Clusters, knowledge spillovers and new venture performance: An empirical examination. Journal of Business Venturing, 23 (4), 405-422.
Enriching strategic variety in new ventures through external knowledge. Journal of Business Venturing, 27 (4), 401-413.
a study on technology-based ventures. Strategic Management Journal, 22 (6-7), 615-640. doi:
Entrepreneurial orientation and the performance of high-technology ventures: The moderating role of intra-and extraindustry social capital.
Setup a business incubation monitoring and evaluation system that assesses the performance of Andalusia incubators against EU current benchmarks.
in high and low-risk ventures, and in pretty much all sectors and sub-sectors of the economy (OECD, 2001).
the more likely the new ventures will be initiated and expanded. Team experience is particularly important to the long-term performance of high-tech start-ups (Madsen, Neergaard and Ulhøi, 2003;
and venture capital attraction, to actual firm setup. Local business entrepreneurs serve on the start-up firm‘s board of directors.
Public/Private Ventures. Florida, R. 2002. The rise of the creative class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life.
Evidence From Technology-Based New Ventures. Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice 31,6: 936-950. Singh, N & Pereira, A. 2005.
The Campus Programme, also managed by IDEA supports the spinoff of EBTS from Andalusia universities by providing them with loans of up to EUR 100 000 through the public venture capital fund Invercaria.
A more recent study by Niosi (2008), comparing the effectiveness of IRAP with venture capital funding,
found that the receipt of IRAP funding was correlated more often with an increase in the rate of the firm‘s growth than the receipt of venture capital funding.
which enables students to start their own venture in lieu of doing a co-op placement with an established firm,
in high and low-risk ventures; and in pretty much all sectors and sub-sectors of the economy (OECD, 2001, p. 35.
and benchmarks A significant part of the current support for start-ups in the region relates to business incubation.
whereas the European benchmark for incubated businesses is 85%.%Thirdly, it may actually hamper rapid growth
In particular, the region should conduct an independent evaluation of its business incubation model and benchmark it with international best practices.
the contribution of the above EC study was to prepare benchmarks for what constitutes successful incubators (see table below).
to assess the extent to which it is performing according to these benchmarks and, if it falls short of those standards, to consider what needs to be done to maximise efficiency in future.
Table 6. Summary of key EU business incubator benchmarks Setting Up and Operating Average Range Benchmark Average capital investment cost €3. 7 million
27 firms 1-120 firms 20 30 Incubator Functions Average Range Benchmark Incubator occupancy rates 85%9%100%85%Length of tenancy
and Impacts Average Range Benchmark Survival rates of tenant firms 85%65%100%85%Average growth in client turnover 20%p. a. 2001
Best Practice and Policy Recommendations Business incubators should be encouraged to benchmark themselves against best practice standards
The proposed evaluation against quantitative benchmarks would enable the region to assess the current incubator policy
The EC benchmark for the survival rate amongst tenant firms is set at 80-90%.
business start-up and venture capital for the more dynamic SMES. In particular, there is a considerable level of public support, at different levels (EU, national,
a key problem for life science SMES has been the availability of venture capital, which is limited in Scotland:
the regional government should engage in a more regular evaluation of this tool against current EU benchmarks;
The attractiveness of such ventures has to be measured by the level and capability of SME participation in international activity.
Setup a business incubation monitoring and evaluation system that assesses the performance of Andalusia incubators against EU current benchmarks.
However, the issue of the study is focused always on how network resources impact creation or growth in a new venture context.
however, Birley's study did not find any significant relationship between growing and non-growing firms in a sample of new ventures.
In the same way, Ostgaard and Birley (1996) tried to associate new venture growth and networking characteristics of the entrepreneur,
The determinants and growth implications of venture creation speed. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development: An International Journal, 2008,20, 317-343.
new ventures and small business. In. Strategic Management: a new view of business policy and planning, Schendel, D. E. and Hofer, C. W. Eds.
Entrepreneurial orientation effects on new venture performance: the moderating role of venture age. Academy of Management Best Conference Paper 2006, ENT:
N1-N7. Madsen, E. L. 2007. The significance of sustained entrepreneurial orientation on performance of firms A longitudinal analysis. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 19,185-204.
