135,042 research outputs found
R&D Activities of Flemish Companies in the Private Sector: An Analysis for the period 1998-2002
No full textThe second chapter of this Study analyses the results of the last two surveys (2000 and 2002). These surveys cover a period of rapid expansion of R&D-activities in the Flemish economy. The BERD has grown on average with nearly 13% yearly between 1998 and 2001. The most important characteristic of Flemish business R&D is the very strong concentration of R&Dexpenditures in a few big firms (the top 5 stands for 63% of the expenditures of all permanent R&D players) and in a few sectors (66% in the chemical ICT sector). This concentration has been increasing even further during this period of expansion and re-inforced tendencies of outsourcing (up to 23%), the capital intensity of research, as well as in a shift from research to development (the latter from 70 tot 77%). Another characteristic is the predominance of foreign decision power: nearly 90% of R&D expenditures are performed in foreign controlled enterprises. But those firms are well integrated in the Flemish innovation system. R&D cooperations have been executed for the larger part (45%) with Flemish partners, and they receive the larger majority of R&D outsourcing. R&D is mostly product oriented (62%, vs. 24% process oriented); 56% of R&D actors have introduced new or technologically improved products and 40% new or technologically improved processes during 2000-2001.R&D activities private sector Flanders 3%
Who writes the pay slip? Do R&D subsidies merely increase researcher wages?.
No full textGovernment intervention in private R&D activity is common practice nowadays. However, its impact may not be unambiguously positive. First, companies may simply replace private R&D budgets with the public R&D grant. Second, even if an increase in private R&D investment is confirmed, it may not automatically induce more R&D output: the additional R&D budget may be crowded out by duplicate or more risky research, or a mere increase in researcher wages. This paper empirically analyzes the effect of public R&D subsidies on private R&D investments, employment and wages in Flanders, using a parametric treatment effects models on the funding status as well as IV regression models on the amount of funding. Positive additionality effects are supported, measured in terms of R&D expenditure, employment and wages. However, partial crowding out cannot be rejected.R&D subsidies; R&D expenditure; R&D employment; R&D wages; policy evaluation; treatment effects model; IV model;
On a first-name basis: Englishization and naming in Flanders
No full textFollowing and contributing to the ongoing shift from more structuralist, system-oriented to more pragmatic, socio-cultural oriented anglicism research, this paper verifies to what extent the global spread of English affects naming patterns in Flanders. To this end, a diachronic database of first names is constructed, containing the top 75 most popular boy and girl names from 2005 until 2014. In a first step, the etymological background of these names is documented and the evolution in popularity of the English names in the database is tracked. Results reveal no notable surge in the preference for English names. This paper complements these database-driven results with an experimental study, aiming to show how associations through referents are in this case more telling than associations through phonological form (here based on etymology). Focusing on the socio-cultural background of first names in general and of Anglo-American pop culture in particular, the second part of the study specifically reports on results from a survey where participants are asked to name the first three celebrities that leap to mind when hearing a certain first name (e.g. Lana, triggering the response Del Rey). Very clear associations are found between certain first names and specific celebrities from Anglo-American pop culture. Linking back to marketing research and the social turn in onomastics, we will discuss how these celebrities might function as referees, and how social stereotypes surrounding these referees are metonymically attached to their first names. Similar to the country-of-origin-effect in marketing, these metonymical links could very well be the reason why parents select specific “celebrity names”. Although further attitudinal research is needed, this paper supports the importance of including socio-cultural parameters when conducting onomastic research
Are Local Milieus the Key to Innovation Performance?
No full textThis study investigates how local milieus foster innovation success in firms. We complement the common practice of linking firm performance indicators to regional characteristics with survey evidence on the perceived importance of locational factors. While the former approach assumes that location characteristics affect all firms in the same way, the survey allows us to model how firms judge the attractiveness of locations using a heterogeneous set of criteria. It turns out that the availability of highly skilled labor and the proximity to suppliers matter for firms' innovation performance. Interestingly, location factors obtained from the survey provide a more accurate explanation of how local milieus facilitate innovation. --Innovation performance,R&D,location factors,Flanders
Are Local Milieus the Key to Innovation Performance?
No full textThis study investigates how local milieus foster innovation success of firms. We complement the common practice of linking firm performance indicators to regional characteristics with survey evidence on the perceived importance of locational factors. While the former approach assumes that location characteristics affect all firms in the same way, the survey allows us to model firms judging the attractiveness of locations by a heterogeneous set of criteria. It turns out that the availability of highly skilled labor and the proximity to suppliers matters for firms? innovation performance. Interestingly, location factors obtained from the survey provide a more accurate explanation on how local milieus facilitate innovation. --Innovation performance,R&D,location factors,Flanders
GINI DP 10: Who Reaps the Benefits? The social distribution of public childcare in Sweden and Flanders
No full textThe main goal of this paper is to unravel the social distribution of childcare policies: who benefi ts from government investment on public childcare? If childcare policies are mainly used by those already working, and (scarce) budgetary resources thus end up with the higher income brackets, genuine concern arises about the distributional consequences of childcare policies on the one hand, and its effectiveness as an instrument to activate mothers with young children into the labour market on the other. Answering this question is a complex endeavour, because one has to simultaneously take into account the (possibly income-differentiated) tariff structure of childcare services and private childcare costs (parental fees), government expenditures (subsidies to childcare providers) and tax concessions. In this contribution, we develop a fi ne-grained analysis to reveal the distributional impact of public childcare for two countries (Flanders/Belgium and Sweden) already reaching the Barcelona targets for under 3s and interpret the results in a European perspective. We fi nd that, although both cases report high coverage rates, Sweden and Flanders have very different and even opposite distributional outcomes. Both examples provide us with valuable lessons on the redistributive nature of “new risk policies” and the effectiveness of childcare as an instrument of labour market activation.
