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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2015‒02‒16
seven papers chosen by Laura Ştefănescu Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor |
| By: | Azagra-Caro,Joaquín M.; Barberá-Tomás,David; Edwards-Schachter,Mónica |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the underlying mechanisms of knowledge diffusion and interrelationships between formal and informal channels attending to the localisation of spillovers between university and industry. With this aim we present a historical in-depth case study centred in one of the most highly cited university patents, developing and applying a theoretical approach that combines formalisation and localisation analytical dimensions. Our findings show how knowledge diffused through channels with different degrees of formalization (patent licenses, “pure” spillovers and consultancy contracts with the inventors). The case also evidences the pervasive delocalization of several knowledge diffusion channels and the complexity of achieving local impact, even at a privileged environment like California. The crucial diffusion mechanism channel stemmed from bidirectional knowledge flows between the university and a non-regional company, which provided the university with the specific fabrication capabilities needed to create an open-lab programme, which ultimately achieved local impact. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge flows, Academic patenting, Technology transfer, Geographic R&D spillovers |
| JEL: | O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2015–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201502&r=knm |
| By: | Gumpert, Anna |
| Abstract: | Employees must learn about firm technologies to use them in production. Within multinational firms, knowledge can be acquired centrally, by managers at headquarters, or locally, by production workers. Local knowledge acquisition increases with the bilateral communication costs with central management, and decreases with local knowledge acquisition costs. This mechanism explains why multinationals foreign sales and their probability of entry decrease in the distance of a country from the multinationals home country, and why multinationals pay higher wages than comparable domestic firms. The selection into foreign destinations and the foreign productivity distribution of German multinationals are consistent with the models predictions. |
| JEL: | F21 F23 D21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100332&r=knm |
| By: | Ettore Bolisani (University of Padua, Vicenza, Italy); Enrico Scarso (University of Padua, Vicenza, Italy); Malgorzata Zieba (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the concept of emergent KM approach in small companies. The origins of consideration are grounded in the theory of strategic management literature and in particular in the distinction between deliberate versus emergent approach towards strategic planning. Using the methodology of case study, we carried out an explorative research to analyse the characteristics of KM approach in two small companies located in Italy and Poland. Both companies appeared to follow emergent KM approach and therefore, a detailed analysis of this phenomenon was feasible. A description of the main features of an emergent KM approach is then proposed. On the basis of research results, implications for both managers and researchers are discussed. |
| Keywords: | knowledge management; KM; SMEs; ICT services providers; Italy; Poland |
| JEL: | L84 M1 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdk:wpaper:27&r=knm |
| By: | Anania, Loretta; Passani, Antonella |
| Abstract: | Social innovation plays an important role in addressing societal challenges. We map Digital Social Innovation (DSI) in terms of the international research efforts and investments made in Europe over the last decade. DSI aims to promote innovation and social change based on the network effect: meaning internet connections, web collaborative tools, sharing of open data and a process of bottom-up peer-supported activities and applications). Examples are given on the novel use of information platforms, data from sensor networks and community use of mobile phones. The impact measurement of the DSI initiative at social, economic and environmental level is presented. Our data comes from the EU activities and R&D grants awarded up to 2014. We describe the concept, the context, and the type of investments made by the European Union in this field. The final part of the paper concerns DSI impact evaluation and proposes a methodological framework for assessing specific results in a qualitative and quantitative way. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsb14:106838&r=knm |
| By: | Neuenkirch, Edith; Hayo, Bernd |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyse the effects of objective and subjective knowledge about monetary policy, as well as the information search patterns, of German citizens on trust in the ECB. We rely on a unique representative public opinion survey of German households conducted in 2011. We find that subjective and factual knowledge, as well as the desire to be informed, about the ECB foster citizens trust. Specific knowledge about the ECB is more influential than general monetary policy knowledge. Objective knowledge is more important than subjective knowledge. However, an increasing intensity of media usage, especially newspaper reading, has a significantly negative influence on trust. We conclude that the only viable way for the ECB to generate more trust in itself is to spread monetary policy knowledge. |
| JEL: | D83 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100312&r=knm |
| By: | Andrew Burwick; Gary Gates; Scott Baumgartner; Daniel Friend |
| Keywords: | human services, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, LGBT, poverty, welfare, child welfare, youth |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2014–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:5d6ee2c749e346f2a6fd6d6357ead26a&r=knm |
| By: | Aflaki, Sam; Masini , Andrea |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to contribute to the longstanding technology-push vs. demand-pull debate and to the literature on renewable energy diffusion and renewable energy policy assessment. The authors argue that in addition to the traditional push-pull dichotomy, the drivers of technological change must be differentiated by whether they are exogenous or endogenous to the economic system. They maintain that a specific type of endogenous demand-pull mechanism (i.e. economic growth) is a major catalyst of environmental innovation. We apply this perspective to study the diffusion of renewable energy (RE) technologies in 15 European Union countries from 1990 to 2012. Applying different panel data estimators, the authors find that public R&D investments, policies supporting RE and per capita income all have a positive impact on RE diffusion, whereas the variability of policy support has a negative impact. However, they also find that economic growth is a stronger driver than either public R&D investments or policies supporting RE, and that models that do not take it explicitly into account tend to overestimate the importance of exogenous drivers. Most importantly, they note that the effect of economic growth on RE diffusion exhibits a nonlinear, U-shaped pattern that resonates with the well-known Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. RE penetration remains negligible at low levels of growth whereas it increases sharply only after income per capita has reached a given threshold and the demand for environmental quality rises. Their findings have implications for policy making. They suggest that for RE diffusion to increase, government action should be directed not only at shielding renewables from competition with fossil fuel technologies but also at stimulating aggregated demand and economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Deployment policy; Technological innovation; Renewable Energy; Environmental Kuznets Curve; Nonstationary Panel |
| JEL: | C23 O31 O33 O38 O44 |
| Date: | 2014–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1070&r=knm |