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on Innovation |
|
Issue of 2008‒09‒20
twelve papers chosen by Steffen Lippert Massey University Department of Commerce |
| By: | Zoltan J. Acs (George Mason University and Max Planck Institute of Economics); Mark Sanders (Utrecht School of Economics and Max Planck Institute of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model in which stronger protection of intellectual property rights has an inverted U-shaped effect on innovation. Intellectual property rights protection allows the incumbent firms to capture part of the rents of commercial exploration that would otherwise accrue to the entrepreneurs. Stronger patent protection will increase the incentive to do R+D and generate new knowledge. This has a positive impact on entrepreneurship and innovation. However, after some point, further strengthening patent protection will reduce the returns to entrepreneurship sufficiently to reduce overall economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Intellectual Property Rights, Endogenous Growth, Entrepreneurship, Incentives, Knowledge Spillovers, Rents |
| JEL: | J24 L26 M13 O3 |
| Date: | 2008–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2008-069&r=ino |
| By: | Wan-Hsin LIU |
| Abstract: | Since 1997 the Hong Kong (HK) government has markedly changed its role from being a mere institution provider to being an active innovation promoter. As such, it has actively implemented innovation policies that focus especially on creating new funding opportunities and establishing several R&D centres to facilitate information flow and innovation cooperation between universities and industries. One of the industries in which it has been especially active is the electronics industry. Thus this study looks at the electronics industry to examine, using data collected from a questionnaire survey on the HK electronics SMEs, whether these policies have positively affected innovation intensity in HK. The survey findings indicate that there has been an increase in innovation activities in HK, but also that neither the R&D centres nor the universities have played important roles as innovation sources or innovation partners for the HK electronics SMEs. Rather, the main way through which universities and R&D centres support the HK electronics SMEs’ innovation activities seems to be the provision of a highly-qualified labour-force transmitting academic knowledge to companies |
| Keywords: | electronics, innovation, innovation policy, regional survey, Hong Kong, China |
| JEL: | D21 L60 O31 O33 O38 R10 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1445&r=ino |
| By: | Roberto Patuelli (Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, Germany; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; University of Zurich, Switzerland and The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, Italy); Christoph Grimpe (Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, Germany; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; University of Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Nanomaterials are seen as a key technology for the 21st Century, and much is expected of them in terms of innovation and economic growth. They could open the way to many radically new applications, which would form the basis of innovative products. In this context, it seems all the more important for regions to put their own innovation systems in place, and to ensure that they offer a suitable location for such activities in order to benefit from the expected growth. Many regions have already done so by establishing ‘science parks’ and ‘nanoclusters’. As nanomaterials are still in their infancy, both public research institutes and private businesses could play a vital role in the process. This paper investigates what conditions and configurations allow a regional innovation system to be competitive in a cutting-edge technology like nanomaterials. We analyse European Patent Office data at the German district level (NUTS-3) on applications for nanomaterial patents, in order to chart the effects of localised research and development (R&D) in the public and private sector. We estimate two negative binomial models in a knowledge production function framework and include a spatial filtering approach to adjust for spatial effects. Our results indicate that there is a significant positive effect of both public and private R&D on the production of nanomaterial patents. Moreover, we find a positive interaction between them which hints at the importance of their co-location for realising the full potential of an emerging technology like nanomaterials. |
| Keywords: | nanotechnology, innovation, patents, Germany, spatial autocorrelation, spatial filtering |
| JEL: | L60 O32 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:29-08&r=ino |
| By: | Payot, Frederic (Universitie of Lausanne); Szalay, Dezsö (Economics Department, University of Warwick.) |
