Capital Innovation Research Articles

The impact of collaborative innovation on ecological efficiency – empirical research based on China’s regions

ABSTRACT This study measures the ecological efficiency of various regions in China through the Global-Malmquist model. The results show a trend of an initial sharp decline in ecological efficiency followed by a gradual increase temporally, but there is no significant correlation spatially. Using the gravity model to quantify the attractiveness of the regions’ capital and human resources for collaborative innovation, we estimate the impact of collaborative innovation on eco-efficiency through the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model. The results show that technological innovation capital in other regions has a negative ‘U’ relationship with local ecological efficiency, while scientific and technological innovation human resources have a positive ‘U’ relationship. Based on these findings, this study puts forward policy recommendations for local governments to advance their development agendas alongside their environmental priorities in line with their specific circumstances.

Do intellectual capitals matter to firm value enhancement? Evidences from Taiwan

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to find evidence of the impact of intellectual capital on firm value, and, in turn, enhance the existing literature which lacks consensus on it. By employing some distinctive proxies for human capital, innovation capital, customer capital and process capital, this study might provide valuable information for firms to make strategic decisions.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses Tobin's Q to represent firm value and various variables to be the proxies for intellectual capitals. By utilizing firm-year observations, this study applies panel data models first, and then Petersen regression models for further investigation to enhance the robustness of the empirical results.FindingsFirm value is affected positively by the average net profit per employee as well as goodwill and intangible assets. This is because firms having employees with abundant knowledge will possess advantage for innovation, and the excellent reputation, a part of goodwill for oriental firms, would encourage people to consume and invest more.Research limitations/implicationsThe constraint of data resource is the main limitation. With the limited scales and as an emerging market of Taiwan Stock Exchange, it is not confirmed whether the results are appropriate for the developed markets. Nevertheless, firms should make efforts on developing intellectual capital and corporate governance for operating businesses with competitiveness and safety.Originality/valueSince capable employees enhance the innovation, innovation improves customer's satisfaction and good customer relationship increases the sales; this study illustrates that for expanding businesses, firms should make more efforts on developing intellectual capital.

Happiness as a driver of entrepreneurial initiative and innovation capital

PurposeThis study aims to extend the knowledge in the domain of intellectual capital and entrepreneurship by investigating whether happiness may have a positive influence on entrepreneurial initiative and intellectual property or not.Design/methodology/approachThe used large-scale dataset for 2018 is drawn from the Eurostat. It includes information on individual happiness, sustainability, start-ups, creativity, intellectual property and quality of life, grouped by European countries. Hypotheses are tested through using the linear regression method.FindingsThe findings confirm that happiness, along with creativity, fosters both entrepreneurial initiative and intellectual property.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should test the model by extending the analysis to different world regions and by considering further variables, such as country culture.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that policy makers have to focus on improving life conditions and sustainability as a means to foster local economies and communities.Originality/valueThis cutting-edge study is unique in its genus, because the prior literature never focused on these topics jointly. At an academic level, it ties happiness to creativity and to “the entrepreneurial spirit”, thus opening up to a new and vast domain of researches.

Driving Force of TQM in Improving SME's Performance: The Roles of Innovation and Spiritual Capital

TQM concept is known as a significant driver of performance of large-scale companies. This study points out two perspectives namely direct and indirect influence associated with TQM. Specifically, it delves into the innovation and spiritual capital in improving the performance of Intako. Path analysis was carried out to shed lights on the correlation among the aforementioned aspects. There were 98 samples involved in the study. The research results confirm the influence of innovation and spiritual capital on TQM. Likewise, the same results are evident on the influence of innovation, spiritual capital, and TQM on company performance.
 Key word: Innovation, Spiritual Capital, Total Quality Management, Performance, Small-and-Medium Enterprises

Activation of expansion of access to means of financing implementation of innovative projects of small and medium enterprises

