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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2013‒04‒20
twenty papers chosen by Laura Stefanescu European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (Jönköping International Business School); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); R. Stough, Roger (George Mason University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this working paper is to provide a short overview of actual topics in contemporary research concerned with global, national, regional and local knowledge and innovation dynamics. In the text, we stress the importance to understand the current changes of the global and their implications for knowledge generation and innovation. Treating knowledge as a key resource for innovation shifts the focus from the innovation itself to the process of knowledge generation, transformation and diffusion, i.e. to knowledge dynamics. This necessitates integrating spatial aspects since knowledge generation and as a result, innovation exhibits a strong geographical clustering, which implies that innovation ability and innovation resources also are strongly clustered geographically in particular to urban regions. The role of interaction and proximity for knowledge generation and innovation is highlighted and instead it is stressed that relational, cognitive, organizational, social and institutional proximities are not substitutes or complements to spatial proximity but that they are all functions of the prevailing spatial proximity. Another important factor for interaction is social capital, which by fostering trust makes information and knowledge to diffuse faster. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge; innovation; proximity; knowledge economy; knowledge dynamics; knowledge networks; innovation ability; innovation resources; globalization; agglomeration; face-to-face interaction; urban regions; social capital |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0305&r=knm |
| By: | Alessandra Proto; Simone Tani; Joerg Bühnemann; Olaf Gaus; Mathias Raith |
| Abstract: | New and small firms can be important engines of job creation and local development when they identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. We live in an economy more and more characterised by open innovation methods, where new companies and SMEs are benefitting from innovations, technological and non technological available on the market or from other companies and organisations part of their networks. Knowledge networks, understood as a three-component construction of (i) knowledge generation, (ii) knowledge transfer, and (iii) knowledge application, can play a crucial role in boosting companies performance. As many OECD researches shows, there is often a major networking gap, however, between knowledge sources in universities and research organisations and industry exploitation in new spin-off enterprises and SMEs. The analysis of the actors of the knowledge networks and the way they behave and interact with other component inside and outside the networks is a fundamental support to local policy making in entrepreneurship and innovation. <p>The OECD LEED Programme in cooperation with the University of Trento has prepared this paper to analyse in deep the behaviour of knowledge networks in two specific local contexts: the Autonomous Province of Trento in Italy and the Magdeburg Province in Germany. <p>The aim of this research project is to analyse the relevance of knowledge networks to entrepreneurship and the growth of young and small firms, the role of the different components and their interplay for network effectiveness, impeding and favouring factors, and the role of public policy. |
| Date: | 2012–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2012/2-en&r=knm |
| By: | Koski, Heli |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The reported empirical findings using survey data from 531 Finnish companies show that for digitalized data-based innovation generated for both firm’s own and market needs, the firm’s ICT-specific absorptive capacity matters more than its general absorptive capacity arising from the firms’ investments in R&D and intangible assets. User-driven innovators differ from companies that do not produce new data-based solutions for their own use in three major dimensions: 1) they tend to use selective ICT outsourcing strategy, 2) they tend to involve more internal units closely to innovation activities and 3) they tend to use wider external knowledge search strategy. In other words, firms using data for producing innovative solutions for their own needs balance their relatively open innovation strategy with the close in-house innovation collaboration among different units, and further employ an ICT strategy that relies selectively on a firm’s own ICT-specific absorptive capacity and external ICT expertise. |
| Keywords: | user-driven innovation, open innovation, data-based products and services, ICT strategy, outsourcing |
| JEL: | D22 L20 O31 |
| Date: | 2013–03–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:7&r=knm |
| By: | Yoichi Matsumoto (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan) |
