Strategic patenting is widely believed to raise the costs of innovating, especially in industries characterised by cumulative innovation. This paper studies the effects of strategic patenting on R&D, patenting and market value in the computer software industry. We focus on two key aspects:...

This article describes six common challenges of design, incentives, and governance that arise in establishing platform businesses. It also proposes solutions. It considers, for example, how to open a platform to decentralized innovation yet still earn a return; how to incorporate best-of-breed...

Employee referrals are a very common means by which firms hire new workers. Past work suggests that workers hired via referrals often perform better than non-referred workers, but we have little understanding as to why. In this paper, we demonstrate that this is primarily because referrals allow...

Search faces (at least) two major challenges. One is to improve the efficiency of retrieving relevant content for all digital formats (images, audio, video, 3D shapes, etc). The second is to make relevant information retrievable in a range of platforms, particularly in high diffusion ones for...

This report addresses the potential of digital games to support social inclusion and empowerment (DGEI). It is based on a range of theoretical and empirical data, brought together for the first time in this and associated reports. The aim of the report, commissioned by DG CNECT, is to provide a...

Enterprise search technology retrieves information within organizations. This data can be proprietary and public, and access to it may be restricted or not. Enterprise search solutions render business processes more efficient particularly in data-intensive companies. This technology is key to...

Over the last three decades, outsourcing has had a big influence on the international division of labour. It is clear that it has been a major reason for the enormous build-up of production capabilities in the developing world, in particular in the export platforms of Asia. However, the...

This paper examines the structures of information transfer to the agricultural (production) and agro-alimentary (transformation and commercialization of the products) sector within Spain. A historical perspective is provided to better illustrate the reality and complexity of Spain with regard to...