Matteo Lucchese

Access to finance for innovation: the role of venture capital and the stock market

Financial constraints for young and small firms can prevent them from contributing to innovation and the creation of new jobs. The paper analyzes two of the several institutional mechanisms implemented to overcome that hurdle: the development of the venture capital market and access to the stock market. The analysis is based on the information provided by two of the scoreboards used to monitor innovative activity in Europe: the IUS (Innovation Union Scoreboard) and the RD in the second case, the analysis indicated that unlisted SMEs are more research intensive.

Una politica industriale e tecnologica per l'Italia ∗

The crisis started in 2008 has accelerated the decline of Italy’s industry. An analysis of the current tools used in Italy’s industrial and innovation policy shows that they are not able to support a revival of production and investment in Italy and to reduce Italy’s gap in technological activities. A strong recovery depends on the development of a more ambitious industrial policy plan, combining Italian and European initiatives.

The Virtuous Circle of Innovation in Italian Firms (El Círulo Virtuoso De La Innovación En Las Empresas Italianas)

English Abstract: The “virtuous circle” between innovative inputs, outputs and economic performance is investigated in this article with a three equation model highlighting feedback loops and simultaneous relations. An empirical test is carried out considering innovative expenditure, innovative turnover and economic results in a sample of Italian manufacturing firms which are ‘serial innovators’. We use data for the period 2000-2008 from a rich panel of Italian firms over 50 employees drawn from ISTAT, the National Institute of Statistics, including data from three waves of Community Innovation Surveys. The model we use extends the one developed at the industry level by Bogliacino and Pianta (2013a, 2013b), confirming previous findings. For the – rather limited – core of Italian persistent innovators, results show the complex links at play, the lags in the effects of innovative efforts, and the feedbacks between economic success and the ability to sustain innovation expenditure. Spanish Abstract: El circulo virtuoso entre esfuerzo y resultado innovador, y desempeno economico es investigado en este articulo con un modelo de tres ecuaciones donde se resaltan los bucles de realimentacion y las relaciones simultaneas. Un test empirico es llevado a cabo considerando el gasto en innovacion, el facturado de productos nuevos y los resultados economicos en una muestra de firmas manufactureras italianas, las cuales son “innovadores seriales”. Usamos datos del periodo 2000-2008 de un amplio panel de firmas italianas con mas de 50 empleados, extraidos del ISTAT, el Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas, incluyendo datos de tres Community Innovation Survey. El modelo que usamos es una extension de aquel desarrollado a nivel industrial por Bogliacino and Pianta (2013a, 2013b), confirmando los hallazgos previos. Para el –mas bien limitado – nucleo de innovadores persistentes italianos, los resultados muestran las conexiones complejas en juego, los rezagos en los efectos de los esfuerzos innovadores, y las realimentaciones entre el exito economico y la habilidad para sostener el gasto en innovacion.

Endogenous Skill Biased Technical Change: Testing for Demand Pull Effect (Sesgo Endógeno Del Cambio Técnico Hacia Las Calificaciones: Testeando El Efecto De Jalón De La Demanda)

English Abstract: In this article we use the unification of Germany in 1990 to test the hypothesis that an increase in the supply of a production factor generates skill biased technical change. We test for this mechanism in the context of the model presented by Acemoglu and Autor (2011) that allows endogenous assignment of skills to tasks in the economy. We use cohorts of workers from comparable countries as a control group. After discussing the possible confounding factors, we conclude that this effect is absent. The differential pattern among the countries seems to be determined by labor market flexibilization and tax reform.Spanish Abstract: En este articulo usamos la unificacion de Alemania en 1990 para probar la hipotesis de que un incremento en la oferta de un factor de produccion genera cambio tecnico sesgado hacia el trabajo calificado. Probamos este mecanismo en el contexto del modelo presentado por Acemoglu y Autor (2011) que contempla la asignacion endogena entre calificaciones y tareas dentro de la economia. Utilizamos cohortes de trabajadores de paises comparables como grupo de control. Despues de discutir los posibles factores de confusion, se concluye que este efecto esta ausente. El patron diferencial entre los paises parece estar determinada por la flexibilizacion del mercado laboral y la reforma fiscal.