Patterns of international R&D cooperation for new product development: the Olivetti multimedia product

Abstract
The aim of the paper is to identify a number of different patterns of international R&D cooperation during the initial phases of the product development process. This is a case-study of new product development based on the work of the Olivetti Multimedia Laboratory in Pisa, how it set up its own pattern of multinational collaboration in the idea generation and pre-competitive phase; how, in turn, this collaboration led to new R&D collaboration agreements to satisfy specific problem-solving requirements connected with the confirmation of a dominant design, though limited to a certain extent by previous agreements between Olivetti and other firms; the role played by marketing in the choice of alternative solutions. Finally, in the product implementation phase, the emergence of a defined technological paradigm leads to a highly competitive environment, where R&D collaboration is increasingly directed towards multifunctional requirements (R&D, manufacturing, marketing) within a strategic network of alliances that involves large sized companies, start-up firms, industrial and university research units.     

Success in Place Branding: The Case of the Tourism Victoria Jigsaw Campaign

This article addresses issues of complexity in place branding by presenting a perspective of this concept from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective. The discussion addresses a gap in the literature in terms of studying long-term, successful place branding cases within a well-defined academic theoretical framework. The aim of this study is to develop the understanding of how a successful destination operates by applying S.K. Rainisto’s model as a framework from which to understand place branding through the use of an exemplary case study, namely the Tourism Victoria Jigsaw Campaign.     

Determinants of spatial knowledge spillovers in Italian provinces

Statistical evidence suggests that the relevance of knowledge spillovers has increased over time. In this paper we focus on regional knowledge spillovers and adopt a new econometric transformation that allows inference on potential inter-regional knowledge spillovers, accounting for spatial interdependencies.Determinants of inter-regional knowledge spillovers are explained with a sample of 103 Italian provinces. We find that a region’s absorptive capacity, measured by local R&D expenditure and social capital, implies a reduction of outward knowledge spillovers.Identification is based on the use of Two Stages Least Squares and Fixed Effects estimates.     

Northern and southern Italian social cooperatives during the economic crisis: a multiple factor analysis

A multiple factor analysis is developed to assess the differences in the economic performance and employment levels of social cooperatives in three main geographical areas: North, Central and South Italy, between 2008 and 2011. The results showed that despite the global economic and financial meltdown, the social cooperatives in these areas increased their overall turnover and total assets between 2008 and 2011. Furthermore, the employment data showed a positive trend during this period. The analysis also found that the prolonged crisis in 2010 and 2011 affected mainly the southern regions, where conjunctural factors exacerbated long-term structural deficiencies.     

Comparing Tax and Tax Reallocation Payments in Financing Rail Noise Abatement Programmes: Results from a Stated Choice Valuation Study in Italy

The paper examines the use of stated choice experiments (SC) to assess the economic value of alternative rail noise reduction interventions on the Brennero railway in Italy. The paper formally tests the econometric robustness of the SC estimates under three payment regimes: (a) a regional tax, where consumers must trade off welfare gains due to noise reduction for part of their income; (b) a transport tax reallocation scheme, where consumers must trade off a part of the tax payments that are currently spent on the public transport sector; and (c) an administration tax reallocation scheme, where consumers must trade off a part of the tax payments that are currently spent on the administration sector. The test results are varied. On the one hand, the SC estimates are found to be statistically different for the tax reallocation and the tax introduction regimes. This confirms previous valuation research results, and thus reiterates the hypothesis that states the inequality between marginal values of private income and public money. On the other hand, the SC estimates are not found to be statistically different for the two proposed tax reallocation regimes, suggesting that, in the case study investigated here, the marginal value of public money does not depend upon the budget source.     

The Concurrent Impact of Cultural,Political, and Spatial Distances on International Mergers and Acquisitions

This paper explores the concurrent effects of cultural, political, and spatial distances on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) flows occurring between any two countries belonging to the whole European Union (27 States) or to the European Neighbours group (16 States) over the period 2000–11. In the econometric analysis, based on zero‐inflated models, we simultaneously estimate the probability of engaging in a cross‐border M&A and the intensity of the deals. This allows us to adequately model the two different mechanisms which may result in the absence of deals in the cross‐border bilateral M&A transactions. The absence of deals may be due to either the lack of any transactions or unsuccessful negotiations. Taking into account the effect of population, gross domestic product, technological capital, financial conditions and quality of the institutions, we find robust evidence that the multi‐dimensional distance between two countries negatively affects both the probability and the intensity of M&A deals.     

Workforce Composition and Innovation: How Diversity in Employees’ Ethnic and Educational Backgrounds Facilitates Firm‐Level Innovativeness

This article studies how workforce composition is related to a firm's success in introducing radical innovations. Previous studies have argued that teams composed of individuals with diverse backgrounds are able to perform more information processing and make deeper use of the information, which is important to accomplish complex tasks. We suggest that this argument can be extended to the level of the aggregate workforce of high‐technology firms. In particular, we argue that ethnic and higher education diversity within the workforce is associated with superior performance in radical innovation. Using a sample of 3,888 Swedish firms, this article demonstrates that having greater workforce diversity in terms of both ethnic background and educational disciplinary background is positively correlated to the share of a firm's turnover generated by radical innovation. Having more external collaborations does, however, seem to reduce the importance of educational background diversity. The impact of ethnic diversity is not affected by external collaboration. These findings hold after using alternative measures of dependent and independent variables, alternative sample sizes, and alternative estimation techniques. The research findings presented in this article would seem to have immediate and important practical implications. They would suggest that companies may pursue recruitment policies inspired by greater ethnic and disciplinary diversity as a way to boost the innovativeness of the organization. From a managerial perspective, it may be concluded that workforce disciplinary diversity could be potentially replaced by more external links, while ethnic diversity could not.