Business Spending on Research and Development and its Relationship to Invention and Innovation

The paper deals with the problem of business spending on research and development and their relation to innovation activities. It is focused on R&amp;D in the business sector as a crucial part of the innovation system. R&amp;D expenditure can be seen as the main precondition of successful innovation. However, the successful transformation of R&amp;D investment into invention or innovation cannot be guaranteed. Our main aim is to examine the relationship between business R&amp;D expenditure, invention and innovation in the long-run. We also examine the level of business R&amp;D expenditure in EU countries. The long-run causalities have been tested by using panel cointegration approach on the macro-level panel data for EU countries. The scope of inventions is proxied by the share of firms introducing product or service innovation as well as the number of patents registered. Based on our results, there appears to be a positive causal effect of business R&amp;D expenditure on patenting in the long-run.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Business R&D Expenditure in the ICT Sector: Effects on Business Performance Indicators

Firms in information and communication (ICT) sector are often considered as an important element of business innovation performance in the economy. This paper is focused on examining their share on innovation and total research and development (R&amp;D) expenditure in selected European countries. Moreover, our goal is to test the potential effect of R&amp;D expenditure on selected business performance indicators. We used panel macro-level data from 24 countries during the years 2008-2016. Based on the results of panel regression analysis we found empirical evidence for the positive effect of R&amp;D expenditure on value-added and apparent labour productivity in the ICT sector. This fact could be to some extent attributed to the innovation of products and processes. The highest share of business R&amp;D expenditure in ICT is present in Nordic countries such as Island, Norway and Finland. Firms in ICT appear to be more above-average innovative and represent a significant share of total business R&amp;D expenditure. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

R&D Investments in the European ICT sector: Implications for Business Performance

Background: A significant share of business innovation arises from information and communication (ICT) sector. Business investment into research and development (R&D) activities can be seen as an important basis for innovation, which can further lead to better economic performance. This can be especially true for the ICT sector. Objectives: The paper examines the share of the ICT sector on innovation and the total R&D expenditure in selected European countries. Furthermore, our aim is to test the potential positive correlation between R&D expenditure, productivity and the value added in the sector. Methods/Approach: The goals of the paper has been tested by empirical data analysis using the pane regression analysis. We examined panel data for 24 European countries in the 2008-2016 period. Results: The highest share of business R&D expenditure in ICT has been captured in Nordic countries. Firms in ICT appear to be innovative above the average and represent a significant share in the total business R&D expenditure. Conclusions: We found a positive correlation between R&D expenditure and both value-added and apparent labour productivity in the ICT sector. We believe that this could be to some extent attributed to the innovation of products and processes. Hence, the government support in the form of R&D tax incentives can be also beneficial for the economic performance of ICT firms

University Characteristics as Factor Affecting the Creation of University Spin-Offs

The university-spin off company is a specific but rather effective tool for the direct transfer of knowledge and new technology from academia into business. However, this seems to be still a not very common phenomenon in many European countries. The paper aims to compare the characteristics of universities in European countries based on empirical data for 2465 higher education institutions in Europe retrieved from European Tertiary Education Register database. We examined factors that could have a potential effect on the creation of university spin-off companies in Europe. In order to find these factors we applied logit and probit regression analysis. Our results strongly suggest that those universities which are neither strongly focused on a few fields of research, nor very broad in their focus are mostly less active in creating the university spin-off companies. The intensity of PhD study, the share of tuition fees as well as a number of foreign students seem to be factors affecting university spin-off activities. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

The Link between Human Resources in Science and Technology and Regional Economic Development in the EU

Science and technology is seen as the key factor supporting the performance of regional innovation systems. Furthermore, the innovation intensity in the region could be often crucial for regional economic development. Our research aims to examine the potential link between the economic development of the region and the intensity of science and technology activities proxied by the share of employees in science and technology. The analysis is based on panel data for NUTS2 regions of EU member states in the period 2003-2014. We conducted correlation analysis, panel Granger causality tests and regression analysis. Our results suggest the existence of a significant positive correlation between GDP per capita and the share of employees in science and technology. Moreover, the regions with higher intensity of science and technology activities are mostly characterized by relatively low unemployment rates and a higher proportion of residents with a university education. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Research Activities and their Relation to Economic Performance of Regions in the European Union

Background: The intensity of innovation could often be crucial for further economic development of the regions. Science and technology are often seen as the key factor supporting innovation in the regions. Furthermore, we can assume that higher intensity of research activities could lead to better economic performance. Objectives: Research aims to examine the link between the economic performance of the region and the intensity of science and technology activities, proxied by the share of employees in science and technology. Methods/Approach: The analysis is based on panel data for NUTS2 regions of the European Union (EU) member states. We conducted correlation analysis, panel Granger causality tests and regression analysis. Results: Our results suggest the existence of a significant positive correlation between GDP per capita and the share of employees in science and technology. Moreover, the regions with a higher intensity of science and technology activities are mostly characterized by relatively low unemployment rates. Conclusions: Research activities are positive correlated with regional GDP and negatively correlated with unemployment. However, increasing the share of employment in science and technology beyond a certain turning point would not lead to any further positive effects on regional economic performance

What matters: The Formation of University Spin-offs in Europe

Background: Transfer of knowledge from academia to business is one of the crucial issues for creating innovation. Creation of university spin-offs could significantly improve this transfer. Objectives: The main scientific aim is to examine the differences between universities in European countries and identify factors affecting the probability of creating the university spin-off. The paper is also focused on the differences in the specialization and financial sources of universities. Methods/Approach: We compare selected indicators for higher education institutions in European countries and examine potential determinants affecting the probability of academic spin-off formation. With respect to the main aim, the logit and probit regression analyses have been used. Results: Our results show that the creation of spin-offs is typical on the one hand for highly specialized universities or on the other hand for universities with a wide variety of study programs. They should also have an optimum number of doctoral students and have mostly less funding from tuition fees. Conclusions: Several indicators appear to play an important role in the formation of university spin-off. These indicators are the level of specialization, the share of tuition fees in the University budget, and the share of Ph.D. and foreign students

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS FUNDING OF SOURCES OF FUNDS FOR R&D AT UNIVERSITIES: COMPLEMENTS OR SUBSTITUTES?

The paper examines the relationship between different sources of funding for research and development at universities. Following the European Commission methodology, we distinguished between government, business and abroad financing of research and development (R&amp;D) in the higher education sector. The paper aims to test short-run and long-run relationships between different funding sources. We are focused on the relationship between government and business funding of R&amp;D at universities. Based on panel data for EU countries, we applied the Granger causality tests and General methods of moments to examine short-run causality and cointegrating regression to search for potential long-run relationships. Our results suggest that government funding of R&amp;D act as a complement to business funding. Hence, rising government financial support for research in higher education can, lead to higher funding from the business sector. Founding from abroad seems to have a similar effect on business funding in the long ru