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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2009‒04‒18
five papers chosen by Laura Stefanescu European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration |
| By: | Nishimura, Junichi; Okamuro, Hiroyuki |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the “Industrial Cluster Project†in Japan initiated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2001 in terms of industry-university partnership (IUP), using original questionnaire data of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In this paper, we use the number of patent applications as the measure of both the performance of the cluster project and the industry-university partnership. Specifically, we test the following hypotheses: 1) The SMEs that participate in the cluster project apply for more patents than those that do not. 2) The effect of participation in the cluster project on R&D productivity is enhanced by collaboration with national universities within the same cluster area. We collected the data of 229 R&D intensive SMEs with up to 300 employees through a survey conducted in 2005. We employ negative binomial regression to test how participation in the cluster project affects R&D productivity, controlling for firm characteristics such as the number of employees, R&D intensity, the number of IUP projects, the dummy variable for collaboration with national universities, the dummy variable for joint R&D, the dummy variable for collaboration within cluster regions, and industry dummies. Moreover, we estimate the treatment effect model and the instrumental variables (IV) regression, considering the possibility that participation in a cluster project is endogenous. We use firm age as an instrumental variable because the cluster project aims at attracting start-ups and young firms. The estimation results can be summarized as follows. First, participation in the cluster projects alone does not affect patent application. Rather, local firms collaborating with partners outside the cluster show higher R&D productivity in general. Second, the cluster participants apply for more patents when they collaborate with national universities in the same cluster region. Further results reveal that, in this case, the quality of applied patents measured by the average number of claims does not significantly decrease, which is not in line with the argument that cluster firms are subject to administrative pressures to show off the performance of the cluster projects. |
| Keywords: | Industrial cluster, Industry-university partnership (IUP), Small and medium enterprise (SME), R&D, Patent, Japan |
| JEL: | O23 O32 O38 R38 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:ccesdp:4&r=knm |
| By: | Valentine Millot |
| Abstract: | Non-technological innovation is a major factor of competitiveness and productivity growth in the economy, notably in the service industries. However, the measurement of non-technological innovation and of innovation in the service industries is currently very poor, as traditional data sources like R&D or patents do not apply to these types of innovations. This document presents a strong candidate for quantifying non-technological innovation: trademark data. Trademarks constitute a rich and easily accessible source of data. Besides, several studies have shown that they are highly correlated with various innovation variables (patents, share of innovative sales). Lastly, trademarks have a large perimeter of application; they are present in almost every sector of the economy. Trademark data are then likely to convey information on two key (overlapping) aspects of innovation that are not well covered by traditional indicators: innovation in the service sectors and marketing innovation. This paper aims at presenting trademarks, their potential link with innovations and their main statistical properties, to see if they may actually serve as an innovation indicator.<P>Les marques comme indicateur d’innovations de produit et de commercialisation<BR>L’innovation non technologique est un facteur majeur de croissance et de compétitivité, notamment dans les industries de services. Néanmoins, la mesure de l’innovation non technologique et de l’innovation dans les services est à l’heure actuelle très insuffisante, les indicateurs traditionnels tels que les dépenses de R&D ou les brevets ne s’appliquant pas à ce type d’innovation. Ce document présente un candidat de poids pour quantifier l’innovation non-technologique: les données de marques. Les marques constituent une source de données riche et facilement accessible. Par ailleurs, plusieurs études ont montré une forte corrélation entre les marques et différentes variables d’innovation (brevets, part de ventes liées à l’activité innovante). De plus, le périmètre d’application des marques est très étendu, elles sont présentes presque dans tous les secteurs de l’économie. Les marques sont ainsi susceptibles de fournir de l’information sur deux aspects importants de l’innovation (se superposant en partie) que les indicateurs traditionnels couvrent mal: les innovations dans les services et les innovations de commercialisation. Ce document vise à présenter les marques, leur lien potentiel avec l’innovation et leurs principales propriétés statistiques, de manière à déterminer si elles peuvent effectivement servir d’indicateur d’innovation. |
| Date: | 2009–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2009/6-en&r=knm |
| By: | Jože P. Damijan; Crt Kostevc; Matija Rojec |
| Abstract: | Using firm-level innovation data for a large sample of Slovenian firms in the period 1996-2002, the paper finds surprising results that innovation is not benefitting all firms. We find that only manufacturing firms with below average productivity growth (the lowest four deciles) are likely to experience significant benefits from successful innovation, while faster growing firms do not extract any additional benefits from innovation. This evidence demonstrates how innovation can affect the observed convergence of firms in terms of productivity in the manufacturing sector. |
| Keywords: | research and development, innovation, knowledge spillovers, productivity growth |
| JEL: | D24 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:23009&r=knm |
| By: | Kap, Hrvoje (Swedish Institute for Social Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper is an attempt to propose how education systems can be studied in relation to the welfare state and knowledge society in the global age. It begins by discussing the aims of education and relates these to the core values of social citizenship, arguing that access to the provision of education is a fundamental pillar of citizenship with the purpose of extending and enhancing life chances by general principles of social inclusion and equality of opportunity. It further on reviews a large body of comparative research which studies how the design of education institutions in various countries influences one important aspect of these aims, namely school-leavers’ entrance into the labour market. The third and last section investigates the possibilities and difficulties inherent in comparative studies of national systems of education, particularly with regard to questions concerning validity when constructing conceptual models and comparable indicators. The tentative conclusion of the paper is that further comparative endeavours should set out analyzing primarily input- and process-related features of compulsory education, and the dimensions of stratification and standardization of upper secondary education for an assessment of these institutions’ capacity to equip citizens with knowledge and skills for human flourishing. |
| Keywords: | education systems; social citizenship |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifswps:2008_010&r=knm |
| By: | Uwe Cantner (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Department of Economics, Chair of Economics/Microeconomics); Sarah Kösters (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Department of Economics, DFG RTG 1411 "The Economics of Innovative Change") |
| Abstract: | The present paper investigates the effectiveness of R&D subsidies given to start-ups. Taking an aggregate view rather than evaluating a single program, we estimate the impact of R&D subsidies on start-ups' employment growth and their patent output. A unique data set on start-ups in the East German county of Thuringia allows us to focus on those start-ups that conduct R&D within the first three business years. We conduct propensity score matching to address the selection bias between subsidized and non-subsidized start-ups. We find that R&D subsidies lead to an increase in employment growth of about 66%. Furthermore, subsidized start-ups show a 2.8 times higher patent output. These estimates provide evidence for the additionality of R&D subsidies within the first three business years. Moreover, our analysis points to the special group of academic spin-offs which excels in the novelty of business ideas and patent activity. For some of these high-tech start-ups, no non-subsidized counterparts can be found. This might be attributed to the policy focus on academic spin-offs, which has led to a successful targeting of R&D support schemes. |
| Keywords: | R&D subsidies, start-ups, policy evaluation |
| JEL: | O38 L26 H50 C14 |
| Date: | 2009–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2009-027&r=knm |