Incumbents' responses to innovative entrants - a multi-country dynamic analysis

The influence of innovative entrants on incumbents is considered important for technological change. We analyze this influence for the global transition towards alternative technology vehicles (ATVs). Our results indicate that entrants’ ATV-related knowledge accumulation stimulates average incumbent’s ATV-related research. Regarding global entrants, incumbents with higher ATV patent stocks increased patenting stronger; supporting previous literature on competitive reactions to entry. Responding to domestic entrants, however, incumbents with low ATV patent stocks increased whereas incumbents with high stocks decreased patenting; suggesting that advanced incumbents outsource research or overtake entrants. Further, certain characteristics and not merely the quantity of entrants drive incumbents’ responses

Incumbents' asymmetric responses to environmentally friendly entrants in the automotive industry

In the context of technological change, the influence of innovative entrants on incumbents is considered a major driving force. Using global patent data, we analyze this influence for the case of the transition from combustion engine vehicles towards alternative technology vehicles (ATVs). Entrants play a key role in developing ATV-related patents, whereas automotive incumbents are considered as being less motivated in pursuing this new technology. Our results indicate that entrants' ATV-related knowledge accumulation stimulates incumbents' ATV-related research. Domestic entrants had a positive effect on the large incumbent majority that exhibited low ATV patent stocks whereas incumbents with high ATV patent stocks reacted with decreasing patenting; which is assumed to be a sign of R&D outsourcing or strategic acquisitions. Entrants in foreign countries yielded increasing incumbent responses along increasing incumbents' ATV patent stocks; which is in line with previously found competitive reactions to entry. Further, younger entrants, pre-entry patent- inexperienced entrants, and entrant leaders with greater technological relevance were more influential than their counterparts (old, experienced, and less technological relevant). This suggests that not only diversifying but also new establishments have an effect on incumbents. As technological leading and inexperienced entrants showed a stronger effect on incumbents but were outnumbered by their counterparts, it underpins that entrants with important characteristics and not the pure number of entrants drive these effects on incumbents

Abnehmendes Produktivitätswachstum – zunehmende Produktivitätsunterschiede

Wie in anderen Industriestaaten ist auch in Deutschland in den vergangenen Jahren trotz eines anhaltenden Wirtschaftswachstums, einer zurückgehenden Arbeitslosigkeit und einer hohen technologischen Dynamik ein Rückgang des Produktivitätswachstums zu beobachten. In einem Workshop Anfang 2018 in Berlin wurde dieses Phänomen eingehend diskutiert

COMT Val(158)Met genotypes differentially influence subgenual cingulate functional connectivity in healthy females

Brain imaging studies have cons stently shown subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortical (sgACC) involvement in emotion processing. catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158) and Met(158) polymorphisms may influence such emotional brain processes in specific ways. Given that resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) may increase our understanding on brain functioning, we integrated genetic and rsfMRI data and focused on sgACC functional connections. No studies have yet investigated the influence of the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism (rs4680) on sgACC resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in healthy individuals. A homogeneous group of 61 Caucasian right-handed healthy female university students, all within the same age range, underwent isfMRI. Compared to Met158 homozygotes, Val(158) allele carriers displayed significantly stronger rsFC between the sgACC and the left parahippocampal gyrus, ventromedial parts of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). On the other hand, compared to Val(158) homozygotes, we found in Met(158) allele carriers stronger sgACC rsFC with the medial frontal gyrus (MEG), more in particular the anterior parts of the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Although we did not use emotional or cognitive tasks, our sgACC rsFC results point to possible distinct differences in emotional and cognitive processes between Val(158) and Met(158) allele carriers. Hovvever, the exact nature of these directions remains to be determined

