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Abstract: There is now almost a decade of experience with RRI (Responsible Research and Innovation), including a growing emphasis on RRI in industry. Based on our experiences in the EU-funded project PRISMA, we find that the companies we engaged could be motivated to do RRI, but often only after we first shifted initial assumptions and strategies. Accordingly, we formulate six lessons we learned in the expectation that they will be relevant both for RRI in industry as well as for the future of RRI more broadly. These lessons are: (1) Strategize for stakeholder engagement; (2) Broaden current assessments; (3) Place values center stage; (4) Experiment for responsiveness; (5) Monitor RRI progress; and (6) Aim for shared value.
Abstract: The evolution of industry has recently attracted the attention of scholars studying the relationships between exploration and exploitation strategies and innovation performance. Surprisingly, although extant research has already acknowledged its multidimensional character, it has only been analyzed in an aggregate fashion. In this paper, we distinguish two components of the evolution of industry, the pace of market evolution and the pace of technology evolution, and we elaborate on their different impacts in the context of exploration and exploitation strategies. More precisely, we argue that while a rapid pace of technology evolution has opposite impacts on the relationships between exploration (positive), exploitation (negative) and innovation performance, a rapid pace of market evolution positively affects both exploration and exploitation. Our findings provide substantial support for our prediction using a large panel of Spanish innovating firms for the period 2008–2012.
Abstract: This paper investigates whether convergence or divergence of robot densities in the manufacturing industries of 24 EU countries occurred over the period from 1995 to 2015. An answer to this question permits immediate conclusions with regard to the success of convergence of labour productivities within the manufacturing industries of the EU, since it is expected that the use of robots will contribute to the growth of labour productivity. The empirical analysis is based on the robot data of the International Federation of Robotics and uses the convergence testing approach proposed by Rodrik (Q J Econ 128(1):165–204, 2013). Taking all results together, empirical evidence points to non-convergence of robot densities for a first period from 1995 to 2005, while there is relatively fast conditional as well as unconditional convergence for the second period from 2005 to 2015.
Abstract: The manufacturing industry is a key sector in many national economies and is involved in creating sustainable economic growth. At the same time, it is a sector sensitive to internal and external impacts that result in fluctuations in the economic cycle, copying its development or even outstripping the development of economic cycles. The main objective of this contribution was to identify the relationship between manufacturing and GDP, which represents the economic cycle in European Union countries. The time series of selected indicators of the manufacturing industry and GDP from the Eurostat database for Q1 2000-Q4 2016 were used for analysis purposes. An analysis of 296 time series with a quarterly periodicity from 22 EU countries (including the United Kingdom) was performed. The results of analyses indicate that the processing industry is a sector with significant cyclical behavior. In most countries, production and sales in the manufacturing industry behaved as concurrent indicators, changes in production and sales almost immediately reflected in the growth or decline in GDP. Labor market indicators have been shown to be delayed cyclical indicators. Changes in the economic development of the countries have a strong impact on employment, the remuneration of employees and the number of hours worked in the sector. Strong cyclical industries must be constantly monitored, as negative changes in these sectors will automatically exacerbate the economic cycle recession. The results of our analyses represent a valuable platform for economic policy makers and regional strategic plans.
Abstract: When the UK leaves the EU, trade arrangements between the UK and EU will change. Most of the options for future UK-EU relationships currently under discussion imply increased trade barriers, which will reduce trade and also have effects on output and prices. In this paper, we use a multi-market partial equilibrium model to analyse the vulnerability of 122 manufacturing industries to Brexit. In all five Brexit scenarios we model, there is an overall reduction in UK manufacturing output. Output grows in some industries but at the expense of higher consumer and intermediate goods prices. High tech and medium–high tech sectors are more at risk of a decline in domestic production than lower tech sectors. In most areas of the country, demand for high-skilled workers falls more than for medium and low-skilled workers.
Abstract: This article deals with the development of technical (production) efficiency in the metallurgical industry in EU countries with an emphasis on the situation in the Czech Republic. The efficiency of individual countries was estimated for the period from 1995 to 2015. The parametric stochastic frontier analysis method with different settings was chosen to estimate efficiency and the results were verified using a competitive non-parametric data envelopment analysis method. It was found that during the period under review, there was an average increase in efficiency in the metallurgical industry. The largest increase in efficiency (confirmed by all types of models) was observed in the Czech Republic. A visible positive efficiency shift was also recorded in Spain and Greece. Surprisingly, there has been a decline in efficiency in Sweden and Italy.
