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Scientific papers and patents are reliable sources of knowledge carriers for measuring science and technology advances, predicting technological trends, and formulating technology strategies. Although the idea of entirely using the two knowledge carriers is rapidly emerging in academic discussion, a theoretical framing of the comparisons is still not present in literature. This study conducts bibliometrics on 2986 patent families and 4755 scientific papers related to silicon carbide metal–oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (SiC-MOSFET) to identify its technological trends and compare the similarities and differences in knowledge generation and diffusion in science and technology. Our methodological framework consists of a combination of geographic distribution (identifying the research developments and distribution), cooperation networks (analyzing organisation collaboration and individual research cooperation), noun phrase co-occurrence clusters (discovering hot research topics), and the global main path analyses of citation networks (tracking the trajectory of knowledge flows). Ultimately, our results contribute to recent bibliometric paradigms beyond discovering the role of scientific papers and patents in promoting science and technology integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge transfer is considered the efficient way to improve regional innovation, but relatively little is known about how the innovation efficiency of scientific and technological (S&T) talents is affected by knowledge transfer within institutional environment, particularly, limited studies carried out regional differentiation analysis. Using panel data from 30 provinces in China between 2005 and 2017, this article empirically tests the influence of the institutional environment on knowledge transfer and analyses its impact between knowledge transfer and innovation efficiency of S&T talents in China. The results show knowledge transfer can significantly improve both the scientific and the economic innovation efficiency of S&T talents. Moreover, the effects of knowledge transfer on the innovation efficiency of S&T talents in eastern, central and western China had heterogeneity. Formal and informal institutions play mediating roles between knowledge transfer and innovation efficiency of S&T talents. This study contributes to the literature by constructing an econometric model with identified variables to test the impact of knowledge transfer on the innovation efficiency of S&T talents in China, in addition, the equation about knowledge transfer was explored. The research findings are valuable to regional governments and policymakers; our empirical evidence helps to develop more efficient strategy and policy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies and discusses strategies for enhancing the efficiency of technology transferring from university to the industrial sector, concerning activities carried out by Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). The study answers two research questions: (i) What barriers hamper academic research transferring to industry? (ii) What are the inbound and outbound strategies for transferring academic research results to industry? Our findings show that the main barriers that hamper technology transfer are related to organisational, technical, human, and cultural factors comprising the academic and industrial environments. Regarding strategies, our findings reveal a comprehensive list of inbound and outbound strategies that might be implemented to cope with the ambidextrous nature of the TTOs and increase technology transfer. Finally, we discuss our findings and the relationship between the main barriers and the boundary-spanning strategies to support a more effective Technology Transfer process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a Fuzzy-QFD model to support the selection of startups to participate in acceleration programs. It proposes to model the selection process by Startup Selection relating the technology transfer and the innovative business modelling. The study provides a quantitative analysis to identify the best startups for participation in accelerated programs. To achieve such a goal, the model uses a multi-criteria decision-making based on QFD (Quality Function Deployment). This study is a pioneer in presenting a model that prioritises the selection of startups by using technology transfer criteria and business modelling components. The model was applied in an acceleration program in Brazilian, and the results indicate that the model is able to rank the companies by presenting which startups stand out. Therefore, the method can be used in prioritisation problems or in the selection of companies to participate in acceleration programs that hold technology transfer in their activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, many developing countries have launched transfer initiatives to develop their infrastructure, economy, and standard of living because they have not had the knowledge and technical expertise to implement large and complex infrastructure projects. Therefore, scholars have examined the technology transfer process from various perspectives. However, there is still a lack of understating of how access to organisational resources may indirectly relate to the technology transfer process. Thus, the current study aims to address these limitations by examining how firm innovativeness mediates between access to organisational resources and international technology transfer. Based on social exchange theory and using a resource-based view, we aim to assess the potential mediating role of firm innovativeness and the moderating role of cooperative norms. Data were collected from 150 middle and top managers at innovative agricultural companies in Kazakhstan. The results show that firm innovativeness mediates access to organisational resources and technology transfer. Moreover, the moderating role of cooperative norms on the path between firm innovativeness and technology transfer was proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological upgradation is the driving force of social and economic development. Although technological upgradation is extensively needed, it is characterised as high intelligence, high investment, and high risk. In the face of complex market competition patterns, industrial enterprises urgently need to seek external cooperation and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, the current digital systems of patents fail to fulfil efficiency improvement from technology transfer to research and development (R&D) cooperation for industrial enterprise. Nor does it provide adequate support for industrial enterprises' technological upgradation. Therefore, this research proposes a systematic framework that combines nautral language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) technologies, including the patent recommendation model, patent transferability evaluation model, and research team detection