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Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

By using panel data on Italian manufacturing firms, this paper contributes to the literature on the nexus between firms' internationalisation and innovation performance, taking into account the impact of different internationalisation strategies (with a focus on exports, foreign direct investments and outsourcing) on firms' product and process innovation. Being robust to the implementation of different and complementary methodologies (impact evaluation analysis, multivariate probit and a special regressor approach to instrumental variables), our results suggest that accessing foreign markets through the different strategies considered may ensure different returns in terms of both types of innovation. We find evidence in support of the learning‐by‐exporting literature since exporting shows positive effects on the probability of carrying out both product and process innovation. Moreover, while investing abroad enhances product innovation, suggesting a more market‐seeking oriented strategy (i.e. rather than resource‐seeking), on the contrary, outsourcing raises the probability of introducing process innovation. Our results may prompt further reflections on public policies and on incentives for supporting domestic firms' internationalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasizes the role of labour demand as a determinant of human capital formation. After a section in which the alternative conceptions on the functioning of labour markets are presented and different ways of measuring human capital are compared, an applied analysis is carried out in which we provide a labour-demand-oriented measure of human capital, as defined by the amount of specific skills firms generate through work-based training (WBT) activities. By merging three rich firm-level datasets, we estimate the impact of a set of variables supposed to affect both the propensity to invest in WBT and the intensity of training within the Italian manufacturing industry over the period 2001–2005. Special attention is devoted to the variables characterizing within-firm organization of knowledge, organizational change and the formation of competence pipelines: among them, innovation, internationalization commitment, out-sourcing and new hirings. The estimates show that the effect of innovation on WBT is higher when the introduction of new technologies is supported by organizational innovations. When looking at the nature of WBT, we investigate the different determinants of the firms' propensity to provide both in-house and outside training. We measure training intensity in terms, respectively, of the number of provided training activities, private and total training costs and share of trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we leverage on the ancient Roman roads network as a source of exogenous variation to identify the causal effect of the modern highways network on innovative performance of Italian NUTS‐3 regions. Empirical findings suggest that a 10% increase in the highways stock in a region generates an increase in the number of patents of about 3%–4%, over a 5‐year period. Further analysis suggests that our findings can in part be explained by a reduction in travel costs that fosters collaborations among inventors living in different regions and by an increase in the degree of centrality in the regional innovation network associated to denser highways networks. Finally, we find that the innovation‐enhancing effect of highways declines over time, possibly because of the introduction of information and communication technology, or the increasing congestion on the Italian network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This evaluation study examined a Family Services Centre (FSC) operating in a socio‐culturally deprived suburban area of Southern Italy to explore how promoting innovative practices to meet increasingly complex family needs. The research used a case study approach and a mixed‐methods design: the service's documents underwent a documentary analysis; users' trends and satisfaction levels were examined using quantitative data; service's identity and changes in the perceptions of professionals were analysed by qualitative techniques. Overall, the data highlighted the fact that the FSC can be considered an effective prevention instrument: its family support practices, oriented to the ASPIRE model, ensure accessibility, empowerment and a strengths‐based approach. Thanks to its strengthened mediator role, client participation and caseworkers' ideas, it represents an environment conducive to the development of innovation in social practices, influencing local social policies regarding child and family welfare. Despite its changes, the FSC still promotes family well‐being and social cohesion within the community with its innovative multilevel and multimethod approach. Considerations and lessons learned by this case study could stimulate decision makers and social practitioners to reflect on innovative models to meet families' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the role of individual (work engagement, personal initiative), group (transformational, transactional, passive‐avoidant leadership) and organisational factors (support for innovation climate) in fostering the two components of nurses' innovative behaviours, idea generation and idea implementation. Design and Method: A cross‐sectional study was conducted in an Italian public hospital, in two departments that had been created by merging other departments. A self‐report questionnaire was completed by 118 nurses. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings: Respondents reported a high frequency of idea generation followed by idea implementation. Personal initiative and passive‐avoidant leadership were significantly and positively related to nurses' idea generation and idea implementation. Support for innovation was positively related to idea implementation. Transactional and transformational leadership did not show any relationships with the two innovative work behaviours. Conclusions: This study shows that nurses' innovative work behaviour is a complex and multi determined behaviour, influenced by individual, group, and organisational factors. It also shows that low levels of passive‐avoidant leadership may contribute to innovation. Clinical Relevance: Healthcare policies and strategies are needed to support a leadership style that allows space for autonomy, and that, together with support for innovation and personal initiative, facilitates nurses' idea generation and idea implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research is to investigate whether the structure of knowledge networks and the variety of the local industrial structure are important for regional innovation and if the interplay between these two forces has an additional effect on local innovativeness. The research analyses co‐patenting collaborations at firm level in the Italian provinces in three five‐year intervals in the period 2001–2016. Results show that the structure of knowledge networks and agglomeration economies of inventors boost local inventive capacity. It also highlights how these forces have an increasing impact on innovation as the variety of the area increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the influence of universities on Italian firms' probability to innovate. Using firm-level data, we focus on institutionalized technology transfer (TT) activities in universities, namely spin-offs, patents, and research contracts. Results show that TT activities play a significant role in the probability to innovate by Italian manufacturing firms located in the same province as the university. Nevertheless, the effect is not uniform: the contribution of university TT activities to the probability of firms' innovating is concentrated in certain territorial areas (North-East and Center) and sectors (science based and scale intensive) and among firms that are large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]