Abstract: This paper provides an analysis of the role of technical advances and upscaling practices in the steel sector and the differences in these practices between planned and market-based economies. It focuses on the Czechoslovak steel sector, comparing it to other planned economies as well as Western economies. The primary method of analysis employed is the logistic-fit curve of technology diffusion, complemented with panel regression models. The paper draws two major conclusions: first, Czechoslovakia suffered from technological backwardness in the adoption of new steel technology with prolonged formation stage and high saturation levels as seen in some of the core steel markets. To some degree, this was due to the detrimental nature of central planning on new technology adoption. However, it was mainly linked to some specific characteristics of Eastern European markets, such as availability of scrap, the vintage of individual plants and the different structure of steelmaking costs. Second, the focus on Soviet-style large scale production was visible not only at the industry level but also at the level of the individual furnaces. It was this large-scale production that can be linked to improvements in relative energy efficiency – through economies of scale and learning-by-doing effects.
Abstract: The European steel industry, as an energy intensive industry, has significant concerns over energy efficiency and compliance with EU environmental regulations. Hence, across the industry, energy efficiency is a key area of innovation activity. However, responding to climate change measures and finding efficiency gains by technological means is becoming increasingly difficult and so managements are turning attention to modifying, that is, ‘greening’ worker behaviours. Here, we focus on an innovation that combines a digital technology application with a management strategy, that is, gamification for energy efficiency behaviour modification. Drawing on data from a project involving steel plants in Germany, Norway and the UK, we adopt an international comparative approach to examine the implications of differing industrial relations contexts for shaping steel firm engagement with ‘green’ innovations.
Abstract: The decarbonisation of industry is a bottleneck for the EU's 2050 target of climate neutrality. Replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon electricity is at the core of this challenge; however, the aggregate electrification potential and resulting system-wide CO2 reductions for diverse industrial processes are unknown. Here, we present the results from a comprehensive bottom-up analysis of the energy use in 11 industrial sectors (accounting for 92% of Europe's industry CO2 emissions), and estimate the technological potential for industry electrification in three stages. Seventy-eight per cent of the energy demand is electrifiable with technologies that are already established, while 99% electrification can be achieved with the addition of technologies currently under development. Such a deep electrification reduces CO2 emissions already based on the carbon intensity of today's electricity (∼300 gCO2 kWhel−1). With an increasing decarbonisation of the power sector IEA: 12 gCO2 kWhel−1 in 2050), electrification could cut CO2 emissions by 78%, and almost entirely abate the energy-related CO2 emissions, reducing the industry bottleneck to only residual process emissions. Despite its decarbonisation potential, the extent to which direct electrification will be deployed in industry remains uncertain and depends on the relative cost of electric technologies compared to other low-carbon options.
Abstract: The paper contributes to debates on dark phases of regional industry path development processes. We focus on the role of industry legitimacy and study legitimacy spillovers from contextual structures in the case of the biogas industry in Scania, Sweden. Previously presented as a success case, we show how legitimacy spillovers from various contextual structures influenced the path development process, in both the emergence and acceleration phases, and in the recent decline period. The analysis highlights how previously accumulated resources in the form of knowledge, finance and market were insufficient to prevent industry decline when it suffered a loss of legitimacy.
Abstract: A large body of the literature showed that related variety at local level is more relevant than unrelated variety for explaining the innovation performance of firms. Knowledge relatedness is usually measured by considering activities within the same industry (i.e. the same two-digit code) while activities in different industries are associated with unrelated variety. This approach is challenged by the increasing relevance of transversal technologies, i.e. technologies that are developed and applied in rather different sectors. As a result, between industry variety (i.e. unrelated variety) is expected to be more important than within industry variety (i.e. related variety). We test this hypothesis by examining the innovation activities of firms in the textile and clothing industry. The innovation model of these firms is characterized by low investment in R&D, little capabilities for autonomous innovation and dependence from knowledge suppliers belonging to different sectors. The empirical analysis, carried out over the 1996–2014 period at the EU NUTS2 level, shows that between industry variety has a greater impact than within industry variety for the innovative performance of firms.
