|
on Innovation |
| By: | Siavash Mohades; Maria Savona |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether investments in data affect firms’ R&D and whether the two are productivity-enhancing complements. We conceptualise and test whether investments in data reduce market uncertainty, thereby mitigating the inherent uncertainty of R&D and enhancing research and innovation investment. Using Italian firm-level data from 2002 to 2024 and exploiting the GDPR as an instrument, we identify a positive causal effect of data on R&D investment. Moreover, we find that data and R&D are complementary in enhancing both short- and long-term productivity. Our analyses also identify a positive role of R&D for productivity only when firms are data-intensive. |
| Keywords: | uncertainty, data, R&D, digitalisation, innovation, productivity |
| JEL: | D22 D25 D82 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12230 |
| By: | Loles Añón Higón (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Juan A. Máñez (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Amparo Sanchis (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Juan A. Sanchis (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)) |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of digitalisation in shaping innovation strategies. To capture the multidimensional nature of digital transformation, we construct a firm-level digitalisation index that incorporates four dimensions: technological infrastructure, digital human capital, automation and digital stakeholders’ interactions. Using data from Spanish manufacturing firms for the period 2007-2022, we assess the effects of digitalisation on both technological innovation (product and process) and non-technological (organisational and marketing) innovation. Our empirical strategy is based on a knowledge production function framework that jointly analyses firms' innovation decisions while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of digitalisation. The results show that digitalisation is a key driver of innovation, in particular for SMEs, but also for firms without formal R&D activities. However, its impact varies across innovation types, with the strongest effects observed for process innovation. The analysis further reveals that the components of digitalisation affect innovation strategies in different ways, underscoring the heterogeneous nature of digital transformation. |
| Keywords: | Digital transformation, manufacturing firms, product innovation, process innovation, organisational innovation, marketing innovation. |
| JEL: | O33 O32 L60 C35 D22 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2512 |
| By: | Schilirò, Daniele |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an examination of the knowledge economy, its nature, evolution, and defining features. Such an economy relies on increasing specialization, research, innovation, and continuous learning. Innovation constitutes a fundamental dimension of the knowledge economy; hence, it emerges as the second central theme of this analysis. The findings indicate that the capacity of companies to innovate depends on several factors, including the availability of sufficient human capital with appropriate levels of education and advanced skills, the presence of robust infrastructure, and the role of institutions. In particular, the innovation ecosystem—where stakeholders interact and collaborate—together with the regulatory and legislative framework, serves to foster and sustain innovation. |
| Keywords: | knowledge economy; knowledge; learning; networks; innovation, technological progress; competitiveness |
| JEL: | D83 L1 O30 O32 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126380 |
| By: | Jacob Moscona |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how innovation responded to and shaped the economic impact of the American Dust Bowl, an environmental catastrophe that led to widespread soil erosion on the US Plains during the 1930s. Combining data on county-level erosion, the historical geography of crop production, and crop-specific innovation, I document that in the wake of the environmental crisis, agricultural technology development was strongly and persistently re-directed toward more Dust Bowl-exposed crops and, within crops, toward bio-chemical and planting technologies that could directly mitigate economic losses from environmental distress. County-level exposure to Dust Bowl-induced innovation significantly dampened the effect of land erosion on agricultural land values and revenue. These results highlight the role of crises in spurring innovation and the importance of endogenous technological progress as an adaptive force in the face of disasters. |
| JEL: | O3 O31 O33 Q1 Q16 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34438 |
| By: | Fichter, Klaus; Neumann, Thomas; Olteanu, Yasmin; Grothey, Tim |
| Abstract: | A central element of this research by the Borderstep Institute is the systematic long-term measurement of the green start-up ecosystem in Germany. This year, the findings will be published as the "Green Startup Report 2025". The study marks a milestone: for the first time, a new, scientifically validated methodology is being used that enables a much more precise analysis of the dynamics of green start-ups. It is based on data on more than 12, 000 young companies and over 50, 000 commercial register entries on investments in start-ups. The Green Startup Report 2025 thus offers a previously unrivalled level of empirical depth and enables more well-founded statements to be made about the development of sustainable business models, their market opportunities and their actual contribution to climate protection. The analysis makes it clear that green start-ups are relevant players in the sustainable transformation. They develop market-based solutions for environmental and climate protection. Through their entrepreneurial activities, they make a measurable contribution to achieving national and European climate targets. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Green Startup, Interpreneurship, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Green Economy, Green Startup Report, Start-up Ecosystem, Impact, Impact Assessment, Impact Forecasting, Climate Protection Potential, Start-up funding and financing |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esrepo:330411 |
