Cooperation for innovation and its impact on technological and non-technological innovation: empirical evidence from European SMEs in traditional manufacturing industries

Drawing on a sample of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in traditional manufacturing industries from seven EU regions, this study investigates how cooperation with external organizations affects technological (product and process) innovations and non-technological (organizational and marketing) innovations as well as the commercial success of product and process innovations (i.e. innovative sales). Our empirical strategy takes into account that all four types of innovation are potentially complementary. Empirical results suggest that cooperation increases firms' innovativeness and yields substantial commercial benefits. In particular, increasing the number of cooperation partnerships has a positive impact on all measures of innovation performance. We conclude that a portfolio approach to cooperation enhances innovation performance and that innovation support programs should be demand-led

Cooperation for innovation: impact evidence for European manufacturing SMEs

We advance the notion that cooperation for innovation can demonstrate beneficial effects on firms' innovation performance. Whilst most empirical studies to date have focused on the impact of cooperation on technological product and process innovations, this study adopts a broader definition of innovation that encompasses both technological innovations and non-technological organizational and marketing innovations taking into account their complementary and interrelated nature. Drawing on a unique sample of traditional manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in seven EU regions, the study shows that cooperation for innovation increases firms' innovativeness. This conclusion is based on the positive association across the breadth of cooperation, i.e. the number of cooperative ties, with each measure of innovation outcomes, without exhibiting diminishing returns. In addition, empirical evidence suggests heterogeneous effects of individual cooperative ties on innovation performance. Overall, the results indicate that a portfolio approach to cooperation for innovation enhances innovation performance in traditional manufacturing SMEs. Finally, the findings confirm the complementary nature of technological and non-technological innovations

Drivers of diversification and pluriactivity among smallholder farmers—evidence from Nigeria

Diversification and pluriactivity have become a norm among farm business owners (FBOs) due to persistent low farm income. This study applies the resource-based theory to examine drivers of diversification and livelihood income-oriented towards a sustainable livelihood. Our framework develops hypotheses about the impact of internal and external resources on livelihood choices at the household level. We use a survey of 480 rural Nigerian farmers (agripreneurs), applying a Multivariate Tobit to test our framework. We find that education plays the most significant role in all types of employment options. The more FBOs are educated, the more the likelihood that they will choose non-farm or wage employment. This study revealed that while the agriculture sector’s share of rural employment is declining, non-farm is on the increase. More so, there is a decline in farming among the young generation, marital status bias and gender influence in resource allocation. The socioeconomic (income and food security) and socio-cultural (employment and rural-urban migration) implications of rural sustainability linked to UN Development Goals have been highlighted and analysed in this article

Adolescent pregnancies in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador: a rights and gender approach to adolescents' sexual and reproductive health

In the Andean region of Latin America over one million adolescent girls get pregnant every year. Adolescent pregnancy (AP) has been associated with adverse health and social outcomes, but it has also been favorably viewed as a pathway to adulthood. AP can also be conceptualized as a marker of inequity, since it disproportionately affects girls from the poorest households and those who have not been able to attend school

Intra-cluster knowledge exchange and frequency of product innovation in a digital cluster.

We investigate how intra-cluster knowledge exchange affects the frequency of product innovation. Based on self-administered survey data of digital SMEs from Bournemouth and Poole regions of England, this study shows that digital firms that sustain both temporary and prolonged relationships with outbound employees have a higher probability of introducing frequent product innovation. Moreover, while cognitive proximity and the use of external knowledge providers increase the probability of frequent product innovation, geographical proximity reduces it. Our findings suggest that managers of young digital firms with limited resources in peripheral regions should ‘act near’ before reaching out