Academic spin-offs at different ages: A case study in search of key obstacles to growth

Support to enhance early growth of academic spin-off firms is at the core of many economic policies. Efficiency of this support has been recently questioned due to slow growth of spin-off firms in various European countries. However, despite many studies to improve support, there is virtually no empirical insight into resistance of obstacles that constrain growth over time and how this differs between distinct types of spin-offs. This article explores the incidence and nature of obstacles to growth in a cross-section and longitudinal approach, and uses Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) as a case study. We find evidence that (1) the overall ability to overcome obstacles decreases at the age of four, most probably reflecting the rise of the so-called credibility juncture, and that (2) highly innovative spin-offs start with an accumulation of obstacles but move relatively quickly to sustainable growth. The paper concludes with recommendations for the design of new (renewed) incubation policies and for further research.     

Impact of Exchange Rate Uncertainty on Trade Flows: Evidence from Commodity Trade between the United States and the United Kingdom

Previous studies that investigated the impact of exchange rate volatility on the trade flows employed aggregate trade data and standard estimation techniques. They provided mixed results. In this paper we use disaggregated import and export data for 177 commodities traded between the United States and the United Kingdom to investigate whether volatility of the real bilateral dollar–pound exchange rate has any detrimental effect on trade flows at the commodity level. Additionally, we employ the bounds testing approach to cointegration and error‐correction modelling that is suitable for the models used mostly because it does not require pre‐unit‐root testing and variables in the model could be stationary, non‐stationary or a combination of the two. In most trade flow models estimated, we found a negative effect of exchange rate volatility on commodity trade.     

Dimensions of Luxury Brand Personality: Scale Development and Validation

Both the marketing industry and academia have been paying more attention to the growth and potential of the luxury market. This research developed a theoretical framework for understanding the dimensions of luxury brand personality and a reliable and valid scale that measures these dimensions. When 30 luxury brands, ranging from fashion to automobile and retail, were assessed on a set of diverse personality attributes, six dimensions representing luxury brand personality were identified: Excitement, Sincerity, Sophistication, Professionalism, Attractiveness, and Materialism. Findings indicate that while three dimensions, Sincerity, Excitement, and Sophistication, share similar qualities with those identified in Aaker's (1997) scale for general brand personality, the other three dimensions, Professionalism, Attractiveness, and Materialism, reflect meanings unique and specific to luxury brands. Altogether, the results of this research hold the notion that luxury brands serving as consumption symbols provide both utilitarian benefits and symbolic meanings to contemporary consumers.     

The evolution of US outward foreign direct investment in the pacific rim: a cross-time and country analysis

The location determinants of US FDI in the Pacific region of the OECD, i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Korea, are analysed for 1982–1997. The data set allowed two time periods i.e. the 1980s and the 1990s, and two different subgroups, i.e. Australia and New Zealand, and Japan and Korea to be distinguished. Statistical evidence indicates a heterogeneous response of US FDI towards different countries and for different time periods. Factors such as market size, income level and qualified and productive labour exert a significant impact on both the timing and the locational choice of US investors in the region.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Aesthetic Design as an Element of New Service Development and Performance*

The purpose of this research is to investigate the conditions under which the use of aesthetic design as an element of new service development is likely to improve performance—more specifically, to empirically examine how aesthetic design can contribute to competitive advantage, resistance to imitation, and profitability, and how these contributions are moderated by the process of commoditization. Based on analysis of three rounds of longitudinal data collected one year apart in a population of new technology‐based firms, the findings are that aesthetic design as an element of new service development can contribute positively to competitive advantage, resistance to imitation, and profitability, but that the effectiveness of using aesthetic design to achieve these outcomes differs depending on the level of commoditization. Positive relationships are found between the use of aesthetic design and competitive advantage and profitability, respectively, when the level of commoditization is high. Furthermore, the positive relationship between aesthetic design and resistance to service imitation is stronger when the relative importance of aesthetic design in a firms' sector is low, that is, conditions under which aesthetic design is not already expected. This research suggests that practitioners should consider using aesthetic design to counteract commoditization when the markets in which they compete are characterized by ready access to services that meet customers' needs and expectations for features, performance, and reliability, and expectations for aesthetic design have not already become established. Furthermore, they should be aware that the use of aesthetic design may turn into a baseline customer requirement, implying that while attention to aesthetic design is necessary to compete it may cease to constitute a potential source of competitive advantage.     

Experience and Confidence in an Internet‐Based Asset Market Experiment

The experience effect in asset markets is one that was thought to be settled. As subjects gained experience with the interface and each other, they typically exhibit fewer instances of mispricing and at lower magnitudes. But questions regarding trading experience are not easy to address in the lab with the typical subject pool since the kind of experience one can typically generate in the lab is experience with the experimental environment itself—not with external environments. However, in virtual worlds asset markets are highly evolved, providing a subject pool with skilled and experienced traders that can be accessed via the Internet. This study compares experimental asset markets with participants recruited from virtual world trading groups to experimental markets with participants recruited from the virtual world at large. I further examine trader performance and trading behavior within markets. The findings indicate that asset markets with virtual world participants recruited from trading groups are more prone to exhibit bubbles than are markets with virtual world participants recruited at large. Within condition, experienced traders are less likely to follow fundamentals and more likely to engage in strategies that result in loss of earnings. Excess confidence is rejected as an explanation for this pattern, as confidence is found to be related to higher earnings and fundamental value trading strategies.     

Deciding on large scale investments

This study analyses the importance of investment factors across investment sizes and the frequency of large investment decisions within the firms. We use data from 1442 investment decisions made by 226 Brazilian firms between 1997 and 2010. The results indicate that the influence of investment factors is different for investments of different sizes. The results also indicate that the increase in the frequency of large-scale investment decisions made by the firm influences especially the role of cash flow, diminishing its importance as an investment factor. This result allows one to argue that, probably, firms more experienced in large-scale decisions could be bolder in their decision-making process, relying less on the accumulation of funds through cash flow.     

A Multi‐Dimensional Framework of Organizational Innovation: A Systematic Review of the Literature

This paper consolidates the state of academic research on innovation. Based on a systematic review of literature published over the past 27 years, we synthesize various research perspectives into a comprehensive multi‐dimensional framework of organizational innovation – linking leadership, innovation as a process, and innovation as an outcome. We also suggest measures of determinants of organizational innovation and present implications for both research and managerial practice.