nep-knm New Economics Papers
on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy
Issue of 2012‒12‒06
nine papers chosen by
Laura Stefanescu
European Research Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration

  1. Regional dimension of small innovation business By Volkova N.N.
  2. Innovation Drivers, Value Chains and the Geography of Multinational Firms in European Regions By Riccardo Crescenzi; Carlo Pietrobelli; Roberta Rabellotti
  3. The Informal Entanglement of Knowledge, Guanxi and Technology: Evidence from China and a New Theory. By Davison, R.M.; Martinsons, M.G.; Ou, C.X.J.
  4. Intellectual Property Rights and Efficient Firm Organization By Ponzetto, Giacomo AM
  5. Knowledge and Growth in the Very Long Run By Holger Strulik
  6. The Co-evolution of ICT, Skills and Organization in Public Administrations: Evidence from new European country-level data. By Paolo Seri; Antonello Zanfei
  7. The influence of eco-innovation supply chain practices on business eco-efficiency By Azevedo, Susana; Cudney, Elizabeth A.; Grilo, António; Carvalho, Helena; Cruz-Machado, V.
  8. THE PRODUCTIVITY OF INNOVATION IN PORTUGAL By Nuno Araújo; Leonardo Costa
  9. Une organisation performante : l'éclairage du diagnostic organisationnel By Christophe Everaere