New venture growth and personal networks. Journal of Business Research, 36,37-50. Pan, Y. and Chi, P. S. K. 1999.
Personal networks as fosterers of entrepreneurial orientation in new ventures. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 6, 239-248.
Exploring an inverted ushape relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance in Chinese ventures. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32,219-239.
International expansion by new venture firms: international diversity, mode of market entry, technological learning, and performance.
into a single figure to benchmark country performance for policy consumption seems likewise irresistible. Synthetically the main pros and cons of using composite indicators could be summarized as follows:
and benchmarks to compare trajectories of development).(italics added) 2. address several legitimate (and often contrasting) perspectives found among stakeholders on how to structure the problem. 3. handle in a credible way the unavoidable degree of uncertainty,
For example, United states or Japan are benchmark countries for the composite indicators built in the frame of the EU Lisbon agenda.
or, finally, an external benchmark. 5. 2. 5 Categorical scales Each indicator is assigned a categorical score.
and uses this as benchmark to measure the performance of a given set of countries. 17 The set of weighs stems from this comparison.
the construction of a benchmark (the frontier) and the measurement of the distance between countries in a multidimensional framework.
The construction of the benchmark is done by assuming:(i) positive weights (the higher the value of one sub-indicator, the better for the corresponding country;(
The distance of each country with respect to the benchmark is determined by the location of the country and its position relative to the frontier.
and is the benchmark for country d which lies beyond the frontier. The countries supporting the frontier are classified as the best performing,
The benchmark will correspond to the ideal point exhibiting a similar mix of indicators (d'in the example.
The benchmark could also be determined by a hypothetical decision maker (Korhonen et al. 2001, for an indicator of performance of academic research) who is asked to locate the target in the efficiency frontier having the most preferred combination of sub-indicators.
The composite indicator is defined as the ratio of a country's actual performance over its benchmark performance:
2004) who first implemented this method suggested obtaining the benchmark as solution of a maximization problem
(although external benchmarks are also possible):(S)==Q q 1 qk q I, k {1,,
ii) the benchmark would in general be country-dependent, so no unique benchmark would exist (unless,
as before, a country is better off in all sub-indicators), (iii) sub-indicators must be comparable,
..M (6. 3) subject to non negativity constraints on weights. 19 The resulting composite index will range between zero (lowest possible performance) and 1 (the benchmark).
for 63 The benchmark is based not upon theoretical bounds but it a linear combination of observed best performances.
The value of the scoreboard depends on the benchmark performance. If this changes the composite will change as well as the set of weights (and the country ranking.
The best performer (the one with a composite equal to one) will not see its progress reflected in the composite (that will remain stacked to 1). This can be solved by imposing an external benchmark.
The second method proposed is based on the number of indicators that are above and below some benchmark.
and then actually being able to benchmark those sales is going to continue to be important to all online players.
a research institute offering practical e-commerce research and benchmark services. Peter van den Brink, Trainee Research & Advice Peter van den Brink (1992) has worked for Ecommerce Europe since 2014.
82 3. 3. 3. Conclusion on nanotechnology cluster benchmark between Germany and Japan...88 3. 3. 4. Factors influencing the future development of nanotechnology...
132 4. 3. 3. Conclusion on microelectronics cluster benchmark between France and Canada...139 4. 3. 4. Factors influencing the future development of microelectronics...
Only large firms with high R&d budgets and laboratories or small, specialised and venture capital backed firms will be able to go this way.
and industrial R&d projects to cluster initiatives, public awareness measures, standardisation, promotion of venture capital supply,
and venture capital and a strong focus on a limited number of knowledge domains. European Competitiveness in KETS ZEW and TNO EN 46error!
while R&d in Japan is to 2/3 financed through venture capital (see Figure 3-20).
and mobilising public funding and private venture capital. 16 Regarding R&d investment from the government, Germany is the number one concerning public funding of nanotechnology in Europe,
the cluster attracted approximately €40 million of funding from the Sixth Framework Programme from the European commission. 19 Venture capital:
Venture capital is not easily available in Germany for nanotechnology research and development. In Germany, only one third of the total research funding stems from private sources,
But the lack of business angels and venture capital makes it difficult to create academic spin-offs to commercialise scientific results.
