ITALIAN SCIENCE PARKS AND INCUBATORS: SOME CONSIDERATIONS ARISING FROM A QUESTIONNAIRE INVESTIGATION ON RESEARCH SPIN-OFF FIRMS

International audienceResearch spin-offs highlight the potential importance of science parks-incubators. Italy has recently given considerable attention both to the research spin-off phenomenon and to these structures. In order to analyse the relationship between science parks-incubators and research spin-offs, the results of a questionnaire investigation is provided. It highlighted interesting findings on the most utilized facilities provided by science parks-incubators and on the main characteristics of on-park spin-offs. Furthermore, the Bioindustry Park Silvano Fumero has been chosen as a case-study because it is one of the most important in Italy, it introduced the life science sector in a territory mainly based on other sectors, it hosts research spin-offs, but it is quite far from higher education institutions. This characteristic makes the Park an interesting case-study, given the general importance of the proximity to the parent institute. It seems that the activities implemented by the park are able to fill the distance gap

l finanziamento delle imprese Spin-off. Un confronto fra Italia e Regno Unito

This paper aims at examining the university spin-off firms context at present in place in Italy, with particular attention to the relationship with the academic institutions and the problems of financing. In the latest years, more and more attention is devoted to investigate the emergence of the university spin-off phenomenon. There is an increasing focus on universities’ entrepreneurial orientation and their ability to exploit and transfer scientific knowledge to the commercial sector. The present paper is based on a series of interviews held during the period May-July 2005 in several university spin-off firms in Milan, Bologna, Padova and Genova. The paper is divided in two parts. In the first one, after a theoretical background on the spin-off literature, it follows a general description of the United Kingdom context and the Italian university spin-off firms framework and their characteristics. The second part is focused on an analysis of the spin-off firms interviewed. The results highlight positive and negative factors in the relationship between university institutions and spin-off firms. Furthermore, the relationships with banks and venture capitalists are investigated. The interviews highlighted a lack of competencies in the financial sector and a general negative opinion on venture capital. Italian university spin-off firms have difficulties in negotiating good conditions with banks and are afraid to trust in venture capitalists. Besides, Italy doesn’t have an effective business angels network and it lacks seed capital. Therefore they prefer to count on the classical three Fs, “family, friends and fools”, to raise capital for their business. Notwithstanding, Italian university spin-off firms are characterised by a very high know-how background and a great desire of independence. In conclusion, Italy is just at the beginning in developing the university spin-off phenomenon. Most universities emanated spin-off regulations only in recent years. There is significant potential for the Italian university spin-off firms to play a bigger, more enhanced role in the creation of new jobs in the future, and in supporting technology transfer.University spin-offs, Technology transfer; Venture capital

THE REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL POLICIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

This paper aims at examining the regional industrial policies at present in place in the United Kingdom. The analysis is divided in two parts: while the first one provides a survey of the national level, the second one is focused on the regional level. After a thorough description of the governance structure of the industrial policies in the UK, it follows a brief analysis of the incentive schemes provided for firms. The same framework is adopted in the case of Wales, the region choosen for a regional investigation. The results highlight the importance and the consequences played by the devolution process and the new labour programme. The main changes are the introduction of the Regional Development Agencies in England and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. These new bodies have the power to elaborate strategies and implement policies to improve the economic development. However, this picture is still in progress, as it lacks clarity on “who does what” at the national level. Besides, fewer and more focused incentive schemes are required and more attention to meet the needs of SMEs should be devoted.R&D, Industrial Policy

PRIME VALUTAZIONI QUALITATIVE SULLE POLITICHE PER LA R&S IN ALCUNE REGIONI ITALIANE

This paper aims to examine the evolution of Industrial Research in Italy in the last decades. The analysis provides a survey of the most important contributions in the literature; a careful definition of the concepts "basic, applied and pre-competitive research"; the theoretical foundation of R&D policy; an outline of R&D national policy; an analytical framework of R&D policy in some Italian Regions. The results highlight the role played by the institutional intervention and the influence of UE. In this context, in spite of the law and funds constraints, the measures adopted by Italian Regions are quite numerous at the present time.

Technological competition: a path towards commoditization or differentiation?

