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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2015‒01‒03
seventeen papers chosen by Laura Ştefănescu Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor |
| By: | Andrea Bellucci; Luca Pennacchio |
| Abstract: | In recent decades firms have intensified the exploration of external sources of knowledge to enhance their innovation capabilities. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the factors that affect the importance of academic knowledge for firms’ innovative activities. An integrated approach that simultaneously considers country-level and firm-level factors is adopted. Regarding the former factors, the analysis shows that the entrepreneurial orientation of university and the quality of academic research increase the importance of knowledge transfers from universities to firms. This suggests that the environmental and institutional context contribute to explain cross-national disparities in university-industry interactions and in the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. In regard to the latter factors, the results indicate that firms oriented toward open search strategies and radical innovations are more likely to draw knowledge from universities. Furthermore, firms belonging to high technology sectors and firms with high absorptive capacity place greater value on the various links with universities. With respect to firm size the estimates show an inverted U-shaped relation with the importance of universities as a source of knowledge. However, the greatest benefits from interacting with universities are achieved by small and young research-active firms. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, industry-university links, knowledge transfer, university entrepreneurial orientation |
| JEL: | O32 O33 L20 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaw:iawdip:113&r=knm |
| By: | Simplice Anutechia Asongu (Association of African Young Economists) |
| Abstract: | Africa’s overall knowledge index fell between 2000 and 2009. South Korea’s economic miracle is largely due to a knowledge-based development strategy that holds valuable lessons for African countries in their current pursuit towards knowledge economies. Using updated data (1996-2010), this paper presents fresh South Korean lessons to Africa by assessing the knowledge economy (KE) gaps, deriving policy syndromes and providing catch-up strategies. The 53 African frontier countries are decomposed into fundamental characteristics of wealth, legal origins, regional proximity, oil-exporting, political stability and landlockedness. The World Bank’s four KE components are used: education, innovation, information & communication technology (ICT) and economic incentives & institutional regime. Absolute beta and sigma convergence techniques are employed as empirical strategies. With the exception of ICT for which catch-up is not very apparent, in increasing order it is visible in: innovation, economic incentives, education and institutional regime. The speed of catch-up varies between 8.66% and 30.00% per annum with respective time to full or 100% catch-up of 34.64 years and 10 years. Based on the trends and dynamics in the KE gaps, policy syndromes and compelling catch-up strategies are discussed. Issues standing on the way to KE in Africa are dissected with great acuteness before South Korean relevant solutions are provided. The paper is original in its provision of practical policy initiatives drawn from the Korean experience to African countries embarking on a transition to KE. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge economy, Catch-up, South Korea, Africa |
| JEL: | O10 O30 O38 O55 O57 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aay:wpaper:14_026&r=knm |
| By: | Rodriguez-Pose, Andres; Villarreal Peralta, Edna Maria |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the factors driving regional growth in Mexico, paying special attention to the potentially growth-enhancing role of innovation and innovation policy. The analysis combines innovation variables with indicators linked to the formation of adequate social conditions for innovation (the social filter), and spillovers for 31 Mexican states and the Mexico City capital district (the Distrito Federal) during the period 2000-2010. The results indicate that regional economic growth across Mexican states stems from direct investment in R&D in areas with favorable social filters and which can benefit not only from knowledge spillovers, but also from being surrounded by rich neighbors with good social conditions. The results stress that, although Mexican innovation policy has been relatively well targeted in order to generate greater economic growth, its relatively modest size may have undermined the attainment of its main objectives. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; innovation; Mexico; regional convergence; socio-economic conditions |
| JEL: | O32 O33 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10153&r=knm |
| By: | Reinhilde Veugelers |
