Geographical distance of innovation collaborations

This paper explores the geographical distance of innovation collaborations in high tech small firms. We test if absorptive capacity is a key determinant. Drawing on survey data from a sample of 316 Dutch high-tech small firms, engaging in 1.245 collaborations, we find most partners to be ‘local’. However, controlling for a variety of potential influences, higher R&D expenditure is positively related to collaboration with more distant organisations.  

On the Determinants of the Reach of Innovation-related Collaboration in Small Firms

This paper takes as its starting point an item of relatively recent academic orthodoxy: the insistence that ‘…interactive learning and collective entrepreneurship are fundamental to the process of innovation’ (Lundvall, 1992, p. 9). From this, academics have frequently taken “interactive” to imply “inter-organisational” and, whilst one might be concerned by this too casual conflation, there is a growing consensus that firms’ embeddedness in collaborative networks matters for their innovative performance (Gilsing et al., 2008).

Business advice and lending in small firms

The literature on lending to small firms has primarily focused on the mechanisms and methods used to evaluate entrepreneurs and businesses and on the types of firms that are more likely to experience unfavourable application outcomes. That is, the focus of most empirical research is on supply-side decisions. The current research attempts to shed some light on demand-side considerations. Drawing upon data collected as the UK SME Finance Monitor (2011–2014), we identify links between entrepreneurs' diligence, business risk and finance-related advice-seeking prior to initiating loan and overdraft applications. The results show evidence of the usefulness of advice in ameliorating, both structural and strategic, business risk and improving the prospects of successful debt applications to banks

Remote collaboration and innovative performance:the moderating role of R&D intensity

Collaboration with geographically distant partners may enhance a firm’s innovative performance. In practice, however, this may be complicated as personal contacts are more limited so that effective search and transfer of remote partners’ tacit knowledge is hampered. We tested the potential moderating role of R&D intensity which, by indicating technology-oriented absorptive capacity, may mitigate the problems associated with remote collaboration. Drawing on survey data of 248 high-tech small firms, we find that remote collaboration is positively related with innovation performance, but at low R&D intensity, the relationship vanishes

Some initial observations on the geography of the supply of equity crowdfunding

Enthusiasm for crowdfunding’s ability to fill gaps in the provision of entrepreneurial finance continues among academics, policymakers and practitioners. In this, increasing attention has been paid to the geography of crowdfunding. This work has provided important evidence on various spatial influences on the location of platforms and campaigns and on their eventual success. In this paper, we take a rare look at the geography of the supply of crowdfunds. Specifically, our concern is with equity crowdfunding. Drawing on a hand collected data set, combining data on investments and on investors’ locations, we explore spatial influences on the extent of crowdfunding investment beyond commonly explored issues of distance

The cost of growth: small firms and the pricing of bank loans

Drawing upon data from the 2007 UK Survey of SME Finance, the current analysis is concerned with the extent to which growth firms are discriminated on price in loan markets, or, more simply, the extent to which growth firms pay more for credit. Given relatively small turndown rates historically (Vos et al. in J Bank Finance 31(9):2648–2672, 2007), higher credit prices may be a more substantial growth constraint than the access to finance issues that have dominated the academic literature to date. To this end, we observe, inter alia, that firms who have recorded recent high growth are more likely to pay higher interest rates for the loan they obtained. Moreover, small-sized firms who intend to grow through the introduction of new products exhibit a higher probability of paying more for credit than their peers. Finally, acknowledging that banks are not risk funders, we discuss the potential policy implications of these findings

Association between urinary sodium, creatinine, albumin, and long term survival in chronic kidney disease

Dietary sodium intake is associated with hypertension and cardiovascular risk in the general population. In patients with chronic kidney disease, sodium intake has been associated with progressive renal disease, but not independently of proteinuria. We studied the relationship between urinary sodium excretion and urinary sodium:creatinine ratio and mortality or requirement for renal replacement therapy in chronic kidney disease. Adults attending a renal clinic who had at least one 24-hour urinary sodium measurement were identified. 24-hour urinary sodium measures were collected and urinary sodium:creatinine ratio calculated. Time to renal replacement therapy or death was recorded. 423 patients were identified with mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 48ml/min/1.73m<sup>2</sup>. 90 patients required renal replacement therapy and 102 patients died. Mean slope decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate was -2.8ml/min/1.73m<sup>2</sup>/year. Median follow-up was 8.5 years. Patients who died or required renal replacement therapy had significantly higher urinary sodium excretion and urinary sodium:creatinine but the association with these parameters and poor outcome was not independent of renal function, age and albuminuria. When stratified by albuminuria, urinary sodium:creatinine was a significant cumulative additional risk for mortality, even in patients with low level albuminuria. There was no association between low urinary sodium and risk, as observed in some studies. This study demonstrates an association between urinary sodium excretion and mortality in chronic kidney disease, with a cumulative relationship between sodium excretion, albuminuria and reduced survival. These data support reducing dietary sodium intake in chronic kidney disease but further study is required to determine the target sodium intake

