This paper investigates the impact of technological alliances on the technical and economical per... more This paper investigates the impact of technological alliances on the technical and economical performance of regions in the EU-27 area. While recent research mainly focused on spillovers and externalities, especially on industry-science interactions, it can be noticed that limited attention has been paid to the whole spectrum of interactions (alliances) that could be present within a (regional) innovation system. Within this contribution we analyze the occurrence and nature of technological and RD besides indicators pertaining to alliances and collaborations (co-patenting), economical and R&D indicators (Eurostat regional statistics) have been collected and introduced as dependent variable (GDP) or control variables (Investments in R&D, Human Resources in Science & Technology). Applying multivariate regression models allows assessing the distinctive impact of collaborative activities on the technological and economical performance of regions. Findings clearly indicate positive effects of technological alliances (measured by means of co-patenting), while the effects of commercial alliances (CATI) are less outspoken.
Much of the literature on academic entrepreneurship has focused on the level of national and regi... more Much of the literature on academic entrepreneurship has focused on the level of national and regional innovation systems and the institutional role of entrepreneurial universities herein. Recently, more efforts have been done to complement the resulting higher-level insights with studies on individual-level dynamics. These studies about the "entrepreneurial scientist" often regard relations between entrepreneurial activities and scientific performance, and individual-level antecedents of entrepreneurship more generally. Individual-level research has shown that academics display different entrepreneurial profiles, depending on their selected range of activities and their strategies for combining these. This paper aims to get further insight into the variety of entrepreneurial activities and profiles. We investigate which factors drive involvement in spin off companies, and to what extent these antecedents differ from those that drive academic patenting. We especially consider the role of scientific productivity and the strategic approach towards valorization. Furthermore, mutual relations between spin offs, patenting and scientific performance are analyzed. A cross-sectional dataset is used of engineering professors from two universities (Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and Politecnico di Milano in Italy). Survey data are combined to secondary source data on scientific and patenting outputs. The findings primarily reveal important interaction effects between spin offs, patenting and scientific performance.
In this paper, we investigated whether academic departments do experience a trade-off among diffe... more In this paper, we investigated whether academic departments do experience a trade-off among different research outputs. More specifically, we define four types of academic research outputs: quantity (publications), quality (citation indexes), research funds obtained ...
How can a Triple Bottom Line organization understand and visualize the way in which it creates, a... more How can a Triple Bottom Line organization understand and visualize the way in which it creates, appropriates, and delivers value? How can the Sustainability Model Canvas be implemented? This chapter aims to propose a co-design methodology to conceive the main building blocks of the Sustainability Model Canvas. In particular, it offers a way to move from a canvas to a co-design process. First, the design of the process is described, explaining the rationale behind the co-design activities. Second, the Sustainability Model Workshop is presented. Three main phases are described and analyzed, namely the Pre-activity, Onboarding, and Designing phases. Practical guidelines and suggestions are presented for each of the three phases, helping the reader to understand how to apply the methodology.
The article examines whether firms benefit from the presence of universities when developing tech... more The article examines whether firms benefit from the presence of universities when developing technology. By estimating regional knowledge production functions for 101 Italian regions, we observe a strong positive relation between industrial technological performancemeasured by patents-and the local presence of universities. In addition, 'academic' regions witness higher levels of industrial technological output, the more pronounced the scientific eminence of the regional universities. Finally, our analysis indicates that the observed spillover effects are field-specific, with domains situated in the vicinity of science benefiting most. Together, these findings suggest complementary roles for scientific and industrial actors within regional innovation systems.
Research on program evaluation, and in particular on firm cooperation policies, has been scant on... more Research on program evaluation, and in particular on firm cooperation policies, has been scant on the impact of space-specific characteristics on program impacts. Few studies have analyzed how spatial features, that are sticky and non-mobile, may affect the intensity of a program's effect on the targeted economic outcome. This paper uses a regional program (ERGON1) aimed at fostering the creation of Network Contracts to shed light on the contribution of spatial features to policy effectiveness. Network Contracts have been introduced in Italy with Law 9 April 2009, N. 33 to stimulate the formation of firm aggregations and to increase economic efficiency for network members. Empirical results, using Propensity Score Matching Estimates, suggest a positive and causative relation between membership in a Network Contract and firm productivity. Furthermore, evidence suggests that matching for urban characteristics significantly improves matching quality. Evidence is thus provided on the relevance of spatial features in shaping the returns to policies, thereby suggesting that ignoring such features may provide a biased picture of the true effect of a program.
