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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2014‒05‒24
fifteen papers chosen by Laura Stefanescu European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration |
| By: | Rosina Moreno (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The idea in this paper is to provide an empirical verification of the relationship between innovation adoption and productivity growth. After a brief revision of the literature about the concept and main determinants of innovation adoption/diffusion, the paper provides empirical evidence of the above-mentioned relationship through means of descriptive statistics and subsequently, we study the impact that innovation adoption may have on productivity growth through a regression analysis. The analysis is made with the statistical information provided by the Community Innovation Survey in its third and fourth waves, which concern innovative activities carried out between 1998 and 2000 and between 2002 and 2004 respectively. The countries covered are the 25 EU Member States plus Iceland and Norway as well as Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Innovation adoption, Productivity, Europe, Community Innovation Survey. JEL classification: C8, J61, O31, O33, R0 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201408&r=knm |
| By: | Jackie Krafft (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)); Francesco Quatraro (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)); Pier-Paolo Saviotti (GAEL - Grenoble Applied Economic laboratory - Aucune) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present a methodology to represent and measure knowledge which takes into account knowledge heterogeneity and its sectoral level theoretical and empirical implications in knowledge intensive environments. We draw on work on recombinant knowledge, extending the approach to include: the way the dynamics of technological knowledge creation evolves according to a life cycle; testing the existence of concepts such as technological paradigms; mapping the characteristics of the search process in the phases of exploration and exploitation during this technology life cycle; and detecting the differences in sectoral evolution that can be explained by the properties of the knowledge base. We use European Patent Office data (1981-2005) to propose some operational metrics for the knowledge base and its evolution in two knowledge intensive sectors: biotechnology and telecommunications. Our empirical results show that there are interesting and meaningful differences across sectors, which are linked to the different phases of the technology life cycles. |
| Keywords: | knowledge base, knowledge intensive sectors, variety, coherence, cognitive distance, technological classes, patents |
| Date: | 2013–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00991397&r=knm |
| By: | Lawson, Cornelia (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Knowledge transfer has become one of the major policy goals of governments across the world and is being encouraged at the national and EU level. While policy makers and academics continue to look for a knowledge transfer model that will work for all universities, some recent analyses have shown that specific local and historic conditions that affect a university’s ability to engage with the region need to be considered. This paper looks at the knowledge transfer activities of the three universities in the Greater Manchester area. All three universities are closely linked to their local environment and can trace their origin to the mid-19th century and the development of Manchester as the “first industrial city”. Differences in research priorities and funding (cuts) have affected their development and left us with three distinct knowledge transfer strategies. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201403&r=knm |
| By: | Gabriele Pellegrino (Barcelona Institute of Economics - University of Barcelona, Barcelona); Mariacristina Piva (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of the choice of different types of innovative input (R&D and technological acquisitions) and their relationship with different innovative outputs (product and process innovation), distinguishing between firms of different ages (mature vs young). In order to do so we apply a nonlinear structural model estimated on the third and fourth waves of the Italian Community Innovation Survey (CIS). We find that firm and market characteristics play a distinct role in boosting different types of innovation activities for firms of different ages. In particular, while methods of appropriability and international market exposure are relevant for both forms of innovative input, cooperation in innovation activities appears to be important for increasing the level of investment in R&D but not for technological acquisition. Moreover, young firms show a higher level of sensitivity than their mature counterparts to sources of information regarding innovation when we consider the magnitude of their innovative effort. On the contrary, factors such as methods of appropriability and support for innovation appear to be more important for enhancing the level of investment in both R&D and technological acquisitions for the mature firms only. Finally, the two innovative inputs appear to be equally important in determining both forms of innovative output for the two sub-samples of firms. |
| Keywords: | R&D; Technological acquisition; Innovative outputs; Young firms |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1497&r=knm |
| By: | Fagerberg, Jan; Fosaas, Morten |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on a desk-study on innovation performance and policies influencing it in four Nordic countries. The study is entirely based on published sources, either on the web (Eurostat, the OECD, the World Bank etc.), or in the form of articles, books, reports and evaluations. The first section introduces the study and deals with conceptual issues. Section two contains a descriptive analysis of innovation activities in the Nordic area and a broader set of countries with which the Nordic countries may be compared with the help of data from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) and other relevant sources. Section three of the paper, then, presents - for four Nordic countries – an analysis of their innovation policies and how these have evolved towards their present stance. Lessons and questions for further research are discussed in the fourth and final section. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, innovation policy, Nordic countries |