R&D, Innovation and the Impact on Productivity in Flanders
No full textThis paper presents an empirical study on productivity growth using data from the Flemish part of the Community Innovation Survey 2005. In particuiar, we investigate growth differences between R&D-performing firms and non-R&D performers. As internal R&D is only one source of innovativeness, we also consider growth contributions of product and process innovations. Using a sample of more than 1,200 firms in Flemish manufacturing and selected services, we find that R&D-performers show an almost 6%-points higher growtb rate between 2002 and 2004 than non-R&D performers, on average. However, once product and process innovation are introduced in the model, the contribution of R&D drops to about 4%-points. Interestingly, we find that process innovations are an important driver of productivity growth while product innovations have no significant impact once it is controlled for R&D activity.Productivity Growth, R&D, Innovation, Flanders, Community Innovation Survey (CIS)
Decentralized Rural Development Policies: Does it Make Sense? The Example of Diversification in Flanders
No full textChanges in consumer preferences and demands, the process of globalisation, etc. together with the pressure of the United States to continue liberalisation of the farm sector in Europe, have caused the European Union to adapt its policy. There has been a shift in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) towards a more decentralised approach. In this paper, it is analysed if this approach is justified for rural development, by describing the case of on-farm diversification in Flanders. Using survey results, it is tested if the decision to do on-farm diversification depends not only on farm and farmer characteristics (e.g. age and gender of the farmer, his or her education, having a successor, arable surface, farm type and financial situation) but also on the location of the farm. By including a location variable in the regression, the explanatory power improves and the influence of some variables changes. This suggests that location is important when trying to alter the decision of a farmer to do on-farm diversification. Therefore policy should be decentralised to a level where location differences can be dealt with. This decentralisation is to a certain extent already taken up in the Rural Development Policy in Flanders where location specificities are taken into account for when on-farm diversification in different zones is stimulated. The results support the idea of strengthening bottom-up policies as proposed in the new Rural Development Policy 2007-2013 of the EU and this not only for on-farm diversification, but for all parts of rural development.On-farm diversification, local policy, decentralisation, farm location, farm strategy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,
Policy design and the optimal location of forests in Flanders
No full textThis paper analyses the current Flemish afforestation policy and shows that this policy is likely to be non-optimal and can be improved. An important step in improving the afforestation policy in Flanders is the selection of the optimal location of a cluster of new forests as a whole. The analysis of the optimal location can provide the regulator with objective criteria, which can be used to develop optimal regulations. It is also worthwhile to consider alternative policies, such as auctions for afforestations projects. To this effect, we investigate several policy options and test these in a real-life example for the creation of new forests in East Flanders.Afforestation / policy instruments / optimal location
Impact of the ‘Family-firm life cycle’ on the Management Processes Involved in Sustainable Glasshouse Horticulture
No full textIn Flanders glasshouse vegetables and ornamental plants are typically produced at family businesses. At this type of businesses the objectives and long-term firm developments are influenced by the so called ‘family-firm life cycle’. In many cases the firm shows a life cycle that corresponds with the life cycle of the entrepreneur. The objective of the paper is to test the hypothesis that the ‘family-firm life cycle’ will have an impact on the personal and business characteristics, objectives and the quality of the management processes involved in sustainable glasshouse horticulture. As sustainable horticulture integrates the three P’s (People, Planet, Profit) special attention is paid to human resource, environmental and financial management. Data for the research are based on interviews and accounting data at 138 glasshouse holdings situated in Flanders (northern part of Belgium). The results reveal that the glasshouse managers in the different phases of the ‘family-firm life cycle’ show significant differences in age, education level and numbers of seminars attended. The economic dimension, modernity of durable goods, solvency and investment pattern of the firms in the different stages of the ‘family-firm life cycle’ also show significant differences. At the older businesses the availability of a successor has an important influence. The results confirm the hypothesis that the objectives and the quality of the management processes involved in environmental, human resource and financial management are dependent on the phase in the ‘family-firm life cycle’. In the early stages firm managers are more ambitious and attach a higher importance to the management processes involved in sustainable development. In the later stages the availability of a successor has an important influence. Unexpectedly no significant influence of the phase in the ‘family-firm life cycle’ on the income obtained per familial labour unit is found. The insights derived from this research have important implications both for research and practice. They can enable glasshouse growers and advisers to take and/or support correct decisions and may help policy makers to differentiate on the base of the ‘family-firm life cycle’.farm management, horticulture, sustainability, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,
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