed a series of logistic regression models. Findings Judging from the predicted possibilities to develop a patent with more citations, a proxy for its value, the study shows that whereas big companies from central locations do not obtain more heavily cited patents from sharing their R&D activity with other firms or research institutes, smaller manufacturing firms in peripheral areas, namely, Spain, may find this advantageous. Additionally, patents containing fewer cited articles and citations of previous patents, tend to be cited more frequently. Finally, this same outcome is also observed with patents showing shorter time between the application and grant. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on patent value which examines the KET of advanced manufacturing technologies in robotics and automation, comparing a central to a peripheral geographic environment, and determining the number, diversity and size of patent assignees. Our results prove relevant in general for manufacturing businesses, especially in the Machine-Tool and machinery producing industry. Overwhelmingly, these firms tend to be SMEs basing their marketing activity entirely on a Business-to-Business (B2B) focus, and facing serious obstacles for R&D activity

Wolbachia, Cardinium and climate: an analysis of global data.

Bacterial endosymbionts are very common in terrestrial arthropods, but infection levels vary widely among populations. Experiments and within-species comparisons suggest that environmental temperature might be important in explaining this variation. To investigate the importance of temperature, at broad geographical and taxonomic scales, we extended a global database of terrestrial arthropods screened for Wolbachia and Cardinium. Our final dataset contained data from more than 117 000 arthropods (over 2500 species) screened for Wolbachia and more than 18 000 arthropods (over 800 species) screened for Cardinium, including samples from 137 different countries, with mean temperatures varying from -6.5 to 29.2°C. In insects and relatives, Cardinium infection showed a clear and consistent tendency to increase with temperature. For Wolbachia, a tendency to increase with temperature in temperate climates is counteracted by reduced prevalence in the tropics, resulting in a weak negative trend overall. We discuss the implications of these results for natural and introduced symbionts in regions affected by climate change

Algunos aspectos de la formación universitaria de postgrado en la UPV/EHU en las áreas empresariales

El objetivo del presente trabajo es el analizar la formación de postgrado económico-empresarial desde la óptica del comportamiento social e individual al respecto en un contexto previamente definido. Este viene determinado por una legislación específica y relativamente joven, así como por el cuerpo empírico escogido: dos másteres de postgrado en estudios empresariales en la UPV/EHU. La dinámica del análisis se ha basado en el establecimiento de un marco teórico previo y un trabajo empírico, análisis parcial y multivariable, posterior

Sustainability Strategies by Oil and Gas Companies, Contribution to the SDGs and Local Innovation Ecosystems

Oil and gas (O&G) companies are facing increasing pressure to transform their businesses in order to contribute effectively to the transition from an economy based on fossil fuels to one driven by clean energy technologies. Understanding how O&G companies can define actions to comply with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, specifically, how they can generate a positive impact in terms of sustainability through technology innovation becomes relevant in order to guarantee the success of such transformation. To explore this issue, this article analyzes, using a case study research methodology, the sustainability strategy of an O&G company in the Basque Country region (Spain) that is undergoing a profound transformation of its overall business strategy. In particular, the analysis focuses on how the company’s innovation and research and development (R&D) activities and projects related to clean technologies contribute to fulfilling the energy- and non-energy-related SDGs. The main result of the analysis is the identification and characterization of an emerging complex public–private multi-stakeholder business and innovation ecosystem surrounding the O&G company under scrutiny with a clear focus on low-carbon technologies. This ecosystem channels knowledge and innovation synergies and spillovers at the local and regional levels, encouraging green industrial growth in different value chains, and provides insights about how O&G companies can contribute effectively to the SDGs and, at the same time, increase the sustainability of their businesses.This publication was generously supported by the University of Deusto’s Research Results Transfer Office (Deiker) grant “Contrato Programa—Artículos ISI” No. 2023/0009. The authors would like to thank the organizers and sponsors of the IPTC 2022 for the opportunity to present a previous working version of this article. In addition, the Chairs of IPTC 2022 Session “Sustainability Polices, Strategies, and Governance” provided valuable and useful insights during the preparation of the conference proceedings, which definitely helped to improve this research. Various attendees at the IPTC 2022 showed interest in this research and engaged in debates and conversations about it, which helped to enrich the final orientation of this article. The staff of the University of Deusto’s Library provided helpful advice. Last but not least, special thanks to the blind peer reviewers who finally made possible the present article