| JEL: | O25 O31 O38 O57 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56114&r=knm |
| By: | Francesco Quatraro (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis of the co-evolutionary patterns of structural change in knowledge and economics. The former is made operational through an analysis of co-occurrences of technological classes in patent documents in order to derive indicators of coherence, variety and cognitive distance. The latter, on the other hand, is made operational in a synthetic way by implementing shift share analysis which decomposes labour productivity growth into effects caused by changes in the allocation of employment, those ascribed to intra-sector productivity growth and those caused by interaction of these two components. The results of the analysis conducted on a sample of 227 European regions show that increasing variety is associated with the reallocation of workforce across sectors whereas within sector productivity is associated with high levels of both coherence and cognitive distance of the regional knowledge base. |
| Keywords: | Recombinant Knowledge, Coherence, Variety, Regional Structural Change, Shift Share Analysis |
| Date: | 2013–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00992080&r=knm |
| By: | Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Ingtec; USP Research Group |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on two research problems. The first is to measure the direct impacts of innovation support measures in Brazil, and the second is to test the hypothesis of indirect effects of innovation policies on non-beneficiary firms through the labor mobility channel, whether resulting from direct support programs or indirect support via tax incentives. For this purpose, mobility is defined as the movement of workers in technical-scientific occupations, as identified by Araujo et al. (2009). It is found that, with the exception of a subvention program, direct support in the form of credit or cooperative projects fosters more innovative effort than tax incentives. Nonetheless, direct and tax- based incentives for innovation have different purposes, and sound innovation relies on both types of incentive. |
| Keywords: | Labor, Innovation, Industrial Policy, Productivity, Propensity-score matching, IDB-WP-459 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:83714&r=knm |
| By: | Colombo, Massimo G. (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy); Mohammadi, Ali (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Lamastra, Cristina Rossi (Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurial ventures operating in high-tech industries are more and more adopting innovative business models, which are based on use of the market for ideas instead of the market for products or on the leveraging of communities of users and developers. A common characteristic of these innovative business models is their dependence on innovative technological knowledge and, consequently, on the ways in which intellectual property rights over this knowledge are designed (i.e., tight vs. loose appropriability regime). This chapter grounds on mainstream organizational design theories to speculate on how high-tech entrepreneurial ventures should organize internally to successfully implement these innovative business models. Specifically, it analyzes how firms’ structure, decision rights, and human resource management practices should be adapted to the need of generating, absorbing, and protecting innovative technological knowledge. Heeding a recent call in management literature, we will conduct our analysis considering organizational design variables both at the individual and firm level. |
| Keywords: | business model innovation; brganizational design; high-tech entrepreneurial ventures |
| JEL: | L17 L22 L26 O31 |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0366&r=knm |
| By: | Scott French (School of Economics, Australian School of Business, the University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a quantitative, multi-country model of endogenous growth, international trade, and international knowledge flows in order to understand how access to both foreign products and technologies, together, influences innovation incentives and the world distribution of income. An endogenous product cycle arises in equilibrium, in which innovative countries engage in both horizontal and vertical research, while others far from the technological frontier specialize in learning about and applying research previously conducted abroad. The effect of trade barriers on the level and dispersion of income across countries is found to be larger than would be predicted by a static trade model, and the effect of access to international knowledge flows is also quantitatively important and dependent on trade flows. For instance, halving the cost of learning reduces income dispersion by 23%, while doing so after eliminating asymmetric international trade barriers reduces income dispersion by only 10%. |
| Keywords: | Income differences, Trade, Endogenous growth, Product cycle, Innovation, Productivity, Technology diffusion |
| JEL: | F11 F12 F14 O19 O31 O33 O40 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:swe:wpaper:2014-26&r=knm |
| By: | Rodolfo Stucchi; Sofía Rojo; Alessandro Maffioli; Victoria Castillo |
| Abstract: | Although knowledge spillovers are at the core of the innovation policy's justification, they have never been properly measured by any impact evaluation. This paper fills this gap by estimating the spillover effects of the FONTAR program in Argentina. We use an employer-employee matched panel dataset with the entire population of firms and workers in Argentina for the period 2002-2010. This dataset allows us to track the mobility of qualified workers from FONTAR beneficiary firms to other firms and, therefore, to identify firms that indirectly benefit from the program through knowledge diffusion. We use a combination of fixed effect and matching to estimate the causal effect-direct and indirect-of the program on various measures of performance. Our findings are robust to a placebo test based on anticipatory effects and show that the program increased employment, wages, and the exporting probability of both direct and indirect beneficiaries. The analysis of the dynamic of these effects confirms that performance does not improve immediately after the treatment for neither direct nor indirect beneficiaries. |