| Abstract: | Knowledge is the preeminent resource of a firm. Although many scholars have focused on the firm's knowledge base, few studies have examined the effects of the knowledge base structure—how knowledge elements are linked or separated from each other in clusters—on firm's knowledge-related outcomes. This study examines the knowledge base structure, and tests hypotheses about the effects of heterogeneous combinations of knowledge elements on the outcomes. Through an analysis of the patents related to LCD technology, (1) the usefulness of an organization's inventions correlates positively with the density of the knowledge links between technologically different knowledge components, (2) the average usefulness of a firm's inventions correlates positively with the density of the knowledge links between technologically disparate knowledge components, (3) the number of inventions correlates negatively with the density of the knowledge links between excessively disparate knowledge components. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2013-15&r=knm |
| By: | Roberto Antonietti (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the existence of knowledge externalities in the form of creative human capital spillovers that affect firm innovative performance. Relying on a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms, a knowledge production function is estimated and the residuals regressed on regional creative workforce indicators interacted with spatial agglomeration variables and measures of knowledge transmission mechanisms. The estimates show that regional density of creative human capital has a positive effect on firm innovativeness only after a critical mass is achieved and only after accounting for the presence of local universities, industrial districts and entrepreneurial activities related to knowledge-intensive services. |
| Keywords: | creative human capital; innovativeness; knowledge production function; nonlinearity JEL: L60; O31; R10; R15 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0159&r=knm |
| By: | Guillem ACHERMANN (Laboratoire de Recherche sur l'Industrie et l'Innovation. ULCO) |
| Abstract: | Aujourd’hui, l’émergence de systèmes de production localisés (SPL) a forcé les économistes à reconsidérer le poids du territoire dans le développement régional. Le concept du territoire s’est retrouvé directement lié au processus d’innovation. La notion de système territorial d’innovation a permis de rendre compte de cette évolution. Ce texte se donne pour objectif, une fois s’être penché sur la question de la systémique dans le processus d’innovation, de montrer le rôle incontournable du territoire dans l’émergence d’une dynamique économique initiée par l’innovation. Nowadays, the emergence of local production systems (LPS) has pushed economists to reconsider the weight of territory in regional development. The concept of territory is directly linked to the innovation process. The notion of “territorial innovation system” allows reflecting this change. This article will first look at the systemic approach of innovation process and then provide an analysis on the essential role of territory in the emergence of an economic dynamism triggered by the innovation. |
| Keywords: | système territorial d'innovation, système de production localisé, process d'innovation |
| JEL: | O31 D2 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rii:riidoc:261&r=knm |
| By: | Leonardo Costa Ribeiro (INPI); Glenda Kruss (HSRC South Africa); Gustavo Britto (Cedeplar-UFMG); Ricardo Machado Ruiz (Cedeplar-UFMG); Américo Tristão Bernardes (UFOP); Eduardo da Motta e Albuquerque (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The role of multinational enterprises in the internationalization of production has been recognized and studied from several points of view. We believe that multinational firms have a similar role in shaping flows of knowledge, technology, and scientific research. Therefore, multinational firms, science and technology could be linked in a way that allows us to identify Global Innovation Networks (GIN), another and important feature of the internationalization of capital. The goal of this paper is to develop a methodology to identify GINs, based on previous work on patents and their citations of scientific papers, which was adapted to track GINs. That is, the main indicators measure interactions between firms and universities. We argue that the links between patenting firms and the authors of cited papers establish connections that allow the identification of several types of GINs. A case study of IBM is presented in this paper, as a well-known leading patent firm with several papers cited in its patents. It may provide an excellent case to demonstrate how the selected indicators describe the knowledge flows between firms and research institutions. The conclusion shows that other GINs can be identified applying the same methodology. |
| Keywords: | multinational firms, complex networks; diffusion; patents; innovation; technological change |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td463&r=knm |
| By: | Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | To cope with the rising labour cost and protect the country’s deteriorating environmental conditions, Chinese policy makers have recently made a series of policy changes to promote innovation and hence the development of a knowledge-based economy in the country in the coming decades. As a result, China’s R&D spending has expanded substantially. This paper contributes to the understanding of R&D behaviour in China’s large and medium-sized firms and hence the role of Chinese firms in innovation. The latter has important implications not only for the transformation of the Chinese economy but also for the rest of the world as Chinese firms become increasingly active internationally. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:12-26&r=knm |
