Showing papers in "Science and Public Policy in 2016"

Twenty challenges for innovation studies

Abstract: With the field of innovation studies now half a century old, the occasion has been marked by several studies looking back to identify the main advances made over its lifetime. Starting from a list of 20 advances over the field’s history, this discussion paper sets out 20 challenges for coming decades. The intention is to prompt a debate within the innovation studies community on what are, or should be, the key challenges for us to take up, and more generally on what sort of field we aspire to be. It is argued that the empirical focus of our studies has failed to keep pace with the fast changing world and economy, especially the shift from manufacturing to services and the increasingly urgent need for sustainability. Moreover, the very way we conceptualise, define, operationalise and analyse ‘innovation’ seems somewhat rooted in the past, leaving us less able to grapple with other less visible or ‘dark’ forms of innovation.

Return on investment for open source scientific hardware development

Abstract: The availability of free and open source hardware designs that can be replicated with low-cost 3-D printers provide large values to scientists that need highly-customized low-volume production scientific equipment. Digital manufacturing technologies have only recently become widespread and the return on investment (ROI) was not clear, so funding for open hardware development was historically sparse. This paper clarifies a method for determining an ROI for FOSH scientific hardware development. By using open source hardware design that can be manufactured digitally the relatively minor development costs result in enormous ROIs for the scientific community. A case study is presented of an syringe pump released under open-licenses, which results in ROIs for funders ranging from 100s to 1,000s of percent after only a few months. It is clear that policies encouraging free and open source scientific hardware development should be made by organizations interested in maximizing return on public investments for science.

Limits to meritocracy? Gender in academic recruitment and promotion processes

Abstract: According to the literature, women researchers are sometimes at a disadvantage in academic recruitment due to insufficient network ties and subtle gender biases among evaluators. But how exactly do highly formal recruitment procedures allow space for mobilizing informal, potentially gendered, network ties? Focusing on the preliminary stages of recruitment, this study covers an underexposed aspect of women’s underrepresentation in academia. By combining recruitment statistics and interviews with department heads at a Danish university, it identifies a discrepancy between the institutionalized beliefs among managers in the meritocracy and the de facto functioning of the recruitment procedures. Of the vacancies for associate- and full professorships, 40% have one applicant, and 19% are announced under closed procedures with clear implications for gender stratification. The interviews reveal a myriad of factors explaining these patterns showing how department heads sometimes exploit decoupling processes to reduce external constraints on management function and ensure organizational certainty.

Research collaboration experiences, good and bad: Dispatches from the front lines

Abstract: The scant literature on individual scientists collaboration dynamics is used to develop a provisional model of research collaboration effectiveness It incorporates external, collaborator, and team management factors, forming the basis for our theoretically informed qualitative analysis We use this provisional model to guide semi-structured interview themes, deriving data from 60 US academic researchers, selected from a range of scientific and engineering disciplines as well as one social sciences discipline (economics) We present our findings in the form of respondent quotations related to the provisional model We then conduct a further content analysis on the organizing constructs of respondent-assessed good and bad collaboration responses The results of this second thematic coding of the interview data form the basis for the refinement of our model to include additional indicators, and to discuss some preliminary expectations about the associative relationships among the external, collaborator, and team management factors that contribute to scientist collaboration

Moving from trust to trustworthiness: Experiences of public engagement in the Scottish Health Informatics Programme.

Abstract: The Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) was a Scotland-wide research programme exploring ways of collecting, managing and analysing electronic patient records for health research. As part of the SHIP public engagement work stream, a series of eight focus groups and a stakeholder workshop were conducted to explore perceptions of the role, relevance and functions of trust (or trustworthiness) in relation to research practices. The findings demonstrate that the public's relationships of trust and/or mistrust in science and research are not straightforward. This paper aims to move beyond simple descriptions of whether publics trust researchers, or in whom members of the public place their trust, and to explore more fully the bases of public trust/mistrust in science, what trust implies and equally what it means for research/researchers to be trustworthy. This has important implications for public engagement in interdisciplinary projects.

