Measuring efficiency of innovation using combined Data Envelopment Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling:empirical study in EU regions

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of patent applications, development level, employment level and degree of technological diversity on innovation efficiency. Innovation efficiency is derived by relating innovation inputs and innovation outputs. Expenditures in Research and Development and Human Capital stand for innovation inputs. Technological knowledge diffusion that comes from spatial and technological neighborhood stands for innovation output. We derive innovation efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis for 192 European regions for a 12-year period (1995–2006). We also examine the impact of patents production, development and employment level and the level of technological diversity on innovation efficiency using Structural Equation Modeling. This paper contributes a method of innovation efficiency estimation in terms of regional knowledge spillovers and causal relationship of efficiency measurement criteria. The study reveals that the regions presenting high innovation activities through patents production have higher innovation efficiency. Additionally, our findings show that the regions characterized by high levels of employment achieve innovation sources exploitation efficiently. Moreover, we find that the level of regional development has both a direct and indirect effect on innovation efficiency. More accurately, transition and less developed regions in terms of per capita GDP present high levels of efficiency if they innovate in specific and limited technological fields. On the other hand, the more developed regions can achieve high innovation efficiency if they follow a more decentralized innovation policy

A bibliometric overview of university-business collaboration between 1980 and 2016

Bibliometrics is a research field that analyses bibliographic material from a quantitative point of view. Aiming at providing a comprehensive overview, this study scrutinises the academic literature in university business collaboration and technology transfer research for the period post the Bayh-Dole Act (1980-2016). The study employs the Web of Science as the main database from where information is collected. Bibliometric indicators such as number of publications, citations, productivity, and the H-index are used to analyse the results. The main findings are displayed in the form of tables and are further discussed. The focus is on the identification of the most relevant journals in this area, the most cited papers, most prolific authors, leading institutions, and countries. The results show that the USA, England, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands are highly active in this area. Scientific production tends to fall within the research areas of business and economics, engineering or public administration, and is mainly published in journals such as Research Policy, Technovation and Journal of Technology Transfer

How universities' third mission engagement can support inclusive innovation and sustainable development: addressing some open questions Introduction to the special issue

This editorial is structured as follows. First we outline several key gaps in current research regarding universities’ contribution to inclusive innovation and sustainable development through their engagement in UICs and other third mission activities. We then describe how the papers in the special issue address each of those gaps, and we conclude by summarizing the overall contribution of the special issue and outlining key implications for research and practice

STEM education: A bibliometric overview

In the recent years, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education has received increasing attention, and many calls for a fundamental change in this field have emerged. In this context, the analysis of the evolution and development of this scientific domain results crucial. In order to do so, the present study presents a bibliometric overview of the academic research developed in STEM education over the last years. The work uses the Web of Science database and a wide range of bibliometric indicators including the number of publications and citations, the h-index, and citation thresholds. The article also develops a graphical visualisation of the bibliographic data using the visualisation of similarities (VOS) viewer software. Results indicate that the amount of works addressing this topic has substantially increased in the recent years, although the number of citations has not experienced a similar growth rate. Also, when analysing journals and research areas, it can be deduced that the research on STEM education is diverse. The bibliometric analysis performed provides a rigorous and comprehensive view of research on STEM education that might be useful for those researchers interested in advancing future knowledge in this area

Higher education systems and regional economic development in Europe: A combined approach using econometric and machine learning methods

This study deals with the analysis of regional economic development in Europe. Specifically, it examines the extent to which the performance and characteristics of higher education systems (HESs) influence regional economic development. The analysis employs data at the regional level, examining 649 NUTS-3 in 29 European countries, from 2014 to 2016. The empirical analysis, based on an original dataset that we developed, employs a novel methodological strategy that combines a traditional econometric approach with random forest. The findings detect the existence of nonlinear relationships between regional GDP per capita and HES indicators, which could have been overlooked by previous studies in the literature. Furthermore, the empirical results demonstrate the importance of comprehensively modelling the diversity of HESs, since distinct characteristics and performance can contribute differently to the economy of the regions. In particular, the most important factors for regional economic development are the size of HESs, the internationalisation of the students and research productivity. Finally, this paper provides useful insights for policymakers by suggesting new instruments for driving and fostering the economic development of their regions

Organized chaos: mapping the definitions of social entrepreneurship

Over the last 20 years, social entrepreneurship has attracted the attention of researchers from a wide variety of disciplines which has generated a great range of definitions of the term social entrepreneurship. This paper maps the existing definitions, using a citation map and cluster analysis methods. Studying 307 documents in total, the analysis reveals that – contrary to what has been commonly believed – there does, in fact, exist widespread consensus within the academic community on the definition and meaning of the term social entrepreneurship and it is primarily centred on the combination of social and financial goals, community ideals and innovation

Open innovation in small and medium enterprises: a bibliometric analysis

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The open innovation (OI) paradigm suggests that firms should use inflows and outflows of knowledge in order to accelerate innovation and leverage markets. Literature examining how firms are adopting OI practices is rich; notwithstanding, little research has addressed this topic from the perspective of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Given the relevance of SMEs in worldwide economies, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of research on OI in SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 112 academic articles were selected from the Web of Science database. Following a bibliometric analysis, the most relevant authors, journals, institutions and countries are presented. Additionally, the main areas these articles cover are summarized. Findings: Results are consistent in that the most prolific authors are affiliated with the universities leading the ranking of institutions. However, it is remarkable that top authors in this field do not possess a large number of publications on OI in SMEs, but combine this research topic with other related ones. At the country level, European countries are on the top together with South Korea. Research limitations/implications: Despite following a rigorous method, other relevant documents not included in the selected databases might have been ignored. Practical implications: This paper outlines the main topics of interest within this area: impact of OI on firm performance and on organizations’ structure, OI as a mechanism to hasten new product development, the analysis of the inbound/outbound dimensions of OI, and legal issues related to intellectual property right management when OI is implemented. Originality/value: The study uses a combination of bibliometric indicators with a literature review