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on Intellectual Property Rights |
| By: | James D. Adams; J. Roger Clemmons |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates science production functions for R&D-performing firms in the United States using scientific papers as the measure of output, by analogy with patents. The underlying evidence covers 200 top U.S. R&D firms during 1981-1999 as well as 110 top U.S. universities. We find that industrial science builds on past scientific research inside and outside the firm, with most of the returns to scale in production deriving from outside knowledge. In turn, the largest outside contribution derives from universities rather than firms; this is especially true when papers are weighted by citations received, a measure of their importance. Consistent with the role assigned to knowledge spillovers in growth theory, the importance of outside knowledge, especially that of universities, increases from the firm to the industry level. The findings survive the inclusion of fixed effects, interactions among the effects, variations in sample and specification, and efforts to control for endogeneity. |
| JEL: | D24 L33 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13823&r=ipr |
| By: | Natarajan Balasubramanian; Jagadeesh Sivadasan |
| Abstract: | In this study, we present novel statistics on the patenting in US manufacturing and new evidence on the question of what happens when firms patent. We do so by creating a comprehensive firm-patent matched dataset that links the NBER patent data (covering the universe of patents) to firm data from the US Census Bureau (which covers the universe of all firms with paid employees). Our linked dataset covers more than 48,000 unique assignees (compared to about 4,100 assignees covered by the Compustat-NBER link), representing almost two-thirds of all non-individual, non-university, non-government assignees from 1975 to 1997. We use the data to present some basic but novel statistics on the role of patenting in US manufacturing, including strong evidence confirming the highly skewed nature of patenting activity. Next, we examine what happens when firms patent by looking at a large sample of first time patentees. We find that while there are significant cross-sectional differences in size and total factor productivity between patentee firms and non-patentee firms, changes in patentownership status within firms is associated with a contemporaneous and substantial increase in firm size, but little to no change in total factor productivity. This evidence suggests that patenting is associated with firm growth through new product innovations (firm scope) rather than through reduction in the cost of producing existing products (firm productivity). Consistent with this explanation, we find that when firms patent, there is a contemporaneous increase in the number of products that the firms produce. Estimates of (within-firm) elasticity of firm characteristics to patent stock confirm our results. Our findings are robust to alternative measures of size and productivity, and to various sample selection criteria. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, productivity, new products, firm scope |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O34 O33 L25 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:08-03&r=ipr |
| By: | Marisa Miraldo (Centre for Health Economics, University of York) |
| Abstract: | We study the influence of different reimbursement systems, namely Prospective Payment System, Cost Based Reimbursement System and Mixed Reimbursement System on the development and adoption of different technologies with an endogenous supply of these technologies. We focus our analysis on technology development and adoption under two models: private R&D and R&D within the hospital. One of the major findings is that the optimal reimbursement system is a pure Prospective Payment System or a Mixed Reimbursement System depending on the market structure. |
| Keywords: | Prospective Payment System; Cost Based Reimbursement; R&D |
| JEL: | I11 O33 |
| Date: | 2007–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chy:respap:26cherp&r=ipr |
| By: | Carolina Castaldi; Bart Los |
| Abstract: | International differences in economic performance are often attributed to differences in innovative performance. Much empirical work supports this contention, but problems in quantifying innovative output prevent researchers from drawing a clear picture. Innovations are very heterogeneous regarding their importance, with only very few innovations yielding substantial returns. Citation frequencies are one measure of the value of innovations. We use a recently introduced technique based on results from Extreme Value Theory to estimate the characteristics of the tail of the distribution of citations. We identify important innovations as those that receive a number of citations higher than the ‘cutoff point’ of the tail of the distributions of citations. The data come from the NBER Patent-Citations Database. We provide estimates of the proportions of important patents for 31 technological categories and discuss emerging patterns. Possible implications for technology policy and innovation management are also drawn. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uis:wpaper:0807&r=ipr |
| By: | Robin Cowan; Natalia Zinovyev |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes empirically the channels through which university research affects industry innovation. We examine how the opening of new science, medicine and engineering departments in Italy during 1985-2000 affected regional innovation systems. We find that creation of a new univer- sity department increased regional innovation activity 3-4 years later. On average, an openning of a new department in a region has led to a ten per- cent change in the number of patents filed by regional firms. Given that this effect occurs within the first half decade of the appearance of a new depart- ment, it cannot be ascribed to improvements in the quality and quantity of graduates. At the same time, traditional measures of academic research activity can explain only around 30 percent of this effect. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2008-02&r=ipr |
| By: | Berliant, Marcus; Fujita, Masahisa |