Scientists’ response to societal impact policies: A policy paradox

Abstract: Many countries have amended legislation and introduced policies to stimulate universities to transfer their knowledge to society. The effects of these policies on scientists are relatively unexplored. We employ principal–agent theory to increase our understanding of the relationship between impact policies and scientific practice. Our methodology includes the analysis of policy documents and of data gathered in focus groups. We conclude that there is a gap between policy on the one hand and how scientists perceive it on the other. Policy documents put forward a broad notion of impact, but scientists perceive them as focusing too narrowly on commercial impacts. Scientists are further puzzled by how societal impact is evaluated and organised, and their perceptions frame their behaviour. Our policy recommendations focus on improving the interaction between intermediaries, such as universities and research councils, and scientists so as to include the latter’s perspective in policy-making.

Science-policy intermediaries from a practitioner's perspective: The Lenfest Ocean Program experience

Abstract: Scientists often lament their lack of influence on environmental policy-making. Some proposed solutions, like teaching scientists to communicate more effectively, can be helpful, but are not necessarily sufficient. Instead, connecting science and policy may often require a separate kind of expert: full-time intermediaries who facilitate the complicated exchange of information among scientists, policy-makers, and other stakeholders. In this paper, we describe intermediary efforts by the Lenfest Ocean Program, a grant-making program that funds peer-reviewed research and connects scientists and decision-makers who can take action on an issue. We present case studies of intermediary work on three topics: first, sustainable methods of harvesting bull kelp in the US Pacific Northwest; second, the design of catch share programs in US fisheries; and third, management of forage fish. These case studies suggest that science-policy intermediaries can help scientists make meaningful contributions to public discourse.

One size does not fit all! New perspectives on the university in the social knowledge economy

Abstract: Universities face a tension from two urgent pressures they face, firstly to demonstrate that they deliver value for society in return for public investments, and secondly to demonstrate their responsibility by introducing strategic management to demonstrate to their funders that they meet their goals In this special issue, we explore the ways in which these tensions play out in practice, as universities facing ‘mission overload’ in turn try to develop additional regional development missions, highlighting three findings Firstly, there can be no one-size-fits all idea of a ‘third university mission’ alongside teaching and research because engagement is so context-dependent Secondly, universities and regions need much better understand their own contexts to improve their performance rather than seeking simplistic best-practice third mission instruments elsewhere Finally, higher education ministries should recognise that diversity in higher education is critical to delivering societal benefits, and uncritically believing in the power of world class universities

Ethics of Emerging Information and Communication Technologies On the implementation of responsible research and innovation

Abstract: Research and innovation in emerging technologies can have great benefits but also raise ethical and social concerns. The current discourse on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a novel attempt to come to conceptual and practical ways of dealing with such concerns. In order to effectively understand and address possible ethical and social issues, stakeholders need to have an understanding of what such issues might be. This article explores ethical issues related to the field of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs). Based on a foresight study of ICT that led to the identification of eleven emerging technologies, we outline the field of ethical and social issues of these technologies. This overview of possible problems can serve as an important sensitising device to these issues. We describe how such awareness can contribute to the successful deployment of responsible practice in research and innovation.

Comparing the knowledge bases of wind turbine firms in Asia and Europe: Patent trajectories, networks, and globalisation

Abstract: This study uses patent analyses to compare the knowledge bases of leading wind turbine firms in Asia and Europe. It concentrates on the following three aspects: the trajectories of key technologies, external knowledge networks, and the globalisation of knowledge application. Our analyses suggest that the knowledge bases differ significantly between leading wind turbine firms in Europe and Asia. Europe’s leading firms have broader and deeper knowledge bases than their Asian counterparts. In contrast, the leading Chinese firms, with their unidirectional knowledge networks, are highly domestic in orientation with respect to the application of new knowledge. However, Suzlon, the leading Indian firm, has a better knowledge position. While our quantitative analysis validates prior qualitative studies it also brings new insights. The study suggests that European firms are still leaders in this industry, and leading Asian firms are unlikely to create new pathways that will disrupt the incumbents in the near future.