Problem setting. A small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), which must be flexible and generate demand for its own innovative products, transforms knowledge into innovative capital. Under these conditions, all areas of intensification of financing of innovative entrepreneurship become especially relevant. In 2020, the Strategy for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ukraine expires, so the task is to develop new strategic directions for change, preferably on an innovative basis. The main obstacle to starting a business is the low level of access to finance. The issue of intensifying the financial support of innovative entrepreneurship is relevant due to the shortage of own financial resources of economic entities and the difficulty of attracting investment, the need to reduce the cost of lending. Analysis of resent researches and publications. Zyanko V.V., Pochtovyuk A.B., Pukala R., Volkova N.I., Sviridova K.D. were engaged in problems of financial maintenance of innovative activity of the enterprises, problems of crediting of small and average business in Ukraine. Issues of innovative activity of business are unique in conclusion that the most important obstacle is the problem of unavailability of funds to advance the innovation process at all stages, sources of funding for SMEs studied Kuzmenko A. Yu., Svistun L.A. Target of research. Development of theoretical provisions and practical recommendations for determining the means of enhancing access to finance for SMEs in an innovative society. Article’s main body. The current changes in intensifying the expansion of access to finance in entrepreneurship through the development of lending with state support, the stimulation of the regulator of financial institutions to finance innovative entrepreneurship are considered. An innovative approach to the use of automated DSS Decision Making Helper is presented to assess the level of activation of the expansion of access to funding for the implementation of innovative projects for SMEs. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The economic crisis and significant growth of Fintech services in finance will increase the search for innovative means of financing the innovative development of SMEs, including loans with state support, factoring, financial leasing, venture financing, etc. It is necessary to improve the strategic goals of financial support of innovative entrepreneurship. The use of modern software tools is recommended to be widely used as a direct way to intensify all processes, in particular, to decide on the choice of means of financing the implementation of innovative SME projects.

Research on the Construction of Collaborative Innovation Ecosystem in Hefei’s “Innovation Capital”

The collaborative innovation ecosystem belongs to a new innovation management mode, and building a dynamic collaborative innovation ecosystem is an important prerequisite and guarantee of urban collaborative innovation. Based on the theoretical research of collaborative innovation ecosystem and the analysis of its basic characteristics and operating mechanism, the paper constructs the innovation ecosystem model of Hefei National Science Center based on the theory of symbiosis, and makes a concrete analysis of the operation mechanism. Finally, the specific safeguard measures of constructing a collaborative innovation ecosystem are discussed in connection with Hefei.

Natural resource abundance, resource industry dependence and economic green growth in China

Analyzing the effect of natural resources on economic green growth and its mechanism of transmission has important reference value for China's economic green growth transformation. Based on the statistical data of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2016, this paper uses the global Malmquist-Luenberger index to measure the green total factor productivity (that is, the economic green growth index), and then empirically analyzes the effects of both natural resource abundance and resource industry dependence on the green total factor productivity and its mechanism of transmission. The results show that, overall, the more abundant a province's natural resources, the lower the green total factor productivity. Natural resource abundance has significantly inhibited China's economic green growth through resource industry dependence, thus verifying the resource curse. Further transmission mechanism analyses show that resource industry dependence has a negative impact on economic green growth mainly through the extrusion of human capital, technology and investment in innovation as well as increases in the proportion of secondary industry in the economy and reductions in the quality of local systems.

Intellectual Capital and Value Creation of Listed Insurance Companies in Nigeria: Is Innovation Capital Matter?

The shift from traditional economy to knowledge base economy globally makes the study of intellectual capital as it relate to creation of value becomes imperative. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the impact of intellectual capital on the value creation of the listed insurance companies in Nigeria for the period of 2009-2018. The listed insurance companies in Nigeria are seventeen (17) as at 31 st December, 2018, out of which a sample of fourteen (14) companies were selected. The study employed correlation research design and data were analyzed with the aid of multiple regression technique. Using 140 firm year panel observations, fixed effect GLS regression was used with a view to control for heteroscedasticity observed. The findings revealed that Human capital and innovation capital are negative and significantly related with value creation of the listed insurance companies in Nigeria. However, structural capital is found to be positive and significantly related with the value creation of the listed insurance companies in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends amongst others that the Board of Directors responsible for the strategic decision of the corporate entities should formulate policies viable enough to trigger more investment on the structural capital as it has a potential of increasing corporate value. However, management should invest less on Human capital and research and development as they lack potentiality of enhancing value creation and device other means of boosting the value of their companies.

HUMAN CAPITAL: GENESIS AND EVOLUTION

HUMAN CAPITAL: GENESIS AND EVOLUTION

Unpacking the black box

PurposeDrawing largely upon resource orchestration theory, this study aims to contribute to the intellectual capital (IC) literature by testing a model where intrapreneurship mobilizes resources to trigger firm performance. More specifically, this study investigates how intrapreneurship mediates the relationship between IC and financial performance.Design/methodology/approachData was collected using a structured questionnaire administered to a target sample of publicly-listed Iranian companies across a variety of sectors. Archival data supplemented the survey findings to capture financial performance. A structural equation modelling (SEM) approach, using LISREL, was used to assess the measurement and structural models.FindingsThe results supported the hypothesized associations among IC, intrapreneurship, and financial performance. Furthermore, the findings provided some evidence that IC is indirectly related to financial performance through the mediating role of intrapreneurship.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus on Iranian publicly listed companies limits the generalizability of results.Practical implicationsManagers need to align the company's strategic resources with other competencies such as intrapreneurial initiatives. The synthesis of knowledge resources and intrapreneurship can help organization to better organize, synchronize and support – i.e. “orchestrate” – their human and structural capital, improving the firm's social and innovation capital and eventually enhancing overall performance.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, this is the first study ever to explore the mediating role of intrapreneurship in the relationship between IC and financial performance from the resource orchestration lens.

