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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2011‒11‒01
eight papers chosen by Laura Stefanescu European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration |
| By: | Ana Pérez-Luño (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Ramón Valle-Cabrera (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | Using the resource-based view, this paper aims to provide a better understanding of the effect of knowledge on innovation. With this general aim in mind, we relate knowledge’s nature (tacit vs. explicit) and the process (e.g., knowledge exchange and combination) to innovation. Using a sample of 105 marketing and 176 R&D managers from 105 innovative firms, we find a positive linear effect of tacit knowledge on innovation and a U-shaped relationship between knowledge exchange and combination and innovation. We also find an enhancing effect of tacit knowledge on the first part of the curvilinear relationship between knowledge exchange and combination and innovation. |
| Keywords: | : R&D, patents, knowledge, inventions |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpbsad:11.04&r=knm |
| By: | Landström, Hans (CIRCLE, Lund University); Harirchi , Gouya (Copenhagen Business School); Åström, Fredrik (Lund UNiversity) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurship research has a long tradition and since the 1980s the field has grown significantly. In this study we identify the ‘knowledge producers’ who have shaped the field over time and their core entrepreneurship research works. A unique database consisting of all references in twelve entrepreneurship ‘handbooks’ (or state-of-the-art books) has been developed. The chapters in these handbooks were written by experts within the field, and it can be assumed that the most frequently cited references represent ‘core knowledge’ with relevance to entrepreneurship research. <p> From our analysis, it appears that entrepreneurship is a rather changeable field of research, closely linked to disciplines such as ‘management studies’ and ‘economics’. Over time, the field has become more formalized with its own core knowledge, research specialities and an increasing number of ‘insider works’. However, it is still based on some fairly old theoretical frameworks imported from mainstream disciplines, although during the last decade we have seen the emergence of a number of new field-specific concepts and theories. We argue that to successfully develop entrepreneurship research in the future, we need to relate new research opportunities to earlier knowledge within the field, which calls for a stronger ‘knowledge-based’ focus. We would also like to see greater integration between the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation studies in the future. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; research field; handbooks; bibliometric analysis |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2011–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2011_008&r=knm |
| By: | Fiorenza Belussi (University of Padova); Silvia Rita Sedita (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | This article deepens the theoretical understanding of learning processes in industrial districts (IDs) by analysing the emergent and deliberate structures that favour knowledge transfer at the local and distance level. An analytical framework illustrates district-learning dynamics through two mechanisms. The first is the exploitation of local knowledge structures. The second is the exploration of distant knowledge structures. We claim that a combination of the two mechanisms enhances the competitiveness of industrial districts in the global arena. We illustrate how these theoretical reflections find empirical evidence in the case of the Lake Naivasha cut-flower district in Kenya. |
| Keywords: | industrial districts, knowledge structure, business networks, communities of practice. |
| JEL: | R0 O1 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0141&r=knm |
| By: | Edquist, Charles (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | ‘Activities’ in innovation systems are the determinants of the development and diffusion of innovations. Examples are R&D, provision of organizations and institutions, financing of innovations, incubation, etc. These activities are partly performed by private organizations and partly by public organizations, the latter performing tasks that constitute innovation policy. As a basis for innovation policy, the problems (failures) in the systems must be identified. This paper focuses upon the design of innovation policy through diagnostic analysis; it provides a framework for identification of systemic problems (or failures) in innovation systems. |
| Keywords: | Innovations systems; innovation policy |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2011–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2011_006&r=knm |
| By: | Corinne Autant-Bernard (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne,F-42000, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne, Saint-Etienne, F-42000, France) |
| Abstract: | Preliminary introduced by Anselin, Varga and Acs (1997) spatial econometric tools are widely used in economic geography of innovation. Taking into account spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity of regional innovation, this paper analyzes how these techniques have improved the ability to quantify knowledge spillovers, to measure their spatial extent, and to explore the underlying mechanisms and especially the interactions between geographical and social distance. It is also argued that the recent developments of spatio-dynamic models opens new research lines to investigate the temporal dimension of both spatial knowledge flows and innovation networks, two issues that should rank high in the research agenda of the geography of innovation. |
| Keywords: | Geography of innovation, spatial correlation, spatio‐dynamic panels, innovation networks |
| JEL: | O31 R12 C31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1120&r=knm |
