nep-ino New Economics Papers
on Innovation
Issue of 2023‒02‒20
nine papers chosen by
Uwe Cantner
University of Jena

  1. Patents with simultaneous innovations: The non-obviousness requirement and the direction of innovation By Fabio M. Manenti; Luca Sandrini
  2. The rise of China's technological power: the perspective from frontier technologies By Bergeaud, Antonin; Verluise, Cyril
  3. Risk, Precaution, and Regulation in Chemical Search and Innovation: The Case of the EU REACH Legislation By Gianluca Biggi
  4. Promoting Innovation: The Differential Impact of R&D Subsidies By Fuad Hasanov; Reda Cherif; Christoph Grimpe; Wolfgang Sofka
  5. Do Technology Standards Induce Innovation in Environmental Technologies When Coordination is Important? By Myriam Gregoire-Zawilski; David Popp
  6. Enhancing intellectual property use for a stronger innovation ecosystem in Poland By Tony Clayton; Antoine Dechezleprêtre; Hélène Dernis; Laurence Joly; Victoria Magdalinski; Laurent Moussiegt; Mark Schankerman
  7. The impact of space procurement on suppliers: Evidence from Italy By Jessica Catalano; Francesco Giffoni; Paolo Castelnovo
  8. Does grant funding foster research impact? Evidence from France By Alberto Corsini; Michele Pezzoni
  9. Health and access to care : why it is necessary and urgent to switch from a global public good approach to a commons based approach By Benjamin Coriat; Fabienne Orsi; Jean Francois Alessandrini; Pascale Boulet; Sauman Singh-Phulgenda

