Urmas Varblane - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Urmas Varblane

World Scientific Book Chapters, 2010

The current extensive literature on the home-country employment effect of FDI focuses almost excl... more The current extensive literature on the home-country employment effect of FDI focuses almost exclusively on the case of investments from high-income and high labour cost home countries. In our paper we analyse the home-country employment effect in Estonia as a lowcost medium-income transition economy. The data from the population of Estonian firms between 1995 and 2002 was studied with regression analysis and propensity score matching in order to construct an appropriate counterfactual for the firms that have invested abroad. The results indicate that in general, outward FDI had a positive impact on the home-country employment growth. Concerning direct investors (domestic firms investing abroad) and indirect investors (foreign-owned firms investing abroad), the former group had a stronger homecountry employment effect due to their smaller pre-investment size and because the subsidiaries of indirect investors are served from other locations rather than from Estonia. The positive employment effect was much stronger in the case of investments made after 1999 due to the better macro-economic performance of Estonia from the year 2000 onwards. Services firms demonstrated a stronger home-country employment effect than manufacturing firms. Our results imply that the logic of the outward investments from low-cost transition and developing economies differs from that of high-income countries.

Social Science Research Network, 2014

Collaboration between firms and universities, two main actors in the national system of innovatio... more Collaboration between firms and universities, two main actors in the national system of innovation, brings the needs of the business world to the attention of the scientific community and allow scientific progress to be diffused more quickly in the real world. The aim of the paper is to compare the determinants of university-industry cooperation across countries and to identify differences between firms that cooperate with domestic and those that cooperate with foreign universities. We use data from 14 European countries taken from the 2008 community innovation survey. The degree of internationalisation is the main determinant of cooperation. Exporting or foreign-owned firms are more likely to cooperate with foreign universities. Differences in cooperation determinants also appear between the four country groupings that we extract by a cluster analysis on variables describing their institutional settings and national innovation systems. Notably different is the group of countries with a weak national innovation system.

Social Science Research Network, 2004

The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer i... more The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer into five CEE economies (Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) by examining the influences of country, industry, firm-size and foreign ownership on the choice of the subsidiaries' strategies. Only the autonomy of subsidiaries across business functions is focused in the current analysis. Proceeding from the results of the analysis one can see many differences in the autonomy of subsidiary. Subsidiaries from the more developed CEE countries Slovenia and Hungary had the highest scores for the autonomy, especially in terms of management and financial autonomy.

Journal of East-west Business, Feb 27, 2020

The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed be... more The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed between two major developed economies that also belong among the largest car exporters in the world. This paper examines the effects of the EU-South Korea FTA on bilateral automotive industry trade, comparing them to the changes in total bilateral trade. The empirical analysis applies the gravity model framework with its contemporary methodological advancements and estimation techniques. The empirical results show that the trade-enhancing effects of the FTA in the auto trade are substantially higher than in total trade. Additionally, EU bilateral auto exports have increased more than South Korea's exports. The dynamics of the post-FTA trade flows suggest that the removal of the automotive industry's non-tariff barriers have played an important role in trade facilitation, especially for EU exports. The enforcement of the FTA has also been followed by notable changes in the structure of EU auto exports with the share of higher value final goods increasing and input goods decreasing.

Tselluloosi- ja paberitööstuse konkurentsivõime

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2004

Social Science Research Network, Dec 28, 2017

The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed be... more The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed between two major developed economies that also belong among the largest car exporters in the world. This paper examines the effects of the EU-South Korea FTA on bilateral automotive industry trade, comparing them to the changes in total bilateral trade. The empirical analysis applies the gravity model framework with its contemporary methodological advancements and estimation techniques. The empirical results show that the trade-enhancing effects of the FTA in the auto trade are substantially higher than in total trade. Additionally, EU bilateral auto exports have increased more than South Korea's exports. The dynamics of the post-FTA trade flows suggest that the removal of the automotive industry's non-tariff barriers have played an important role in trade facilitation, especially for EU exports. The enforcement of the FTA has also been followed by notable changes in the structure of EU auto exports with the share of higher value final goods increasing and input goods decreasing.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2004

The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer i... more The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer into five CEE economies (Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) by examining the influences of country, industry, firm-size and foreign ownership on the choice of the subsidiaries' strategies. Only the autonomy of subsidiaries across business functions is focused in the current analysis. Proceeding from the results of the analysis one can see many differences in the autonomy of subsidiary. Subsidiaries from the more developed CEE countries Slovenia and Hungary had the highest scores for the autonomy, especially in terms of management and financial autonomy.

