How Does Knowledge Transfer from Foreign Subsidiaries Affect Parent Companies' Innovative Capacity

The paper addresses reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) from foreign subsidiary to parent company. Specifically, it aims at investigating to what extent the effectiveness of such a transfer is influenced by: (i) the organizational mechanisms employed for transferring knowledge; (ii) the subsidiary’s role, its autonomy, and its relationships with the local context. The empirical analysis considers 162 transfers of best practices possessed by foreign subsidiaries and transferred back to their Italian parent companies. Results confirm that the impact of RKT on the parent company’s innovativeness is greater when: (i) person-based mechanisms are employed for transferring knowledge; (ii) subsidiaries are competence-creating; and (iii) knowledge developed by subsidiaries benefits from local external linkages.External linkages; organizational mechanisms; parent company's innovativeness; reverse knowledge transfer, subsidiary’s characteristics

EXPLAINING THE TERRITORIAL ADOPTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES - A SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC APPROACH

The notion that Information and Communication Technology would have reduced the economic importance of geographic distance has been proposed with energy in the post-Internet literature (Cairncross, 2001). According to this view, the New Economy would work in a space rather than a place, cost of transport would be drastically reduced, distance would be less important, and peripheral regions would benefit from opportunities that were not available in the economy based on manufacturing industry (Negroponte, 1995; Cairncross, 1997; Kelly, 1998; Compaine, 2001). Since ICT are mostly based on immaterial and human capital investment, regions or areas that have historically suffered from isolation, large cost of transportation, or lack of physical private and public infrastructure might find new paths for growth. Consequently, according to this view, the concentration of income opportunities and wealth should decrease over time. Although other predictions were also present in the debate over the impact of the digital economy (e.g. Norris, 2001; UNDP; 2001), this view was largely dominant. The reality is not so rosy. Not only there are huge disparities in the intensity with which ICT are adopted and used across countries, but also there are still large differences within industrialized countries. Indeed, differences in economic development still shape the rate of the adoption of these technologies, at the firm, regional and country level. The reasons behind these stylized facts have been investigated at length in recent times. This paper contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it focuses on intra-national or regional differences, which is a much less explored dimension of the digital divide. Second, it uses a new metric for the adoption of ICT, namely the number of second level Internet domain names, registered under the ccTLD “.it.”. Finally, it explicitly combines the analysis of determinants with a spatial econometric approach. Thanks to the availability of panel data for both the dependent and the explanatory variables (time period: 1990-2001), spatial and temporal effect are simultaneously taken into account. Panel data techniques that account for temporal correlations are in widespread use while there have been a variety of studies accounting for spatial autocorrelation (see for instance Coughlin et al. 2003; Dubin, 1992; McMillan, 2004). However one of the major drawbacks to many analyses is that they fail to integrate the spatial and temporal correlations that are present in geographical systems (Elhorst, 2003).

Knowledge, Spillovers and Firms’ International Growth. An Analysis at the Italian NUTS 3 Level

In the framework of analyses on the relationship between geography and technological innovation, the role of universities has received considerable attention. Both theoretical and empirical literature has shown that university research positively influences the capacity for innovation of the surrounding firms (Jaffe, 1989; Feldman, 1994; Acs et al, 2002). Universities play a central role in innovation processes both as the main responsible for basic research and also as forgers of human capital’s skills. Empirical work has highlighted that such effects radiate from major university centres crossing borders and administrative boundaries (Anselin et al., 1997). This paper focuses on the relationship between universities and the innovative capacity at the territorial level. Specifically, our empirical analysis investigates whether university research spillovers are highly localised or they rather flow across borders. Empirical literature has widely investigated intensity and directions of such spillovers, mainly within the theoretical framework of Griliches-Jaffe. However, we extend the empirical evidence exploring whether intensity and directions of spillovers depend on universities’ specificities (e.g. size, fields of specialization, fund rising capacity) and on the local absorptive capacity. The analysis is developed at the Italian NUTS3 level, using an explicit spatial econometric approach applied to a knowledge production function. References Acs, Z., Anselin, L., and Varga, A. (2002): “Patents and innovation counts as measures of regional production of new knowledgeâ€, Research Policy 31, pp. 1069-1085. Anselin, L., Varga, A., and Acs, Z. (1997): “Local geographic spillovers between University research and high technology innovationsâ€, Journal of Urban Economics 42, pp. 422-448. Feldman, M. (1994): The Geography of innovation, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Dordrecht. Jaffe, A. (1989): “Real effects of academic researchâ€, The American Economic Review, vol 79, n. 5, pp. 957-970.