In addition to this, six different networks and one venture capital firm accompany cluster activities. The cluster is highly research-oriented with an excellence knowledge base,
and provide space for nine universities, three research institutions and 43 industrial and venture companies.
In addition to this, it stimulates university-industry collaborations by implementing business incubators and university-industry liaison facilities. 35 Venture capital:
Venture capital funding accounted for $2. 8 billion in 2004. Overall, Japan has an advantage over Europe and US regarding private funding.
This is an indication for their strong market orientation. 36 Venture capital was not always available in the past.
Finally, the growth of venture capital in the US also influenced the development of VC investment in Japan. 37 Interactions Scientists are supported by capital intensive equipment through spin-in operations,
and commercialisation of knowledge and creating spin-off venture business. 38 In addition to this, there are many informal links to other high-tech clusters, public sector programmes,
Because large amounts of venture capital are available, new nanotechnology start-ups can easily be established. In this way, entrepreneurs do not face the obstacle of finding sufficient financial resources,
and by attracting venture capital to support academic spin-offs and nanotech start-ups. The combination of strong government support with large private funding is the second success factor of the Kyoto nanotech cluster. 40 http://hesa. etui-rehs. org/uk/dossiers
and R&d laboratories within the nanotech cluster. 3. 3. 3. Conclusion on nanotechnology cluster benchmark between Germany
i e. there is a lack of venture capital, business angels, etc. There is a strong focus on basic research and a lack of commercialisation activity. 42 http://hesa. etui-rehs. org/uk/dossiers/files/Nano-economics. pdf Chapter 3
centres, 43 industrial and venture firms Classification Developing Developing Infrastructure Strong knowledge infrastructure: mainly publicly funded Good mix between large firms
Public policy/funding/taxation Cluster dependent on public funding because of venture capital scarcity Germany nr. 1 for public funding of nanotech Harmonised funding schemes for transparency
EN Lack of business angels and venture capital Government has stimulated actively development of VC market Nanotechnology top-priority in national strategy Many agencies to support research
Many nanotechnology firms report a lack of public funding and a lack of venture capital as main barriers to commercialisation.
Public funding as well as a viable venture capital industry is critical to overcome financial barriers. Another critical factor is to successfully link technological opportunities with user demand.
venture capital funding as well as public support to R&d conducted by these firms is essential. Compared to other fields of technology such as biotechnology,
One reason is certainly the reluctance of the private venture capital business in recent years to provide large amounts of risk capital for these firms.
While biotechnology start-ups could profit from a generous venture capital industry in the 1990s the situation has changed.
Today private venture capital companies very carefully evaluate the business prospects of young firms and most often provide only limited funding, focussing on close-tomarket-introduction projects.
In this situation, policy will have to compensate for this market failure in the financial market which results from a certain risk aversion and a rather short-term time horizon of the venture capital business.
Venture capital While availability of capital for start-ups is an issue in Canada generally, the Ottawa microelectronics cluster does particularly well.
According to Ontario (2009) two-thirds of U s. venture capital investment in Canada goes to Ottawa tech firms.
EN One particularly important actor in the context of venture capital is the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Communications that has spun off about 25 companies in the period 2002-2007.
However, despite the comparatively good access to venture capital there are other barriers for start-ups perceived. Scott (2007) reports that the loss of the LSIP programme in Ontario left a large in early stage funding
However, they also provide stable employment for highly skilled people in the field that can take the risk to start own commercial ventures.
However, in the plans for re-vitalisation of the microelectronics industry public procurement is named as a tool for development. 4. 3. 3. Conclusion on microelectronics cluster benchmark between France
and attract new MNES and venture capital Strong concentration of large MNES e g. Nortel hires 1/3 of all masters
Commercial awareness of biotechnology during this period as well as a rapidly growing global economy investing venture capital in high-tech industries have spurred the cluster's growth.
Cambridge university receives quite a large share of this budget (160 grants with a sum of £55 million in 2008) for its own biotechnology research and commercialisation activities in form of exploitation of research outcomes. 54 Venture capital:
EN Fund'in pursuing venture capital. Furthermore, venture capital is also available through the proximity to the large financial market in London.