Economic Change and Restructuring, 2016

This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate ... more This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate productivity growth during times of boom, bust and recovery. The analysis covers 10 EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe over the years 2001-2012. The reallocation of labour across sectors was substantial during the boom, very extensive in 2009 at the depth of the crisis and modest in the subsequent recovery period. The contribution of sectoral change to aggregate productivity growth is computed using various decomposition methods. Changes in labour productivity within sectors play the dominant role for aggregate productivity growth, while reallocation of labour between sectors is less important. This pattern is found through most of the sample period despite large differences in the extent of sectoral change during the boom, crisis and recovery.

Social Science Research Network, 2003

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the impact of EU-accession on the Estonian food sector fro... more The purpose of the paper is to analyse the impact of EU-accession on the Estonian food sector from the point of view of potential changes in foreign trade. Estonia has followed radical macroeconomic reforms in the 1990's and is well known by its extremely liberal trade policy including the complete absence of tariffs and quantitative restrictions. Therefore the accession to the EU means for Estonia radical change in the trade policy regime. The most affected will be trade with food products and eventually this will cause deep changes in the Estonian agriculture. Estonia has to implement EU common external tariffs against third countries and on the other hand EU food market will be opened to Estonian exporters. In addition Estonia has to implement against third countries the whole system of non-tariff trade barriers required by EU (export subsidies, tariff quotas, sanitary requirements and etc).

Social Science Research Network, 2005

The paper is analysing the process of economic convergence of transition countries during the per... more The paper is analysing the process of economic convergence of transition countries during the period 1995-2004. Within the analysed period unconditional β-convergence across the transition economies existed. We could also discover the reduction of dispersion of income levels between accession countries (sigma-convergence). Comparative analyses of the new EU member states (NMS) economic convergence with the previous entrants into EU (Ireland, Greece, Spain, and Portugal) revealed that NMS have been much more successful in their convergence process before joining EU. Analyses of the macroeconomic, human capital, infrastructure indicators of the current accession countries compared with the previous cohesion countries indicated that the new members have been much better prepared to the enlargement. This allows drawing conclusion that the NMS face an opportunity to obtain

Social Science Research Network, 2004

This paper studies the effects of foreign direct investment on labour productivity in manufacturi... more This paper studies the effects of foreign direct investment on labour productivity in manufacturing industries of two transition countries, Estonia and Slovenia. The emphasis is on the dimension of export/local market orientation. The study is based on firm-level panel data. It is shown that in Estonia the export oriented foreign investment enterprises have on average

Entrepreneurship education in the higher education institutions (HEIs) of post‐communist European countries

Journal of enterprising communities, Aug 17, 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to map the current situation of entrepreneurship education in... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to map the current situation of entrepreneurship education in higher education institutions (HEIs) of 22 European transition economy countries.Design/methodology/approachThe approach taken was an internet survey and analysis covering 774 HEIs of the region.FindingsIn 332 institutions, entrepreneurship‐oriented courses, modules or curricula are offered. Croatia and Slovenia are the leading countries in terms of the coverage of teaching entrepreneurship in universities and colleges, followed by the Baltic countries and the Czech and Slovak Republics. The highest entrepreneurship orientation is found in new and private universities and colleges. In a majority of schools, the theory of entrepreneurship is taught but practice‐oriented training in entrepreneurship is rather limited. The current number of centres of entrepreneurship in the region is small, and the research‐oriented model of entrepreneurship education is used in three to five institutions only.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a useful source of information for entrepreneurship education researchers, developers and education policy makers.Originality/valueThe paper maps the HEIs entrepreneurship teaching in post‐communist European countries.

FDI in Central Europe: Short-Run Effects in Manufacturing

Book Description: The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the start of an economic and political trans... more Book Description: The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the start of an economic and political transition for the countries of Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Key to this shift is foreign direct investment (FDI), the application of which will determine a nation's success in moving from centrally-planned to market economies. Both geographic regions approach the problem differently, with China and Vietnam aiming for market-oriented socialism and the European countries becoming more democratic and privatized. Each method has had ...

