|
on Innovation |
| By: | Maria Jesus Nieto; Lluis Santamaria |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses technological collaboration as an input to the innovation processes of SMEs. Technological collaboration may be a useful mechanism to offset some of the weaknesses in SMEs’ resource endowments and bring their innovation capabilities closer to that of their large counterparts. The results, based on a large longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, show that technological collaboration is a critical factor in improving the capabilities and innovativeness of SMEs. While a general bridging of the gap between the innovativeness of SMEs and large firms was observed, the most significant advance was in product rather than process innovations. |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb066620&r=ino |
| By: | Randall Jones; Tadashi Yokoyama |
| Abstract: | Increasing productivity growth through innovation is a key to raising living standards. Although R&D intensity in Japan is the third highest in the OECD area, the benefits do not appear to have been commensurate with the level of investment. The innovation system, which developed during the catchingup process, is largely input-driven and focused on incremental innovation based on closed and stable corporate and employment systems. However, this approach is less appropriate in the current global environment that favours risk-taking and a more open system relying on external linkages. To improve the innovation system, a broad-based strategy is needed, including a reform of framework conditions in the product and labour markets to strengthen competition and mobility, enhance international R&D links and improve the environment for venture business. Education and public research should be upgraded through stronger competition. The effectiveness of science and technology policy should be increased by strengthening its link to economic framework policies. This Working Paper relates to the 2006 OECD Economic Survey of Japan (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/japan). <P>Améliorer le système d'innovation pour assurer une croissance économique durable <BR>Accroître la productivité grâce à l'innovation est l'un des principaux moyens d'élever le niveau de vie. Alors que le Japon se place au troisième rang des pays de l'OCDE pour ce qui est de l'intensité de R-D, les résultats obtenus ne paraissent pas à la hauteur des investissements. Le système d'innovation, qui s'est développé au cours du processus de rattrapage, est orienté dans une large mesure par l'investissement et met l'accent sur les innovations progressives fondées sur des structures d'entreprise et d'emploi fermées et stables. Or, cette approche est moins adaptée à l?environnement mondial actuel, qui favorise la prise de risque et des systèmes plus ouverts fondés sur des liens externes. Pour améliorer le système d'innovation, il importe de mettre en oeuvre une vaste stratégie consistant notamment à réformer les conditions cadres qui régissent les marchés de produits et du travail, afin de renforcer la concurrence et la mobilité, de favoriser les relations internationales en matière de R-D et d'améliorer l'environnement des entreprises innovantes. Il faudrait par ailleurs rendre l'éducation et la recherche publique plus performantes grâce à une concurrence plus intense. Il y aurait lieu également d'accroître l'efficacité de la politique scientifique et technologique en renforçant ses liens avec les politiques économiques générales. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l'Étude économique du Japon 2006 (www.oecd.org/eco/etudes/japon). |
| Keywords: | innovation, innovation |
| JEL: | I2 O31 O33 O34 O38 O39 O53 |
| Date: | 2006–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:527-en&r=ino |
| By: | Madeleine Akrich (CSI - Centre de sociologie de l'innovation - [CNRS : UMR7120] - [Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris]); Riel Miller (DTI - Danish Technology Institute - [Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation]) |
| Abstract: | This text is a draft version of the synthesis report based on the work of the High Level Expert Group on the Future of <br />Research Actors (RA) in the European Research Area (ERA). This group was set up by the Technology Foresight Group, DG Research, European Commision. Many of the conclusions of this synthesis report are fully consistent with the directions of <br />current research policies. The work of the group highlights the importance of <br />efforts, already well underway, to reinforce the functioning of the ERA as an integrated base <br />that overcomes a wide range of geographic, institutional and disciplinary barriers to the both <br />the competition and sharing of knowledge. Knitting together the different European research <br />actors into a more transparent and diversified whole would seem to be one of the best ways <br />to create a stronger platform for knowledge creation and diffusion. A less anticipated <br />conclusion, and less part of the existing consensus, is that simply pursuing the ambition of <br />multiplying the number of effective research platforms in Europe may miss a key part of <br />tomorrow's research agenda. The in-depth expert papers on the eight different research <br />actors of the ERA, the insights arising from the synthesis developed in this paper, and the <br />analytical results of a rare scenario pooling exercise, all point very clearly to the risk that <br />current policies are excessively technology centric and may miss crucial emerging attributes <br />of research and research actors in the knowledge society. Thus, over and above the value- <br />added for assessing the direction and implementation of current approaches to improving the <br />production and use of research in Europe, this report recommends new policies aimed at <br />accelerating the development of emergent forms and sources of research. The policy <br />message is that Europe must move beyond industrial-era challenges to embrace those of the <br />knowledge society. <br />Further opening, expanding and integrating the European Research Area requires: <br />1) Policies that put into practice expanded criteria for designing and funding research <br />programmes for the European Research Area to include user-centred technological, <br />organisational and social innovation. <br />2) Policies that initiate experiments that validate (quality/trust/transparency) new forms and <br />producers (including individual independent researchers) of knowledge. <br />3) Policies, both budgetary and regulatory, that create and facilitate both new collaborative <br />environments for research, including user-centred research, and new governance <br />processes.