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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2009‒05‒02
fourteen papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Ferreira, João; Estevão, Cristina |
| Abstract: | Tourism is characterized for being a sector that has been highlighted as one of the activities with greatest potential for expansion on a global scale. For its growth potential and for being a product that can only be consumed in loco, tourism accepts the prominence role of being a strategy for local development. In this context the search for competitiveness is one of the key concerns of companies around the world. As clusters being a competent tool in companies’ performance, in regional development and in countries’ competitiveness, it is important to analyze its potential in tourism. This research aims to propose a conceptual model to analyze how a tourism cluster encourages its regional competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | Cluster; Tourism; Regional Development; and Competitiveness |
| JEL: | O25 R0 L20 L83 D00 M20 L00 |
| Date: | 2009–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14853&r=cse |
| By: | Martin Woerter (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between technology specialization and innovation performance of firms emphasizing technology transfer activities with universities as an important knowledge source in order to attenuate the opportunity costs of technological specialization. Based on an econometric analysis combining patent data and survey data on technology transfer activities of firms it was found that technology transfer is positively related with the sales share of innovative products. Following the “technology trajectory (path)” increases the probability of an above average innovation performance. Taking into account the combined effects of transfer activities and technological specialization and in this way approximating the idea that transfer activities enable a firm to be specialized and keep the knowledge base broad and upto-date, we detect a significant positive relationship between the combined effect (transfer and specialization) and the innovation performance of a firm. Smaller firms tend to benefit more from the combination of technology specialization and transfer activities with universities compared to larger firms. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Knowledge and Technology Transfer, Specialization, Diversification, Firms History |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:09-221&r=cse |
| By: | Jos Jansen (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods) |
| Abstract: | An innovative firm chooses strategically whether to patent its process innovation or rely on secrecy. By doing so, the firm manages its rival’s beliefs about the size of the innovation, and affects the incentives in the product market. Different measures of competitive pressure in the product market have different effects on the equilibrium patenting choices of an innovative firm with unknown costs and probabilistic patent validity. Increasing the number of firms (degree of product substitutability) gives a smaller (greater) patenting incentive. Switching from Bertrand to Cournot competition gives a smaller (greater) patenting incentive if patent protection is weak (strong). |
| Keywords: | Bertrand and Cournot competition, oligopoly, product differentiation, entry, asymmetric information, strategic disclosure, stochastic patent, trade secret, process innovation, imitation |
| JEL: | D82 L13 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2009_13&r=cse |
| By: | Martin Woerter (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the technological orientation of firms and universities and their propensity to have knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities. This study looks at the technological potential for KTT and how it is used, emphasizing differences between smaller and larger firms. To this end we collected information about the technology activities of firms (patent statistics) and the technology activities of universities. Furthermore we used survey data on technology transfer activities. We combined the three datasets and found – especially for smaller firms – that great technology proximity fosters transfer activities with different universities (case 1). The same is true, if proximity is low and expertise is considerable at universities in the respective technology field (case 2). In both cases additional transfer potential exists. In the second case firms engage in transfer activities in order to update and modifying their knowledge base and as a consequence improve “competitiveness” in certain technology fields. Furthermore firms show a tendency to diversify their contacts with universities in order to avoid knowledge lock-in. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Knowledge and Technology Transfer, Technology Proximity, Universities, Firms |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:09-222&r=cse |
| By: | Celeste Amorim Varum (Departamento de Economia e Gestão Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro); Bruno Cibrão (Departamento de Economia e Gestão Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the potential impact of increased R&D efforts and structural changes in Portugal on labour productivity. The paper addresses Portugal’s ambition, expressed in the 2005 Technological Plan. Based on existing literature on the relation between R&D expenditures, structural change and productivity, we evaluate the contribution of R&D and medium to high-tech industries on productivity over the last 30 years. Our results confirm the importance of governement’s R&D and of business R&D in the medium to high-tech sectors, as they stimulate productivity growth. However, we cannot hypothesize that productivity growth was primarily rooted on the development of medium-high technology industries. |