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2013

This paper aims to benchmark Estonian governmental support measures targeted toward enhancing uni... more This paper aims to benchmark Estonian governmental support measures targeted toward enhancing university-industry collaboration to European best practice and make suggestions for the development of these measures. The intensity and scope of university-industry cooperation support measures varies heavily in Europe. The survey of European University-Business Cooperation, Pro Inno Europe and Erawatch database of policy measures, and Community Innovation Survey reveal that Finnish, German and Austrian support systems are best balanced and provide good university-industry cooperation intensity. The cooperation measures in Estonia are weak and improvement should be made by increasing the Estonian governmental funding, mandatory cooperation in support measures, networking and applied research in universities, ongoing application possibilities, reducing the bureaucracy, and improving the timing of measures.

Which Individual Characteristics are Associated with Academic Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Estonia

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, Apr 1, 2019

This study aims to find out how academic workers’ characteristics are associated with their owner... more This study aims to find out how academic workers’ characteristics are associated with their ownership in firms. It is based on quantitative data for the whole population of academic staff from Estonian public universities. Variables portraying age, academic field, professorship, number of publications and research grants are applied in analysing academic workers having ownership in firms. The results indicate that being a professor, having Science as the primary academic field, and a larger number of publications increase the likelihood of academic ownership while a larger number of grants decreases it. The age of academic worker is not a significant determinant of the likelihood of academic ownership.

Links Between Foreign Direct Investment and Innovation Activities in Estonia

Innovation, technology and knowledge management, Nov 19, 2011

There is a growing literature focusing on analyzing the productivity gap between domestic and for... more There is a growing literature focusing on analyzing the productivity gap between domestic and foreign firms with differences in innovation indicators. In this chapter, we analyze the relationship between inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) at either company or industry level and the innovation behavior of companies in Estonia. We used company-level data from three waves of the Community Innovation Surveys, which were combined with financial data from the Estonian Business Register and FDI data from the Balance of Payments statistics. For the analysis, we used propensity score matching. Our results show that the higher innovation output of foreign-owned companies vanished after controlling for a number of company characteristics, but there were significant differences in innovation inputs, such as the higher use of knowledge sourcing and the lower importance of various impeding factors. Both domestic and foreign-owned firms with outward investments are more innovative.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2005

The paper aims to identify the role of different sources of innovation for the Estonian wood sect... more The paper aims to identify the role of different sources of innovation for the Estonian wood sector. Comparing data from survey of Innovation in Estonian Enterprises 1998-2000 with similar Finnish data reveals that linkages in Estonian forest and wood cluster are relatively weaker regarding innovation sources. Universities and research institutes are the weakest part identified in the knowledge flows of the emerging Estonian wood cluster. Technological capabilities of Estonian wood and forest industries have passed the absorption phase and entered the adoption phase, but still the absorptive capacities remain relatively low, as indicated by the high importance of internal innovation sources and the low intensity of using R&D institutions and universities as innovation sources. We applied binary logit model in order to identify the role of different sources of innovation for the Estonian wood sector.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2001

International Journal of Technology Management, 2018

This paper presents an econometric analysis of the characteristics of firm's cooperating with uni... more This paper presents an econometric analysis of the characteristics of firm's cooperating with universities using Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data for 14 European countries. Our model incorporates three groups of variables which could be related to the probability to cooperate with universities. The first group of variables is related to the size of a firm, the second group measures different innovation activities and the third group describes the internationalisation of firms. In addition, we test for the number of linkages, public financing and the sector of the firm. In order to provide a comparative view across the European countries we use the CIS for the period 2006-2008, where we have data for 14 countries. We use a standard logit model for firm level data, with a dependent variable indicating whether a firm used a university as a cooperation partner or not. We estimate two separate models for cooperating with home and with foreign universities. Our main findings reveal that despite the origin of the university, firms must have a certain level of capabilities to have universities as cooperation partnersconducting internal or external R&D is a significant factor characterising the cooperation with universities. Investments into machinery and equipment as one of the innovative activities are hindering the cooperation with universities. Significant differences between firms that cooperate with home universities, compared to those cooperating with foreign universities exist. Firms cooperating with foreign universities are characterised by a higher level of internationalisation, measured by an export and foreign ownership dummy.

