|
on Innovation |
| By: | Stefano Bianchini (BETA, University of Strasbourg); Federico Tamagni (Scuola Superiore San'Anna); Gabriele Pellegrino (WIPO & EPFL & IEB) |
| Abstract: | In this work, we explore the relations between sales growth and a set of innovation indicators that capture the different sources, modes and results of the innovative activity undertaken within firms. We exploit a rich panel on innovation activity of Spanish manufacturing firms, reporting detailed CIS-type information continuously over the period 2004-2011. Standard GMM-panel estimates of the average effect of innovation activities reveal significant and positive effect for internal R&D, while no effect is found for external sourcing of knowledge (external R&D, acquisition of embodied and disembodied technologies) as well as for output of innovation (process and product innovation). However, fixed-effects quantile regressions reveal that innovation activities, apart from process innovation and disembodied technical change, display a positive effect on high-growth performance. Finally, we find evidence of super-modularity of the growth function, revealing complementarities of internal R&D with product innovation, and between product and process innovation. |
| Keywords: | Firm growth, product and process innovation, internal and external R&D, embodied and disembodied technical change, fixed-effects quantile regressions, complementarity |
| JEL: | C21 D22 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2016-10&r=ino |
| By: | Cecere, Grazia; Rexhäuser, Sascha; Schulte, Patrick |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to shed light on the role of technological opportunities for green innovation by studying the case of Green ICT innovation. We test two hypotheses: (1) Firms active in low-opportunity technological areas are less innovative; (2) Firms active in low-opportunity technological areas are more likely to change their direction of technical change. To do so, we construct a firm-level panel data set for the years 1992-2009 combining patent data from the European Patent Office with firm-level data from the German Innovation Panel (Mannheim Innovation Panel). The results are based on dynamic count data estimation models applying General Methods of Moments estimators. Our results support our hypotheses: firms active in low-opportunity technological areas are less innovative but are more likely to switch from pure ICT innovation to Green ICT innovation. |
| Keywords: | technological opportunities,innovation,information and communication technology (ICT),green ICT,firm-level patent data,dynamic count data model |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:15091&r=ino |
| By: | Antoine Dechezleprêtre; Elias Einiö; Ralf Martin; Kieu-Trang Nguyen; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | We present the first evidence showing causal impact of research and development (R&D) tax incentives on innovation outcomes. We exploit a change in the asset-based size thresholds for eligibility for R&D tax subsidies and implement a Regression Discontinuity Design using administrative tax data on the population of UK firms. There are statistically and economically significant effects of the tax change on both R&D and patenting, with no evidence of a decline in the quality of innovation. R&D tax price elasticities are large at about 2.6, probably because the treated group is from a sub-population subject to financial constraints. There does not appear to be pre-policy manipulation of assets around the thresholds that could undermine our design, but firms do adjust assets to take advantage of the subsidy post-policy. We estimate that over 2006-11 business R&D would be around 10% lower in the absence of the tax relief scheme. |
| Keywords: | R&D, patents, tax, innovation, Regression Discontinuity design |
| JEL: | O31 O32 H23 H25 H32 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1413&r=ino |
| By: | Acemoglu, Daron; Akcigit, Ufuk; Hanley, Douglas; Kerr, William R. |
| Abstract: | We develop a microeconomic model of endogenous growth where clean and dirty technologies compete in production and innovation–in the sense that research can be directed to either clean or dirty technologies. If dirty technologies are more advanced to start with, the potential transition to clean technology can be difficult both because clean research must climb several rungs to catch up with dirty technology and because this gap discourages research effort directed towards clean technologies. Carbon taxes and research subsidies may nonetheless encourage production and innovation in clean technologies, though the transition will typically be slow. We characterize certain general properties of the transition path from dirty to clean technology. We then estimate the model using a combination of regression analysis on the relationship between R&D and patents, and simulated method of moments using microdata on employment, production, R&D, firm growth, entry and exit from the US energy sector. The model’s quantitative implications match a range of moments not targeted in the estimation quite well. We then characterize the optimal policy path implied by the model and our estimates. Optimal policy makes heavy use of research subsidies as well as carbon taxes. We use the model to evaluate the welfare consequences of a range of alternative policies. |
| Keywords: | carbon cycle, directed technological change, environment, innovation, optimal policy |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O33 C65 |
| Date: | 2015–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512101465&r=ino |
| By: | Petra Moser |
| Abstract: | A strong tradition in economic history, which primarily relies on qualitative evidence and statistical correlations, has emphasized the importance of patents as a primary driver of innovation. Recent improvements in empirical methodology – through the creation of new data sets and advances in identification – have produced research that challenges this traditional view. The findings of this literature provide a more nuanced view of the effects of intellectual property, and suggest that when patent rights have been too broad or strong, they have actually discouraged innovation. This paper summarizes the major results from this research and presents open questions. |
