Assessing the needs of new technology based firms (NTBFs): An investigation among spin-off companies from six European Universities

New technology based firms (NTBFs) play a major role in the development and commercialisation of new technologies and the development of national economies. Using an entrepreneurship-in-networks approach, this paper examines the early stages of the development of these companies, i.e. from opportunity recognition through opportunity exploration. Case study data was collected on 22 NTBFs from six European universities. The findings highlight specific needs related to five functional areas of importance to NTBFs, namely: R&D, market development and sales, organisation and governance, finance and administration, and production/operation. These needs are reported for both the pre- and post-foundation phases and can thus be utilised by both entrepreneurs and support agencies to guide the development of NTBFs.     

R&D subsidies and export performance of manufacturing industries

One of the main purposes of government R&D subsidies is to give domestic enterprises a competitive edge in international trade of high technology products. The empirical evidence, however, is disappointing: cross-section regression approach for six industries and five countries yielded a negative impact of R&D subsidies on exports of research intensive goods. An analysis of the distribution of public funds suggests that this poor performance could at least partially be explained by the high concordance of national technology policies and the concentration of public funds on big science projects.     

Organized crime and business subsidies: Where does the money go?

Business support policies are widespread in advanced countries, to foster employment and productivity. This paper analyses the role of organized crime in the allocation of public subsidies to businesses. We assemble an innovative data set on the Italian mafia at municipality level and test whether mafia-ridden municipalities receive a disproportionally higher amount of funds. We exploit exogenous variation at municipality level to instrument mafia activity and show that the presence of organized crime positively affects the probability of obtaining funding and the amount of public funds. Organized crime is also found to lead to episodes of corruption in the public administration sector. A series of robustness checks confirms the above findings.     

The relation between key events in the development phase and the financial structure of NTBFs in the software sector

The study is based on a questionnaire survey of 117 Irish software firms. It finds no systematic relation between product lead time and acquisition of first external funds in new technology-based firms (NTBFs). Contrary to the stage model’s predictions, these firms are just as likely to secure finance in advance of producing their first product beta as they are to receive funds subsequently. Product lead times in this sector are short. Firms produced their first product beta in a median of 12 months and acquire their first external funds a median of 3 months later. The timing of these two events, however, is not significantly different. There is a significant difference in the mean time to receipt of consulting revenues and the development of first beta, suggesting that most software product companies use consulting revenues to fund product development.     

Absorptive capacity and the identification of opportunities in new technology-based firms

The purpose of this work is to investigate relationships between knowledge and opportunities in new ventures. More specifically, this work proposes and empirically tests how potential absorptive capacity is related with the identification of opportunities in new technology-based firms (NTBFs). To take into account the unique nature of NTBFs we divide potential absorptive capacity into problem absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability to identify and acquire knowledge of the goals, aspirations and needs of current and potential customers, and solution absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability to identify and acquire external knowledge of solutions to fulfill them. We develop three hypotheses, which predict that both problem absorptive capacity and solution absorptive capacity will be positively related with the identification of opportunities in NTBFs and that they will reinforce each other. The findings support the importance of making a distinction between the two proposed dimensions of potential absorptive capacity and shed light on their effectiveness and interaction for the identification of opportunities.     

Public policy recommendations for promoting female entrepreneurship in Europe

From 2021 onwards, female entrepreneurship is expected to grow very substantially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The introduction of teleworking and staggered hours in many countries at national or workplace level will make possible the conciliation between labour and family life. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most influential explanatory factors in the behaviour of female entrepreneurship in Europe so as to subsequently propose efficient economic policy measures to promote it. The distinction between opportunity and necessity female entrepreneurs have been considered since both motivation and factors are different in each case. 15 econometric models using the panel data method for a sample of 20 previously selected European countries (grouped by their GDP level) during the period 2001 to 2018 have been estimated to determine which explanatory factors affect female entrepreneurship and necessity-based female entrepreneurship. The empirical analysis used demonstrates that more women enter into entrepreneurship due to necessity rather than in pursuit of opportunity for European countries both with higher levels of GDP and for countries with lower levels of GDP. In this context, the following policy measures should be implemented to promote female entrepreneurship in Europe: the optimization of government spending (training courses and mentoring, public procurement, stronger networks, support in reconciling business and family life, etc.), the government incentives for subsidizing high interest rates to support women in accessing financing, and the improvement of entrepreneurship education to increase the confidence of women in themselves in their own entrepreneurial capabilities.

