nep-knm New Economics Papers
on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy
Issue of 2011‒02‒26
seven papers chosen by
Laura Stefanescu
European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration

  1. Do best and worst innovative companies differ in terms of intellectual capital, knowledge and radicalness? By Carmen Cabello Medina; Antonio Carmona Lavado; Gloria Cuevas Rodríguez; Ana Pérez-Luño
  2. THE LINK BETWEEN INNOVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY IN ESTONIAN SERVICE SECTOR By Jaan Masso; Priit Vahter
  3. Knowledge diffusion from FDI and Intellectual Property Rights By Roger Smeets
  4. Regional Clusters of Innovative Activity in Europe: Are Social Capital and Geographical Proximity the Key Determinants? By Laura de Dominicis; Raymond J.G.M. Florax; Henri L.F. de Groot
  5. Cycles and innovation. By Matteo Lucchese; Mario Pianta
  6. Spreading the Word: Geography, Policy and University Knowledge Diffusion By Sharon Belenzon; Mark Schankerman
  7. Decision Making with Imperfect Knowledge of the State Space By Mengel Friederike; Tsakas Elias; Vostroknutov Alexander

  1. By: Carmen Cabello Medina (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Antonio Carmona Lavado (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Gloria Cuevas Rodríguez (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Ana Pérez-Luño (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide)
    Abstract: This paper differentiates “best innovative companies” from “worst innovative companies” and it takes into account three separate bodies of literature— intellectual capital, knowledge-based view, and innovation literatures. Based on a sample of 181 firms which belong to manufacturing and services industries, our findings show that best innovative performers companies (considering both financial and non-financial dimensions of innovation success) present systematically higher scores for all dimensions of intellectual capital: human, organizational and social capital) than worst innovation performers. Knowledge exchange and combination seems to be characteristic of most successful innovators, but no differences in systemic, tacit, complex and not observable knowledge have been found for these companies. Finally, regarding radicalness, firms with more innovation success provide new products or services that incorporates a new technology and new customer benefits (uniqueness), while firms with less innovation success laughs new products or services which are unfamiliar or difficult to understand by customers.
    Keywords: Mobile-shopping
    Date: 2011–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpbsad:11.01&r=knm
  2. By: Jaan Masso; Priit Vahter
    Abstract: The emerging literature on the characteristics of innovation processes in the service sector has paid relatively little attention to the links between innovation and productivity. In this paper we investigate how the innovation-productivity relationship differs across various sub-branches of the service sector. For the analysis we use the CDM structural model consisting of equations for innovation expenditures, innovation output, productivity and exports. We use data from the community innovation surveys for Estonia. We show that innovation is associated with increased productivity in the service sector. The results indicate surprisingly that the effect of innovation on productivity is stronger in the less knowledge-intensive service sectors, despite the lower frequency of innovative activities and the results of earlier literature. Non-technological innovation only plays a positive role in some specifications, despite its expected importance especially among the service firms. An additional positive channel of the effects of innovation on productivity may function through increased exports.
    Keywords: innovation, services, productivity
    JEL: O31 O33 L80
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:80&r=knm
  3. By: Roger Smeets
    Abstract: We study the extent to which a country's strength of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection mediates knowledge spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Following the opposing views in the IPR debate, we propose a negative effect of IPR strength on unintentional horizontal (intra-industry) knowledge diffusion.
    JEL: F23 O33 O34
    Date: 2011–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:168&r=knm
  4. By: Laura de Dominicis (European Commission, Seville); Raymond J.G.M. Florax (Purdue University, W. Lafayette, and VU University Amsterdam); Henri L.F. de Groot (VU University Amsterdam)
    Abstract: Finding proper policy instruments to promote productivity growth features prominently on the Lisbon agenda and is central in many national as well as European policy debates. In view of the increased mobility of high-skilled workers in Europe, ongoing globalization and increased interregional and international co-operation, location patterns of innovative activity may be subject to drastic changes. A proper understanding of location patterns of innovative outputs can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of national and European innovation policies. Building on the literature on the knowledge production function the aim of this paper is to explain the observed differences in the production of innovative output across European regions. Our main research question is whether geographical proximity and social capital are important vehicles of knowledge transmission for the production of innovative output in Europe. Several other variables are used to control for structural differences across European regions. We find support for the hypothesis that both social capital and geographical proximity are important factors in explaining the differences in the production of innovative output across European regions.