Predictors of Positive Adjustment in a Sample of Children Impacted by Hurricane Katrina

Natural disasters have a profound psychological impact on children and youth (Kelley et al., 2010; Lai et al., 2015; La Greca, et al., 1996; Vernberg et al., 1996). Much of the literature assessing risk and protective factors related to children’s post-disaster recovery has primarily focused on the development of significant clinical symptoms, largely ignoring factors associated with positive adjustment and resilience. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine parenting behaviors and family organization (i.e., child routines) as they relate to children’s self-esteem and self-reliance in a sample of 371 parent-child dyads impacted by Hurricane Katrina. A series of hierarchical regression analyses tested the hypotheses that parenting behaviors and child routines are predictive of self-esteem and self-reliance in an attempt to elucidate the relationship between family-level variables and children’s post-disaster adjustment at two time points (i.e., 3-7 and 13-17 months) following Hurricane Katrina. While hypotheses were partially supported, significant relationships were small. Results indicated that home violence exposure was the strongest predictor of self-esteem (B = -1.81, p \u3c .05) and corporal punishment (B= .57, p \u3c .05) was the strongest predictor of self-reliance 3-7 months post-disaster. Minority status (B = 3.47, p \u3c .05), child gender (B = -2.74, p \u3c .05), and poor monitoring/supervision (B = -.38, p \u3c .05) were significant predictors of self-esteem 13-17 months post-disaster. Implications and directions for future research are discussed

Factor Predicting Maternal Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Trajectories Following a Natural Disaster: Coping, Social Support, and Family Functioning

Natural disasters are sudden, large-scale events that are associated with significant mental health consequences. Although, most individuals demonstrate resilience, a significant subset of the population develops significant long-term distress (La Greca et al. 2013; Lai, et al., 2015; Lowe & Rhodes 2013; Self-Brown et al., 2014). Moreover, results from emerging longitudinal research suggests that symptom patterns are heterogenous. For example, some individuals recover over time or demonstrate a delayed onset. The most commonly studied post-disaster reaction in adults is posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. However, the extant literature examining elevated PTS symptoms and related risk factors in disaster research has relied largely on cross-sectional post-hoc designs, with few studies examining PTS symptom trajectories from a longitudinal perspective. The current study sought to build upon post-disaster recovery theory, by examining PTS trajectories in a diverse sample of primarily low-income mothers impacted by Hurricane Katrina, as well as identifying predictor variables (i.e., prior trauma, hurricane exposure, coping behavior, social support, and family functioning) associated with specific symptom trajectories. Data was collected over two years following the Hurricane Katrina (2005-2007). Utilizing Latent Class Growth Analysis, results revealed that a three-trajectory model (i.e., recovering, chronic, and resilient) best fit the data. Significant risk and protective factors differentiating trajectory membership included prior trauma, hurricane-related loss and disruption, social support, and children’s internalizing symptoms. Implications of study findings and directions for future research are discussed

Productivity Spillovers from Foreign MNEs on Domestic Manufacturing Firms: Is Co-location Always a Plus?

The paper analyses productivity spillovers from foreign MNEs on domestic manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in Italy, our results reveal that local firms do benefit from the presence of foreign MNEs, and the effect is higher when local and foreign firms in manufacturing sectors are co-located. However, spillovers benefiting domestic firms are likely to be less influenced by co-location when foreign MNEs are in services sectors as the latter are different from manufacturing industries under a number of aspects that overcome the effect of distance. Indeed, in these sectors, proximity and interaction are often obtained through professional mobility and temporary inter-organizational routines.Multinational Firms, Co-Location, Proximity, Spillover Effects, Customer-Supplier Interaction, Vertical Linkages

Inward FDI in Italy and its policy context

The attractiveness of the Italian economy for inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has been traditionally limited, despite the country's locational advantages such as a large domestic market and a skilled labor force. The recent global crisis worsened the country's IFDI position, with flows falling from US$40 billion in 2007 to US$ 11 billion in 2008 before recovering to US$20 billion in 2009 but down again to US$ 9 billion in 2010. Although the country's IFDI stock had grown since 2000 at a rate similar to that of the European Union as a whole, in 2010 IFDI stock contracted vis-à -vis 2009, reflecting how Italy, compared to other key European countries and to its own potential, continues to underperform. The main obstacles to exploiting the country's potential for IFDI lie both in the largely insufficient actions undertaken to attract and promote IFDI, and especially in the lack of coordination with other relevant policy measures (e.g. infrastructure development) within a broader framework aimed at regional and national development

Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context, 2012

Italy’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared to that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in “traditional” low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced service industries. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy and resulted in a decline in OFDI flows in 2009, owing to few large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. However, due to the stagnation of the internal market, Italian firms continued to pursue growth opportunities abroad in 2010 and in 2011 through small-scale investments, in particular outside the EU

Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context

Italian companies started to invest abroad in the 1960s in search of new markets. However, Italy's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared with that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in traditional low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced services. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy. However, the positive trend of Italian OFDI was not interrupted, and in 2009 OFDI flows remained stable compared to 2008. Habitually silent on this policy area in earlier decades, the Italian Government has recently shown a more favorable stance toward OFDI, introducing specific policy measures addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises, which have started to expand strongly abroad "“ these now constitute almost 90% of Italian multinational enterprises (MNEs)