title: Innovation, R&D cooperation and labor recruitment: evidence from Finland

authors: Simonen, Jaakko

subjects: innovation

abstract: This article investigates the role played by one type of firm interaction, namely R&D cooperation, and also the acquisition of labor, in the promotion of industrial innovations. We employ a unique innovation dataset from Finland which combines firm specific information about the innovation performance of the firms along with their individual characteristics, as well as firm specific information regarding the origins of their recent labor acquisitions. Analyzing this data allows us to identify the different roles which the knowledge spillovers and labor markets play in the innovation process. Our results suggest that small firms are generally more innovative than large firms; R&D cooperation is an essential feature of innovation, but the variety of cooperation is of little importance; and labor acquisition appears to be only of limited importance for innovation.

text: Innovation, R&D cooperation and labor recruitment: evidence from Finland This article investigates the role played by one type of firm interaction, namely R&D cooperation, and also the acquisition of labor, in the promotion of industrial innovations. We employ a unique innovation dataset from Finland which combines firm specific information about the innovation performance of the firms along with their individual characteristics, as well as firm specific information regarding the origins of their recent labor acquisitions. Analyzing this data allows us to identify the different roles which the knowledge spillovers and labor markets play in the innovation process. Our results suggest that small firms are generally more innovative than large firms; R&D cooperation is an essential feature of innovation, but the variety of cooperation is of little importance; and labor acquisition appears to be only of limited importance for innovation.

year: 2008

title: Where firms choose to disclose voluntary environmental information

authors: de Villiers, Charl

abstract: Corporate environmental performance is of increasing importance to investors, public policy makers and the general public. Firms disclose environmental information (mostly) voluntarily in their annual reports and on their websites. These disclosures are important, because they provide environmental performance information and influence capital markets. We compare environmental disclosure in annual reports and on websites with a long-term (bad) and a short-term (crisis) environmental performance measure. We find evidence to support our hypotheses that different levels of environmental disclosure are made in annual reports and on websites under different conditions. More specifically, firms disclose more environmental information on their websites when faced with an environmental crisis and more in their annual reports when they have a bad environmental reputation.

text: Where firms choose to disclose voluntary environmental information Corporate environmental performance is of increasing importance to investors, public policy makers and the general public. Firms disclose environmental information (mostly) voluntarily in their annual reports and on their websites. These disclosures are important, because they provide environmental performance information and influence capital markets. We compare environmental disclosure in annual reports and on websites with a long-term (bad) and a short-term (crisis) environmental performance measure. We find evidence to support our hypotheses that different levels of environmental disclosure are made in annual reports and on websites under different conditions. More specifically, firms disclose more environmental information on their websites when faced with an environmental crisis and more in their annual reports when they have a bad environmental reputation.

year: 2011

title: Estimated catchment loads of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes

authors: McBride, Chris G.

abstract: The Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes are central to the identity of their region, of immense historical and cultural importance, and provide ecosystem services that underpin biodiversity, conservation and socioeconomic aspirations of the community. The diversity of water quality in the lakes reflects their catchments, which are diverse in topography, hydrogeology and intensity of land use, ranging from the largely undeveloped land around lakes Tikitapu and Okataina, to highly developed forestry and pastoral land around lakes Rerewhakaaitu, Rotorua and Okaro. Lake water quality is strongly linked to nutrients received by each lake from surface flows and groundwater springs. It therefore follows that management of lake water quality requires a good understanding of nutrient loads derived from the landscape, as does the assessment or prediction of the in-lake effects of catchment-based management initiatives aimed at improving lake water quality.

text: Estimated catchment loads of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes The Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes are central to the identity of their region, of immense historical and cultural importance, and provide ecosystem services that underpin biodiversity, conservation and socioeconomic aspirations of the community. The diversity of water quality in the lakes reflects their catchments, which are diverse in topography, hydrogeology and intensity of land use, ranging from the largely undeveloped land around lakes Tikitapu and Okataina, to highly developed forestry and pastoral land around lakes Rerewhakaaitu, Rotorua and Okaro. Lake water quality is strongly linked to nutrients received by each lake from surface flows and groundwater springs. It therefore follows that management of lake water quality requires a good understanding of nutrient loads derived from the landscape, as does the assessment or prediction of the in-lake effects of catchment-based management initiatives aimed at improving lake water quality.

year: 2021