World Scientific Book Chapters, 2010

The current extensive literature on the home-country employment effect of FDI focuses almost excl... more The current extensive literature on the home-country employment effect of FDI focuses almost exclusively on the case of investments from high-income and high labour cost home countries. In our paper we analyse the home-country employment effect in Estonia as a lowcost medium-income transition economy. The data from the population of Estonian firms between 1995 and 2002 was studied with regression analysis and propensity score matching in order to construct an appropriate counterfactual for the firms that have invested abroad. The results indicate that in general, outward FDI had a positive impact on the home-country employment growth. Concerning direct investors (domestic firms investing abroad) and indirect investors (foreign-owned firms investing abroad), the former group had a stronger homecountry employment effect due to their smaller pre-investment size and because the subsidiaries of indirect investors are served from other locations rather than from Estonia. The positive employment effect was much stronger in the case of investments made after 1999 due to the better macro-economic performance of Estonia from the year 2000 onwards. Services firms demonstrated a stronger home-country employment effect than manufacturing firms. Our results imply that the logic of the outward investments from low-cost transition and developing economies differs from that of high-income countries.

Social Science Research Network, 2014

Collaboration between firms and universities, two main actors in the national system of innovatio... more Collaboration between firms and universities, two main actors in the national system of innovation, brings the needs of the business world to the attention of the scientific community and allow scientific progress to be diffused more quickly in the real world. The aim of the paper is to compare the determinants of university-industry cooperation across countries and to identify differences between firms that cooperate with domestic and those that cooperate with foreign universities. We use data from 14 European countries taken from the 2008 community innovation survey. The degree of internationalisation is the main determinant of cooperation. Exporting or foreign-owned firms are more likely to cooperate with foreign universities. Differences in cooperation determinants also appear between the four country groupings that we extract by a cluster analysis on variables describing their institutional settings and national innovation systems. Notably different is the group of countries with a weak national innovation system.

Social Science Research Network, 2004

The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer i... more The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer into five CEE economies (Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) by examining the influences of country, industry, firm-size and foreign ownership on the choice of the subsidiaries' strategies. Only the autonomy of subsidiaries across business functions is focused in the current analysis. Proceeding from the results of the analysis one can see many differences in the autonomy of subsidiary. Subsidiaries from the more developed CEE countries Slovenia and Hungary had the highest scores for the autonomy, especially in terms of management and financial autonomy.

Journal of East-west Business, Feb 27, 2020

The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed be... more The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed between two major developed economies that also belong among the largest car exporters in the world. This paper examines the effects of the EU-South Korea FTA on bilateral automotive industry trade, comparing them to the changes in total bilateral trade. The empirical analysis applies the gravity model framework with its contemporary methodological advancements and estimation techniques. The empirical results show that the trade-enhancing effects of the FTA in the auto trade are substantially higher than in total trade. Additionally, EU bilateral auto exports have increased more than South Korea's exports. The dynamics of the post-FTA trade flows suggest that the removal of the automotive industry's non-tariff barriers have played an important role in trade facilitation, especially for EU exports. The enforcement of the FTA has also been followed by notable changes in the structure of EU auto exports with the share of higher value final goods increasing and input goods decreasing.

Tselluloosi- ja paberitööstuse konkurentsivõime

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2004

Social Science Research Network, Dec 28, 2017

The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed be... more The EU-South Korea FTA, enforced in 2011, represents a significant case of a trade deal signed between two major developed economies that also belong among the largest car exporters in the world. This paper examines the effects of the EU-South Korea FTA on bilateral automotive industry trade, comparing them to the changes in total bilateral trade. The empirical analysis applies the gravity model framework with its contemporary methodological advancements and estimation techniques. The empirical results show that the trade-enhancing effects of the FTA in the auto trade are substantially higher than in total trade. Additionally, EU bilateral auto exports have increased more than South Korea's exports. The dynamics of the post-FTA trade flows suggest that the removal of the automotive industry's non-tariff barriers have played an important role in trade facilitation, especially for EU exports. The enforcement of the FTA has also been followed by notable changes in the structure of EU auto exports with the share of higher value final goods increasing and input goods decreasing.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2004

The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer i... more The aim of the paper is to analyse the contribution of FDI to knowledge and technology transfer into five CEE economies (Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) by examining the influences of country, industry, firm-size and foreign ownership on the choice of the subsidiaries' strategies. Only the autonomy of subsidiaries across business functions is focused in the current analysis. Proceeding from the results of the analysis one can see many differences in the autonomy of subsidiary. Subsidiaries from the more developed CEE countries Slovenia and Hungary had the highest scores for the autonomy, especially in terms of management and financial autonomy.