model. Such a digital system of patents improves the efficiency of technology transactions and R&D cooperation with research institutions for industrial enterprises to identify related authorised patents and locate technology research teams. It is also expected that the developed system will enable research institutions to recommend valuable patents and transfer innovative technologies effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging technology plays a crucial role in promoting the development of the industrial economy, and identifying potential emerging technology is significant for innovation strategy. This study aimed to propose an identifying framework that can match the different stages of emerging technology, while most prior studies adopted a static method. Taking high-speed railway track (HSRT) technology as a case study, this paper presents an empirical application based on the growth model of the technology lifecycle, artificial neural network, and ordinal regression. The result indicates that the emerging technology branches of the HSRT technology include B66, C04, B28, and C08 represented by IPC categories, among which B66 is the most prominent. Besides, this study concluded that explosiveness, persistence, breakthrough, and competitive advantage in technology development are the typical characteristics for identifying emerging technology. The contribution of this study is enlightening a dynamic view of technology identification, which promotes the understanding of emerging technology by applying and integrating quantitative methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disruptive technology has profoundly affected the market environment and business patterns. Traditional and emerging industries are willing to adopt it to nurture their innovation activities and achieve competitive advantage. However, traditional technological innovation theory cannot give accurate guidance because of the peculiarities of disruptive technology. Thus, in this study, we explore the diffusion mechanism of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technological innovation from the perspective of disruptive innovation. We implement maximum likelihood fitting methods and the goodness-of-fit test to analyse the network's degree distribution characteristics through evolution. Results illustrate that the connection mechanism changes through the evolution process. In particular periods, preferential attachment does not work. Dominant technologies will lose their position with the emergence of disruptive technologies, hence replaced by them. The findings will provide practical suggestions to firms in facilitating their strategic decision-making when faced with disruptive technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows how R&D resources improve firm performance, taking advantage of open innovation activities in SMEs. It focuses on the mediating effect of R&D openness on the relationship between R&D resources and firm performance in SMEs. We employ secondary data of 1,046 SMEs located in South Korea's innovation clusters wherein scientific knowledge and technologies are efficiently created, transferred and utilised. The findings show that R&D resources (technological, human and financial resources) and R&D openness in SMEs positively affect firm performance. On the one hand, only SMEs with more financial resources (R&D investment) achieve better firm performance via a higher degree of external R&D collaboration. Fewer technological resources or more financial resources in SMEs can be a motivation for external collaboration. Differentiated open innovation strategies are required depending on the characteristics of R&D resources in SMEs in order to improve firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts with the Cobb Douglas function, introduces financial development as an influencing factor of technological innovation in strategic emerging industries into the production function, and then incorporates the transfer function into the linear model, further deepens the linear model into a nonlinear model, and chooses to use financial development scale and financial development efficiency as conversion variables. The panel smooth conversion model (PSTR) is used to study the nonlinear effects of financial development and technological innovation and find the best interval for financial development to promote technological innovation in strategic emerging industries. We introduce the economic and human capital spatial weight matrix in the spatial lag, spatial error, and spatial Durbin model. Finally, we verify the spatial spillover effect of financial development in promoting technological innovation in strategic emerging industries. The research results provide empirical evidence for the government to formulate policies for the long-term development of strategic emerging industries and technological innovation in strategic emerging industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to analyse how human resources for Industry-University collaboration achieves technology transfer and start-up development through three collaboration outputs (funding from Industry, research paper publication, patent applications, and registrations). The results of this empirical study showed that human resources for Industry-University linkage had a significant positive effect on funding from Industry, research paper publication, patent development, technology transfer and start-up development. Furthermore, funding from industry had a positive effect on research paper and patent applications and registrations. Additionally, patents had a positive effect on technology transfer and start-up creation development, while research paper development had a positive effect on technology transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can the factors affecting the technology transfer fee in the public sector be found in practice? This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to empirically test the simultaneous relationship between technological and contractual factors and the technology transfer fee. Through using a large sample of data, from the dominant public energy research organisation in Korea, our findings reveal the tendencies of technology transfer players in public to private transactions. Furthermore, we show that for technological factors, the number of patents and research fund positively affect the technology transfer fee; and for contractual factors, exclusivity has a positive and SME licensee has a negative relationship. These findings contribute to the technology transfer literature by allowing policy-makers of public and private sectors to understand that large scale investment on selected technology, appropriate patents management and cost-effective technology transfer strategy development should all be considered for greater economic return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological competition between firms has changed from ordinary to generic technology (hereinafter, GT) innovation with the increasing complementarity and shareability