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on Innovation |
| By: | Cyril Verluise (QuantumBlack); Gabriele Cristelli (London School of Economics); Kyle Higham (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Gaetan de Rassenfosse (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne) |
| Abstract: | This study introduces in-text patent-to-patent citations—references embedded in the body of patent documents—as a novel data source to trace knowledge flows. Unlike front-page citations, which often reflect legal requirements, in-text citations are more likely to originate from inventors and signal meaningful technological linkages. We show that they exhibit stronger geographic and semantic proximity, greater self-referentiality, and closer alignment with inventor knowledge. Though less frequent than front-page citations, they yield robust results in models of knowledge diffusion. We release a validated dataset and reproducible code to support future research. Our findings offer new opportunities for strategy scholars interested in the microfoundations of innovation, the geography of knowledge flows, and the role of inventors in shaping firms’ knowledge trajectories. |
| Keywords: | citation; patent; knowledge flow; open data; spillover |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R12 C81 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iip:wpaper:30 |
| By: | Gabriel Chaves Bosch (Queen Mary University of London); Cem Özgüzel (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Paris School of Economics et IZA) |
| Abstract: | Does the presence of migrants influence innovation at the local level? This paper answers this question using novel data containing fine-grained information on the migrant population and geo-coded data on patent locations for a large set of 19 OECD countries over the 1990-2014 period. We find that a one percentage point increase in the local migrant share increases patent applications by 2.5%. This effect is driven by more urbanised and economically developed localities, where innovation levels are already higher to begin with. However, this impact becomes insignificant when aggregating observations at larger geographical levels, suggesting that the effect of migration on innovation is concentrated in space and features high rates of spatial decay |
| Keywords: | Migration; Innovation; Patents; OECD countries; local |
| JEL: | O31 J61 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:25021 |
| By: | Damián Tojeiro-Rivero (University Rovira i Virgili); Rosina Moreno (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Prior literature has argued that, although both captive knowledge sourcing (CKS) and non-captive knowledge sourcing (NCKS) are effective strategies for enhancing firm innovativeness, the former plays a more defined role in determining the likelihood of a firm achieving product innovations. However, we contend that the focus should not only be on the decision to innovate but, more importantly, on the profitability firms derive from such innovations. Given that knowledge acquired from external sources can provide firms with ideas that differ from their existing competencies, NCKS may be more advantageous, as the resulting innovations are likely to exhibit higher levels of novelty. Additionally, we examine the complementarity or substitutability between CKS and NCKS in driving innovation. Our findings for Spanish firms suggest that NCKS yields greater benefits than CKS. Moreover, adopting both strategies simultaneously does not result in higher benefits; instead, a minimum threshold of NCKS, above the median, is necessary to realize observable gains. This indicates that firms must demonstrate a substantial level of commitment to NCKS to effectively exploit its potential for generating returns from their most novel innovations. |
| Keywords: | Radical Innovation, Captive Knowledge Sourcing; Non-Captive Knowledge Sourcing; Spanish firms; Panel data; Complementarity/Substitutability JEL classification: |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:202503 |
| By: | Michela Laura Bergamini; Leo Sleuwaegen; Bart Van Looy |
| Abstract: | Since the introduction of the notion ‘creative class’, artists have been portrayed as contributing to the innovation dynamics of cities and regions. While insights from qualitative studies suggest positive externalities from the arts to the knowledge economy, quantitative analyses so far offer only limited or no support for a systematic positive contribution to the (overall) innovative performance of regions. In this paper, we focus simultaneously on innovations of a technical nature (measured by patents) and of an aesthetic nature (measured by design rights). Relying on data of a large set of European regions (NUTS 2), we examine their joint impact on regional economic growth, and we analyze how different types of human capital – besides scientists and engineers, also artists – are associated with regional innovative performance. Our findings reveal that both types of innovation are relevant for explaining differences in regional growth. In addition, the analysis signals a distinctive contribution both from artists and from scientists and engineers, albeit in different activity realms. While scientists and engineers’ contribution towards regional innovation is very outspoken but confined to technological innovation, the presence of artists in the region is associated with technological and, more pronounced, with aesthetic innovation. Overall, our findings suggest the relevance of adopting a more encompassing view on innovation and creativity when assessing regional growth dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Creative class, artists, design rights, patents, regional innovation, economic growth |