Economic Change and Restructuring, 2016

This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate ... more This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate productivity growth during times of boom, bust and recovery. The analysis covers 10 EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe over the years 2001-2012. The reallocation of labour across sectors was substantial during the boom, very extensive in 2009 at the depth of the crisis and modest in the subsequent recovery period. The contribution of sectoral change to aggregate productivity growth is computed using various decomposition methods. Changes in labour productivity within sectors play the dominant role for aggregate productivity growth, while reallocation of labour between sectors is less important. This pattern is found through most of the sample period despite large differences in the extent of sectoral change during the boom, crisis and recovery.

Social Science Research Network, 2003

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the impact of EU-accession on the Estonian food sector fro... more The purpose of the paper is to analyse the impact of EU-accession on the Estonian food sector from the point of view of potential changes in foreign trade. Estonia has followed radical macroeconomic reforms in the 1990's and is well known by its extremely liberal trade policy including the complete absence of tariffs and quantitative restrictions. Therefore the accession to the EU means for Estonia radical change in the trade policy regime. The most affected will be trade with food products and eventually this will cause deep changes in the Estonian agriculture. Estonia has to implement EU common external tariffs against third countries and on the other hand EU food market will be opened to Estonian exporters. In addition Estonia has to implement against third countries the whole system of non-tariff trade barriers required by EU (export subsidies, tariff quotas, sanitary requirements and etc).

Social Science Research Network, 2005

The paper is analysing the process of economic convergence of transition countries during the per... more The paper is analysing the process of economic convergence of transition countries during the period 1995-2004. Within the analysed period unconditional β-convergence across the transition economies existed. We could also discover the reduction of dispersion of income levels between accession countries (sigma-convergence). Comparative analyses of the new EU member states (NMS) economic convergence with the previous entrants into EU (Ireland, Greece, Spain, and Portugal) revealed that NMS have been much more successful in their convergence process before joining EU. Analyses of the macroeconomic, human capital, infrastructure indicators of the current accession countries compared with the previous cohesion countries indicated that the new members have been much better prepared to the enlargement. This allows drawing conclusion that the NMS face an opportunity to obtain

Social Science Research Network, 2004

This paper studies the effects of foreign direct investment on labour productivity in manufacturi... more This paper studies the effects of foreign direct investment on labour productivity in manufacturing industries of two transition countries, Estonia and Slovenia. The emphasis is on the dimension of export/local market orientation. The study is based on firm-level panel data. It is shown that in Estonia the export oriented foreign investment enterprises have on average

Entrepreneurship education in the higher education institutions (HEIs) of post‐communist European countries

Journal of enterprising communities, Aug 17, 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to map the current situation of entrepreneurship education in... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to map the current situation of entrepreneurship education in higher education institutions (HEIs) of 22 European transition economy countries.Design/methodology/approachThe approach taken was an internet survey and analysis covering 774 HEIs of the region.FindingsIn 332 institutions, entrepreneurship‐oriented courses, modules or curricula are offered. Croatia and Slovenia are the leading countries in terms of the coverage of teaching entrepreneurship in universities and colleges, followed by the Baltic countries and the Czech and Slovak Republics. The highest entrepreneurship orientation is found in new and private universities and colleges. In a majority of schools, the theory of entrepreneurship is taught but practice‐oriented training in entrepreneurship is rather limited. The current number of centres of entrepreneurship in the region is small, and the research‐oriented model of entrepreneurship education is used in three to five institutions only.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a useful source of information for entrepreneurship education researchers, developers and education policy makers.Originality/valueThe paper maps the HEIs entrepreneurship teaching in post‐communist European countries.

FDI in Central Europe: Short-Run Effects in Manufacturing

Book Description: The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the start of an economic and political trans... more Book Description: The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the start of an economic and political transition for the countries of Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Key to this shift is foreign direct investment (FDI), the application of which will determine a nation's success in moving from centrally-planned to market economies. Both geographic regions approach the problem differently, with China and Vietnam aiming for market-oriented socialism and the European countries becoming more democratic and privatized. Each method has had ...

