Browsing by Author "Uyarra, Elvira"
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- European knowledge and entrepreneurial ecosystems: Networks within climate change and adaptation researchPublication . Carrozza, Chiara; Cruz, Ana Rita; Nogueira, Carla; Pinto, Hugo; Uyarra, ElviraResearch on a topic as intricate as climate change and adaptation can be seen as a complex ecosystem combining thousands of projects by a large set of actors. This article studies the EU Seventh Framework Program funded projects to understand how research has been funded and managed in Europe to develop a specific knowledge ecosystem around climate change and adaptation. The theoretical background offers an overview of the topics of climate change and knowledge ecosystems. The research projects database was used to construct and make sense of a complex ecosystem. A synthetic description of the technical work conducted and the results obtained are presented. The data is analyzed using social network analysis to provide evidence of structural characteristics of the networks, the relevance of different sub-domains in climate change and adaptation research, and the emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems through knowledge.
- Innovation in firms, resilience and the economic downturn: insights from CIS data in PortugalPublication . Pinto, Hugo; Pereira, Tiago Santos; Uyarra, ElviraThere is an interest in understanding the effect of economic crises such as the one that hit the financial markets in the late 2000s, on the innovation performance of countries and regions. This paper introduces the concept of "resilience of innovation" to illustrate how the economic slowdown affects firms' behaviour in terms of their ability to maintain and develop innovative activities and deploy product and process innovation. Using Portugal as a case study-an EU member-state that was heavily affected by the economic downturn-this paper explores the data collected from four waves of the Community Innovation Survey from 2006 to 2012. It presents two-stage limited dependent variable models to understand the changing impacts of structural factors, innovative activities and strategies in terms of exploration and exploitation of knowledge on the development of product and process innovation. We find knowledge exploration to be particularly important for product innovation, while exploitation is a strong determinant for process innovation. Size, market knowledge sources and public funding for innovation are positively associated with both types of innovation in the peak of the crisis. This reiterates the importance of innovation support efforts to mitigate the effects of economic shocks and boost recovery.
- Smart specialization, public authorities, and innovation intermediaries in developing regionsPublication . Pinto, Hugo; Laranja, Manuel; Uyarra, ElviraDespite a growing body of literature on smart specialization, the role of public authorities and innovation intermediaries, particularly in developing regions, remains understudied. This research examines one of the first attempts to apply the smart specialization framework to the development of an innovation strategy outside Europe, specifically in the Pernambuco State, Brazil. We focus on two priority areas (clothing and high-tech automotive components) identified by the state government as key targets for pilot policy experimentation and use different methods, such as social network analysis and content analysis, to interview strategic innovation actors for studying the promotion of innovation and regional development in Pernambuco. Findings highlight how regional governance, collaboration, and trust are shaped by public authorities and innovation intermediaries. The study identifies three key challenges in implementing smart specialization strategy in developing regions: i.e., achieving effective decentralization, cultivating an innovation culture, and establishing participatory governance mechanisms. The public sector actors act as crucial knowledge brokers and policy intermediaries, facilitating the linkages and partnerships necessary to overcome these challenges.
- The social shaping of innovation: networks and expectations as connecting dynamics in regional innovation systemsPublication . Pinto, Hugo; Nogueira, Carla; Cruz, Ana Rita; Uyarra, ElviraThe study of innovation dynamics has expanded widely in recent decades. However, it has failed to include research focusing on the social process and demonstrating the mechanisms of a given system's innovative capacity, thus resulting in the fragmentation of theoretical approaches rather than the construction of a cohesive framework. Based on the assumption that innovation depends not only on the structural conditions of the context in which a system is inserted but also on the relationships established between the key actors in a given system, this article analyses the innovation system in Pernambuco (Brazil) as a strategic research material which highlights agency and the structural aspects of innovation dynamics. It presents a mixed-method approach to understanding the innovation structure, based on social network analysis and the expectations of innovation actors regarding systemic failures and desired change. The results show the interconnections between the two methods and emphasise the need to overcome conceptual and methodological agency-structure dilemmas to ensure that public policy is better informed.