Criminal and Noncriminal Psychopathy: The Devil is in the Detail

Brooks, NS ORCiD: 0000-0003-1784-099XPsychopathy is prevalent and problematic in criminal populations, but is also found to be present in noncriminal populations. In 1992, Robert Hare declared that psychopaths may also “be found in the boardroom”, which has since been followed by an interest in the issue of noncriminal, or even successful, psychopathy. In this chapter, the paradox of criminal and noncriminal psychopathy is discussed with specific attention given to the similarities and differences that account for psychopathic personality across contexts. That psychopathy is a condition typified by a constellation of traits and behaviours requires wider research across diverse populations, and thus the streams of research related to criminal and noncriminal psychopathy are presented and the implications of these contrasting streams are explored

Reduced reward-related neural response to mimicry in individuals with autism

Mimicry is a facilitator of social bonds in humans, from infancy. This facilitation is made possible through changing the rewardvalue of social stimuli; for example, we like and affiliate more with people who mimic us. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) aremarked by difficulties in forming social bonds. In this study, we investigate whether the reward-related neural response to beingmimicked is altered in individuals with ASD, using a simple conditioning paradigm. Multiple studies in humans and nonhuman pri-mates have established a crucial role for the ventral striatal (VS) region in responding to rewards. In this study, adults with ASDand matched controls first underwent a conditioning task outside the scanner, where they were mimicked by one face and‘anti-mimicked’ by another. In the second part, participants passively viewed the conditioned faces in a 3T MRI scanner using amulti-echo sequence. The differential neural response towards mimicking vs. anti-mimicking faces in the VS was tested for groupdifferences as well as an association with self-reported autistic traits. Multiple regression analysis revealed lower left VS responseto mimicry (mimicking > anti-mimicking faces) in the ASD group compared to controls. The VS response to mimicry was nega-tively correlated with autistic traits across the whole sample. Our results suggest that for individuals with ASD and high autistictraits, being mimicked is associated with lower reward-related neural response. This result points to a potential mechanism under-lying the difficulties reported by many of individuals with ASD in building social rapport

Subliminal versus supraliminal stimuli activate neural responses in anterior cingulate cortex, fusiform gyrus and insula:a meta-analysis of fMRI studies

Background: Non-conscious neural activation may underlie various psychological functions in health and disorder. However, the neural substrates of non-conscious processing have not been entirely elucidated. Examining the differential effects of arousing stimuli that are consciously, versus unconsciously perceived will improve our knowledge of neural circuitry involved in non-conscious perception. Here we conduct preliminary analyses of neural activation in studies that have used both subliminal and supraliminal presentation of the same stimulus. Methods: We use Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) to examine functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies that uniquely present the same stimuli subliminally and supraliminally to healthy participants during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We included a total of 193 foci from 9 studies representing subliminal stimulation and 315 foci from 10 studies representing supraliminal stimulation. Results: The anterior cingulate cortex is significantly activated during both subliminal and supraliminal stimulus presentation. Subliminal stimuli are linked to significantly increased activation in the right fusiform gyrus and right insula. Supraliminal stimuli show significantly increased activation in the left rostral anterior cingulate. Conclusions: Non-conscious processing of arousing stimuli may involve primary visual areas and may also recruit the insula, a brain area involved in eventual interoceptive awareness. The anterior cingulate is perhaps a key brain region for the integration of conscious and non-conscious processing. These preliminary data provide candidate brain regions for further study in to the neural correlates of conscious experience

Knowledge flows between science and industry and how to measure them

The exchange of knowledge between science and industry has been a focus of innovation research and policy for many decades. New developments in the way technologies are generated, shared, and transferred into new products, services, and business models are currently re-emphasising science-industry interactions. Main drivers are the emergence of open innovation models, the increased internationalisation of innovation processes, the rise of digital platforms, new modes of governance in public research, and the enlarged role of disruptive innovations. At the same time, the measurement of knowledge flows is still limited, and indicators on recent trends in science-industry interaction are lacking. This limits innovation policy in monitoring changes and addressing challenges. A conference in October 2019 in Berlin brought together industry representatives, researchers, and policy makers to discuss these developments and how the measurement of science-industry links could be improved. This policy brief summarises key trends in science-industry collaborations, presents existing indicators and discusses ways to improve our indicator system on knowledge flows between science and industry in order to better inform policy

The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on innovation : first in-sights from the German business sector