of technology in the field of emerging technologies. While facing the R&D dilemmas and market failure of GT and its R&D process, here comes the question: who are contributing to the GT R&D in the process of building emerging technology knowledge systems? Using social network analysis and a patent panel dataset of 380 strategic emerging firms, our study empirically examines how patent cooperation networks influence the R&D performance of GT, and the moderating effect of alliance heterogeneity. We found that: (1) The network scale and network centrality of patent cooperation networks have a positive and significant impact on the R&D performance of GT, and the latter one shows a greater impact, while the network density of patent cooperation networks shows a negative and significant impact on the R&D performance of GT. (2) Alliance heterogeneity plays a positive moderating role between the network scale and R&D performance of GT, while the moderating effect turns to be negative between the network density/network centrality of patent cooperation networks and R&D performance of GT. Our study contributes lay a foundation for strategic decision-making and government promotion of GT R&D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processes of technology development and transfer are affected by numerous barriers that hinder the efficient implementation of innovations into the economy. The paper is focused on a selected type of barriers of a technical character that are observed on the operational (intra-organisational) and tactical (inter-organisational) levels. The main objective of the paper is to identify and analyse a technical barrier related to the changing technical requirements in the course of innovation development. Against the state of the art analysis, the main technology transfer barrier discussed in the paper is illustrated with case studies presenting real barriers encountered in practice in a selected domain of optomechatronics and the successful limitation of their impact on innovation development and implementation processes. The barriers were identified by the authors in their many-year involvement in innovation development and the implementation of innovative research results in economic practice in the field of machine construction and maintenance carried out by an R&D organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic payments system is among recent service innovations that have transformed access to finance in developing and emerging economies. This paper analyses and forecasts the diffusions of four major electronic payment technologies in Nigeria, namely, ATM, PoS, Mobile and Web payments. Diffusion was measured by the volume of financial payments transacted on these technologies. First, we applied two growth models to evaluate the diffusion and to forecast the future trajectories of these payment technologies. Second, we applied the logistics substitution model to evaluate how these technologies compete in the Nigerian payments market. The findings show that like many technological innovations the diffusions of electronic payment technologies are characterised by growth, maturity, saturation, and decline. In addition, the mobile payment system was forecast to emerge as the most diffused payment technology given the volume of financial exchange that will occur on this platform. These findings have implications for innovators, regulators and service providers within the Nigerian payment ecosystems. The findings also have practical implication for achieving the cashless economy and the financial inclusion projects of the Nigerian state which rely on the successful diffusions of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology adoption and human capital are crucial determinants of economic growth. Here we use a fixed-effect panel model to measure the link between technology adoption and human capital for a sample of 104 countries since 1870–2010 using (HCCTA) and long-run enrolment ratios and educational attainment datasets. Unobserved heterogeneity factors (institutional, tradition, culture, economy type, educational system, migration, innovation, patents) account for the observed difference across countries/regions. Gender difference plays a role in the technology diffusion–human capital relationship, not a vital one. Advanced economies rode on the first three industrial revolutions, with Eastern Europe catching up on the third and fourth industrial waves. The economies of the East used the fourth industrial revolution to converge and surpass other regions. The results show that technology is necessary but not a sufficient determinant of human capital growth. Selective technology adoption policy, accompanied by supporting educational policy (entrepreneurial and research universities) stimulates technology, diffusion, and knowledge spillover. Our results are robust for including population and growth as significant technology adoption and human capital determinants (conditioning variables). Technology, diffusion, and a human capital link is a two-way street with many constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the innovative city pilot policy (ICPP) is conducive to promoting the urban industry–university–research collaborative innovation, but there is no clear answer to how industry–university–research knowledge flow is affected by the policy. Based on the knowledge flow process divided into the knowledge creation stage and knowledge transfer stage, this paper uses the two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure the dual efficiency of urban industry–university–research knowledge creation and knowledge transfer. And the paper also adopts the spatial difference-in-difference (SDID) model to study the impact mechanism of ICPP on the knowledge flow dual efficiency. The results show that there are positive spatial spillover effect of the knowledge creation efficiency (KCE) and knowledge transfer efficiency (KTE). And the effects of ICPP on industry–university–research KCE and KTE are both manifested as the promoting impact. Furthermore, ICPP has a significantly positive impact on the urban innovation atmosphere (UIA), and UIA plays a partial mediating role in the impact mechanism of ICPP on KCE and complete mediating role in the relationship of ICPP and KTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the rapidly changing technological environments, a significant effort has been undertaken to investigate promising technologies for the future and, accordingly, numerous studies have been conducted to develop an approach for identifying such technologies. One of the most frequently adopted approaches is patent analysis given that patent data are regarded as one of the most valuable and widely accepted sources to understand innovation activities. The term promising technology has been used in various contexts, but little effort has been made to provide a clear definition of it. As different perspectives may lead to different results, defining this concept is essential to obtain the best possible results. Thus, this study aims to