  1. By: Fabio M. Manenti (Department of Economics and Management M. Fanno, University of Padova); Luca Sandrini (Research Centre of Quantitative Social and Management Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
    Abstract: We model a three-stage duopolistic game where firms first simultaneously choose the technological direction of their innovation, then invest in the chosen direction, and finally, compete. Investments can be in competing or non-competing innovations and their outcome is uncertain. If successful, a firm can be imitated by the rival. Patent protection prevents imitation and is granted to non-obvious innovations. We show that compared to a regime where negligible innovations are patentable, strengthening the non-obviousness requirement for patentability can increase market efficiency. Importantly, we also show that the level of the requirement may affect the direction of firms' R&D trajectories. While in a mild patent regime firms tend to invest in competing technologies, a stricter non-obviousness requirement may induce firms to operate in different technological areas, and this increases social welfare and consumer surplus. We illustrate our general theory through a stylised model of Cournot competition with process innovations.
    Keywords: patents, R&D, non-obviousness, direction of innovation
    JEL: L13 O31 O34
    Date: 2023–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:azp:qsmswp:2303&r=ino
  2. By: Bergeaud, Antonin; Verluise, Cyril
    Abstract: We use patent data to study the contribution of the US, Europe, China and Japan to frontier technology using automated patent landscaping. We find that China's contribution to frontier technology has become quantitatively similar to the US in the late 2010s while overcoming the European and Japanese contributions respectively. Although China still exhibits the stigmas of a catching up economy, these stigmas are on the downside. The quality of frontier technology patents published at the Chinese Patent Office has leveled up to the quality of patents published at the European and Japanese patent offices. At the same time, frontier technology patenting at the Chinese Patent Office seems to have been increasingly supported by domestic patentees, suggesting the build up of domestic capabilities.
    Keywords: frontier technologies; China; patent landscaping; machine learning; patents
    JEL: O30 O31 O32
    Date: 2022–10–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117998&r=ino
  3. By: Gianluca Biggi
    Abstract: This study investigates the impact of the introduction of the European chemical regulation (the EU REACH legislation) on chemical search and innovation by focusing on the knowledge recombination processes leading to the generation of inventions. Using a novel dataset of patents and chemical structures contained therein over the period 1978-2016, this study readapts established patent indicators to capture the complexity, novelty, and novelty in recombination of the inventive activities as a result of the chemical regulation. The separate effect of the chemical regulation reflected in +39.8% of compounds per patent, +23% of new compounds per patent, and +2% of newer recombinations of compounds per patent is supported by the Propensity Score Matching estimations. The positive and significant effect of chemical regulation on compound patenting supports prior scholarly work on the idea that regulations by altering the search space, influence the rate and intensity of technological search and innovation.
    Keywords: Chemical inventions; Patent data; Regulation; Knowledge recombination.
    Date: 2023–01–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/06&r=ino
  4. By: Fuad Hasanov; Reda Cherif; Christoph Grimpe; Wolfgang Sofka
    Abstract: We investigate the effect of R&D subsidies on firms’ innovation by ownership, industry, and firm size using German firm-level data. The impact of R&D subsidies is heterogeneous across industries for multinational corporations (MNCs) and domestic firms while it does not differ substantially by firm size. Domestic firms have a larger response in R&D spending in low-tech manufacturing, knowledge-intensive services, and technological services while the response of domestic and foreign MNCs is broadly similar and is greater in medium-tech and high-tech manufacturing. Foreign MNC subsidiaries’ response in terms of patents is greater than that of domestic MNCs in most industries.
    Keywords: Innovation; patents; research and development; R&D; subsidies; multinationals; investment; technology policy; R&D subsidy; high-tech manufacturing; subsidiaries' response; low-tech manufacturing; R&D spending; Transnational corporations; Manufacturing; Services sector; Government subsidies; Investment policy; Global
    Date: 2022–09–23
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2022/192&r=ino
  5. By: Myriam Gregoire-Zawilski; David Popp
    Abstract: If further decarbonization of electricity systems is to continue, a next generation of innovation in transformative grid modernization and renewables integration technologies will be needed. Few studies have investigated the policy determinants of innovation in this sector to glean insights on how government may support the development and deployment of these technologies. We argue that policies that were successful at supporting the first wave of renewables innovation may not be sufficient to produce similar results in the next wave of green innovation since those face higher coordination bottlenecks. We investigate the effects of interoperability standards - an instrument that may facilitate coordination - on patenting using smart grid as an example of a technology that has high interoperability requirements. We find that standards decrease patenting at the extensive and intensive margins, but these results vary across types of firms. We find that this negative effect is driven by large firms, whereas standards increase entry by firms without prior smart grid innovation experience. We interpret this result as an information effect: standards provide useful information to new entrants and may help diversify the range of players innovating in this space.
    JEL: O31 Q40 Q55
    Date: 2023–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30872&r=ino
  6. By: Tony Clayton; Antoine Dechezleprêtre; Hélène Dernis; Laurence Joly; Victoria Magdalinski; Laurent Moussiegt; Mark Schankerman
    Abstract: The paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and limitations of the intellectual property (IP) system in Poland. It offers policy recommendations to fully exploit the potential of IP to support an innovation-based economy. It finds that the key components of an effective IP strategy in Poland should include the promotion of IP use among economic actors and other stakeholders as well as information campaigns and training programmes to raise awareness and knowledge about the advantages of IP. Recommendations also include reducing barriers to IP use by lowering the costs of and simplifying IP-related procedures, and promoting the valorisation of IP held by universities to enhance technology transfer to the business sector.
    Date: 2023–02–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:138-en&r=ino
  7. By: Jessica Catalano (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Francesco Giffoni (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Paolo Castelnovo (Department of Economics, Management, and Quantitative Methods, University of Milan, Milan, Italy)
    Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of space procurement on supplier firms. We empirically study how public procurement affects several dimensions of firms' performance in the Italian space industry. Our research strategy implies hypothesis-validating interviews, a survey, and an econometric analysis. We found space procurement to generate two outcomes in firms: "intermediate outcomes" - i.e., learning, innovation, and market penetration - and "final outcomes" - i.e., profit and sales, business development, and employment – with the former inducing the latter. Our results offer insights for understanding the role of public procurement from the suppliers’ perspective
    Keywords: Public procurement, innovation, space economy, space industry, buyer-supplier relationships
    JEL: C25 H57 O32 O38
    Date: 2021–12–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:wpaper:202102&r=ino
  8. By: Alberto Corsini (UCA - Université Côte d'Azur); Michele Pezzoni (UCA - Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire des Sciences et Techniques - HCERES - Haut Conseil de l'Evaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur, OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po, ICRIOS - ICRIOS, Bocconi University, Italy - Bocconi University [Milan, Italy])
    Abstract: Over the last fifteen years, European countries have increasingly relied on competitive grants to allocate research funding, replacing the more traditional block funding model. Policymakers are interested in assessing the effectiveness of the grant funding model in producing impactful research. However, the literature aiming to quantify the effect of grants on the resulting research's impact is scant. In the French context, we compare the impact of scientific articles resulting from the support of competitive grants from the main national funding agency with the impact of articles not supported by grants. We rely on publication acknowledgments to retrieve funding information and on citation data to assess the articles' impact. We find that articles supported by competitive grants receive more citations than articles not supported by grants in the long run, while the difference is not statistically significant in the short run. We find heterogeneity in the effect of grant funding on citations across fields.
    Keywords: Competitive funding, Research impact, French funding agency
    Date: 2022–12–24
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03912647&r=ino
  9. By: Benjamin Coriat; Fabienne Orsi; Jean Francois Alessandrini; Pascale Boulet; Sauman Singh-Phulgenda
    Abstract: During the Covid 19 Pandemic, there have been countless calls for the creation of ''global public goods'' or ''global commons'' issued by a variety of actors with sometimes diametrically opposed views, as if the two notions had the same meaning. And indeed, even today these notions are still often used as synonyms and interchangeable, leading to an amalgamation of concepts. The meaning and implications of using one notion or other notion (global public good, global commons) is never examined. We believe that, contrary to the dominant view, it is urgent to put an end to this confusion which is not only of a semantic order and has huge economic and social implications. In this article, we start by recalling what constitutes the notion of ''Global Public Good'' and by extension the content of what can be called the GPG approach (section 1). Then, by difference we present the notion of common good and the commons based approach (section 2). Finally, in a concluding section, we present some of the most significant initiatives taken during the covid-19 pandemic, designed and deployed to producing and distributing health products as common goods (section 3). Our overall ambition being to highlight that the deployment of the commons based approach that we are calling for, is not a utopia, as it is already moving on.
    Keywords: International Institutional Arrangements; Public Goods; Health and Inequality; Property Law; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D.
    Date: 2023–02–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/08&r=ino

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