<br />4) Policies to enhance the capacity of policy makers (including at the regional level) to <br />recognise and facilitate new forms of research and particularly new approaches to the <br />governance of research processes. <br />5) Policies to abolish national borders for researchers and for students both within Europe <br />and outside Europe. <br />6) Policies to strengthen the autonomy of universities, including areas so far strictly <br />controlled by most governments such as a university's strategic profile and selection of <br />specialisations. <br />7) Further research is required regarding the relationship between the changing nature of <br />research and intellectual property rights (IPR). <br />8) Further research is required regarding the functional division of labour amongst different <br />research actors in the context of the emerging “open innovation model”. <br />9) Further research is required in order to describe and analyse the contribution of civil <br />society to research and innovation. <br />10) Further research is required on how to establish trust in highly complex and diversified <br />knowledge societies. <br />11) Further research is required to define and measure new forms of innovation, particularly <br />with respect to the innovation related research occurring in the service sector, SMEs and <br />the community (social innovation) that point towards new models of innovation. |
| Keywords: | RESEARCH ORGANIZATION; UNIVERSITIES; CIVIL SOCIETY; MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES; SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES; NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS; REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS; RESEARCH POLICIES; RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS; FORESIGHT; EUROPE |
| Date: | 2006–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00116775_v1&r=ino |
| By: | Francois, Didier; van Pottelsberghe, Bruno |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to assess whether and to what extent the cost of patenting affects the demand for patents. The empirical analysis, which focuses on the patent systems of the USA, Japan, and Europe during the year 2003, leads to the following methodological and empirical observations: i) after the grant, the translation, validation and transaction costs induced by an effective protection in several European countries witness a highly fragmented and very expensive European market for intellectual property; ii) for a proper international comparison, the size of the market and the average number of claims must be accounted for; iii) when the cost per claim per capita (the 3C-index) is considered, a negative linear relationship appears between the cost of patenting and the number of claims that are filed; iv) for a patent designating 13 European countries, the 3C-index is about 10 (2) times higher than in the US (Japanese) system (for process and translation costs up to the grant); v) The European market being more than twice as large as the US market in terms of inhabitants, the 3C-index suggests that there would be a clear justification for higher nominal examination fees at the EPO, that would ensure a rigorous granting process. |
| Keywords: | cost elasticity; cost per claim per capita; patent systems; patents |
| JEL: | O34 P14 P51 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5944&r=ino |
| By: | John Forth; Geoff Mason |
| Abstract: | In light of the increased relative demand for skilled labour associated with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), we combine survey data for UK enterprises in 1999 with post-survey financial data for the same enterprises to assess the impact of ICT skill shortages on firms’ financial performance. There is clear evidence that ICT skill shortages have an indirect negative impact on performance through the restrictions that such deficiencies place on ICT adoption and on the intensity of ICT use post-adoption. However, there is only weak evidence of skill shortages impinging directly on performance at given levels of ICT adoption and utilisation. |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:niesrd:281&r=ino |
| By: | Alberto Bucci (Department of Economics, Business and Statistics, University of Milan); Carmelo Parello (Catholic University of Louvain) |
| Abstract: | The influence of the degree of competition in the goods market on growth is analyzed by developing an endogenous growth model with horizontal innovation. Product market competition is measured by (1- Lerner index) and depends on both the share of factor inputs in total income and on the elasticity of substitution across goods. We find that the shape of the relationship between competition and growth can change dramatically according to which proxy of competition is used. We interpret our results in terms of the interplay between the resource allocation and the profit incentive effects. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Product Market Competition, Endogenous Growth, Scale Effects, |
| Date: | 2006–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:unimip:1032&r=ino |