| JEL: | K0 K21 L51 N0 O30 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21964&r=ino |
| By: | Santiago J. Rubio (Department of Economic Analysis and ERI-CES, University of Valencia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines international cooperation on technological development as an alternative to international cooperation on GHG emission reductions. In order to analyze the scope of cooperation, a three-stage technology agreement formation game is solved. First, countries decide whether or not to sign up to the agreement. Then, in the second stage, the signatories (playing together) and the non-signatories (playing individually) select their investment in R&D. In this stage, it is assumed that the signatories not only coordinate their levels of R&D investment but also pool their R&D efforts to fully internalize the spillovers of their investment in innovation. Finally, in the third stage, each country decides non-cooperatively upon its level of energy production. Emissions depend on the decisions made regarding investment and production. If a country decides to develop a breakthrough technology in the second stage, its emissions will be zero in the third stage. For linear environmental damages and quadratic investment costs, the grand coalition is stable if marginal damages are large enough to justify the development of a breakthrough technology that eliminates emissions completely, and if technology spillovers are not very important. |
| Keywords: | International Environmental Agreements, R&D Investment, Technology Spillovers, Breakthrough Technologies |
| JEL: | D74 F53 H41 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.02&r=ino |
| By: | Maroto Sánchez, Andrés (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.); Rubalcaba Bermejo, Luis (World Bank. Trade and Competitiveness Practice. Washington DC.); Gallego Martinez, Jorge (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica). Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.) |
| Abstract: | Public sectors are under increasing pressure to improve their efficiency and to provide better services in order to boost economic growth and social welfare. One significant way in doing this is the promotion of innovation through research and development (R&D) policies. In this context, the aim of the paper is twofold. On the one hand, to briefly review the framework and state of the art on the relationships between R&D, general innovation systems and public sectors. On the other hand, to test the role of public R&D spending on public sector performance (using multivariate techniques and econometric analyses) and efficiency (using a non- parametric approach) in the European case. Results indicate that publicly funded R&D should be considered a dimension of public sector performance, but that it also plays a key role in its efficiency, mainly when the private and public develop complementarities among them. Managerial implications for R&D policy makers follow from these results. Both performance and efficiency of public sectors could be improved through effective R&D public spending. |
| Keywords: | R&D, Innovation, Public sector, Performance, Efficiency, Europe |
| JEL: | H11 H50 C61 O38 O52 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpaper:201602&r=ino |
| By: | Julien Berthoumieu (Larefi - Laboratoire d'analyse et de recherche en économie et finance internationales - Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux 4); Viola Lamani (Larefi - Laboratoire d'analyse et de recherche en économie et finance internationales - Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux 4) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of several trade policy instruments on product Research and Development (R&D) investment in a North-South duopoly where a Northern firm competes in prices with a Southern firm on both markets. The Northern firm invests in product R&D owing to a competitive disadvantage compared to the Southern firm which benefits from a lower labor cost. The outcome of the R&D activity is uncertain. If successful, vertical differentiation occurs in both markets. The Northern country’s government is the only one policy active and may implement the following trade policy instruments: an import tariff, a production subsidy, an R&D subsidy, a standard of quality, a minimum-price, and an import quota. The results show that the Northern firm’s R&D expenditures increase with each policy instrument except for the import quota. The paper also provides a welfare analysis in order to verify whether or not the Northern government is encouraged to implement these policy instruments. |
| Keywords: | Trade Policy Instruments, Product Research and Development, North-South Duopoly, Vertical Differentiation. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01285559&r=ino |
| By: | Mark Kleinman (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | Developments in digital innovation and the availability of large-scale data sets create opportunities for new economic activities and new ways of delivering city services while raising concerns about privacy. This paper defines the terms Big Data, Open Data, Open Government, and Smart Cities and uses two case studies – London (U.K.) and Toronto – to examine questions about using data to drive economic growth, improve the accountability of government to citizens, and offer more digitally enabled services. The paper notes that London has been one of a handful of cities at the forefront of the Open Data movement and has been successful in developing its high-tech sector, although it has so far been less innovative in the use of “smart city” technology to improve services and lower costs. Toronto has also made efforts to harness data, although it is behind London in promoting Open Data. Moreover, although Toronto has many assets that could contribute to innovation and economic growth, including a growing high-technology sector, world-class universities and research base, and its role as a leading financial centre, it lacks a clear narrative about how these assets could be used to promote the city. The paper draws some general conclusions about the links between data innovation and economic growth, and between open data and open government, as well as ways to use big data and technological innovation to ensure greater efficiency in the provision of city services. |