| Keywords: | Workforce & Employment, Impact evaluation, Innovation, labor mobility |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:83894&r=knm |
| By: | Benjamin David |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the job market polarization. We rely on an evolutionary framework by applying a “distance from mean approach”. Using data for 8 industrialized economies, we account for probable heterogeneous and timevarying effects through the estimation of a semi parametric smooth coefficient model. Our results show a significant contribution of ICT on polarization dynamics with some differences between countries and industries. We also find evidence that diffusion of ICT is initially accompanied by a Skill Bias Technological Change (SBTC), then contributing to job market polarization. Finally, our findings highlight a progressive weakening of the positive link between ICT diffusion and the increasing demand for high-skilled workers over time. |
| Keywords: | ICT, Evolutionary economics, Polarization of labor market, Semiparametric Smooth Coefficient Model. |
| JEL: | C14 E11 J21 O33 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2014-25&r=knm |
| By: | Jean-Luc Gaffard (OFCE); Lionel Nesta (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | Les divergences réelles de performances économiques entre les pays de la zone euro rendent nécessaire de définir une politique économique orientée vers la ré-industrialisation de certaines régions en Europe. Dans un monde caractérisé par l’irréversibilité des investissements et l’imperfection des informations de marché, les réformes structurelles devraient consister à établir un ensemble de mesures destinées à soutenir à la fois la concurrence et la coopération entre les différents acteurs de l’innovation, et de permettre la réussite des stratégies des entreprises. Cela requiert de reconsidérer les politiques nationales et européennes de soutien à la croissance, c’est-à-dire, la politique industrielle, la politique de la concurrence, la politique du marché du travail, la politique régionale, la politique financière. Cependant, un changement du paysage industriel de l’Europe ne sera possible qu’à la condition qu’une nouvelle politique macroéconomique prévienne la destruction inappropriée de capacités productives. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/42q140raqo9i6qvhui20l1vggd&r=knm |
| By: | Germán Bet; Julian P. Cristia; Pablo Ibarrarán |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of increased shared computer access in secondary schools in Peru. Administrative data are used to identify, through propensity-score matching, two groups of schools with similar observable educational inputs but different intensity in computer access. Extensive primary data collected from the 202 matched schools are used to determine whether increased shared computer access at schools affects digital skills and academic achievement. Results suggest that small increases in shared computer access, one more computer per 40 students, can produce large increases in digital skills (0. 3 standard deviations). No effects are found on test scores in Math and Language. |
| Keywords: | Educational Assessment, Innovation, Primary & Secondary Education |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:83481&r=knm |
| By: | Andrea Bonaccorsi (Department of Energy and Systems Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy); Cinzia Daraio (Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"); Leopold Simar (Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics et Actuarial Sciences, Universite' Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate economies of scale and scope of European universities.The proposed approach builds on the notion that university production is a multi-input multi-output process different than standard production activity. The analyses are based on an interesting database which integrates the main European universities data on inputs and outputs with bibliometric data on publications, impact and collaborations. We pursue a cross-country perspective; we include subject mix and introduce a robust modeling of production trade-offs. Finally, we test the statistical significance of scale and scope and find that size and specialization have a statistical significant impact both jointly and separately, showing an inverted u-shape effect on efficiency. |
| Keywords: | efficiency; national academic systems; disciplinary specialization; research performance;teaching and research;nonparametric and robust frontier estimation; bootstrap |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aeg:report:2014-08&r=knm |
| By: | Ghisetti, Claudia; Quatraro, Francesco (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides empirical investigation of the effects of environmental innovations (EIs)on environmental performances, as proxied by the environmental productivity (EP) measure. We focused on sectoral environmental productivity of Italian Regions by exploiting the Regional Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (Regional NAMEA). Patent applications have been extracted by the Patstat Database and assigned to the environmental domain by adopting three international classifications of green technologies:the WIPO IPC green inventory, the European Patent Office climate change mitigation technologies classification (Y02) and the OECD ENV-Tech indicators. Econometric results outline that regions -sectors characterized by higher levels of green technologies (GTs) are actually those facing better environmental performance. These positive effects directlys tem from the introduction of GT in the same sector, as well as from the introduction of GT in vertically related sectors. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201404&r=knm |