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on Innovation |
| By: | Joëlle Noailly; Roger Smeets |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of directed technical change in the electricity generation sector. We use firm-level data on patents filed in renewable (REN) and fossil fuel (FF) technologies by about 7,000 European firms over the period 1978-2006. We separately study specialized firms, that innovate in only one type of technology during the sample period, and mixed firms, that innovate in both technologies. We find that for specialized firms the main drivers of innovation are fossil-fuel prices, market size, and firms' past knowledge stocks. Also, prices and market size drive the entry of new REN firms into innovation. By contrast, we find that innovation by mixed firms is mainly driven by strong path-dependencies since for these firms past knowledge stock is the major driver of the direction of innovation. These results imply that generic environmental policies that affect prices and energy demand are mainly effective in directing innovation by small specialized firms. In order to direct innovation efforts of large mixed corporations with a long history of FF innovation, targeted R&D policies are likely to be more effective. |
| JEL: | Q4 Q55 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:237&r=ino |
| By: | Nour, Samia Satti Osman Mohamed (Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, Khartoum University, and UNU-MERIT/MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs both the descriptive and comparative approaches and uses the definition of systems of innovation used in the literature to examine the existence, characteristics and implications of the regional systems of innovation in the Arab region. We examine three hypotheses, that the regional systems of innovation exist but are characterized by serious weaknesses in the Arab region compared with other world regions, that the structure of the economy has a significant effect in the performance of innovation systems in the Arab region, and that the poor Arab systems of innovation have serious implications in the Arab region. We explain two common characteristics of Arab regional systems of innovation concerning poor subsystems of education, S&T, R&D and ICT institutions in the Arab region and concentration of R&D activities within public and universities sectors and small contribution of the private sector in R&D activities. We find that the major implications are the poor performance of the Arab region in terms of S&T indicators, competitiveness indicators, technology achievement index and poor integration in the knowledge economy index. Therefore, it is essential for the Arab region to enhance the institutions of higher education, S&T, R&D and ICT to build the Arab regional systems of innovation and to achieve economic development in the Arab region. |
| Keywords: | Education, S&T, R&D, Systems of innovation, economic structure, Arab region |
| JEL: | O10 O11 O30 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2013012&r=ino |
| By: | Cozza, Claudio; Schettino, Francesco |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to study empirically the patenting propensity at the European regional level. To do that we use the OECD-REGPAT dataset, that includes patent applications made by European inventors and applicants to EPO in the time-span 1978-2011. Explanatory variables on R&D and human capital are extracted from EUROSTAT and OECD databases. In order to reduce biases we use patent applications by region of the inventor, as its linkage to the territory is stronger than using the region of the applicant. Analyzing the data, we sketch out the existence of a deep uneven distribution both in patent applications and R&D expenditure. Richer regions in terms of GDP – generally those of central-western Europe – show higher level of both private and public R&D expenditure as well as a consistent share of the whole European patent applications in last decades. As a consequence, eastern (and to a minor extent southern) European regions report harmful outcomes in terms of both variables. Thus, following the approach of Cincera (1997, 2005) we explain the determinants of patenting propensity using a regional panel data. Our main results substantially confirm the key role of R&D expenditure on patenting activity: mainly the business-enterprises component, but also the government sector one. Moreover, human capital variables – such as the share of human resources employed in high tech industries, and the number of highly qualified workers in science and technology occupations – show a positive relationship with patenting propensity. On the other side, average enterprise size seems not to play a determinant role on patent applications. |
| Keywords: | Patents, Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation, EPO, R&D |
| JEL: | K29 O34 O4 |
| Date: | 2013–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:45084&r=ino |
| By: | Gaétan de Rassenfosse (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, The University of Melbourne); Anja Schoen (Technische Universität München); Annelies Wastyn (Department of Managerial Economics, Strategy and Innovation, KU Leuven) |
