Claudio Cruz-Cázares

Public R&D funding: does the source determine the strategy?

The aim of this study is to analyse whether the receipt of public R&D funding determines firms R&D strategy selection. This issue is crucial, as previous studies have shown that each R&D strategy is associated to a higher, or lower, innovation performance. We consider three R&D strategies – make, buy, make–buy – and three different sources of public funding – regional, state and other (such as EU). The model estimation is performed through a multinomial logit model with random effects with a sample of 457 large firms for the period 1992–2005, taken from the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies. The main finding is that the source of the funding influences whether firms select the make, buy or make–buy strategy. Additionally, because of the panel structure of the sample, we observe that the effect of public funding on the R&D strategy selection lasts longer for state and regional funds than for other funds.

Open innovation in the food and beverage industry

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge into the relationship between open innovation (OI) and firm’s innovative performance. Specifically, the authors aim to determine whether the benefits of OI practices are different for Food and Beverage (FnB) firms as compared to those of other sectors. The FnB industry is relevant in terms of employment GDP generation in the UE, characterised by high integration and low-tech intensity. Design/methodology/approach In order to achieve the goal and obtain robust results, the authors consider four OI dimensions and four innovation performance measures using panel data (2004-2011) from 10,771 FnB and non-FnB firms using Tobit and Logit models by random effects. Findings The authors test and confirm the presence of the classical inverted U-shape relationship between OI and firm innovative performance for FnB and non-FnB companies. However, the optimal number of external sources of knowledge used is lesser for FnB than the rest of the companies. Originality/value The paper compares the OI effects in a traditional and low-tech industry vs other industries considering four innovation outputs (product innovations, process innovations, incremental innovation and radical innovation).

Relating open innovation, innovation and management systems integration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the level of integration of management systems (IMS) over product and process innovation capabilities (IC), by considering the role of open innovation (OI) activities as a moderating effect of those relationships. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal empirical study was performed on an existing Spanish panel database that contains information related to innovation, where 9,765 companies were selected for the panel analysis. A logit approach with random effects was considered. Findings The level of IMS positively influences process and product IC. Moreover, external cooperation, and using it to a high extent not only positively moderates the effects of the level of IMS over process IC, but also of process over product IC, where it becomes indispensable for its effect to be positive. Finally, investing in external knowledge is a positive moderator of the effects of the level of IMS over both: process and product IC. Originality/value This is one of the first studies on empirically finding evidence of the impact of the level of IMS on process and product IC, and of the moderating effect of performing OI activities in order to achieve higher process and product IC through the IMS.

The impact of open innovation on innovation performance: the case of Spanish agri-food firms

Abstract: This chapter examines the level of innovation and the degree of openness of Spanish agri-food firms and how the firms’ openness affects their innovation performance. With a sample of Spanish agri-food firms and using three dimensions of openness: breadth and depth of information sources, breadth of co-operation agreements and external R&D expenditures, we find a positive effect for breadth and co-operation agreement breadth for achieving radical innovations, but they do not affect incremental innovations. Incremental innovations seem not to be affected by the firms’ openness, rather, they depend on firms’ internal capability. External information depth and external R&D do not enhance any type of innovation. For the rest of Spanish firms we observed that the level of openness affects both incremental and radical innovation achievement.

Are the BRIC countries overtaking intermediate countries in the race for international R&D? The case of Spain

ABSTRACT The emergence of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) as international locations for foreign direct investment in R&D is a sign that multinationals are relocating their technological activities to new territories. This trend may weaken the supremacy of the developed countries until now considered leaders in innovation, and may mean the loss of the competitive advantages enjoyed by the countries considered intermediate innovators. This paper examines the situation of Spain as a typical intermediate economy and compares it to its main competitors among the BRICs. Based on eight case studies of subsidiaries with R&D centres in Spain, we conclude that the policies adopted by certain emerging economies to develop their national innovation systems are proving effective and that these countries now pose a threat to intermediate economies. However, the BRICs still lag behind in terms of the security of their institutional framework; this situation leaves intermediate countries in an advantageous position.

Definition, sampling and results in business angels’ research: toward a consensus

Purpose The lack of a standard definition and data sources makes it hard to compare findings and advance our knowledge in the business angel’s domain. The purpose of this paper is to tackle this problem by presenting a proposal of a potential definition of business angels that it based on ten issues identified in 30 years of business angels’ research. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews 24 studies on business angels and classifies definition inconsistencies found in ten different issues. Those differences are compared with methodological choices on sampling and with subsequent results. Findings The authors observe a connection between definitional and sampling choices, and the results obtained. Inconsistent definitions can lead to results that are more than 400 times higher in terms of investment per project, for example. Research limitations/implications The authors believe that the main implication of proposing a standard definition of business angles could help the academia in decreasing the great observed diversity which is actually leading to inconsistent and incomparable results that limit our understanding of this phenomenon. Originality/value This paper differs from previous studies as it tackles the problem by identifying the definitional issues and presents a framework in order to build a consensus definition, rather than just comparing definitions.