Boundary spanning R&D collaboration:Key enabling technologies and missions as alleviators of proximity effects?

Two main targets of contemporary preferential innovation policy support, especially in Europe, are key enabling technologies (KETs) and innovation ‘missions’ focused on solving societal challenges. Both topics are associated with uniting disparate sets of capabilities, either by driving technology-based innovation into various application domains or by eliciting interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral solutions to urgent societal demands. In this study we assess to what extent pre-commercial R&D collaborations span geographic and cognitive boundaries. We analyze firm-level tie formation in Dutch collaborative R&D projects initiated in the period 2013–2018. Gravity models reveal that, while results for geographic proximity are mixed, some KET types are indeed related to projects in which cognitive proximity is significantly less relevant for tie formation. This contrasts with the findings for projects that retroactively received a mission label. Projects on health and care missions, and especially energy transition and sustainability missions, instead spur collaborations between cognitively proximate firms. The latter suggests that without additional policy intervention, such projects might interconnect similar rather than dissimilar knowledge bases. We conclude by discussing research and policy implications

Consumer Search and Oligopolistic Pricing: An Empirical Investigation

This paper presents an empirical examination of oligopoly pricing and consumer search. The theoretical model allows for sequential and non-sequential search and, using the theoretical restrictions firm and consumer behavior impose on the data, we study the empirical validity of the models. Two equilibria arise: one with costless search and the other with costly search. We find that the costless search equilibrium works well for products with a relatively low value, and, by implication, a small number of sellers. By contrast, the costly search equilibrium explains the observed data in a manner that is consistent with the underlying theoretical model for almost all products (for 86 out of 87!).consumer search, oligopoly, price dispersion, maximum likelihood estimation

A Note on Costly Sequential Search and Oligopoly Pricing (new title: Truly Costly Sequential Search and Oligopolistic Pricing,)

We modify the paper of Stahl (1989) on sequential consumer search in an oligopoly context by relaxing the assumption that consumers obtain the first price quotation for free. When all price quotations are costly to obtain, a new equilibrium arises where consumers randomize between not searching at all and searching for one price. The region of parameters for which this equilibrium exists becomes larger as the number of shoppers decreases and/or the number of firms increases. The comparative statics properties of this new equilibrium are interesting. In particular, the expected price increases as search cost decreases, and is constant in the number of shoppers and in the number of firms. We show that the Diamond result never obtains with truly costly search.sequential consumer search, oligopoly, price dispersion

The sensing paradox in service innovation: Too much user-producer interaction?

Trabajo presentado a la DRUID15 Conference on: "The Relevance of Innovation" celebrada en Roma (Italia) del 15 al 17 de junio de 2015.This study seeks to explain the paradox that firms most engaged in fulfilling actual user needs might be the ones who benefit less from a capability for systematically evaluating market demands. Service-oriented innovation research stresses that the relational nature of service delivery, especially when customized, provides opportunities for firms to engage in intensive user-producer interaction already during their regular business activities. We examine under which conditions having a strong sensing user needs capability can be a weakness rather than a strength for such firms. By using NK-logic, we modelled the conjunction of customer and firm behaviour with respect to sending and sensing user feedback. Our simulations resulted in a hypothesis regarding the relation between various interactive search strategies on the one hand, and innovativeness on the other hand. Subsequently, we used survey data from 292 respondents to verify these findings empirically. Our regression results suggest that, for firms who provide client-specific services, there is limited value in investing in an ability to monitor and evaluate user feedback closely. Having a sensing capability and receiving user requests has a negative interaction effect for firms providing customized solutions, while this effect is positive when firms do not tailor their services. The results confirm that focusing too much on articulated market demands might prevent customizing firms from introducing commercially successful service solutions. With these findings, we support innovation managers dealing with the strategic dilemma whether or not to devote resources to sensing capabilities.Peer reviewe

Assessing university policies for enhancing societal impact of academic research: A multicriteria mapping approach