Organizing Knowledge Production Teams Within Firms for Innovation

How should firms organize their pool of inventive human capital for firm-level innovation? Although access to diverse knowledge may aid knowledge recombination, which can facilitate innovation, prior literature has focused primarily on one way of achieving that: diversity of inventor-held knowledge within a given knowledge production team (within-team knowledge diversity). We introduce the concept of across-team knowledge diversity, which captures the distribution of inventor knowledge diversity across production teams, an overlooked dimension of a firm’s internal organization design. We study two contrasting forms of organizing the firm-level knowledge diversity environment in which a firm’s inventors are situated: diffuse (high within-team diversity and low across-team diversity) versus concentrated (low within-team diversity and high across-team diversity). Using panel data on new biotechnology ventures founded over a 21-year period and followed annually from inception, we find that concentrated structures are associated with higher firm-level innovation quality, and with more equal contributions from their teams (and the opposite for diffuse structures). Our empirical tests of the operative mechanisms point to the importance of within-team coordination costs in diffuse structures and across-team knowledge flows in concentrated knowledge structures. We end with a discussion of implications for future research on organizing for innovation.

‘Berlin Does You Good’: Experimental Art, Place Marketing and the Urban Public Sphere in 1980s West Berlin

This article analyses the relationship of mutual benefit that formed between West Berlin's local government and experimental artists in the 1980s. In 1978 the West Berlin parliament established a grant programme to support independent artists operating in what was referred to as the ‘free scene’. The grants were intended to support the goal of restoring the city's status as a capital of artistic innovation. Soon after, the local tourism office also featured these independent artists within a new place marketing strategy focused on raising the ‘experiential value’ of the city's cultural offerings. But as this article shows, experimental artists were also using city grants to pursue alternative agendas focused on engaging with local populations in urban space. Through these projects, experimental artists extended the spirit of participatory democracy flourishing within the city's counter-cultural enclaves to broader areas of the city.

How Social Capital Affects Environmental Performance in China

Chinese society's unique characteristics present challenges with regards to discovering new ways to tackle tremendous environmental problems. This paper examines the effect of provincial social capital on environmental performance in China. In the first stage of the analysis, we measured the environmental performance levels of the 2011-2017 panel data of 30 provinces in China. We did this using data envelopment analysis. After introducing the concept of social capital, we innovatively built the social capital index system based on China’s national conditions and measured social capital data from three perspectives. Then we used the Probit regression model to explore the effect of social capital on environmental performance. The results show that the environmental performance of the well-known and better developed regions of China (such as Beijing, Shanghai, etc.) is significantly higher than other regions. Social capital and environmental performance are related in general. However, the effect of social capital on environmental performance is heterogeneous in different regions. They are more consistent in the eastern and southwest regions while are less stable in other regions. Among the three types of social capital, structural capital has the most obvious benefits for environmental performance. This is followed by relational capital and innovative capital. Furthermore, it has been found that the proportion of the tertiary industry in GDP and the level of social trust are the largest indicators of the rates at which structural capital and relational capital contribute respectively to environmental performance.

Deregulating Innovation Capital: The Effects of the JOBS Act on Biotech Startups

We examine the effect of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act on biotech startups, who conduct almost 40% of IPOs since 2012. Reduced compliance costs encourage innovation capital formation as biotech IPO volume increases 200% and proceeds rise by 30%. After the JOBS Act, biotech startups go public significantly earlier in the FDA approval process, more frequently target rare diseases and cancer, and exhibit higher employment growth. We find no increase in failure rates, financial restatements, or internal control weaknesses, suggesting that startup quality is not compromised by compliance exemptions. We also introduce novel survey evidence quantifying eventual compliance costs. Our results demonstrate how regulatory exemptions can provide important economic and societal benefits.