develop a taxonomy of the promising technologies, and the following six perspectives along with their relevant patent analysis approaches are examined: key, outlier, vacant, emerging, new, and converging technologies. The research findings indicate that the concept of promising technology can be defined differently from diverse viewpoints, and this can be a basis for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge has become the most important factor of production with the emergence of the knowledge economy. We use the system GMM estimation method to analyze how cross-national knowledge transfer (CNKT) impacts the total factor productivity (TFP) of China's 31 provinces and evolution of China's ability to absorb foreign knowledge. We also examine the possible intermediary effects of foreign direct investment (FDI), outward FDI, import trade, export trade, and direct technology spillovers between CNKT and TFP. We find that: (1) CNKT improves China's TFP and positively impacts FDI, import trade, export trade, and direct technology spillover; It shows that CNKT not only helps to improve China's TFP, but also provides innovative knowledge reserve for the absorption of international technology spillovers. (2) The improvement in the domestic infrastructure construction level, R&D capacity, human capital, economic development and openness has obvious absorption effect on CNKT, which is conducive to the absorption and utilisation of international advanced knowledge. (3) FDI, import trade, and direct technology spillover play a partial mediating role between CNKT and TFP, and the intermediary effect of import trade technology spillover is the strongest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-industry research collaboration (UIRC) is a major source for research and innovations and economic growth. Despite the extensive evidence on the importance of such collaboration in developed and developing countries, the literature related to strengthen such collaboration along with its innovation performance is still scarce. Scholars believed that the impact of education and training on researchers have a vigorous influence on research and innovations. Moreover, to enhance the competencies of education and training on researchers, it is mandatory to refurbish education and skills system in conjunction with technological infrastructure system along with their reinforcing factors i.e. knowledge sharing and research and development cooperation, respectively. In this paper, we evaluate the influence of education and skills and technological infrastructure system along with their corresponding reinforcing factors in the blended system thinking method to strengthen education and training. Evidence from UIRC in Malaysia provides empirical corroboration that the role of education and skills system and technological infrastructure system along with their reinforcing factors have a positive influence on education and training. Thus, the findings of this research suggest that intensifying the quality of education and skills system and technological infrastructure system with the reinforcing effect can enhance the effectiveness of education and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While numerous studies have examined the importance of technology innovation in supporting the aging society, few have been specifically conducted on the emerging technologies that forecast for the elderly. Moreover, existing related research lacks consideration of public users' demands, and the forecasting results have not been linked with the actual technology supply in the market, which may easily lead to waste of resources and deviation of R&D focus. Given that, we present a novel method to forecast and evaluate emerging technologies based on technology supply and demand (S&D) matching. In the case study of China's gerontechnology, we first systematically excavate the elderly's demands and match them with the emerging gerontechnologies. Then, we analyse technology supply to filter out S&D oversaturated technologies and screen out S&D undersaturated results by the text semantic mining and similarity matching. Among the results, 27.68% do not have an effective supply yet, 33.04% have saturated or oversaturated. Besides, we use the TRIZ theory to filtrate key emerging areas and find the evolution path, and six significant evolutionary trends are extracted. This paper will help decision makers to accurately target the most promising emerging technologies. Highlights A framework to forecast emerging technology based on supply and demand match. Considering aging population in the technology forecasting and foresight. Monitoring emerging technology trends by using social user's demands analysis. 75 emerging technologies and 6 evolution trends of China's gerontechnology. Filter out 33.04% supply saturated and oversaturated of forecasted results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desorptive capacity is the organisational ability to transfer internal knowledge to external actors to obtain competitive advantage. We distinguish two forms of desorptive capacity to investigate how organisations active in emerging technology domains explore and exploit opportunities to match internally developed technology to external needs. We also focus on management innovation – the ability to create or revise organisational structures or processes – as a potential antecedent of desorptive capacity. From a study of 84 synthetic biology organisations we found that explorative and exploitative desorptive capacity mediate the relationship between management innovation and external technology commercialisation. The study provides empirical evidence of the existence and interdependence of different managerial and organisational processes required for external technology commercialisation. We underscore how organisations can valorise technological assets strategically through management innovation and by achieving a fit between internal practices and the technological base of potential technology adopters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate technology's significance has been growing due to the burgeoning interest in constraint-based innovation that transforms plausible challenges into practical solutions. However, the notion of technological appropriateness in appropriate technology management remains under-explored, following a prescriptive trajectory from earlier studies. This study assesses factors that establish appropriateness in a developing country context using a multi-case design approach. The cases involve both organisations and institutions that are engaged in the design, development, and dissemination of appropriate technologies. The empirical data obtained from the cases are analyzed using an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to determine the appropriateness for the management of appropriate technology. The findings generate four factors that define appropriateness. They include entailing appropriate design for sustainability, participatory mode of development, sustainable rural delivery