For example, the Barclays bank dedicated large sums to the promising high-tech industry, with many smaller venture capitalists following this development (Page, 2003.
national and international networking, supports successful growth on new and emerging ventures, and makes sure that the infrastructure enables a steady growth of the biotechnology community (Chiesa and Chiaroni, 2005).
the industry is highly reliant on business angles and venture capital. This could result in a twin obstacle of market failure and absence of public support at one point in time (House of commons, 2003.
supported by a large scientific base (University of California in San francisco, Berkeley and Davis) and the accessibility of venture capital.
and 64 venture capital firms), connected by 243 local contractual ties. It is important to notice that no public intervention
But it was the availability of venture capital and other supportive institutional infrastructure which made the cluster successful in its early days.
Nowadays, the combination of public funding and venture capital nurtures the cluster development. In absolute figures, the biotechnology cluster raised more than $4 billion in capital,
including $600 million in venture financing (2006). 59 Institutions Rules and regulations: The activities in the Bay Area are supported also by US specific laws regarding the ownership of intellectual property,
Is assumption is bases on the relatively high rates of IPOS and new venture creation in this region.
Venture capital: Venture capital is available to support the commercialisation of scientific research and the transition of knowledge to the market.
There is a large number of local venture capitalists investing in biotechnology start-ups, accounting for 34 percent of all active venture capital firms in the United states (see Su and Hung, 2009).
Finally, there is one federal programme to support the foundation of biotechnology start-ups. The Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) financially encourages university faculties to create commercial-oriented spin-offs of their research. 64 Interactions During the formation of the cluster,
venture capital became increasingly important, while at the same time the involvement of public research organisations (PROS) was shrinking.
In 1999, DBF-DBF connections outnumbered the other two types of ties (venture capital, PROS)( Owen-Smith and Powell, 2006.
Bay Area main component ties by dyad DBF=dedicated biotechnology firm, VC=venture capital, PRO=public research institutes.
and market failures and drivers The cluster originated from a tight social network among biotechnology firms, venture capital and research institutions.
EN role in development Venture capital & commercialisation important to reach maturity Size 280 firms 25,000 people (incl. academics and supporting activity firms/organisations) 1400 live science firms,
eligible R&d spend No public policy involvement in creating the cluster Good availability of venture capital promotes commercialisation Availability of start-up support Tax-breaks/incentives:
venture capital funding as well as public support to R&d conducted by these firms is essential. Small Chapter 5 Industrial Biotechnology EN 195error!
While in the 1990s a generous venture capital industry supported a variety of start-ups, today there is a shortfall in venture capital market.
Private venture capital companies very carefully evaluate the business prospects of young firms and most often provide only limited funding,
focussing on close to-market-introduction projects and not on early stage projects of biotechnology start-ups.
EN Venture capital: No coordinated venture capital activities are known to exist at the Optecbb cluster. However, Sydow et al.
2007) also report no start-up support at comparable international clusters. Interactions Interactions play a critical role in cluster success. The Optecbb initiative is primarily a cluster network initiative with a formal cluster platform.
Also no venture capital activity is reported in at the 78 Even the limited number of cases engaged within this study is sufficient to demonstrate that,
loan guarantees or non-repayable contributions for innovative product development (IQ, no date) Venture capital: Quebec has access to the highest concentration of venture capital in Canada (QPN, 2010.
Innovatech Québec-Chaudière-Appalaches is particularly active in the optics/photonics industry. Also the National Optics institutes plays an important role in this context having generated 20 spin-offs over the last years.
EN the region suffers from the lack of venture capital firms with the level of capital required to insure the development of firms (Ouimet, 2004.
Also no venture capital activity is reported in at the Optecbb cluster. Public policy, funding and tax incentives Both clusters have received considerable support from national and regional governments for a cluster platform, public R&d infrastructure and collaboration.
Also the Quebec region attracts the highest concentration of US venture capital in Canada. At the Optecbb no venture capital activities are reported.
Next to the provision of a strong public research infrastructure specific policy tools differ. Canada uses predominantly R&d tax incentives to attract
but Brandenburg has favourable tax regime for regional development No venture capital scheme in place Strong role through:
Favourable loans available from Investissement Quebec Funding available for collaboration High level of Venture capital (lack though for firm growth) Interactions High level of interaction:
However, a recent report from the Europe Innova Sectoral Innovation watch has alerted that advanced materials are an area where Europe has invested under (in terms of venture capital) compared to mainstream innovation areas (e g. energy generation and infrastructure)( Europe
and collaborative high tech ventures. In addition, there are a number of local investment companies and there are several sources of private funding,
loans and seed capital specially aimed at SMES. 93 There is a considerable presence of well established angel and venture investors and holding groups in the Walloon region.
