Incumbents' responses to innovative entrants - a multi-country dynamic analysis

The influence of innovative entrants on incumbents is considered important for technological change. We analyze this influence for the global transition towards alternative technology vehicles (ATVs). Our results indicate that entrants’ ATV-related knowledge accumulation stimulates average incumbent’s ATV-related research. Regarding global entrants, incumbents with higher ATV patent stocks increased patenting stronger; supporting previous literature on competitive reactions to entry. Responding to domestic entrants, however, incumbents with low ATV patent stocks increased whereas incumbents with high stocks decreased patenting; suggesting that advanced incumbents outsource research or overtake entrants. Further, certain characteristics and not merely the quantity of entrants drive incumbents’ responses

Abnehmendes Produktivitätswachstum – zunehmende Produktivitätsunterschiede

Wie in anderen Industriestaaten ist auch in Deutschland in den vergangenen Jahren trotz eines anhaltenden Wirtschaftswachstums, einer zurückgehenden Arbeitslosigkeit und einer hohen technologischen Dynamik ein Rückgang des Produktivitätswachstums zu beobachten. In einem Workshop Anfang 2018 in Berlin wurde dieses Phänomen eingehend diskutiert

Knowledge flows between science and industry and how to measure them

The exchange of knowledge between science and industry has been a focus of innovation research and policy for many decades. New developments in the way technologies are generated, shared, and transferred into new products, services, and business models are currently re-emphasising science-industry interactions. Main drivers are the emergence of open innovation models, the increased internationalisation of innovation processes, the rise of digital platforms, new modes of governance in public research, and the enlarged role of disruptive innovations. At the same time, the measurement of knowledge flows is still limited, and indicators on recent trends in science-industry interaction are lacking. This limits innovation policy in monitoring changes and addressing challenges. A conference in October 2019 in Berlin brought together industry representatives, researchers, and policy makers to discuss these developments and how the measurement of science-industry links could be improved. This policy brief summarises key trends in science-industry collaborations, presents existing indicators and discusses ways to improve our indicator system on knowledge flows between science and industry in order to better inform policy

The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on innovation : first in-sights from the German business sector

In 2020, firms expected their innovation expenditures to decrease by about 2% in 2020 compared to 2019. This decline is much smaller than that in 2009 following the financial crisis, when innovation expenditures fell by 11%. However, smaller firms with 5 to 99 employees planned to cut their innovation expenditures by 7% to 17 % in 2020. For 2021, firms planned a slight increase in innovation expenditure by 1%. The number of employees in short-time work in Germany peaked at 2.9 million in April 2020, corresponding to a share of 8.7% of all employees. The situation relaxed by October 2020, when the share of short-time workers fell to 2.3%. The most R&D-insensitive industries showed the highest share of short-time work in April 2020 (16.6%), but the lowest in October 2020 (2.0%), indicating that the impact of the crisis on R&D intensive industries weakened in the second half of 2020. This development was strongly driven by the drop of short-time workers in the automobile industry. The recovery of some export-intensive industries, such as the automobile industry, also reflects that firms are starting to adopt and overcome the initially severe disturbances and challenges Covid-19 imposed on international value chains. The global R&D expenditures of large R&D performing German firms declined on average by 1% between 2019 and 2020. However, there are major differences between individual industries. The pharmaceutical and ICT service industries significantly increased their global R&D expenditures, whereas mechanical engineering experienced the sharpest decline in 2020. Firms’ average R&D intensity increased in most industries, except for the electronics/instruments industry and ICT services. Firms with R&D or other innovation activities prior to the crisis more often reported negative impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on their general business activities than firms that do not conduct any R&D or innovation activities. This result may be linked to the fact that the crisis had a more severe impact on firms with a more complex internal organisation and more international activities, both of which are typical for R&D and innovation performing firms. The most common strategic responses of firms to the Covid-19 crisis were i) to enhance the digitalisation of their internal processes and ii) to extend their digital offers and sales channels. Both responses were mostly of permanent nature. Reorganising sales towards domestic customers and removing products or services from their portfolio were less common responses. The most frequent crisis-related changes in firms’ innovation activities include i) the extension of innovation projects and ii) a reduction in the number of innovation projects due to a lack of impulses for innovation. Reducing collaborations and withdrawing from all innovation activities were less frequent changes