| Abstract: | To better understand how academic research can contribute to innovative growth and to assess how Europe is and could be doing in this respect, we review the analysis and evidence of business science links and Europe’s record on this. The evidence and analysis shows that the link between science and industry is neither direct nor obvious. When looking at the evidence for Europe, there is a general lagging behind relative to the US, particularly on academic patenting and university spin-offs. Patenting and licensing is only two of a number of pathways for the transfer of knowledge from universities to industry, and perhaps not even the best forms. Student & researchers’ mobility from academe to industry is a critical mechanism to transfer knowledge from the university to industry, particularly when the knowledge to be transferred is hard to codify and is embodied in human capital as is the case for science-based knowledge. Although this is an area of great importance to the study of the innovation process, only recently research has started to attempt to trace researchers’ intersectoral mobility When looking for ways to improve the transfers from science to innovation, most of the attention in the academic literature and policy is on finding the critical success factors on the science side. Most of this analysis looks at academic patenting and faculty spin-offs and comes from best US practices. These include proper intellectual property right regimes, where Bayh-Dole type of reforms which allocate property rights to the university, are considered to have cleared the path towards tech transfer in the US. Other best practices include having in place incentive schemes for tech transfers, with a fair share for researchers in royaltees and spin-offs and having in place a dedicated technology transfer office, which critical scale, expertise and experience in mediating technology transfer. But perhaps the most important success factor for tech transfer identified is the quality of the research faculty and their created ideas. Overall, the most salient policy recommendations that stems from the analysis is that policy makers looking for ways to improve the contribution of universities to innovation based growth, should take a long-term perspective for developing an industry-science eco-system, avoiding the temptation of quick “success stories”. A particular dangerous policy practice is a target focusing only on the commercialization of university technologies through academic patenting and spin-offs, ignoring the broader contribution to economic development with other pathways, most notably the research based training and mobility of human capital from universities. Policy makers should be more “innovative” in their search for effective policy interventions, venturing beyond the classic spin-off and incubator programs. At the same time, they should be more serious about evaluating their new and existing instruments. To progress, policy makers should support more systematic data collection and analysis on the various pathways for universities’ contribution to economic prosperity. |
| Keywords: | Academic research, Clusters, Innovation, Innovation policy, New technologies, Patents, Research |
| JEL: | O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feu:wfewop:y:2014:m:12:d:0:i:71&r=knm |
| By: | Peeters, T.J.G. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | With rapidly shifting technological frontiers, innovative organizations cannot rely solely on internally generated knowledge and technologies anymore. Therefore, externally developed knowledge and technologies are getting more and more important in the development of new products. Not surprisingly, the search and use of external knowledge by innovating organizations is at the locus of scholarly attention. However, the literature has not yet been able to fully map its antecedents and consequences. To date, we only have a limited understanding of how external knowledge is used in the development of new products, especially in relation to internally generated knowledge. Furthermore, we do not have a clear picture yet of how successful organizations are in searching external knowledge. Drawing on analyses of two distinct datasets, this dissertation presents three interrelated studies that aim to advance our understanding of how external knowledge can be successfully searched and used in new product development. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:300ebb34-b090-4210-b95e-fa05300af189&r=knm |
| By: | Simplice Anutechia Asongu (Association of African Young Economists) |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to assess how knowledge economy (KE) plays out in financial sector competition. It suggests a practicable way to disentangle the effects of different components of KE on various financial sectors. The variables identified under the World Bank’s four knowledge economy index (KEI) are employed. An endogeneity robust panel instrumental variable fixed-effects estimation strategy is employed on data from 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010. The following findings are established. First, education and innovation in terms of scientific and technical publications broadly bear an inverse nexus with financial development. Second, the incidence of information and communication technologies is positive on all financial sectors but increases the non-formal sectors to the detriment of the formal sector. Third, economic incentives have positive implications for all sectors though the formal financial sector benefits most. Fourth, institutional regime is positive (negative) for the semi-formal (informal) financial sector. The findings contribute at the same time to the macroeconomic literature on measuring financial development and respond to the growing fields of informal sector importance, microfinance and mobile banking by means of KE promotion. Policy implications and future research directions are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Financial development, Knowledge Economy, Africa |
| JEL: | G21 O10 O34 P00 P48 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aay:wpaper:14_018&r=knm |
| By: | Benneworth,Paul; Olmos-Peñuela,Julia |
