The Effect of Restrictive Bank Lending on Innovation: Evidence from a Financial Crisis

Using unique micro-data on German firms, this paper estimates the effect of restrictive bank lending on innovation. In the German three-pillar banking system, comprised of commercial banks, credit unions, and savings banks, firms were differently affected in their ability to raise external debt during the financial crisis depending on the pillar to which their main relationship bank belonged. Using this institutional feature as an instrument for credit access reveals that restrictive bank lending increases a firm’s probability of discontinuing innovation projects by 21.6 percentage points.Financial crisis, innovation, credit constraints, difference in differences, instrumental variables

The Extension of Clusters: Difference-in-Differences Evidence from the Bavarian State-Wide Cluster Policy

If one cluster increases local competitiveness, can politicians, by interlinking clusters, achieve an even better effect at the state level? To answer this question, the paper analyzes the “Cluster Initiative” introduced in 1999 by the Bavarian State Government. The purpose of the initiative was to create a Bavarian-wide innovation network in support of state-wide knowledge flows. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that introducing the Bavarian-wide cluster policy increased the likelihood of innovation by a firm in the targeted industry by 4 to 7 percentage points. However, this effect is mainly driven by large firms’ increased likelihood to innovate.difference-in-differences, cluster policy, regional policy

Riccione: Boulevard dei paesaggi

Il testo presenta il progetto del Boulevard dei paesaggi nella citt\ue0 di Riccione. La tesi \ue8 che il paesaggio debba essere considerato una infrastruttura urbana e territoriale

Die High-Tech-Offensive im Freistaat Bayern

Der Freistaat Bayern hat im Jahr 1999 mit der High-Tech-Offensive als erstes Bundesland in Deutschland eine landesweite »Clusterpolitik« eingeführt, die insbesondere auf Unternehmen in fünf Technologiefeldern ausgerichtet war. Die Politikmaßnahme sollte die Infrastruktur stärken und damit die Kooperation zwischen Unternehmen, zwischen Unternehmen und dem Forschungssektor sowie zwischen Unternehmen und dem Finanzsektor fördern und damit die Innovationsaktivität von Unternehmen stärken. Unter Verwendung eines Differenz-in-Differenzen-Ansatzes und von Daten aus dem ifo Innovationstest wird in diesem Beitrag gezeigt, dass die bayerische Politikmaßnahme eine positive Wirkung auf die Innovationsaktivität der Unternehmen in Bayern hatte. Unternehmen in einem der fünf Technologiefelder in Bayern weisen durch die Politikmaßnahme in den folgenden Jahren eine um 5,77 Prozentpunkte höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit zu innovieren auf.Hochtechnologiesektor, Innovation, Bayern

Unternehmenskooperationen im Innovationsprozess: Erste deskriptive Befunde neuer Fragen im ifo Innovationstest

In der letzten Welle des ifo Innovationstests wurde erstmals ein Fragenkomplex zum Kooperationsverhalten von Unternehmen im Innovationsprozess aufgenommen. Erste deskriptive Auswertungen zeigen erhebliche Unterschiede zwischen Unternehmensgrößenklassen, Regionen und Branchen. Kleinere und mittlere Unternehmen kooperieren weniger im Innovationsprozess. In Ostdeutschland spielt die Kooperation im Innovationsprozess eine größere Rolle als in Westdeutschland. Tendenziell wird in agglomerierten Gebieten mehr kooperiert. Einige Branchen, wie der Maschinenbau, sind zwar innovativ, kooperieren aber wenig im Innovationsprozess. Bezüglich der geographischen und technologischen Nähe von Kooperationspartnern zeigt sich, dass Unternehmen mit einer Vielzahl von anderen Branchen kooperieren. Bei der Interpretation der Befunde muss allerdings berücksichtigt werden, dass es sich bei den hier berichteten Ergebnisse um deskriptive Zusammenhänge handelt, die in dieser Form nicht als kausale Effekte interpretiert werden können.Unternehmenskooperation, Innovation, Deutschland

Amino acid changes in the spike protein of feline coronavirus correlate with systemic spread of virus from the intestine and not with feline infectious peritonitis

