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on Innovation |
| By: | Mauro Caminati; Serena Sordi; Arsenio Stabile |
| Abstract: | From a given directed weighted network of knowledge links between technology fields, the paper develops a multisector dynamic model of incremental innovation and R&D activity in these fields. The model is focused on the equilibrium share distribution of these variables, which is proved to be locally stable, with reference to a simple low dimensional case. Simulation methods suggest that local, and also global, stability extend to any model dimension. It is also shown how different network structures map to different asymptotic share distributions. Using the NBER patents and patent citation data files, the analytical framework is then used to analyse some general features of the pattern of knowledge creation and transfer in the period 1975-1999. From a descriptive viewpoint, the changes in the share distribution of innovation activity predicted by the model match reasonably well the actual changes in the period |
| Keywords: | directed weighted network, knowledge spillovers, share distribution, incremental innovation and R&D dynamics, local stability, simulation, patents and patent citations |
| JEL: | O30 C61 |
| Date: | 2006–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:473&r=ino |
| By: | Fumio Kodama; Jun Suzuki |
| Abstract: | The rise in biomedical research predates the passage of Bayh-Dole Act in the United States. Our measurements of science linkage based on the Japanese patents also show that biotechnology is extremely high in science linkage. We will describe an in-depth case study about how a Japanese sanitary ware company could commercialize a totally new toilet system, by use of scientific findings discovered by university professors. The firm played a more proactive role in technology transfer than the role implied by the term of "absorptive capacity." The Japanese national system of innovation has been built to stimulate absorptive capacity functions proactively. |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:06013&r=ino |
| By: | Ignazio Musu (Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari") |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses two types of problems related to assigning or denying intellectual property rights to agro-biotechnological innovations in the relation between developed and developing countries. First, protecting property rights on innovations creates incentives towards further research and innovation, which in some cases may be beneficial to society, in others not so. If the assigning of the right does not guarantee the potential beneficial use of the innovation, not assigning rights would not prevent its potentially dangerous utilization. Secondly, the power of exclusion of the holder of an intellectual property right limits access to the newly produced knowledge: this may discourage the process of producing new knowledge, harming developing countries. Moreover the property right holder may end up with excessive market power when commercializing the innovation, which is also harmful to developing countries. It is shown that these problems cannot be solved by denying protection to property rights on innovations, but by improving procedures for awarding these rights and accompanying them with appropriate liability rules and antitrust measures. |
| Keywords: | Intellectual property rights, Biotechnology, Patent system |
| JEL: | O30 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:0106&r=ino |
| By: | Lundin, Per (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The paper describes and analyses a Scandinavian research project on trade union based development of, and training in, computer technology and work organization, especially text and image processing in the graphic industries, that was named UTOPIA and carried out between 1981 and 1986. UTOPIA gave rise to the so called Scandinavian School of System Development (Den skandinaviska skolan) where the users participation in system development have become a key element. The role of labour movement in technological change is highlighted and it is underlined that there are different incentives for technological change. Corporations developing technology usually pursued increased efficiency in production, while the labour movement and UTOPIA aimed at other goals such as translating social values regarding job skills, quality of work, and quality of products into new computer hardware and software for the graphic industries. It is argued that the UTOPIA-project may be seen as an attempt to establish an innovation system in computer system development where these kind of different values were pursued. The innovation system consisted of industry, research institutes, trade unions, and universities, and was characterized by strong labour interests. |
| Keywords: | History; history of computers; history of technology; industrial democracy; innovation systems; management; technological change; trade unions |
| JEL: | J50 N00 N73 O14 O30 |
| Date: | 2006–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0052&r=ino |
| By: | Kaiserfledt, Thomas (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper review existing theories of invention and innovation putting them at the center of the understanding of cultural change. After a survey of different categories of inventions and innovations, it introduces a taxonomy relying on the origins of invention and innovation highligting individual qualities, social invironments, resources access and incentives for problem solving. Following this taxonomy, different theories are analyzed and compared. Features of theories are evaluated with respect to their explanatory power. Conclusively. historical trends of theories are outlined as well as some preliminary results ragarding different points of directionss of existing theories. |