International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2010
Science and Technology Parks (STPs) have been widely studied in recent years. The majority of the... more Science and Technology Parks (STPs) have been widely studied in recent years. The majority of the contributions were mainly focused on the economic performances of the firms located in the parks, whilst limited attention has been devoted to the scientific and technological performances of the research centres, laboratories and firms located in these structures and to their impact on scientific and technological local development. In this paper, we propose and apply to the first and most important Italian STP (AREA Science Park-Trieste) a methodology to evaluate this aspect on the basis of established data and indicators of publications, patents and projects. We suggest that this approach can be useful to provide preliminary indications on the park strengths and weaknesses on these important aspects to Park managers and Policy Makers.
Recent contributions suggest that non-economic factors could be important motivational drivers of... more Recent contributions suggest that non-economic factors could be important motivational drivers of scientific mobility. We investigate this hypothesis in a sample of foreign researchers in Italy and Portugal, examining their willingness to leave the host country. We distinguish between economic factors, non-economic relational factors and non-economic aspirational factors. Controlling for the relevant contextual variables, we find that foreign researchers, unsatisfied with aspirational factors (e.g., level of independence, autonomy, intellectual challenge, social status), are more likely to leave their host country and move to a third country than they are to return to their countries of origin. Relational and economic factors, such as salary and benefits, do not demonstrate any additional impact.
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Sep 26, 2017
ABSTRACT Innovation is often the result of collaborative efforts, but many firms lack skills and ... more ABSTRACT Innovation is often the result of collaborative efforts, but many firms lack skills and resources to engage in collaborations. Therefore, policy-makers have developed a variety of measures and programmes to increase interaction and favour partnerships between organisations. They range from innovation vouchers, meant to provide SMEs with external knowledge and opportunities for business partnerships (mostly dyadic), to consortia for R&D, marketing or production (small group of participants), to cluster initiatives involving many geographically concentrated organisations. For each of these main forms, we carried out a multiple-case study research. This paper is a meta-study (specifically a meta-synthesis) of previous pieces of research conducted by mostly the same authors. Here, we identify the commonalities of the forms of collaboration that are conducive to innovation, how to govern them and discuss the policy instruments that foster collaboration while reducing opportunistic behaviours.
This paper examines the impact of universities on the technological performance of adjacent firms... more This paper examines the impact of universities on the technological performance of adjacent firms. We extend existing research by jointly analyzing, and comparing, the effects of education (graduates) and scientific research (publications) activities of universities on firms' technological performance. Adopting the knowledge production framework, our study is conducted at the level of 101 Italian territorial areas (provinces) and four industries. Overall, fixed-effect panel data models reveal a positive effect of both university graduates and scientific publications on the technological performance of firms. At the same time, considerable industry differences are observed. While the provision of university graduates positively affects firm performance in all industries under study, additional effects for scientific research are only observed in electrical and pharmaceutical industries that are science-intensive and where the scientific knowledge base is changing rapidly over time. The observation that spillovers from academia into the industrial texture of provinces rely on education and research in an industry-specific manner is relevant to the design of appropriate research and innovation policies.
Purpose-This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the different competition-based approa... more Purpose-This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the different competition-based approaches that policymakers can exploit to foster external knowledge search and their positioning among innovation policy measures. A growing number of companies have implemented initiatives to access external knowledge to increase their innovativeness, consistently with the open innovation paradigm. Competition-based approaches have received increasing attention by the private sector as a way to access external knowledge. However, despite their potential role as innovation policy measures, a limited attention has been devoted so far to investigate them from the policymakers' perspective. Design/methodology/approach-To this aim, a two-stage empirical analysis has been carried out to develop a taxonomy of competition-based approaches. The first stage leveraged a multiple case study methodology including a sample of 20 competition-based approaches, while the second one leveraged interviews with Italian and European key informants. Findings-This paper proposes a novel taxonomy including eight competition-based approaches, which differ among each other in terms of policy strategy, scope breadth and output required. Moreover, this paper enriches a well-established taxonomy of innovation policy instruments with the identified competition-based approaches. Originality/value-This study contributes to the current debate on innovation policy by providing a taxonomy that includes eight competition-based approaches that can be exploited by policymakers to foster external knowledge search as well as their positioning among the innovation policy instruments. The taxonomy will hopefully support policymakers in identifying of the most suitable instruments in the light of their policy strategy and objectives.