| Abstract: | The study of the innovative output of organizations often relies on a count of patents filed at one single office of reference such as the European Patent Office (EPO). Yet, not all organizations file their patents at the EPO, raising the specter of a selection bias. Using novel datasets of the whole population of patents by Belgian firms and German universities, we show that the single-office count results in a selection bias that affects econometric estimates of invention production functions. We propose a methodology to evaluate whether estimates that rely on the single-office count are affected by a selection bias. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge production function, patent count, R&D, selection bias |
| JEL: | O31 C18 C52 C81 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n08&r=ino |
| By: | Alfons Palangkaraya (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the link between innovation and export market participation using Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) data. The results show that export and innovation are positively linked. Depending on the industry and the type of innovation (process or product), innovation may lead to export and, to a lesser extent, export may lead to innovation. Firms in the primary sector (agriculture and mining) show the strongest evidence that innovation leads to export. From firms in the services sector, there is indication that only process innovation leads to export. Also, only in this sector, there is evidence that export may lead to (process) innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, export, small and medium enterprises, propensity score matching |
| JEL: | F14 O12 O14 O31 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n04&r=ino |
| By: | Masino, Serena |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the channels through which macroeconomic and institutional instability prevents or hinders innovative investment undertakings financed by the domestic private sector. The analysis is based on a sample of 44 countries representing all levels of development and considers a number of instability dimensions. The results suggest a negative impact of real, monetary and political instability on the aggregate level of national R&D financed by the business sector. Thus, they highlight the desirability of stable macro-institutional environments in preventing avoidance or abandonment of private innovation undertakings. |
| Keywords: | Macroeconomic Volatility, Political Instability, R&D Investment, Innovation |
| JEL: | O11 O33 O31 C33 |
| Date: | 2013–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:45178&r=ino |
| By: | Burak Dindaroglu (Department of Economics, Izmir University of Economics) |
| Abstract: | I study the effects of basic and applied innovation on a firm's market value and total factor productivity for a panel of U.S. manufacturing firms. Basicness of innovation is measured by the index of generality proposed by Trajtenberg, Henderson and Jaffe (1997), and basic and applied innovation stocks are proxied by the stocks of patents that score at the relevant tails of the generality distribution. I find that the market valuation and productivity effects of basic and applied innovation are drastically different. Market value is positively associated with a firm's applied innovation stock, but it exhibits no association with its basic innovation stock. On the other hand, patents at the higher (resp. lower) quartiles of the generality distribution are positively (resp. negatively) associated with total factor productivity and productivity growth. Therefore, complementing previous studies on basic research, I find that the basicness of innovation is associated with a productivity premium. |
| Keywords: | Basic innovation; Applied innovation; Patents; Citations; Generality; Market value; Tobin's q; Productivity. |
| JEL: | O31 O33 L60 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:izm:wpaper:1301&r=ino |
| By: | Hou, Jun (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Mohnen, Pierre (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG, and Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | In developing countries, innovation is to a large extent a matter of adoption of advanced technologies but also of conducting internal R&D to be able to better assimilate existing technologies. This paper, based on firm level data from 24 developing countries, examines the roles of internal R&D efforts (MAKE) and external technology sourcing (BUY) in fostering productivity in manufacturing firms. Is MAKE a substitute for BUY or are the two strategies complementary as evidenced in some developed countries? Our empirical investigation highlights the critical role of external technology acquisition in manufacturing industries in low-income countries and exhibits signs of complementarity only in middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | innovation, make and buy, complementarity, developing countries |
| JEL: | O13 O33 D22 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2013010&r=ino |
| By: | Heike Belitz; Florian Mölders |
| Abstract: | The international transmission of knowledge through import spillovers, as a source of TFP growth, has received much attention in the literature. We investigate two additional direct channels through which R&D disseminates: the import of high-technology goods and the internationalization of business R&D. Building on an extensive dataset, covering both developing and industrial countries, we add foreign owned patents as a proxy for R&D activities of multinationals. While we confirm the significance of import spillovers for all countries included, we find additional spillovers for developing countries through the import of high-technology goods. Only developed economies seem to benefit from the diffusion of knowledge that originates through cross-border cooperation in R&D by multinationals. |
