Subsidized R&D collaboration:The causal effect of innovation vouchers on innovation outcomes

We study the causal effect of subsidized R&D collaboration on external collaborations and innovation outcomes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, we make use of a randomized controlled trial to analyze the effect of a nationwide innovation voucher scheme in the United Kingdom that grants SMEs across all industries financial support of up to 5,000 GBP for engaging the services of experts, e.g., from universities, research institutes or IP advisors, when pursuing an innovation-related project. Our results show that the innovation voucher program has an immediate, short-term impact on the execution of these innovation projects with positive effects on product and service development, internal processes, and intellectual property protection. However, we also observe that these results fade out quite quickly, i.e., two years after the intervention many effects caused by the innovation voucher program have disappeared. Based on our results, we also provide some practical guidance to further improve the effectiveness of voucher programs

Peer Effects in Entrepreneurship Education Field Experimental Evidence on the Role of Gender and Team Emotional Intelligence

This study builds on the assumption that the common experiential design of entrepreneurship education stimulates entrepreneurial learning via social interaction with peers. We present data from a field experiment in higher entrepreneurship education with 498 valid observations, including 314 female and 184 male students across 174 randomly assigned teams. We investigate peer effects in two ways. First and to the best of our knowledge, we present the first attempt to explore gendered peer effects at the pre-nascent stage of the entrepreneurial process. We theorize that having same-gender entrepreneurial peers in the team positively influences the development of entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes, as well as entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Second, we explore the role of team emotional intelligence in the context of entrepreneurship education. Our analysis provides some indications for positive same-gender peer effects, especially when it comes to the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy among female students. Further, we find support that team emotional intelligence is not only an antecedent of entrepreneurial propensity, but also being assigned to a team with emotionally intelligent peers positively influences entrepreneurial learning and may even mitigate same-gender effects.

Subsidized R&D collaboration: The causal effect of innovation vouchers on innovation outcomes

We study the causal effect of subsidized R&D collaboration on external collaborations and innovation outcomes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, we make use of a randomized controlled trial to analyze the effect of a nationwide innovation voucher scheme in the United Kingdom that grants SMEs across all industries financial support of up to 5,000 GBP for engaging the services of experts, e.g., from universities, research institutes or IP advisors, when pursuing an innovation-related project. Our results show that the innovation voucher program has an immediate, short-term impact on the execution of these innovation projects with positive effects on product and service development, internal processes, and intellectual property protection. However, we also observe that these results fade out quite quickly, i.e., two years after the intervention many effects caused by the innovation voucher program have disappeared. Based on our results, we also provide some practical guidance to further improve the effectiveness of voucher programs

The effect of a tax training program on tax compliance and business outcomes of starting entrepreneurs: Evidence from a field experiment

This paper estimates the long-term impact of a short, partly personalized, mandatory tax training program on tax compliance and business outcomes of first-time entrepreneurs. To this end, we combine survey data, audit data and unique register data from the Netherlands’ Tax and Customs Administration with a three year long randomized experiment. The results show that the training affects specific domains of tax compliant behavior. Moreover, it has no impact on business survival, but treated entrepreneurs have significantly higher profits compared to the control group due to lower business costs. These outcomes are partially supportive of our hypotheses developed from theories on tax compliance and mental accounting

Diverse cognitive skills and team performance: A field experiment based on an entrepreneurship education program

Verbal and mathematical reasoning are key cognitive skills which individuals use throughout their lives to create economic value. We argue that individuals undertaking entrepreneurial tasks also draw on these skills, and we study how best these skills should be combined in entrepreneurial teams. To that purpose we conduct a randomized field experiment using data from the BizWorld entrepreneurship education program. Four different types of teams are created which differ in terms of their cognitive skill composition. Our results show that balanced skills are beneficial for a team's venture performance only if it comes from within-person skill balance, and that combining team members with different skills in mixed teams does not compensate for a lack of members who individually possess balanced cognitive skills

Booster with Ad26.COV2.S or Omicron-adapted vaccine enhanced immunity and efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in macaques

Variant booster vaccines are a strategy to improve protection against SARS-CoV-2. Here, the authors find that both Wuhan-Hu-1-based Ad26.COV2.S or an Omicron-adapted booster vaccine provide robust immune responses and protection against Omicron in NHP