Exploring efficiency differentials between Italian and Polish universities, 2001–11

Abstract: In this study, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to evaluate the relative efficiency of a sample of 54 Italian and 30 Polish state universities over the period 2001–11. The investigation was conducted in two steps. Unbiased DEA efficiency scores were first estimated and then regressed on external variables to quantitatively assess the direction and size of the impact of potential determinants. The analysis reveals a strong heterogeneity in the efficiency scores for each country, which is more pronounced than the difference in average efficiency scores between them. There is evidence that efficiency is determined by the structure of a university’s revenues and academic staff: competitive versus non-competitive resources, and the number of professors. The study also explores the variation in the efficiency and productivity over time. While changes in pure efficiency were similar between the two countries, the efficiency frontier improved more in Italy than in Poland.

The emergence of electromobility: Comparing technological pathways in France, Germany, China and India

Abstract: Globally, new forms of electromobility are challenging established transport technologies based on internal combustion engines. We explore how this transition is simultaneously unfolding in four countries, enabling us to shed some light on the dynamics and determinants of technological path creation. Our analysis covers two old industrialized countries (France and Germany) and two newly industrialized countries (China and India) with very different market conditions and policy frameworks. It reveals enormously different choices of technologies and business models and traces them back to four main drivers of divergence: technological capabilities, demand conditions, political priorities and economic governance.

Measuring the productivity of national R&D systems : challenges in cross-national comparisons of R&D input and publication output indicators

Abstract: We investigate methodological problems in measuring research productivity at the national level by comparing official R&D statistics from the OECD with publication data from the Web of Science. Data from 18 countries are analysed. This paper problematizes the approach taken in studies where R&D statistics are used as an input variable and publications as an output variable to draw conclusions about the productivity or efficiency of national research and innovation systems. We consider possible pitfalls in such analyses and propose steps that can improve the comparability of these two data sources. We recommend that efforts are made among the OECD member countries to produce more reliable and commensurable international R&D statistics.

R&D Programmes, Policy Mix, and the ‘European Paradox’: Evidence from European SMEs

Abstract: Using a sample of SMEs from 28 European countries, this study evaluates the input and output additionality of national and EU R&D programmes both separately and in combination. Accordingly, we contribute to understanding the effectiveness of policy mix, in this case of innovation policy from the perspective of multi-level governance. Empirical results are quite different for innovation inputs and innovation outputs. For innovation inputs, we found positive treatment effects from both national and EU programmes separately as well as complementary effects for firms supported from both sources relative to firms supported only by national programmes. For innovation outputs, we report no evidence of additionality from national programmes and cannot reject crowding out from EU programmes. However, crowding out from EU support is eliminated by combination with national support. These findings have policy implications for the governance of R&D policy and suggest that the European Paradox – success of EU support in promoting R&D inputs but not commercialisation – is not yet mitigated.

The rural university campus and support for rural innovation

Abstract: This paper examines the potential for engagement in local innovation activities of six rural university campus developments in the UK. A number of common narratives emerged around the tension between local educational interests, and the needs of local industry. The paper examines both the strategies of the campuses and the expectations of local partners. Whilst these new campuses have been able to add to the regional innovation systems of rural areas, they struggle with economies of scale and scope. Where disciplinary specialisation has been pursued, potential exists for engagement with niche clusters, although a long development period is required. Where campuses have focused on broad educational equity issues, engagement with business has been difficult to achieve. Overall policies to enhance rural innovation through new university campuses must be seen to be very long term strategies and not necessarily congruent with strategies to increase HE participation and equity of opportunity.

Resilient science: The civic epistemology of disaster risk reduction

Abstract: AD gratefully acknowledges support from a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, part-funded by the Isaac Newton Trust, University of Cambridge. AD would also like to thank Professor Susan Owens for productive and enjoyable discussions.

Global Technology Leadership: The Case of China

Abstract: Over the last century and a half, global technological leadership has shifted from Great Britain to the USA. In this paper we argue that China is positioning itself to assume global leadership in technology within the coming few decades. We identify three sources of competitive advantage for China’s ascent in the global technology stakes: its massive domestic market, its centralized power and willingness to employ state-sponsored industrial policy and government support, and the process of globalization that continues to transform markets worldwide. After acknowledging skeptical views of China’s capacity to achieve global technology leadership, we survey the present state of affairs and assess its prospects for growth based on statistical evidence and multiple examples. We argue that the three sources of competitive advantage we explicate offer China a path to imminent global technological leadership.

Financing patterns of R&D in small and medium-sized enterprises and the perception of innovation barriers in Germany

Abstract: We analyze the role public support plays in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) R&D financing as well as these firms’ assessments of financing conditions in the context of other framework conditions for innovation. Using the sample of 2,708 German SMEs that participated in public R&D promotion programs during 2005–10, we identify four unique types of R&D financing. Firms are generally positive about public financing of R&D in Germany, although a group of R&D companies without a track record that wish to introduce an innovation to the market find it difficult to procure a loan. SMEs perceive obstacles to innovation primarily in the non-financial sphere, namely, the supply of skilled personnel, market regulation, and competition conditions. Therefore, future work on innovation policies for SMEs should place greater emphasis on the non-financial external framework conditions for firm R&D and innovative activity.

Research funding and national academic performance: Examination of a Danish success story

Abstract: The relationship between research policy and academic performance is highly relevant to policy. Yet our knowledge of the effects of different systemic factors is still limited and inconclusive. In an explorative, single country case study covering a timespan of three decades this study examines the effects of changes in selected funding factors based on the notion that funding plays a decisive role in defining the scope, content and direction of public research. The analysis reveals that Denmark, which today is a top research nation, experienced a turning point in impact in the early 1990s which coincided with a number of systemic policy changes. However, the analysis also shows that even at this detailed, long-term level of analysis the relationships are far from straightforward. A number of explanations for the difficulties related to opening the black box of national research performance are discussed in the concluding section.

Policy learning and smart specialization: balancing policy change and continuity for new regional industrial paths

Abstract: This article seeks to explain what policy approaches and policy measures are best suited for promoting new regional industrial path development and what needs and possibilities there are for such policy to change and adapt to new conditions in order to remain efficient. The article departs from the notion of Smart Specialization and discusses how regional strategies that are inspired by this approach influence path renewal and new path creation and how they are related to and aligned with policy strategies implemented at other scales (local, regional, national, supranational). Our main argument is that new regional industrial growth paths require both continuity and change within the support structure of the innovation system. Unless smart specialization strategies are able to combine such adaptation and continuity, they fail to promote path renewal and new path creation. Our arguments are illustrated with empirical findings from the regional innovation system of Scania, South Sweden. (Less)

The combined effects of age and seniority on research performance of full professors

Abstract: In this paper we examine the relationship between research performance, age, and seniority in academic rank of full professors in the Italian academic system. Differently from a large part of the literature, our results generally show a negative monotonic relationship between age and research performance, in all the disciplines under analysis. We also highlight a positive relationship between seniority in rank and performance, occurring particularly in certain disciplines. While in medicine, biology, and chemistry this result could be explained by the 'accumulative advantage' effect, in other disciplines, like civil engineering, and pedagogy and psychology, it could be due to the existence of a large performance differential between young and mature researchers, at the moment of the promotion to full professors. These results, witnessed both generally and at the level of the individual disciplines, offer useful insights for policy makers and administrators in academia on the role of older professors.

Universities and external engagement activities: Particular profiles for particular universities?

Abstract: Studies of universities’ external engagement have found that individual and discipline-level characteristics explain most of the participation in different kinds of external engagement activities, but characteristics at the institutional level are often not studied explicitly. In this paper, we analyze how five different forms of external engagement are influenced by a range of factors, using a multilevel regression approach on a complex combined dataset including a survey to 4400 Norwegian academics and detailed data on the 31 higher education institutions where the academics are employed. The goal is to test whether university-level characteristics matter for participation in different kinds of external engagement, when we also control for the influence of individual and discipline level factors. We find that university-level variables explain few of the differences in external engagement among academic staff in general. Still, there are important nuances, and the multi-level analysis has revealed a complex picture of influences on forms of external engagement among academics. Participation in consultancy and commercialization among academics is in particular influenced by university-level factors.