mechanism, and indigenous knowledge development. The seminal contribution of this study provides a predictive understanding of appropriateness for effective technology functioning at the grassroots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology Transfer (TT) is an essential process that governs complex operations related to the absorption and dissemination of diverse technologies, in their different natures and forms. Its complexity is linked to technical and political operations, and determinant elements. This study aimed to present results of a bibliometric analysis on Technology Transfer and to explore the fundamental elements and specific aspects that make up this process. A significant portfolio of papers was considered for bibliometric analysis. Subsequently, most relevant papers were selected for qualitative analysis, based on relevance of themes presented and number of citations by year. Key approaches to TT have been identified, and its elements (agents, technology, mechanisms, polices, barriers, supporters, models and effects and impacts). They are inherent to characteristics of the transfer agents and supporters, characteristics of the transfer object, characteristics of the transfer channels, characteristics/conditions of the demand environment for TT management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By utilising policy reference network analysis and keyword timing analysis, this paper proposes a framework for measuring policy diffusion, which can delineate research focus, measurement indicators, and methods of science and technology policy diffusion from four dimensions: intensity, breadth, speed, and direction. Based on the framework, this paper collects and categorises China's policies on technology transfer and commercialisation from 1985 to 2017, and conducts quantitative research on the diffusion process and characteristics of those polices from the previously mentioned four dimensions, which enables us to investigate the diffusion law of knowledge, information, and experience among those policies. The paper can provide data support on the choice of policy type for subsequent specific policy formulation by exploring the characteristics of different types of policy diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-industry collaboration is increasing its significance due to the active role that society demand from universities. An entrepreneurial university requires understanding the different rationalities and asymmetries of university, researchers and industry in order to best encourage inter-organisational willingness to collaborate as well as to know the impact of their collaboration beyond the boundaries of their partnership. This paper presents an exploratory and conceptual framework providing propositions to gain a better understanding concerning the factors driving and hindering interactions and the willingness to collaborate between university-industry actors. In addition, this research discusses the relevance of the type of impact (economic, technological and societal) of this collaboration as agents of an eco-system accomplishing innovation goals. It concludes with theoretical, managerial and policy implications based on asymmetries on expectations, benefits, capabilities, norms and actors-agency. Such asymmetries affect the entrepreneurial predisposition to interact and strive to achieve societal desirable collaboration outcomes. A preliminary collective actions framework is proposed. Such framework renders a useful tool for universities, industry and government in the management of knowledge transfer and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latecomer technology imitation and learning is an important driving force to enhance their competitiveness and total factor productivity (TFP). This paper constructs green TFP (GTFP) based on the SBM–Global–Luenberger index, using Chinese provincial panel data from 2003 to 2017. The marginal effects of foreign direct investment (FDI), outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), import and export, and intangible and total international technology spillovers (ITS) on GTFP were assessed. These effects were analysed under the influence of absorption capabilities such as research and development intensity, economic and financial, and openness. A spatial diffusion model based on three diffusion sources in China's first-tier cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, was constructed to describe the heterogeneous impacts of ITS on GTFP under the marketisation of diffusion sources. We found: (1) ITS based on exports and OFDI promote economic, imports and FDI are relatively small, independent technological innovation is the dominant source of economic growth. (2) Considering spatial diffusion, the contribution of Beijing's ITS is relatively weak, and Shanghai's contribution is stronger. Coastal areas have the largest marginal effect of ITS on GTFP, and ITS do not attenuate as geographic distances increase. (3) The market has a multiplier effect, modifying the relationship between ITS and GTFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the effectiveness of different types of policy instruments (Direct Funding Support, National Technology Transfer Demonstration Institutions, and University Science Parks) and their mix on commercialisation performance of universities' technologies is an important but unsolved issue. Using province-level data from 2009–2016, we conduct such empirical research and assess their effectiveness. The results show that different policy instruments have different effects on commercialisation performance, and there are significant synergies between Direct Funding Support and other two policy instruments. Taking account of regional heterogeneity, this study finds that policy mixes are implemented better in regions with high innovation capacity. These findings, in turn, have notable implications for policymakers and university researchers who aim to commercialise their technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology entrepreneurship is a vehicle that facilitates prosperity in individuals, businesses and nations. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of technology entrepreneurship and strategic decisions on commercialisation of technology. To achieve this, data collected from 220 small manufacturing firms in Addis Ababa city was analysed using the OLS regression analysis. The result of the study revealed that technology entrepreneurship of small firms is the main source for the firm's better value creation and being competitively advantageous over its competitors. The firms will be competitively advantageous when they have better technology innovation and adoption. This happened through commercialising technical innovation and technology adoption. Therefore, small firm owners/managers should involve in creating values by forming a strategic alliance with stakeholders. The small venture owners/managers from low-income markets should also tend to engage more in adopting technologies from developed economies and involve on better innovation in designing and improving the overall performance of the product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms often fail to shift from laboratory research to product development, and this failure is known as the Valley of Death. Although previous research has found solutions to the problem, the critical role of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in the technology commercialisation and new product development (NPD) of manufacturing firms is often neglected. On the basis of the role theory of product innovation, this study aims to establish a new and comprehensive framework to investigate the role of KIBS in NPD in manufacturing. We identify the critical roles of KIBS as mentor and director, coordinator, strategic leader and gatekeeper, sponsor, and product champion in crossing the fuzzy front end of NPD. We find that manufacturers are likely prone to transform their inventions to innovations and finally benefit from their invented products through KIBS innovative capacity and availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry-University Cooperation (IUC) is recognised as an effective model for technological innovation, helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to seek opportunities from technological development and to achieve sustainable competitiveness. The study proposes an improved solution to resolve the 4 W questions commonly faced by SMEs, including identifying cooperative topics, comparing technology competitors, evaluating cooperative universities, and selecting research teams. Firstly, the Latent Dirichlet Allocation model is applied to extract sub-technology topics in a specific technology domain, and the patent clustering is analysed via K-means algorithm. Secondly, competitive and uncompetitive sub-technologies of the enterprise, as well as the geographical distribution of competitors in sub-technologies are analysed. Thirdly, the study proposes a new topic matching index (TMI) to help determine the best cooperative universities. Finally, the cooperation network is visualised to help identify the specific core research teams for each specific technology. The research team conducted an experimental study using real patent data on a 'Blockchain' technology enterprise to verify the proposed solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a controversial issue in existing literature regarding whether latecomers can catch up in Complex Products and Systems (CoPS) industries. In an attempt to address this issue, we employ systematic review method and analysed 39 previous studies. We found substantial evidences of catch-up or leapfrogging in CoPS industries. The catch-up patterns in the CoPS industries were similar to those in the mass-produced goods sectors. There were 15 success or failure factors for catch-up across CoPS industries, and the top five most frequently appeared factors were government support, technology transfer, in-house R&D, industry ecosystem or cluster, and external alliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the regionally differentiated environmental regulatory means, this paper evaluates the contribution of firms' R&D investment to economic growth with interprovincial panel data on 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2016, which is based on the time-varying threshold model. Additionally, the coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) is used to measure the effects of technological innovation through enterprise collaboration for R&D input and investment-focused environment regulations. We then explore the inter-regional technology transfer path with different cooperation effects in areas and find: (i) The economic performance of the R&D investments of regional enterprises shows a downward trend with the strengthening of cost-focused ER while an inverted 'U'-shaped relationship that first strengthens and then weakens is presented with the strengthening of investment-focused ER. (ii) The degree of coupling calculated by CCDM is generally low, and synergies are improving from the west to the east, from a geographic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents itself as one of the earliest studies to consider economic factors that influence decision making in an international technology transfer while considering the perspectives of the transferor and transferee individually. Unlike previous studies, this study takes a multi-variable analysis approach in considering these factors through the development of a common analytical framework that can be applied to similar studies. The methodology used herein is quantitative and involves a multiple regression analysis, which combines variables examined unilaterally in earlier studies. The results show that economic factors that influence a transferor's choice of a transferee include inflation rate, currency exchange rate, and foreign direct investment while in the converse relationship, the results prove that in addition to inflation rate, currency exchange rate, and foreign direct investment, official development assistance was also relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the Open Innovation (OI) framework, the purpose of this paper is to examine the R&D inbound model of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, we focus on the impact of different horizontal R&D collaborations on product innovation and innovation performance. Hypotheses are tested using a Probit/Tobit regression on an Italian sample of 2591 manufacturing SMEs. Our analysis shows that collaborating with different horizontal R&D partners brings to different innovation outcomes. In particular, R&D collaboration with universities has a positive impact on product innovation, but not on innovation performance. Whereas, R&D collaboration with research centres and other private companies has a positive impact on both product innovation and innovation performance. Our findings provide implications for SMEs managers and entrepreneurs who have to decide between R&D partners for their innovation strategy. Avenues for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how technology transfer can influence the performance of small businesses in developing countries like Kenya. The theoretical basis of the study is the technology transfer model, which integrates a consideration of the transfer provider with that of the recipient's capacity. The study's sample comprises 104 enterprises. Correlation and a regression model are used for content analysis. The results show that technology transfers improve small businesses' performance and help drive rural development. The effectiveness of transferred technology has a major impact on small businesses' competitiveness and access to international markets. These findings imply that governments must develop technology transfer strategies for small businesses in order to enhance both their performance and food security. Government policies for technology transfer should incorporate incentives for agricultural technology transfer to boost food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grassroots