How can social innovation projects evolve into organizations with long-term economic sustainabili... more How can social innovation projects evolve into organizations with long-term economic sustainability? How can organizations aiming for a triple bottom line become economically sustainable in the long run? Can these organizations use the tools and methods used by for-profit organizations to describe their business model? This chapter starts off with an in-depth analysis of the existing literature on business models of for-profit organizations to understand if there is a need for a sustainability model for the triple bottom line and nonprofit organizations. The most widespread tool to represent the business models for for-profit organizations is described and illustrated in this chapter. The literature review shows that the current tools that aim to describe business models for for-profit organizations focus only on financial and economic objectives, whereas triple bottom line organizations and social innovation projects additionally pursue social and environmental objectives, which need to be considered when designing and defining the activities, resources, and stakeholders of the organization
The diffusion and importance of open and collaborative innovation are widely acknowledged. Genera... more The diffusion and importance of open and collaborative innovation are widely acknowledged. Generally, policy makers launch programs fostering collaboration without awareness of the factors surrounding the collaborations. Moreover, while linkages between two organisations (dyadic relationships) have been largely explored, collaborative innovation carried out through formal multi-party alliances such as consortia is less well-known. In particular, there is little literature about the role of the administrative committee (i.e., the joint steering committee managing the consortium) and its impact on governance. A multi-case analysis of three small consortia in their initial phases reveals which forms of governance matter, how they interplay with each other and explains the role and boundaries of the administrative committee.
International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 2007
ABSTRACT Regional foresight is receiving a fast growing attention and interest from public policy... more ABSTRACT Regional foresight is receiving a fast growing attention and interest from public policy makers and other regional stakeholders. Until recently, regional foresight has been implemented in most cases as a scaling down of national studies, by applying approaches and methods of national foresight to specific regional themes. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the new regional foresight methodology that the authors have developed when carrying out the RISE (Research, Innovation, Economical Development) project under the sponsorship of the government of Lombardy Region. This methodology basically aggregates and integrates a set of indicators (qualitative and quantitative) defined in order to evaluate the attractiveness of a technology for the long term competitiveness of the main sectors of the regional manufactoring industry and the feasibility for the regional technical and scientific system to develop this technology. In this way, it was possible to provide a sound basis for S&T policy making.
This paper investigates the impact of technological alliances on the technical and economical per... more This paper investigates the impact of technological alliances on the technical and economical performance of regions in the EU-27 area. While recent research mainly focused on spillovers and externalities, especially on industry-science interactions, it can be noticed that limited attention has been paid to the whole spectrum of interactions (alliances) that could be present within a (regional) innovation system. Within this contribution we analyze the occurrence and nature of technological and RD besides indicators pertaining to alliances and collaborations (co-patenting), economical and R&D indicators (Eurostat regional statistics) have been collected and introduced as dependent variable (GDP) or control variables (Investments in R&D, Human Resources in Science & Technology). Applying multivariate regression models allows assessing the distinctive impact of collaborative activities on the technological and economical performance of regions. Findings clearly indicate positive effects of technological alliances (measured by means of co-patenting), while the effects of commercial alliances (CATI) are less outspoken.
Much of the literature on academic entrepreneurship has focused on the level of national and regi... more Much of the literature on academic entrepreneurship has focused on the level of national and regional innovation systems and the institutional role of entrepreneurial universities herein. Recently, more efforts have been done to complement the resulting higher-level insights with studies on individual-level dynamics. These studies about the "entrepreneurial scientist" often regard relations between entrepreneurial activities and scientific performance, and individual-level antecedents of entrepreneurship more generally. Individual-level research has shown that academics display different entrepreneurial profiles, depending on their selected range of activities and their strategies for combining these. This paper aims to get further insight into the variety of entrepreneurial activities and profiles. We investigate which factors drive involvement in spin off companies, and to what extent these antecedents differ from those that drive academic patenting. We especially consider the role of scientific productivity and the strategic approach towards valorization. Furthermore, mutual relations between spin offs, patenting and scientific performance are analyzed. A cross-sectional dataset is used of engineering professors from two universities (Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and Politecnico di Milano in Italy). Survey data are combined to secondary source data on scientific and patenting outputs. The findings primarily reveal important interaction effects between spin offs, patenting and scientific performance.
In this paper, we investigated whether academic departments do experience a trade-off among diffe... more In this paper, we investigated whether academic departments do experience a trade-off among different research outputs. More specifically, we define four types of academic research outputs: quantity (publications), quality (citation indexes), research funds obtained ...