Technological rivalry is recognized as a key dimension of competition and innovation strategies in the digital era. It is particularly important in strategies focused on disruptive and repeated innovations, where each step contributes to shaping the design of the offer- ing, the structuring of the market and the value chain. These technological trajectories are built on the basis of tensions between two contradictory objectives: specialization aimed at creating proprietary systems and standardization aimed at supplying the overall market. In the former case, successive innovations support competition between exclusive and proprietary ecosystems. In the latter case, commoditized devices create opportunities for alternative actors to engage in innovation and value creation. The e-book reader market serves as a key example of the issues at stake in terms of technological rivalry among tech- nology suppliers, digital platforms, and publishers

Are traditional industrial partnerships so strategic for research spin-off development? Some evidence from the Italian case

International audienceThis paper aims to contribute to the literature on research spin-offs and strategic alliances. The research spin-off phenomenon has attracted significant attention in recent years. Yet research spin-offs might present a particular situation regarding their economic development. Therefore, the paper focuses on the relevance of traditional industrial partnerships and introduces a new and complementary approach for studying and analysing the role of alliances for this particular kind of firm. The results of a questionnaire investigation of Italian research spin-offs with and without a traditional industrial partner are investigated and supported by a linear regression model. Due to recent initiatives-a growing interest in the research spin-off phenomenon-and the increasing number of established research spin-offs, Italy is a suitable case-study for such an investigation. Nonetheless, the results are generalizable beyond the Italian case. The findings demonstrate thought-provoking-and somehow unexpected-results regarding the role of traditional alliances in shaping the geographical and industrial environment as well as the performance, added value, age, and production process of the company. This calls for a broader perspective regarding industrial partnerships and research spin-offs: it reflects new modes of relations for these particular firms in the form of business ecosystems, either they are physical or digital. JEL Codes: O3; L

For what they are, not for what they bring: The signaling value of gender for financial resource acquisition in academic spin-offs

Due to the novelty of their technology base and the multiple goals pursued by their entrepreneurial teams, academic spin-offs (ASOs) suffer information asymmetries with investors that impair their ability to raise finance. In line with the signaling theory, we expect that observable features of an ASO can mitigate such information asymmetries, especially in conditions of higher uncertainty about the venture. We put forward that a larger share of capital owned by female shareholders adds to such uncertainty due to their outsider condition in academic entrepreneurship and the negative bias of investors against female entrepreneurs. Through a multi-level Tobit regression on a sample of Italian ASOs, we find that the amount of private investment is negatively associated with the degree of female ownership and positively associated with the investment of the parent university and full professors. The latter two factors moderate the relationship between the degree of female ownership and private investment so that it becomes less negative. The results provide evidence of the persisting gender gap in entrepreneurial finance and highlight the role of parent universities in closing such a gap

Determinants of growth in research spin-offs: a resource-based perspective

International audienceThere are strong expectations towards research spin-offs, but insufficient empirical evidence still exists on the determinants of growth of such companies. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on growth -or non-growth- of research spin-offs through a focus on Italy. A resource-based perspective is adopted for identifying the crucial determinants of competitive advantage of these companies, and an OLS regression analysis is performed to assess the impact of initial resources on growth in revenues and employees. Our analysis highlights unexpected results about the involvement of industrial partners, venture capitalists, size of IPRs’ portfolio at founding and previous experience of the promoting partners.Il existe de fortes attentes en ce qui concerne les entreprises spin-off de la recherche, mais il existe encore peu d’évidence empirique sur les déterminants de la croissance de ces entreprises. L'objectif de cet article est de contribuer au débat sur la croissance -ou la non-croissance- des entreprises spin-off de la recherche en mettant l'accent sur l'Italie. Une perspective basée sur les ressources est adoptée pour identifier les déterminants cruciaux de l'avantage concurrentiel de ces entreprises, et une analyse de régression OLS est effectuée pour évaluer l'impact des ressources initiales sur la croissance des revenus et des employés. Notre analyse met en évidence des résultats inattendus concernant la participation de partenaires industriels, de capital-risqueurs, la taille du portefeuille de DPI à la fondation et l'expérience antérieure des partenaires de promotion

Prime valutazioni qualitative sulle politiche per la R&S in alcune regioni italiane.

WP 08/2001; This paper aims to examine the evolution of Industrial Research in Italy in the last decades. The analysis provides a survey of the most important contributions in the literature; a careful definition of the concepts "basic, applied and pre-competitive research"; the theoretical foundation of R&D policy; an outline of R&D national policy; an analytical framework of R&D policy in some Italian Regions. The results highlight the role played by the institutional intervention and the influence of UE. In this context, in spite of the law and funds constraints, the measures adopted by Italian Regions are quite numerous at the present time