While there is a prolific debate on evaluating the societal impact of academic research, so far little attention has been paid to assessing the design and implementation of suitable organizational strategies. This article argues that evaluation methods are needed which are both formative and sensitive to diverging views on what defines and constitutes societal impact. We use a participatory deliberation method, the Multicriteria Mapping (MCM) approach, to examine how stakeholders appraise the use of university policy options for enhancing societal impact, and understand on what basis they judge the performance of these options. Focusing on a large Dutch research-based university, we conduct 22 interviews with academics, management, and support staff as well as strategic policy officers to examine how they rank and discuss the expected performance of university policy options identified in previous literature. Our results show that interviewees base their scores on criteria related to policy options’ expected organizational output and external outcomes, as well as their practical and, to a lesser degree, cultural, and financial feasibility. The resulting rankings also point at contrasts in the perceived potential of policy options, with interviewees assigning priority to providing researchers with recognition and rewards for impact-based activities. We conclude by discussing how MCM can be used as a formative evaluation method to assess and select policies and inform decision-making that fit a university’s particular situation. Besides drawing lessons for the context of our illustrative case, we also reflect on the relevance of the evaluation method and our findings for other universities

Legitimation and effects of mission-oriented innovation policies: A spillover perspective

Recent times have seen a rising interest for mission-oriented innovation policies (MIP) as a means to mobilize innovation capacities for addressing societal challenges. Building on advancements in heterodox economics and innovation studies, this paper discusses the economic rationales for three MIP intervention types by considering the spillovers they might engender. We provide an empirical illustration by using survey data retrieved from 276 firms participating in Dutch examples of each MIP type. Our findings warn against pursuing system transformations by adhering to traditional firm-level stimuli and impact measures (MIP drift), as well as against avid support for context-specific solutions (myopic MIP)

The Prevalence of Titanium Dioxide Particles in Synovial Fluid Samples Drops after European Union Ban

Due to health concerns, the European Union has banned the use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in consumables in February 2022, with a 6-month transitional period ending in August 2022. We studied the prevalence of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in synovial fluid samples during and after the transitional period. A total of 302 samples were collected as a consecutive series between 1 April 2022 and 15 June 2023 from patients visiting the department of rheumatology at VieCuri Medical Centre in Venlo, The Netherlands. The samples were primarily collected for diagnostic purposes and only clinical waste material was used for this study. From each sample, up to 40 μl of fluid was analysed with Raman spectroscopy for the presence of titanium dioxide particles. The trend in prevalence was calculated with a 3-month wide moving average. A total of 13 out of 302 samples (4.3%) contained titanium dioxide (TiO2). The prevalence of TiO2 decreased between the transitional period and the period after the ban (p = 0.0154, with a relative risk ratio of 4.9 (95% CI 1.35–17.74). There was no significant difference in patient characteristics between the TiO2 positive and the TiO2 negative group. These results are hinting towards a possible relationship between the EU-ban and the identified decrease in prevalence

Consumer Search and Oligopolistic Pricing: An Empirical Investigation

This paper presents an empirical examination of oligopoly pricing and consumer search. The theoretical model allows for sequential and non-sequential search and using the theoretical restrictions firm and consumer behavior impose on the data we study the empirical validity of the models. Two equilibria arise: one with costless search and the other with costly search. We find that the costless search equilibrium works well for products with a relatively low value, and, by implication, a small number of sellers. By contrast, the costly search equilibrium explains the observed data in a manner that is consistent with the underlying theoretical model for almost all products (for 86 out of 87!)

A Note on Costly Sequential Search and Oligopoly Pricing

We modify the paper of Stahl (1989) on sequential consumer search in an oligopoly context by relaxing the assumption that consumers obtain the first price quotation for free. When all price quotations are costly to obtain, a new equilibrium arises where consumers randomize between not searching at all and searching for one price. The region of parameters for which this equilibrium exists becomes larger as the number of shoppers decreases and/or the number of firms increases. The comparative statics properties of this new equilibrium are interesting. In particular, the expected price increases as search cost decreases, and is constant in the number of shoppers and in the number of firms. We show that the Diamond result never obtains with truly costly search