Abstract: Wood-based industries are an important part of the European Union (EU) manufacturing sector because their growth can help in achieving EU’s industrial policy goal of raising manufacturing’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 20% by 2020. In this paper, special emphasis is placed on the influence of macro-economic factors on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) employment in the wood industry. The research objective was to test whether traditional macroeconomic indicators of economic growth are significant determinates of SMEs employment dynamics. For estimation of employment dynamics, a two-step Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond (a system generalized method of moments) estimator with robust standard errors was used. The model contained the following independent variables: real GDP growth rate; industrial production of wood processing industry; the number of wood processing enterprises; and exporting of manufactured goods of wood processing. The findings confirmed that the increase in GDP growth rate, the industrial production of wood processing, and exporting of manufactured goods of wood processing had statistically significant and positive impacts on SMEs employment. It was also found that the existence of a high number of enterprises had a positive impact on employment.
Résumé: Les usages civils et militaires des premiers satellites, que ce soit pour des télécommunications ou de l’observation, ont fait de leur fabrication une industrie de souveraineté. La politique spatiale française s’est ainsi appuyée sur des institutions bien identifiées (CNES) mais également sur des manufacturiers nationaux. Dans les années 1970 et 1980, cette industrie a été portée par l’essor des télécommunications, avec en particulier le rôle majeur du groupe Alcatel. Mais les basculements des marchés des télécommunications du début des années 2000 ont provoqué, outre un mouvement de concentration, un adossement de la fabrication des satellites à des groupes de défense. L’européanisation des marchés n’a pas remis en cause le caractère fondamentalement dual de cette industrie, et donc la permanence de l’échelle nationale comme espace pertinent d’affirmation de la souveraineté.
Résumé: Dénigrée au début des années 2000 qui voient vanter le modèle d’une France sans usines et les usines sans salariés, puis négligée par les politiques publiques à partir du tournant des années 2010 où licornes et French tech occupent le devant de la scène, l’industrie fait l’objet de toutes les attentions depuis le début de la crise sanitaire, économique et sociale de la Covid-19. Les rencontres, séminaires et articles appelant à sauver l’industrie se sont multipliés dès le mois de février 2020 alors que la France manquait de respirateurs artificiels, de médicaments et de masques et que les usines étaient à l’arrêt faute de pouvoir être approvisionnées par les fournisseurs implantés en Chine et les pays d’Asie du Sud-Est. La France et ses dirigeants ont alors subitement pris conscience de la fragilité globale de l’économie provoquée par le recul de l’industrie.
Résumé: L’industrie de la mode et du luxe est aujourd’hui la deuxième industrie la plus polluante au monde. Elle génère à elle seule 10 % du total des gaz à effets de serre. Face à ce constat, ce secteur industriel se doit d’innover et de tendre vers un développement plus durable et responsable. Quelles sont les stratégies d’innovation pour transformer les contraintes environnementales et sociétales en opportunités d’affaires et en forces stratégiques ? Cet article met en évidence une approche originale qui vise à explorer collectivement et systématiquement les enjeux et défis du développement durable propres au secteur de la mode et du luxe et à repérer des voies d’innovation à exploiter. Il s’agit de concevoir la stratégie d’innovation dans une approche ex ante (avant que les faits ne se soient produits). L’objectif est alors d’expliciter et de formaliser des attentes, des besoins et des réponses autour de concepts, d’objets et de services « désirables » et de repenser ainsi l’utilité économique et sociale des produits et des activités de la mode et du luxe en fonction de leur impact social et environnemental.
Résumé: La désindustrialisation est un phénomène ancien provoqué par les mutations du système compétitivité-coût, de la qualité des produits et des attentes des consommateurs, dans le contexte constamment mouvant des relations internationales. Plus récemment, la responsabilité des entreprises et de leur direction occupe une place capitale dans son explication et la France fait presque figure d’exception dans l’intensité des mutations touchant l’internationalisation puis l’extraversion des firmes, dans la financiarisation du capital des entreprises, dans le passage sous contrôle étranger de secteurs entiers, et dans le désengagement productif de groupes industriels, phénomènes parfois aggravés par les politiques publiques.
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