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on Innovation |
| By: | Riku Watanabe (Department of Economics, Kagawa University); Ken Tabata (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | This study introduces endogenous resource-substituting innovation into a variety-expanding endogenous growth model with polluting non-renewable resources. The resulting task-based framework highlights the trade-off between resource-using variety-expanding innovation and resource-substituting innovation. We examine how subsidies for these two types of innovation affect economic growth and welfare, and how environmental policies that slow resource extraction and mitigate pollution shape these effects. Subsidies for new-variety R&D promote growth through faster variety expansion but reduce it through greater reliance on resource extraction, reflected in a lower share of firms adopting resource-substituting production methods and higher resource intensity in aggregate production. Subsidies for resource-substituting innovation have the opposite effects. Calibrating the model, we find that raising subsidies for new-variety R&D is more likely to improve welfare in resource-rich economies, whereas raising subsidies for resource-substituting innovation is more likely to improve welfare in resource-poor economies. We also find that more stringent environmental policies that conserve resources and mitigate pollution strengthen the welfare gains from subsidies for resource-substituting innovation, while weakening those from new-variety R&D subsidies. |
| Keywords: | Non-Renewable Resources, Resource-Substituting Innovation, R&D-based Growth |
| JEL: | O31 O44 Q55 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:314 |
| By: | Horbach, Jens; Rammer, Christian |
| Abstract: | Eco-innovations are highly important for mitigating climate change and transitioning towards a circular economy. There is extensive literature on the determinants of eco-innovation. The analysis of the role of government subsidies, however, is still under-developed. Subsidies are controversially discussed because they may distort competition and lead to less efficient solutions. At the same time, eco-innovations may produce positive externalities both at the innovation stage (knowledge spillovers) and the diffusion stage (reducing environmental damage). Subsidies may hence be important to avoid private under-investment in such innovations. The paper investigates which types of subsidies (e.g. general vs. research oriented, regional vs. national vs. supranational) are used by firms that engage in different fields of eco-innovation. The analysis is based on panel-econometric estimations using data from the German part of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), covering the years 2020 to 2024. The results show that regional subsidies and general industry support are important for the diffusion of eco-innovations, such as the substitution of fossil fuels by renewables, because they help to overcome financial constraints. Specific R&D subsidies are important for innovations leading to less CO2 emissions in production processes. |
| Keywords: | Green subsidies, eco-innovation, random effects panel probit models |
| JEL: | C23 C25 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:343046 |
| By: | Butzin, Anna; Flögel, Franz; Meyer, Kerstin; Rabadjieva, Maria |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the interplay between university entrepreneurial ecosystems (UEE) and regional entrepreneurial ecosystems (REE) in knowledge-based regional development, focusing on their permeability, boundaries, and complementarities. Using qualitative data from 176 events attended by startups from UEE and REE in the German Ruhr region, the research reveals an asymmetric permeability: UEE startups frequently engage with REE events to access market knowledge and managerial skills, while REE startups rarely participate in UEE activities beyond recruiting graduates. Both ecosystems deliver similar types of entrepreneurial knowledge, such as managerial and funding insights, but differ in their emphasis. UEEs focus more on market insights linked to technology commercialisation, whereas REEs emphasise marketing knowledge reflecting closer market proximity. The findings highlight the REE's nurturing role by providing practical support and market access for the UEE startups. The study suggests fostering greater inclusivity of UEEs to benefit a broader range of founders and recommends hybrid event formats combining UEE and REE resources to enhance regional innovation dynamics. |
| Keywords: | university entrepreneurial ecosystems, regional development, knowledge transfer, entrepreneurial ecosystems |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iatdps:343531 |
| By: | Fazliddin Shermatov; Stephane Robin; Aldo Geuna |
| Abstract: | Whether artificial intelligence pays off for the firms that build it into their products is hard to establish, because AI innovation is itself hard to observe. The medical technology sector is a rare exception: an AI-enabled device must obtain clearance from a national health authority before it can reach a patient, leaving a dated, firm-attributable record of AI innovation output that can be observed directly rather than proxied. We exploit this setting with a three-stage recursive model estimated on a novel firm-level dataset linking FDA premarket clearances, USPTO patents, Scopus publications, and Orbis financials, tracing the full innovation chain from external collaboration through AI device introduction to firm performance. We find that external AI research collaboration is a robust driver of AI device introduction across firm sizes and estimators, with a larger effect for small firms, consistent with external knowledge ties substituting for limited internal R&D capacity. Decomposing by partner type, the effect is largest for industry and clinical collaborations and smallest for academic ties, consistent with the former being closer to the regulatory and commercialisation process. Firms that bring AI devices to market display higher labour productivity, an effect robust for small firms and the full sample that holds under both sequential and joint maximum-likelihood estimation and accumulates across successive device introductions. Effects on profit margins are present but weaker and do not survive all specifications, a pattern consistent with competitive entry eroding pricing power as AI devices diffuse through the sector. |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2609.08485 |