Signaling and accrediting new technology: Use of procurement for innovation in China

Abstract: In China the use of public procurement as an innovation policy instrument has been closely associated with the drive to promote indigenous innovation. Implementation was largely through the use of catalogues intended to signal and t of ormally accredit the supply and demand of technologically-oriented products. This paper reviews these experiences by examining the wider context and three case studies. Accreditation is shown to carry a risk of protectionism. Signaling performs a function analogous to a technology roadmap and was assisted by giving listed technologies priority for public procurement. For both types of instrument the intended mechanism did not work as planned but the broader role they sought to fill was an important factor in bringing innovations to market. The appropriateness and effectiveness of such instruments are shown to be dependent upon the state of both the innovation and the procurement systems in which they are set.

How venture capitalists decide which new medical technologies come to exist

Abstract: To encourage the commercial translation of biomedical discoveries, public policies increasingly seek to stimulate the venture capital industry. Very little is known, however, about the way venture capitalists assess the likely benefits new technologies may bring to clinical practice and healthcare systems. Drawing on a five-year fieldwork conducted in Quebec (Canada), which included in-depth interviews and document analysis, we explore why capital investors choose to invest in certain health technology-based ventures and how they influence the innovation process. Our findings clarify how capital investors: first, use market-oriented valuations when they pick and ‘coach’ technology entrepreneurs; second, act to transform and protect their investments; and finally, exert their authority along the technology development process. Current innovation policies should be carefully examined because capital investors’ understanding of the world in which they operate largely determines which health technologies make their way into healthcare systems and which may never come into existence.

Convergence or divergence? Wind power innovation paths in Europe and Asia

Abstract: Wind power is increasingly vital for meeting energy challenges and mitigating global climate change and is therefore an important part of renewable energy portfolios in many countries. Given the key and evolving roles of European and Asian countries in driving this sector, this article focuses on two sets of key questions: first, do wind power innovation paths differ between Europe and Asia? If so, how do they differ? Second, do innovation paths reflect different initial conditions in Europe and Asia? Can we expect divergence in the future? We find that although national paths are shaped by a range of national characteristics and therefore differ along key dimensions, the increasing roles of cross-national firm interactions amplify tendencies towards global convergence. These patterns of divergence and convergence can potentially enhance the contribution of wind power to the low-carbon transition but also have implications for the competitive dynamics of the wind power industry.

How smart is specialisation? An analysis of specialisation patterns in knowledge production

Abstract: To understand how the specialisation patterns of cities differ among scientific fields, we study patterns of knowledge production in Astrophysics, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Organic Chemistry in the period 1996-2012. Using keywords from journal publications, we find systematic differences across scientific fields, but remarkable similarities across cities within each field. Biotechnology shows a turbulent pattern with comparative advantages that are short lasting, and with few related topics are available for research locations. Astrophysics-and in later years Nanotechnology-show a pattern of stable rankings, comparative advantages that last longer, and many related topics potentially available for research locations. Organic Chemistry has an intermediate position. Thus, fields of knowledge production have fundamentally different characteristics that require different smart specialisation strategies taking into account the differences in accumulation and relatedness.

Knowledge and rent spillovers through government-sponsored R&D consortia

Abstract: This paper empirically examines the spillover effects through government-sponsored RD among their customers, only large firms enjoy indirect spillover effects.

Gender and patterns of temporary mobility among researchers

Abstract: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Science and Public Policy following peer review. The version of record Canibano Sanchez, Carolina, Fox, Mary Frank , Otamendi, F. Javier . (2016). Gender and patterns of temporary mobility among researchers.Science and Public Policy, 43, 3, 320-331. DOI: 10.1093/scipol/scv042 is available online at: http://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scv042