| By: | Dutz, Mark A.; Kessides, Ioannis; O'Connell, Stephen; Willig, Robert D. |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the strength of innovation-driven employment growth, the role of competition in stimulating and facilitating it, and whether it is inclusive. In a sample of more than 26,000 manufacturing establishments across 71 countries (both OECD and developing), the authors find that firms that innovate in products or processes, or that have attained higher total factor productivity, exhibit higher employment growth than non-innovative firms. The strength of firms'innovation-driven employment growth is significantly positively associated with the share of the firms'workforce that is unskilled, debunking the conventional wisdom that innovation-driven growth is not inclusive in that it is focused on jobs characterized by higher levels of qualification. They also find that young firms have higher propensities for product or process innovation in countries with better Doing Business ranks (both overall and ranks for constituent components focused on credit availability and property registration). Firms generally innovate more and show greater employment growth if they are exposed to more information (through internet use and membership in business organizations) and are exporters. The empirical results support the policy propositions that innovation is a powerful driver of employment growth, that innovation-driven growth is inclusive in its creation of unskilled jobs, and that the underlying innovations are fostered by a pro-competitive business environment providing ready access to information, financing, export opportunities, and other essential business services that facilitate the entry and expansion of young firms. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies,Labor Markets,E-Business,Microfinance |
| Date: | 2011–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5852&r=knm |
| By: | Massimiliano Mazzanti; Davide Antonioli; Susanna Mancinelli |
| Abstract: | Many scholars have highlighted the role of high performance work practices (HPWP) and Human Resource Management (HRM) as contents of organizational change that integrate with green business strategies, mainly in the realm of the ‘Porter paradigm of change’ and competitive advantage. We investigate whether manufacturing firms, in light of the challenges that the path to a ‘Green economy’ poses, have given heavier weight in most recent times to internal sources of environmental innovation (EI) that refer to structural mechanisms of organizational change. More specifically, we analyse how the complementarity between different performance oriented strategies such as training and organizational innovations of labor and production can (jointly) foster the adoption of relatively more radical innovations, as environmental ones are. We use an original dataset on 555 Italian industrial firms on EI and high performance work practices, coherent with the last CIS5 survey, to analyse whether various, more or less radical, forms of environmental innovations are correlated to complementarity investments in HPWP/HRM. Empirical evidence shows that the strict complementarity assumption is not valid as a general rule for the HPWP/HRM strategies we analyse. We indeed find that trade offs (substitutability) is present when training competencies and organizational change in production are investigated. Weaknesses in organizational change processes are then highlighted for the sake of management restructuring. Sector specificity and market conditions eventually matter: the only case where we do find strict complementarities in organizational change is for CO2 abatement, a relatively more radical type of EI, but when we restrict the sample to more polluting (and regulated) firms. This evidence is coherent with the Porter hypothesis: complementarity related adoption of EI is an element of organizational change in firms that are subject to more stringent regulations. The fact that strict complementarity is not a diffused factor behind the adoption of all environmental innovations does not come indeed at a surprise. At this stage of development of green strategies, the share of eco-firms is still limited even in advanced countries that are seeking for new competitiveness tools. Market Leaders do find innovations sources mainly ‘outside’ the boundaries instead of reshaping organizations along complementary green lines. The integration of EIs with the internal capabilities and firm’s own assets is far from being reached even in advanced and competitive industrial settings. |
| Keywords: | environmental innovations; complementarity; HRM; HPWP; training; innovation survey; manufacturing firms; Porter hypothesis |
| JEL: | L6 M53 O3 Q55 |
| Date: | 2011–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:201115&r=knm |
| By: | Alberto Marzucchi |
| Abstract: | The present paper aims to analyse the innovation policies implemented in Italy and Spain. It adopts a multi-level perspective to investigate the effects induced by regional and national public supports and a multi-dimensional approach to disentangle the different types of additionality impacts on firms’ innovation process. In particular input, output and behavioural additionality are considered. The results, obtained through a propensity score matching estimation of the average treatment effect on treated (ATT) implemented on CIS 4 microdata, capture a complex picture. In both the countries only national policies increase R&D investment. As for output additionality, whereas Spanish regional and national policies enhance the economic exploitation of new products and patent applications, Italian interventions boost only process innovation. As for the behavioural additionality, mixed evidences emerge for regional Italian policies, for which some negative effects are also found, Italian national interventions positively affect interactions with other firms and research partners, Spanish policies (both national and regional) induce funded firms to engage in formal training and to interact more with business and research partners. A tentative analysis of the “risk of policy failure†is also provided. Apart from Italian regional policies, for which no significant result is found, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients reveal that the (rank of the) ATT calculated for each additionality measure is negatively related to the (rank of the) corresponding coefficient of variation. High TTs are thus correlated with low dispersions. |
| Keywords: | innovation policy, R&D subsidies, additionality |
| JEL: | O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpol:1110&r=knm |