technological innovation (GRTI) is perceived as a source of sustainable development while addressing local problems and needs of people belonging to the bottom of the economic pyramid. The fostering of sustainable development develops a need for scientific evaluation and subsequent diffusion of GRTI to ameliorate the livelihood of grassroots communities. It is, hence, the purpose of this research to assess the relative performance of different GRTIs with respect to economic, social, and environmental benefits. The empirical data for this study comprised of 32 GRTIs from the three different rural non-farm sectors in the Indian context. Analytical hierarchy process is used for deducing the relative assessment of the selected GRTI against the aforementioned performance criteria. The findings of this study offer imperative insights into the field of technology diffusion and development at the grassroots level and suggest recommendations for sustainable policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many studies have recognised the importance of defining specific public policies to encourage technology diffusion, many authors fail to provide a clear view about either the policies that affect the diffusion of technologies or the effect of the different political instruments. Adopting a content analysis of papers that directly or indirectly refer to the diffusion of a new technology, this study applies the integrative propositional analysis (IPA) methodology to: (a) identify the repertoire of the different diffusion policies identified by previous studies; (b) classify these policies according to the type of instruments that they use; (c) analyse the impact of each policy on the different adoption factors that may inhibit or foster the diffusion of a new technology; and (d) evaluate the scope of each type of policy in terms of the number of affected adoption factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of funding sources for university-industry collaboration (UIC) has gradually changed, which may motivate universities to pursue different goals. Therefore, a question arises concerning whether and how funding sources influence the innovation performance of universities. This study explicates this relationship by using organisational control theory. Results of structural equation modelling using partial least squares based on a sample of 146 Taiwanese universities revealed that both governmental and industrial funding facilitated UIC management mechanisms and regulation implementation, which subsequently influenced the innovation performance of universities. Moreover, governmental funding has a greater impact on implementing UIC regulations and industrial funding has a greater impact on building UIC management mechanisms. The results also revealed that only industrial funding exerts a positive influence on the innovation climate of a university. Policy implications are discussed at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to find the differences between national and international relationships in Iran and Switzerland's Nanoscience research between 2008–2015. The results show significant differences some of which are attributed to the general dichotomy of developed-developing countries like stronger University-Industry-Government relations in Switzerland; but others are not, especially those pertaining to bilateral relations. In summary, the Government-Industry relations in Switzerland are generally closer in this field because the emerging characteristics of Nanoscience call for more state intervention, even in the context of developed countries. Greater Government-University relations in Iran can be explained by referring to the structure of national innovation system of this country. However, the no significant differences between University-Industry relations result needs further research so that it may in turn lead to improvements of the triple-helix calculations. Lastly, some theoretical implications and further research directions are suggested at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and Development (R&D) service firms make significant contributions to innovation in other businesses. The extant literature considers these firms a homogenous sub-group of Knowledge Intensive Business Service firms (KIBS). The objective of this study is to investigate how R&D service firms innovate and the variety of innovation practices within these firms. Employing data from semi-structured interviews with senior managers from 32 UK-based R&D service firms, we suggest that there are two different modes of innovation: in the first mode, R&D service firms innovate similarly to KIBS whose innovation is ad-hoc in nature and driven by customers' requests; another group of R&D service firms innovate like New Technology-based Firms (NTBFs) relying more on structured in-house R&D activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine how technology interdependence and three environmental variables, namely political instability, technological uncertainty and Confucian dynamism, in the host country collectively influence Taiwanese technological multinational company's (MNC) entry mode choice between joint venture (JV) and wholly owned subsidiary (WOS). Grounded on theories of transaction cost economies and organisational design, this study hypothesises a positive technology interdependence–WOS relationship that can be explained by appropriation and coordination concerns. Moreover, the aforementioned relationship can be positively moderated by technological uncertainty while negatively moderated by political instability and Confucian dynamism. These hypotheses were examined and supported using logistic regressions in the analysis of 195 foreign entries undertaken by Taiwanese information and electronic MNCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a stochastic frontier model to elaborate how academia-industry research and development collaboration and government funding influence the innovation efficiency of industrial enterprises through a panel dataset from 2009 to 2015, including 30 provinces in China. We find that the research institute-industry collaboration promotes innovation efficiency of enterprises, while university-industry collaboration is adversely associated with innovation efficiency. Government funding plays a positive role on innovation efficiency across the board. Next, we divide the sample into three clusters according to enterprises' innovation ability. In the first cluster, which has the least innovation ability, research institute-industry collaboration, university-industry collaboration and government funding have no significant effect on enterprise innovation efficiency. In the second and third clusters, university-industry collaboration exerts a negative impact on innovation efficiency but government funding improves innovation efficiency. At the same time, we investigate the interaction effects of enterprise R&D personnel and academia-industry collaboration and government funding on innovation efficiency. We find