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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2014‒08‒16
nine papers chosen by Laura Ştefănescu Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor |
| By: | Drivas, Kyriakos; Economidou, Claire; Karkalakos, Sotiris |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of spatial concentration of innovation activity on local production of patents in the US. In doing so, we augment the standard knowledge production function with a structure that allows for spatial effects, accounting along with bilateral also for multilateral influences across states. Our findings corroborate with past evidence on the important role of state’s own R&D stock and human capital in producing new inventions. In addition, external knowledge, via spatial interactions, is also a purveyor of local innovation production. The effect is stronger when we consider spatial influences from all states, in particular from the most innovative ones, and to a lesser extent from close neighboring states. Finally, spillovers are more likely to occur between states with similar technological specialization, which share common technological knowledge and pour similar technological effort. |
| Keywords: | patents, innovation, knowledge production, spatial |
| JEL: | C21 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57861&r=knm |
| By: | Priit Vahter (University of Tartu, Estonia); James H. Love (Aston Business School); Stephen Roper (Warwick University Business School) |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, literature on open innovation has concentrated on analysis of larger firms. We explore whether and how the benefits of openness in innovation are different for small firms (less than 50 employees) compared to medium and large ones. Using panel data over a long time period (1994-2008) from Irish manufacturing plants, we find that small plants have on average significantly lower levels of openness, a pattern which has not changed significantly since the early 1990s. However, the effect of ‘breadth’ of openness (i.e. variety of innovation linkages) on innovation performance is stronger for small firms than for larger firms. For small firms (with 10-49 employees) external linkages account for around 40 per cent of innovative sales compared to around 25 per cent in larger firms. Small plants also reach the limits to benefitting from openness at lower levels of breadth of openness than larger firms. Our results suggest that small firms can gain significantly from adopting an open innovation strategy, but for such firms appropriate partner choice is a particularly important issue. |
| Keywords: | open innovation, SMEs, boundary-spanning linkages, learning effects, Ireland |
| JEL: | O31 O32 L25 |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enr:rpaper:0012&r=knm |
| By: | Antonelli, Cristiano; Fassio, Claudio (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The paper implements the Schumpeterian notion of creative reaction to articulate and test the hypothesis that the shift to the knowledge economy in advanced economies is the result of the creative reaction of firms, caught in out - of - equilibrium conditions by the fast globalization of product and factor markets since the last decades of the XX century. Advanced countries specialized in the generation and exploitation of knowledge because of its relative abundance stemming from their sophisticated knowledge governance mechanisms and the larges tock of knowledg. On its turn this had strong ositive effects on TFP . The empirical analysis confirms that in advanced economies the specialization in knowledge - based activities substituted the previous specialization in mass-manufacturing activities supporting the increase of TFP. The new specialization in knowledge intensive activities has been stronger the larger was the exposition to international trade, the intensity of patent activities and the revenue per capita. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201418&r=knm |
| By: | Kevin Levillain (CGS - Centre de Gestion Scientifique - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris); Blanche Segrestin (CGS - Centre de Gestion Scientifique - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris); Armand Hatchuel (CGS - Centre de Gestion Scientifique - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) |
| Abstract: | Venture Capital is generally thought to be a key link in the complex chain of financing for young innovative firms. By helping them at critical stages of innovation development, it would help an economy to leverage its public research and sustain its growth. However, recent research reveals that the performance of VC funds, both internal (profitability) and external (growth), does not reach the expectations. In this paper, we aim to show that paradoxically, the theoretical model of VC conveyed by the literature does not take the management of innovation into account, and makes unrealistic assumptions on the composition of project portfolios. Conversely, based on interviews with some VC funds managers, we show that actual funds can invent alternative management models, for example based on the structuration of ecosystems for the start-ups, the development of "external valuation" mechanisms, or the creation of synergies between financed projects. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00969096&r=knm |
| By: | Tiago Soares (FEP-UP, School of Economics and Management, University of Porto); Samuel Pereira (FEP-UP, School of Economics and Management, University of Porto); Elísio Brandão (FEP-UP, School of Economics and Management, University of Porto) |
| Abstract: | R&D expenditures made by companies, and governmental policies oriented for the promotion of these expenditures in the private sector, are nowadays considered variables that have an impact on firms’ growth in the medium term. This study aims at understanding the simultaneous influence of R&D investment and R&D tax incentives on firms’ growth, for different technological and knowledge-intensity industries. For that, a panel data of 1127 firms belonging to 35 different industries from 21 OECD countries, during the period between 2003 and 2012, was used. The results of the econometric estimation confirm, as foreseen in the literature, the positive effect for firms’ net sales growth of their investment in R&D and of tax policies that benefit the firms which perform these types of activities, particularly in high-tech firms. The results also returned a positive effect of R&D intensity in firms’ growth in the period before crisis (2003 - 2007) and a negative and significant crossover effect of R&D tax credits and R&D intensity in firms’ growth for the period before crisis. The two factors remain insignificant in crisis period, suggesting that other factors gained a more powerful explanation of a firm’s growth in that period. |
| Keywords: | R&D investment, R&D tax credits, firm’s growth |