| Keywords: | Productivity growth, technology diffusion, multinational enterprise |
| JEL: | F14 F23 O47 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1276&r=ino |
| By: | Ana Paula Faria (Universidade do Minho - NIPE); Natália Barbosa (Universidade do Minho - NIPE) |
| Abstract: | Using panel data of 17 European Union countries, we find robust empirical support for a positive impact of venture capital on innovation. After controlling for the potential endogenous relationship between venture capital and innovation, the results indicate that venture capital fosters innovation but mainly on a later stage. |
| Keywords: | venture capital; innovation; dynamic panel data |
| JEL: | O31 G30 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:03/2013&r=ino |
| By: | Gaétan de Rassenfosse (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents evidence that firms face a trade-off between the quantity and quality of their research output. The econometric analysis uses survey data on patent applicants at the European Patent Office and addresses the identification problem caused by differences in firms’ propensity to patent. The existence of a trade-off emphasizes the need to take the quality of research output into account when assessing research productivity. It also raises questions about the optimal quantity–quality mix that firms should target. |
| Keywords: | Innovation performance, invention quality, invention quantity, patent explosion, propensity to patent, research productivity |
| JEL: | D83 L25 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n06&r=ino |
| By: | Adam Copeland; Adam Hale Shapiro |
| Abstract: | We examine how the confluence of competition and upstream innovation influences downstream firms’ profit-maximizing strategies. In particular, we analyze how, in light of these forces, the downstream firm sets the price of the product over its life cycle. We focus on personal computers (PCs) and introduce two novel data sets that describe prices and sales in the industry. Our main result is that a vintage-capital model that combines a competitive market structure with a rapid rate of innovation is well able to explain the observed paths of prices, as well as sales and consumer income, over a typical PC’s product cycle. The analysis implies that rapid price declines are not caused by upstream innovation alone, but rather by the combination of upstream innovation and a competitive environment. |
| Keywords: | Technological innovations ; Computer industry ; Prices |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2013-04&r=ino |
| By: | Paul H. Jensen (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, The University of Melbourne); Alfons Palangkaraya (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, The University of Melbourne); Elizabeth Webster (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | Conditional on the decision to enter the market for immature technology, we test for the effects that trust – as proxied by the context in which the negotiating parties met – has on the likelihood that these negotiations are successful. Using a randomised dataset of 860 university-firm and firm-firm technology transactions, we find that the depth of prior relationship and circumstantial knowledge about each other matters, and matters a lot. Parties who knew each other from a previous business are 28.2 percentage points more likely to conclude a transaction compared with cold-callers. Meeting via an industry network offers an intermediate advantage but meeting via a third party or at a conference only offers a modest advantage over cold calling. |
| Keywords: | Markets for technology, R&D, invention, patent |
| JEL: | O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n03&r=ino |
| By: | Chen, Hung-Ju |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of stronger intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in the South on innovation, skills choice, wage inequality and patterns of production based on a North-South general-equilibrium model with foreign direct investment (FDI) and international outsourcing. We find that stronger IPR protection in the South raises the extent of outsourcing and reduces the extent of FDI. This raises the proportion of Southerners being unskilled and mitigates wage inequality in the South. In the North, stronger Southern IPR protection raises the proportion of Northerners being skilled and wage inequality. The effects of international specialization, R&D cost and Northern population are also examined. |
| Keywords: | FDI; Outsourcing; Quality ladder; Skill; Wage inequality. |
| JEL: | F12 F23 O31 |
| Date: | 2013–03–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:45035&r=ino |
| By: | Evangelos I. Gkanas; Vasso MagkouKriticou; Sofoklis S. Makridis; Athanasios K. Stubos; Ioannis Bakouros |
