nep-ino New Economics Papers
on Innovation
Issue of 2007‒08‒18
ten papers chosen by
Koen Frenken
Utrecht University

  1. Sequential innovations with unobservable follow-on investments By Stefano Comino; Fabio Manenti; Antonio Nicolò
  2. Copyright vs. Copyleft Licencing and Software Development By Massimo D'Antoni; Maria Alessandra Rossi
  3. The technical-industrial research institutes in the Norwegian innovation system By Lars Nerdrum; Magnus Gulbrandsen
  4. Technological Spillovers and Productivity in Italian Manufacturing Firms By Claudio A. Piga; Giuseppe Medda
  5. Globalization of R&D and China – Empirical Observations and Policy Implications By Lundin, Nannan; Schwaag Serger, Sylvia
  6. Industrial structure, business demography and innovation By Svein Olav Nås
  7. The effectiveness of regional policies for innovation: an empirical investigation By Martina Cioni; Davide Conforti
  8. A contingency approach to innovation management: a cross-case competition By Van De Woestyne, M.; Devos,G.; Van den Broeck, H.
  9. Transforming and Computerizing Professional Artifacts. An underestimated opportunity for learning. By Beckerman, Carina
  10. Why don’t Small and Medium Enterprises Innovate More: Creating a Cooperative Learning Environment at Individual, Firm and Regional Level By Gupta Anil K.