| Keywords: | Manufacturing, Productivity, Structural Change, R&D, High-tech industries |
| JEL: | O30 O40 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ave:wpaper:512008&r=cse |
| By: | A. Arrighetti; A. Ninni |
| Abstract: | The qualifying aspect of the ongoing changes in firm growth processes seems to be the increased heterogeneity of size and a trend towards a broader fluctuation in average size. Exogenous factors (market size, demand trends, technological innovations, higher competition) determine a different impact on firms will to increase their own size, while endogenous variables play a greater role than in the past. The outcome is represented by a growth pattern that characterises some firms, but not all of them. Growth appear to be an asymmetric phenomenon, involving selectively but not casually a subgroup of firms. In the present paper it is hypothesized that growth stems from the asymmetric distribution of internalized resources (both material and immaterial), allowing some firms (regardless of the original size) to enter evolutionary paths that others don’t want or simply can’t enter. |
| Keywords: | Firm Growth, Size Distribution, Gibrat’s Law, Industrial Dynamics, Human Capital, Intangible Assets, Industrial Policy |
| JEL: | L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:par:dipeco:2009-ep05&r=cse |
| By: | Sergio de Nardis (ISAE-Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses); Carmine Pappalardo (ISAE-Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses) |
| Abstract: | During the first half of the current decade, with rising competitive pressures, Italian manufacturing firms were forced to undertake a process of restructuring which had positive repercussions on export performance. This paper carries out empirical analysis using a panel of exporting firms obtained by matching firm-level information gathered by ISTAT and ISAE surveys. Two main channels of adjustment are investigated: inter and intra-firm. On the inter-firm side, we find that exporters were actually more productive: exporting was an essential outcome of pre-existing productivity advantages that led to self-selection of more productive businesses in international markets. As for the intra-firm adjustment, we show that the high frequency of product switching behaviour within exporting firms was significantly correlated with firm-level productivity growth, and that it contributed to a reallocation of economic activity within firms to more productive uses. |
| Keywords: | heterogeneity, exporting, productivity, product switching. |
| JEL: | F10 J24 L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isa:wpaper:110&r=cse |
| By: | David Autor (Massachusetts Institute for Technology) |
| Abstract: | Part of the Supplemental Materials for INNOVATION AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS, The Conference Board report #R-1441-09-RR. About the Report: The Conference Board has recently undertaken a project on innovation and competitiveness, with funding from Microsoft Corporation. The goal of the project is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the nature of innovation, and its role in stimulating economic growth and improved living standards in the U.S. The project draws on experts across the academic, corporate, and policy arenas, in addition to The Conference Board’s own analysis, surveys, and focus groups of the business community. Such experts met in February 2007 to present and discuss various aspects of the innovation process and measurement thereof. Each presenter wrote a summary piece focusing on his respective area of expertise. These summary documents underpin the content in Innovation and U.S. Competitiveness; however the conclusions drawn are those of The Conference Board alone. These papers are retained for reference in The Conference Board Economics Program Working Paper Series. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnf:wpaper:0807&r=cse |
| By: | Iammarino, Simona (University of Sussex); Piva, Mariacristina (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Von Tunzelmann, Nick (University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the relationship between firms' technological capabilities and different forms of cooperation for innovation by combining the analysis of both micro and meso levels, i.e. the level of the firm and of the geographical region. Our findings, based on the Fourth UK Community Innovation Survey (CIS), provide new insights regarding the relationship between cooperative linkages for innovation and the development of technological capabilities by business units. Firstly, the distinction between competences and capabilities adopted in this paper seems appropriate for going beyond the rather simplistic dichotomy of 'innovative' versus 'non-innovative' firms commonly used in interpreting CIS data. Secondly, we find that the analysis for the UK as a whole masks stark regional differences in terms of intra- and extra-region collaborative linkages and degrees of firms' technological capabilities. These findings may be useful to help policy making to meet the priorities highlighted within the UK Government's framework for Science & Technology. |
| Keywords: | cooperation for innovation, technological capabilities, firms, regions |
| JEL: | O30 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4129&r=cse |
