SME modes of innovation in European catching-up countries: The impact of STI and DUI drivers on technological innovation

At the intersection of SME innovation and innovation systems, this study investigates the characteristics of SME innovation modes in catching-up European countries (Southern, and Central and Eastern European) and compare it with selected among the most advanced countries in Europe as a mean to show key differences. Distinguishing between STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) and DUI (learning-by-Doing, Using and Interacting) innovation drivers, and analyzing their impact on technological innovation we study 29,834 SMEs innovation in 15 countries. We argue that the most effective SME innovation modes in catching-up countries are peculiar vis-à-vis other types of countries (e.g. advanced economies). Results show how their economic, institutional and innovation context influence SME forms of knowledge and learning. In general, catching-up countries show effective DUI-type collaborations for process innovations, while showing more limited returns than advanced countries from the STI mode of innovation

The drivers of SME innovation in the regions of the EU

European Union (EU) innovation policies have for long remained mostly research driven. The fundamental goal has been to achieve a rate of R&D investment of 3% of GDP. Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation, however, relies on a variety of internal sources —both R&D and non-R&D based— and external drivers, such as collaboration with other firms and research centres, and is profoundly influence by location and context. Given this multiplicity of innovation activities, this study argues that innovation policies fundamentally based on a place-blind increase of R&D investment may not deliver the best outcomes in regions where the capacity of SMEs is to benefit from R&D is limited. We posit that collaboration and regional specificities can play a greater role in determining SME innovation, beyond just R&D activities. Using data from the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), covering 220 regions across 22 European countries, we find that regions in Europe differ significantly in terms of SME innovation depending on their location. SMEs in more innovative regions benefit to a far greater extent from a combination of internal R&D, external collaboration of all sorts, and non-R&D inputs. SMEs in less innovative regions rely fundamentally on external sources and, particularly, on collaboration with other firms. Greater investment in public R&D does not always lead to improvements in regional SME innovation, regardless of context. Collaboration is a central innovation activity that can complement R&D, showing an even stronger effect on SME innovation than R&D. Hence, a more collaboration-based and place-sensitive policy is required to maximise SME innovation across the variety of European regional contexts

La necesidad de las cadenas de valor globales para evitar inercias cognitivas en clusters. El caso del valle del juguete-plástico en Alicante

El objetivo del presente artículo se basa en entender la necesidad de la apertura de los clusters y su inclusión en cadenas de valor globales que permitan la entrada de conocimiento, la renovación de tecnologías y capacidades, la renovación de actores y, en definitiva, la mejora de la competitividad de los territorios y de sus tejidos productivos de pymes. Si bien ha predominado un paradigma de desarrollo local endógeno en los clusters o distritos industriales en toda la literatura, hecho totalmente evidente en la mayoría de los casos, la evidencia empírica de los últimos años comienza a desmitificar y moderar dicha característica que, si bien no deja de ser cierta, va perdiendo peso, sobre todo cuando analizamos los clusters que pueden considerarse como casos de éxito (ejemplo, Hervas-Oliver y Albors-Garrigos, 2008, Eisingerich et al., 2010; Iammarino y McCann, 2013). Así, en la literatura actual sobre los clusters industriales o distritos industriales destaca, cada vez en mayor medida, la necesidad de abrir los territorios y conectarlos con cadenas de valor globales con el propósito de adquirir diferente conocimiento, renovar los actores, abrir las redes y rejuvenecer los territorios (Giuliani et al., 2014; Crescenzi et al., 2015; Iammarino y McCann, 2013; Hervas-Oliver y Boix, 2013; Eisingerich et al., 2010; Bathelt et al., 2004). En este escenario conviene destacar el rol que desempañan las multinacionales como elemento de conexión y coordinación de dichas cadenas de valor. Así, las multinacionales (MNEs) presentan un destacado papel en la transferencia de conocimiento entre territorios a través de los circuitos internos entre MNEs y sus subsidiarias localizadas (Hervas-Oliver y Boix, 2013; Lorenzen and Mudambi, 2012; Tallman y Chacar, 2011; Harrison, 1994

Agglomerations and firm performance: who benefits and how much?

[EN] Agglomerations and firm performance: who benefits and how much? Regional Studies. Agglomeration can generate gains. If it does, how does it work and how are those gains distributed across agglomerated firms? The paper examines the effect of localization externalities on innovation. Localization externalities are measured as industry specialization or a firm s colocation in a relatively high own-industry employment region. By analyzing a large dataset of 6697 firms integrated with another regional agglomeration-related dataset, results show that (1) co-location in an agglomeration has a positive influence on a firm s innovative performance; and (2) firms benefit heterogeneously from agglomerations, with benefits being distributed asymmetrically. Agglomeration gains exist but not all firms benefit equally.Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economics, Industry and Competitiveness [research grant ECO:2015-63645-R] (Mineco/Feder), Open Innovation in Clusters.Hervás Oliver, JL.; Sempere-Ripoll, F.; Rojas Alvarado, RJ.; Estelles Miguel, S. (2018). Agglomerations and firm performance: who benefits and how much?. Regional Studies. 52(3):338-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1297895S33834952

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues

Process innovation objectives and management complementarities: patterns, drivers, co-adoption and performance effects

The excessive concentration of the innovation literature on product development, its drivers and effects, has almost neglected an important strategy which develops and sustains a firm's competitive advantage: process development or innovation. This is an examination of process innovation as more than a mere dependent variable for predicting innovators. It provides insights into the poor attention that process innovation variable has received as an indicator of a firm's performance. In addition, the paper relates this process with the management innovation phenomenon. Using 8,977 firms from Spain through CIS data, findings suggest: (1) most process innovation performance is explained without R&D variables; (2) process innovation process innovation was observed to have a strong dependence on external sources of knowledge, mainly via the acquisition of embodied knowledge; (3) an important 'implementation' effect or 'learning by trying' effect is observed in which the acquisition of embodied knowledge requires the organization to couple the new technology with existing processes; (4) the simultaneous co-adoption of management innovation positively moderates and improves process performance (5) product innovation is not related to process innovation performance. The latter result is unrelated to consideration of co-adoption of product and process innovation. Two-step Heckman procedures control for the selection process. The paper presents important implications for policymakers and scholars

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes.

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues