Competencies and Institutions Fostering High-growth Firms

Competencies and Institutions Fostering High-growth Firms PDF Author: Martin J. Wainwright
Publisher: Now Publishers Inc
ISBN: 1601981767
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Book Description
The formalism of probabilistic graphical models provides a unifying framework for capturing complex dependencies among random variables, and building large-scale multivariate statistical models. Graphical models have become a focus of research in many statistical, computational and mathematical fields, including bioinformatics, communication theory, statistical physics, combinatorial optimization, signal and image processing, information retrieval and statistical machine learning. Many problems that arise in specific instances-including the key problems of computing marginals and modes of probability distributions-are best studied in the general setting. Working with exponential family representations, and exploiting the conjugate duality between the cumulant function and the entropy for exponential families, Graphical Models, Exponential Families and Variational Inference develops general variational representations of the problems of computing likelihoods, marginal probabilities and most probable configurations. It describes how a wide variety of algorithms- among them sum-product, cluster variational methods, expectation-propagation, mean field methods, and max-product-can all be understood in terms of exact or approximate forms of these variational representations. The variational approach provides a complementary alternative to Markov chain Monte Carlo as a general source of approximation methods for inference in large-scale statistical models.

Competencies and Institutions Fostering High-Growth Firms

Competencies and Institutions Fostering High-Growth Firms PDF Author: Magnus Henrekson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Book Description
High-growth firms (HGFs) are critical for net job creation and economic growth. We analyze HGFs using the theory of competence blocs, linking firm growth to property rights and the interaction of complementary expertise. Specifically, we discuss how the institutional framework affects the prevalence and performance of HGFs. Firm growth is viewed as resulting from the perpetual discovery and use of productive knowledge.A key element in this process is the competence bloc, a nexus of economic actors with complementary competencies that are vital in order to generate and commercialize novel ideas. The institutional framework determines the incentives for these individuals to acquire and utilize knowledge. We identify a number of institutions that foster the emergence of competence blocs and the creation of HGFs. In particular, our analysis points to the pivotal roles played by tax structures, labor market regulation, and the contestability of currently closed service markets. Finally, we characterize institutions beneficial for sclerotic or dynamic capitalism, respectively, depending on whether they provide a favorable environment for the emergence of competence blocs and the creation of HGFs.

SBIR at NASA

SBIR at NASA PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309377870
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 379

Book Description
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is one of the largest examples of U.S. public-private partnerships, and was established in 1982 to encourage small businesses to develop new processes and products and to provide quality research in support of the U.S. government's many missions. The U.S. Congress tasked the National Research Council with undertaking a comprehensive study of how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation and used small businesses to meet federal research and development needs, and with recommending further improvements to the program. In the first round of this study, an ad hoc committee prepared a series of reports from 2004 to 2009 on the SBIR program at the five agencies responsible for 96 percent of the program's operations-including NASA. In a follow-up to the first round, NASA requested from the Academies an assessment focused on operational questions in order to identify further improvements to the program. Public-private partnerships like SBIR are particularly important since today's knowledge economy is driven in large part by the nation's capacity to innovate. One of the defining features of the U.S. economy is a high level of entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs in the United States see opportunities and are willing and able to assume risk to bring new welfare-enhancing, wealth-generating technologies to the market. Yet, although discoveries in various fields present new opportunities, converting these discoveries into innovations for the market involves substantial challenges. The American capacity for innovation can be strengthened by addressing the challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

Innovation and Growth

Innovation and Growth PDF Author: Martin Andersson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191636398
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
This volume provides an understanding of firms' R&D and innovation strategies and their economy-wide consequences. It is based on the premise that differences in firm-level returns, as well as economy-wide outcomes, may be linked to the heterogeneous ways in which firms organize and undertake R&D and innovation activities. It emphasizes innovation strategies of innovating firms, and reflects that innovation efforts do not represent a uniform type of expenditure. Organized into three parts the volume moves from the micro to the macro-level. This structure highlights the notion that R&D and innovation and growth are two interdependent perspectives. The first of these is micro-oriented and focuses on innovation processes of firms, where R&D activities and other innovation efforts give rise to consequences such as a strengthening of resource bases, growth of sales and employment, patents, new products, increasing productivity and profits, and improved chances of survival. The second perspective comprises economy-wide effects in the form of overall technological change, growth in total factor productivity, and structural change processes, where certain sectors may benefit from new inputs from other sectors while others experience declining markets and reduced output. The book brings together contributions and perspectives from both economics and business scholars, and will appeal to academics, researchers, and students interested in R&D and innovation strategies, international business, business strategy, and the economics of technological change.

Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship in Social, Sustainable, and Economic Development

Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship in Social, Sustainable, and Economic Development PDF Author: Sebastian Aparicio
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3039437593
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship have become a vehicle that offers solutions for social, environmental, and economic problems. Even though the level of entrepreneurial activity and its diversity have been motivated through public policies, social support has also played an important role in encouraging people to think of entrepreneurship as a desirable career choice. This book brings together analyses of those elements required for entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial intention and action, which ultimately become important leverages of development. Chapters highlight the importance of rural, urban, university, organizational, and family environments for a bunch of intentions and behaviors such as green, sport, social, corporate, innovative, traditional, and gender entrepreneurship. This entrepreneurial diversity is translated into higher development through the empowerment of women, environmental consciousness, and efficient production. Policymakers, scholars, and practitioners can find different examples and cases useful for decision-making, learning, and practice in this book.

