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on Innovation |
| By: | Roberto Fontana; Alessandro Nuvolari; Hiroshi Shimizu; Andrea Vezzulli |
| Abstract: | It is well known that not all innovations are patented, but the exact volume of innovative activities undertaken outside the coverage of patent protection and, relatedly, the actual propensity to patent an innovation in different contexts remain, to a major degree, a matter of speculation. This paper presents an exploratory study comparing systematically patented and unpatented innovations over the period 1977-2004 across industrial sectors. The main data source is the ‘R&D 100 Awards’ competition organized by the journal Research and Development. Since 1963, the magazine has been awarding this prize to the 100 most technologically significant new products available for sale or licensing in the year preceding the judgments. We match the products winners of the R&D 100 awards competition with USPTO patents and we examine the variation of patent propensity across different contexts (industries, geographical areas and organizations). Finally we compare our findings with previous assessments of patent propensity based on several sources of data. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:isegwp:wp092013&r=ino |
| By: | Colombo, Luca (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Dawid, Herbert (University of Bielefeld); Piva, Mariacristina (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates, both theoretically and empirically, the implications that complementary assets needed for the formation of start-ups – proxied by the ease of access to financial resources – have on the innovative efforts of incumbent firms. In particular, we develop a theoretical model, highlighting a strategic incentive effect by which the innovative efforts of incumbent firms are decreasing in the availability of the complementary assets needed for the creation of a start- up. The empirical relevance of this effect is investigated by using firm level data drawn from the third Italian Community Innovation Survey covering the period 1998-2000. The results of our empirical analysis support our theory-based insights. |
| Keywords: | R&D, innovation, start-up, complementary assets |
| JEL: | O31 L26 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7302&r=ino |
| By: | David Grover |
| Abstract: | National governments are considering increasing spending on greenhouse gas mitigation R&D by billions of dollars per year at a time when many nations face severe fiscal austerity. This study investigates empirically whether it is realistic to expect market-based environmental policy instruments to stimulate a lot of environmental R&D spending on their own. The hypothesis developed is that increasingly market-based forms of environmental regulation might bring a conditional reduction in the level of environmental R&D spending, all else being equal; and that increasingly market-based approaches to climate mitigation policy may not necessarily induce the large amounts of environmental R&D spending that some corners of the induced innovation literature might predict. The hypothesis is tested using panel data on environmental R&D spending for 30 industry groups over 22 years. The evidence suggests the degree to which the prevailing policy regime embraced market forces may have diminished the R&D-motivating effect of the environmental regulatory burden. This implies that the quest to raise environmental R&D spending may be a good thing in its own right, and that the quest to incorporate market principles and institutions into environmental policy design may also be a good thing, but that market-based policies may undermine the incentives that firms have to invest in environmental R&D. |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp98&r=ino |
| By: | Christian Brodhag (EPICE-ENSMSE - Département Etudes sur la performance, l'Innovation et le Changement en Entreprise - Institut Henri Fayol - École Nationale Supérieure des Mines - Saint-Étienne) |
| Abstract: | Technology transfer and innovation are considered major drivers of sustainable development; they place knowledge and its dissemination in society at the heart of the development process. This article considers the role of research universities, and how they can interact with key actors and institutions involved in 'innovation ecosystems'. Considering various approaches of innovation and institutional analysis design (IAD), it proposes an institutional model of innovation where different authorities produce rules and knowledge that can be mobilized and/or changed in their respective action arenas. On this conceptual basis, one initiative is described: integrated poles of excellence (IPEs) for renewable energy in West Africa, which were conceptualized as a resource and knowledge centre connected to project implementation. |
| Keywords: | research universities; innovation; innovation ecosystems; knowledge; institutional analysis design; sustainable development |
| Date: | 2013–03–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:emse-00804454&r=ino |