| Keywords: | cities, data, innovation |
| JEL: | H70 O38 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mfg:wpaper:24&r=ino |
| By: | Bettina Peters; Mark J. Roberts; Van Anh Vuong |
| Abstract: | This article investigates how a firm's financial strength affects its dynamic decision to invest in R&D. We estimate a dynamic model of R&D choice using data for German firms in high-tech manufacturing industries. The model incorporates a measure of the firm's financial strength, derived from its credit rating, which is shown to lead to substantial differences in estimates of the costs and expected long- run benefits from R&D investment. Financially strong firms have a higher probability of generating innovations from their R&D investment, and the innovations have a larger impact on productivity and profits. Averaging across all firms, the long run benefit of investing in R&D equals 6.6 percent of firm value. It ranges from 11.6 percent for firms in a strong financial position to 2.3 percent for firms in a weaker financial position. |
| JEL: | O3 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22035&r=ino |
| By: | Caterina Santi; Pietro Santoleri |
| Abstract: | We employ a balanced panel dataset representative of the entire Chilean productive structure in order to investigate the relation between the introduction of innovation and subsequent firm growth in terms of sales. Recent contributions examining the returns to innovation on firm performance have stressed the need of going beyond the analysis of the `average effect for the average firm'. However, previous studies in the case of Latin American economies have often overlooked the importance of analyzing which firms benefit more from the introduction of innovations. Our analysis consists of a series of parametric and non-parametric exercises which take into account the properties of the firm growth distribution. In particular, we adopt quantile treatment effects (QTE) which allow to estimate the effect of the introduction of innovation by comparing firms with a similar propensity to innovate for different quantiles of the firm growth distribution. On one hand, our results indicate that process innovation shows a positive and significant relation with firm growth for those firms located at the 75th and 90th percentiles. On the other, product innovation shows a negative association only for high-growth firms. |
| Keywords: | innovation, firm growth, Chile, quantile regression, quantile treatment effects |
| Date: | 2016–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2016/09&r=ino |
| By: | Adam B. Jaffe; Gaétan de Rassenfosse |
| Abstract: | The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of patent citation data in social science research. Facilitated by digitization of the patent data and increasing computing power, a community of practice has grown up that has developed methods for using these data to: measure attributes of innovations such as impact and originality; to trace flows of knowledge across individuals, institutions and regions; and to map innovation networks. The objective of this paper is threefold. First, it takes stock of these main uses. Second, it discusses four pitfalls associated with patent citation data, related to office, time and technology, examiner, and strategic effects. Third, it highlights gaps in our understanding and offers directions for future research. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21868&r=ino |
| By: | Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska; Karolina Cwik; Arkadiusz Jedrzejewski; Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron |
| Abstract: | We extend a recently developed agent-based model of innovation diffusion by linking the opinions of potential consumers with their market behavior via the concept of reservation prices. Through a dynamic mechanism that takes into account social influence, the agents in our model can both increase or decrease their product appraisal. Considering complete graph network structures and using mean-field treatment we find that the model can exhibit a plethora of scenarios, observed empirically but not attainable within the classical Bass model. We also show the existence of a critical market price above which the innovation cannot diffuse. |
| Keywords: | Word-of-mouth; Innovation diffusion; Agent-based model |
| JEL: | C63 O33 Q55 |
| Date: | 2016–03–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wuu:wpaper:hsc1603&r=ino |
| By: | Giovanni Marin (IRCrES-CNR and SEEDS); Alessandro Palma (IEFE Bocconi – Centre for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy and SEEDS) |
| Abstract: | Traditional large appliances absorb a large share of residential electricity consumption and represent important targets of energy policy strategies aimed at achieving energy security. Despite being characterized by rather mature technologies, this group of appliances still offers large potential in terms of efficiency gains due to their pervasive diffusion. In this paper we analyse the electricity consumption of a set of four traditional ‘white goods’ in a panel of ten EU countries observed over 21 years (1990-2010), with the aim of disentangling the amount of technical efficiency from the overall energy saving. The technical efficiency trend is modelled through a set of technology components representing both the invention and adoption process by means of specific patents weighted by production and bilateral import flows, which allows to overcome the rigid Stochastic Frontier framework in modelling the effect of technical change. Our results show that the derived energy demand and inefficiency trends are both related to changes in the amount of available technology embodied in energy efficient appliances. The effect is significant both in its domestic and international components and suggests an active role of innovation and trade policies for achieving efficiency targets which directly impact the amount of electricity consumed by households. |
