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on Innovation |
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Issue of 2010‒07‒17
nineteen papers chosen by Steffen Lippert Massey University Department of Commerce |
| By: | Polder, Michael; Van Leeuwen, George; Mohnen, Pierre; Raymond, Wladimir |
| Abstract: | We propose a model where both R&D and ICT investment feed into a system of three innovation output equations (product, process and organizational innovation), which ultimately feeds into a productivity equation. We find that ICT investment and usage are important drivers of innovation in both manufacturing and services. Doing more R&D has a positive effect on product innovation in manufacturing. The strongest productivity effects are derived from organizational innovation. We find positive effects of product and process innovation when combined with an organizational innovation. There is evidence that organizational innovation is complementary to process innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; ICT; R&D; productivity |
| JEL: | L25 O30 O32 O33 O31 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23719&r=ino |
| By: | Vega-Jurado, Jaider; Manjarrés-Henríquez, Liney; Gutiérrez-Gracia, Antonio; Fernández-de-Lucio, Ignacio |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effect of interaction with universities on firms? innovation output, measured as the degree of novelty of product innovation. The analysis is based on a sample of 3,257 manufacturing firms, active in innovation, and located in Spain. We distinguish between two types of interaction mechanisms: cooperation in innovation activities and outsourcing of research and development (R&D) services. Using data from two waves of the Spanish innovation survey (2004 and 2007), we examine the effect of interaction in 2004 on subsequent product innovation in 2005-2007. The results show that neither cooperation with universities nor outsourcing of R&D services to these agents has a significant effect on product innovation. In other words, for Spanish manufacturing firms the acquisition of knowledge from universities does not represent an important strategy to introduce new products into the market. In contrast, cooperation with customers and acquisition of external R&D from other firms seem to be important for innovation, especially for firms pursuing more radical innovation. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 L60 |
| Date: | 2010–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201008&r=ino |
| By: | Michael Polder; George van Leeuwen; Pierre Mohnen; Wladimir Raymond |
| Abstract: | We propose a model where both R&D and ICT investment feed into a system of three innovation output equations (product, process and organizational innovation), which ultimately feeds into a productivity equation. We find that ICT investment and usage are important drivers of innovation in both manufacturing and services. Doing more R&D has a positive effect on product innovation in manufacturing. The strongest productivity effects are derived from organizational innovation. We find positive effects of product and process innovation when combined with an organizational innovation. There is evidence that organizational innovation is complementary to process innovation. <P>Nous estimons un modèle dans lequel la recherche-développement (R-D) et l’investissement en technologies de l’information et de la communication (tic) déterminent trois types d’innovation (de produit, de procédé, et organisationnelle), lesquels influencent à leur tour la productivité. Nous trouvons que l’investissement en tic facilite l’innovation tant dans le secteur manufacturier que dans celui des services. Faire de la R-D a un effet positif sur l’innovation en produit dans le secteur manufacturier. L’effet le plus important sur la productivité provient de l’innovation organisationnelle. Les deux autres types d’innovation n’augmentent la productivité que s’ils sont accompagnés d’innovation organisationnelle. Cette dernière est complémentaire à l’innovation de procédé. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, ICT, R&D, productivity , Innovation, ICT, R&D, productivité |
| JEL: | L25 O30 |
| Date: | 2010–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2010s-28&r=ino |
| By: | Wörter, Martin; Rammer, Christian; Arvanitis, Spyros |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between past innovation output, competition, and future innovation input in a dynamic econometric setting. We distinguish two dimensions of competition that correspond to the concepts of product substitutability and entry barriers due to fixed costs. Based on firm-level panel data for Germany and Switzerland we obtain consistent results for both countries. Innovation output in t-1 as measured by the sales share of innovative products is positively related to the degree of product obsolescence in t, and negatively to the degree of substitutability in t in both countries. Further, we find that rapid product obsolescence provides positive incentives for higher - primarily product-oriented - R&D investments in t+1, while high substitutability exerts negative incentives for future R&D investment. -- |
| Keywords: | Innovation,R&D,Competition |
| JEL: | O3 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10039&r=ino |
| By: | Gaétan de Rassenfosse |
| Abstract: | This paper tackles one of the most persistent criticism of patent statistics. Because not all inventions are patented, the patent-to-R&D ratio reflects both a productivity effect (the number of inventions created per unit of research input) and a propensity effect (the proportion of inventions patented). We propose a solution to this identification problem. Our methodology uses information on the density of patent value and leads to results that are easy to interpret. It is applied to a novel data set of priority patent applications in which each patent is fractionally allocated to its inventors’ countries and to the technological areas to which it belongs. Interestingly, it is frequently observed that an industry may exhibit a low number of patents per unit of R&D in one country yet actually be more productive than the same industry in another country where the patentto-R&D ratio is higher. |