| JEL: | H20 H30 H81 O32 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:540&r=knm |
| By: | Pedro Bento (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | I incorporate an insight of Friedrich Hayek - that competition allows a thousand flowers to bloom, and discovers the best among them - into a model of Schumpeterian innovation. Firms face uncertainty about the optimal direction of innovation, so more innovations implies a higher expected value of the `best' innovation. The model accounts for two seemingly contradictory relationships reported in recent empirical studies - a positive relationship between competition and industry-level productivity growth, and an inverted-U relationship between competition and firm-level innovation. Notwithstanding the positive relationship between competition and growth, I find antitrust policy reduces industry-level growth. |
| Keywords: | competition, innovation, productivity growth, inverted-u, antitrust, regulation |
| JEL: | O31 O40 L41 L51 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:13-10&r=knm |
| By: | Kühnhausen, Fabian |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I evaluate the impact of innovative activity of financial agents on their fragility in a competitive framework. There exist a vast array of concerns about the interconnection of financial innovations, financial distress of firms and financial crises provided by theoretical arguments. I build on these and assess empirically the causal link between a financial agents' innovativeness and stability. Using a unique data set on financial innovations in the USA between 1990 and 2002, I show that a larger degree of innovation negatively (positively) affects firm stability (fragility) after controlling for the underlying firm characteristics. The results are robust against different modifications of innovation measures and against different fragility parameters indicating profitability, activity risk and risk of insolvency. |
| Keywords: | Incentives to Innovate; Financial Innovation; Fragility |
| JEL: | G01 G2 L11 O31 |
| Date: | 2014–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:muenec:21173&r=knm |
| By: | Peter van der Zwan |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on SMEs – firms with 250 employees at most – and the proportion of their requested loan that is granted by the bank. Financial data for SMEs in 38 European countries for 2011 are used (SMEs’ Access to Finance survey) to test the relationship between ownership structure and innovation on the one hand and loan application success on the other hand. The set of control variables includes firm age, firm size, past firm growth, expected firm growth, and sector orientation. Focusing on the determinants of access to finance is important because restricted access could hinder firm growth. It turns out that SMEs that are part of a business group and SMEs with a multiple ownership structure have higher probabilities of receiving the requested bank loan than SMEs with a single owner. There is some evidence that female owned business have more success regarding their loan applications than male owned businesses. Furthermore, SMEs that adopt product or process innovations are less likely to receive the requested loan than SMEs that do not display innovative behavior. The robustness of these findings across several model specifications is shown and the implications of the findings are discussed. |
| Date: | 2014–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eim:papers:h201404&r=knm |
| By: | Sophie Hooge (CGS - Centre de Gestion Scientifique - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris); Albert David (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris IX - Paris Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | Despite literature has widely investigated the logics of ideation, at early stages of innovation and product development processes (Bjork and Magnusson, 2009; Boeddrich, 2004; Girotra et al., 2010), very few contributions deal with the very starting point of the ideation process, i.e. the initial theme given to workshops participants. Nevertheless, scholars' works on the nature of stimuli and examples (Smith et al.,1993; Ward et al., 2004) underlined they could generate heterogeneous effects on the efficiency of the ideation stage. Moreover, whereas efficiency criteria for creativity sessions are well known (fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration), creativity techniques focus on the improvement and monitoring of ideation management: the problem of designing the initial theme is seldom included in the design parameters of creativity sessions, as if it was not considered as an issue in research on creativity management. Yet, one consequence of the above mentioned literature results is that it should be a key efficiency factor: the formulation could play a key role in conditioning cognitive involvement of individuals and managerial goals achievement. This paper focuses on this specific problem of formulating an efficient theme for a creativity session and its implications on cognitive involvement of facilitators and participants, and the achievement of managerial goals of the session. Based on a single case study led through collaborative action research with the French postal service operator, our research analyses the impacts of the formulation in three innovative-oriented creativity workshops the authors have organized and steered from May to October 2013. The three workshops themes were built to experiment the impact of the theme formulation on: 1/ creativity techniques efficiency according traditional criteria and facilitators' cognitive involvement; and 2/ participants' satisfaction assessed through their ability to link the theme, thus the generated ideas, to the company's innovation strategy. The exploratory study confirms that the formulation of the theme has important consequences, both cognitive and managerial. A first set of results suggests two main dimensions to describe the nature and structure of a theme naming: the accuracy level of the formulation and the degree of conceptual tension. A second set of results is about concrete reasoning when designing the theme and implementing in the formulation links to the firm's strategy. A third set of results is about consequences of theme formulation on the way the creativity session is designed and steered. Key dimensions include: 1/ The degree of cognitive implication of facilitators; 2/ The nature of stimuli and idea generation techniques used during the session (generic versus custom-made); 3/ The degree of commitment of the actors (designers of the theme, facilitators and participants) to the organization's strategy, i.e. to what gives value to the output of the creativity session. |
| Keywords: | Creativity; theme formulation; cognitive involvement; performance |
| Date: | 2014–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00987220&r=knm |