| Keywords: | Energy Efficiency, Technological Diffusion, Electrical Appliances, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Residential Sector |
| JEL: | O33 Q55 Q41 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.104&r=ino |
| By: | Megan Hague Angus; Jeanne Bellotti; Kevin Hollenbeck; Brittany English |
| Abstract: | This interim report presents early findings on the implementation of the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge (JIAC) and Advanced Manufacturing JIAC grants through summer 2014. |
| Keywords: | collaboration, federal agencies, regional innovation clusters, workforce outcomes, cluster progress, Labor |
| JEL: | J |
| Date: | 2015–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7b769accda7b435889f7f39fad3f6a8f&r=ino |
| By: | J Paul Dunne and Elizabeth Kasekende |
| Abstract: | While the effect of financial innovation on money demand has been widely researched in industrialised countries, because of its major role in monetary policy, few studies have focussed on developing countries. This is surprising given the considerable growth in financial innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years and its potential implications for developing country macroeconomic policy. This paper investigates the development of financial innovation and its impact on money demand in the region using panel data estimation techniques for 34 countries between 1980 and 2013. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between financial innovation and money demand. This implies that financial innovation plays a crucial role in explaining money demand in Sub-Saharan Africa and given innovations such as mobile money in the region this can have important implications for future policy design. |
| Keywords: | Money demand, financial innovation |
| JEL: | E41 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:583&r=ino |
| By: | Klimczuk, Andrzej |
| Abstract: | The history of social innovation in country, challenges being addressed by social innovation. the key actors, who is promoting social innovation. A few of the key projects that illustrate social innovation. |
| Keywords: | Social Innovation,Poland |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esrepo:128605&r=ino |
| By: | Michael Hübler (Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Leibniz Universität Hannover); Oliver Schenker (Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)); Carolyn Fischer (Resources for the Future (RFF)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies policy instruments that correct insufficient learning-by-doing (LbD) and research and development (R&D) of renewable electricity technologies and insufficient investments in energy efficiency (EE) in the presence of carbon pricing. The theoretical model analysis shows how to re-adjust the first-best in second-best situations, in which one of the policy instruments is restricted. Calibrated to the European power sector, the first-best choice of all instruments reduces the climate policy cost by one third. Feed-in tariffs turn out to be good substitutes for LbD, but not for R&D or EE subsidies. |
| Keywords: | Second-best, Climate Policy, Energy Policy, Feed-in tariff, Power Sector, EU |
| JEL: | C61 O33 Q48 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.106&r=ino |
| By: | Mariotto, Carlotta; Verdier, Marianne |
| Abstract: | Over the recent years, the development of Internet banking and mobile banking has had a considerable impact on competition in the retail banking industry. In some countries, the regulatory framework has been adapted to allow non-banks to operate in retail payments and compete with banks for deposits. Several platforms or large retailers have started to offer innovative financial products to their customers. In this paper, we survey the issues related to innovation and competition in Internet banking and mobile banking and discuss some perspectives for future research. |
| Keywords: | bank competition, bank regulation, non-banks, payment systems, Internet banking, mobile banking, platform markets |
| JEL: | E42 G21 L96 |
| Date: | 2015–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201511261452&r=ino |
| By: | Filippo Belloc (Department of Economic Studies, University “G. d'Annunzio") |
| Abstract: | We analyse how countries' innovation outcomes are affected by national legislations of worker participation to corporate governance. We develop a model of employee representation laws (ERL) and innovation in the presence of incomplete labour contracts and predict heterogeneous ERL effects across different systems of dismissal regulation. We then perform a panel regression analysis, exploiting 2-digit panel data for 21 manufacturing sectors of USA, UK, India, France and Germany, over the 1977-2005 period. We find that ERL effects on aggregate innovation output are positive, statistically significant and higher in magnitude where national labour laws impose significant firing costs to the firm with respect to institutional settings in which firing costs are low or absent. These results are robust to possible technology selection dynamics, endogeneity and institutional changes in the legal system of patent protection. We also estimate ERL effects on innovation conditional on firing costs at an industry level and show that the impact of ERL is relatively larger in those sectors where the human capital contribution to production is higher. Our results have relevant implications for the optimal design of employee representation legislations. |
| Keywords: | Employee Representation Law, Innovation, Panel data |
| JEL: | K31 O31 P51 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.04&r=ino |
| By: | Herrmann, Johannes Karl; Savin, Ivan |