| Abstract: | We analyze a two-stage patent race. In the first phase firms seek to develop a research tool, an innovation that has no commercial value but is necessary to enter the second phase of the race. The firm that completes the second phase of the race first obtains a patent on the final innnovation and enjoys its profits. We ask whether patent protection for the innovator of the research tool is beneficial from the ex ante point of view. We show that there is a range of values of the final innovation such that firms prefer to have no Intellectual Property Rights for research tools. |
| Keywords: | Sequential Patent Race ; Intellectual Property Rights ; Knowledge Sharing |
| JEL: | D86 L00 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:864&r=ino |
| By: | Takalo , Tuomas (Bank of Finland Research); Tanayama , Tanja (Helsinki Center of Economic Research (HECER)) |
| Abstract: | We study the interaction between private and public funding of innovative projects in the presence of adverse-selection based financing constraints. Government programmes allocating direct subsidies are based on ex-ante screening of the subsidy applications. This selection scheme may yield valuable information to market-based financiers. We find that under certain conditions, public R&D subsidies can reduce the financing constraints of technology-based entrepreneurial firms. Firstly, the subsidy itself reduces the capital costs related to innovation projects by reducing the amount of market-based capital required. Secondly, the observation that an entrepreneur has received a subsidy for an innovation project provides an informative signal to market-based financiers. We also find that public screening works more efficiently if it is accompanied by subsidy allocation. |
| Keywords: | adverse selection; innovation finance; financial constraints; R&D subsidies; certification |
| JEL: | D82 G28 H20 O30 O38 |
| Date: | 2008–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofrdp:2008_019&r=ino |
| By: | Meuleman, M.; De Maeseneire, W. (Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School) |
| Abstract: | Many countries spend sizeable sums of public money on R&D grants to alleviate debt and equity gaps for small firms’ innovation projects. In making such awards, knowledgeable government officials may certify firms to private financiers. This paper investigates whether government subsidies to R&D enhance SMEs’ access to external financing due to this certification effect. Using a unique Belgian dataset of 1107 approved requests and a control group of 501 denied requests for a specific type of R&D grant, we examine the impact on small firms’ external equity, short term and long term debt financing. We find that obtaining a R&D subsidy provides a positive signal about SME quality and results in better access to long-term debt. |
| Keywords: | R&D subsidies, government policy, SMEs, financial constraints, certification hypothesis, behavioural additionality |
| JEL: | G32 H25 O38 |
| Date: | 2008–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vlg:vlgwps:2008-12&r=ino |
| By: | Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Lööf, Hans (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Ebersberger, Bernd (MCI) |
| Abstract: | Over the past decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the foreign-ownership of firms in the four Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. This increase has generated interest in the welfare effect of foreign take-over of national assets. In this paper we ask: how would a firm’s behaviour and performance have been if a foreign owner had not acquired the firm? The analysis is based on a sample of 5 186 firm-level observations in four Nordic countries, of which close to 30 percent are owned by foreign companies. Using an empirical approach that accounts for both selection bias and simultaneity bias, we establish some new findings regarding foreign ownership. First, no robust difference in the propensity to be innovative can be established. Second, among the group of innovative firms, foreign-owned multinationals are generally outperformed by domestic multinationals in R&D and innovation engagement. Third, despite the fact that domestic multinationals are considerably more involved in national innovation systems than other firms, they are not producing more innovation per R&D-dollar, controlling for firm size, human capital and industry. Finally, we find that foreign take-over of firms is neutral with respect to labour productivity, and hence that no evidence of welfare gain or welfare drain of foreign ownership can be established. |
| Keywords: | Multinational enterprises; Take-Over; Corporate Governance; Cross-country comparison; Spillovers; R&D; Innovation; Productivity |
| JEL: | C31 D21 F23 G34 L22 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2008–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0141&r=ino |
| By: | Luigi Aldieri (University of Naples Parthenope & Université Libre de Bruxelles, DULBEA-CERT) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pattern of knowledge flows as indicated by patent citations. In order to compute the technological proximity, we have followed the methodology developed by Jaffe (1986), where a technological vector is based on the distribution of patents of each firm across technology classes. As far as the geographic proximity is concerned, we have used the latitude and the longitude coordinates of the city in which each firm is located. The empirical results suggest that the effects of proximity variables on knowledge flows are rather differentiated. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Knowledge Spillovers, Technology Transfer, Patent Citations. |