  1. By: Volkova N.N.
    Date: 2012–11–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nos:taxcti:article_5&r=knm
  2. By: Riccardo Crescenzi; Carlo Pietrobelli; Roberta Rabellotti
    Abstract: This paper investigates the geography of multinational corporations’ investments in the EU regions. The ‘traditional’ sources of location advantages (i.e. agglomeration economies, market access and labour market conditions) are considered together with innovation and socio-institutional drivers of investments, captured by means of regional “social filter” conditions. The introduction of a wider set of attraction factors makes is possible to empirically assess the different role played by such advantages in the location decision of investments at different stages of the value chain and disentangle the differential role of national vs. local and regional factors. The empirical analysis covers the EU-25 regions and suggests that regional-socio economic conditions are crucially important for an understanding of the location investment decisions in the most sophisticated knowledge-intensive stages of the value chain.
    Keywords: Innovation, Multinationals, Systems of Innovation, Value Chains, Regions, European Union
    JEL: F21 F23 O33 R12 R58
    Date: 2012–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eiq:eileqs:53&r=knm
  3. By: Davison, R.M.; Martinsons, M.G.; Ou, C.X.J. (Tilburg University)
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:tilbur:urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-5660667&r=knm
  4. By: Ponzetto, Giacomo AM
    Abstract: This paper shows that intellectual property rights yield static efficiency gains, irrespective of their dynamic role in fostering innovation. I develop a property-rights model of firm organization with two dimensions of non-contractible investment: how much cost-minimizing effort to exert, and whether to direct it towards partnership or defection. In equilibrium, the first best can be attained if and only if property rights are as strong for intangible as for tangible assets. When IP rights are weaker, the structure of the firm is distorted and efficiency declines. An entrepreneur must either integrate her suppliers, which induces a fall in their investment; or else risk their defection, which entails a waste of her human capital. My model predicts greater prevalence of vertical integration in response to weaker IP rights. It also predicts a switch from integration to outsourcing over the product cycle. Both empirical predictions are consistent with evidence on the organization of multinational companies. As a normative implication, I find that IP rights should be strong but narrowly defined, to protect one business opportunity without holding up its potential spin-offs.
    Keywords: Hold-up problem; Intellectual property; Licensing; Organization; Outsourcing; Product cycle; Property rights; Spin-off; Vertical integration
    JEL: D23 D86 K11 L22 L24 O34
    Date: 2012–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9212&r=knm
  5. By: Holger Strulik
    Abstract: This paper proposes a theory for the gradual evolution of knowledge diffusion and growth over the very long run. A feedback mechanism between capital accumulation and the ease of knowledge diffusion explains a long epoch of (quasi-) stasis and an epoch of high growth linked by a gradual economic take-off. It is shown how the feedback mechanism can explain the Great Divergence, the failure of less developed countries to attract capital from abroad, and a productivity slowdown in fully developed countries. An extension towards a two-region world economy shows robustness of the gradual take-off and other interesting interaction between forerunners and followers of the Industrial Revolution.
    Keywords: Industrial Revolution; Endogenous Growth; Knowledge Diffusion; Productivity Slowdown; Convergence; Divergence.
    JEL: O10 O30 O40 E22
    Date: 2012–11–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:cegedp:145&r=knm
  6. By: Paolo Seri (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo"); Antonello Zanfei (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Università di Urbino "Carlo Bo")
    Abstract: During the past two decades a big effort has been made in exploring the complementarities between information and communications technology (ICT) adoption, investment in human capital and organizational change, and how these affect economic performance. Such investigations, however, remain substantially circumscribed to private sectors, while the role of these factors in Public Sector performance has been largely disregarded. In this paper we aim at filling this gap in empirical literature by combining different data-sources and constructing a panel of comparable data about output quality, input costs, ICT investments, skills and organizational changes in Public Administrations of 15 European countries. We propose an index-based approach to the measurement of PA performance relying on the adoption of public e-services as a proxy of revealed output quality, and provide an econometric analysis of how the co-evolution of ICT, skills and organizational factors affect Government effectiveness.
    Keywords: Innovation in public services, ICTs, Organizational change, Skills.
    JEL: O14 O33 L32
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:12_17&r=knm
  7. By: Azevedo, Susana; Cudney, Elizabeth A.; Grilo, António; Carvalho, Helena; Cruz-Machado, V.
    Abstract: This paper aims to study the influence of eco-innovation practices on eco-efficiency of business, which embraces environmental and economic performance. Four hypotheses are drawn up based on the existing literature in green supply chain and considering the business innovation. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data on a sample of USA and Portuguese innovative organizations. Multivariate statistics and Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modelling techniques were used to test the proposed hypothesis. The statistical analysis allows to conclude that there are differences between the eco-innovation practices deployed by organizations belonging to different sectors and with different sizes. Also, it was found that the level of implementation of the different eco-innovation practices by organizations influence the eco-efficiency of businesses.
    Keywords: Eco-innovation; eco-efficiency; economic performance; environmental performance
    JEL: C14 C12 C42 M21
    Date: 2012–11–17
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:42704&r=knm
  8. By: Nuno Araújo (Centro de Apoio Tecnológico à Indústria Metalomecânica); Leonardo Costa (Faculdade de Economia e Gestão - Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto)
    Abstract: We view innovation as a productive process, with outputs and inputs. We aim at compare the productivity of innovation across the twenty seven Member States of the European Union (EU-27), having a particular focus on Portugal. The data on inputs and outputs of innovation were collected from the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2010 report and covers the EU-27 Member States, from 2006 to 2010. The Total Factor Productivity index (TFP index) was used as the technique for data analysis. The choice of this technique was mainly determined by its flexibility and by data constraints. Two types of TFP indexes were computed: i) TFPt (time), which compares the productivity of innovation in each Member State with its productivity in a base year; ii) TFPs (space), which compares the productivity of innovation in each Member State with the productivity of the EU-27 average. Results show larger TFPs differences across Member States than TFPt differences. Concerning TFPt, there is a reduction of productivity of most of the Member States during the time length, which can be explained by the recent world financial crisis. This was the case of Portugal, where average TFPt in the time length is slightly below 1. The seven Member States that did not lose any productivity are mostly from Eastern Europe, Member Sates which have entered the European Union and accede to its structural funds more recently. Concerning TFPs, Portugal presents average TFPs well above 1. The Portuguese average TFPs value is close to the one of Germany and higher than the one of Sweden. The Innovation Union Scoreboard 2010 report classifies Portugal as Moderate innovator and Germany and Sweden as innovation leaders. We conclude that productivity of innovation in Portugal is similar to the one of Germany and higher than the one of Sweden. Differences between Portugal and those Member States, such as the ones reported in the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2010, can be explained by the fact of Portugal having fewer resources allocated to innovation and thus fewer outputs from innovation than Germany or Sweden have.
    Keywords: TFP index, productivity, innovation
    Date: 2012–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cap:wpaper:052012&r=knm
  9. By: Christophe Everaere (EA3713 - Centre de Recherche Magellan - Université de Lyon - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III)
    Abstract: Cette partie concacrée au diagnostic organisationnel comporte trois niveaux d'analyse : - Un diagnostic de la structure destiné à identifier, comprendre et évaluer les logiques officielles de fonctionnement d'une organisation (partie émergée de l'iceberg). Y a-t-il cohérence dans les caractéristiques du contexte et les principes de fonctionnement de l'organisation ? - Un diagnostic des interactions dans la partie plutôt immergée de l'organisation. N'y a-t-il pas trop de dysfonctionnements, de tensions, de conflits, de rapports de force, d'aberrations engendrés par des jeux d'acteurs qui profitent plus ou moins des incertitudes, des ambiguïtés, et des imperfections inhérentes à tout système organisé, en privilégiant leur intérêt personnel sur l'intérêt collectif ? - Un diagnostic de la culture, des valeurs et des identités présentes dans l'entreprise. Les membres d'une organisation partagent-ils un minimum de valeurs communes, sont-ils un minimum d'accord sur les priorités de l'organisation, sur ce qui est important, accessoire, acceptable ou inacceptable ? Sans un socle commun et partagé de valeurs et d'adhésion aux priorités stratégiques et aux principes de fonctionnement d'une organisation, ses membres ne peuvent pas travailler efficacement - ensemble - et tendre vers une performance collective
    Keywords: diagnostic ; performance ; organisation ; cohérence ; interactions ; cohésion
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00745115&r=knm

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