| Abstract: | The diffusion of renewable electricity generating technologies is widely considered as crucial for establishing a sustainable energy system in the future. However, the required transition is unlikely to be achieved by market forces alone. For this reason, many countries implement various policy instruments to support this process, also by re-distributing related costs among all electricity consumers. This paper presents a novel history-friendly agent-based study aiming to explore the efficiency of different mixes of policy instruments by means of a Differential Evolution algorithm. Special emphasis of the model is devoted to the possibility of small scale renewable electricity generation, but also to the storage of this electricity using small scale facilities being actively developed over the last decade. Both combined pose an important instrument for electricity consumers to achieve partial or full autarky from the electricity grid, particularly after accounting for decreasing costs and increasing efficiency of both due to continuous innovation. Among other things, we find that the historical policy mix of Germany introduced too strong and inflexible demand-side instruments (like feed-in tariff) too early, thereby creating strong path-dependency for future policy makers and reducing their ability to react to technological but also economic shocks without further increases of the budget. |
| Keywords: | differential evolution,electricity storage,energy grid,feed-in tariff,renewable energy |
| JEL: | C63 Q41 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:87&r=ino |
| By: | Johannes Van Der Pol (GRETha / UMR 5113 - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA) (CNRS /Université de Bordeaux)); Jean-Paul Rameshkoumar (UB - Université de Bordeaux); David Virapin (UB - Université de Bordeaux); Bernard Zozime (UB - Université de Bordeaux) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the evolution of the collaboration network of structural composite materials in aeronautics between 1980 and 2013.The network is generated using patent and publication data and analyzed following a macro to micro level methodology. All results and interpretations were discussed and validated by engineers and executives from the relevant sector. The macro analysis shows that the evolution of the network is correlated with the life-cycle of the technology. During the research phase, the network structure converges towards a small world. The network becomes a small world when the development stage of the technology is reached. At this point the newly developed technologies diffuse. The structure then diverges from the small world structure once the technology has been integrated. On a micro level the network shows that two diverging strategies in terms of preferential attachment (Barabási and Albert, 1999) lead to a significant difference in terms of innovative performance. |
| Keywords: | dynamic network,bibliometrics,patents,publications,knowledge diffusion,collaboration network |
| Date: | 2014–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01284991&r=ino |
| By: | Kroll, Henning |
| Abstract: | In recent years, an increasing political interest has developed in long-term strategic partnerships for science-industry collaboration in pre-competitive research and devel-opment, driven by a perception of a distinct "blind spot" in many innovation systems. In different contexts, such initiatives have been politically supported based on different factual opportunities and according to the options available in specific political frame-works. Nonetheless, the lessons to be learned from them are not by definition idiosyn-cratic. Against this background, this paper synthesises experiences from different countries and derives generalisable conclusion with regard to the both the nature of the phenomenon and opportunities for future policy actions to promote its development. In short, it finds that viable initiatives tend to be stakeholder driven and policy pro-grammes have to reflect this in selecting competitively, raise clear expectations and endow individual initiatives with strategic capacity. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisifr:r22016&r=ino |
| By: | Maria Luisa Petit (La Sapienza University of Rome); Francesca Sanna-Randaccio (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the firms'mode of foreign expansion on the incentive to innovate as well as the effects of R&D activities and technological spillovers on the firms' international strategy. We consider a two country imperfect competition model where the firms' face three different type of decisions: how to expand abroad, how much to spend in R&D and how much to sell in each market Market structure is therefore endogenously determined as the equilibrium solution of a three stage game. It is shown that the firm that invests more in research is the one which is a MNE while the rival is an exporter, whereas the firm that invests less is the one that exports while the rival is a MNE. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between multinational expansion and R&D investment and that, in turn, investment in research leads oligopolistic firms'towards multinational expansion. The value of the spillover parameter too can be an important determinant of firms'international strategy. |
| Keywords: | Multinational firm. export, direct investment, R&D, innovation, intellectual property rights. |
| JEL: | F12 F23 L10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsp:wpaper:wp40&r=ino |
| By: | Federica Bertamino (Agency for Territorial Cohesion); Raffaello Bronzini (Banca d'Italia); Marco De Maggio (University of Salento); Davide Revelli (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study a policy tool called technology districts, implemented in Italy over the last decade to foster local innovation activity. First, we examine the characteristics of technology districts and those of the firms within them. Next, we assess the performance of district firms. We find that in the Southern regions technology districts are more numerous but smaller than those located in the Centre-North, are poorly diversified from a sectorial point of view and more distant from the economic structure of the area. We find that the firms that did join a district had previously been, on average, larger, more innovative and profitable, and also show higher leverage than the others. Our results show that overall after the birth of a district the performance of the firms that joined it did not differ significantly from that of similar firms that did not. |