The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness

The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness PDF Author: David B. Audretsch
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199993319
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 529

Book Description
The local levels of economies have felt the impact of technological change and globalization. These forces have triggered the need to understand the dynamic mechanisms that enable locales to respond to such changes. For example, the downsizing of traditional employers because of a major loss in market share due to new competitors, acquisition by global firms, or off-shoring of production or services was traditionally thought to be beyond the scope of powers of local policy makers, thinkers, and business leaders. In the world of practice, those concerned about the economic performance of place-city, region or state-are increasingly focused on how to adapt to these trends and leverage their existing resources to respond to these global challenges as a positive opportunity. The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness brings together some of the leading minds in the fields of business, economics, and the social sciences to identify, articulate, and analyze what influences and shapes local competitiveness and what places can do to enhance their economic performance. The contributors to the Handbook provide a body of systematic analyses suggesting that the local context is a critical element of the forces that shape competitiveness. The challenges to generate and sustain economic performance vary across places, and the factors and conditions that either enhance or impede competiveness also are place-specific. Finally, the characteristics and nature of what constitutes success also vary across places. This Handbook is essential reading material for academics in the fields of economics and public policy, as well as business leaders who hope to gain a more in-depth understanding of their field. Informative and intellectually rigorous, The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness is the definitive volume of scholarly analysis regarding the relationship between place and economic competition.

SBIR/STTR at the National Institutes of Health

SBIR/STTR at the National Institutes of Health PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030937877X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 461

Book Description
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide federal research and development funding to small businesses. In 2008, the National Research Council completed a comprehensive assessment of the SBIR and STTR programs. The first-round study found that the programs were "sound in concept and effective in practice." Building on the outcomes from the Phase I study, this second phase examines both topics of general policy interest that emerged during the first phase and topics of specific interest to individual agencies, and provides a second snapshot to measure the program's progress against its legislative goals.

SBIR/STTR at the Department of Energy

SBIR/STTR at the Department of Energy PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030943792X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 435

Book Description
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is one of the largest examples of U.S. public-private partnerships, and was established in 1982 to encourage small businesses to develop new processes and products and to provide quality research in support of the U.S. government's many missions. The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program was created in 1992 by the Small Business Research and Development Enhancement Act to expand joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions by requiring small business recipients to collaborate formally with a research institution. The U.S. Congress tasked the National Research Council with undertaking a comprehensive study of how the SBIR and STTR programs have stimulated technological innovation and used small businesses to meet federal research and development needs, and with recommending further improvements to the programs. In the first round of this study, an ad hoc committee prepared a series of reports from 2004 to 2009 on the SBIR and STTR programs at the five agencies responsible for 96 percent of the programs' operations-including the Department of Energy (DoE). Building on the outcomes from the first round, this second round presents the committee's second review of the DoE SBIR program's operations. Public-private partnerships like SBIR and STTR are particularly important since today's knowledge economy is driven in large part by the nation's capacity to innovate. One of the defining features of the U.S. economy is a high level of entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs in the United States see opportunities and are willing and able to assume risk to bring new welfare-enhancing, wealth-generating technologies to the market. Yet, although discoveries in areas such as genomics, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology present new opportunities, converting these discoveries into innovations for the market involves substantial challenges. The American capacity for innovation can be strengthened by addressing the challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

Essays in Public Sector Entrepreneurship

Essays in Public Sector Entrepreneurship PDF Author: David B. Audretsch
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319266772
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Book Description
This book explores public sector entrepreneurship from an international perspective. It features essays from eminent scholars in the field addressing entrepreneurial public policies from different countries. Public sector entrepreneurship is at the cusp of becoming a watchword in international policy circles. This book is a pioneer volume in this emerging field and provides topics and policies that are broadly applicable across different economies. Public sector entrepreneurship refers to innovative public policy initiatives that generate greater economic prosperity by transforming a status-quo economic environment into one that is more conducive to economic units engaging in creative activities in the face of uncertainty. In today’s economy, public sector entrepreneurship affects that transformation primarily by increasing the effectiveness of knowledge networks; that is, by increasing the heterogeneity of experiential ties among economic units and the ability of those same economic units to exploit such diversity. Through policy initiatives that are characterized by public sector entrepreneurship, there will be more development of new technology and hence more innovation throughout the economy.

SBIR at the Department of Defense

SBIR at the Department of Defense PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309306590
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 413

Book Description
Created in 1982 through the Small Business Innovation Development Act, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program remains the nation's single largest innovation program for small business. The SBIR program offers competitive awards to support the development and commercialization of innovative technologies by small private-sector businesses. At the same time, the program provides government agencies with technical and scientific solutions that address their different missions. SBIR at the Department of Defense considers ways that the Department of Defense SBIR program could work better in addressing the congressional objectives for the SBIR program to stimulate technological innovation, use small businesses to meet federal research and development (R & D) needs, foster and encourage the participation of socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, and increase the private sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal R&D. An earlier report, An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program at the Department of Defense, studied how the SBIR program has stimulated technological innovation and used small businesses to meet federal research and development needs. This report builds on the previous one, with a revised survey of SBIR companies. SBIR at the Department of Defense revisits some case studies from the 2009 study and develops new ones, and interviews agency managers and other stakeholders to provide a second snapshot of the program's progress toward achieving its legislative goals.