nep-ino New Economics Papers
on Innovation
Issue of 2010‒07‒10
nine papers chosen by
Steffen Lippert
Massey University Department of Commerce

  1. Does history matter for the relationship between R&D, Innovation and Productivity? By Huergo , E; Moreno, L
  2. An analysis of the efficiency of public spending and national policies in the area of R&D By Conte, Andrea; Schweizer, Philip; Dierx , Adriaan; Ilzkovitz, Fabienne
  3. Boosting innovation in Europe By André Sapir; Bruno van Pottelsberghe; Reinhilde Veugelers; Mathias Dewatripont
  4. Organization of Innovation and Capital Markets (Teknolojik Yeniligin Orgutlenmesi ve Sermaye Piyasalari) By Cuneyt Orman
  5. Why Did Corporations Patent in Spain? Some Historical Inquiries By Saiz, J. Patricio
  6. Understanding the spanish business innovation gap: the role of spillovers and firms’ absorptive capacity By Paloma López-García; José Manuel Montero
  7. Measuring the impact of international R&D cooperation: the case of Spanish firms participating in the EU Framework Programme By Barajas, A; Huergo, E; Moreno, L
  8. Pecuniary Knowledge Externalities and Innovation: Intersectoral Linkages and their Effects beyond Technological Spillovers By Agnieszka Gehringer
  9. Managing exploratory innovation By Florence Charue-Duboc; Gilles Garel; Franck Aggeri; Valérie Chanal