| Keywords: | technology districts, innovation, patents, public policies, matching, differences-in-differences |
| JEL: | O31 R0 H2 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_313_16&r=ino |
| By: | Lee Alston; Bernardo Mueller |
| Abstract: | Alexander Gerschenkron understood the development of backward countries as a contextual process that varied from country to country depending on which perquisites were present or absent. In the past twenty years, Brazilian agriculture evolved from “backward” to an agricultural powerhouse. Its production and total factor productivity more than doubled. Brazil is in the worlds’ top five producers of coffee, soybeans, oranges, beef and corn. Yet, some segments of agriculture lag far behind. We draw on the insights of Gerschenkron and Albert Hirschman, inter alia to conceptualize the development process. As an illustrative aid we apply fitness landscapes to the process of development. Fitness landscapes are good representations of a contextual view of development. We portray the process as an evolutionary search for good designs across a large, uncertain and not pre-statable set of possibilities. In such circumstances a controlled strategy of following predetermined stages is not effective. Rather we need an approach relying on creativity and imagination to find solutions to specific problems faced by each country. |
| JEL: | N56 Q15 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21988&r=ino |
| By: | Francisco J. Buera; Ezra Oberfield |
| Abstract: | We provide a tractable theory of innovation and technology diffusion to explore the role of international trade in the process of development. We model innovation and diffusion as a process involving the combination of new ideas with insights from other industries or countries. We provide conditions under which each country's equilibrium frontier of knowledge converges to a Frechet distribution, and derive a system of differential equations describing the evolution of the scale parameters of these distributions, i.e., countries' stocks of knowledge. In particular, the growth of a country's stock of knowledge depends only on its trade shares and the stocks of knowledge of its trading partners. We use the framework to quantify the contribution of bilateral trade costs to cross-sectional TFP differences, long-run changes in TFP, and individual post-war growth miracles. |
| JEL: | F1 F43 O33 O47 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21844&r=ino |
| By: | Daron Acemoglu; Jacob Moscona; James A. Robinson |
| Abstract: | Robert Gordon's The Rise and Fall of American Economic Growth provides a compelling interpretation of how technical change and innovation has radically changed the living standards of the citizens of the US in the past 150 years. Lying behind these changes are the institutions which have allowed the country to harness its human potential. In this paper we conduct an empirical investigation of the impact of one key set of institutions, the capacity of the US state as proxied by the presence of post offices in a county, on innovation. We show that between 1804 and 1899, the time when the US became the world technological leader, there is a strong association between the presence and number of post offices in a county and patenting activity, and it appears that it is the opening of postal offices that leads to surges in patenting activity, not the other way around. Our evidence suggests that part of the yet untold story of US technological exceptionalism is the way in which the US created an immensely capable and effective state. |
| JEL: | D70 N11 N41 O3 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21932&r=ino |
| By: | Elena Grinza (Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Using a uniquely rich longitudinal matched employer-employee data set, this paper is the first to investigate the impact of replacing workers, as measured by excess worker turnover, on firm productivity. Using a modified version of the method proposed by Ackerberg et al. (2006), that allows to take into account unobserved heterogeneity, an augmented production function with excess worker turnover entering as the regressor of interest is estimated. The main result is that replacing workers is beneficial to firm productivity. A 1 standard deviation increase in the excess worker turnover rate is estimated to increase productivity by 0.81%. The possibility of finding more suitable employer-employee matches and the presence of knowledge spillover effects are seen as the main determinants of the impact. Robustness checks indicate that the impact has an inverted U-shape, suggesting that, beyond a certain point, replacing workers ends up being harmful. However, since about 90% of firms lie before this point, increases in excess worker turnover are beneficial for the vast majority of them. They also suggest that the effect is diversified across different categories of firms. High-tech firms and firms belonging to industrial districts benefit the most from excess worker turnover. On the contrary, young and very small firms seem to even suffer from it. |
| Keywords: | Workers’ replacement, excess worker turnover, job-matching, knowledge spillovers, firm-specific human capital, semiparametric estimation methods, ACF-FE. |
| JEL: | L23 L25 L60 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tur:wpapnw:034&r=ino |
| By: | Escaith, Hubert |
