Why size maters: Investigating the drivers of innovation and economic performance in New Zealand using the business operation survey

The economic performance of the New Zealand economy is something of an enigma. Although ranked number one (of 144 countries) for four important 'growth fundamentals' New Zealand is 'middle of the pack' when it comes to economic growth, productivity and innovation. So what is missing in this story of New Zealand performance? Using three iterations (2005, 2007 and 2009) of the Business Operations Survey, the paper seeks to answer the question using a bivariate probit regression (biprobit) approach applied to samples in excess of 2,000 unit record observations of New Zealand firms. The results suggest that factors such as firm size, high perceived quality product, investment/R&D capability, major technology change, application of formal IP protection and new export markets are systematically and positively related to innovation; while many external issues such as those related to geography, market structure, business environment, appear to have little influence. At the firm level, innovations in New Zealand are highly dependent on the firms’ internal ability to develop new technologies and market demand. (Small) size does matter in New Zealand where ultimately government may need to be involved to maintain a viable (minimum) scale for domestic R&D

Beyond ‘the Beamer, the boat and the bach’? A content analysis-based case study of New Zealand innovative firms

In this paper we will use case studies to seek to understand the dynamic innovation processes at the level of the firm and to explain the apparent 'enigma' between New Zealand's recent innovation performance and economic growth. A text-mining tool, Leximancer, (version 4) was used to analyse the case results, based on content analysis. The case studies reveal that innovation in New Zealand firms can be best described as 'internalised', and the four key factors that affect innovation in New Zealand firms are ‘Product’, ‘Market’, ‘People’ and ‘Money’. New Zealand may be an ideal place for promoting local entrepreneurship, however, many market/technology opportunities cannot be realized in such a small and isolated economy, hence the poor economic performance

Innovation in New Zealand: Issues of Firm Size, Local Market Size and Economic Geography

In this paper we report empirical evidence from a mixed methods approach to investigating the drivers of innovation in New Zealand. The evidence comes from a primary questionnaire survey we conducted across seventy-five local firms plus fifteen face-to-face case study interviews. Our survey response data is analysed using four different types of probability models and the various models are all found to be largely consistent with each other. The insights from these estimation methods are then bolstered by detailed follow-up case studies of individual firms in different industries and product groups regarding their innovation and competition experiences. Our results from both forms of evidence-gathering suggest that in a small and isolated local market such as New Zealand, smallness in terms of firm size may not be an advantage for innovation. The reason appears to be that the notion of ‘small’ itself may have an absolute minimum threshold, below which translating entrepreneurship into innovation becomes problematic. As such, applying theories of local economic development to local economies which exhibit similar features to New Zealand may require us to adjust our thinking in order to take account of different absolute scale effects in different types of economies.Innovation; New Zealand; SME; Economic Geography

Innovation and the New Zealand Manufacturing Sector

This thesis investigates the determinants of innovation in the New Zealand manufacturing sector by addressing the issue in three main parts. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to identify definitions of innovation. A number of hypotheses are then proposed based on the international literature. Secondly, supported by the New Zealand Manufactures and Exporters Association (NZMEA), a unique dataset was collected via an Internet-based instrument, the Innovation Survey of the Manufacturing Sector. A series of regression models were then used to test the proposed hypotheses. The final part of the research involved a number of in-depth company interviews that approached the topic from a different perspective and complemented the qualitative analyses by further investigating issues that were unresolved from the survey. The research results suggest that “micro” (i.e. very small) firms may not be very innovative, and identified that practical skills and co-operation are crucial factors influencing innovation in the New Zealand manufacturing sector

Innovation in New Zealand: A Firm-Level Analysis

The overall aim of this thesis is to uncover the key determinants of innovation in New Zealand firms and consider some of their likely effects. In order to provide a broad perspective on New Zealand’s local innovation processes, a mixed method approach combining both quantitative and qualitative analysis was adopted to allow analysis of both empirical data and case study data. The quantitative part of analysis utilises the unique dataset developed by Statistics New Zealand, namely the prototype Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), and the qualitative analysis includes four in-depth company case studies which complement the regression analyses by uncovering the key patterns of innovation behaviour at the firm level. In summary, a number of conclusions have been drawn from the research. Firstly, firms experience considerably smaller positive size effect because of New Zealand’s unique firm demographics, and the small size has limited individual firm’s innovation opportunities. Secondly, firms’ ability to develop new technologies directly influences their innovative ability, which is highly dependent on the availability of funds and skills. Lastly, innovation in New Zealand has a very strong market focus, while technology suppliers such as universities and Crown Research Institutes only have a limited role in selected industries

