Community Innovation Survey Research Articles

Markets for Technology in Europe – Mapping Demand and its Drivers

Functioning markets for technology are an important determinant for the type, scope and distribution of innovation activities in an economy. However, markets for technology are often underdeveloped or inefficient. Existing theory attributes such imperfections to the supply side or differences in market designs. We know comparatively little, though, about the structural forces that shape the demand side of markets for technology. In this study, we reason that demand depends on the sectoral pattern of innovation and the distance of a country’s industry to the global technological frontier. We explore these dimensions based on longitudinal industry-level data from the Community Innovation Survey. We find that the demand on markets for technology is particularly driven by science-based industries and to a lesser degree by scale-intensive industries. Demand decreases, though, the closer industries are to the technological frontier. These findings highlight sector specific opportunities and constraints for policies promoting markets for technology.

Dimension effects in the relationship between eco-innovation and firm performance: A European comparison

This study investigates the effect of eco-efficiency actions on firm performance, considering both turnover and employment growth, in the European enterprises with different firm size classes. The sample includes 63303 firms from 13 different European Union countries. The main contributions of this work are the use of the most recent Community Innovation Survey (CIS) and the consideration of firms’ size when analysing the relationship between the introduction of environmental benefits and firm performance. Using the ordinary least squares and simultaneous equation models the results showed that eco-innovations may affect negatively turnover growth as well as employment growth, a result which is not sensitive to firms’ size. However, environmental benefits introduced in products, demanded by the end user, are sensitive to the different size class to which the enterprise belongs. Both human capital and the number of adopted eco-innovation strategies influence positively firm performance, revealing to be more sensitive to the firm size. Overall, policy makers should be aware of the size as an important driver, or conditioning factor, for firm performance when forcing firms to introduce policies regarding environmental benefits.

Creating Eco-Innovations for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Development within European Countries

There is no doubt that innovations represented key source of competitive advantage in the last years. Therefore, firms were forced to come up with new or significantly improved goods, services as well as organizational and marketing practices. However, countries, firms and policy makers are facing great environmental challenges for sustainable development and entrepreneurship, which create large demand for Eco-innovations with environmental benefits nowadays. For these reasons, we are analyzing different factors influencing creation of firms´ Eco-innovations in the EU. To obtain an interpretable model of firms´ Eco-innovations and their determinants, we use fuzzy rule-based classification models and latest available data form Community Innovation Survey 2012-2014 created by Eurostat. Our results show that firms´ Eco-innovations are influenced by different factors according to the nature of innovation (product, process, organizational, marketing) in the EU. Public financial subsidies and firms´ environment (e.g. existing environmental regulations, taxes, charges or fees, market demand, and costs of inputs) play key role in the process of creation Eco-innovation with environmental benefits. These results show possible ways how support sustainable entrepreneurship and regional (national) development not only within analyzed countries. We provide initial analysis dealing with different kinds of Eco-innovations and its determinants that could help firms to develop and enhance their corporate innovation and environmental policies. These results could also inspire policy makers at different levels because we propose some practical implications. Keywords: eco-innovations, sustainable development, environmental benefits, entrepreneurship

Dualne zakorzenienie filii zagranicznych a przewaga konkurencyjna wynikająca z innowacji

1. Achcaoucaou F., Miravitlles P., Leon-Darder F. [2014], Knowledge sharing and subsidiary R&D mandate development: A matter of dual embeddedness, International Business Review, 23 (1): 76–90. Google Scholar

Public Funding and Innovation Strategies. Evidence from Italian SMEs

Using a dataset which combines Community Innovation Survey (CIS) and accounting information on Italian manufacturing firms, we adopt a two step econometric procedure to investigate whether the receipt of public funding determines firms’ innovation strategy selection. In the first step an innovation selection equation is estimated, in the second we adopt a bivariate probit model. The main finding is that public funding influences whether firms select the make, the buy or the make&buy strategy, favoring the latter. The composite strategy is the one linked to the build up of absorptive capacity which, according to the empirical evidence, turns out to be associated to a better innovative performance.

Collected worker experiences and the novelty content of innovation

In this paper we investigate whether the novelty content of innovations introduced by Norwegian manufacturing firms reflect the composition of work-life experiences collected by employees. Distinguishing between ‘related’ (RV) and ‘unrelated’ (URV) variety and using employer-employee registers merged with Community Innovation Survey data to observe experiences prior to innovation strategies and results, we find the probability of incremental innovation increasing strongly with RV when firms are located in a large-city region. URV provide additional support for incremental innovation among firms that are not R&D active, and increases more generally the probability of radical (new-to-the world) innovation. However, these relationships flatten out at moderate levels, and the maximum impact of URV on radical innovation is limited compared to the average impact of firms’ R&D efforts. Thus, whereas incremental innovation is highly receptive to related worker experiences when collected and combined in urban contexts, radical innovation depend to a larger degree on the innovation strategies and efforts of the firm itself.