COMT Val(158)Met genotypes differentially influence subgenual cingulate functional connectivity in healthy females

Brain imaging studies have cons stently shown subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortical (sgACC) involvement in emotion processing. catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158) and Met(158) polymorphisms may influence such emotional brain processes in specific ways. Given that resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) may increase our understanding on brain functioning, we integrated genetic and rsfMRI data and focused on sgACC functional connections. No studies have yet investigated the influence of the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism (rs4680) on sgACC resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in healthy individuals. A homogeneous group of 61 Caucasian right-handed healthy female university students, all within the same age range, underwent isfMRI. Compared to Met158 homozygotes, Val(158) allele carriers displayed significantly stronger rsFC between the sgACC and the left parahippocampal gyrus, ventromedial parts of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). On the other hand, compared to Val(158) homozygotes, we found in Met(158) allele carriers stronger sgACC rsFC with the medial frontal gyrus (MEG), more in particular the anterior parts of the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Although we did not use emotional or cognitive tasks, our sgACC rsFC results point to possible distinct differences in emotional and cognitive processes between Val(158) and Met(158) allele carriers. Hovvever, the exact nature of these directions remains to be determined

Criminal and Noncriminal Psychopathy: The Devil is in the Detail

Brooks, NS ORCiD: 0000-0003-1784-099XPsychopathy is prevalent and problematic in criminal populations, but is also found to be present in noncriminal populations. In 1992, Robert Hare declared that psychopaths may also “be found in the boardroom”, which has since been followed by an interest in the issue of noncriminal, or even successful, psychopathy. In this chapter, the paradox of criminal and noncriminal psychopathy is discussed with specific attention given to the similarities and differences that account for psychopathic personality across contexts. That psychopathy is a condition typified by a constellation of traits and behaviours requires wider research across diverse populations, and thus the streams of research related to criminal and noncriminal psychopathy are presented and the implications of these contrasting streams are explored

Anhedonia and reward-circuit connectivity distinguish nonresponders from responders to dorsomedial prefrontal rTMS in major depression

Background Depression is a heterogeneous mental illness. Neurostimulation treatments, by targeting specific nodes within the brain’s emotion-regulation network, may be useful both as therapies and as probes for identifying clinically relevant depression subtypes. Methods Here, we applied 20 sessions of magnetic resonance imaging-guided repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in 47 unipolar or bipolar patients with a medication-resistant major depressive episode. Results Treatment response was strongly bimodal, with individual patients showing either minimal or marked improvement. Compared with responders, nonresponders showed markedly higher baseline anhedonia symptomatology (including pessimism, loss of pleasure, and loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities) on item-by-item examination of Beck Depression Inventory-II and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology ratings. Congruently, on baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging, nonresponders showed significantly lower connectivity through a classical reward pathway comprising ventral tegmental area, striatum, and a region in ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Responders and nonresponders also showed opposite patterns of hemispheric lateralization in the connectivity of dorsomedial and dorsolateral regions to this same ventromedial region. Conclusions The results suggest distinct depression subtypes, one with preserved hedonic function and responsive to dorsomedial rTMS and another with disrupted hedonic function, abnormally lateralized connectivity through ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and unresponsive to dorsomedial rTMS. Future research directly comparing the effects of rTMS at different targets, guided by neuroimaging and clinical presentation, may clarify whether hedonia/reward circuit integrity is a reliable marker for optimizing rTMS target selection

Neural Basis of Smoking-Induced Relief of Craving and Negative Affect: Contribution of Nicotine