| Keywords: | identification strategy; patent family; patent value; research productivity; propensity to patent |
| JEL: | O30 O52 |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/59648&r=ino |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino (JRC-IPTS); Mario Pianta (University of Urbino) |
| Abstract: | In this article we investigate – both conceptually and empirically – the relationship between three interconnected elements of the Schumpeterian “engine of progress”: the ability of industries’ R&D efforts to turn out successful innovations; the ability of innovations to lead to high entrepreneurial profits; the commitment of industries to invest profits in further technological efforts. We build a simultaneous three-equation model – with appropriate lags – and we test it at industry level – for 38 manufacturing and service sectors – on eight European countries over two time periods from 1994 to 2006. The results show that the model effectively accounts for the dynamics of European industries. Our main results are that demand and innovation are the key determinants for firm profitability; second that both technology adoption and R&D concur to improve innovative performance; third, that R&D is path dependent and is negatively related to the distance from the frontier. Finally, manufacturing and services show similar behaviour. |
| Keywords: | Profits, R&D, Innovation, System Two Stages Least Squares |
| JEL: | L6 L8 O31 O33 O52 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201005&r=ino |
| By: | Müller, Kathrin; Peters, Bettina |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of R&D worker mobility on innovation performance. As one main novelty, we employ churning as a measure for worker mobility. Churning depicts the number of workers which are replaced by new ones. It is a very informative indicator since a firm may be exposed to simultaneous leave and inflow of R&D workers even if the size of R&D employment remains unchanged. Hence, we can separate the effect of replacement from net change in R&D workforce. Our results from estimating various knowledge production functions suggest an inverse u-shaped relationship. The exchange of R&D personnel fosters innovation through inter-firm knowledge spillovers and improved job-match quality up to certain threshold. The point when costs of churning exceed the benefits is reached faster if the R&D knowledge is non-duplicative. -- |
| Keywords: | innovation,churning,mobility |
| JEL: | O33 C35 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10032&r=ino |
| By: | Bruno Van Pottelsberghe |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a methodology to compare the quality of examination services across patent offices. Quality is defined as the extent to which patent offices comply with their patentability conditions in a transparent way. The methodology consists of a two-layer analytical framework encompassing “legal standards” and their “operational design”, which includes several interdependent components that affect the stringency and transparency of the filtering process. The comparison of patent offices in Europe (EPO), Japan (JPO) and the US (USPTO) shows that their operational designs differ substantially: the EPO provides higher-quality and more expensive services than the USPTO, while the JPO is in an intermediate position. These results illustrate that different system designs lead to different outcomes in term of backlogs, patent propensity and the number of dubious patent rights in force. In this respect, they: 1) provide an empirical validation of Jaffe and Lerner's (2004) conjecture of a vicious cycle between quality of examinations and demand for patents; and 2) highlight the need for a multi-faceted convergence of patent systems before mutual recognition is put in place. |
| Keywords: | patent system; quality; patent propensity; intellectual property |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O34 O38 O57 |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/59650&r=ino |
| By: | Luca Anderlini (Georgetown University); Leonardo Felli (London School of Economics); Giovanni Immordino (Università di Salerno and CSEF); Alessandro Riboni (Université de Montréal) |
| Abstract: | We build a stylized model of endogenous technological change and analyze the relationship between legal institutions, innovation and growth. Two legal systems are analyzed: a rigid system, where an uncontingent law is written ex ante (before knowing the current technology) and a flexible system where law-makers select the law ex post (after observing the current technology). We show that flexible legal systems dominate in terms of welfare, amount of innovation and output growth in economies at intermediate stages of technological development -- which are periods when legal change is more needed -- while rigid legal systems are preferable at early stages of technological development, when commitment problems are more severe. For mature technologies the two legal systems are shown to be equivalent. Surprisingly, we find that rigid legal systems may induce excessive (greater than first-best) R&D investment and output growth. |
| Keywords: | Commitment, Flexibility, Innovation and Growth |
| JEL: | O3 O43 L51 E61 |
| Date: | 2010–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:256&r=ino |
| By: | Archibugi, Daniele; Filippetti, Andrea |