| Abstract: | Nanotechnology is the first major worldwide research initiative of the 21st century and probably is the solution vector in the economic environment. Also, innovation is widely recognized as a key factor in the economic development of nations, and is essential for the competitiveness of the industrial firms as well. Policy and management of innovation are necessary in order to develop innovation and it involves processes. It is essential to develop new methods for nanotechnology development for better understanding of nanotechnology based innovation. Nanotechnologies reveal commercialization processes, from start ups to large firms in collaboration with public sector research. In the current paper, a study in the present status of innovation in nanotechnology and the affection of global economic crisis in this section is made and also the potential of increase the innovation via the presence of clusters in a small country like Greece which is in the eye of tornado from the global crisis is studied. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1303.5290&r=ino |
| By: | Tetsugen Haruyama (Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University) |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koe:wpaper:1305&r=ino |
| By: | Jäckle, Annette; Lynn, Peter; Burton, Jonathan |
| Abstract: | To date, face-to-face interviewing has been the primary mode of data collection for Understanding Society. There may be advantages in instead collecting data online where possible. Primarily, this should bring a reduction in data collection costs. There are, however, concerns that response rates could fall if the request to participate is no longer made in person and that measurement could differ between modes. Wave 5 of the Innovation Panel incorporated an experimental design comparing a mixed mode design (web plus face-to-face follow-up) with a standard face-to-face design. This paper presents initial findings from the experiment, primarily with regard to participation rates. |
| Date: | 2013–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:ukhlsp:2013-03&r=ino |
| By: | Harriet Orcutt Duleep (Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy, The College of William and Mary); David Jaeger (Program in Economics, Graduate Center of the City University of New York); Mark C. Regets (National Science Foundation) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the theoretical underpinnings and provides empirical evidence for a model that predicts a positive impact of immigration on entrepreneurial activity. Immigrants, we hypothesize, facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship by being willing and able to invest in new skills. At the heart of this theoretical prediction is the observation that human capital not immediately valued in the U.S. labor market is useful for learning new skills. Because immigrants face a lower opportunity cost of investing in new skills or methods, this “transfer” of source-specific skills to the U.S. may lead immigrants to be more flexible in their human capital investments than observationally equivalent natives. Areas with large numbers of immigrants (even if they are not self-employed) may prove to be areas in which entrepreneurship and innovation are easier to accomplish. Our theory offers a unique perspective on the contributions of immigrants to economic development beyond traditional perspectives that focus on low-cost immigrant labor or immigrant entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | immigration, innovation, entrepreneurship, human capital investment, skill transferability, opportunity cost, learning transferability |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J39 J61 L26 |
| Date: | 2013–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:134&r=ino |
| By: | Max Nathan |
| Abstract: | High levels of net migration to the UK have contributed to growing cultural diversity, and researchers are turning their attention to the long-term effects of diversity on productivity. Yet little is known about these issues. This paper asks: what are the links between the composition of firms' top teams and business performance? What role do ethnic diversity and co-ethnic networks play? And do cities amplify or dampen these channels? I explore using a rich dataset of over 6,000 English firms. Owners, partners and directors set firms' strategic direction. Top team demography might generate production externalities through diversity (a wider range of ideas/ experiences, helping problem solving) and/or 'sameness' (via specialist knowledge or better access to international markets). These channels may be balanced by internal downsides (lower trust) and external barriers (discrimination), so that overall effects on business performance are unclear. In addition, urban locations (particularly big cities) may amplify any demographics-performance effects. I create a repeat cross-section of firms from the RDA National Business Survey. I construct measures of diversity and sameness across ethnicity and gender 'bases', alongside information on revenues, product and process innovation. I then regress these measures of business performance on top team demographics, plus firm level controls, area, year and detailed industry fixed effects. My results suggest a non-linear link between diversity and business performance, which is net positive for process innovation and net negative for turnover. Further tests on diverse and minority/female-headed firms find positive links for diverse top teams, negative for minority and female-only top teams. This implies that while diversity has internal and external benefits, penalties from being 'too diverse' probably result from external constraints. Further tests for intervening effects of capital cities, metropolitan hierarchies and urban form find some evidence of amplifying and dampening effects - which are generally stronger in London and larger cities. |
