The location of innovation. Universities and technological infrastructure in Spain

During the last decade, in Spain, there has been important growth and territorial expansion of universities and technological centres in support of the innovative activity in firms. This paper is divided into two parts. Firstly, through a review of the theoretical and empirical studies the main connections between geography and innovation are presented. Secondly, in the framework of a Griliches-Jaffe knowledge production function the relation, at a geographical level, of university research, technological infrastructure and human capital to innovations in Spain is explored

University research and the location of patents in Spain

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between innovative capacity and the presence of innovative inputs at a geographical level in Spain. Within the framework of a Griliches-Jaffe knowledge production function the effects of university research on corporate patents in four high and medium technology sectors are explored. In contrast to other studies carried out on this subject in the United States, the results do not provide evidence, except in the electronics industry, to support a positive relationship between university research and regional innovation

The geography of innovation: the effects of university research

Applied studies on the relationship between geography and technological innovation for United States, Germany, France and Italy have shown the positive effects that academic research exerts on the innovative output of firms at a spatial level. The purpose of this paper is to look for new evidence on the possible effects of the university research for the case of Spain. To do so, within the framework of a Griliches-Jaffe knowledge production function, and using panel data and count models, the relationship between innovative inputs and patents, in the case of the Spanish regions is explored.geography of innovation, patents, r&d

Assessing the assignation of public subsidies: Do the experts choose the most efficient R&D projects?

The implementation of public programs to support business R&D projects requires the establishment of a selection process. This selection process faces various difficulties, which include the measurement of the impact of the R&D projects as well as selection process optimization among projects with multiple, and sometimes incomparable, performance indicators. To this end, public agencies generally use the peer review method,which, while presenting some advantages, also demonstrates significant drawbacks. Private firms, on the other hand, tend toward more quantitative methods, such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), in their pursuit of R&D investment optimization. In this paper, the performance of a public agency peer review method of project selection is compared with an alternative DEA method.peer review, dea, subsidies, r&d

Which firms are involved in foreign vertical integration?

In line with the literature that considers that transaction costs, asset specificity and incomplete contracts play a key role in the "make or buy decision", this paper seeks to identify the characteristics of offshoring firms that make them more or less likely to integrate their activities in a foreign country. Our results show that the real candidates for foreign vertical integration are those firms that have a large share of their inputs provided by headquarters. Firms engaged in foreign vertical integration are more capital and skill-intensive than those exclusively dedicated to foreign outsourcing. The degree of foreign vertical integration also matters since the most intensively integrated firms are also the most productive. We also demonstrate that international experience and product differentiation favor foreign vertical integration

Which firms are involved in foreign vertical integration? [WP-IEB]

In line with the literature that considers that transaction costs, asset specificity and incomplete contracts play a key role in the “make or buy decision”, this paper seeks to discriminate the characteristics of firms that make them more or less likely to integrate their activities in a foreign country. We draw on firm level data for Spanish manufacturing firms from the Survey on Business Strategies (ESEE), which enable us to identify whether their imports are intra-firm (related party) or at arm’s-length (non-related party). Our results show that candidates for vertical integration are the most productive firms and those that receive a large share of their inputs from headquarters. We also demonstrate that international experience and product differentiation favor foregin integration even after controlling for other characteristics of the firm

The impact of R&D subsidies on R&D employment composition [WP]

In this paper we examine the impact of subsidies granted at national and regional levels on a set of R&D employment variables and, specifically, we seek to identify the existence of the behavioural additionality effects of these public subsidies on firms’ R&D human resources. We begin by assessing the effects of public funds on R&D private expenditures and on the number of R&D employees, and then focus on their impact on the composition of human resources engaged in R&D as classified by occupation and level of education. The data used correspond to the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2006-2011. To control for selection bias and endogeneity, a combination of non-parametric matching techniques are implemented. After ruling out the existence of crowding out effects, our results show that R&D subsidies increase the number of R&D employees. However, no increase is found in the average level of qualification of R&D staff members in subsidized firms. All in all, the effects of public support are heterogeneous being dependent on the source of the subsidy and the firms’ characteristics

The impact of R&D subsidies on R&D employment composition

In this article, we examine the impact of subsidies granted at national and regional levels on a set of research and development (R&D) employment variables, and we specifically seek to identify the existence of additional effects of these public subsidies on the R&D human resources of firms. We begin by assessing the effects of public funds on private R&D expenditure and on the number of R&D employees, and then focus on the impact of these funds on the composition of human resources engaged in R&D classified by occupation and level of education. ..

Reviving demand pull perspectives: the effect of demand uncertainty and stagnancy on R&D strategy

This paper looks at the effects of demand uncertainty and stagnancy on firm's decisions to engage in R&D activities and the amount of financial effort devoted to such activities. In so doing, the paper makes a number of contributions to the innovation literature: first, it adds to the recently revived debate on demand-pull perspectives in innovation studies by examining demand-related (lack of) incentives to invest in innovation. Second, it complements the emerging literature on barriers to innovation by focusing on demand-related obstacles rather than on the more frequently explored financial barriers. Third, it analyses whether experiencing uncertainty or a lack of demand is a sector-specific feature. Firms active in high- or low-tech manufacturing or in knowledge intensive or low-tech services might be more or less dependent on demand conditions when deciding to perform R&D. We find that uncertain demand and lack of demand are perceived as two quite distinct barriers. While demand uncertainty does not seem to constrain R&D efforts, the perception of a lack of demand has a marked impact on not only the amount of investment in R&D but also the likelihood of firms engaging in R&D activities. We interpret this evidence in terms of the specific phase in the innovation cycle in which decisions to invest in R&D are taken. Sectoral affiliation does not seem to be a factor in demand conditions, supporting the conjecture that positive expectations regarding market demand are structural and necessary conditions that have to be satisfied for all firms prior to them investing in R&D

The determinants of University patenting: do incentives matter?

In recent years various studies have examined the factors that may explain academic patents. Existing analyses have also underlined the substantial differences to be found in European countries in the institutional framework that defines property rights for academic patents. The objective of this study is to contribute to the empirical literature on the factors explaining academic patents and to determine whether the incentives that universities offer researchers contribute towards explaining the differences in academic patenting activity. The results of the econometric analysis for the Spanish universities point towards the conclusion that the principal factor determining the patents is funding of R&D while royalty incentives to researchers do not appear to be significant