some heterogeneity in the full sample and the three sub-samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the 4IR has the potential to impact on all industries and all nations, regardless of their location or state of development, many of the discussions of the 4IR and its impact are focused on advanced economies. What are the prospects and constraints of the 4IR to emerging economies in sub-Sahara Africa? To what extent is the 4IR relevant to sub-Sahara Africa where there is a large informal economy, limited public infrastructure, where technical skills levels are low, and advanced technology can be found in only a few sectors that are dominated by foreign multinational companies and staffed by expatriate workers? What is the relevance of policy development towards the 4IR in the region given its young population profile, and emerging skill shortages in key sectors? The paper draws on secondary literature to highlight the challenges and to identify the policy developments that have been developed in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies implicitly assume that knowledge search modes are homogeneous, and little is known about the impacts of specific search modes on innovation. Drawing upon the knowledge search literature, we differentiate among four types of search modes and analyze their impacts on innovation performance. Moreover, we enrich the theoretical framework by recognising the moderating role of strategic R&D orientation in affecting the relationship between specific types of search modes and innovation performance. Using a unique dataset of 418 Chinese firms, we find that, except for inward licensing, value chain search, capital search, and industry-university-research institute collaboration (IUR collaboration) exert positive effects on innovation performance. Moreover, the empirical results indicate that a strategic R&D orientation amplifies the positive effects of value chain search and IUR collaboration while it mitigates the negative effect of inward licensing on innovation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the supply chain oriented to Industrial 4.0 Scenario the scarcity of studies on Technology Transfer (TT) can be easily observed. TT is a fundamental process, because it steers the absorption and dissemination of technologies towards the various stages of supply chain. The objective of this study is to contextualise TT in the supply chain of Industrial 4.0 Scenario, focusing on the supply, manufacturing industry and final consumer stages. A review of the literature was carried out, using a structured protocol and criteria to compose the bibliographic portfolio. To support the questions presented in this study, the most relevant articles related to the researched topic were thoroughly analyzed. The results infers that in the Industrial 4.0 Scenario, the supply chain will go through changes, such as real-time visibility throughout the entirety of the supply chain, continuous collaboration between the stages of the chain, among other significant changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars underline the high relevance of bridging organisations in favouring innovation. Nevertheless, they do not investigate enough how bridging organisations favour technology transfer, particularly with regard to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To fill this research gap, this paper reviews the studies on the technology transfer activities a bridging organisation could perform. Then, the main activities carried out by intermediators are empirically investigated to identify the main intervention processes and activities. The further analysis of these activities identifies three SMEs' abilities an intermediator may promote (i.e. networking, integration and absorptive capacity). This paper offers practical and theoretical contributions. First, it supports the definition of the intermediators' intervention plans with a whole description of the three potential levels of intervention. Second, it synthetises the relationship between technology management, bridging organisations and SMEs in three propositions. Finally, it highlights the need for policy makers' intervention supporting technology transfer offices and local institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many SMEs homed in newly industrialised countries are successful international players despite limited technological infrastructure and R&D resources. This study bridges a gap in the extant literature by examining the relationships between characteristics of partnership relationships, knowledge sharing and the effectiveness of technology transfer in partnerships between SMEs in developing countries and firms from developed countries. By studying data from Turkish SMEs and using partial least squares structural equation modelling, we find that explicit knowledge sharing forms the basis of technology transfer. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that explicit knowledge sharing is strongly contingent upon formalised technical support while trust and technical support seemed to be important antecedents of tacit knowledge sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature has explored the existence of reverse technology spillover through outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), which means domestic firms improve their technological innovation and productivity due to overseas investment activities. This paper aims to examine how the host country affects reverse technology spillover from OFDI. The findings show domestic innovation performance (DIP) is positively related to OFDI in developed countries while it is negatively related to OFDI in transitional and emerging markets. It is also found that financial development and human capital weaken the positive relationship between OFDI in developed countries and DIP and also weaken the negative relationship between OFDI in transitional and emerging markets and DIP. These results are further confirmed through robustness checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast amount of studies have shown how firms embracing the open innovation paradigm tend to improve their industrial and economic performance. Somewhat surprisingly, in such established background, few studies attempted to understand whether the open innovation benefits compensate its costs. To fill this gap, this article presents a novel theoretical framework composed of twelve propositions describing the main benefits and costs of inbound and outbound open innovation modes. Such theoretical framework was tested on a sample of 96 small and medium manufacturing enterprises. While most of the identified cost and benefit classes are acknowledged by the majority of the interviewed firms, most interviewees affirmed that their firms did not suffer from costs associated with the not-invented-here syndrome and with the potential loss of competitive advantage. The results of the study have implications for both firms and scholars, which are expected to lead to future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]