| Keywords: | Cities, innovation, entrepreneurship, cultural diversity, migration, gender |
| JEL: | J61 L21 M13 O11 O31 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0129&r=ino |
| By: | Nour, Samia Satti Osman Mohamed (Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, Khartoum University, and UNU-MERIT/MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | This paper explains the importance of IPRs and examines the factors hindering and those contributing toward enhancing IPRs in Sudan. We find that the inadequacy of IPRs protection in Sudan is attributed to low integration in the international institutions, lack of legal issues, lack of government concern, lack of private sector concern, weak institutions setting, lack of public awareness, lack of resources, weak culture for IPRs, lack of cooperation between universities and industry and lack of coordination. The inadequate IPRs protection in Sudan leads to poor national system of innovation, hindering FDI and hindering transfer of technology. The factors contributing toward enhancing IPRs in Sudan include promotion of adequate IPRs legislations and enforcement; planning, commitment to international IPRs agreements; finance, investment and resources; social partnership to encourage IPRs protection, government concern, private sector concern, public awareness, cooperation between universities and industry, institutions setting, coordination and culture for IPRs protection. |
| Keywords: | IPRs, economic importance, economic impacts, Sudan, Africa |
| JEL: | O30 O34 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2013014&r=ino |
| By: | Zon, Adriaan van (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG, and Maastricht University); David, Paul (SIEPR, and Economics Department, Standford University, and UNU-MERIT/MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | The research reported here gives priority to understanding the inter-temporal resource allocation requirements of a program of technological changes that could halt global warming by completing the transition to a "green" (zero net CO2- emission) production regime within the possibly brief finite interval that remains before Earth's climate is driven beyond a catastrophic tipping point. This paper formulates a multi-phase, just-in-time transition model incorporating carbon-based and carbon-free technical options requiring physical embodiment in durable production facilities, and having performance attributes that are amenable to enhancement by directed R&D expenditures. Transition paths that indicate the best ordering and durations of the phases in which intangible and tangible capital formation is taking place, and capital stocks of different types are being utilized in production, or scrapped when replaced types embodying socially more efficient technologies, are obtained from optimizing solutions for each of a trio of related models that couple the global macro-economy's dynamics with the dynamics of the climate system. They describe the flows of consumption, CO2 emissions and the changing atmospheric concentration of green-house gas (which drives global warming), along with the investment dynamics required for the timely transformation of the production regime. These paths are found as the welfare-optimizing solutions of three different "stacked Hamiltonians", each corresponding to one of our trio of integrated endogenous growth models that have been calibrated comparably to emulate the basic global setting for the "transition planning" framework of dynamic integrated requirements analysis modelling (DIRAM). As the paper's introductory section explains, this framework is proposed in preference to the (IAM) approach that environmental and energy economists have made familiar in integrated assessment models of climate policies that would rely on fiscal and regulatory instruments -- but eschew any analysis of the essential technological transformations that would be required for those policies to have the intended effect. Simulation exercises with our models explore the optimized transition paths' sensitivity to parameter variations, including alternative exogenous specifications of the location of a pair of successive climate "tipping points": the first of these initiates higher expected rates of damage to productive capacity by extreme weather events driven by the rising temperature of the Earth's surface; whereas the second, far more serious "climate catastrophe" tipping point occurs at a still higher temperature (corresponding to a higher atmospheric concentration of CO2). In effect, that sets the point before which the transition to a carbon-free global production regime must have been completed in order to secure the possibility of future sustainable development and continued global economic growth. |
| Keywords: | global warming, tipping point, catastrophic climate instability, extreme weather-related damages, R&D based technical change, embodied technical change, optimal sequencing, multi-phase optimal control, sustainable endogenous growth |
| JEL: | Q54 Q55 O31 O32 O33 O41 O44 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2013009&r=ino |