| Abstract: | Global Manufacturing and International Supply Chains changed the way trade and international economics are understood today. The present essay builds on recent statistical advances to suggest new ways of looking at the demand and supply side approaches when Global Value Chains (GVCs) - articulating supply and demand chains from an international perspective - are taken into consideration. This pilot case focuses on the G-20 countries, a group of leading developed and developing economies which took a prominent role in fostering and managing global economic governance. The paper is organised into two independent parts. The demand dynamics is first analysed through a growth-accounting decomposition, then through the long term determinants of income elasticity of imports. The second part looks at the implications of global manufacturing for our understanding of the supply-side growth dynamics, privileging a trade perspective: the definition of comparative advantages and the potential for value-chain upgrading. |
| Keywords: | global value chains,trade and development,growth accounting,import elasticity,revealed comparative advantages,competitiveness benchmarking |
| JEL: | C18 C67 F14 F19 F43 O11 O19 O41 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd201601&r=ino |
| By: | Lisa Balzarin (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice); Chiara Monica Calcagno (Dept. of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venice) |
| Abstract: | The interplay between the world of arts and that of business is at the centre of the present paper, where the processes of artistic entrepreneurship are investigated through the observation of a group of artists living the experience of founding their own cultural enterprises in the specific context of performing arts. The result is a picture of what the contemporary artists-entrepreneurs are: they act entrepreneurially guided by the respect of the integrity of the Art and assume the role of gatekeepers of the quality of their product, playing in the business world and challenging its logics and structures. |
| Keywords: | cultural entrepreneurship, artistic entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, paradox, compromise, performing arts |
| JEL: | L26 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vnm:wpdman:112&r=ino |
| By: | Rabadjieva, Maria |
| Abstract: | Die Sharing Economy bezeichnet Praktiken, die stark auf neuen Technologien basieren und sich durch das konsumptive Teilen von Gütern, Dienstleistungen und Wissen mittels Internet auszeichnen. Wenn die Online-Plattformen der Sharing Economy die Bedürfnisse der Verbraucher besser befriedigen können als die existierenden Angebote, liegt es im Interesse aller Beteiligten, dass Regulierungen geändert und an die neuen Bedingungen angepasst werden. Auf einem schon lang etablierten Markt für Gelegenheitstransporte erscheint Uber mit seiner neuen Technologie und seinem bargeldlosen Geschäftsmodell als eine transparentere, billigere und einfacher zu nutzende Option, die aber den rechtlichen Rahmen und das gesellschaftliche Modell erschüttert. Der Innovtionscharakter der Sharing Economy zeigt sich in ihrem Potenzial für schöpferische Zerstörung. Das Uber-Modell erzwingt eine Anpassung des Marktes an die gegenwärtigen Bedingungen und kann insofern als Innovation angesehen werden. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iatfor:032016&r=ino |
| By: | Chad Syverson |
| Abstract: | The U.S. has been experiencing a slowdown in measured labor productivity growth since 2004. A number of commentators and researchers have suggested that this slowdown is at least in part illusory, because real output data have failed to capture the new and better products of the past decade. I conduct four disparate analyses, each of which offers empirical challenges to this “mismeasurement hypothesis.” First, the productivity slowdown has occurred in dozens of countries, and its size is unrelated to measures of the countries’ consumption or production intensities of information and communication technologies (ICTs, the type of goods most often cited as sources of mismeasurement). Second, estimates from the existing research literature of the surplus created by internet-linked digital technologies fall far short of the $2.7 trillion or more of “missing output” resulting from the productivity growth slowdown. The largest—by some distance—is less than one-third of the purportedly mismeasured GDP. Third, if measurement problems were to account for even a modest share of this missing output, the properly measured output and productivity growth rates of industries that produce and service ICTs would have to have been multiples of their measured growth in the data. Fourth, while measured gross domestic income has been on average higher than measured gross domestic product since 2004—perhaps indicating workers are being paid to make products that are given away for free or at highly discounted prices—this trend actually began before the productivity slowdown and moreover reflects unusually high capital income rather than labor income (i.e., profits are unusually high). In combination, these complementary facets of evidence suggest that the reasonable prima facie case for the mismeasurement hypothesis faces real hurdles when confronted with the data. |
| JEL: | E2 O3 O4 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21974&r=ino |
| By: | Zwick, Thomas; Frosch, Katharina |
| Abstract: | Most previous results on determinants of inventive performance are biased because inventive performance is measured with error. This measurement error causes attenuation bias. More specifically, for example age and education as drivers of patenting success have biased coefficients and too high standard errors when inventive performance is measured in short observation periods. The reason for measurement errors in inventive performance is that patents are typically applied for in waves. |
| Keywords: | Measurement error,inventive performance,observation period |
| JEL: | C33 C52 O31 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16014&r=ino |
