nep-knm New Economics Papers
on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy
Issue of 2010‒08‒06
five papers chosen by
Laura Stefanescu
European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration

  1. Against the one-way-street: Analyzing knowledge transfer from industry to science By Fier, Heide; Pyka, Andreas
  2. Do External Technology Acquisitions Matter for Innovative Efficiency and Productivity? By Tseveen Gantumur; Andreas Stephan
  3. Incentive-Based and Knowledge-Based Theories of the Firm: Some Recent Developments By Nicola Meccheri; Mario Morroni
  4. Competition, product and process innovation: an empirical analysis By Carlos D. Santos
  5. The determinants of innovation: What is the role of risk? By Pierluigi Murro

  1. By: Fier, Heide; Pyka, Andreas
    Abstract: This study aims at analyzing the differences in the factors that influence the probability of knowledge transfer within industry and from industry to science in the biotechnology sector. In order to model these knowledge flows a citation analysis on the basis of patent data was conducted and a weighted bivariate probit model was estimated on the citation probability of industry and science on the basis of a combined sample of citing and cited patent pairs and an equal number of control patent pairs. The empirical results suggest that there are considerable differences in the citation probability. Cultural closeness for instance has a positive effect on the citation probability from industry to industry while the citation probability of scientific institutions is not affected by cultural distance. --
    Keywords: Technology transfer,patent citation analysis,biotechnology industry
    JEL: J61 O33
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:10048&r=knm
  2. By: Tseveen Gantumur; Andreas Stephan
    Abstract: To quickly adapt to technological change and developments, and thus remain competitive, firms increasingly resort to the use of external technology. This paper investigates whether and to what extent the acquisition of external disembodied technology affects the efficiency and productivity in innovation of technology acquiring firms. Using the stochastic frontier analysis combined with a difference-in-difference matching approach and firm-level panel from the German Innovation Survey for the period 1992-2004, we find that manufacturing firms that acquire disembodied technology experience more growth in innovative productivity than non-acquiring firms do. Thus, this study provides evidence on complementarity between internal and external R&D in innovation production, which is attributed by increasing returns to R&D scale and increasing technical efficiency. Moreover, we find that firm size significantly contributes to innovative efficiency and productivity of external technology acquirers.
    Keywords: Technology acquisition, innovative efficiency, innovative productivity, SFA, Difference-in-difference matching
    JEL: O30 L24 L25 L60
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1035&r=knm
  3. By: Nicola Meccheri; Mario Morroni
    Abstract: This article presents a critical review of advances in incentive-based and knowledge-based theories of the firm. In particular, we address some developments in the incentive-based approach regarding relational contracts and contracts as "reference points". As far as the evolution of knowledge-based theories is concerned, we focus on the interesting implications of the concept of dynamic capabilities. Finally, we investigate some recent attempts to bridge these two main streams of research, which have for a long time been regarded as rival rather than complementary.
    Keywords: Theory of the firm, contracts, incentives, knowledge, competencies
    JEL: D21 D23
    Date: 2010–06–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2010/98&r=knm
  4. By: Carlos D. Santos (Dpto. Fundamentos del Análisis Económico)
    Abstract: Competition has long been regarded as productivity enhancing. Understanding the mechanism by which competition affects innovation and productivity is therefore an important topic for economic policy. The main contribution of this paper is to disentangle the relationship between competition and two sides of innovation: product and process. I write down a model and discuss the conditions under which we can identify the causal mechanism. Overall I find that competition, measured by the number of competitors or market shares, has negative effects on product innovation and no effects on process innovation. The explanation is very simple. By shifting demand, competition directly changes the optimality condition for product but not for process innovation. Thus, competition has no direct effects on process innovations or, as a consequence, productivity.
    Keywords: competition, innovation, R&D, product innovation, process innovation
    JEL: L11 L60 O30
    Date: 2010–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasad:2010-26&r=knm
  5. By: Pierluigi Murro (University of Bari)
    Abstract: Because of its importance in understanding and explaining growth, the topic of innovation has received a huge attention in the economic literature. However, our knowledge of the factors that inuence in- novation and its related activities is not as exhaustive as it could be. The present study aims at contributing to analyse the determinants of innovation, with a special focus on rm risk. Employing a rich sample of Italian manufacturing rms, we tested for the impact on innovation of the riskiness of the rm, as proxied by the probability of default. We found that riskiness of enterprise reduces the tendency to innovate for the rms. The main channel through which rm risk aects innovation capability appears to be that of innovation nancing.
    Keywords: Technological Change; Financial Risk and Risk Management
    JEL: O3 G32
    Date: 2010–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bai:series:wp0032&r=knm

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