UN MODELO CAUSAL DE COMPETITIVIDAD EMPRESARIAL PLANTEADO DESDE LA VBR: CAPACIDADES DIRECTIVAS, DE INNOVACIÓN, MARKETING Y CALIDAD

El propósito de esta investigación es desarrollar un modelo explicativo de la competitividad empresarial a partir de factores internos a la empresa. Para ello se identifican los factores de competitividad más importantes en el caso de las empresas manufactureras vascas, así como las variables que permiten caracterizarlos, utilizando técnicas cualitativas basadas en entrevistas con directivos. Los factores resultantes son las capacidades directivas, las capacidades de innovación, las capacidades de marketing y las capacidades de calidad. Tras analizar estos factores bajo la Visión de la empresa Basada en Recursos (VBR), y definir sus escalas de medida, se plantea un modelo causal que relaciona cada uno de ellos con la competividad de la empresa. Este modelo otorga una importancia especial a las capacidades directivas al plantear este factor como precedente del resto de capacidades de la empresa. El modelo es contrastado a través de la técnica de modelado con ecuaciones estructurales utilizando una muestra representativa de la población de empresas manufactureras vascas formada por 861 empresas

Los ADPIC plus en los actuales tratados bilaterales impulsados por Estados Unidos y consecuencias en los países en desarrollo

El acuerdo sobre los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio (ADPIC) se describe como uno de los tres pilares de la Organizacióm Mundial del Comercio (OMC). Este artículo examina la distancia aparente que existe entre dos importantes instrumentos internacionales; los ADPIC y la Convención de Diversidad Biológica (CBD). Aquí se argumenta que en materia de Propiedad Intelectual, especialmente los llamados "ADPICS Plus", en los actuales tratados bilaterales tienen consecuencias negativas para los países en desarrollo en asuntos estratégicos como la salud, la biodiversidad y el conocimiento tradicional de los países pobres._______________________________The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) is often described as one of the three pillars of the World Trade Organization (WTO).This paper examines the apparent lack of agreement between the two major international instruments; namely TRIPs and the Convention on Biological diversity (CBD). The Trips agreement defines minimum standards of protection for intellectual property rights (IPRs). This paper argues that current forms of bilateralism on IP has negative consequences for developing countries because the “TRIPS Plus” in bilateral agreements, undermine implementation of Doha declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, traditional knowledge, and biodiversity in poor countries

The lemon market of insolvency proceedings in Spain in the new normal: Information, asymmetry, and adverse selection problems

Insolvency proceedings are strategic for the competitiveness of a national economy. The new law, but also new financial situation of organizations affect the new normal of insolvency framework. In Europe, standards aimed at creating an efficient framework for corporate insolvency resolution are constantly changing to enhance the efficiency of such mechanisms. This pursuit contrasts with the lack of specific efficiency data available to both legislators and researchers, there are no solid statistics to investigate the phenomenon from the perspective of its efficiency, which makes it impossible in practice to investigate its explanatory variables. Previous studies have led us to reflect on key information asymmetry and adverse selection problems resulting from a gap between the new challenges on insolvencies processes and options, because the lack of information. Based on this reflection, we have identified parallelisms between the lemon market, and current insolvency proceedings in Spain. Although, the legal system is modified, the insolvency process itself is a drag, for the achievement of the long-awaited efficiency of the process. It will be necessary to change, not only the legislation, but also the information provided, and create a new insolvency system because actual has “lemons signals”, this circumstance is producing negative effects on the efficiency and competence of a key figure in the process: the insolvency administrator.The authors declare that they have received financial support to conduct research, write and/or publish this article: this research was funded by the Emilio Soldevilla Foundation for Research and Development in Business Economics (Fundación Emilio Soldevilla para la Investigación y el Desarrollo en Economía de la Empresa – FESIDE; FESIDE023/005TI) and University of the Basque Country (PES20, GIU22/03)