     

民营养老机构循环滚动创新发展的探讨

民营养老机构经过这几年的快速发展已经成为我国应对人口老龄化的主力军。目前,我国的民营养老机构面临着入住率低、微利或亏损经营的困境,究其原因,是由于行业效益产出和资金投入比低。民营养老机构通过在依托国家扶植政策,吸引公益性基金的资金投入,根据市场需求增加经营项目,科学高效管理等多个方面入手,循环滚动创新发展,不断壮大自己,探索出一条适合自身发展的道路。     

University spin-offs vs. other NTBFs: Total factor productivity differences at outset and evolution

Previous empirical research suggests that university spin-offs under-perform in economic terms compared to other new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in their early years. The usual explanations suggest a lower capabilities endowment of university spin-offs compared to other NTBFs. Using a longitudinal Spanish dataset we compare the evolution of firms′ total factor productivity (capabilities endowment) in both kinds of firm. Productivity grew faster in university spin-offs and their initial underperformance disappeared after 2 or 3 years of operation. The evidence therefore suggests that university spin-offs have lower initial substantive capabilities but greater dynamic capabilities than independent NTBFs. Possible explanations are discussed.     

应用VE原理,促进政府采购体制创新

实行政府采购的目的是为了满足社会公共需要,其运用公共性资金数额之大为其他采购主体所望尘莫及。因此,政府采购不仅作为提高公共支出效率、体现政府政策意图的有效手段,同时也是市场经济国家管理直接支出的基本手段,为世界各国政府所普遍重视。将价值工程(VE)原理运用于政府采购,即对设施、产品、服务或流程等对象进行功能和全寿命成本分析,以多学科团队工作方式和严谨的工作计划谋求创新的改进方案,可以增加政府采购项目的价值,提高政府采购效率。基于价值工程的政府采购管理,对政府采购中的采购计划与预算匹配、供应商管理、采购内容设置有着重要的指导意义。价值工程不仅是一种管理技术,更是一种管理思想。文中对价值工程思想在政府采购管理中的应用方法与步骤进行了探讨,分析了影响政府采购管理的几个因素,并提出了几项建议。     

国家审计功能与国家治理能力协同发展机制构建:理论逻辑与实践路径

国家审计功能和国家治理能力的关系可以通过构建协同发展机制来分析,协同发展机制包括二者内在的理论逻辑以及由此搭建的实践路径.不同国家的国家审计,其发展历程、审计范围以及审议重点等存在较大差异,可通过理论分析和各国审计发展历程分析,总结出国家审计功能发展的现实路径.对国家审计的需求和供给将决定国家审计功能的发展.各国治理治...     

A model for predicting determinants factors for NEETs rates: Support for the decision-makers

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determining factors of the high levels of NEETs both in EU member states and in partner countries, to support policy steering and increase socio-economic cohesion. The use of longitudinal data (2005–2020) from Eurostat and World Bank databases and selected and the testing of a number of 19 factors likely to influence the rate of NEETs show us that the effectiveness of public policy solutions focused on this category of population increases when complex factors and not singular elements are targeted. From a methodological point of view, we will use MARS models and fixed effects panel models. To account for countries’ heterogeneity, these models are applied to homogeneous groups of countries, identified through cluster analysis. Social cohesion and sustainability measures for policy steering have higher chances if the action of the responsible institutions targets both meso and macro levels, if it acts not only on a factor but also on the causes that favor its manifestation. Our analysis demonstrated that the measures aimed at increasing the chances of NEETs in order to facilitate their access to education, the labor market, and social inclusion must be coordinated with those of support for combating poverty and any type of exclusion, the support given to employers (subsidizing jobs, for example), the family and the community to which the young person belongs or local authorities. Also, the research results show us that there are more common elements between countries when we analyze the factors likely to increase the rate of NEETs than when we focus on their analysis by geographical criteria, based on EU membership status or EU partner status, etc.     

Creditor Rights,Country Governance,and Corporate Cash Holdings

This study examines the impact of creditor rights and country governance on cash holdings using a sample of firms from 47 countries. We hypothesize that cash holdings are smaller when both creditor rights and country governance are high. In these circumstances firms will not need to hold as much cash for future investments needs (precautionary funds) because firms will expect that funds will be available in the future. Our findings support our hypothesis and hold for alternative definitions for cash holdings, different country samples, different definitions of governance and concerns about endogeneity.     

What can we learn from Switzerland?

The collapse of Swissair will be a good litmus test for what is advanced here. Although it is too soon to tell at the time of writing (October 2001) it would be extremely uncharacteristic for the company to be rescued with public funds, despite its hugely symbolic nature as an erstwhile source of national pride.     