| By: | Panagiotis Kampylis Author-1-Name-First: Panagiotis Author-1-Name-Last: Kampylis (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Stefania Bocconi Author-2-Name-First: Stefania Author-2-Name-Last: Bocconi (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Yves Punie Author-3-Name-First: Yves Author-3-Name-Last: Punie (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | ICT is regarded as a key enabler of innovation and creativity in E&T and for learning at large. Based on desk research and on previous JRC-IPTS studies, this report provides a definition and classification of ICT-enabled innovation for learning that has significant scale and/or impact at system level, both within formal Education and Training and outside formal settings. A mapping framework is also proposed that can be used for an in-depth analysis of existing initiatives showing how ICT-enabled innovation is implemented on a large scale. Finally, the report provides a preliminary application of four diverse initiatives on the proposed mapping framework. |
| Keywords: | Europe 2020 Strategy, Learning, Skilling, Innovation & Creativity in Education and Training, ICT-enabled innovation for learning, classifications of innovation for learning, mapping framework of ICT-enabled innovation for learning, Creative Classrooms |
| JEL: | I20 I28 I29 I21 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc72277&r=knm |
| By: | Böckerman, Petri; Kauhanen, Antti; Maliranta, Mika |
| Abstract: | Abstract: To examine the productivity, employment and wage effects of ICT, we apply novel occupation based measures of organisational change within firms. With these measures, we directly address the complementarities between ICT and organisational changes. Our results support the view that organisational change complements ICT investments in a productivity-enhancing manner. In particular, the ICT-driven productivity gains are associated with the destruction of routine and non-interactive tasks in an organisation. Furthermore, using longitudinal aspects of our linked employer-employee data, we find that whereas ICT does not affect the probability of an employee becoming unemployed, it has a positive impact on the wage growth of retained employees. |
| Keywords: | ICT, innovation, organisational change, restructuring, productivity, performance, wages |
| JEL: | J24 J31 L23 M51 |
| Date: | 2013–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:2&r=knm |
| By: | Lööf, Hans (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Nabavi, Pardis (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Cook , Gary (University of Liverpool); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate how various innovation strategies, local knowledge sources and global knowledge pipe-lines influence the likelihood that a firm will be a persistent exporter and the productivity growth of such persistently exporting firms. Using a bivariate logit model and a dynamic GMM panel data estimator on Swedish manufacturing firms observed over 12 years, we find that the propensity to be a persistent exporter is strongly related to both highly frequent and more temporary innovativeness and the global openness of the regional industry in the firm’s own line of activity. The growth rate in total factor productivity of persistent exporters, however, increases with intensity of invention activities, accessibility to local business services and the openness of the same regional industry in which the firm operates. |
| Keywords: | Invention; innovation; productivity growth; exports; spillovers; persistence |
| JEL: | F21 O30 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2013–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0303&r=knm |
| By: | Erika Badillo (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Rosina Moreno (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse the heterogeneity in firms’ decisions to engage in R&D cooperation, taking into account the type of partner (other companies from the same group, suppliers or customers, competitors, and research institutions) and the sector to which the firm belongs (industrial or services). We use information from the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for the years 2006-2008 and estimate multivariate probit models corrected for endogeneity. We find that the determinants of R&D cooperation differ between sectors. In the industrial sector, the perception of risk as an obstacle to innovation reduces the likelihood of cooperating with companies in the same group and competitors, while in the service sector it reduces cooperation with suppliers or customers. For its part, the possibility of accessing additional human resources has a significantly positive effect on cooperation with all types of partner in the service sector, but not for manufactures.. |
| Keywords: | R&D cooperation; Choice of partners; Industrial sector; Service sector; Innovative Spanish firms. JEL classification: O30; O32; L24; L60; L80. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201206&r=knm |
| By: | Matthieu Glachant |
