Interrelated diversification and internationalization: critical drives of global industries

This paper discusses the influence of two economic trends that arise as a consequence of globalisation: the industrial interrelated diversification process through related varieties and the internationalisation of both production and innovation. These two trends are evidenced in two industries located in the Basque Country region, the former furniture industry and the wind energy sector. Our study reveals how companies and territories that are in condition to pick up the opportunities derived from the above trends are also the ones that may guarantee their sustainability in the marketplace. In contrast, the firms that respond to these challenges by merely targeting their traditional and/or local markets might be saving their short-run competitiveness while jeopardizing their future prospect

STI–DUI learning modes, firm–university collaboration and innovation

In this study, the relationship between the formation of different types of collaborative agreements and firm innovation is examined. Two types of agreements are distinguished: ‘‘science and technology-based’’ (STI) and ‘‘learning-by-doing, by-using and byinteracting-based’’ (DUI) partnerships. A fixed-effects logit estimation is applied on an extensive panel of Spanish manufacturing and service firms to analyze the separate and combined impact of collaborative agreements associated to STI and/or DUI modes of learning, paying special attention to the role of partnerships with universities. While STI and DUI partnerships are important for product and process innovation in both separate and combined ways, the results demonstrate that different types of collaboration lead to different types of innovation. Product innovation benefits more from the combination of DUI and STI partnerships and process innovation seems to be more closely linked to DUI-related partnerships undertaken by firms. Findings also show that firm–university collaboration, without the engagement of other STI and DUI agents in the partnership, seems to be weak for product innovation

Clusters and Internationalization: the role of lead firms' commitment and RIS proactivity in tackling the risk of internal fractures

In this paper we aim at discussing the growth potential of clusters in international markets. Over the past two decades, clusters and industrial districts have gone under increasing competitive pressure insofar as markets have progressively globalized. Lead companies, either foreign or home-grown multinationals, have globalized their operations while often reducing their commitment (e.g. investments) within clusters and districts. As a result, a number of second, third and fourth tier suppliers disconnect from global value chains coordinated by lead companies, leaving the cluster fractured and jeopardizing local development prospects. Only a small segment of firms in the cluster copes with globalization. This situation represents a challenge that clusters and districts need to take on. In this paper, we inquire about the importance of two factors that may represent crucial conditions for the upgrading of clusters within global markets. The long-term commitment of lead companies to the local economy, together with the dense interaction between the regional innovation system and the lead companies and their new global innovation network, are found to be crucial elements for the resilience of clusters/districts and their small and medium-sized firms. A few successful clusters are considered vis-à-vis others that face higher risks of internal fracture. In this work we analyse relevant cases in Spain, Italy, and Costa Rica

Evaluación de la fragmentación en los Sistemas Regionales de Innovación: Una tipología para el caso de España

El presente artículo tiene por objeto la realización de una estimación de la conectividad de los Sistemas Regionales de Innovación (SRI) españoles. Para ello, evaluamos el fenómeno de la fragmentación explicada en términos de «fallos de sistema», los cuales habían sido descritos de forma fundamentalmente teórica. Por el contrario, nuestra aproximación emplea cuatro conjuntos de indicadores cuantitativos integrados en un marco interpretativo formado por los principales subsistemas del SRI. Así, los denominados: «brechas directivas», «brechas estructurales », «brechas de innovación» y el «valle de la muerte», son situados en el marco presentado para ser posteriormente analizados sobre los SRI de las Comunidades Autónomas españolas a partir de indicadores basados en datos explotados ad hoc por parte del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) y de la Asociación Española de Entidades de Capital Riesgo (ASCRI). Simplificamos la dimensionalidad de la tabla resultante a través de la aplicación de técnicas multivariantes como el Análisis Factorial Múltiple (AFM) o el análisis clúster, las cuales nos conducen a la presentación de una nueva tipología para el caso de España. Descubrimos comportamientos asimétricos en lo que respecta a los «fallos de sistema» expuestos; lo cual podría justificar el diseño de medidas exclusivas para su corrección en atención a la singularidad manifestada por cada sistema observado

Cooperation for innovation in liberal market economies

This study focuses on the collaboration patterns that small firms hold with other agents within liberal market economies and identifies the collaborative drivers that in this context deliver a superior impact on innovation output measured by product and process innovations. To explore this research question, the study combines the literature on innovation systems with a growing literature on business innovation modes that studies whether businesses are driven by science and technology factors (STI), or experience-based factors such as learning-by-doing, by-using and by-interacting (DUI). In the UK liberal market economy, universities and research centres are expected to play a critical role for innovation well beyond the typical impact they produce in coordinated market economies. This hypothesis is largely verified through our empirical evidence. Methodologically, this research is developed through the application of propensity score matching in the context of the UK longitudinal small business survey (LSBS) for 2015

A new approach to business innovation modes: the ‘Research, Technology and Human Resource Management (RTH) model’ in the ICT sector in Belarus.

Echoing previous contributions on ‘STI and DUI innovation modes’ (science and technology-based innovation, and innovation based on learning-by-doing, by-using and by-interacting), this study discusses their role in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) ability to develop novel products. In particular, the RTH model (based on Research, Technology and Human Resource Management) is proposed so as to describe the most effective approach taken by innovative SMEs. On these bases, the STI and DUI modes are changed for a more empirical identification of business innovation modes centred on differentiating among three separate drivers of innovation: Research (R), non- research and development (R&D) Technology (T) and Human Resource management (HRM). The study focuses on analysing how different drivers of innovation can be effectively aggregated within a firm to support its ability to produce innovation. We propose a new research instrument – RTH model – and test on a sample of SMEs in the ICT sphere that operates in a technology-follower country in transition, Belarus. The results of the econometric analyses show insightful outcomes, that is, the novelty of product innovation is more sensitive to the Technology and HRM drivers than to the Research driver

Nested Methodological Approaches for Cluster Policy Evaluation: An Application to the Basque Country

This paper explores the evaluation of cluster policies designed to support cooperation and networking. It examines the case of the long-running Basque policy, where support is provided for ‘cluster associations’. It first examines empirically the effects of the cluster associations on firm productivity performance, alongside other variables including agglomeration and firm behavioural characteristics. The results provide some weak evidence for the existence of additionality associated with the policy. This empirical work is complemented with context-specific knowledge of the policy in question to show that the nesting of both empirical and contextual approaches is crucial for effectively evaluating such policies

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