In 2020, firms expected their innovation expenditures to decrease by about 2% in 2020 compared to 2019. This decline is much smaller than that in 2009 following the financial crisis, when innovation expenditures fell by 11%. However, smaller firms with 5 to 99 employees planned to cut their innovation expenditures by 7% to 17 % in 2020. For 2021, firms planned a slight increase in innovation expenditure by 1%. The number of employees in short-time work in Germany peaked at 2.9 million in April 2020, corresponding to a share of 8.7% of all employees. The situation relaxed by October 2020, when the share of short-time workers fell to 2.3%. The most R&D-insensitive industries showed the highest share of short-time work in April 2020 (16.6%), but the lowest in October 2020 (2.0%), indicating that the impact of the crisis on R&D intensive industries weakened in the second half of 2020. This development was strongly driven by the drop of short-time workers in the automobile industry. The recovery of some export-intensive industries, such as the automobile industry, also reflects that firms are starting to adopt and overcome the initially severe disturbances and challenges Covid-19 imposed on international value chains. The global R&D expenditures of large R&D performing German firms declined on average by 1% between 2019 and 2020. However, there are major differences between individual industries. The pharmaceutical and ICT service industries significantly increased their global R&D expenditures, whereas mechanical engineering experienced the sharpest decline in 2020. Firms’ average R&D intensity increased in most industries, except for the electronics/instruments industry and ICT services. Firms with R&D or other innovation activities prior to the crisis more often reported negative impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on their general business activities than firms that do not conduct any R&D or innovation activities. This result may be linked to the fact that the crisis had a more severe impact on firms with a more complex internal organisation and more international activities, both of which are typical for R&D and innovation performing firms. The most common strategic responses of firms to the Covid-19 crisis were i) to enhance the digitalisation of their internal processes and ii) to extend their digital offers and sales channels. Both responses were mostly of permanent nature. Reorganising sales towards domestic customers and removing products or services from their portfolio were less common responses. The most frequent crisis-related changes in firms’ innovation activities include i) the extension of innovation projects and ii) a reduction in the number of innovation projects due to a lack of impulses for innovation. Reducing collaborations and withdrawing from all innovation activities were less frequent changes

Avoidance learning across the menstrual cycle: a conceptual replication

Hormonal transitions across the menstrual cycle may modulate human reward processing and reinforcement learning, but previous results were contradictory. Studies assessed relatively small samples (n < 30) and exclusively used within-subject designs to compare women in hormonally distinct menstrual cycle phases. This increased the risk of sporadic findings and results may have been disproportionally affected by expectancy effects. Also, replication studies are widely missing, which currently precludes any reliable inferences. The present study was intended as a conceptual replication of a previous study [(1), Neuropsychologia 84; n = 15]. There, we had observed a reduction in avoidance learning capacity when women were in the high estradiol state of the late follicular phase as compared to the mid luteal phase with enhanced progesterone influence. These results conformed to the idea that estradiol and progesterone may antagonistically modulate dopaminergic transmission as a dopamine agonist and antagonist, respectively. Heightened progesterone in the luteal phase thereby supported the ability to learn from the negative outcomes of one's actions, while the follicular rise in estradiol interfered with this capacity. Here, we re-examined the above described within-subject difference between the follicular and the luteal phase in a between-subjects design. Seventy-five women were tested once with a probabilistic feedback learning task, while being either in the follicular (36 women) or luteal phase (39 women), and were compared for phase-related differences in behavior. Secondly, we combined the new data with data from three previous studies from our laboratory that used the same task and menstrual cycle phases. This meta-analysis included only data from the first test day, free of any biasing expectancy effects. Both analyses demonstrated the consistency of the decline in avoidance learning in the follicular relative to the luteal phase. We also showed that this decline reliably occurred in all of the included samples. Altogether, these results provide evidence for the consistency of a behavioral difference and its apparent association with a transient change in hormonal state that occurs in the natural menstrual cycle. Our findings may also open new avenues for the development of reliable between-subjects test protocols in menstrual cycle research