Walloon and Belgium venture capital firms are represented by the Belgian Venturing Association (BVA. Recent federal legislation introduced PRIVAK (Private Equity Investment Fund-Investment in non-traded companies),
which encourages private investors to invest in non-traded venture capital, while benefiting from a tax-free status. Business angels provide start-ups with risk capital and coaching,
and Liège with the support of private investors96 The firm received seed funding and venture capital to prove the commercial viability of carbon nanotubes and nanopowders for flat screens applications (Eco-innovation Futures
and at the local level there are also Venture capital providers. Large leading machinery firms had no finance difficulties for its continuous development, also thanks to close links with the government supportive of the cluster's development.
Finally, there is a considerable presence of well established angel and venture investors in both locations.
and SMES either through grants for R&d projects or venture capital is critical for a vital small business sector in this KET.
of venture capital; health, environment and safety concerns achieving substantial decrease in unit costs environment and ethic concerns, price-cost advantages over traditional chemicals mastering complex technology long product cycles adoption barriers at the side of potential users Role of public funding for R&d very
In nanotechnology, funding (particularly availabiltiy of venture capital) is an important driver, as well as health, environment and safety concerns.
our cluster benchmark has given us some more specific insight about how KETS develop and flourish in certain regions.
-and venture capital often helps early start-up, and the market will pick up the technologies that have (partly) proven themselves in the market,
They for example set up venture capital schemes or make sure private actors provide seed capital. They do not shy away from interfering into the market
and entrepreneurship in general can be stimulated with incubator firms, business angels, seed-and venture capital. Some clusters also provide business parks
The presence of funding for entrepreneurial ventures forms the material appreciation of this. Marketing capabilities A focus on entrepreneurship is linked often to a focus on commercialising innovations.
Europe tends to be relatively weak though in funding the later stages of technology development as good developed private funding structures are underdeveloped (e g. venture capital, business angels.
as is the role of regulation, funding of innovation through venture capital, and the urgent need of high qualified personnel.
while public funding and venture capital are important sources to complement (limited) internal funds of actors engaged in KET-related R&d.
-A vital venture capital market is important for commercialising research results in KETS through university spin-offs and other types of start-ups.
Above all, venture capital needs a supportive regulatory environment. When private venture capital markets in Europe are not fully capable of providing sufficient funds for start-up and early stage financing,
public programmes may have to fill these gaps. -Addressing barriers in adopting new technologies is another important policy task.
The case of advanced materials ventures, Research Policy 35,375-393. Malmberg, A d. Power (2006), True clusters:
Open innovation National systems of innovation Innovation intermediaries Technology markets Corporate venture capital Innovation policy 1. Introduction Nowadays, no single company, not even the manufacturing giants
venture capital; state-of-the-art knowledge. Furthermore, the author concludes that the resulting changes in NSI stimulated and accelerated the emergence of OI in the US.
setting the benchmark and developing linked indicators 13. These approaches are developed separately and they emphasise different NSI characteristics.
and corporate venture capital (CVC) 3, 23. In technology markets, firms purchase, sell, and use technologies developed by other firms to complement their internal technology base 24.
The most important players are firms, universities, venture capital organisations, and public agencies charged with innovation policy 29.
as well as an advisor to Epic Ventures, a venture capital firm, and an advisory board member of the David Eccles School of business.
In this direction in Romania the capital and financial channels for innovation activities can be the private venture capital.
the unadjusted national rate is used as the benchmark. SOUTH EAST EMPLOYMENT ACTION PLAN FORFÁS Table A12 Retention of graduates within the region, class of 2008 (county of origin and percent retained in the same county) County of Origin
On the funding side, social entrepreneurs look for ways to ensure that their ventures will have access to resources
On the funding side, social entrepreneurs look for ways to assure that their ventures will have access to resources
Muhammad Yunus then went on to launching numerous ventures with a positive social impact: fisheries, irrigation, clothing, etc.
what venture capital had been to the business sector: flows of capital invested into emerging ideas that had the potential to revolutionize society,
A commitment to innovation has long been considered to be important to the success of entrepreneurial ventures and small firms (Fiol 1996.