How can a Triple Bottom Line organization understand and visualize the way in which it creates, a... more How can a Triple Bottom Line organization understand and visualize the way in which it creates, appropriates, and delivers value? How can the Sustainability Model Canvas be implemented? This chapter aims to propose a co-design methodology to conceive the main building blocks of the Sustainability Model Canvas. In particular, it offers a way to move from a canvas to a co-design process. First, the design of the process is described, explaining the rationale behind the co-design activities. Second, the Sustainability Model Workshop is presented. Three main phases are described and analyzed, namely the Pre-activity, Onboarding, and Designing phases. Practical guidelines and suggestions are presented for each of the three phases, helping the reader to understand how to apply the methodology.
The article examines whether firms benefit from the presence of universities when developing tech... more The article examines whether firms benefit from the presence of universities when developing technology. By estimating regional knowledge production functions for 101 Italian regions, we observe a strong positive relation between industrial technological performancemeasured by patents-and the local presence of universities. In addition, 'academic' regions witness higher levels of industrial technological output, the more pronounced the scientific eminence of the regional universities. Finally, our analysis indicates that the observed spillover effects are field-specific, with domains situated in the vicinity of science benefiting most. Together, these findings suggest complementary roles for scientific and industrial actors within regional innovation systems.
Research on program evaluation, and in particular on firm cooperation policies, has been scant on... more Research on program evaluation, and in particular on firm cooperation policies, has been scant on the impact of space-specific characteristics on program impacts. Few studies have analyzed how spatial features, that are sticky and non-mobile, may affect the intensity of a program's effect on the targeted economic outcome. This paper uses a regional program (ERGON1) aimed at fostering the creation of Network Contracts to shed light on the contribution of spatial features to policy effectiveness. Network Contracts have been introduced in Italy with Law 9 April 2009, N. 33 to stimulate the formation of firm aggregations and to increase economic efficiency for network members. Empirical results, using Propensity Score Matching Estimates, suggest a positive and causative relation between membership in a Network Contract and firm productivity. Furthermore, evidence suggests that matching for urban characteristics significantly improves matching quality. Evidence is thus provided on the relevance of spatial features in shaping the returns to policies, thereby suggesting that ignoring such features may provide a biased picture of the true effect of a program.
International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2010
Science and Technology Parks (STPs) have been widely studied in recent years. The majority of the... more Science and Technology Parks (STPs) have been widely studied in recent years. The majority of the contributions were mainly focused on the economic performances of the firms located in the parks, whilst limited attention has been devoted to the scientific and technological performances of the research centres, laboratories and firms located in these structures and to their impact on scientific and technological local development. In this paper, we propose and apply to the first and most important Italian STP (AREA Science Park-Trieste) a methodology to evaluate this aspect on the basis of established data and indicators of publications, patents and projects. We suggest that this approach can be useful to provide preliminary indications on the park strengths and weaknesses on these important aspects to Park managers and Policy Makers.
Recent contributions suggest that non-economic factors could be important motivational drivers of... more Recent contributions suggest that non-economic factors could be important motivational drivers of scientific mobility. We investigate this hypothesis in a sample of foreign researchers in Italy and Portugal, examining their willingness to leave the host country. We distinguish between economic factors, non-economic relational factors and non-economic aspirational factors. Controlling for the relevant contextual variables, we find that foreign researchers, unsatisfied with aspirational factors (e.g., level of independence, autonomy, intellectual challenge, social status), are more likely to leave their host country and move to a third country than they are to return to their countries of origin. Relational and economic factors, such as salary and benefits, do not demonstrate any additional impact.
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Sep 26, 2017
ABSTRACT Innovation is often the result of collaborative efforts, but many firms lack skills and ... more ABSTRACT Innovation is often the result of collaborative efforts, but many firms lack skills and resources to engage in collaborations. Therefore, policy-makers have developed a variety of measures and programmes to increase interaction and favour partnerships between organisations. They range from innovation vouchers, meant to provide SMEs with external knowledge and opportunities for business partnerships (mostly dyadic), to consortia for R&D, marketing or production (small group of participants), to cluster initiatives involving many geographically concentrated organisations. For each of these main forms, we carried out a multiple-case study research. This paper is a meta-study (specifically a meta-synthesis) of previous pieces of research conducted by mostly the same authors. Here, we identify the commonalities of the forms of collaboration that are conducive to innovation, how to govern them and discuss the policy instruments that foster collaboration while reducing opportunistic behaviours.