Gut microbiota is involved in the alleviation of loperamide-induced constipation by honey supplementation in mice

Constipation is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders accompanied with intestinal dysbiosis. Laxatives for constipation usually have side effects. Bee honey is a natural food with unique composition, antimicrobial properties, and bifidogenic effect. In order to assess whether honey can ameliorate loperamide-induced constipation in BALB/c mice through the alteration of the gut microbiota, the present study was undertaken. Mice were given Jarrah honey (7.5 g/kg body weight) by gavage once per day for 5 days. Fecal water content, intestinal transit rate together with the colon concentrations of substance P (SP), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) were evaluated. Furthermore, we determined the effect of honey treatment on gut microbiota in mice using stool genomic 16S rRNA sequencing. As a result, honey showed an obvious improvement in fecal water content and alleviated constipation by modulating the microbial composition of the microbiota, and this was highly associated with a proportional decrease in gut Desulfovibrio. In addition, we found that the colon level of neurotransmitters SP and VIP was significantly related to microbial variations. Our results indicate that gut microbiota is involved in the alleviation of loperamide-induced constipation by honey supplementation in mice, and it could be considered as an evaluating parameter in constipation therapy strategies

Gut microbiota is involved in the alleviation of loperamide‐induced constipation by honey supplementation in mice

Constipation is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders accompanied with intestinal dysbiosis. Laxatives for constipation usually have side effects. Bee honey is a natural food with unique composition, antimicrobial properties, and bifidogenic effect. In order to assess whether honey can ameliorate loperamide-induced constipation in BALB/c mice through the alteration of the gut microbiota, the present study was undertaken. Mice were given Jarrah honey (7.5 g/kg body weight) by gavage once per day for 5 days. Fecal water content, intestinal transit rate together with the colon concentrations of substance P (SP), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) were evaluated. Furthermore, we determined the effect of honey treatment on gut microbiota in mice using stool genomic 16S rRNA sequencing. As a result, honey showed an obvious improvement in fecal water content and alleviated constipation by modulating the microbial composition of the microbiota, and this was highly associated with a proportional decrease in gut Desulfovibrio. In addition, we found that the colon level of neurotransmitters SP and VIP was significantly related to microbial variations. Our results indicate that gut microbiota is involved in the alleviation of loperamide-induced constipation by honey supplementation in mice, and it could be considered as an evaluating parameter in constipation therapy strategies

An Extensive Network of TET2-Targeting MicroRNAs Regulates Malignant Hematopoiesis

The Ten-Eleven-Translocation 2 (TET2) gene, which oxidates 5-methylcytosine in DNA to 5-hydroxylmethylcytosine (5hmC), is a key tumor suppressor frequently mutated in hematopoietic malignancies. However, the molecular regulation of TET2 expression is poorly understood. We show that TET2 is under extensive microRNA (miRNA) regulation, and such TET2 targeting is an important pathogenic mechanism in hematopoietic malignancies. Using a high-throughput 3′ UTR activity screen, we identify >30 miRNAs that inhibit TET2 expression and cellular 5hmC. Forced expression of TET2-targeting miRNAs in vivo disrupts normal hematopoiesis, leading to hematopoietic expansion and/or myeloid differentiation bias, whereas coexpression of TET2 corrects these phenotypes. Importantly, several TET2-targeting miRNAs, including miR-125b, miR-29b, miR-29c, miR-101, and miR-7, are preferentially overexpressed in TET2-wild-type acute myeloid leukemia. Our results demonstrate the extensive roles of miRNAs in functionally regulating TET2 and cellular 5hmC and reveal miRNAs with previously unrecognized oncogenic potential. Our work suggests that TET2-targeting miRNAs might be exploited in cancer diagnosis