| By: | Naghavi, Alireza; Ottaviano, Gianmarco I P |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the organization of firms in a dynamic setting with endogenous growth to shed light on the link between economic growth and the parallel creation and adoption of complementary innovations by independent labs and plants. In the presence of search friction and incomplete outsourcing contracts, we show that the ex-post bargaining power of upstream and downstream parties at the production stage feeds back into innovation and growth. Our dynamic perspective reveals a tension between the static and dynamic effects of outsourcing. The reason is that firms make their organizational choices weighting the higher searching and contracting costs of outsourcing against the higher entry and foregone specialization costs of vertical integration. In so doing, they neglect the effects of their choices on innovation and growth. Hence, when outsourcing is selected, the static gains from specialized production may at times be associated with relevant dynamic losses for consumers. |
| Keywords: | complementary innovations; growth; incomplete contracts; organization of firms; outsourcing; welfare |
| JEL: | D91 L14 L23 O32 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5925&r=ino |
| By: | Dhikra Chebbi Nekhili (Université de Bourgogne) |
| Abstract: | L’objectif de cet article est d’expliquer le choix des formes organisationnelles en matière d’investissement en R&D à l’étranger par les firmes multinationales. Principalement, trois formes organisationnelles peuvent être identifiées : l’internalisation totale des activités de R&D au sein d’une filiale (créée ou acquise) à l’étranger, les alliances en R&D (avec ou sans prise de participation) et l’externalisation totale de ces activités. En se basant sur les apports de la théorie fondée sur les ressources, nous avons expliqué le choix d’une forme par rapport à une autre par le souhait des firmes multinationales de construire un avantage concurrentiel en comblant le vide entre les ressources réellement détenues et les ressources nouvellement acquises. A travers une étude quantitative basée sur un questionnaire envoyé à 769 firmes multinationales européennes et nord-américaines, nous avons trouvé que les licences unilatérales sont préférées en cas de non-disponibilité des ressources en interne et, que les alliances sans prise de participation, par opposition aux alliances avec prise de participation, sont utile en cas d’un caractère codifiable des connaissances à transférer. |
| Keywords: | forme organisationnelle;théorie fondée sur les ressources;avantage concurrentiel |
| JEL: | F23 L23 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dij:wpfarg:1061102&r=ino |
| By: | Ann Hansford, Andrew Lymer and Catherine Pilkington |
| Abstract: | This article considers Information Technology (IT) adoption strategies as applied to the particular circumstances of e-filing UK Self Assessment (SA) Tax returns . It reports the findings from a study that involved three interested groups in the UK; tax advisers, tax authorities and software providers. IT adoption issues, as applied to a wide range of business situations, are considered in detail in order to set the study into context. The current study, which builds on the findings of a previous UK quantitative study, involved ten in-depth interviews with representatives from the three interested groups – tax advisers, tax authorities and software providers - in order to consider broader aspects of e-filing SA tax returns. The interviews identified that IT adoption is usually a ‘top-down’ decision. The availability of suitable and developing IT tax software is important for tax advisers; as is the perception of the user-friendliness of the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) IT system. Pre-adoption concerns for tax advisers mainly centred on how e-filing would fit in with their current practice and the benefits, or otherwise of introducing IT. Post-adoption discussion centred on the wider benefits of IT adoption and the ease of use of the e-filing systems. Tax advisers in the study were clear about areas that could influence their decisions to e-file SA tax returns. Getting over the apprehensiveness of the reluctant IT adopters required good software products that fitted in with other office functions, overcoming any reluctance to trust HMRC IT capabilities and operational efficiencies. Security and privacy were of significant concern to tax advisers but visibility was of little importance. Overall, there was a positive assessment of e-filing SA tax returns. The study showed that e-filing was expected to expand to all but the most reluctant tax adviser practices within the next five years. |
| Keywords: | e-filing, tax, tax law, self-assessment, tax returns, IT, UK, tax administration |
| Date: | 2006–10–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsw:discus:414&r=ino |
| By: | Isabelle Liotard (CEPN - Centre d'économie de l'Université de Paris Nord - [CNRS : UMR7115] - [Université Paris-Nord - Paris XIII]) |
| Abstract: | La brevetabilité des méthodes commerciales est aujourd'hui un enjeu majeur dans le monde de l'Internet. Elle suscite cependant de multiples interrogations tant pour les économistes que pour les juristes. En s'appuyant sur le contexte juridique, mais aussi à partir de données statistiques, l'article met en évidence l'impact de ce type de brevets sur les activités du e-commerce et du e-finance, mais aussi sur la stratégie des entreprises et leur emprise sur la concurrence et l'innovation . Confrontés aux États-Unis qui n'ont pas hésité à breveter « à outrance » ces méthodes commerciales, les Européens demeurent toujours circonspects illustrant encore une fois la dichotomie des deux pratiques, selon que l'on est de l'un ou de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique. |
| Keywords: | propriété intellectuelle, méthodes commerciales, business methods, brevet |
| Date: | 2006–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00117239_v1&r=ino |