This paper examines the impact of universities on the technological performance of adjacent firms... more This paper examines the impact of universities on the technological performance of adjacent firms. We extend existing research by jointly analyzing, and comparing, the effects of education (graduates) and scientific research (publications) activities of universities on firms' technological performance. Adopting the knowledge production framework, our study is conducted at the level of 101 Italian territorial areas (provinces) and four industries. Overall, fixed-effect panel data models reveal a positive effect of both university graduates and scientific publications on the technological performance of firms. At the same time, considerable industry differences are observed. While the provision of university graduates positively affects firm performance in all industries under study, additional effects for scientific research are only observed in electrical and pharmaceutical industries that are science-intensive and where the scientific knowledge base is changing rapidly over time. The observation that spillovers from academia into the industrial texture of provinces rely on education and research in an industry-specific manner is relevant to the design of appropriate research and innovation policies.
Purpose-This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the different competition-based approa... more Purpose-This paper aims to provide a comprehensive view of the different competition-based approaches that policymakers can exploit to foster external knowledge search and their positioning among innovation policy measures. A growing number of companies have implemented initiatives to access external knowledge to increase their innovativeness, consistently with the open innovation paradigm. Competition-based approaches have received increasing attention by the private sector as a way to access external knowledge. However, despite their potential role as innovation policy measures, a limited attention has been devoted so far to investigate them from the policymakers' perspective. Design/methodology/approach-To this aim, a two-stage empirical analysis has been carried out to develop a taxonomy of competition-based approaches. The first stage leveraged a multiple case study methodology including a sample of 20 competition-based approaches, while the second one leveraged interviews with Italian and European key informants. Findings-This paper proposes a novel taxonomy including eight competition-based approaches, which differ among each other in terms of policy strategy, scope breadth and output required. Moreover, this paper enriches a well-established taxonomy of innovation policy instruments with the identified competition-based approaches. Originality/value-This study contributes to the current debate on innovation policy by providing a taxonomy that includes eight competition-based approaches that can be exploited by policymakers to foster external knowledge search as well as their positioning among the innovation policy instruments. The taxonomy will hopefully support policymakers in identifying of the most suitable instruments in the light of their policy strategy and objectives.
How can social innovation projects evolve into organizations with long-term economic sustainabili... more How can social innovation projects evolve into organizations with long-term economic sustainability? How can organizations aiming for a triple bottom line become economically sustainable in the long run? Can these organizations use the tools and methods used by for-profit organizations to describe their business model? This chapter starts off with an in-depth analysis of the existing literature on business models of for-profit organizations to understand if there is a need for a sustainability model for the triple bottom line and nonprofit organizations. The most widespread tool to represent the business models for for-profit organizations is described and illustrated in this chapter. The literature review shows that the current tools that aim to describe business models for for-profit organizations focus only on financial and economic objectives, whereas triple bottom line organizations and social innovation projects additionally pursue social and environmental objectives, which need to be considered when designing and defining the activities, resources, and stakeholders of the organization
The diffusion and importance of open and collaborative innovation are widely acknowledged. Genera... more The diffusion and importance of open and collaborative innovation are widely acknowledged. Generally, policy makers launch programs fostering collaboration without awareness of the factors surrounding the collaborations. Moreover, while linkages between two organisations (dyadic relationships) have been largely explored, collaborative innovation carried out through formal multi-party alliances such as consortia is less well-known. In particular, there is little literature about the role of the administrative committee (i.e., the joint steering committee managing the consortium) and its impact on governance. A multi-case analysis of three small consortia in their initial phases reveals which forms of governance matter, how they interplay with each other and explains the role and boundaries of the administrative committee.
International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 2007
ABSTRACT Regional foresight is receiving a fast growing attention and interest from public policy... more ABSTRACT Regional foresight is receiving a fast growing attention and interest from public policy makers and other regional stakeholders. Until recently, regional foresight has been implemented in most cases as a scaling down of national studies, by applying approaches and methods of national foresight to specific regional themes. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the new regional foresight methodology that the authors have developed when carrying out the RISE (Research, Innovation, Economical Development) project under the sponsorship of the government of Lombardy Region. This methodology basically aggregates and integrates a set of indicators (qualitative and quantitative) defined in order to evaluate the attractiveness of a technology for the long term competitiveness of the main sectors of the regional manufactoring industry and the feasibility for the regional technical and scientific system to develop this technology. In this way, it was possible to provide a sound basis for S&T policy making.
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Papers by Paolo Landoni