| By: | Oasis Kodila-Tedika (Université de Kinshasa Département d’Eco); Julius A. Agbor (Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | Differences in trust levels between countries explain the observed discrepancies in entrepreneurial spirit amongst them. We test this hypothesis with a cross-section of 60 countries in 2010. Our findings suggest that about half of the variation in entrepreneurial spirit across countries in the world is driven by trust considerations. This result is robust to regional clustering, to outliers and to alternative conditioning variables. The findings of the study suggest that while formal incentives to nurture entrepreneurship must be maintained, policy-makers should also seek to pay attention to the role of trust cultivated through informal networks. |
| Keywords: | trust, institution, entrepreneurship |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:15/057&r=ino |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Antonio R. Andrés (Barranquilla, Colombia) |
| Abstract: | In the first critical assessment of knowledge economy dynamic paths in Africa and the Middle East, but for a few exceptions, we find overwhelming support for diminishing cross-country disparities in knowledge-base-economy dimensions. The paper employs all the four components of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index (KEI): economic incentives, innovation, education, and information infrastructure. The main finding suggests that sub-Saharan African (SSA) and the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries with low levels in KE dynamics and catching-up their counterparts of higher KE levels. We provide the speeds of integration and time necessary to achieve full (100%) integration. Policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge economy; Principal component analysis; Panel data; Convergence |
| JEL: | F42 O10 O38 O57 P00 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:15/060&r=ino |
| By: | Arnab Bhattacharjee (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh,UK); Jean Bonnet (Normandie Université, UNICAEN, CREM, France); Nicolas Le Pape (Normandie Université, UNICAEN, CREM, France); Régis Renault (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | An evaluation of the impact of an entrepreneur's human capital on her/his entrepre-neurial ability is likely to suffer from a sample selection bias if performed on a sample of new entrepreneurs alone. Our theoretical model of entrepreneurial choice allows us to characterize this bias. It is shown to be positive (respectively negative) for individuals who were in a favorable (respectively adverse) situation in the labor market at the time at which they decided to become self-employed. Our empirical application measures the impact of the entrepreneur's education on the newly created firm's survival. It is found to be strong and significant for individuals who were previously employed in the new firm's branch of activity, whereas it is at best weakly significant for individuals who were previously unemployed or employed in a branch di¤erent from that of the new firm, so that they are more likely to have been poorly matched. These results suggest a very substantial sample selection bias in our sample. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurial ability, labor market, human capital, rm survival |
| JEL: | L26 C41 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:2016-04&r=ino |
| By: | Hottenrott, Moritz; Thorwarth, Susanne; Wey, Christian |
| Abstract: | [Motivation der Studie] Normungspolitik ist ein integraler Bestandteil der Wirtschafts- und Innovationspolitik in Deutschland. So definieren Normen in annähernd allen Lebensbereichen den Stand der Technik und die Anforderungen an Produkte und Dienstleistungen. Zudem ist Normung ein strategisches Instrument im Wettbewerb. Unternehmen, die sich an der Normungsarbeit beteiligen, erzielen Vorteile durch ihren Wissens- und Zeitvorsprung. Durch die Anwendung von Normen und Standards können Transaktionskosten, wie bspw. Informations-, Kommunikations- und Koordinationskosten, welche u. a. im Einkauf und bei Ausschreibungen entstehen, deutlich reduziert werden. Dies wiederum steigert die Effizienz einer Ökonomie und trägt zur Überwindung von Marktversagen bei. Als Marktversagen wird in der ökonomischen Theorie eine Situation bezeichnet, in der die Koordination von Angebot und Nachfrage über den Markt nicht funktioniert und dementsprechend gemäß dem Interesse der Marktteilnehmer ein suboptimales Ergebnis erzielt wird. Des Weiteren fördern Normen den weltweiten Handel und dienen der Rationalisierung sowie der Qualitätssicherung. Auch im Hinblick auf Innovationen nehmen Normen und Standards eine wichtige Rolle ein. Traditionell ist die Normung rein technisch ausgerichtet. Hierbei spielen Schutzziele wie Arbeitsschutz und Umweltschutz eine wichtige Rolle. Jedoch lässt sich in den letzten Jahren beobachten, dass die Normungsorganisationen in zunehmendem Maße Themen in ihr Arbeitsprogramm aufnehmen, die nicht den Gegenstandsbereich der Technik betreffen, sondern gesellschaftliche und kulturelle Aspekte berücksichtigen. Rückkopplungen aus dem gesellschaftlichen Umfeld, in dem Normen wirken, spiegeln die Tatsache wider, dass Normen und Standards oftmals von erheblicher Relevanz sind und die soziale Interaktion mitbeeinflussen. Auch die Tatsache, dass sich das gesellschaftliche Zusammenleben teilweise grundlegendend wandelt, erfordert zunehmend eine Berücksichtigung dieser Entwicklungen im Bereich der Normensetzung. Dennoch treffen neue Normungsbemühungen und -initiativen oftmals auf eine ablehnende Haltung der Industrie. Das betrifft vor allem Normen und Standards, die nicht rein technischer Natur sind. So wird von Unternehmen eine mangelnde Marktrelevanz bei Management-Standards und Normen der gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung moniert. Die folgende Studie beschäftigt sich daher mit der Frage nach den Gegenstandsbereichen der Normung und benennt Kriterien, die es erlauben zu beurteilen, in welchen Bereichen Normung angebracht ist. Nach einem Überblick über die Entstehung und die Grundsätze der Normungsarbeit, werden in Kapitel 3 zunächst Ziele und Grenzen der Normung diskutiert und abschließend ein Kriterienkatalog für ein Prüfschema abgeleitet. Dieses wird in Kapitel 4 anhand von Beispielen näher erläutert und diskutiert. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:diceop:83&r=ino |