Research has shown that innovation stimulates ventures'growth (e g.,, Wolff and Pett 2006; Motwani et al. 1999;
Stronger R&d orientation of companies, easier access to venture capital, and intensified collaboration between universities and the private sector would help the country to move toward a more future-oriented development path.
or venture capital (97th) for their investment projects. In addition, labor markets are considered too rigid (137th) and the level of local competition low (82nd), mainly the result of a lack of liberalization in some services.
markets (92nd), loans (79th), or venture capital (94th. As a result, the business community continues to face important challenges in engaging in new investment projects.
Its favorable financial environment, particularly evident in the ease of access to venture capital (3rd), has contributed to making Israel The Global Competitiveness Report 2012 2013:
6. 2. 2 Benchmark Objective The next project milestone was twofold: First, to assess the potential impact of green technologies to be applied on the corridors,
Table 1 Baseline corridor benchmark 2 Corridor Mode Cost (€/tn. km) Av. speed (km h) Reliability(%)Service frequency (no/year) CO2
/Green Technologies and Smart ICT 19 3 Benchmarking of Green Corridors with Green Technologies To develop a green corridor benchmark with green technologies,
Technology impact assessment on the corridor baseline (corridor-specific analysis) and development of a green corridor benchmark.
a limited set of benchmark scenarios was produced based on the baseline transport chains (Sect. 2) and the green technology review. 3. 1 Green Technology Survey
20 C. Georgopoulou et al. 3. 2 Benchmark Scenarios After an extended review on industry and academic works 8 11, the impact of the 58 green technologies on the KPIS was quantified.
The development of the green corridor benchmark was based on the technology-specific analysis. The benchmark consisted of 20 scenarios;
Tables 2 and 3 present the green corridor benchmark. Uncertainty regarding the baseline calculations and the technology impact may have affected the results.
Technologies and Smart ICT 21 Table 2 Green technology benchmark scenarios: Mare nostrum, Nureyev, Strauss and silk way corridors Scenario Technology KPI Impact(%)Mare nostrum SSS:
and onboard energy storage CO2 (gr/tn. km) 30 40 Intelligent temperature unit Reliability(%)Positive The benchmark scenarios and the green technologies are described in columns 1 and 2, respectively.
The technology effect on the baseline KPIS is shown in columns 3 and 4 Green Technologies and Smart ICT 23 Table 3 Green technology benchmark scenarios:
and Duisburg Energy settlement systems Rel. cost (€/tn. km) 1 The benchmark scenarios and the green technologies are described in columns 1 and 2, respectively.
Also, the benchmark does not imply any endorsement on the routes and/or the green technologies, by the Supergreen consortium
or the EU Commission. 3. 3 Implementation of Exhaust Gas Abatement Systems in the Mare nostrum Corridor In this paper, the benchmark scenario for exhaust gas abatement systems on the Mare nostrum corridor
the reduction of emissions would be about 75%.4 Benchmarking of Green Corridors with Smart ICT To develop a green corridor benchmark with ICTS,
and rather unimportant on the KPIS of Cargo Security and Safety. 4. 2 Benchmark Scenarios The next target was to develop the green corridor benchmark with ICTS.
A set of 15 benchmark scenarios was constructed (Table 4), aiming to reveal the importance of ICT implementation on the corridors.
''The benchmark scenarios were compiled by individual experts or subgroups of experts, during the Genoa workshop.
The material was collected and processed, resulting in a corridor-specific ICT benchmark with respect to the KPIS.
5 as Table 4 ICT benchmark scenarios Scenario no Corridor Mode ICT 1 Mare nostrum SCM Tracking units 2 Brenner Road Expert charging 3
Similar analyses were performed for the benchmark scenarios of Table 4, but are reported not here due to space limitations. 5 Conclusions In this paper,
The benchmark also shows the technology potential benefits and drawbacks compared to conventional practices. 5. 1 Green Technologies
The green technology effects on baseline performance were shown on 20 benchmark scenarios for which there was sufficient availability of data.
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