| Keywords: | Innovation theory; innovation; invention |
| JEL: | B00 |
| Date: | 2006–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0047&r=ino |
| By: | Kaiserfeld, Thomas (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews existing empirical findings for regionalization of the Swedish university system and its impact of regional and national innovation systems. The conclusion is that regionalization of the Swedish system for higher education and research has been driven by multitude of factors and interests, both external and internal to the system itself. The result is a system that seems to raise regional production due to direct and indirect causes, i.e. through the work and consumption of employees and students of universities, more than raising regional productivity through the exploitation of knowledge. In the wake of the developments, more recent universities and university colleges have developed two strategies for legitimisation, one traditional relying on the international academic system of peer-review (normal science) and one alternative relying on regional innovation systems (post-normal science). Conseqences of these stratggies for legimitation are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Higher education policy; regional policy; knowledge policy; regional innovation systems |
| JEL: | B00 I00 |
| Date: | 2006–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0048&r=ino |
| By: | Lederman, Daniel; Klinger, Bailey |
| Abstract: | Recent research highlights the relationship between economic development and productive diversification, which may be hindered by market failures. After identifying stages of diversification in disaggregated export data, the authors develop a metric for the flows of export " discoveries, " or inside-the-frontier innovations in developing countries. They then explore the empirical relationship between economic development and (1) inside-the-frontier-innovation as reflected by the introduction of new export products, (2) export diversification measured by an index of export-revenue concentration, and (3) on-the-frontier innovation as reflected in patents. The data suggest , unsurprisingly, that inside-the-frontier innovation is more common among poor countries than among industrial economies. Overall export diversification increases at low levels of development but declines with development after a high-income point, whereas patenting activity rises exponentially with development. The data also suggest that the relationship between the frequency of export discoveries and economic development is not due to changes in the industrial composition of exports. The authors use a simple model of innovation and imitation to test the hypothesis that the threat of imitation inhibits the discovery of new exports. Econometric evidence suggests that the frequency of export discoveries across countries rises with the returns of export activities (proxied by exogenous export growth during the sample period), but the magnitude of this effect increases with barriers to entry. The count-data estimations deal with unobserved international heterogeneity, and the results are robust to various changes in the specification of the empirical model. This finding supports the hypothesis that market failures inhibit inside-the-frontier innovation. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory & Research,Markets and Market Access,Water Resources Assessment,Pro-Poor Growth and Inequality,Airports and Air Services |
| Date: | 2006–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3872&r=ino |
| By: | Erik Stam |
| Abstract: | How do changes in the spatial organization of entrepreneurial firms come about? This paper provides a conceptualisation of the process of locational change. A process model of locational change is constructed on the basis of an empirical study of 109 locational events during the life course of 25 young firms in knowledge intensive sectors (knowledge services and biomedicals). This process model of locational change maps both internal and external variation and selection processes. This model contributes to the development of a causal process theory of the spatial development of (new) firms. |
| Keywords: | location, entrepreneurial firms, evolutionary theory, decision-making, process models |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0604&r=ino |
| By: | Erik Stam; Veronique Schutjens |
| Abstract: | We know that most businesses fail. But what is not known is to what extent failed ex-entrepreneurs set up in business again. The objective of this article is to explore potential and realized serial entrepreneurship. Based on three disciplines – psychology, labour economics, and the sociology of careers – we formulated propositions to explain (potential) serial entrepreneurship. We tested these propositions empirically with a longitudinal database of 79 businesses that had closed within 5 years after start-up. A large majority of the ex- entrepreneurs maintained entrepreneurial intentions subsequent to business closure, while almost one in four business closures were followed by a new business (serial entrepreneurship). Our results show that the determinants of restart intention (potential serial entrepreneurship) and actual restart realization (realized serial entrepreneurship) are different. Ex-entrepreneurs who are young, who worked full-time in their prior business, and who recall their business management experience positively are likely to harbour restart intentions. Only ‘being located in an urban region’ transpired to have a significant effect on the start of a new business. Although entrepreneurial intentions are a necessary condition for the start of a new business, this study shows that the explanation of entrepreneurial intentions is distinct from the explanation of new business formation subsequent to business closure. |