| Abstract: | This is a position paper addressing the debate about the nature of how research is utilised and measured that questions the prevalent practice of measuring terminal use transactions (TUTs) – i.e. patents, spin-outs or license income – for measuring research impact. In so doing, our starting point is that a science system is a progressive business in which any piece of research builds on a whole set of antecedent research and knowledge. We contend that the extent of research utilisation across this science system is determined by the extent to which antecedent research can feed into research that ultimately feeds into these TUTs. We introduce the concept of ‘valorizers’ as research users that valorise knowledge by transforming it into the socio-economic domain, for the purpose of defining the ‘usability’ of antecedent research as the ease with which it may contribute to research that valorizers are able to absorb. We argue that the flow into the pool of ‘usable knowledge’ is ultimately dependent on the extent to which newly created scientific knowledge is cognate with valorizer needs and that more consideration need to be given to the processes by which research creates knowledge that is usable through the course of the research cycle. |
| Keywords: | Research utilisation, research usability, research usefulness, research valorisation, terminal use transaction, antecedent utilisation transaction, research cycle |
| JEL: | I23 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2014–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201410&r=knm |
| By: | Stepan Zemtsov |
| Abstract: | Innovation development is declared as one of the key objectives of social and economic policy in Russia. The purpose of the work was to identify regions with the highest innovation capacity and developed regional innovation system, where support of innovation activities would be the most effective. The hypothesis was that innovation capacity can be expressed as a probability function, which dependent on density and concentration of innovators and intensity of their interaction. Taking in account the hypothesis, gravity model of patent activity per capita was used to estimate creative potential of Russian regions. Patent activity in Russia declined significantly from 60000 granted patents in 1989 to 22500 in 2012. The largest cities and closed science cities are still the sources of new technologies, but activity in the Moscow core decreased from 230 to 30 patents / 100 thousand residents in 1999. Patents are not innovations in the full sense of the term, because they may not be implemented. The official Russian statistics is not perfect because of optionality of statistical forms filling. Most of approaches for capacity assessment in Russia based on index compilation and have several disadvantages: correlation between indicators, non-normal distribution of indicators, etc. Considering the disadvantages the author collected a database of 38 indicators of innovation sphere, and conducted normal distribution, correlation and factor analyses. The indicators of the first factor are: estimation of economic-geographical position; percentage of residents in cities with population more than 200 thousand people (%); percentage of people with a higher education (%), number of university students per 10 thousand people; percentage of employees in R & D sector in total employment (%); number of registered patents per 1000 employees; percentage of organizations with a website (%). Six groups of regions were identified: ?innovation core' (index = 1 ? 0.7); ?highly developed' (0.7 ? 0.6); ?regions with a strong science sector' (0.6 ? 0.5); ?regions of basic sectors of the economy' (0.5 ? 0.4); ?regions with limited potential' (0.4 ? 0.3); and ?peripheral regions' (less than 0.3). To prove the correctness of the chosen indicators probit-regression between the index and international PCT-applications was made. The regression results are compared with the results for other existing indexes. The probability of new technology generation in Moscow among all regions close to 1, and it is close to zero in Chukotka. The work has confirmed the hypothesis of high concentration of potential in major agglomerations and research centres. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; potential; regions; development; |
| JEL: | R12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p138&r=knm |
| By: | Paula Puskarova; Philipp Piribauer |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to identify the contribution of knowledge capital and its determinant - human capital - to total factor productivity differences among regions within a regression framework in general and the impact of their spillovers on regional total factor productivity in particular. The focus is laid on interregional spillovers between the Western and Eastern EU and namely, within the triangle of capital regions Vienna-Budapest-Bratislava. The results challenge some previous empirical studies in the sense that once the human capital is accounted for, the significance and magnitude of spillovers from conventional reservoirs of knowledge - patent stocks - falls. Vienna appears to be the largest contributor to the productivity increases in Bratislava. Budapest's productivity seems to be sensitive to knowledge and human capital endowments of EU, but not those of Vienna. Keywords: knowledge capital, knowledge spillover, human capital, human capital spillover, total factor productivity, spatial panel |
| Keywords: | knowledge capital; knowledge spillover; human capital; human capital spillover; total factor productivity; spatial panel |
| JEL: | O33 O47 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1813&r=knm |
| By: | Paredes-Frigolett, Harold; Pyka, Andreas; Pereira, Javier; Gomes, Luiz Flávio Autran Monteiro |
| Abstract: | We present the results of an empirical study of the national innovation systems of countries in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America from a comprehensive neo-Schumpeterian economics (CNSE) perspective. The empirical study covered the period from 2000 until 2011 and the countries analyzed are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, and Spain. Unlike previous approaches that used cluster analyses as a methodological framework to analyze national innovation systems from a CSNE perspective, we use a novel approach based on multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) to rank innovation performance. We show how an MCDA approach can be followed in order to rank the performance of national innovation systems and provide an analysis of the results obtained at the financial, public and industry pillars of the CNSE model. |