Recent evidence suggests that a mutation in the spike protein gene of feline coronavirus (FCoV), which results in an amino acid change from methionine to leucine at position 1058, may be associated with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Tissue and faecal samples collected post mortem from cats diagnosed with or without FIP were subjected to RNA extraction and quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to detect FCoV RNA. In cats with FIP, 95% of tissue, and 81% of faecal samples were PCR-positive, as opposed to 22% of tissue, and 60% of faecal samples in cats without FIP. Relative FCoV copy numbers were significantly higher in the cats with FIP, both in tissues (P < 0.001) and faeces (P = 0.02). PCR-positive samples underwent pyrosequencing encompassing position 1058 of the FCoV spike protein. This identified a methionine codon at position 1058, consistent with the shedding of an enteric form of FCoV, in 77% of the faecal samples from cats with FIP, and in 100% of the samples from cats without FIP. In contrast, 91% of the tissue samples from cats with FIP and 89% from cats without FIP had a leucine codon at position 1058, consistent with a systemic form of FCoV. These results suggest that the methionine to leucine substitution at position 1058 in the FCoV spike protein is indicative of systemic spread of FCoV from the intestine, rather than a virus with the potential to cause FIP

Dal paesaggio all'ambiente, verso una nuova concezione degli spazi aperti urbanistica

“One of the main duties of urbanism isn’t to expand the edificated areas, but the effort to conservate the open space.” This was probably the phrase with which, in the thirties, the urbanist Schumacher convinced the then mayor, now councilor, Konrad Adenauer to grant the commission of designing the great green belt that even today Cologna preserves.“Uno dei compiti centrali dell'urbanistica non e quello di ampliare le arre edificate, ma lo sforzo di conservare lo spazio aperto.” Era probabilmente questa la frase con la quale negli anni '30 l'urbanista Schumacher convinse l'allora sindaco, poi cancelliere, Konrad Adenauer a conferirgli l' incarico di disegnare la grande cintura verde che ancor oggi di Cologna conserva

Short ‘1.2× Genome’ Infectious Clone Initiates Kolmiovirid Replication in Boa constrictor Cells

Human hepatitis D virus (HDV) depends on hepatitis B virus co-infection and its glycoproteins for infectious particle formation. HDV was the sole known deltavirus for decades and believed to be a human-only pathogen. However, since 2018, several groups reported finding HDV-like agents from various hosts but without co-infecting hepadnaviruses. In vitro systems enabling helper virus-independent replication are key for studying the newly discovered deltaviruses. Others and we have successfully used constructs containing multimers of the deltavirus genome for the replication of various deltaviruses via transfection in cell culture. Here, we report the establishment of deltavirus infectious clones with 1.2× genome inserts bearing two copies of the genomic and antigenomic ribozymes. We used Swiss snake colony virus 1 as the model to compare the ability of the previously reported “2× genome” and the “1.2× genome” infectious clones to initiate replication in cell culture. Using immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, immuno- and northern blotting, we found the 2× and 1.2× genome clones to similarly initiate deltavirus replication in vitro and both induced a persistent infection of snake cells. The 1.2× genome constructs enable easier introduction of modifications required for studying deltavirus replication and cellular interactions

Short '1.2x Genome' Infectious Clone Initiates Kolmiovirid Replication in Boa constrictor Cells

Human hepatitis D virus (HDV) depends on hepatitis B virus co-infection and its glycoproteins for infectious particle formation. HDV was the sole known deltavirus for decades and believed to be a human-only pathogen. However, since 2018, several groups reported finding HDV-like agents from various hosts but without co-infecting hepadnaviruses. In vitro systems enabling helper virus-independent replication are key for studying the newly discovered deltaviruses. Others and we have successfully used constructs containing multimers of the deltavirus genome for the replication of various deltaviruses via transfection in cell culture. Here, we report the establishment of deltavirus infectious clones with 1.2x genome inserts bearing two copies of the genomic and antigenomic ribozymes. We used Swiss snake colony virus 1 as the model to compare the ability of the previously reported "2x genome" and the "1.2x genome" infectious clones to initiate replication in cell culture. Using immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, immuno- and northern blotting, we found the 2x and 1.2x genome clones to similarly initiate deltavirus replication in vitro and both induced a persistent infection of snake cells. The 1.2x genome constructs enable easier introduction of modifications required for studying deltavirus replication and cellular interactions.Peer reviewe