Smoking-induced relief of craving and withdrawal promotes continued cigarette use. Understanding how relief is produced and the role of nicotine in this process may facilitate development of new smoking-cessation therapies. As the US Food and Drug Administration considers setting a standard for reduced nicotine content in cigarettes to improve public health, knowledge of how nicotine contributes to relief also can inform policy. We assessed effects of nicotine using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and behavioral assessments of craving and negative affect. Twenty-one young (18-25 years old) daily smokers underwent overnight abstinence on 4 days. On each of the following mornings, they self-rated their cigarette craving and negative affect and underwent resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) before and after smoking a cigarette that delivered 0.027, 0.110, 0.231, or 0.763 mg of nicotine. Functional connectivity between the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and between the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was assessed. Smoking reduced craving, negative affect, and nucleus accumbens-OFC connectivity irrespective of nicotine dose, with positive correlations of the effects on behavioral and connectivity measures. Only the highest nicotine dose (0.763 mg) reduced right anterior insula-ACC connectivity; this reduction was positively correlated with the behavioral effects of the 0.763-mg dose only. While nicotine-based therapies may act on right anterior insula-ACC functional circuits to facilitate smoking cessation, non-nicotine (eg, the conditioned and sensorimotor) aspects of smoking may promote cessation by reducing OFC-accumbens connectivity to alleviate withdrawal

Reduced reward-related neural response to mimicry in individuals with autism

Mimicry is a facilitator of social bonds in humans, from infancy. This facilitation is made possible through changing the rewardvalue of social stimuli; for example, we like and affiliate more with people who mimic us. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) aremarked by difficulties in forming social bonds. In this study, we investigate whether the reward-related neural response to beingmimicked is altered in individuals with ASD, using a simple conditioning paradigm. Multiple studies in humans and nonhuman pri-mates have established a crucial role for the ventral striatal (VS) region in responding to rewards. In this study, adults with ASDand matched controls first underwent a conditioning task outside the scanner, where they were mimicked by one face and‘anti-mimicked’ by another. In the second part, participants passively viewed the conditioned faces in a 3T MRI scanner using amulti-echo sequence. The differential neural response towards mimicking vs. anti-mimicking faces in the VS was tested for groupdifferences as well as an association with self-reported autistic traits. Multiple regression analysis revealed lower left VS responseto mimicry (mimicking > anti-mimicking faces) in the ASD group compared to controls. The VS response to mimicry was nega-tively correlated with autistic traits across the whole sample. Our results suggest that for individuals with ASD and high autistictraits, being mimicked is associated with lower reward-related neural response. This result points to a potential mechanism under-lying the difficulties reported by many of individuals with ASD in building social rapport

Enhanced subgenual cingulate response to altruistic decisions in remitted major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with functional abnormalities in fronto-meso-limbic networks contributing to decision-making, affective and reward processing impairments. Such functional disturbances may underlie a tendency for enhanced altruism driven by empathy-based guilt observed in some patients. However, despite the relevance of altruistic decisions to understanding vulnerability, as well as everyday psychosocial functioning, in MDD, their functional neuroanatomy is unknown. METHODS: Using a charitable donations experiment with fMRI, we compared 14 medication-free participants with fully remitted MDD and 15 demographically-matched control participants without MDD. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the remitted MDD group exhibited enhanced BOLD response in a septal/subgenual cingulate cortex (sgACC) region for charitable donation relative to receiving simple rewards and higher striatum activation for both charitable donation and simple reward relative to a low level baseline. The groups did not differ in demographics, frequency of donations or response times, demonstrating only a difference in neural architecture. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that altruistic decisions probe residual sgACC hypersensitivity in MDD even after symptoms are fully remitted. The sgACC has previously been shown to be associated with guilt which promotes altruistic decisions. In contrast, the striatum showed common activation to both simple and altruistic rewards and could be involved in the so-called "warm glow" of donation. Enhanced neural response in the depression group, in areas previously linked to altruistic decisions, supports the hypothesis of a possible association between hyper-altruism and depression vulnerability, as shown by recent epidemiological studies