| Abstract: | Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) have become ubiquitous in the current debate and have emerged as the key issue of global innovation policy. The ‘Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ (TRIPS) Agreement, signed in 1994 as a founding element of the World Trade Organisation, represents the most important attempt to establish a global harmonisation of Intellectual Property protection. The aim of this article is to re-examine critically what has become the common wisdom around IPRs, TRIPS and their effects. We argue that supporters of IPRs in western corporations and governments as well as detractors in global movements and developing countries have overestimated their importance in the process of generation and diffusion of knowledge and innovation. On the basis of some key learned lessons on the nature of innovation and technological change, we assess four theses about TRIPS and its impact on the global generation and distribution of knowledge. Finally, the policy implications concerning international organisations and technological transfer are discussed |
| Keywords: | globalisation of IPRs; innovation; technological transfer |
| JEL: | O34 Q55 O3 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21930&r=ino |
| By: | Simon Alder |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the relationship between innovation, competition and distance to the technology frontier, using enterprise surveys from 40 developing and transition countries. Different from previous empirical studies, the distance to frontier is measured by a firm's technology level relative to its main competitor. This self-reported comparison allows to capture a crucial determinant of a firm's business strategy and its response to competition. The findings from the empirical analysis are as follows. Firstly, firms with more advanced technology compared to their main competitors have more product innovations. Secondly, there is evidence that innovation and competition are more positively correlated at low levels of competition than at high levels. With some measures of competition, the correlation is highest at intermediate levels of competition, which suggests an inverted-U relationship. Thirdly, in certain specifications, competition is most positively correlated with product innovation when a firm is more advanced than its main competitor. In other cases, this correlation is strongest for firms that are at the same technology level as their competitors. However, the differences in the correlations between more and less advanced firms are not always significant. |
| Keywords: | Market structure, competition, innovation, technology adaption, growth |
| JEL: | O16 O31 O33 O38 O40 L16 |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:iewwpx:493&r=ino |
| By: | Tamás Sebestyén (Department of Economics and Regional Studies, University of Pécs) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the evolution of network formation. We present a model in which companies in an industry can innovate alone or in alliance with others. Alliance formation is based on the cognitive distance of companies. If two companies form an alliance, their probability of success in innovation depends on their proximity in knowledge space, that is, their cognitive distance. Knowledge, on the other hand, is modelled in two dimensions: breadth and depth. The main results of our analysis are that in the present setting heterogeneity decreases among companies whilst innovation can increase and decrease also, depending on the initial parameters of the industry's knowledge endowment. The model also reveales the importance of external shocks in maintaining heterogeneity and concludes with a possible typology of cluster evolution among the dimensions of heterogeneity and innovativeness. |
| Keywords: | knowledge network, innovation, knowledge heterogeneity, alliance formation, cluster evolution |
| JEL: | I23 O18 O33 R11 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pec:wpaper:2010/1&r=ino |
| By: | Roy Chowdhury, Prabal |
| Abstract: | We examine pollution-reducing R&D by a monopoly firm producing a dirty product. In a dynamic framework with hyperbolic discounting, we establish conditions under which the Porter hypothesis goes through, i.e. environmental regulation increases R&D, thus reducing pollution, as well as increasing firm profits. This is likely to hold whenever R&D costs are at an intermediate level, and the planning horizon of the firms is large. |
| Keywords: | Porter hypothesis; abatement tax; R&D; hyperbolic discounting; |
| JEL: | Q50 D78 D42 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23647&r=ino |
| By: | Flanagan, Kieron; Uyarra, Elvira; Laranja, Manuel |
| Abstract: | Recent years have seen the emergence, take-up and use of the term 'policy mix' by innovation policy makers and by policy analysts & scholars alike. Imported from economic policy debates, the term implies a focus on the interactions and interdependencies between different policies as they affect the extent to which intended policy outcomes are achieved. However the meaning of the term remains ambiguous. Nonetheless, we argue that the emergence of the „policy mix‟ concept into common use in the field of innovation policy studies provides us with a window of opportunity to reconsider some basic and often hidden assumptions in order to better deal with a messy and complex, multi-level, multi-actor reality. We draw on the mainstream policy studies literature and on evolutionary thinking in order to re-conceptualise the basic building blocks of innovation policy studies in order to arrive at a useful definition of ‟policy mix‟ interactions. We suggest that this reconceptualisation has profound implications for the scope and focus of innovation policy studies and for what such studies can realistically hope to achieve in terms of policy prescriptions. |
| Keywords: | Policy mix; policy interactions; policy instruments; actors; agency; innovation policy |
| JEL: | O38 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23567&r=ino |
| By: | Jože.P.Damijan; Črt. Kostevc |