| JEL: | F1 F2 O3 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dul:wpaper:08-18rs&r=ino |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Stough, Roger (George Mason University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of entrepreneurship and innovations for economic development in functional regions and in doing that highlighting the different conditions offered for entrepreneurship and innovations in functional regions of various sizes. In conclusion, the conditions for entrepreneurship and innovations vary substantially between functional regions, since the necessary knowledge resources tend to be local and to cluster in certain regions and not others. Functional regions with a high capacity to generate new ideas, create knowledge, organizational learning and innovations are characterized as learning regions. Large functional regions offer a large market potential and a superior accessibility to knowledge and knowledge resources and they will further develop their creative capabilities due to an accumulation of innovative and entrepreneurial knowledge. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship; Innovations; Regional development; R&D; Knowledge Sources; Knowledge Flows; Knowledge Creation |
| JEL: | D21 M13 R10 |
| Date: | 2008–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0144&r=ino |
| By: | Lejpras, Anna (DIW Berlin); Stephan, Andreas (CESIS and JIBS) |
| Abstract: | This paper has two goals. First, it analyzes the extent to which the innovativeness of spin-offs, either born from a research facility or from another company, is influenced by locational conditions. Second, it provides evidence on how important local cooperation links are in comparison to nonlocal ones. Using a sample of approximately 1,500 East German firms from knowledge-intensive sectors, we estimate a structural equation model applying the partial least squares method. We find that proximity to local research institutes and universities is the most influential factor for the cooperation intensity of spin-offs. Furthermore, the higher the cooperation intensity, the greater the innovativeness of a firm. Moreover, the results indicate that it is not the local but the nonlocal cooperation ties that are more conducive to innovativeness of research spin-offs. The findings also highlight that the innovativeness of research spin-offs with solely local links is strongly depends on support from various authorities and institutions. |
| Keywords: | Research and Company Spin-Offs; Locational Conditions; Cooperation Intensity; Innovativeness; Structural Equation Modeling; Partial Least Squares Approach |
| JEL: | M13 O18 |
| Date: | 2008–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0136&r=ino |
| By: | Andreas Eisingerich (Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London); Oliver Falck (Ifo Institute for Economic Research and CESifo); Stephan Heblich (Max Planck Institute of Economics); Tobias Kretschmer (Institute for Communication Economics, LMU Munich) |
| Abstract: | Industrial clusters develop regionally along the industry's lifecycle and typically exist over many product generations. In order to maintain their innovativeness, they have to develop and adjust along the industry lifecycle. We conduct 142 depth face-to-face interviews in clusters across two continents to examine the drivers of a cluster's innovativeness along the industry lifecycle. The results from our interviews suggest that the impact of key drivers of cluster innovativeness change depending on the stage of a cluster's underlying industry lifecycle. Classifying clusters as either being adolescent (information technology, biotechnology) or mature (automotive, chemicals), our regression analyses show a changing influence of cluster patterns along the industry lifecycle on a firm's innovativeness. Specifically, we analyze the impact of interorganizational network strength, openness, university collaboration, and intrapreneurship on radical innovation across adolescent and mature clusters. Implications for research and policy makers are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Cluster, Industry Lifecycle, Innovation |
| JEL: | O18 R12 L6 |
| Date: | 2008–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2008-070&r=ino |
| By: | Martin Shubik (Cowles Foundation, Yale University) |
| Abstract: | A discussion is given of the problems involved in the formal modeling of the innovation process. The link between innovation and finance is stressed. The nature of how the circular flow of funds is broken and the role of finance in evaluation and control is discussed. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Invention, Circular flow, Finance |
| JEL: | D5 G2 O3 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1674&r=ino |