| Abstract: | How is long run economic growth related to the diversity of knowledge? We formulate and study a microeconomic model of knowledge creation, through the interactions among a group of R & D workers, embedded in a growth model to address this question. Income to these workers accrues as patent income, whereas transmission of newly created knowledge to all such workers occurs due to public transmission of patent information. Our model incorporates two key aspects of the cooperative process of knowledge creation: (i) heterogeneity of people in their state of knowledge is essential for successful cooperation in the joint creation of new ideas, while (ii) the very process of cooperative knowledge creation affects the heterogeneity of people through the accumulation of knowledge in common. The model features myopic R & D workers in a pure externality model of interaction. Surprisingly, in the general case for a large set of initial conditions we find that the equilibrium process of knowledge creation converges to the most productive state, where the population splits into smaller groups of optimal size; close interaction takes place within each group only. Equilibrium paths are found analytically. Long run economic growth is positively related to both the effectiveness of pairwise R & D worker interaction and to the effectiveness of public knowledge transmission. |
| Keywords: | knowledge creation; knowledge externalities; microfoundations of endogenous growth; knowledge diversity and growth |
| JEL: | D90 D83 O31 |
| Date: | 2008–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7088&r=ipr |
| By: | Manuel Bagues; Mauro Sylos Labini; Natalia Zinovyeva |
| Abstract: | This paper documents that grades vary significantly across Italian public universities and degrees. We provide evidence suggesting that these differences reflect the heterogeneity of grading standards. A straightforward implication of this result is that university funding schemes based on students' academic performance do not necessary favour universities that generate higher value added. We test this for the case of the Italian funds allocation system, which rewards universities according to the number of exams passed by their students. We find that university departments that rank higher according to this indicator actually tend to be significantly worse in terms of their graduates' performance in the labour market. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2008-07&r=ipr |
| By: | Ruud Smits; Rutger van Merkerk; David H. Guston; Daniel Sarewitz |
| Abstract: | Starting from the perception of innovation as a multi actor, multi level strategic game, this paper addresses the role of strategic intelligence, more in particular of TA, in systemic innovation policies. First the history of TA in the US and Europe over the last 4 decades are described and its role in innovation policies discussed. Hereafter the role and (possible) impact of strategic intelligence and systemic innovation policies is analysed. Two recent cases of Constructive TA are used to illustrate how this role is operationalised. The paper is concluded with conclusions on how strategic intelligence may further reinforce systemic innovation policies. Special attention is paid to the role of strategic intelligence in empowering users and other non traditional actors in innovation processes. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uis:wpaper:0801&r=ipr |
| By: | Rens L.J. Vandeberg; Ellen H.M. Moors |
| Abstract: | Innovation is an interactive learning process which is of special interest for emerging technologies in which complex complementary knowledge from heterogeneous stakeholders is combined. In the emerging phase of technology development a lot of knowledge is tacit and can only be transferred face-to-face. At the same time a shared vision between stakeholders is being formed that acts as a driver for innovation. Although the importance of interactive learning is widely acknowledged, an adequate framework for studying interactive learning processes in emerging technologies is still missing. Therefore we formulated the leading research question: How to understand and conceptualize interactive learning in the context of emerging technologies? We did not only take the outcome of interactive learning into account, but also focused on opening the black box of the interactive learning process. We developed a framework based on characteristic elements of the interactive learning process in emerging technologies (i.e. prime mover, intermediaries, network formation and knowledge flows), influencing conditions (geographical, cognitive, regulatory, cultural and organisational proximity), and the outcome of the interactive learning process (single-loop and double-loop, tacit and codified knowledge). Clarifying examples are taken from the empirical field of the development of novel food products (functional foods). |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uis:wpaper:0806&r=ipr |
| By: | Laurens K. Hessels; Harro van Lente |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a systematic reflection on the Gibbons-Nowotny notion of ‘Mode 2 knowledge production’. We review its reception in scientific literature and compare it with 8 alternative diagnoses of changing science systems. The ‘Mode 2’ diagnosis identifies a number of important trends that require further empirical effort, but it suffers from severe conceptual problems. It is time to untie its five major constitutive claims and investigate each separately. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uis:wpaper:0803&r=ipr |
| By: | Irene Cassarino (DISPEA, Polytechnic of Turin); Aldo Geuna (SPRU, University of Sussex) |
| Keywords: | Disintermediation, web 2.0, distributed problem solving, collaborative creation/art, user-centred innovation, creative common |
| JEL: | L17 L82 Z11 O3 |
| Date: | 2007–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:165&r=ipr |
| By: | Simona O. Negro; Marko P. Hekkert |
| Abstract: | We examine the view that the success of emerging technologies may be understood using a technological innovation systems analysis, drawing on a systems functions approach. This is done in the context of a case study of the successful diffusion of biomass digestion technology in Germany. We show that that all system functions that are claimed to be important within the innovation systems approach are present in the German Biomass Innovation System; and that these system functions positively interact leading to virtuous cycles and a rapid growth of the German Biomass Digestion Innovation System. |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uis:wpaper:0808&r=ipr |