| Abstract: | The objective of the paper is to lay out the state of knowledge on the role of innovation and the diffusion of technologies in the greening of global value chains as well as some of the main policy issues and key research gaps1. A special emphasis will be put on developing countries in which innovation, skills and technological absorptive capacities tend to be lower while green technologies are urgently needed. The structure of the paper is extremely simple. In a first part, we give some concepts and definitions on technology, innovation, and the channels of technology diffusion. In a second part, we use various statistics (green patents, trade flows, and foreign direct investments) and illustrative examples to describe how technology and knowledge is created today and disseminated across countries. For data reasons, we mostly focus on climate-mitigation technologies, but there are good reasons to think that other green technologies do not significantly differ from the “average” climate mitigation technology. Then, we list and discuss key policy challenges (the role of environmental policies, intellectual property rights, capacity building, etc.). The conclusion summarizes the main lessons. |
| Date: | 2013–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envddd:2013/5-en&r=knm |
| By: | Fei Yu (Business School, University of Western Australia); Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines US patent citation data and analyzes how different firms in China affect knowledge spillovers. Patents granted by the US patent office to inventors located in China are collected along with their citation counts. Two kinds of patent citations, namely, citations of previous patents and those of non-patent literature, are used to measure knowledge flows. In the empirical analysis, the negative binomial and zero-inflated count models are considered. The regression results suggest the existence of heterogeneity among firms of different ownership. In terms of knowledge spillovers, US multinational corporations (MNC) perform better than those from other western countries; Taiwanese companies outperform their counterparts from Hong Kong; and Chinese private corporations contribute more than Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). These results have important policy implications for the development of a knowledge-intensive economy in China. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:13-08&r=knm |
| By: | John Foster (School of Economics, University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | It is argued that the explosive growth experienced in much of the World since the middle of the 19th Century is due to the exploitation and use of fossil fuels which, in turn, was made possible by capital good innovations that enabled this source of energy to be used effectively. Economic growth, it is argued, has been due to an autocatalytic co-evolution of energy use and the application of new knowledge relating to energy use. A simple ‘evolutionary macroeconomic’ model of economic growth is developed and tested using almost two centuries of British data. The empirical findings strongly support the hypothesis that growth has been due to the presence of a ‘super-radical innovation diffusion process.’ Also, the evidence suggests that large and sustained movements in energy prices have had a very significant long term role to play. The paper concludes with an assessment of the implications of the findings for the future prospects of economic growth in Britain and the possible lessons that can be learned about the future of the global economy. |
| Keywords: | Energy; Knowledge; Evolution; |
| JEL: | Q43 O10 O43 P48 Q32 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uqeemg:3-2013&r=knm |
| By: | Johannes Pöschl; Neil Foster |
| Abstract: | The paper addresses the link between productivity and labour mobility. The hypothesis tested is that technology is transmitted across industries through the movement of skilled workers embodying human capital. The embodied knowledge is then diffused within the new environment creating spillovers and leading to productivity improvements. The empirical analysis is based on household survey and industry-level data for a sample of 12 EU countries covering the years 1995-2005. The estimates document the importance of positive cross-sectoral knowledge spillovers and indicate that labour mobility has considerable beneficial effects on industry productivity. Possible endogeneity problems related to labour mobility are tackled by employing a two stage instrumental variables approach. Moreover we show that the spillover effects vary considerably by technology level of the giving industry. While workers moving away from high and medium-tech industries are found to produce positive productivity effects for the receiving industry, no effect is found for those coming from low-tech industries. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Spillovers, Labour Mobility, Productivity, Human Capital, Industry Level |
| JEL: | J24 J60 O47 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wsr:wpaper:y:2013:i:117&r=knm |
| By: | Mihály Fazekas; Tracey Burns |