| Keywords: | Comprehensive neo-Schumpeterian Economics,Innovation Performance,Multicriteria Decision Analysis,National Innovation Systems,China |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:952014&r=knm |
| By: | Igone Porto; Jose Ramón Otegi |
| Abstract: | The role of intermediaries in innovation processes has been analyzed in the literature from a dual point of view of the firm`s performances. Being considered actors involved in the knowledge diffusion and technology transfer, intermediaries are considered collaborators of small and large enterprises, as active members of industrial policy. Intermediaries are supposed to be capable of developing a variety of activities such as partners identifying, technology selection, supplier's election, or counsel in decisions making process. Besides this, the state of the art has deeply analyzed the role of public and private organizations as intermediaries, focusing on different perspectives of the innovation process. A diversity of names can be identified in the literature to refer to these intermediaries. However, the performance of these players is considered fuzzy, taking into account the potential they could achieve. In this research, a case study is proposed, where the figure of Agents of Proximity is presented. These agents perform voluntary work in developing projects of technological optimization of the firms they work with. Firstly, in order to improve the individual competitiveness of those firms. Secondly, knitting relationships between firms settle in the region they work in, in order to improve the competitiveness of the territory. These agents are people, the economic players have confidence in, mainly because of the careers these proximity actors have developed. This figure is contrasted in the region of Durango, in the Basque country (Spain). The county has a strong specialization in the metal-mechanical industry, with a high orientation towards the automotive market. The crisis has highly impacted on the region with job destruction and SMEs closures. This has generated a inter-territorial cooperation movement between inner existing players of the county: Productive subsystem, -where the value chain firms can be identified-, Knowledge Generation Subsystem ?where 2 vocational trainings, the technological center AZTERLAN, and the Automotive Intelligence Center, AIC, are located. And Institutional Subsystem, where public development agencies and associations that strengthen social capital and regional values are included. |
| Keywords: | cooperation; intermediation; facilitation; competitiveness |
| JEL: | L14 L31 O14 O22 O32 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p462&r=knm |
| By: | Link, Albert (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The origin of ideas is an important topic to be addressed by eminent disciplinary scholars, and then debated, and then debated, and then debated yet again. Even addressing the narrower topic of the origin of entrepreneurial or innovative ideas is a bold if not presumptuous undertaking. In this paper, which forms the basis of my keynote address, I set the stage with a brief summary statement about how two historical scholars viewed the source of ideas and then I move to a brief discussion about what academic researchers in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation know about sources that influence innovative behavior. In the final section, I present some inaugural findings from my own research in this area, or more accurately, the research on which I have just begun to embark. I conclude with a question: Why do scholars of entrepreneurship, innovation, and enterprise dynamics need to know about the sources of ideas that lead to new technology and innovation, and I offer a suggestive answer. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; innovation; ideation; technology |
| JEL: | L26 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2014–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2014_009&r=knm |
| By: | Elvira Uyarra (Manchester Institute of Innovation Research); Jens Sörvik (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Inger Midtkandal (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this Smart Specialisation (S3) Platform Working Paper is to examine the role of inter-regional collaboration in national or regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3). It provides a conceptualisation of inter-regional collaboration within the framework of RIS3. It draws from the literature on innovation policy to develop an analytical framework to better understand the multiple dimensions of inter-regional collaboration, namely the why, what, where, who and how of collaboration; and explores how inter-regional collaboration varies according to the six steps of the RIS3 process. Finally, it looks at experiences of inter-regional collaboration for innovation in the Baltic Sea region within this framework. |
| Keywords: | Inter-regional collaboration, Smart Specialisation, innovation policy, regional development, Baltic Sea Region, dimensions of collaboration, trans-national collaboration |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc91963&r=knm |
