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This paper sets out to examine the factors that influence Spanish manufacturing and service firms to cooperate with universities on R&D.

A LOGIT regression model is used to verify the importance of certain variables, selected and constructed according to the literature review, to the decision to cooperate with universities. An empirical study is carried out using data from the Spanish 2000 Community Innovation Survey (CIS). The sample of study is 3,964 innovative manufacturing and service firms.

Firm size, spillovers, R&D intensity and operating costs influence both manufacturing and service firms in the same way in their decision to cooperate with universities on R&D activities. However, the variables relating to strategic and legal protection of innovations, as well as belonging to a foreign group have been shown to affect manufacturing and service companies differently.

The analysis of the cooperation decision from the transaction cost economics approach is limited to operational costs and risks because of the type of data supplied by the CIS. A second limitation relates to the inability to use more recent data as, to date, the only CIS microdata published are from the year 2000.

The empirical results allow one to identify the characteristics of Spanish manufacturing and service firms that cooperate with universities.

The paper has explored the differences between manufacturing and service companies relating to the determinants of establishing R&D cooperation agreements with universities.

With Spanish Community Innovation Survey data, this paper tests two main hypotheses as explanation of the fall in business innovation output in the Great Recession: the aggregate demand effect (firms have lower propensity to initiate innovation projects in recession than in contraction from demand-pull and profit expectations effects) and the risk effect (a greater proportion of the initiated projects fail in recessions than in expansions).

The research methodology consists on first modelling the decision by firms to initiate innovation projects in t or not (probit model), and, second, modelling the outcomes, success or failure in t + 1 of firms that decide to initiate (Heckman model).

The empirical results support the two hypotheses. They also indicate that the sensitivity of the decision to initiate innovation projects to the aggregate demand is more pronounced among financially constrained firms than among unconstrained ones, while the risk effect appears to be independent of the financial situation of firms.

The results of the research are limited by not being able to follow up individual innovation projects, and by not having available a more representative sample of firms where non-innovators and potential innovators are represented (now is biased toward potential innovators).

The results highlight the importance of macroeconomic stability for sustained business innovation output over time and calls managers’ attention in better management of innovation risk.

The results of the paper recommend macroeconomic polies aimed at the stabilization of aggregate demand and smoothing the business cycle, as a way to contribute to the stabilization of the growth of innovation output over time. Monetary and fiscal policies that smooth the business cycle will then have significant effects in the stabilization of innovation output and, in turn, in the reduction of volatility of economic growth over time. Increasing the direct public financial aid to undertake innovation projects in recession periods will not have the same innovation output stabilization effect than the stabilization of the aggregate demand. The reason is that, as the paper points out, the innovation output of financially unconstrained firms is also affected negatively by the contraction of aggregate demand in recession periods.

This paper is the first one to investigate the differences in business innovation outputs in expansions and recessions, separating the aggregate demand and the risk effect that the organisation for economic co-operation and development identifies as main determinants of the fall in innovation output during the Great Recession. The decomposition of firms’ innovation output in the decision to initiate innovation projects and the likelihood that those initiated succeed is also new in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existence of complementarity between innovation activities (internal innovation, external innovation and cooperative R&D), as well as their impact on firms' innovation performance.

Drawing on the Third Community Innovation Survey (CIS‐3) for Spain, a multiple regression model is used to study the existence of complementarity between innovation activities and their impact on innovation performance. The sample for the study is 3,964 innovative firms.

First of all, the empirical results propose that the complementarity appears only between internal innovation and either external or cooperative innovation – but not with both together, which is in‐line with the “absorption capacity” notion. Second, the use of external and cooperation innovation in isolation does not yield positive effects on innovation performance. This finding contradicts the substitution argument and supports the absorptive capacity argument. Finally, innovation strategies do not seem to be dissimilar between industries.

The main limitation of the paper is the use of cross‐section data, which implies less robust results as an empirical test.

The empirical results allow the authors to recommend company managers and public administration officials to improve and support internal innovation. These activities should be combined with the high levels of external acquisitions that Spanish firms have in order to increase their innovation performance as the absorption capacity theory and this paper's empirical results suggest.

The first contribution of the paper is the inclusion of the third form of innovation: cooperation. The second contribution refers to the inclusion of the service sector in the authors' sample.

In this chapter, the authors describe the developments towards Roma inclusion in Spain through Successful Educational Actions. First, the authors describe the main characteristics of the Spanish Roma Minority with special regard to their cultural and linguistic diversity and deprivated social situation. After a brief overview of the Spanish education system, the authors give a detailed picture of the educational attainment of the Roma minority in Spain. After then the authors present and analyse the most important successful policies and support programmes for Roma education.