| By: | Samuel Kortum (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Part of the Supplemental Materials for INNOVATION AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS, The Conference Board report #R-1441-09-RR. About the Report: The Conference Board has recently undertaken a project on innovation and competitiveness, with funding from Microsoft Corporation. The goal of the project is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the nature of innovation, and its role in stimulating economic growth and improved living standards in the U.S. The project draws on experts across the academic, corporate, and policy arenas, in addition to The Conference Board’s own analysis, surveys, and focus groups of the business community. Such experts met in February 2007 to present and discuss various aspects of the innovation process and measurement thereof. Each presenter wrote a summary piece focusing on his respective area of expertise. These summary documents underpin the content in Innovation and U.S. Competitiveness; however the conclusions drawn are those of The Conference Board alone. These papers are retained for reference in The Conference Board Economics Program Working Paper Series. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnf:wpaper:0811&r=cse |
| By: | William J. Baumol (New York University / Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | Part of the Supplemental Materials for INNOVATION AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS, The Conference Board report #R-1441-09-RR. About the Report: The Conference Board has recently undertaken a project on innovation and competitiveness, with funding from Microsoft Corporation. The goal of the project is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the nature of innovation, and its role in stimulating economic growth and improved living standards in the U.S. The project draws on experts across the academic, corporate, and policy arenas, in addition to The Conference Board’s own analysis, surveys, and focus groups of the business community. Such experts met in February 2007 to present and discuss various aspects of the innovation process and measurement thereof. Each presenter wrote a summary piece focusing on his respective area of expertise. These summary documents underpin the content in Innovation and U.S. Competitiveness; however the conclusions drawn are those of The Conference Board alone. These papers are retained for reference in The Conference Board Economics Program Working Paper Series. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnf:wpaper:0812&r=cse |
| By: | Jim Lichtenberg (The Conference Board); Christopher Woock (The Conference Board) |
| Abstract: | Part of the Supplemental Materials for INNOVATION AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS, The Conference Board report #R-1441-09-RR. About the Report: The Conference Board has recently undertaken a project on innovation and competitiveness, with funding from Microsoft Corporation. The goal of the project is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the nature of innovation, and its role in stimulating economic growth and improved living standards in the U.S. The project draws on experts across the academic, corporate, and policy arenas, in addition to The Conference Board’s own analysis, surveys, and focus groups of the business community. Such experts met in February 2007 to present and discuss various aspects of the innovation process and measurement thereof. Each presenter wrote a summary piece focusing on his respective area of expertise. These summary documents underpin the content in Innovation and U.S. Competitiveness; however the conclusions drawn are those of The Conference Board alone. These papers are retained for reference in The Conference Board Economics Program Working Paper Series. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnf:wpaper:0808&r=cse |
| By: | Chen, Yutian; Dubey, Pradeep; Sen, Debapriya |
| Abstract: | We show that intermediate goods can be sourced to firms on the "outside" (that do not compete in the final product market), even when there are no economies of scale or cost advantages for these firms. What drives the phenomenon is that "inside" firms, by accepting such orders, incur the disadvantage of becoming Stackelberg followers in the ensuing competition to sell the final product. Thus they have incentive to quote high provider prices to ward off future competitors, driving the latter to source outside. |
| Keywords: | Intermediate goods; outsourcing; Cournot duopoly; Stackelberg duopoly |
| JEL: | L11 L13 D43 |
| Date: | 2009–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14899&r=cse |
| By: | Vivian W. Chen (The Conference Board); Harry X. Wu (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University); Bart van Ark (The Conference Board and University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | Using an industry-by-region data set, based on China’s Third Industrial Census for 1995 and First Economic Census for 2004, and covering 28 industries and 30 provinces, this paper examines the trend of labor compensation (ALC), labor productivity (ALP) and unit labor cost (ULC) by manufacturing industry across regions (provinces or groups of provinces). At the aggregate level, it shows that productivity growth was generally faster than that of labor compensation and hence resulted in a significant decline in unit labor cost for all regions in China. Furthermore, compared to more developed regions, less developed regions exhibited even stronger productivity growth relative to compensation, thus leading to a convergence across regions over this period. However, we observe a substantial variation in growth rates and convergence trends across regions for individual industries. Logit regression shows that labor intensive industries are more likely to converge in productivity, compensation and unit labor cost while skill intensive industries tend to increase inequality in unit labor cost. This is confirmed by estimating a growth regression, which shows that in provinces characterized by higher skill levels of the labor force, skill intensive industries experienced faster decline in ULC. |
| Keywords: | Labor productivity, average labor compensation, unit labor cost, and regional convergence |
| JEL: | J30 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnf:wpaper:0803&r=cse |