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The project “Finance, innovation and Strategy: Economic Analysis of Firm Productivity and its Determinants” (PRODECON-CM – HM S2015/HUM-3491) started in January 2016 and concluded in June 2019. As a collaboration between research groups of academic and research institutions based in Madrid in the area of social sciences, during these three years and a half, researchers in economics from the Center of Monetary and Financial Studies (cemfi), CSIC Institute of Public Goods and Policies (CSIC-IPP) and the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM), have carried out research activities to improve our understanding of the determinants of innovation and productivity in four subprojects focusing on the following themes:

innovation and patents

information technologies

product design

innovation funding

Results from the project in terms of publications, PhD theses and Master theses can be found here.

Information of the activities carried out with the support of the project is available here.

Project participants are listed here.

The project has been coordinated by Gerard Llobet (cemfi), who has also been responsible of the cemfi node. Catalina Martínez has been responsible of the CSIC-IPP node and Iñigo Herguera of the UCM node.

Funding from the Regional Government of Madrid and the European Social Fund is gratefully acknowledged.

Within the context of use of new technologies by individuals, we dedicate this article to study the behavior of the consumer in relation to the adoption of the Internet as a shopping or information channel for tourism products.

Based on the Surveys on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in households, by the National Statistics Institute of Spain, a micro-panel database (2008–2016) is constructed. Using this database and random effects logistic models, the impact of socioeconomic characteristics on the individual’s adoption of the Internet for tourism purposes is estimated. The results indicate that education, family size, digital skills, income, habitat, and employment situation are all significant for explaining the online booking of transportation or accommodation services; however, gender and age are not significant for the case of transportation.

Differences between online buyers of tourism services and individuals who only look for information (bookers vs. lookers) are highlighted. Policy recommendations and business strategies are suggested, either to enhance e-Tourism or to increase the conversion rates of lookers into bookers.

More information about this research can be found in the paper available here by Teresa Garín-Muñoz, Teodosio Pérez-Amaral and Rafael López and financed with the funds of this project.

Digital technologies sometimes create digital divides. One of the remedies for certain divides in Europe is the creation of the Digital Single Market, of which e-commerce is one of the main elements.

The focus of this work is e-commerce in Spain. The current study improves substantially on existing international literature by using a large and representative panel data set on individuals, with 179,637 observations for the period 2008-2016. Moreover it uses economic models that incorporate previously omitted variables, and employs a variety of panel techniques.

This paper starts by measuring digital divides and their evolution along time. Next, a model that incorporates previously neglected explanatory variables, such as income and digital skills, is formulated. Individual demand models are estimated using panel logistic regression techniques. This allows quantifying the impact of each of the socioeconomic and geographic characteristics on the adoption of the service.

The resulting models have high explanatory power. Newly incorporated variables like income and digital skills are highly significant. Age, education, gender and geographical variables are also significant. The results also allow novel regional comparisons. Policy recommendations are derived, suggesting effective and affordable measures targeted at specific socio-demographic groups.

More information about this research can be found in the paper available here by Teodosio Pérez-Amaral, Angel Valarezo, Rafael López, Teresa Garín Muñoz, and Iñigo Herguera and financed with the funds of this project.

E-commerce penetration rates are distant among those groups of individuals with the lowest and the highest levels of online shopping adoption. This is an indicator of digital divide, having negative effects in terms of untapped opportunities for people, companies and the whole economy.

Key socioeconomic and demographic determinants of adoption of e-commerce are explored, analyzing a pool dataset of 174,776 observations for the period 2008-2017 in Spain.

The empirical analysis is based on a standard neoclassical utility maximization framework. Linear probability model, logistic regression, and Heckman’s sample selection correction model have been used.

The results suggest that e-commerce adoption is positively related with being male, having higher levels of education, income and digital skills, being Spanish, and being employed; while being female, older and belonging to a household of two or more members have negative effects.

An interaction between digital skills and age has been introduced in the model, where high digital skills seem to have a positive influence, partly counteracting the lower odds for some age groups.

There are different types of actors interested in fostering e-commerce. Specific policy recommendations related to demand and supply measures are suggested to foster the adoption of e-commerce.

More information about this research can be found in the paper available here by Ángel Valarezo, Rafael López and Teodosio Pérez-Amaral, and financed with the funds of this project.

The workshop “Investing in Science and Innovation” was held on 25 October 2018 at the Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid. It gathered eight well-known economists and high-level decision makers from the public and private sector as speakers to discuss different ways to promote innovation and how to transform scientific research into innovations.

More than forty participants from different universities, research centers, law firms, and companies from Madrid and other Spanish regions attended the event, which was jointly organized by CSIC and CEMFI in the framework of the PRODECON-CM project “Finance, Innovation and Strategy: Economic Analysis of Firm Productivity and its Determinants” (PRODECON-CM Project S2015/HUM-3491) funded by the Regional Government of Madrid and the European Social Fund. Continue reading “Main takeaways from PRODECON-CM workshop on “Investing in Science and Innovation” (October 2018)”

Please join us next October 25 for the workshop “Investing in Science and Innovation” where we will discuss academic results and practical lessons on strategies and policies. This event is organized as part of the activities of the project PRODECON-CM by Catalina Martínez (CSIC-IPP) and Gerard Llobet (CEMFI) and it will take place at the Real Jardín Botánico of CSIC (entrance at Claudio Moyano 1, Madrid).

After the opening words by Elena Domínguez, CSIC Vicepresident of International Relations, the first part of the workshop will discuss how to promote innovation and it will include a keynote presentation by Stuart Graham (Georgia Tech) who will then join a roundtable including Luis Ignacio Vicente del Olmo (Telefónica), Elena Huergo (Universidad Complutense) and Miguel Mulet (Tigenix) as panelists. The second part will deal with the relationship between science and innovation and it will include a keynote presentation by Frederique Sachwald (OST-Hcéres) followed by a roundtable with Jesús Marco (CSIC Vicepresident of Scientific and Technological Research), Albert Banal-Estañol (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Paloma Domingo (Director General of FECYT) as panelists.

You can download the complete program here.

Confirmation of attendance is required at seminars@cemfi.es before October 22, 2018.

 

Researchers of the node at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid organize the seminar Spectrum 5.0: Policy CHoices for 5G Deployment on September 14 at the Campus of Somosaguas. You can download the programme here. If you want to attend please write to inigo@ccee.ucm.es,

We are happy to present a video with a brief summary of the presentations in the conference organized last December, where we discussed some of the preliminary findings of the project.

As part of the activities of the PRODECON-CM project, we organized on November 30 and December 1 a conference to present and discuss the preliminary results of this project. We also enjoyed the visit of some leading international researchers in the fields covered by this project. The program for the conference is available here.

We have just released the new page for this project. News of the upcoming conference and other diffusion activities will be announced here.