The literature stresses the importance of collaboration patterns and the role of public funding in regional competitiveness. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of this subject by focusing on two key dynamics of technological cooperation. First, the authors focus on the ability of public funding to support regional technological demand through the promotion of science and technology-based innovation (STI) and innovation based on learning-by-doing, learning-by-using, learning-by-interacting (DUI) cooperation. Second, the authors investigate whether such cooperation patterns influence the companies’ ability to support the development of novel products through the effective transfer of knowledge.

The data used in this longitudinal study are taken from the Basque statistics agency’s (EUSTAT) technological innovation survey, which compiles activities, personnel, funding sources, support institutions and other innovation-related aspects of businesses in the Basque region. The survey was carried out following the methodology of the community innovation survey (CIS). CIS data are used to generate official innovation statistics for the EU and its member countries and have been used extensively for analysis in economics. The sample included an unbalanced panel of 17,431 companies that reported research and development expenditure for the period 2013‐2017.

The results of the analysis confirm that the relationship between STI cooperation and regional funding is positive (Piñeiro-Antelo and Lois-González, 2019), but regional DUI cooperation will have a greater impact than STI cooperation on a company’s ability to generate novel products. The authors can, therefore, say that public funding is successful at supporting cooperation between science and technology agents and firms but fails to promote the transfer of knowledge and subsequent development of novel products in companies in the region.

Following a quadruple helix approach, it is important to underline the need for public policies to strengthen the connections between all the key agents in the ecosystem (where the research community, industry, public sector and citizens are all active actors), promoting technology transfer and dissemination, as well as trust among the parties, absorptive capacity and business access to resources and financing. Thus, the design of public policies should be oriented to support a firm’s innovation, balancing the exploration and exploitation of STI and DUI regional cooperation.

The contribution of this research is threefold. First, it serves to emphasize the importance of the impact of regional innovation systems on business innovation modes and their performance. Second, it takes the study of innovation systems and their impact on companies a step further by examining the impact of public funding on the companies’ ability to explore and exploit regional innovation modes. Thirdly, the authors offer a dynamic view of the region’s ability to support its own demand for technology and study the impact of regional business modes on the firms’ ability to support novel products.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse a firm’s internal and external drivers of formal and informal open innovation (OI) practices. To enrich the analysis and to obtain more robust results, the authors checked the study’s hypotheses using samples from two European regions, Navarre (Spain), classified an innovator follower, and Noord-Brabant (Netherlands), an innovator leader.

The sample selected includes manufacturing and service firms that completed the Community Innovation Survey for the year 2008 in both regions. The final sample had 1,288 observations from Navarre and 623 observations from Noord-Brabant. The authors consider two OI dimensions, breadth of information sources for informal OI practices and breadth of cooperation agreement for formal OI practices. Finally, the estimates were performed by means of a negative binomial regression.

Results indicate that for the internal drivers, product-related motives to innovate and in-house R&D intensity are strong drivers for both formal and informal OI engagement in general, while the influence of process- and environmental-related motives are context dependence.

This study distinguishes between formal (i.e. cooperation activities) and informal (i.e. external sources of information used for new ideas) inbound OI practices, while most of the literature has focussed on one single type of OI practice. The use of two samples coming from two different European regions allows observe whether the adoption motives of the OI practices are robust independently from the firms’ location or if they vary across regions owing to context dependence.

La innovación abierta (IA) ha demostrado ser crucial para aumentar la innovación y el desempeño económico de las empresas. Sin embargo todavía existe una comprensión limitada de los factores que impulsan realizar esta IA. El principal objetivo de este artículo es arrojar luz en esta dirección al analizar simultáneamente los determinantes internos y externos que llevan a las empresas a realizar prácticas formales e informales de IA.

Las hipótesis son contratadas con muestras de dos regiones europeas, Navarra (España), calificada como región seguidora en innovación, y Noord Brabant (Países Bajos), líder innovador. La muestra seleccionada incluye empresas manufactureras y de servicios que completaron la Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2008.

Los resultados indican que, para los determinantes internos, los motivos relacionados con la búsqueda de innovaciones en producto y la intensidad interna de I + D son fuertes impulsores para todas las prácticas de IA, mientras que la importancia de los motivos relacionados con la obtención de innovaciones en proceso y medioambientales dependen del contexto regional. En cuanto a los factores externos, la política pública influye en la adopción de IA tanto formal como informal, pero estos resultados varían entre las regiones dependiendo del origen de los fondos.

El estudio presenta importantes implicaciones para la literatura en IA. En primer lugar, mientras la mayoría de la literatura analiza un único tipo de prácticas de IA, este estudio distingue prácticas formales e informales de IA y estudia sus determinantes internos y externos simultáneamente. Segundo, las hipótesis son contrastadas en dos regiones europeas diferentes. Esto permite observar si los resultados obtenidos son robustos independientemente de la localización de las empresas o si varían dependiendo del contexto de ambas regiones.