| Abstract: | The paper explores the learning from trade hypothesis. Standardized research approach searchs for learning e¤ects from trade focusing solely on exports, whereby rms learning e¤ects are accounted in the form of total factor productivity improvements. In contrast, this papers de nes a rm learning from trade in terms of introduction of either new products or processes induced by its import and export links with foreign markets. By using microdata for a large sample of Spanish rms, including data on innovation and trade, we nd clear sequencing between imports, exports and innovation. The results suggest that rms learn primarily from import links, which enables them to innovate products and processes and to dress up for starting to export. In a sequence, exporting may enable rms to introduce further innovations. These positive learning e¤ects from trade, however, seem to be limited to small and partially medium rms only. On the other side, rms that are closer to the relevant technological frontier seem to bene t more from trading activities in terms of innovation than the technological laggard fi rms. |
| Keywords: | rm heterogeneity, innovation, exports, imports, matching |
| JEL: | D24 F14 F21 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:26410&r=ino |
| By: | ITO Keiko; LECHEVALIER Se'bastien |
| Abstract: | Although heterogeneity in the performance of firms is a well-established stylized fact, we still lack full understanding of its origins and the reasons why it persists. Instead of assuming that performance differences are exogenous, this paper focuses on two endogenous strategies - innovation and global engagement - and interprets them as two ways to accumulate knowledge and improve firms' capabilities. We are particularly interested in analyzing interactions between these strategies and their effect on firms' performance. By using a firm-level panel dataset drawn from a Japanese large-scale administrative survey for the years 1994 - 2003, we first find that innovation and exporting strategies are characterized by complementarities, which define coherent productive models or patterns of learning. Second, we show that these different strategies lead to various performances in terms of productivity and survival. Third, by using a propensity score matching approach, we show that these differences in performance are lasting. Overall, our paper shows that the interaction of innovation and export investments is a source of permanent differences in performance among firms. |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:10037&r=ino |
| By: | Pratt, Alejandro Nin; Fan, Shenggen |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates required investment and its allocation among different regions to maximize agricultural output gains and poverty reduction. The analysis uses a social welfare function to simulate the optimal allocation of research and development (R&D) investment across developing regions (1) to maximize agricultural growth or (2) to maximize poverty reduction at the global level. Due to uncertainties of the parameters used, we conducted sensitivity analyses to evaluate the effect of different values of R&D and poverty elasticities on the optimal allocation of R&D investment across regions. Our simulation results are robust for a wide range of parameters and show that to maximize agricultural output growth in developing countries, R&D investment should be allocated mainly to Southeast Asia and South Asia, whereas to maximize poverty reduction, priority should be given to Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Growth, optimization, Poverty, R&D investment, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:986&r=ino |
| By: | Vickers, John |
| Abstract: | One of the most controversial questions in current competition policy is when, if ever, should competition law require a firm with market power to share its property, notably intellectual property, with its rivals? And if supply is required, on what terms? These questions are discussed with reference to recent law cases including the EC Microsoft judgment of 2007 and the US linkLine case of 2009. The analysis focuses on whether competition law and regulation are complements or substitutes and on incentives for investment and (sequential) innovation. |
| JEL: | O34 L41 O31 K21 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:oxford:http://economics.ouls.ox.ac.uk/14784/&r=ino |
| By: | Adel Ben Youssef (GREDEG and Univ. Nice Sophia-Antipolis); Walid Hadhri; Hatem M’henni |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is twofold: first, we want to explore the intra-firm diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) within the Tunisian firms and to characterize its general trends of adoption and usage. Second, we want to emphasize the rank and epidemic effects stressed by the disequilibrium models of intra-firm diffusion of innovation following the traditional view of (Mansfield, 1963, Antonelli 1985). Based on face-to-face questionnaires of a random sample of 175 firms our paper shows that: (i) three technological waves of ICT adoption are well characterized in the Tunisian manufacturing sector. This dynamic of adoption is linked to the age of the technologies. Time is the main explanatory variable for intra-firm diffusion of these technologies. (ii) A positive correlation between the size of the firm, seniority and the depth of adoption is found. These econometric estimates show that the rank effect is well characterized within the Tunisian firms. (iii) A positive correlation between technological absorptive capacity building and intensity of ICT usage is found. This correlation confirms the epidemic effect. (iv) Our results show that disequilibrium models’ explanations of intra-firm diffusion of innovation are valid within the Tunisian manufacturing sector and seem more appropriate than the equilibrium theory for developing countries. |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:532&r=ino |