Barriers to Creating Innovation in the Polish Economy in the Years 2012–2016

Abstract The purpose of the considerations is to present and systematise barriers to creating innovation in the Polish economy in 2012–2016. The desk research was based on the results of Community Innovation Surveys (CIS 2012 and CIS 2014), thematic studies of the Central Statistical Office and a report from the Infuture hatalska foresight institute. The use of statistical and comparative analysis in conjunction with the review of the literature on innovation barriers leads to the conclusion that Polish enterprises recognise the lack of financial resources as a major barrier to creating innovation, while non-financial barriers are much less important. The marginal treatment of non-financial barriers is a reversal of attitudes and directions of activities that are undertaken in the field of creating innovation in highly developed countries.

Is the corporate social responsibility–innovation link homogeneous?: Looking for sustainable innovation in the Spanish context

AbstractThis study examines if the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovation is homogeneous or depends on the type of CSR practice and/or the type of innovation. The paper focuses on the three dimensions of the “three bottom line” of CSR (economic, social, and environmental) and on the so‐called “fateful triangle” of innovation, which together with studied product and process innovation types also considers organizational innovation. The theoretical framework is based on the resource‐based view and the knowledge‐based view approaches. In analysing sustainable innovation in the Spanish context, we look at a set of firms taking data for the 2009–2014 Spanish Community Innovation Survey. The empirical study uses random effect probit panel data methodology. The results show that, although the positive effect of CSR on innovation is confirmed for the majority of the cases, there are differences depending on the innovation type and the CSR dimension.

Innovativeness of railway transport in the context of the development of tourism in Poland

The article discusses the issue of innovation activities of companies in railway transport in Poland in the context of the development of tourism. Transport infrastructure and organization, along with economic, social, ecological and political factors, are the basic stimulators for the development of tourism. In literature on the subject, this problem is rarely discussed. This article is of a review and research nature. The aim of it is to consider the condition of innovativeness of railway transport companies in Poland in the context of its role in the development of tourism in Poland. To attain the goals of this research, a critical analysis of literature on the subject and desk research have been carried out, the latter drawing on the unpublished data of Statistics Poland, referring to Polish companies from section Transportation and storage, class Passenger rail transport, interurban (according to NACE rev.2). The data derive from the three latest editions of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). In the article, there was used data concerning: innovation activity, types of innovation, co-operation during innovative activity, importance of the source of information for innovation activity, importance of the reasons and barriers to not innovate. The data analysis reveals a rather low level of innovativeness of railway transport companies in Poland. In the authors’ opinion, this state of affairs is connected with historical and political factors: the structure and failed reforms in this sector and granting development priority to other branches of transport during the structural transformation in Poland.

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNAL KNOWLEDGE GENERATION AND EXTERNAL KNOWLEDGE SOURCING FOR SME INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM IRELAND

This paper analyses the knowledge sourcing, transformation, and exploitation stages of the innovation value chain for a sample of Irish small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using Community Innovation Survey data. It explores the role of internal research and development (R&D) and external knowledge on SMEs’ innovation and performance. The open innovation paradigm, which stresses the importance of external linkages, is used to examine the impact of different external knowledge sources on SMEs’ innovation. The consideration of external linkages in the innovation performance of SMEs is crucial as these firms may be constrained in their ability to perform R&D due to their size. The analysis expands the traditional CDM methodology beyond the consideration of research and development as the sole source of knowledge for innovation by also considering a range of potential external knowledge sources. The findings indicate that SMEs generate knowledge internally through the performance of R&D, while also exploiting linkages to external agents. However, the impact of external sources of knowledge is not uniform. The results suggest that backward linkages have a positive impact on SME product innovation, but negatively affect SME process innovation, while public knowledge sources are positively related to the probability of product innovation occurring. This may have important policy implications. Finally, process innovation is also found to be a key determinant of SME productivity, while product innovation has no impact on SME performance.