| By: | Philippe Aghion; Antoine Dechezleprêtre; David Hemous; Ralf Martin; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | Can directed technical change be used to combat climate change? We construct new firm-level panel data on auto industry innovation distinguishing between “dirty” (internal combustion engine) and “clean” (e.g. electric and hybrid) patents across 80 countries over several decades. We show that firms tend to innovate relatively morein clean technologies when they face higher tax-inclusive fuel prices. Furthermore,there is path dependence in the type of innovation both from aggregate spillovers andfrom the firm’s own innovation history. Using our model we simulate the increasesin carbon taxes needed to allow clean to overtake dirty technologies |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp102&r=ino |
| By: | Carolina Guevara (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon); Corinne Autant-Bernard (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how the dissemination of research and development (R&D) and technology affected economic performance in different South American countries from 1990 to 2010. The objective is to understand the relationship between countries in the process of international technology diffusion, i.e. measuring externalities and identifying the mechanisms through which technology is transferred. To answer these questions, we consider the Schumpeterian growth model proposed by Ertur and Koch (2011). This framework accounts for the interdependences between countries (resulting from R&D externalities) from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. With this spatial panel model, we assess the extent to which one country's productivity affects the productivity of other countries in the region and test the effectiveness of R&D in terms of direct and indirect impact on the economy. Different specifications of the spatial weight matrix are considered in order to investigate the different mechanisms of technological diffusion. The originality of this study lies firstly through the use of R&D measures that allow different sources of funding to be distinguished. In particular, we can thus assess the role of R&D expenditure from national sources in comparison with R&D expenditure from foreign sources which, in the context of developing countries, is a key issue. In addition, we provide an assessment of the role of absorptive capacity in terms of research expenditure or investment in human capital on the productivity levels of countries in the region. The results suggest that of the various factors determining South America's economic performance, public sector funded R&D investments and, to a lesser extent, private sector funded R&D, have a positive impact on these countries' productivity. In contrast, however, foreign investment in research does not produce the expected benefits. We also observe that there are significant international spillovers from R&D activities. The ability to disseminate technologies and to take advantage of these international spillovers, however, differs from one country to another. Our estimates indicate that Brazil has positioned itself as the main actor in the region in terms of technological diffusion, while Bolivia is the country most likely to benefit from these spillover effects. |
| Keywords: | Total Factor Productivity ; Technology diffusion ; spatial panel model |
| Date: | 2013–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00803541&r=ino |
| By: | David Grover |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the extent to which ‘advanced’ knowledge and technology is likely to play a role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in future by looking at the role that advanced knowledge and technology played in the technological change process that reduced SO2 emissions under the US SO2 cap and trade program. It investigates the hypothesis that advanced knowledge and technology dedicated to pollution abatement played a minor role in that process while pre-existing, relatively unadvanced forms of knowledge and technology played the main role. New qualitative evidence is used to investigate the hypothesis including interviews with electric power plant R&D managers, plant-level compliance data, and the nature of the changes undergone by the boiler manufacturer, coal mining and railroad companies in the plants’ upstream supply chain. The paper finds that advanced knowledge dedicated to pollution abatement like the type now being emphasised for carbon capture and storage (CCS) played a minor role, while unadvanced knowledge and technology as well as general purpose knowledge repurposed to the pollution problem, played the main role. There are limits to how far these findings can be generalised to the role that knowledge will play in controlling GHG emissions. Nonetheless, one contribution is to point out that at least with respect to reducing pollution emissions, ‘innovation’ in pollution control can be inexpensive and effective without involving universal advance in dedicated pollution control technology. |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp100&r=ino |
| By: | Takashi Hatakeda (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate dynamic R&D investment models in publicly traded Japanese manufacturing firms over 2001-2009. Splitting into two subsamples by the degree of corporate diversification, we provide evidence that less-diversified firms have an increased tendency to smooth R&D@but more-diversified firms donft do it. To clarify the causes behind corporate diversification, we also turn our eyes on the effect of financial liquidity or share ownership structure, showing that financially unconstrained firms tend to smooth R&D investment. We, furthermore, provide evidence that corporate diversification doesnft improve financial liquidity in financially constrained firms, but deteriorates financial liquidity in some financially unconstrained firms. |
