Clean and productive? Empirical evidence from the German manufacturing industry

In view of the controversial policy debate on “green” growth and corresponding stimulus packages we empirically investigate the production effects of environmental investment as well as of environmental and energy expenditures. Using a panel dataset of German manufacturing sectors our econometric analysis identifies a positive impact of environmental investment on production growth. In contrast, our estimation results cannot support the hypothesis of positive production impacts induced by environmental or energy expenditures. We thus conclude that environmental regulation should in particular stimulate environmental investment in order to be compatible with the pursuit of production growth.     

Towards privatized social and employment protections in the platform economy? Evidence from the UK courier sector

Platform capitalism has facilitated the widespread replacement of employment contracts with contracts for services. These offer significantly fewer social and employment protections for the independent contractors engaged. What does this mean for the future of national social and employment protection (SEPs) systems? We show how the question of platform workers’ employment status – and therefore access to SEPs – remain unresolved under UK law. Drawing on socio-legal theory, we demonstrate why digital labor platforms represent a challenge to existing modes of employment law and labor market regulation. In the absence of immediate legal ‘fixes’, some unions and firms are innovating new ‘privatized social protection systems’. A ‘Self-Employed Plus’ (SE+) agreement in the UK parcel courier sector developed between Hermes, a UK-based courier service, and the GMB union represents an important example of such attempts being made to bridge the current regulatory void. We critically analyze the agreement and draw lessons for platform governance theory. We demonstrate that privatized SE+ provisions potentially offer significant benefits for platforms by reducing regulatory oversight, boosting productivity, and enhancing managerial control over platform complementors. At the same time, while they risk undermining national SEP systems and degrading worker protections, they also offer a window of opportunity for trade unions to gain a foothold in the platform economy.     

Is commercialization good or bad for science? Individual-level evidence from the Max Planck Society

Based on new data, this paper studies the invention disclosure, licensing, and spin-off activities of Max Planck Institute directors over the time period 1985-2004, analyzing their effects on the scientists’ subsequent publication and citation records. Consistent with prior findings, inventing does not adversely affect research output. Mixed results are obtained with regard to commercialization activities. The analysis suggests qualifications to earlier explanations of positive relationships between inventing and publishing.     

Does the merger of universities promote their scientific research performance? Evidence from China

University mergers fundamentally aim to enhance the level of higher education and scientific research performance through resource integration by “reorganization”. However, whether university mergers achieve the latter goal has been subject to controversy. With the help of the “quasi-experiment” of Chinese colleges and universities merged in the 1990s, this study determines the impact of university mergers on scientific research performance. Panel data of 431 colleges and universities from 1993 to 2013 in The compilation of scientific and technical statistics of Chinese higher education and difference in differences method are used. Results show that the merger of colleges and universities exert a significant negative impact on the scientific research performance due to excessive government interventions and difficulties in cultural integration. The merger effect is related to the number of university participants and degree of government intervention. Therefore, university mergers cannot effectively promote the level of scientific research, unable to bring economies of scale and rather lead to diseconomies of scale.     

Does policy influence the commercialization route? Evidence from National Institutes of Health funded scientists

The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical test of the commercialization route chosen by university scientists funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the NIH and how their chosen commercialization path is influenced by whether or not the university technology transfer office is involved. In particular, the paper identifies two routes for scientific commercialization. Scientists who select the TTO route by commercializing their research through assigning all patents to their university TTO account for 70% of NCI patenting scientists. Scientists who choose the backdoor route to commercialize their research, in that they do not assign patents to their university TTO, comprise 30% of patenting NCI scientists. The findings show a clear link between the commercialization mode and the commercialization route. Scientists choosing the backdoor route for commercialization, by not assigning patents to their university to commercialize research, tend to rely on the commercialization mode of starting a new firm. By contrast, scientists who select the TTO route by assigning their patents to the university tend to rely on the commercialization mode of licensing.     

Does spatial proximity to customers matter for innovative performance?: Evidence from the Dutch software sector

User-producer interactions are often assumed to be an important source of innovation. Spatial proximity between organisations would contribute to such interactive learning processes, because it facilitates face-to-face interactions required to exchange knowledge. However, both assumptions are increasingly debated. Therefore, we have empirically examined this using firm-level data on user-producer interactions of Dutch software firms. Indeed spatial proximity facilitates face-to-face interactions, but it does not strengthen the effect of face-to-face interactions on innovative performance. Moreover, regular interactions and collaboration with customers increase the likelihood that software firms bring new products to the market, but do not improve the firm's innovation output.