Where cities fail to triumph: The impact of urban location and local collaboration on innovation in Norway

AbstractThe role of cities in fostering innovation has for long been taken for granted. Agglomeration and the knowledge spillovers generated in dense urban environments have been considered fundamental drivers of innovation. This view has, however, become challenged by research questioning the returns to physical agglomeration and local networking, placing instead more emphasis on the importance of interregional and international collaboration, and on innovation in peripheral regions. This paper delves into the debate on the role of cities for innovation by examining the interplay between urban location and local collaboration in Norway. It uses data from the Community Innovation Survey for 2006–2010 to map out the geographical dimension of R&D collaboration in Norwegian firms with a view to assessing whether different types of R&D collaboration in urban and rural locations affect firms’ propensity to innovate. The results show that local collaboration is associated with increased process and organisational innovation, while it does not produce higher levels of product or marketing innovation. Conversely, international collaboration is connected with higher probabilities of product, new‐to‐market and marketing innovations. Furthermore, location in urban or rural areas makes no difference for most innovation outcomes in Norway when other characteristics are controlled for. Location in cities also does not shape the returns to local R&D collaboration. Hence, the role of cities for innovation in Norway, whether in themselves or as sites for dense local interaction, is less relevant than the urban innovation literature would predict.

Innovation, industry and firm age: are there new knowledge production functions?

In this paper we investigate how the knowledge production function is at work in different industrial sectors comparing mature and young companies in Italy. We estimate a two-step model using community innovation survey data. We provide evidence that young firms are particularly effective in translating R&D into product innovation in ‘entrepreneurial sectors’ (especially in services where it is likely that capital requirements and experience are negligible), while mature companies turn out to be more effective in translating technological acquisitions (TAs) into process innovation in ‘routinized sectors’ (especially in low-tech manufacturing industries where the main strategy is cost reduction).

India & Turkey: Bodal Chemicals – dyes

We address the questions of whether multinational (MNC) subsidiaries are more likely to introduce green innovation (GI) than domestic firms and how intra-MNC resources are likely contribute to this effort. Using the Community Innovation Survey for 14 European countries and adopting a knowledge-based view of the MNC, our results suggest that subsidiaries have an advantage of foreignness in GI as respect to domestic firms, especially when they have an innovation mandate (i.e., competence-creating subsidiaries). Our findings also support that intra-MNC and extra-MNC cooperation for innovation increases subsidiary probability to introduce GIs, the two being substitutes.

A closer look at the relationship between innovation and employment growth at the firm level

This paper considers in detail how different types of innovation (products, processes, patents, combinations) are related to different employment growth characteristics (exit or survival, with employment upscaling or downscaling at moderate or high rates). Using Norwegian Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data collected in 2008 and merged with public employer-employee registers for the years 2004–2010, it finds that growth persists over time, and increases the probability that ‘bundles’ of complementary product and process innovations are introduced that strengthen employment further. Downscaling also persists, and reduces the probability that ‘bundles’ are introduced that could turn the negative trend. While standalone product innovations follow in the wake of rapid expansion, such have limited impact on employment beyond sustaining growth at moderate levels. Standalone process innovations, by contrast, tend to be introduced after a period of moderate growth, yet, might give rise to large subsequent expansions. These results demonstrate that innovation and employment growth are multi-dimensional characteristics of the firm, which are interlinked with each other in virtuous or vicious circles that unfolds over time.

How Do Anticipated and Self Regulations and Information Sourcing Openness Drive Firms to Implement Eco-Innovation? Evidence from Korean Manufacturing Firms.

Building upon institutional theory and the concept of openness to external sources in terms of breadth and depth, this study investigates the following three understudied drivers of eco-innovation in terms of external and internal factors: Anticipated regulation and self-regulation as external drivers, and information sourcing openness comprised of breadth and importance as internal drivers. Toward this end, this study employs a sample of 1824 Korean manufacturing firms collected from the Korean Innovation Survey 2010, which is compatible with the Oslo Manual and the Eurostat Community Innovation Survey (CIS). The current research adopts a multivariate probit model for the nine binary outcome variables and a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression model for a count variable. It is found that, both anticipated regulation and self-regulation positively affect eco-process innovation and eco-product innovation across all of the nine eco-innovation types. The empirical findings on the effects of the breadth of external sources and the importance of used information acquired from external sources for innovative activities indicate that both the breadth and the importance have positive impacts on the number of types of eco-innovation with which a firm is engaged.