Faculty Ideals and Universities Third Mission

There is considerable variety in academics' attitudes towards universities' third mission. Research inactive faculty are more sympathetic to third mission goals than even applied research faculty. Women and younger colleagues are more ambivalent about the third mission. Faculty at universities that incentivise teaching tend towards a more positive attitude of the third mission. Private sector experience associates with third mission proclivities, not-for-profit experience associates with opposition

Open innovation deficiency: Evidence on project abandonment and delay

The concept of Open Innovation (OI) has breathed new life into both empirical research and industry practice concerned with distributed and collaborative modes of innovating. Certainly, the volume of OI research and its impact on practice has been remarkable. However, equally remarkable is the lack of balance. With few exceptions, the stories of OI are positive stories. A unbalanced focus on successes leads to open innovation imperatives and the conclusion that, for most firms, openness is good, and more openness is better. In this paper, we nuance this perception by empirically investigating the relationships between innovation openness and its effects on project abandonment and delays. Using survey data from Belgium, we find that open innovation strongly associates with an increased risk of both project abandonment and project delays

The evolution of entrepreneurial finance – 10 years after the global financial crisis [Editorial]

In the period following the global financial crisis, as banks and private equity investors withdrew from early stage entrepreneurial finance markets in the United Kingdom and developed economies (Mac an Bhaird, 2014; Wilson and Silver, 2013), there was a profusion in supply of alternative sources of early stage entrepreneurial finance (World Bank, 2013). These new financing options for firms partly alleviated the adverse effects of pro-cyclical provision of entrepreneurial finance (Mac an Bhaird et al., 2019). The large increase in provision of nontraditional sources of finance for the real economy was viewed as revolutionary (Harrison, 2013) and potentially transformative (Bruton et al., 2015), and its sustained use over more than a decade suggests that it is more than a passing fad. The amount of finance procured from these sources has grown significantly in a very short time period and is estimated to surpass investment from traditional sources of funding in the near future (Barnett, 2015). These developments have significant implications in relation to the supply of, and demand for, entrepreneurial finance, including well-established issues which primarily stem from information asymmetries, such as agency, signalling, moral hazard and adverse selection. The emergence of new sources of alternative finance introduces additional concerns in relation to regulation, investor protection, ownership and governance, among other issues (Bruton et al., 2015). The significant increase in the supply and use of alternative sources of finance has been facilitated to a large extent by the expansion of the Internet and use of social media. The increase in supply of, and demand for, alternative sources of finance has been accompanied by a burgeoning literature on the subject, due primarily to the availability of data that are accessible from the online platforms and websites. Over a decade has passed since the increased provision and use of alternative finance in its various forms and amounts, providing us with an opportunity to assess and analyse its adoption and to appraise how its provision may be improved for the benefit of investors and borrowers. At this juncture, we should have adequate evidence to increase the efficiency of provision from alternative sources, in order to improve the supply of finance in private debt and equity markets and to provide greater diversification and depth in financial markets. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been to the forefront in publishing innovative studies on topical issues at the nexus of entrepreneurship and innovation (e.g. Volume 19, Issue 1, ‘Green innovation – connecting governance, practices and outcomes’). This special issue continues in that tradition, publishing state-of-the-art studies on a variety of issues related to innovations in entrepreneurial finance. This special issue is significantly different from other journal special issues on this subject (e.g. Baldock and Mason, 2015; Harrison, 2015; Owen et al., 2019) in the range and breadth of issues investigated and analysed. The studies represent a broad geographic spread, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. A broad range of financing innovations are also considered, including blockchain, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, equity-based crowdfunding and mobile payment systems. Each article provides a unique contribution to our knowledge of entrepreneurial finance, and a brief summary is provided in the following section. [...