nep-ino New Economics Papers
on Innovation
Issue of 2011‒04‒23
ten papers chosen by
Steffen Lippert
Massey University, Albany

  1. Exploring the Sources of Firm-level Scale Economies in R&D: Complementary assets, internal and external knowledge inflows, and inventor team size By NAGAOKA Sadao; OWAN Hideo
  2. La décision d'innovation: cas des entreprises Tunisiennes de services By Sdiri , Hanen; Mohamed, Ayadi
  3. User innovation and the market By Gault, Fred
  4. Incidence and Growth of Patent Thickets - The Impact of Technological Opportunities and Complexity By Georg von Graevenitz; Stefan Wagner; Dietmar Harhoff
  5. Do Market Leaders Lead in Business Process Innovation? The Case(s) of E-Business Adoption By Kristina McElheran
  6. Social impacts of the development of science, technology and innovation indicators By Gault, Fred
  7. Intellectual Property at the Firm-Level in the UK: The Oxford Firm-Level Intellectual Property Database By Christian Helmers; Mark Rogers; Philipp Schautschick
  8. Measuring the “Ideas”: Evidence from a New International Patent Database By Claude Diebolt; Karine Pellier
  9. Technological Innovations and the Allocation of Decision-Making Authorities in Swiss Firms By Kathrin Armbruster
  10. Absorptive capacity in technological learning in clean development mechanism projects By Doranova, Asel; Costa, Ionara; Duysters, Geert