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 2013

This paper aims to benchmark Estonian governmental support measures targeted toward enhancing uni... more This paper aims to benchmark Estonian governmental support measures targeted toward enhancing university-industry collaboration to European best practice and make suggestions for the development of these measures. The intensity and scope of university-industry cooperation support measures varies heavily in Europe. The survey of European University-Business Cooperation, Pro Inno Europe and Erawatch database of policy measures, and Community Innovation Survey reveal that Finnish, German and Austrian support systems are best balanced and provide good university-industry cooperation intensity. The cooperation measures in Estonia are weak and improvement should be made by increasing the Estonian governmental funding, mandatory cooperation in support measures, networking and applied research in universities, ongoing application possibilities, reducing the bureaucracy, and improving the timing of measures.

Which Individual Characteristics are Associated with Academic Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Estonia

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, Apr 1, 2019

This study aims to find out how academic workers’ characteristics are associated with their owner... more This study aims to find out how academic workers’ characteristics are associated with their ownership in firms. It is based on quantitative data for the whole population of academic staff from Estonian public universities. Variables portraying age, academic field, professorship, number of publications and research grants are applied in analysing academic workers having ownership in firms. The results indicate that being a professor, having Science as the primary academic field, and a larger number of publications increase the likelihood of academic ownership while a larger number of grants decreases it. The age of academic worker is not a significant determinant of the likelihood of academic ownership.

Links Between Foreign Direct Investment and Innovation Activities in Estonia

Innovation, technology and knowledge management, Nov 19, 2011

There is a growing literature focusing on analyzing the productivity gap between domestic and for... more There is a growing literature focusing on analyzing the productivity gap between domestic and foreign firms with differences in innovation indicators. In this chapter, we analyze the relationship between inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) at either company or industry level and the innovation behavior of companies in Estonia. We used company-level data from three waves of the Community Innovation Surveys, which were combined with financial data from the Estonian Business Register and FDI data from the Balance of Payments statistics. For the analysis, we used propensity score matching. Our results show that the higher innovation output of foreign-owned companies vanished after controlling for a number of company characteristics, but there were significant differences in innovation inputs, such as the higher use of knowledge sourcing and the lower importance of various impeding factors. Both domestic and foreign-owned firms with outward investments are more innovative.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2005

The paper aims to identify the role of different sources of innovation for the Estonian wood sect... more The paper aims to identify the role of different sources of innovation for the Estonian wood sector. Comparing data from survey of Innovation in Estonian Enterprises 1998-2000 with similar Finnish data reveals that linkages in Estonian forest and wood cluster are relatively weaker regarding innovation sources. Universities and research institutes are the weakest part identified in the knowledge flows of the emerging Estonian wood cluster. Technological capabilities of Estonian wood and forest industries have passed the absorption phase and entered the adoption phase, but still the absorptive capacities remain relatively low, as indicated by the high importance of internal innovation sources and the low intensity of using R&D institutions and universities as innovation sources. We applied binary logit model in order to identify the role of different sources of innovation for the Estonian wood sector.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2001

International Journal of Technology Management, 2018

This paper presents an econometric analysis of the characteristics of firm's cooperating with uni... more This paper presents an econometric analysis of the characteristics of firm's cooperating with universities using Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data for 14 European countries. Our model incorporates three groups of variables which could be related to the probability to cooperate with universities. The first group of variables is related to the size of a firm, the second group measures different innovation activities and the third group describes the internationalisation of firms. In addition, we test for the number of linkages, public financing and the sector of the firm. In order to provide a comparative view across the European countries we use the CIS for the period 2006-2008, where we have data for 14 countries. We use a standard logit model for firm level data, with a dependent variable indicating whether a firm used a university as a cooperation partner or not. We estimate two separate models for cooperating with home and with foreign universities. Our main findings reveal that despite the origin of the university, firms must have a certain level of capabilities to have universities as cooperation partnersconducting internal or external R&D is a significant factor characterising the cooperation with universities. Investments into machinery and equipment as one of the innovative activities are hindering the cooperation with universities. Significant differences between firms that cooperate with home universities, compared to those cooperating with foreign universities exist. Firms cooperating with foreign universities are characterised by a higher level of internationalisation, measured by an export and foreign ownership dummy.