1,720,963 research outputs found
Steering responsible innovation: the impact of EU REACH legislation on the novelty and toxicity of chemical inventions
No full textThis study investigates the influence of EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation on the technological trajectory of the chemical industry. Focusing on the Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) list, this study used a novel dataset of chemical patents and structures filed at the European Patent Office (EPO) over the period from 1990 to 2016. A staggered difference-in-differences approach with inverse probability weights was used to measure the impact of the SVHC list on the novelty and toxicity of chemical patents. The analysis revealed a substantial increase in the chemical novelty of patents after the introduction of the SVHC list. Simultaneously, a significant decrease in the toxicity of these patents was observed, underpinning the legislative intent of REACH. These findings highlight the ability of regulatory frameworks to strategically steer innovation, reinforcing the alignment between technological advancement and the overarching goals of responsible and sustainable development
Behind the scenes of “Peripheral visions: the film and television industry in Galway, Ireland”
No full textIn commemoration of its 30th anniversary, Industry and Innovation renewed the tradition of awarding a ‘Best Paper Prize.’ This prize aims to honour the best article published in the journal each year, starting from 2021. In this revived initiative, the Editorial Board evaluates all papers published in the reference year and identifies the most relevant and original articles. Within this shortlist, the members of the Editorial Advisory Board cast their vote on the best paper of the year. Looking back at the work published in an issue during 2021, the article ‘Peripheral Visions: The Film and Television Industry in Galway, Ireland,’ by Dominic Power and Patrick Collins, was distinguished for being conceptually novel and methodological bold while inviting us to reconsider the value of peripheries in innovation studies. In this Interview Article, the authors provide insights into their research journey and enrich our understanding of their work’s context and significance
Striving for balance: past choices and future expectations in a critical resource competition dynamic model
No full textThis study investigates market dynamics where a firm's output and market share are influenced by its ability to acquire and effectively utilize technological resources. The proposed model integrates historical decision-making with strategic responses to competitors, focusing on how firms choose to acquire a critical resource. The analysis considers two decision-making mechanisms: one where the firm's inertia remains constant over time and another where inertia varies based on the information available about current decisions made by both the firm and its rivals. The findings highlight scenarios where market behavior becomes complex and chaotic, with irregular fluctuations in resource acquisition choices and high sensitivity to initial market conditions. Furthermore, the study shows that an endogenous decision-making mechanism-where the firm's inertia adjusts in response to its rivals' strategies-can help reduce, or even reverse, disparities in market leadership. Finally, the interaction between two firms capable of adapting their decision-making based on performance leads to markedly different market dynamics compared to scenarios where such flexibility is absent
The noxious consequences of innovation: what do we know?
No full textIn spite of being considered an undisputed engine of growth, innovation can have noxious consequences for society and the environment. Using bibliometric techniques (i.e. bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis), we conduct a review of the extant research on the noxious impacts of innovation. Although this is a relatively recent field of enquiry, we identified five strands of scholarly research, which, based on their focus, we have labelled: (A) Work-related consequences of technology acceptance; (B) Unsustainable transitions; (C) Innovation and growth downside effects; (D) The dangers of emerging technologies and (E) Open innovation’s dark side. We discuss the core ideas and research agendas in these research strands and the intellectual antecedents of each sub-community, and conclude by suggesting avenues for future research
Food waste reduction, corporate responsibility and national policies: evidence from Europe
No full textPurpose: This paper investigates strategies for addressing the global challenge of food loss and waste (FLW) within the food industry. It examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and state regulatory interventions for reducing FLW. Design/methodology/approach: This mixed method study utilizes a unique panel dataset which includes the 150 largest food industry companies in Italy, Norway and the UK. It combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative insights derived from corporate strategies and corporate communications. Findings: The analysis reveals that food companies with an established CSR strategy and in particular companies whose CSR reports highlight their environmental and social achievements are more likely to achieve in effective FLW reduction. Additionally, national-level regulatory interventions guided by European Union waste strategies act as pivotal benchmarks and encourage stricter corporate food waste management policies. Practical implications: This research underscores the significance of CSR strategies and effective state regulation in the fight against FLW and offers policymakers and businesses valuable insights enabling development of robust strategies. Social implications: By emphasizing the interplay between CSR and regulatory intervention, this research contributes to the achievement of a more sustainable and efficient global food system that addresses both economic and ethical concerns and could have far-reaching societal and environmental implications. Originality/value: The paper sheds light on the interplay between CSR initiatives and regulatory interventions for tackling FLW and emphasizes their synergistic impact on sustainable practices within the food industry
Asbestos, leaded petrol, and other aberrations: comparing countries’ regulatory responses to disapproved products and technologies
No full textIndustrial innovation churns out increasingly unnatural products and technologies amid scientific uncertainty about their harmful effects. We argue that a quick regulatory response to the discovery that certain innovations are harmful is an important indicator for evaluating the performance of an innovation system. Using a unique hand-collected dataset, we explore the temporal geography of regulatory responses as evidenced by the years in which countries introduce bans against leaded petrol, asbestos, DDT, smoking in public places, and plastic bags, as well as introducing the driver’s seatbelt obligation. We find inconsistent regulatory responses by countries across different threats, and that countries’ level of economic development is often not a good predictor of early bans. Moreover, an early introduction of one ban is not strongly related to the relative performance in regard to another ban, which raises possible questions about the coherence of regulatory responses across different threats
Shortcuts to award winning research: analogies from ‘shortcuts to innovation: the use of analogies in knowledge production’
No full textIn this interview, we explore the innovative research that earned Soomi Kim the Best Paper Award at DRUID 2024. As a partner of DRUID, Industry and Innovation presents an exclusive view into the research journey behind Kim’s celebrated work. Her study ‘Shortcuts to Innovation: The Use of Analogies in Knowledge Production’ examines how innovators venture into uncharted territories, using analogies to transfer knowledge from related domains. Using structural biology as the empirical setting, her findings highlight both the advantages and limitations of employing analogy-based technologies, such as machine learning, to speed up discovery. In this conversation, Kim reveals the inspiration, challenges, and breakthroughs that defined her research, providing a unique perspective on the paths leading to her pioneering work. Just as her paper examines how analogical reasoning and its technological automation serve as shortcuts in knowledge production, this conversation offers a unique lens on the pathways that shape groundbreaking research
Patent Toxicity
No full textA toxic-free world is one of the goals of the European Green Deal and a key objective of the World Health Organization Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals. However, although use of some toxic chemicals is being banned, others continue to be developed. We consider this motivation for a closer examination of the toxicity of chemical inventions. We combine patent analysis with computational toxicology and develop a methodological roadmap to measure patent toxicity, that is, the extent to which a patent includes “components” (or compounds) that are toxic to humans and/or the environment. To illustrate our proposed methodology, we analyse the toxicity of ten well-known hazardous chemicals and compare it against that of other groups of chemical patents. We suggest that the measurement of patent toxicity opens up interesting avenues for future research with, potentially, strong policy implications
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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