  1. By: NAGAOKA Sadao; OWAN Hideo
    Abstract: This paper explores the sources of firm-level scale economies in R&D, based on unique project-level data from a new large-scale survey of Japanese inventors, matched with firm-level data. We focus on four sources: complementary assets, internal and external knowledge inflows, and inventor team size. Major findings include: (1) a larger firm tends to generate more patents from a research project but not more valuable patents, controlling for the objectives and the R&D investment (inventive efforts) for the project; (2) the sales of a firm rather than its R&D (or patent stocks) significantly affects the number of patents from the project, suggesting that the main source of such scale economy is not internal knowledge inflow but "appropriation advantage" of a large firm; (3) an inventor in a large firm often gains important knowledge for the project from internal knowledge inflow as well as from scientific literature. However, the performance of R&D-for which internal knowledge is important-tends to be low; and (4) the size of inventor teams increases with firm size and technological diversity. A larger team size is significantly associated with higher patent value and, as such, the size of the inventor team is one source of firm-level scale economies.
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:11038&r=ino
  2. By: Sdiri , Hanen; Mohamed, Ayadi
    Abstract: It is widely recognized that innovation is the major driver of economic growth and competitiveness. But, some works focus especially on analyzing the determinants and the effects of innovation while distinguishing product innovation to process innovation. This distinction is often regarded as a fundamental assumption but the way in which firms make the decision to innovate remains rarely tested. Based on a sample of 108 Tunisian service firms, the purpose of the paper is to explain the way in which firms make the decision to innovate: simultaneous (one-stage model) or sequential (two-stage model). Given the multiple discrete choices setting, we use a Multinomial Probit model (MNP). We find that the two-stage model has a statistically-significant advantage in predicting the innovation. This result suggests that, in practice, the sequential model illustrate well the innovation making-decision procedures.
    Keywords: Innovation; Prise de décision; Secteur des services.
    JEL: O33 O31 L80
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23084&r=ino
  3. By: Gault, Fred (UNU-MERIT, and TUT-IERI Pretoria)
    Abstract: This paper proposes a way of including in official statistics consumers as user innovators who modify or develop products for their own use. The issue addressed is the role of the market in the definition of innovation in the OECD/Eurostat Oslo Manual and the exclusion by the definition of consumers who modify or develop products and then freely reveal the knowledge gained to others. A modest proposal is made for a change to the definition which also has implications for the measurement of innovation in the public sector. The policy implications of user innovation by consumers and by firms are considered along with the importance of including consumer user innovation in official statistics. The paper ends with a programme for future work.
    Keywords: User innovation, consumer innovation, public sector innovation, official statistics
    JEL: D12 H00 O31 O33
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2011009&r=ino
  4. By: Georg von Graevenitz (University of Munich); Stefan Wagner (University of Munich); Dietmar Harhoff (University of Munich)
    Abstract: We investigate incidence and evolution of patent thickets. Our empirical analysis is based on a theoretical model of patenting in complex and discrete technologies. The model captures how competition for patent portfolios and complementarity of patents affect patenting incentives. We show that lower technological opportunities increase patenting incentives in complex technologies while they decrease incentives in discrete technologies. Also, more competitors increase patenting incentives in complex technologies and reduce them in discrete technologies. To test these predictions a new measure of the density of patent thickets is introduced. European patent citations are used to construct measures of fragmentation and technological opportunity. Our empirical analysis is based on a panel capturing patenting behavior of 2074 firms in 30 technology areas over 15 years. GMM estimation results confirm the predictions of our theoretical model. The results show that patent thickets exist in 9 out of 30 technology areas. We find that decreased technological opportunities are a surprisingly strong driver of patent thicket growth.
    Keywords: Patenting, Patent thickets, Patent portfolio races, Complexity, Technological Opportunities
    JEL: L13 L20 O34
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trf:wpaper:356&r=ino
  5. By: Kristina McElheran
    Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between market position and the adoption of IT-enabled process innovations. Prior research has focused overwhelmingly on product innovation and garnered mixed empirical support. I extend the literature into the understudied area of business process innovation, developing a framework for classifying innovations based on the complexity, interdependence, and customer impact of the underlying business process. I test the framework’s predictions in the context of ebuying and e-selling adoption. Leveraging detailed U.S. Census data, I find robust evidence that market leaders were significantly more likely to adopt the incremental innovation of e-buying but commensurately less likely to adopt the more radical practice of e-selling. The findings highlight the strategic significance of adjustment costs and co-invention capabilities in technology adoption, particularly as businesses grow more dependent on new technologies for their operational and competitive performance.
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:11-10&r=ino
  6. By: Gault, Fred (UNU-MERIT, and TUT-IERI Pretoria)
    Abstract: This paper examines the social impacts of the development of science, technology and innovation indicators. The approach deals separately with the development process and with the use of the indicators that result. Underlying the discussion is an assumption that indicators are a technology, a product, which governs behaviour, is modified by users (outside of the producer community), and develops in response to user needs. Science and technology indicators are considered separately from innovation indicators, and the importance of language based on codified and tacit knowledge is emphasized. The knowledge is codified in manuals, and the tacit knowledge is held in overlapping communities of practice that develop the manuals, gather the data, produce the indicators and use them. Finally, there is a discussion of how this process changes and renews itself.
    Keywords: Economic impacts, social impacts, innovation indicators, science and technology indicators, indicators, social constructs, knowledge
    JEL: O33 Z13
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2011008&r=ino
  7. By: Christian Helmers; Mark Rogers; Philipp Schautschick
    Abstract: This paper provides an overview of a new database that contains intellectual property data - in the form of patents and trademarks - for the population of firms registered in the UK. The paper discusses the principal challenges involved in the construction of this integrated database and provides an explanation of the approach taken to address these issues. We employ the integrated dataset to provide descriptive evidence on the firm-level use of intellectual property - including patents and trademarks - in the UK over the period 2000-2007.
    Keywords: Firm, patents, trademarks, matching
    JEL: L25 O12
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:546&r=ino
  8. By: Claude Diebolt (BETA/CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, France.); Karine Pellier (BETA/CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, France.)
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afc:wpaper:11-04&r=ino
  9. By: Kathrin Armbruster (University of Basel)
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bsl:wpaper:04/11&r=ino
  10. By: Doranova, Asel (Technopolis Consulting Group); Costa, Ionara (UNU-MERIT); Duysters, Geert (Eindhoven University of Technology and Tilburg University)
    Abstract: Technology transfer in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects of the Kyoto Protocol has become one of the important issues addressed both in policy agenda and by academic scholars. In many CDM project host countries, technology transfer is among the key provisions of sustainable development objectives of the CDM projects. This study is an effort to investigate CDM projects' related technology transfer process from the organizational learning perspective. The prerequisite for successful technology transfer and organizational technological learning is to foster technological capabilities (TC) of an organization. In this study we used data from our survey of the CDM project host organizations in four largest CDM host countries India, Brazil, Mexico and China. We assessed TC building progress and studied various characteristics of the organizations. The present paper focuses on absorptive capacity related determinants of technological capability building in the CDM projects. Absorptive capacity is a multidimensional concept thus we investigated the effect of the dimensions such as prior knowledge, personnel qualification, and training efforts. A strong positive association was established between prior knowledge and TC building; and less for qualification variable. Besides we proved a curvilinear relationship between prior knowledge and TC building outcomes.
    Keywords: Clean Development Mechanism, Technology transfer, technological capability building, technological learning, absorptive capacity
    JEL: O13 O19 O57
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2011010&r=ino

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