A inovação aberta (IA) provou ser crucial para aumentar a inovação e o desempenho económico das empresas. No entanto, ainda há uma compreensão limitada dos fatores que conduzem essa IA. O principal objetivo deste artigo é lançar luz nessa direção, analisando simultaneamente os determinantes internos e externos que levam as empresas a realizar práticas de IA formais e informais.

As hipóteses são contratadas com amostras de duas regiões européias, Navarra (Espanha), classificada como uma região de inovação, e Noord Brabant (Holanda), um líder inovador. A amostra selecionada inclui empresas de fabricação e serviços que completaram o Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2008.

Os resultados indicam que, para os determinantes internos, os motivos relacionados à busca de inovações no produto e na intensidade interna de P & D são fortes impulsionadores para todas as práticas de IA, enquanto a importância dos motivos relacionados à obtenção Inovações em processo e ambientes dependem do contexto regional. Em relação aos fatores externos, observamos que a política pública influencia a adoção de IA formal e informal, mas esses resultados variam de acordo com as origens dos fundos.

O estudo apresenta implicações importantes para a literatura em IA. Primeiro, enquanto a maioria da literatura analisa um único tipo de práticas de IA, este estudo distingue práticas formais e informais de IA e simultaneamente estuda seus determinantes internos e externos. Em segundo lugar, as hipóteses são contrastadas em duas regiões européias diferentes. Isso permite verificar se os resultados obtidos são robustos independentemente da localização das empresas ou se variam de acordo com o contexto de ambas as regiões.

Although most of the literature supports the existence of a substitutive relationship between exploration and exploitation, some authors suggest that this relationship is complementary (ambidexterity), and others argue that there is no relationship. This paper aims to introduce organizational innovation into the analysis and discusses which of these three relationships prevails.

Analyses were performed using data from Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2008-2013. It should be emphasized that the use of panel data is essential in the analysis of the interaction of exploration and exploitation, as exploration only makes sense in the long run. Econometric strategy uses a two-stage selection model, estimated using the Wooldridge’s (1995) consistent estimator for panel data with sample selection. To perform the test, the hypothesis uses the approach of complementarity.

The results show that the relationships exploration-organizational innovation and exploitation-organizational innovation are complementary, provided that the analysis is performed on companies that simultaneously carry out exploration and exploitation activities, respectively. This indicates that the achievement of ambidexterity is strongly conditioned by the simultaneous realization of organizational innovations.

Managers and policymakers should be aware that the simultaneous implementation of exploration and exploitation yields better results when the corresponding organizational innovations are also implemented.

This paper extends the empirical investigation of the relationship between exploration and exploitation, seen in conjunction with organizational innovation, and using the complementarity approach as a research tool.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between open innovation and the use of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors consider patents, industrial designs (i.e. design patents in the USA), trademarks, and copyrights.

The relationships between open innovation, IPRs, and profitability are tested with random-effects panel regressions on data from the Spanish Community Innovation Survey for 2,873 firms spanning the years 2008-2013.

A key result is that SMEs do not benefit from open innovation or from patenting in the same way as larger firms. Furthermore, the results show that SMEs profit in different ways from IPR, depending on their size and the corresponding IPR.

The different impact of IPRs on the efficiency of open innovation in firms of varying sizes highlights the importance of further investigation into IP strategies and into open innovation in SMEs.

Industrial designs are currently the most efficient IPR for SMEs to protect their intellectual property in open innovation collaborations. Depending on the company size, the use of different IPRs is recommended. Moreover, firms should seek to increase the efficiency of open innovation and the use of IPRs.

The high impact of SMEs on employment highlights the importance of fomenting efficient innovation processes in such firms.

This paper opens the black box of IPR in relation to open innovation in SMEs, and draws distinctive conclusions with regards to patents, industrial designs, trademarks, and copyrights.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the innovation capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises through a theoretical framework that addresses the influence of some internal and external resources – derived from the literature review – on the development of innovation activities and on innovative firm’s results.

Based on a structured questionnaire, the empirical survey has involved 122 SMEs and micro enterprises of the most representative agrifood supply chains in the Campania region: dairy, wine, pasta and olive oil. The data have been then elaborated through the cluster analysis technique in order to explore any meaningful patterns that may exist in terms of the innovation capacity.

This study shows the existence of three clusters/innovation modes: collaborative innovators (CIs), non-collaborative innovators (NCIs), and non-innovators (NIs). Even though CIs represent 16.2 percent of the sample, this cluster shows an increased or stable revenue during 2011-2013 in comparison to the other two clusters.

This study provides a static view in comparison to the longitudinal analysis which could have provided a more dynamic view of the innovation capacity of agrifood SMEs and micro enterprises.

This is the first quantitative study focusing on the factors related to the innovation capacity of agrifood firms in the Campania Region. The study specifically analyses the innovation capacity of SMEs and micro enterprises. Moreover, it offers a comprehensive analysis of internal and external drivers to innovation.