Technological innovation and the demand for labor by firms in expansion and recession

ABSTRACTWith firm data from the Spanish Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for the period 2003–2014, we find a positive and significant effect of innovation in the demand for labor when firms introduce product and process innovations in the same time period. The effect of innovation on the demand for labor is countercyclical, higher in the recession, after 2008, than in the expansion, before 2008, but the probability that firms innovate in product and process is counter-cyclical, i.e. lower in the recession. Altogether, the elasticity of the demand for labor to the probability that firms introduce product and process innovations remains stable throughout the sample period, at around 0.035. Innovation contributes to stabilize average employment during the cycle, more so when the innovation is in product, alone or together with process, than when it is only in process. These results are broadly consistent with product and process innovations shifting firms’ demand and production functions upwards, but differentially in expansions (less product market competition) than in contractions (more competition).

COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF INNOVATION, ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY, PUBLIC FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND DETERMINANTS OF THE INNOVATIVE PERFORMANCE OF ENTERPRISE

The aim of this paper is to better understand whether cooperation, absorptive capacity and public financial support for innovation activities, how they influence the innovative performance of Portuguese enterprise. The literature review focuses the importance of these three factors both drivers as the limiters process of business innovation, influencing the innovative performance of enterprise. Based on a review of the literature, hypotheses are formulated, which are tested with secondary data resources from the Community Innovation Survey 2010. This questionnaire was implemented under the supervision of EUROSTAT. The method used is the logistic regression model. The results obtained confirm that the implementation of cooperation with partners belonging to internal sources of business has a significant influence on the innovations achieved at the level of both products and processes.

The Impact of a Crisis on the Innovation Systems in Europe: Evidence from the CIS10 Innovation Survey

The varieties of the national innovation systems among European countries are reflected in the large differences, discrepancies and sometimes unexpected results in the innovation processes and their influence on labor productivity growth. The goal of this paper is to find the differences between the drivers of the innovation systems and their influence on growth of productivity between two groups of countries with different institutional settings in the period of the financial and economic crisis in Europe. The first group consists of a selection of CEE (Central and East European) countries. The second group consists of Germany, Norway, Spain and Portugal. In order to measure the role of innovation on productivity growth we use the CDM (Crépon, Duguet and Mairesse) model of simultaneous equations. The model directly links R&D engagement and intensity to innovation outcomes measured either as process or product innovation, and then estimates the effectiveness of the innovative effort leading to productivity gains. The company-level dataset is drawn from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS10). There is one common result for the two groups, that in general the probability for a typical firm to engage in innovation increases with its size. The other factors influencing the decision process differ. A firm’s productivity increases significantly with innovation output, but only with firms operating in Western Europe. The results for firms in Central and Eastern Europe indicate that these countries’ national innovation systems are vulnerable, and in periods of crises higher level of innovation output leads to lower labor productivity. Therefore, systemic faults in the national innovation systems result in their unsustainability, especially visible in periods of crises, as was the case in 2008–2010. When it comes to Western European countries, the financial and economic crisis did not have negative effects on their innovation systems as innovation activity resulted in higher levels of labor productivity. Regarding the CEE group of countries, the crisis influenced both the innovation process and labor productivity as a whole negatively.

SOURCES OF INNOVATION CAPABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF ICT AGGLOMERATED MSMEs IN NIGERIA

It has been established in both developed and emerging economies that geographic concentration of firms contributed in no small ways to the growth of country’s economy. However, in developing countries like Nigeria, what constitutes innovation capability needed to transform local innovation system towards indigenisation of ICT products among the ICT clustered firms is not known; and where data are available, they are somewhat outdated. This paper therefore presented empirical evidences on Innovation capability among agglomerated MSMEs in Nigeria. The research adapted the 6th Community Innovation Survey (CIS) on 228 owners of ICT clustered enterprises. It was found that nontechnical innovations were more prevalent in the clusters. It was also discovered that firms with appropriate mix of both internal and external sources of Innovation Capability performed better. The research thus added to the body of knowledge in development literature on the role of capability mix in innovation management.

Relatedness in the adoption of different innovation types: product, process, organisational and commercial innovations

ABSTRACTThe paper analyses the relatedness or interrelations in the joint adoption of different types of innovation (product, process, organisational, and commercial). We study the relatedness in the adoption of two innovation types and how it could be conditioned by the presence/absence of the remaining innovation types. In order to do this we develop a new methodological approach for testing conditional relatedness. The empirical study uses the Spanish Community Innovation Survey (2008–2014). Our results show that, contrary to the traditional approach that suggests a strong relatedness between product and process innovations, this is the less intense link found. Our empirical approach also allows us to confirm that product innovation emerges as a fundamental axis in the innovation strategy because the more intensively used innovation strategies are those combining product innovation with any other innovation type in absence of the rest and those combining any of the other three innovation types in presence of product innovation. These results provide implications for further research, top management and innovation strategy development.