Federica Rossi
Birkbeck College, University of London, Management, Faculty Member
In parallel with the interest in networks of innovation on the part of the academic literature, policymakers are increasingly recognizing the important systemic nature of innovation processes, involving many agents often engaged in... more
In parallel with the interest in networks of innovation on the part of the academic literature, policymakers are increasingly recognizing the important systemic nature of innovation processes, involving many agents often engaged in networks of
This chapter discusses how to appropriately measure the effectiveness of knowledge transfer from university to industry. It shows that the assessment systems implemented in several countries (UK, US, Canada, Australia and Europe) adopt... more
This chapter discusses how to appropriately measure the effectiveness of knowledge transfer from university to industry. It shows that the assessment systems implemented in several countries (UK, US, Canada, Australia and Europe) adopt rather narrow views of what constitute relevant knowledge transfer activities and their impacts, leading to the selection of partial indicators that might not allow all institutions to represent their knowledge transfer performance accurately. We derive some implications for the measurement of universities’ performance and for the assessment of policies in support of knowledge production and transfer more generally.
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We investigate the determinants of industry researchers’ interactions with universities in different localities, distinguishing between local and international universities. We analyze the extent to which local and international... more
We investigate the determinants of industry researchers’ interactions with universities in different localities, distinguishing between local and international universities. We analyze the extent to which local and international interactions are enabled by different types of individual personal networks (education, career based), and by their access to different business networks through their employer companies (local vs. domestic or international multinational company networks). We control for selection bias and numerous other individual and firm-level factors identified in the literature as important determinants of interaction with universities. Our findings suggest that industry researchers’ personal networks play a greater role in promoting interactions with local universities (i.e. in the same region, and other regions in the same country) while researcher employment in a multinational is especially important for establishing interaction with universities abroad.
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This paper discusses how to appropriately monitor and assess the performance of universities' knowledge transfer activities. We argue that different knowledge transfer activities, based on different models of how knowledge flows from... more
This paper discusses how to appropriately monitor and assess the performance of universities' knowledge transfer activities. We argue that different knowledge transfer activities, based on different models of how knowledge flows from university to industry, require different indicators for monitoring. We then compare, in light of these different models, four monitoring exercises currently implemented in the UK, US and Canada, Australia and Europe. We derive some specific implications for the measurement of universities' performance as well as some more general implications for the assessment of policies in support of knowledge production and transfer.
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Using data from the United Kingdom, we analyse the relative efficiency with which university institutions engage in knowledge transfer activities, and study the institutional and environmental factors that influence their efficiency.... more
Using data from the United Kingdom, we analyse the relative efficiency with which university institutions engage in knowledge transfer activities, and study the institutional and environmental factors that influence their efficiency. While most current studies limit their focus to intellectual property disclosures, we focus on a broad range of knowledge transfer outputs that include also research and consultancy contracts, professional training courses, and public engagements.
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We investigate whether – and how – small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are able to capitalise on their engagement with academics in order to explore new opportunities beyond the achievement of the immediate objectives of their... more
We investigate whether – and how – small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are able to capitalise on their engagement with academics in order to explore new opportunities beyond the achievement of the immediate objectives of their collaboration. Using empirical evidence drawn from academic–SME collaborations supported by the Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme in the United Kingdom, we find that for many SMEs, engagement with academics has led to new business opportunities, including new market creation, new project engagement, new venture creation and new strategic network development. The exploration of new business opportunities is facilitated when three overarching factors are present: (1) a capable boundary spanner, who creates bridges within the SME and between the SME and the university, and gains an in-depth knowledge of the collaboration’s content; (2) a committed SME leadership willing to allocate resources and permissions to the collaboration, and encouraging an op...
