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This paper examines the determinants of innovation behavior in European firms that are predominantly small and medium in size. The aim is to assess the absolute as well as the relative impact on innovation behavior of firm-specific (i.e., internal) factors on the one hand and region-specific characteristics on the other. Two hypotheses are advanced and tested. The first is that—contrary in part to some recent literature on regional and national innovation systems—firm-specific determinants of innovation are more important than either region-specific or external factors. The second hypothesis is that in high-tech regions dominated by a small number of very large firms the innovation behavior of the smaller firms is more strongly influenced by regional factors than by factors internal to the firm. Whereas the first hypothesis is confirmed by the empirical results presented here, the second is not. Because firm-level innovation determinants are of great importance in the European regions investigated in this study, we suggest that local innovation policy should focus more on the specific needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular regions than on improving regional conditions for innovation in general. The analysis is mainly based on data from the European Regional Innovation Survey (ERIS) and includes information from more than 8,000 interviews with manufacturing firms, service firms, and research institutions in 11 European regions. The logit analyses reported in this paper used data from some 1,800 manufacturing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OVERVIEW: In today's competitive environment, the ability of an organization to innovate is paramount. While most organizations have flashes or spurts of innovation, only a handful have been able to innovate on a continuous and sustained basis. This paper surveys the challenges faced by firms when trying to build sustainable innovation programs. These findings have been derived from an examination of innovation programs in over 30 organizations in North America, Europe and Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Neil Rollings and Laurent Warlouzet, the historical analysis of the European competition policy has been a priority in the research on institutions but the reaction of companies to these policies has received less attention. This study highlights the importance of analyzing how public policies affect business strategies in innovation. More specifically, how the policy adopted by the High Authority of the ECSC regarding the scrap market influenced the strategies implemented by the steelmakers in the innovation of their production processes. The High Authority banned exports and established maximum prices and a system to equalise internal prices with import prices. This policy was considered a success by both institutions and companies. It decisively influenced the scrap price to be maintained at affordable levels in Europe. But this success in resolving the scrap problem created a larger one as it delayed innovation. This was the scrap paradox suffered by Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Favoring innovation by making timely medical technology available to people and by securing patients' safety is a challenge. The new European Medical Device Regulation (MDR) will have a central implication in the development of new devices and could affect their innovation and availability, as well as discourage investment in research within Europe. Start-ups and small companies might not be able to cope with the increasing complexity and the required changes of perspective. Health-care institutions are facing an increasing availability of complex technologies, while data on their clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness are rarely provided. A partnership/collaboration between health-care institutions, academia, and private industries will enhance their own specific interests with the common goal of improving overall health and quality of life. The complexity of the subject combined with the variety of specialists and stakeholders involved requires the implementation, in hospital centers of clinical excellence, of units dedicated to the whole path of the medical device innovation. Stakeholders should quickly provide adequate measures to facilitate the complex medical device innovation path under the more stringent MDR aimed to increase safety and quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the regional distribution and economic effect of the "creative class" on the basis of a unique data set that covers more than 500 regions in 7 European countries. The creative class is unevenly geographically distributed across Europe; the analyses show that a regional climate of tolerance and openness has a strong and positive effect on a region's share of these people. Regional job opportunities also have a large effect on the size of a region's population of the creative class. The findings reveal some evidence of a positive relationship among creative class occupation, employment growth, and entrepreneurship at the regional level in a number of European countries. On the basis of the analysis, however, it is not clear whether human capital, measured by creative occupation, outperforms indicators that are based on formal education, or if formal education has the stronger effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]