  1. By: Huergo , E; Moreno, L
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the relationship between R&D expenditures, innovation and productivity growth, taking into account the possibility of persistence in firms’ behaviour. We study this relationship for a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms between 1990 and 2005, estimating a model with four equations: participation in technological activities, R&D intensity, the generation of innovations and the impact of these technological outputs on total factor productivity growth. Our results reflect the existence of true state dependence both in the decision of R&D investment and in the production of innovations. The omission of this persistence leads to an overestimation of the current impact of innovations on productivity growth. However, the presence of persistence in technological inputs and outputs entails current R&D activities having long–run effects on a firm’s productivity.
    Keywords: CDM model; productivity growth; persistence in R&D and innovation.
    JEL: L6 D24 O3
    Date: 2010–05–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23611&r=ino
  2. By: Conte, Andrea; Schweizer, Philip; Dierx , Adriaan; Ilzkovitz, Fabienne
    Abstract: Improving the quality of public finances is a major challenge for European policy makers. The economic crisis has increased budgetary pressures and accentuated the tension between the need to sustain public spending aimed at raising the EU growth potential and the increased scarcity of public resources. Rising the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending in growth-enhancing areas such as education, R&D and innovation has become, therefore, even more important. This paper reviews the innovation performance of the different EU Member States and provides estimates of the relative efficiency of their R&D spending. In doing so, it aims at moving the policy discussion from mere volume-based policy targets towards a better assessment of the quality and effects of public R&D spending. The main contribution of this paper is therefore the identification of both (1) a suitable methodology for the evaluation of efficiency levels across Member States and (2) structural and policy determinants which may contribute to raise efficiency levels of R&D spending across countries and over time. Results indicate that there exist large cross-country differences in terms of measured efficiency, which is an indication that in many Member States there remains a significant potential for further improvement. Currently, there appears to be a divide in efficiency levels between old and new Member States. However, there is some evidence that the new Member States are catching up. The estimated efficiency scores indicate that all EU Member States have improved their efficiency levels over time. There is evidence that the efficiency of R&D spending is higher in countries with a strong knowledge base which, in turn, implies that increases in R&D spending do not necessarily lead to reductions in efficiency levels. Other factors that positively affect efficiency levels include the high-tech specialisation of the economy, the level of investment in education, the employment share in science and technology, and the degree of protection of intellectual property rights. Finally, a R&D tax treatment more oriented towards fiscal incentives rather than direct subsidies appears to have a positive effect on the efficiency level of R&D spending across EU Member States. This work is based on both a quantitative measurement of efficiency levels and a qualitative analysis of the policy instruments used in the Member States to promote R&D efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency scores are calculated by means of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis for a set of input and output indicators in order to overcome the limitations associated with each individual indicator. A complementary survey of national governments highlights some further policy instruments that could contribute to increase the efficiency of R&D and innovation policies, in particular at the national level. The results of the survey argue in favour of adopting a systemic approach to R&D, education and innovation policies, including three main elements: (i) adapting educational programmes and the research infrastructure to the needs of science and industry; (ii) making a sustained commitment to knowledge investment by adopting medium-term funding programmes; and (iii) evaluating existing R&D programmes in order to determine which policy tools are the most effective and in which areas R&D investments offer the highest returns. More recently, Member States have introduced R&D spending measures specifically targeted to deal with the consequences of the economic crisis. A closer look at these measures reveals that Member States consider direct grants and offers of tax relief as appropriate instruments to counteract the effects of the crisis. It should be clear that such policy measures should be tailored to the specific needs and strengths of every Member State.
    Keywords: Public Finance; Efficiency; R&D spending; patents; innovation policy.
    JEL: H50 C23 O33
    Date: 2009–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23549&r=ino
  3. By: André Sapir; Bruno van Pottelsberghe; Reinhilde Veugelers; Mathias Dewatripont
    Abstract: Innovation is key to the future of Europe. This Policy Contribution, written together by Mathias Dewatripont, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management; Bruno van Pottelsberghe and Andre Sapir, Senior Fellows at Bruegel and professors at ULB; and Reinhilde Veugelers, senior fellow at Bruegel and professor at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, makes suggestions based on three principles: to give primacy to merit-based selection of projects at the European level, to strengthen the single market to make it conducive for research and innovation and to remove barriers that hinder dynamic restructuring. This paper is addressed to the July 2010 informal Competitiveness Council (Research) under the Belgian Presidency.
    Date: 2010–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:432&r=ino
  4. By: Cuneyt Orman
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:wpaper:1010&r=ino
  5. By: Saiz, J. Patricio (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
    Abstract: In this paper we will explore how international corporations used the Spanish patent system in the late nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century in order to discover what the actual effects of its apparent weakness were. The origins and evolution of corporate patenting in Spain, the effects of compulsory working clauses, the management of assignments, the various strategies followed by the firms, and the effects of patents on technology transfer to the Spanish economy will be clarified. The conclusions yields understanding on real patent management in the long-term by analyzing the strategies of Brown Boveri and Babcock Wilcox corporations in Spain.
    Keywords: Patents of introduction; National innovation system; Spain; Technology transfer.
    JEL: N43 N44 N73 N74 O31 O32 O34 O52
    Date: 2010–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpapeh:201002&r=ino
  6. By: Paloma López-García (Banco de España); José Manuel Montero (Banco de España)
    Abstract: This paper investigates whether the existence of knowledge spillovers, differences in the capacity of f rms to assimilate them and disparities in some human resource management practices are related with the decision to innovate of Spanish f rms. In order to do this, we employ data from the “Central de Balances” database, which covers both manufacturing and services f rms during the period 2003-2007, and use an estimator proposed by Wooldridge (2005) for dynamic random effects discrete choice models. The empirical exercise provides evidence on the positive link between spillovers and the innovative behaviour of companies, not just for the knowledge generated in the same industry, but also for that generated in the same region or by the public sector. Moreover, this link is stronger for those f rms with a higher capacity to absorb those spillovers. This ability not only works through f rms’ R&D capabilities, but also through such factors as the quality of the labour force, the share of temporary employment and the amount of resources spent in training. In addition to these factors, we f nd that innovation performance exhibits a high degree of inertia. Further, some other observed f rm characteristics, such as size, sales growth, export behaviour, sector capital intensity or f nancial structure variables, are also found to be relevant determinants of the likelihood of innovation.
    Keywords: innovation, R&D, spillovers, absorptive capacity, skilled labour, temporary employment, dynamic RE probit model
    JEL: O32 C23 C25 J6 J24 L00
    Date: 2010–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1015&r=ino
  7. By: Barajas, A; Huergo, E; Moreno, L
    Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of international R&D cooperation on firms’ economic performance. Our empirical analysis, based on Spanish firms’ participation in the Framework Programme (FP) between 1995 and 2005, has confirmed that: (1) cooperation within the FP has a positive impact on the technological capacity of firms, captured through intangible fixed assets and (2) the technological capacity of firms is positively related to their economic performance, measured by labour productivity.
    Keywords: International R&D cooperation; Framework Programme; Impact assessment
    JEL: L2 H81 O3
    Date: 2009–11–17
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23610&r=ino
  8. By: Agnieszka Gehringer
    Abstract: The aim of the paper is to discuss and to provide evidence for the existence of pecuniary knowledge externalities, considered here as the main cause of positive disequilibrium experience by downstream producers. This last effect, confirmed by the empirical analysis here performed, contrasts the postulates of the model of growth through creative destruction due to Aghion & Howitt (1992), where downstream producers remain very much passive in front of new technological knowledge externally generated.
    Keywords: pecuniary knowledge externalities, endogenous growth, creative destruction, Input-Output
    Date: 2010–06–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:cegedp:100&r=ino
  9. By: Florence Charue-Duboc (CRG - Centre de recherche en gestion - CNRS : UMR7655 - Polytechnique - X); Gilles Garel (Euristik - Equipe de Recherche en management stratégique - Centre de recherche Magellan de l'IAE - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III); Franck Aggeri (CGS - Centre de Gestion Scientifique - Mines ParisTech); Valérie Chanal (PACTE - Politiques publiques, ACtion politique, TErritoires - CNRS : UMR5194 - Université Pierre Mendès-France - Grenoble II - Institut d'Études Politiques de Grenoble - Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble I)
    Abstract: Although the concept of exploration has been widely used in management research since James March's seminal article, the literature on exploration remains rather fuzzy. The question of exploration is dominated by the literature on ambidexterity but this research actually says little about concretely managing exploratory innovation itself, although this appears to be a central concern of most industrial firms today. Based on a material (twenty presentations made in a research seminar the authors have organized in the last two years) and a critical review of the literature, this paper provides new theoretical and managerial insights on the management of exploratory innovation. We first identify three complementary perspectives: 1. Managing knowledge for exploration, 2. Organizing for exploration, and 3. Creating new value spaces. Secondly, we recommend focusing the management of exploratory innovation on the following two processes: identifying an exploratory field, creating new opportunities via experimentation.
    Keywords: Exploration, management of innovation, knowledge, value spaces
    Date: 2010–05–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00496341_v1&r=ino

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