| Keywords: | corporate diversification; R&D; investment smoothing; financial liquidity; share ownership structure |
| JEL: | G31 G32 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kbb:dpaper:2012-42&r=ino |
| By: | KORKMAZ, Gizem |
| Abstract: | This thesis studies the interplay between network structure and strategic decision making given the backdrop of economic and social networks. The first two chapters study how firms’ incentives to invest in costly R&D are affected by the pattern of R&D collaborations in a certain industry. These two chapters propose formal models that build upon and enrich the previous literature, which abstracted from two crucial dimensions of the problem. The first chapter introduces the possibility that inter-firm links aiming at R&D collaboration could facilitate market collusion. The second chapter incorporates network-based externalities resulting from informational flows and congestion that are associated with R&D collaborations. These chapters suggest that the benefits of possible inter-firm collaboration must be reevaluated from the point of their welfare consequences. The last chapter aims to improve our understanding of how collective action spreads in large and complex networks in which agents use online social networks as communication tools. To this end, we develop a dynamic game-theoretic model of the “on-set of revolutions” that focuses on the local spread of information in order to study how network structure, knowledge and information-sharing interact in facilitating coordination through online communication networks. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:euiflo:urn:hdl:1814/25137&r=ino |
| By: | Rafael Calel; Antoine Dechezleprêtre |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) on technological change. We exploit installations-level inclusion criteria to estimate the impact of the EU ETS on firms patenting. We ?nd that the EU ETS has increased low-carbon innovation among regulated firms by as much as 10%, while not crowding out patenting for other technologies. We also ?nd evidence that the EU ETS has not impacted patenting beyond the set of regulated companies. These results imply that the EU ETS accounts for nearly a 1% increase in European lowcarbon patenting compared to a counterfactual scenario. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp75&r=ino |
| By: | David Grover |
| Abstract: | Greenhouse gas emission limits are a major source of technical and policy uncertainty for electric power industry professionals. This paper tries to reduce some of this uncertainty by investigating the main forces that were responsible for the productivity gains made by the electric power sector with respect to SO2 emissions under the US SO2 cap and trade program. The SO2 cap and trade experience has important parallels with the GHG pollution problem, in both policy design and technical response. Linear and quantile regression are used to compare the effect of new technical knowledge (R&D) on SO2 productivity, against the effect of pre-existing techniques that did not involve very much new knowledge creation. Compliance techniques that involved little new technical knowledge and which were incremental and pragmatic played the most important role in SO2-saving technological change. Implications of this finding for electric power plants’ technical response to GHG pollution limits are elaborated. |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp99&r=ino |
| By: | Mary-Françoise Renard (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - CNRS : UMR6587 - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I); Huanxiu GUO (CERDI - Centre d'études et de recherches sur le developpement international - CNRS : UMR6587 - Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I) |
| Abstract: | Since 2003, a grass-roots movement of New Rural Reconstruction (NRR) has emerged in China to experience alternative model of rural development. The movement adopts a particular approach for rural development on basis of rural social and cultural reconstruction. In order to understand this social approach, we investigate an original NRR experiment in a poor village of south China, where organic farming is promoted by means of basketball game. An in-depth household survey is conducted to qualitatively analyze this social approach and derive intuitive hypothesis of extended social network for empirical test. With a panel structure dataset collected by the survey, we quantitatively identify the causal effect of social network by exploiting the endogeneity of social network formation. Our identification result provides micro evidence for a large social multiplier effect in the diffusion of organic farming, whereas it is negative for organic experts. Also, our results highlight the role of women, education and labor force for the development of organic farming. On basis of these results, we conclude that organic farming is suitable but challenging for small villages in China, while social activity is a good lever to achieve farmers' collective action for its large diffusion. |