| Abstract: | Governments in all OECD countries are facing the challenge of governing increasingly complex education systems. There is a growing need for governance structures that can handle this complexity and which can provide actors with the knowledge they need to make decisions. This working paper asks the question: How do governance and knowledge mutually constitute and impact on each other in complex education systems? It provides an answer through a state of the art literature review and original theoretical argumentation. It breaks new ground by combining different schools of academic and policy thinking which traditionally look at various aspects of the relationship between governance and knowledge separately. Research in public management, political science and public policy, sociology, institutional economics, and organisational management (particularly the knowledge transfer literature) is augmented with work from education and other social sciences, including healthcare, law, and social justice. This working paper argues that just as knowledge is crucial for governance, governance is indispensible for knowledge creation and dissemination. It proposes an analytical framework that combines models of governance with modes of learning and types of knowledge, and provides preliminary empirical examples to support this framework. In the context of diverse social, economic and political environments of OECD countries, the interaction between these two focal points – models of governance and types of knowledge – has become increasingly relevant to researchers, policy makers, and education stakeholders more generally. |
| Date: | 2012–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:67-en&r=knm |
| By: | Keun Lee and John Mathews |
| Abstract: | The paper argues that science, technology and innovation (STI) play a critical role in expediting transition to a sustainable mode of development. Latecomer nations suffer from several disadvantages as they attempt to catch-up with the technological leaders, but they can enjoy latecomer advantages, if appropriate strategies are formulated and executed. One of the key concepts is leapfrogging, whereby the latecomers absorb what the technological leaders have to offer and leap to a new environment-friendly techno-economic paradigm. To facilitate such leap, the current intellectual-property-rights regimes need to evolve to one that fosters technology diffusion and greater use of intellectual property. |
| Keywords: | leapfrogging, environment-friendly tech-economic paradigm, public-private partnership, Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights |
| JEL: | L52 O32 O34 O38 O53 O55 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:cpaper:016&r=knm |
| By: | Aoki, Reiko; Arai, Yasuhiro |
| Abstract: | We present a framework to examine how a standard evolves when a standard consortium or a firm (incumbent) innovates either to improve the standard or to strengthen installed base which increases switching cost. Both investments make it more difficult for another firm (entrant) to introduce a standard, also by investing in technology improvement. We show that incumbent's strategy will differ according to if the technology is in infancy or it has matured. The incumbent will deter entry when the technology is in infancy and return from investment is high. In this case ability to raise switching cost is important since entrant also has low cost. If the technology is mature and return to investment is low, then incumbent will choose to allow entry and there is co-existence of two standards. Replacement of standard by the entrant never occurs in equilibrium. |
| Keywords: | standards, innovation, installed base |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:cisdps:601&r=knm |
| By: | Daron Acemoglu (Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Ufuk Akcigit (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania); Nicholas Bloom; William R. Kerr (Entrepreneurial Management Unit, Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | We build a model of firm-level innovation, productivity growth and reallocation featuring endogenous entry and exit. A key feature is the selection between high- and low-type firms, which differ in terms of their innovative capacity. We estimate the parameters of the model using detailed US Census micro data on firm-level output, R&D and patenting. The model provides a good fit to the dynamics of firm entry and exit, output and R&D, and its implied elasticities are in the ballpark of a range of micro estimates. We find industrial policy subsidizing either the R&D or the continued operation of incumbents reduces growth and welfare. For example, a subsidy to incumbent R&D equivalent to 5% of GDP reduces welfare by about 1.5% because it deters entry of new high-type firms. 0n the contrary, substantial improvements (of the order of 5% improvement in welfare) are possible if the continued operation of incumbents is taxed while at the same time R&D by incumbents and new entrants is subsidized. This is because of a strong selection effect: R&D resources (skilled labor) are inefficiently used by low-type incumbent firms. Subsidies to incumbents encourage the survival and expansion of these firms at the expense of potential high-type entrants. We show that optimal policy encourages the exit of low-type firms and supports R&D by high-type incumbents and entry. |
| Keywords: | entry, growth, industrial policy, innovation, R&D, reallocation, selection |
| JEL: | E2 L1 |
| Date: | 2013–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pen:papers:13-018&r=knm |