Contenu du sommaire : Intellectual Capital and Business Innovation

Several studies have shown that a broad range of intangible assets are amongst the key drivers of firms' innovation, however this relation is still overlooked by most of the literature. Therefore, the article suggests a shift in the research agenda on Intellectual Capital (IC), from being essentially centred on the issues of measurement and reporting, to include the investigation of how IC contributes to corporate value creation processes. Accordingly, as a possible guidance for future investigations, the paper addresses two aspects of this new agenda, that is the attempt to re-connect IC studies with current debates on regional innovation policies and company value creation processes through new IC-driven innovation. JEL Codes: M1, M2, M4

This paper focuses on the innovation activities of French SMEs. We put forward a “French paradox”, expressed by a quite important effort in terms of R&D investments and poor results in terms of innovation as measured by traditional indicators. To explain this paradox, we study their strategy of knowledge capital building and valorization. To do this, we build a theoretical scheme by combining two key concepts related to the knowledge capital development – absorptive capacity and open innovation – to assess the innovation activities of firms. A review of literature is achieved to apply this scheme to SMEs and reveal their main characteristics. A single case study methodology is used to study the behaviors of French SMEs. The article shows the interest of linking the two concepts of absorptive capacity and open innovation in the analysis of knowledge capital building and valorization. The results of the case study reveal that apart from the structural characteristics of SMEs, one important reason to the French paradox lies in the integration of SMEs into innovation networks. The valorization of SMEs' knowledge capital is thus not always achieved by the SMEs themselves but by other companies, notably larger ones, enriched by the specific knowledge of these SMEs. JEL Codes: O32, O34, L22, L25

This paper considers the intangible and collective property of a standard and its ability to promote innovation. The technical standard belongs to the intangible economy as it consists of a résumé of information. It is collective because it accounts for the shared knowhow of the stakeholders of a sector and because it results from a formal consensual process led in a Standard Development Organization. We question the value of such an intangible collective vector that is required for the development of an innovation on the market. Two case analyses exploring the new geosynthetics and non-conventional materials and technologies markets allow us to confirm the determining role of standards in the market phase of innovation. These nevertheless shed light on the difficulties involved in shaping the standard, due to differences between the different stakeholders' representations, vocabularies and legitimacy repertoires, leading to the risk that new market development will slow down or be blocked. JEL Codes: M

While business schools, as an institution, are criticized for failing to encourage responsible management, several schools are innovating towards such management. This study examines the strategies and practices of people involved in changing the organizational processes. Interviews were conducted with 17 change agents at eight European schools to evaluate the depth of innovative approaches (of immaterial nature) employed in integrating responsible management on their campuses. This paper briefly introduces the main strategic tensions encountered by these actors and describes in depth eight types of innovations that are here called the “survival innovations”. The conclusion suggests further research concerning the potential outcomes (stakeholder management, reputation, accreditation, differentiation, cohesion) of integrating RM in the BS' strategy. JEL Codes: M1

The concept of the Fab
Lab was created by MIT at the end of the 1990s, with the aim of making the production of objects accessible to ordinary users. The FabLab is of particular interest for analysis, insofar as it projects the question of intangibility into a new sphere, that of industrial production. This article will try to identify the characteristics of the FabLab innovation model in the intangible production economy (towards the creation of the new IPO model) and to sketch out an analysis of the possible consequences for society, economics, politics and territory. After presenting the theoretical frame of reference of this article, we will put forward the significant and original elements of the FabLab innovation. By applying once again the theoretical framework, the conclusion will seek to indicate the possible theoretical contributions of this innovation. JEL Codes: L26, L23, O3

This article examines how research on the agriculture and agrifood systems mobilizes the concept of Innovation System (IS). A literature review on the IS provides an analytical framework for determining its theoretical frame of reference, its area of application and its uses. Based on this framework, a bibliometric analysis of international journals on innovation and agriculture reveals the existence of four knowledge communities, each of which addresses a specific angle of how the IS concept is applied to deal with the specific dimensions of innovation in the agricultural / agrifood sector. The current challenge is to promote exchanges between these communities, particularly between the one that applies an evolutionary approach and the epistemic community, which seeks to build its own concepts originating from the farming system approach and rural sociology. JEL Codes: O31, O39, Q10, Q16

This paper aims to complement the literature on research and development (R&D) investments by exploring the potential effects of the inflation rates behavior on firm's ability to invest in R&D, a simple and specific relationship that has received little attention in the related literature. Inflation is expected to affects firm's incentives to engage in the allocation of resource to R&D projects due to price instability and future pay-off uncertainty. This paper found empirical evidence of the negative effects of high inflation rates on business' R&D investments. Also, the cross-section estimates showed a negative and highly significant impact of inflation on R&D investments in low-and middle-income countries as expected. Thus, our findings send a message of caution to policy makers regarding the incentives designed to promote innovation as growth basis of countries. JEL Codes: O31, E31, C23

This paper seeks to shed some light on the influence that the characteristics of the local context in a given area and in adjacent ones exert on the entrepreneurial process. In order to make a distinction between purely local factors and the role played by the neighborhood, we mobilize the so-called Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis which determines the degree of spatial dependence and its consequence for the entry rate. We empirically address this question by considering the case of French employment areas from 2006 to 2010 using spatial econometric models adapted to panel data. Our results show that locally available financial, material, human and organizational resources are far from being the unique geographical determinants of the creation of firms. Instead, the entry rate in a given area also strongly depends on the propensity to create firms in adjacent places. Spillover effects originating in adjacent areas should thus be considered when explaining the local determinants of the creation of firms. JEL Codes: L26, R11, C21