各国征信业发展模式和我国信用体系建设探析

各国征信行业的发展呈现不同的发展模式,代表性的主要有市场化模式、公共征信模式和会员制模式等,西方国家征信业发展较为成熟,归因于信用管理法规比较健全、民众信用意识强、市场经济发达,在借鉴国外征信业发展先进经验的基础上,我国信用体系的建设应采取适合我国国情的发展模式,逐步推进。     

探析高校基建工程超投资的原因及对策

在高校基本建设的过程中,工程投资预算是保证高校财务科学化管理的重要途径。由于国家财政计划在教育的投入政策规定,大部分的高校需要通过银行贷款获得工程建设的资金。这种情况下尤其需要工程投资的规范化、科学化管理,对工程投资进行严格的控制,将国家投入的资金、通过银行获取的贷款等切实用于高校教育事业的发展,提高工程投资的效益。本文在分析高校基建工程超投资原因的基础上,提出了高校基建工程投资控制的措施。     

区域协调发展战略背景下中国边境经济合作区发展研究

边境经济合作区作为边境地区拓展与周边国家经贸合作的主要窗口,对于促进边境地区民族团结与社会稳定具有重要意义。随着“一带一路”建设逐年取得突破性进展,沿边大通道建设快速推进,边境经济合作区再次站在了谋求跨越式发展的新起点。深化边境经济合作区建设,推动沿边地区经济发展,对于构建更加有效的区域协调发展新机制具有特殊的现实意义。在深入剖析中国国家级边境经济合作区的发展历程的基础上,对其政策支持、发展现状与特征进行梳理发现,深化边境经济合作区建设面临政策优势趋弱、发展空间受限、产业发展滞后、管理权限掣肘、建设资金不足等主要问题,应从强化政策支持力度,加快推进制度创新,深化双边协调机制,创新金融支撑体系进行改进。     

政务信息化与地方政府预算资金使用效率

近年来信息化技术快速发展,与政务活动紧密结合,为提升政府预算资金使用效率创造了新契机。本文选取2016—2019年我国地级市面板数据,使用DEA-Tobit两步法分析政务信息化对地方政府预算资金使用效率的影响及其作用机理。研究发现：较高的政务信息化水平有助于地方政府预算资金使用效率的提升,且在国家审计功能效应强或是信任环境好的地区,政务信息化对地方政府预算资金使用效率的提升作用更加明显。作用机制分析表明,政务信息化可以通过提升财政透明度和公众关注度进而提升地方政府预算资金使用效率。最后,本文就地方政府如何提升预算资金使用效率提出一些政策建议,以期为政府相关部门提供有益参考。     

The impact of national culture on systemic risk

We investigate the effects of national culture on systemic risk using a comprehensive dataset from global banks in 58 countries over the period 2003–2016. Our results reveal that systemic risk measures are associated with cultural values. In particular, our results show that individualism and masculinity are the main drivers of banks' contribution to systemic risk. In addition, the impact of cultural variables on the systemic risk measures is nonlinear. This variation may be driven by both information in the national cultural measures and the skewness of the systemic risk measures. The findings have implications for prudential policies: designing uniform prudential and regulatory policies in banking to avoid financial distress for countries with heterogeneous cultures might not have the desire impact; rather, they might be more effective if the type of culture in each individual country is considered.     

养老金制度及其改革——基于不同福利模式的分析

不同福利模式国家的养老金制度在建立之初就呈现出不同的特征,其发展路径也有所差异,但在结构、参数、管理体系方面的改革呈现出共同的规律。各国基本都建成了多支柱体系或多层次体系;普遍采取了提高费率、延长缴费年限和延迟退休、调整待遇等方式来进行参数改革;并对养老金管理机构采取了横向整合或纵向的集中化改革,建立了养老金投资监管机构。中国逐步建成了三层次养老金体系,并在个人账户、待遇计发等方面进行了参数调整,同时在统筹层级、征缴机构、投资管理体系方面进行了改革。中国养老金制度仍存在未实现全国统筹、结构失衡、基金可持续性差等问题,可借鉴国际经验,在结构、参数、管理机构等方面进行改革。     

谈政府集中采购模式下政府集中采购机构与招标代理中介机构的利与弊

政府采购就是指国家各级政府为从事日常的政务活动或为了满足公共服务的目的,利用国家财政性资金和政府借款购买货物、工程和服务的行为。我国的政府采购制度将采购行为划分为集中采购和分散采购。集中采购的代理行为是政府采购流程中的关键环节。