| Date: | 2025–10–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:msiper:774092 |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (Friedrich Schiller University Jena); Maria Greve (University of Utrecht); Michael Wyrwich (University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the legacy of socialist regime in countries of Central and Eastern Europe has affected innovation and R&D cooperation and compares this to Western Europe. Our analysis reveals that the negative impact of socialism on innovation Central and Eastern European countries is mediated by interpersonal trust and the quality of government. These findings highlight the significance of historical context for innovation activity. Our insights are particularly relevant for policymakers who are trying to create effective strategies to encourage technological development in post-socialist regions. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, socialist legacy, institutional quality, trust |
| JEL: | O31 O43 P20 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–10–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2025-0010 |
| By: | Xu, Tao Louie; Liu, Li |
| Abstract: | This review revisits endogenous innovation as a co-evolutionary process of dynamic capabilities amidst the global techno-nationalist Tech Cold War. Integrating micro organisational and macro institutional perspectives, it articulates a triple-staged capability growth chain: technology exploration, market exploitation, and ecosystem orchestration to capture the innovation-oriented adaptive ambidexterity by which emerging tech firms transition from component supplier to supply-chain ecosystem orchestrator. Proposing a research agenda of innovation ecosystem, mega-science infrastructure, regional cluster, and organisational culture, this research offers an alternative analytical approach to endogenous innovation in fractured environments across firm, regional, and national dimensions. |
| Keywords: | endogenous innovation; Tech Cold War; neo-techno-nationalism; dynamic capabilities; industrial development; emerging-markets firms |
| JEL: | O3 O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–06–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126220 |
| By: | Rozendaal, Rik (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management); Vollebergh, Herman (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:2e0a8764-40ea-48e7-852a-31a624c09d7e |
| By: | Hufnagl, Miriam |
| Abstract: | In times of multiple crises such as climate change or global pandemics, science, technology, and innovation (STI) are expected to contribute to solving these grand challenges of humankind. Regarding the related policies, we observably entered an era of strategy that started in the mid-2000s. Nation states set up large-scale policy strategies (e.g. Germany's Hightech Strategy 2025, UK's Innovation and Research strategy for growth) to support innovation-related research and development activities, which were supposed to generate solutions for existential problems. But how do individual policy practitioners perceive this development and how does it alter their practical work? This contribution focuses on the perception and practice of individual policy practitioners from formulators at ministries to implementers at agencies in Germany, Sweden, and the UK via a contextualised empirical investigation (including the qualitative analyses of 53 guideline-led interviews). |
| Keywords: | STI policy strategies and instruments, Policy coordination, Challenge-orientation, Policy practitioner, Empirical investigation |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisidp:329633 |
| By: | Nam, Jaejun; Kim, Nayeon |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of knowledge spillovers in shaping economic growth in developing countries, with a focus on their limitations in promoting convergence with advanced economies. Extending Romer (1986) and the North–South model, we construct a theoretical model in which government-funded knowledge accumulation drives long-run growth, while developing countries benefit from costless technology diffusion from advanced economies. Within this framework, we derive steady states for each economy and analyze how policy choices—such as taxation, savings, and technology protection—affect the growth trajectory of both economies through the spillovers. We then test the model’s predictions, setting the United States as the technological frontier. The analysis utilizes fixed-effects regression and incorporates foreign direct investment inflows and imports from the U.S. as proxies for openness to spillovers. Our results suggest that knowledge spillovers alone are insufficient for convergence, requiring substantial domestic investment by developing countries. This highlights the structural challenges these countries face in catching up to advanced economies. Additionally, technology protection ensures the long-term economic dominance of developed countries, but only when paired with significant domestic investment. Finally, we empirically demonstrate a complementary relationship between openness and technological disparity in determining the magnitude of spillovers, lending further support to our findings. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Spillovers, Romer (1986), North–South Framework, Endogenous Growth Model, Technology Protection |
| JEL: | F43 O33 O41 |
| Date: | 2025–10–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126362 |
| By: | Huben Liu; Dimitris Papanikolaou; Lawrence D.W. Schmidt; Bryan Seegmiller |
| Abstract: | We use recent advances in natural language processing and large language models to construct novel measures of technology exposure for workers that span almost two centuries. Combining our measures with Census data on occupation employment, we show that technological progress over the 20th century has led to economically meaningful shifts in labor demand across occupations: it has consistently increased demand for occupations with higher education requirements, occupations that pay higher wages, and occupations with a greater fraction of female workers. Using these insights and a calibrated model, we then explore different scenarios for how advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are likely to impact employment trends in the medium run. The model predicts a reversal of past trends, with AI favoring occupations that are lower-educated, lower-paid, and more male-dominated. |
| JEL: | J23 J24 N3 O3 O4 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34386 |