| By: | Elise Petit; Nadin WN Woergoetter; Peeyush SP Sahu; Nicolas van Zeebroeck |
| Abstract: | When a patent application is pending, it is uncertain whether a patent will be granted and, if so, what protection it will confer. If the validity of the patent is then challenged, uncertainty continues until a final decision in opposition is obtained. This uncertainty extends when multiple applications surround a single innovation, a phenomenon that is common in life sciences and can therefore have a great impact on healthcare systems and patients. This article examines whether examination duration, and therefore the period of uncertainty, at the European Patent Office (EPO) varies systematically with parent and divisional applications, secondary patenting, and the economic value of the associated drug. Using bulk EPO Register data and IQVIA Ark5/MIDAS®6 data, 15, 737 patent applications filed at the EPO between 1978 and 2026 Q1 are linked to a drug. Cox proportional hazards models show that parent applications and secondary patents are associated with significantly longer pendency than single applications, particularly for high-value drugs. Additional indicators trace where and how these delays arise. The findings suggest that delays are connected to the combined use of several procedural rights, both across a patent family and within individual applications, and are not limited to multi-generation families. |
| Keywords: | life sciences; pharmaceutical patent;; divisional application;; secondary patent; patent family; European patent office; survival analysis |
| JEL: | O34 O38 L65 I18 K11 C41 |
| Date: | 2026–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/413551 |
| By: | Ganglmair, Bernhard; Holcomb, Alex |
| Abstract: | Partners in R&D alliances and joint ventures are rarely symmetric, yet whether asymmetry helps or hurts collaboration is not fully understood. We study how asymmetry in competitors' information endowments affects collaborative knowledge exchange. A model of word-of-mouth communication predicts a clean separation: Initiating the knowledge exchange requires that the informational advantage sac rificed be sufficiently small, while the continuation incentive is independent of the initial endowment (and asymmetry). In a laboratory experiment, we confirm the model's comparative-statics predictions and establish three results. First, initiation rates decline as initial asymmetry increases, holding the better-endowed partner's initial endowment constant. Second, conditional on initiation, the initial asymme try does not predict defection later in collaboration. Third, extreme asymmetry reduces match length and joint surplus because initiation fails, not because continu ation breaks down. The initiation-continuation separation implies that governance mechanisms targeting the formation margin (such as pilot projects, phased disclo sure agreements, or credible commitments to reciprocate) can expand the range of asymmetric partnerships that succeed, while continuation requires no special intervention. |
| Keywords: | asymmetric partnerships, cooperation, experimental economics, information sharing, joint ventures, knowledge diffusion, open innovation, R&D collaboration, strategic alliances |
| JEL: | C92 D83 L24 M21 O31 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:343045 |
| By: | Nikolova, Milena; Angelini, Viola |
| Abstract: | As populations age, longer working careers become more essential, and technological advancements may prolong or shorten career spans. We examine how exposure to industrial robots, information and communication technology (ICT), and artificial intelligence (AI) relate to retirement expectations among workers in 20 European countries. To this end, we link individual-level data from the European Working Conditions Survey (2005-2024) with lagged technology-exposure measures. Technology exposure shows li[le systematic association with preferred retirement timing. Nevertheless, robots and especially AI are linked to the perception of being able to work until age 60. These associations vary across workers and tasks, suggesting that job design and worker adaptation determine whether technology supports longer working lives. |
| Keywords: | retirement, expectations, technological change, robots, ICT, AI |
| JEL: | I31 J26 O33 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1813 |
| By: | Thomas R. Covert (Airbnb); Richard Sweeney (Boston College; Boston College) |
| Abstract: | We measure technical progress and cost declines in the wind turbine industry, accounting for large quality improvements that have occurred over time. As in many industrial settings, we do not observe costs. Instead, we infer them by modeling the turbine procurement process, and estimate the model on the near-universe of global commercial wind farms built from 2000 to 2019. We find that while commonly reported measures of price per unit of capacity fell by 30 percent during this time, latent quality-adjusted costs fell by over 75 percent. Underpinning these cost declines, we estimate substantial learning-by-doing. A doubling of manufacturing experience reduces manufacturing costs by 26 to 29 percent. Though inter-firm spillovers per unit are relatively small, in aggregate, they rationalize a significant portion of the cost reductions over time. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Renewable Energy, Learning |
| JEL: | O33 Q42 L11 |
| Date: | 2026–08–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:1115 |
| By: | Aghion, Philippe; Antonin, Céline; Paluskiewicz, Luc; Strömberg, David; Sun, Xueping; Wargon, Raphaël; Westin, Karolina |
| Abstract: | The 2018 China Initiative by the Trump administration complicated procedures and reduced funding for U.S.-China research collaborations. Using Scopus data, we analyze its impact on Chinese research. We find that it significantly lowered the quality of both publications and co-authors of Chinese researchers with prior U.S. collaborations compared to those with prior European collaborations, and reduced yearly citations for affected researchers by 6%. The effect was stronger for high-productivity Chinese researchers in U.S.-dominated fields. While China is at the forefront of the scientific frontier, it still depends more on the U.S. than the reverse. |
| Keywords: | China initiative;Chinese science;political tensions;science of science |
| JEL: | O31 I23 |
| Date: | 2026–09–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:140961 |