    Keywords: innovation; knowledge production function; social capital; spatial econometrics; European regions
    JEL: C21 I23 O18 O31
    Date: 2011–01–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110009&r=knm
  5. By: Matteo Lucchese (Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo"); Mario Pianta (Department of Economics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo")
    Abstract: This paper explores the way economic cycles influence the relationship between innovation and growth. A large literature has investigated this link in the long waves of development,focusing on the emergence of radical innovations and new technological paradigms; a parallel stream of research has examined differences in sectoral patterns of innovation and in industries’ technological regimes, emphasising their stability and persistence over time. We build on these approaches and we investigate whether the ups and downs of cycles, with changes in demand dynamics, alter the possibility to exploit the technological opportunities of sectors. Within industries’ innovative efforts, we identify on the one hand efforts based on R&D expenditure, focusing on new products and aiming at technological competitiveness and, on the other hand, investment in innovative machinery focusing on new processes and aiming at cost competitiveness.A model that explains sectoral growth in value added by combining technological and demand factors is proposed. The empirical test is based on data for six major European countries Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain - at the level of 20 manufacturing sectors. Two upswings are considered - 1996-2000 and 2003-2007 – and their patterns are contrasted with that emerging from the downswing of 2000-2003. Results show that in upswings faster economic (and productivity) growth in industries is sustained by efforts to develop new products, while in downswings, due to a shortage of demand, process innovations aiming at restructuring result more relevant in supporting the increase in value added (or in containing its fall).
    Keywords: Innovation, Cycles, Growth, Demand.
    JEL: L6 L8 O31 O33 O52
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:11_03&r=knm
  6. By: Sharon Belenzon; Mark Schankerman
    Abstract: Using new data on citations to university patents and scientific publications, and measures of distance based on Google maps, we study how geography affects university knowledge diffusion. We show that knowledge flows from patents are localized in two respects: they decline sharply with distance up to about 100 miles, and they are strongly constrained by state borders, controlling for distance. While distance also constrains knowledge spillovers from publications, the state border does not. We investigate how the strength of the state border effect varies with university and state characteristics. It is larger for patents from public, as compared to private, universities and this is partly explained by the local development policies of universities. The border effect is larger in states with stronger non-compete laws that affect intra-state labor mobility, and those with greater reliance on in-state educated scientists and engineers. We confirm the impact of non-compete statutes by studying a policy reform in Michigan that introduced such restrictions.
    Keywords: knowledge spillovers, diffusion, geography, university technology transfer, patents, scientific publications
    JEL: K41 L24 O31 O34
    Date: 2010–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:stieip:50&r=knm
  7. By: Mengel Friederike; Tsakas Elias; Vostroknutov Alexander (METEOR)
    Abstract: We conduct an experiment to study how imperfect knowledge of the state space affects subsequent choices under uncertainty with perfect knowledge of the state space. Participants in our experiment choose between a sure outcome and a lottery in 32 periods. All treatments are exactly identical in periods 17 to 32 but differ in periods 1 to 16. In the early periods of the “Risk Treatment” there is perfect information about the lottery; in the “Ambiguity Treatment” participants perfectly know the outcome space but not the associated probabilities; in the “Unawareness Treatment” participants have imperfect knowledge about both outcomes and probabilities. All three treatments induce strong behavioural differences in periods 17 to 32. In particular participants who have been exposed to an environment with very imperfect knowledge of the state space subsequently choose lotteries with high (low) variance less (more) often compared to other participants. Estimating individual risk attitudes from choices in periods 17 to 32 we find that the distribution of risk attitude parameters across our treatments can be ranked in terms of first order stochastic dominance. Our results show how exposure to different degrees of uncertainty can have long-lasting effects on individuals’ risk-taking behaviour.
    Keywords: microeconomics ;
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2011013&r=knm

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