  1. By: Stefano Comino (Università di Trento,); Fabio Manenti (Università di Padova,); Antonio Nicolò (Università di Padova,)
    Abstract: We consider a cumulative innovation process in which a follow-on innovator invests in R&D activities that influence both the expected commercial value as well as the novelty of its innovation. When the second innovator investments are not servable,licensing of the first innovation never occurs efficiently, and, at the equilibrium, the follow-on innovator either underinvests or overinvests. We show that a large patent breadth may be harmful for the first innovator too, and therefore Pareto-dominated;as long as the undervinvestment problem becomes more pronounced, the value generated by the follow-on innovator reduces, and so do the licensing revenues of the first inventor.
    Keywords: sequential innovation, patents, licensing, intellectual property
    JEL: K3 L5 O3
    Date: 2007–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0041&r=ino
  2. By: Massimo D'Antoni; Maria Alessandra Rossi
    Abstract: This article aims at clarifying the role played by licenses within the increasingly relevant Open Source Software (OSS) phenomenon. In particular, the article explores from a theoretical point of view the comparative properties of the two main categories of OSS license--copyleft and non-copyleft licenses--in terms of their ability to stimulate innovation and coordination of development efforts. In order to do so, the paper relies on an incomplete contracting model. The model shows that, in spite of the fact that copyleft licenses entail the enjoyment of a narrower set of rights by both licensors and licensees, they may be preferred to non-copyleft licenses when coordination of complementary investments in development is important. It thus provides a non-ideologically-based explanation for the puzzling evidence showing the dominance, in terms of diffusion, of copyleft licenses.
    Keywords: intellectual property rights, open source, copyright, copyleft, GPL license, incentives to innovation.
    JEL: L17 O34
    Date: 2007–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:510&r=ino
  3. By: Lars Nerdrum (Norwegian Institute for Studies in Research and Education - Centre for Innovation Research); Magnus Gulbrandsen (Norwegian Institute for Studies in Research and Education - Centre for Innovation Research)
    Abstract: This paper analyses the role of technical-industrial research institutes for industrial innovation in Norway. Using statistical data and a survey among firms, the paper shows that there are many different types of interaction between institutes and firms. In addition to R&D and technical services, the institutes are a significant source of skilled manpower for firms. We highlight three central roles for the institutes: they are a learning partner for industry, they help increase absorptive capacity, and they constitute a flexible repository in the innovation system by helping firms in peak periods and by reducing the pressure on universities through assisting in teaching and supervision.
    Date: 2007–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20070614&r=ino
  4. By: Claudio A. Piga (Dept of Economics, Loughborough University); Giuseppe Medda (DEIR, University of Sassari, Italy.)
    Abstract: We study whether a firm’s total factor productivity dynamics is positively influenced by its own R&D activity and by the technological spillovers generated at the intra- and inter-sectorial level. Our approach corrects simultaneously for the endogeneity and the selectivity biases introduced by the use of a firm’s own R&D as a regressor. A firm’s involvement in R&D activities accounts for significant productivity gains. Firms also benefit from spillovers originating from their own industries, as well as from innovative upstream sectors.
    Keywords: R&D, TFP, selectivity, treatment effect
    JEL: C21 C80 D24 O30
    Date: 2007–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:08-07&r=ino
  5. By: Lundin, Nannan (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Schwaag Serger, Sylvia (ITPS)
    Abstract: As one of the world’s largest recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), China is emerging as a key global player in Research and Development (R&D). This rapid increase in R&D investment is mainly attributed to the effort of strengthening the indigenous innovation capacity of domestic actors and, to an increasing extent, to the process of globalization of R&D with multinational enterprises as key driving force. This paper provides a detailed overview of the relative importance of foreign R&D in China based on quantitative mapping in terms of R&D inputs, outputs and local linkages in R&D-related activities, combined with an in-depth description of the nature of foreign R&D activities. Our empirical observation suggests that the growing importance of China in the globalization of R&D is more than a ‘flash-in-the-pan’. On one hand, China is facing new challenges, but at the same time is attempting to seize the “window of opportunity” to compete for knowledge and human resources through structural adjustments and new policy initiatives. On the other hand, multinational enterprises from OECD countries are not only intensifying, but also diversifying their activities in a larger number of R&D intensive sectors in China. In such a rapid and dynamic development, China seems to emerge not only as an important source of R&D but also a key magnet of global R&D operations.
    Keywords: China; R&D; Globalization; Multinationals
    JEL: F23 O31 O32
    Date: 2007–08–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0710&r=ino
  6. By: Svein Olav Nås (Norwegian Institute for Studies in Research and Education - Centre for Innovation Research)
    Abstract: The analysis addresses path dependency by studying development in industrial structure in Norway over time, and relates types of changes in firms to innovation activities in the firms as identified by the Norwegian innovation survey. A typology of changes is developed on the basis of matched employer-employee data allowing differentiating between events like entry and exit, take overs and spin-outs. Results show that despite a large degree of underlying turbulence the underlying industrial structure remains relatively stable over time - although with the well known reduction in primary industries and growth in service industries. Changes are more pronounced in terms of employment than in terms of value added which show a stable or increasing trend in virtually all industries. Combining with innovation data reveals that types of changes in firms vary with innovation modes. In particular, strategic innovators are found less frequently among unchanged organisations than is the case for other types of innovators. On the other hand a higher share of subsequent transformed establishments is found among strategic innovators.
    Date: 2007–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20070611&r=ino
  7. By: Martina Cioni; Davide Conforti
    Abstract: This paper provides the outcomes following an evaluation analysis of a public intervention aimed to support innovation within small and medium firms (azione 3.2 under Council Regulation EEC 2081/93, Docup Ob. 2 1997-1999). We gathered the data through an ad hoc survey of firms which applied for granting, whether successfully or not. We carried on an impact evaluation of the intervention on the basis of specific indicators pertaining both to performance and to innovation capability. According to our outcomes, the intervention had a (quite limited) effect on the economic performance of beneficiary firms, though without having any particular impact both on occupation and on long-term innovation capability.
    Keywords: Public Subsidies, Regional aid, Industrial Policy, Innovation capability
    JEL: D2 H2 L25 O31
    Date: 2007–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:508&r=ino
  8. By: Van De Woestyne, M.; Devos,G.; Van den Broeck, H. (Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School)
    Abstract: Building on prior theory and research on organizational innovation, this paper aims to examine the linkages between context and process factors. We examined how two contingency factors (i.e. type of organization and type of innovation) and determinants of an organization’s culture interact and work together within six innovative companies. We used a multiple-case study approach through a combination of direct observations, document transcripts, and in-depth interviews with key informants. Three archetypes of innovators emerged, depending on the sector in which companies act, the type of innovative activity, the strategy, and the established culture and structure of the organization. Interestingly, as every category consisted of a large company and an SME, our findings give little support to the size-specific nature of innovation.
    Keywords: innovation process, multiple-case study, organizational culture, organization size, sector, semistructured interviews
    Date: 2007–08–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vlg:vlgwps:2007-20&r=ino
  9. By: Beckerman, Carina (Dept. of Business Administration, Stockholm School of Economics)
    Abstract: Improving the artefacts a knowledge worker uses and how he or she exercises his or her knowledge is a desire that is part of being professional, especially since we are supposed to live in a knowledge society. In the knowledge society there is a continuous structuring and re-structuring, construction and re-construction and learning and re-learning going on due to implementing new information and communication technology. But many of these so called IT-projects fail, especially within health care in spite of management spending huge amounts of money on them. This paper focuses on and wants to create an awareness of how an artefact such as a new knowledge management system becomes a driving force behind expanding the knowledge of an anesthesist and has implications for continuous learning among a group of employees at the anesthesia and intensive care clinic. Implementing new technology is an underestimated opportunity for learning. More importantly, this paper also suggests that a significant educational effort is taking place in society channelled through many these IT-projects, even when they fail.
    Keywords: professional artefacts; learning; knowledge management system; knowledge management; the knowledge society.
    Date: 2007–08–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhb:hastba:2007_008&r=ino
  10. By: Gupta Anil K.
    Abstract: One would expect, that a large number of innovations linked to cycle, a common person’s means of transport, would be of great interest to the cycle industry. But, if the leaders of cycle industry do not evince much interest, there must be some serious reasons. It seems that if a company can manage growth with existing product range, why should it try to provide additional features or conveniences to the client. Indian small and medium scale industry appears to suffer from this limitation. I propose that cooperative model of learning is evolved to make each enterprise more competitive. Thus, cooperation in learning space and sometimes in market space may make Indian industry more competitive globally. There is a brief reference to the potential of intellectual property rights database as a source of learning. Why even in crops like psyllium, Indians have hardly five out of 878 patents is an issue that needs careful attention. Incidentally, psyllium is grown only in India.
    Date: 2007–08–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:2007-08-03&r=ino

This nep-ino issue is ©2007 by Koen Frenken. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
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