| Keywords: | serial entrepreneurship; business closure; entrepreneurial intentions; new business formation, The Netherlands |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0605&r=ino |
| By: | Braunerhjelm, Pontus (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact universities have on regional development and as to whether a difference can be detected between the influence of the old and new universities. To achieve this end a unique dataset on the researchers’ view regarding the universities role in commer-cialization, distinguishing between new universities (established around 1970) and old univer-sities (established in the 15th and 17th century), is initially utilized. In the subsequent stage spatially disaggregated data is implemented in a two-step Heckman regression analysis to ex-amine whether a relationship exists between the universities research specialization and re-gional production specialization 1975 to 1999. The results reveal that there are considerable differences across universities, albeit primarily unrelated to the age of the universities. Fi-nally, the impact of universities on regional productivity in knowledge-based industries is ex-amined. |
| Keywords: | Universities; norms; regional development; policies. |
| JEL: | J24 O31 O57 |
| Date: | 2006–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0055&r=ino |
| By: | Genia Long; David Cutler; Ernst R. Berndt; Jimmy Royer; Andrée-Anne Fournier; Alicia Sasser; Pierre Cremieux |
| Abstract: | Estimating the value of medical innovation is a continual challenge. In this research, we quantify the impact of antihypertensive therapy on U.S. blood pressures, risk and number of heart attacks, strokes, and deaths. We also consider the potential for further improvements. We estimate the value of innovation using equations relating blood pressure to adverse outcomes from the Framingham Heart Study. Our results show that without antihypertensive therapy, 1999-2000 average blood pressure for the U.S. population age 40 plus would have been 10-13 percent higher. 86,000 excess premature deaths from cardiovascular disease (2001), and 833,000 hospital discharges for stroke and heart attacks (2002) would have occurred. Life expectancy would be 0.5 (men) and 0.4 (women) years lower. At guideline care, there would have been 89,000 fewer premature deaths (2001) and 420,000 fewer hospital discharges for stroke and heart attack (2002) than observed. Our analysis suggests that antihypertensive therapy has had a significant impact on cardiovascular health outcomes but that mortality gains would have been approximately twice as high if guideline care had been achieved for all. |
| JEL: | I1 O3 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12096&r=ino |
| By: | Sörlin, Sverker (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | More explicitly than before, universities have become instruments of industrial and economic growth policies. This has led to an increase in accountability regimes and in the application of the so called New Public Management on universities hitherto governed by a Humboldtian, Weberian, or Mertonian norms and a high degree of internal freedom and autonomy. This paper reviews some of the literature on these phenomena and analyzes critically some of the positions taken. It is concluded that while there is arguably a considerable change in governance going on in Western university systems, the change is far from altering the academic ethos. Still, it is argued, institutional norms should also be defended, which could be achieved through differentiation of higher education and among research performing institutions and organizations. An important virtue of the university remains to deliver social value precisely because it is an institution of credibility, criticism, and trust. |
| Keywords: | University Governance; University Management; Higher Education Policy; Higher Education; Research Policy; University Licensing. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2006–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0053&r=ino |
| By: | Gråsjö, Urban (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The main purpose of the study in this paper is to establish to what extent accessibility to R&D and human capital can explain regional export. This is done by estimating knowledge production functions, with export value and high valued exports in Swedish municipalities from 1997 to 1999 as outputs. In order to account for geographical proximity, the explanatory variables are expressed as accessibilities to R&D and human capital. The total accessibility is divided into three geographical levels; local (within the municipality), intra-regional and inter-regional accessibility to R&D and human capital. R&D conducted at universities and in companies is measured in man years and the numbers of people with at least three years of university studies measures the amount of human capital. The estimations are conducted with quantile regressions since the distributions of the dependent variables are highly skewed with a few very influential outliers. Due to problems with multicollinearity it is not easy to tell if the variations in the municipalities’ exports are explained by human capital or company R&D. But the results in the paper indicate that accessibility to human capital has the greatest positive effects. The value of exported products is mainly affected by local accessibility to human capital (and company R&D). The intra- and inter-regional accessibilities play a more important roll when the number of high valued export products in Swedish municipalities is the output. |
| Keywords: | knowledge production; R&D; human capital; exports; quantile regression |
| JEL: | O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2006–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0050&r=ino |