Mercedes Gumbau Albert

Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional performance: application for the Spanish regions

AbstractThe aim of this study is to test the importance of entrepreneurship or new business formation for explaining differences in economic performance in the Spanish regions, together with the role played by the endowments of innovation capital and the socio-economic capabilities of every region. The results show that the effect of new business formation on economic performance varies considerably between regions, and the type of start-up is highly important for the results obtained: entrepreneur endowments of high technology intensive sectors and medium technology intensive sectors, but not those of low technology intensive sectors, have a positive effect on regional performance. Also, the size of the start-ups is important for explaining regional development.Abstract The aim of this study is to test the importance of entrepreneurship or new business formation for explaining differences in economic performance in the Spanish regions, together with the role played by the endowments of innovation capital and the socio-economic capabilities of every region. The results show that the effect of new business formation on economic performance varies considerably between regions, and the type of start-up is highly important for the results obtained: entrepreneur endowments of high technology intensive sectors and medium technology intensive sectors, but not those of low technology intensive sectors, have a positive effect on regional performance. Also, the size of the start-ups is important for explaining regional development.

Simultaneity between strategic variables: Production, innovation, and product differentiation

This paper aims to analyze the existence of simultaneous effects among the variables production, product differentiation, and innovation. Microeconomic data from a sample of 2,160 firms are used as a base. Empirical results show that a positive correlation exists from innovation to product differentiation, thus showing that it is in the process of production itself, through technical improvements, where product differentiation is determined. On the other hand, no positive effect exists from product differentiation to innovation, i.e., once technical improvements have been established, firms exchange the barriers to entry created by brand image for the real barriers established by innovation itself. Lastly, the importance of the firm size in explaining the other endogenous variables analyzed is confirmed.

Clickers y Exámenes Tipo Test, Herramientas Interactivas de Evaluación Contínua

En este articulo se presenta la herramienta clickers, un dispositivo pedagogico basado en un sistema de votacion electronica que tiene como objetivo fomentar la interaccion, el debate y el dinamismo en la audiencia. Entre sus principales ventajas, con respecto a otros recursos educativos existentes, puede destacarse su sencillez, variedad de uso y facilidad de implementacion en presentaciones de PowerPoint®. En este trabajo se presenta el uso del sistema clicker para realizar examenes tipo test de evaluacion continua a las alumnas y los alumnos. Esta herramienta facilita la optimizacion del tiempo, permite que el alumnado obtenga evaluacion inmediata de sus respuestas y posibilita el contraste de su conocimiento individual con el del resto de la clase. Asimismo, a lo largo de este trabajo se evalua la rapidez y fiabilidad de los dispositivos, las distintas opciones de integracion en el proceso de evaluacion continua de la asignatura y el efecto que tiene sobre los estudiantes la incorporacion de dicha metodologia. Como resultado, se observa un incentivo al estudio de las personas que obtienen peor evaluacion y una motivacion adicional para las que alcanzan las mejores notas.