| By: | Bettina Peters; Georg Licht |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of environmental innovation on employment growth using firm-level data for 16 European countries and the period 2006-2008. It extends the model by Harrison et al (2008) in order to distinguish between employment effects of environmental and non-environmental product as well as process innovation. By looking at country and sector level differences, it also generates new insights into the heterogeneity of the environmental innovation-employment growth link along different dimensions. The results demonstrate that both environmental and non-environmental product innovations are conducive to employment growth in European firms. We estimate a gross employment effect of product innovation for both types of product innovators that is very similar in nearly all countries and sectors. That is, in most cases a one-percent increase in the sales due to new products for environmental product innovators also increases gross employment by one percent. This implies that there is no evidence that environmentally-friendly new products are produced with higher or lower efficiency than old products. Yet, we observe differences in the contribution of environmental and non-environmental product innovation to employment growth across countries or sectors that are the result of differences in the average innovation engagement and innovation success across countries or sectors. The absolute contribution to employment growth is positive for both types of new products. However, we find mixed evidence for the relative importance. In manufacturing the contribution of environmental product innovators was larger than that of non-environmental product innovators in half of the countries. In services, however, non-environmental product innovators matters more for growth in the vast majority of countries. In contrast, environmental and non-environmental process innovation plays only a little role for employment growth. |
| JEL: | O33 Q52 J23 C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p1542&r=knm |
| By: | Bruno Jean |
| Abstract: | Scientists and the general public agree that the rural world is characterized by a strong attachment to traditional values, and lacks a sense of initiative, creativity and innovation. This, supposedly, is why the rural world is lagging behind in development. Even if rural people are typically excluded from the creative class, the history of Québec rural communities shows that they have been and are still very creative; we can definitely learn from them. A paradigm shift is needed for a better understanding of rural innovation based on the recognition that rural people and communities are creative and have been innovative for some time. Instead of aiming to teach them how to innovate, we must try to understand the various innovations they put in place in response to multifaceted rural development challenges. Rural innovation is much more than technical innovation and new products; it reflects three basic dimensions of genuine sustainable development: managing natural environments, building instruments or institutions for economic development, and facilitating social life. Under this new paradigm of rural innovation, innovations are studied as they emerge from within rural communities, as exemplified by the Québec Rural University initiative. Rural communities should also be seen as living examples (or living labs) of innovation. "Rural clusters" are additional models for rural innovation. Public policy must therefore support empowerment and community capacity building that foster an innovative rural sector. This support covers not only technical R&D for new products but also the "social innovations" that rural communities have introduced to achieve sustainable rural development. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; rurality; learning; rural community; paradigm |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p131&r=knm |
| By: | Zotti, Roberto; Barra, Cristian |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we test whether economic growth depends on human capital development using data disaggregated at territorial level and propose the use of efficiency estimates, measured using a non-parametric technique, as an alternative quality measure of higher education institutions (HEIs). The nature of knowledge spillovers is also taken into account to examine the existence of geographically localized spillovers, from the presence of efficient universities, on local growth. Results show that the efficiency of universities has a positive and significant effect on GDP per worker. Moreover, we find evidence that productivity gains are larger in areas in which the most efficient universities are located, suggesting that investment in tertiary education may affect geographical distribution of economic activity as well as its level. |
| Keywords: | Human capital; Higher education; Knowledge spillovers; Local economic development; Non-parametric technique. |
| JEL: | C14 C67 I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60065&r=knm |
| By: | Jürgen Bitzer (Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg); Erkan Gören (Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg and Aarhus University); Sanne Hiller (Ruhr-University Bochum and Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of immigrant employees for a firm’s capability to absorb international knowledge. Using matched employer-employee data from Denmark for the years 1999 to 2009, we are able to show that non-Danish employees contribute significantly to a firm’s economic output through their ability to access international knowledge. The immigrants’ impact increases if they come from technological advanced countries, have a high educational level, and are employed in high skilled positions. However, the latter does not hold for immigrant managers. |
| Keywords: | R&D Spillovers, Absorptive Capacity, Firm-Level Analysis, Foreign Workers, Immigrants |
| JEL: | D20 J82 L20 O30 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:323&r=knm |