Contenu du sommaire : Multi-Scale Innovation

We explore the challenges universities face when contributing to the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The lack of efficiency of policies inspired by the traditional entrepreneurial university model, and the fact that students are more active than academic researchers in creating start-ups, lead to student start-up creation being part of the issue of academic entrepreneurship. The higher the number of stakeholders the broader the ecosystem and the more the challenges for universities actively engaged in their development. Our research explores the mechanisms used by universities in triggering transformation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem when integrating student entrepreneurship. It is based on a longitudinal study of the University of Strasbourg. Our findings highlight the incremental nature of entrepreneurial ecosystem building, the internal changes operated by universities integrating students' entrepreneurship activities in their technology transfer policies, and the evolution of policies oriented to the development of an entrepreneurial culture.Codes JEL: M13, O32

This paper provides empirical insights about interregional flows of Ph
Ds in France over the period 1970-2000. We enhance the existing studies by focusing on the patterns and determinants of internal migration, thanks to management of a rich database. First, we highlight the relatively low mobility of PhDs: less than 36% of them supervise their first PhD in a different region than the one in which they defended their own. Focusing on the structural determinants of these interregional flows, we have then tested a gravity model that demonstrates the significant impact of the scientific size of regions and spatial proximity on the PhDs' mobility.JEL Codes: J61, O390, I23

This paper analyses the links between patents and open innovation. Departing from the “second best” approach to patents, it has recently been argued that patents can accelerate open innovation by fostering collaborations, exchanges and interactions between actors in the innovation process. The argument put forward is that “good fences make good neighbors”, suggesting that by protecting innovative actors from free-riding, patents reduce the costs and dangers of open innovation. We show that patents do not necessarily provide good fences. The proliferation of patents in some sectors and the bad quality of patent information usually makes it very difficult in reality to agree upon what is and what is not protected by a patent. This prompts problems such as anticommons, trolling (hold-up), and the multiplication of wasteful litigations. We conclude by discussing some evolutions of patent laws which could limit those problems and make patents a real support for open innovation.Codes JEL: O34

This paper examines the function and features of entrepreneurial leadership in aging rural communities in Japan, referring to the Schumpeterian concept of entrepreneurship. In the demographically oldest society, Japan, agricultural communities in rural hilly and mountainous regions suffer most from demographic change. This usually leads to decline in the regional economy. Such communities have to redefine local business in order to survive. Schumpeter (2006) claims the importance of the function of entrepreneurs: they create innovation through new combinations of given resources with a strong leadership. In aging communities, elderly residents as a large population group there should and could be combined in a new business; however, in most communities they are not integrated into enterprises. The cases examined here suggest that the entrepreneurs who contribute to the economic reconstruction of the communities have, beside typical entrepreneurial features, strong empathy for the community, as well as for the residents there.JEL Codes: J14, L26, O22, P25

The aim of this article is to understand how advisory services addressing farm management issues can foster strategic thinking. We consider that the evolution of strategic thinking is related to the concept of proactivity. In Benin, we analyzed the impact of learning processes triggered by an approach called “management advice for family farms” (MAFF) with a sample of 19 farmers. By providing technical and management training, the MAFF approach enables farmers to better understand their environment, assess their situation, and act differently. The participants' strategic thinking evolved after one year of participation in MAFF activities. This evolution is partially dependent on the level of resources or level of education of the participants. However, the level of proactivity before the training is a strong element influencing the intensity of the learning process.Codes JEL: Q160

This study explores innovation capacity in the specific context of SMEs. Innovation capacity is particularly hard to define in SMEs, as most of their innovative activities are informal and merge into overall firm activities. The objective is to propose a framework for analysis that delves deeper into SMEs' innovation capacity, based on SME specificities. This framework is built on theoretical insights from the entrepreneurship and innovation literature, combined with empirical insights from an in-depth qualitative multiple case study, based on thirty-two innovative SMEs. Our findings confirm and discuss ten critical dimensions of SMEs' innovation capacity previously highlighted by the literature and reveal four new dimensions. These findings allowed us to propose a new framework to analyze SMEs' innovation capacity based on SME specificities.JEL Codes: O32, O33

The emerging literature on management innovation has principally focused on firms, thereby neglecting nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Yet NPOs have also adopted management innovations to support the strong growth and professionalization of the nonprofit sector. Arguing that NPOs represent, theoretically, a specific management framework, this study aims to identify the specific obstacles faced by NPOs when they implement a management innovation. Hence we have conducted an in-depth case study in an international nongovernmental organization. Our results show that the specific internal obstacles in NPOs are their complex human resource management and their lack of financial resources. Moreover, a negative internal perception of management innovation due to a lack of clarity, accuracy and a real systemic scope could be a source of problems. Externally, the high accountability towards stakeholders could slow down the implementation of management innovation. These results contribute to the literature on both management innovation and nonprofit management.JEL Codes: L31, O32, G3

Radical innovations are an important driver to achieve sustainability in transportation. Against this background, in the article, we investigate how current innovation conditions influence radical innovation activities in reality. Based on literature related to the Multi-Level Perspective and the National Innovative Capacity, we conducted interviews with the inventors of radical innovations for freight transportation in France and Germany to elaborate national specificities and commonalities. Our main findings are: first, the innovation conditions are ambiguous for radical innovations: on the one hand essential input factors for radical innovations are given. On the other hand, we identified many mechanisms that protect the status quo. Second, the innovation determinants for innovation conditions, the mechanisms of positive and hindering influences, are similar in France and Germany. However, nation-specific determinants are at the micro level: the management skills of the inventors and the business culture.JEL Codes: O31, O33