| By: | Simon Evenett; Adam Jakubik; Jaden Kim; Fernando Martín; Samuel Pienknagura; Michele Ruta; Sandra Baquie; Yueling Huang; Rafael Machado Parente |
| Abstract: | This paper extends the New Industrial Policy Observatory (NIPO) dataset from 2009 to 2023 by employing large language model techniques to identify policy motivations. We document widespread industrial policy adoption across advanced and emerging market economies since the Great Financial Crisis, which was implemented primarily through subsidies and trade restrictions. We identify a structural break around 2020, characterized by accelerated policy activity and the emergence of “new industrial policies” motivated by supply chain resilience, national security, and geopolitical concerns, in addition to policies focused on competitiveness and climate objectives, which were already prevalent in previous years. Policies have targeted dual-use and various advanced technology sectors, as well as their upstream inputs, such as critical raw materials and minerals. We find that geopolitical risk and tit-for-tat retaliation have played a greater role in driving industrial policy after 2020, and that this support extends beyond existing sectors of comparative advantage. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Policy; Trade Policy; Data |
| Date: | 2025–10–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2025/222 |
| By: | Ron Boschma; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | With its focus on innovation, institutions have remain under-theorized in evolutionary economics. This paper aims to contribute to Nelson’s institutional agenda within evolutionary economics in two ways. First, we discuss the core concepts of organizational routines and natural trajectories from an institutional perspective. Second, we pick up on Nelson's co-evolutionary model linking technology, markets and institutions in economic development, and introduce the notion of ‘institutional relatedness’ to understand how institutions both constrain and enable economic development and structural change as well as how institutions channel the direction of institutional change itself. |
| Keywords: | Nelson; evolutionary economics; evolutionary economic geography; institutional relatedness; institutional change; regional diversification |
| JEL: | B15 B52 O18 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2532 |
| By: | Chaofeng Wu |
| Abstract: | We propose a framework that recasts scientific novelty not as a single attribute of a paper, but as a reflection of its position within the evolving intellectual landscape. We decompose this position into two orthogonal dimensions: \textit{spatial novelty}, which measures a paper's intellectual distinctiveness from its neighbors, and \textit{temporal novelty}, which captures its engagement with a dynamic research frontier. To operationalize these concepts, we leverage Large Language Models to develop semantic isolation metrics that quantify a paper's location relative to the full-text literature. Applying this framework to a large corpus of economics articles, we uncover a fundamental trade-off: these two dimensions predict systematically different outcomes. Temporal novelty primarily predicts citation counts, whereas spatial novelty predicts disruptive impact. This distinction allows us to construct a typology of semantic neighborhoods, identifying four archetypes associated with distinct and predictable impact profiles. Our findings demonstrate that novelty can be understood as a multidimensional construct whose different forms, reflecting a paper's strategic location, have measurable and fundamentally distinct consequences for scientific progress. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.01211 |
| By: | Luisa Alama (Universitat Jaume I and IIDL); Joan Crespo (Universitat de València); Miguel A. Márquez (Universidad de Extremadura); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (Universitat Jaume I, IIDL and Ivie) |
| Abstract: | We empirically evaluate how the efficiency of Spanish public universities impacts regional economic performance in Spain during the period 2010–2019. Efficiency is measured using activity analysis methods that attempt to capture reflect how universities perform in their respective missions— namely, teaching, research, and knowledge transfer. We analyse the geography of higher education by examining efficiency at the provincial (NUTS3) and regional (NUTS2) levels, as well as for groups of regions (NUTS1). Our results offer several key insights. First, we find that geography plays a differential role primarily when knowledge transfer activities are considered, while geographical patterns are similar for teaching and research activities. Second, the impact of universities’ efficiency on regional economic activity varies across different outcome measures. While provinces with more efficient public university systems show higher labor productivity and capital intensity levels, there is no significant relationship with per capita income. The spatial analysis indicates that efficiency gains generate indirect and positive spillovers, particularly for capital intensity, suggesting that improvements in university performance can benefit broader regional areas. Additionally, institutional quality, measured through regional government performance indicators, reinforces these effects. Our findings suggest that policies aimed at enhancing university efficiency should prioritise the research mission. Among the three university missions, research has the greatest impact on improving productive processes and is the most effective in fostering regional economic development. |
| Keywords: | bias-corrected efficiency; capital intensity; higher education institutions; regional growth; productivity |
| JEL: | C61 J24 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2510 |