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Research Interests: Business and Evaluation
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The reflections that have driven the research work proposed in this volume take the moves from theoretical questions that are intertwined in an intense confrontation with regional administrators, managers of service centers, researchers... more
The reflections that have driven the research work proposed in this volume take the moves from theoretical questions that are intertwined in an intense confrontation with regional administrators, managers of service centers, researchers working on issues of technology transfer and innovation. The analytical work has allowed us to identify the conditions for fostering generative relationships and scaffolding structure (support structures) effective in supporting innovation processes in systems of small and medium enterprises. A coherent set of policies for innovation must address issues arising at different time scales and at different levels of political and social organization (municipalities, regions, individual countries to the European Union) and must be able to identify, for each level, the agents on which a lever to stimulate and support innovation. What tools do we have to identify these agents, and to monitor and evaluate the processes of innovation and not only innovations and their effects? In the essays in this volume innovation is seen as a social process characterized by interactions among heterogeneous agents. Interactions involving many aspects (cognitive, social, technological, economic and political) that develop over weeks, or sometimes for decades, and which take place in many locations (from universities to industrial research centers both public and private, from regulatory agencies to trade associations, professional orders, to the organization of the markets). Each interaction process, in each of these locations, it can create "bottlenecks" that prevent the creation or the emergence of innovations. If we consider the interaction a key element of the innovation process, then we need to explore in more depth what are the relevant ones and in what contexts (think of the system of education and training, the university system, the public research system and that of private research, financial institutions, under the conditions laid down by law governing exchanges between the actors and intellectual property). We must also ask what types of organizations, and under what activities are involved in the process innovative. Where interactions between agents are not generating desired results in terms of innovation, such tools can change the structure of the interactions? With reference to the systems of small and medium enterprises, the contributions collected in the volume identify some answers to these questions and deepen the analysis of their implications for innovation policy. Two axes of reasoning will guide the reading: the theories of innovation, in the first part of the volume, reflections on policies to support innovation, in the second part.
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In the knowledge-based economy, innovation is a key driver of firm creation, employment generation and, more broadly, economic growth. New business ventures and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in supporting... more
In the knowledge-based economy, innovation is a key driver of firm creation, employment generation and, more broadly, economic growth. New business ventures and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in supporting innovation and its ...
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With the growing importance of innovation intermediaries , particularly in the policy context, a need has emerged for appropriate instruments to evaluate their performance. The identification of appropriate performance indicators,... more
With the growing importance of innovation intermediaries , particularly in the policy context, a need has emerged for appropriate instruments to evaluate their performance. The identification of appropriate performance indicators, however, has proved to be problematic. First, indicators are likely to influence the behavior of innovation intermediaries, not always in a desirable manner. Second, commonly used indicators focus on the immediate results achieved by the intermediaries, often disregarding the permanent behavioral changes that they can stimulate in their innovation system. Instead , we argue that the latter are particularly important for the evaluation of innovation intermediaries , whose success should be measured in terms of their ability to enable other organizations to improve their innovation capabilities. By focusing on an innovation policy intervention implemented by the Italian region of Tuscany in the period 2007-2013, we discuss the advantages and limitations of t...
Abstract This article examines a sample of German pharmaceutical firms to highlight the strategic reasons why firms participate in various intellectual property (IP) marketplaces, both proprietary (patents and copyrights) and... more
Abstract This article examines a sample of German pharmaceutical firms to highlight the strategic reasons why firms participate in various intellectual property (IP) marketplaces, both proprietary (patents and copyrights) and non-proprietary (open source and non-...
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The key role of interactions in order to understand the dynamics of economic systems is increasingly appreciated. Interactions among agents are at the origin of the endogenous change of both preferences and technologies (Lane, 1993; Lane... more
The key role of interactions in order to understand the dynamics of economic systems is increasingly appreciated. Interactions among agents are at the origin of the endogenous change of both preferences and technologies (Lane, 1993; Lane and Maxfield, 2005; ...
11 Universityindustry interactions: the unresolved puzzle Isabel Maria Bodas Freitas, Aldo Geuna and Federica Rossi 1. INTRODUCTION Theoretical advances in the economics of knowledge and innovation since the 1980s con-ceptualize... more
11 Universityindustry interactions: the unresolved puzzle Isabel Maria Bodas Freitas, Aldo Geuna and Federica Rossi 1. INTRODUCTION Theoretical advances in the economics of knowledge and innovation since the 1980s con-ceptualize knowledge as partly tacit, sticky, context-...
The article explores whether, and to what extent, several trends that have taken place in most higher education systems in the last few decades – such as massification, privatization, increased competition for students and for research... more
The article explores whether, and to what extent, several trends that have taken place in most higher education systems in the last few decades – such as massification, privatization, increased competition for students and for research funds – stimulate more diversity between institutions. This question is widely debated, both empirically and theoretically. Using Italian data, the dynamics of organizational diversity
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Page 1. 1 Dalle competenze individuali alle reti di competenze un percorso teorico A cura di Federica Rossi Page 2. 2 Abstract ... Tanto è vero che the process of formalizing all knowledge to the exclusion of any tacit knowing is... more
Page 1. 1 Dalle competenze individuali alle reti di competenze un percorso teorico A cura di Federica Rossi Page 2. 2 Abstract ... Tanto è vero che the process of formalizing all knowledge to the exclusion of any tacit knowing is self-defeating1. ...