Mariagrazia Squicciarini

R&D (Re)Location and Offshore Outsourcing: A Management Perspective

The paper reviews and systematizes the management literature directly and indirectly related to (re)location of research and development (R&D), in the form of both insourcing and outsourcing. The focus in particular is on R&D offshore outsourcing and its main drivers, including locational constraints and opportunities, motives, strategic decisions and managerial challenges. The analysis synthesizes and links the main propositions and findings of the theoretical and empirical work to build an original management and strategy centred framework which looks at R&D (re)location from a client–vendor perspective. In this case, the client is the offshoring company, and the vendors are the firms located in the host country. The characteristics of the firms and locations considered vis‐a‐vis the offshoring firms goals are examined, the strategies implemented, the management and organizational challenges that R&D offshore outsourcing entails, and the ways in which offshoring impacts on both home and host locations are investigated.

A value chain statistical definition of construction and the performance of the sector

Existing statistical analyses often fail to capture the true scope of the economic impact of the construction sector. They account for the construction of buildings, civil engineering, and construction specialized activities, as defined by Section F of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities (or NACE) used in the European Community, but overlook related activities such as the manufacture of construction products and architectural and engineering services. This shortcoming is addressed and a wider definition of the construction sector is proposed that encompasses the whole value chain of the industry. Going beyond the ‘core’ construction sector section (Section F), activities from other NACE sectors that fully or principally depend upon or are functional to core construction activities are considered. These ‘non-core’ classes relate to ‘pre-production’ activities, such as the provision of intermediate goods and services; various ‘support’ activities and ‘post-production’ functions such as maintenance and management services. Equivalent broad definitions of the construction sector based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) are also developed to allow for optimum comparisons across countries and over time. Using detailed data from Finland and the Community Innovation Survey 4 (CIS4), core and non-core activities are characterized and quantified. Evidence suggests that indicators measuring the composition, structure, value added, skills, and R&D input and output of the construction sector change substantially when a broader definition of the sector is applied. Policies targeting the ‘wide’ construction sector, and exploiting the innovation, growth and productivity leverage potential of non-core activities are thus advocated.

Universities’ trademark patterns and possible determinants

Academic institutions may register trademarks (TMs) to protect and exploit key intangible assets (e.g. reputation), to better market current and prospective initiatives, and to better appropriate the output of innovative activities. TM registration by academic institutions – so far overlooked by the literature addressing the third function of universities – is investigated here. The analysis relies on a novel panel data set containing information about US universities, their main characteristics, and their TM and patent activities over the period 1997–2007. Our contribution is exploratory in nature and descriptive in aim and uncovers a number of relationships worth being investigated further, among them are the persistence of Intellectual Property Rights activities by academic institutions and the existence of positive and significant relationships between TM registration and universities’ characteristics such as being private institutions, the number of students enrolled and the share of graduate students, the share of federal funds received, and the presence of medical schools.

World Top R&D Investors: Industrial Property Strategies in the Digital Economy

The speed, scale and scope of the digital transformation and the widespread use of digital technologies in most aspects of our daily lives are changing the way we work, innovate, produce, interact and live. Knowledge flows almost instantaneously and digitalised information can be infinitely replicated, making the exploitation of knowledge a key factor for competitiveness. At the same time, changes at the local level may have global implications and innovation ecosystems become more and more global. These dynamics challenge policy making, and call for understanding the drivers of change, detecting trends in a timely fashion, and acting in a coordinated manner. The internet of things, digital manufacturing and 3D printing, industry 4.0 and big data are all components and drivers of the digital transformation, but the ways in which this new technological revolution will transform industries, countries and societies remain difficult to fully anticipate. As we become increasingly aware of the opportunities and the challenges of the digital economy, we also need to better understand how these technologies are forged and to identify the key players in such changes. The original data and statistics on the innovation output of the worlds top corporate R&D investors presented in this report and its focus on digital technologies represent an important step towards this direction. It results from a long-term collaboration between the European Commissions Joint Research Centre and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and their joint efforts to provide up-to-date comparable data and state-of-the-art indicators and analysis. This report is directed at a number of stakeholders, including policy makers, industry representatives, practitioners and the scientific community. By exploiting information on patents, trademarks and designs, this work sheds light on the top R&D investors worldwide in the digital economy, their innovative and creative activities and their branding strategies. It is accompanied by a publicly available database that can be used for further analysis in support of evidence-based policy making.