| Keywords: | New rural reconstruction; Social network; Organic farming; China. D71;O33;Q55 |
| Date: | 2013–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00802119&r=ino |
| By: | Sam Fankhauser; Alex Bowen; Raphael Calel; Antoine Dechezleprêtre; David Grover; James Rydge; Misato Sato |
| Abstract: | As the world considers greener forms of economic growth, countries and sectors are beginning to position themselves for the emerging green economy. This paper combines patent data with international trade and output data in order to investigate who the winners of this “green race” might be. The analysis covers 110 manufacturing sectors in eight countries (China, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, UK and the US) over 2005-2007. We identify three success factors for green competitiveness at the sector level: the speed at which sectors convert to green products and processes (measured by green innovation), their ability to gain and maintain market share (measured by existing comparative advantages) and a favourable starting point (measured by current output). We find that the green race is likely to alter the present competitiveness landscape. Many incumbent country-sectors with strong comparative advantages today lag behind in terms of green conversion, suggesting that they could lose their competitive edge. Japan, and to a lesser extent Germany, appear best placed to benefit from the green economy, while other European countries (Italy in particular) could fall behind. However, the green economy is much broader than the few flagship sectors on which the debate tends to focus, and each country has its niches of green competitiveness. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp94&r=ino |
| By: | Yoichi Matsumoto (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan); Kiyonori Sakakibara; Masharu Tsujimoto |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss liquid crystal displays as an example of "complex goods," or products composed of multiple constituent elements, in order to elucidate the linkages between science and technology. Exploratory analysis of bibliographic information from patents reveals two primary characteristics of such linkages in the field. First, although technology may not display strong linkages with scientific findings over all, some scientific knowledge is highly valuable for patented inventions. Companies in this field may be able to leverage scientific findings not used by competitors in order to produce more inventions. Second, because complex goods are based on an array of constituent elements, players in the field have the option whether or not to pursue inventions with strong links to science. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2013-11&r=ino |
| By: | Giulia Fiorese (FEEM and European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability); Michela Catenacci (FEEM); Valentina Bosetti (FEEM and CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici); Elena Verdolini (FEEM and CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on technologies which use thermo-chemical or biochemical processes to convert biomass into electricity. We present the results from an expert elicitation exercise involving sixteen leading experts coming from different EU Member States. Aim of the elicitation was to assess the potential cost reduction of RD&D (Research, Development and Demonstration) efforts and to identify barriers to the diffusion of these technologies. The research sheds light on the future potential of bioenergy technologies both in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and non-OECD countries. The results we present are an important input both for the integrated assessment modeling community and for policy makers who draft public RD&D strategies |
| Keywords: | Expert Elicitation, Research, Development and Demonstration, Bioenergy |
| JEL: | Q42 Q55 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.18&r=ino |
| By: | Raouf Boucekkine (AMSE - Aix-Marseille School of Economics - Aix-Marseille Univ. - Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole Centrale Marseille (ECM), IRES-CORE - Université Catholique de Louvain); Natali Hritonenko (Prairie View - A&M University); Yuri Yatsenko (School of business, Houston Baptist University - Houston Baptist University) |
| Abstract: | Work significantly affects human life and health. Overworking may decrease the quality of life and cause direct economic losses. Technological innovations encourage modernization of firms' capital and improve labor productivity in the workplace. The paper investigates the optimal individual choice of work intensity under improving technology embodied in new equipment leading to shorter lifetime of capital goods (obsolescence). The balanced growth trajectories are analyzed in this context to find out, in particular, how the optimal choice of work intensity is tied to the rate of embodied technological change. The impact of embodied technological advances on the work/life balance problem is discussed and their macroeconomic consequences are highlighted. |
| Keywords: | work-life balance; rational individual choice; technological development; vintage capital |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00805199&r=ino |