Модель компетенций преподавателя СПО в условиях неопределенности будущих потребностей рынка труда (на примере Московского техникума креативных индустрий им. Л.Б. Красина)

In the article the author presents a relevant experience of designing an actual competency model of an educator in vocational education and training (VET) which is based on the researches of the world and Russian labor markets. There is explained a term “innovative segment of a labor market” and given risks of vocational education and training in part of its interaction with this segment. The author made an analysis of trends affecting the vocational education and training development and analyzed data of the VET economics monitoring. The approach to designing a competency model of an educator in VET is described in consideration of the transforming role of an educator. The L.B. Krasin vocational school of creative industries experience in designing a competency model of an educator is presented, the competency models is given with detailed description of the competencies. Keywords: vocational education and training, VET, staff development, labor market, innovative segment human capital, educator, competency model.

Developing a «Soft» Component of Innovative Ecosystems in Flagship Universities

As a rule, flagship universities consider forming the core of the regional innovation ecosystem to be one of their main strategic goals. Achieving this goal involves not only creating an innovative infrastructure, attracting partners, but also developing social capital and innovative culture (the «soft» component of the ecosystem). The article studies flagship universities’ activities on the latter problem. The theoretical basis of the study is D. Douglas’s concept of flagship universities. The research methodology is a qualitative analysis of strategic planning documents and flagship universities’ official sites. The study showed that almost all the flagship universities aim at becoming the core of the regional innovation ecosystem. Insufficient attention is paid, however, to developing innovative culture and social capital. A number of universities do not set this task; nor do they target culture change in favour of ecosystem-friendly values. In almost all the universities studied, there is a shortage of specific managerial actions on influencing cultural values. The social capital is also underdeveloped, which can significantly impede the implementation of joint projects. The research might have certain limitations due to using only open access materials from the first-wave flagship universities. At the next stage of their development (after 2020), they should specify the goals and activities for developing innovative culture and social capital, as well as their benchmarks. Otherwise, the «hard» component of the ecosystem would not function. The results of the work may be of use for university leaders and their partners who are interested in the balanced development of flagship universities as ecosystem nuclei.

The ESG - Innovation Disconnect: Evidence from Green Patenting

No firm or sector of the global economy is untouched by innovation. In equilibrium, innovators will flock to (and innovation will occur where) the returns to innovative capital are the highest. In this paper, we document a strong empirical pattern in green patent production. Specifically, we find that oil, gas, and energy producing firms – firms with lower Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores, and who are often explicitly excluded from ESG funds’ investment universe – are key innovators in the United States’ green patent landscape. These energy producers produce more, and significantly higher quality, green innovation. Our findings raise important questions as to whether the current exclusions of many ESG-focused policies – along with the increasing incidence of explicit divestiture campaigns – are optimal, or whether reward-based incentives would lead to more efficient innovative outcomes.

Organizing Knowledge Production Teams within Firms for Innovation

How should firms organize their pool of inventive human capital for firm-level innovation? While access to diverse knowledge may aid knowledge recombination, which can facilitate innovation, prior literature has focused primarily on one way of achieving that: diversity of inventor-held knowledge within a given knowledge production team (“within-team knowledge diversity”). We introduce the concept of “across-team knowledge diversity,” which captures the distribution of inventor knowledge diversity across production teams, an overlooked dimension of a firm’s internal organization design. We study two contrasting forms of organizing the firm-level knowledge diversity environment in which a firm’s inventors are situated: “diffuse” (high within-team diversity and low across-team diversity) versus “concentrated” (low within-team diversity and high across-team diversity). Using panel data on new biotechnology ventures founded over a 21-year period and followed annually from inception, we find that concentrated structures are associated with higher firm-level innovation quality, and with more equal contributions from their teams (and the opposite for diffuse structures). Our empirical tests of the operative mechanisms point to the importance of within-team coordination costs in diffuse structures and across-team knowledge flows in concentrated knowledge structures. We end with a discussion of implications for future research on organizing for innovation.

Effect of Innovation Capital on Financial Performance of Firms Listed in Nairobi Security Exchange

Effect of Innovation Capital on Financial Performance of Firms Listed in Nairobi Security Exchange

Firm-level human capital and innovation: Evidence from China

This paper examines the role of human capital in firms' innovation. Based on a World Bank survey of manufacturing firms in China, we use two firm-level datasets: one from large metropolitan cities, and one from mid-sized cities. Patents are used as an indicator of innovation. The human capital indicators we use include the number of highly educated workers, the general manager's education and tenure, and the management team's education and age. We use the Negative Binomial and Instrumental Variables estimators to estimate patent production function models that are augmented by our human capital variables. We also use the zero-inflated Negative Binomial model to examine the likelihood of innovation. We find that the human capital indicators play an important role in influencing patenting, and that some of the human capital variables appear to have a greater impact on patenting in mid-sized cities. Our human capital estimates are obtained after controlling for firms' R&D, size, market share, age, and foreign ownership, as well as fixed effects to control for industry-specific characteristics, and firms' location and geography.