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on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy |
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Issue of 2016‒11‒13
twelve papers chosen by Laura Ştefănescu Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor |
| By: | Kristin Ranestad (Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, Centre for Business History, Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | Chile and Norway are two ‘natural resource intensive economies’, which have had different development trajectories, yet are closely similar in industrial structure and geophysical conditions. The questions of how and why Chile and Norway have developed so differently are explored through an analysis of how knowledge accumulation occurred and how it was transformed by learning into technological innovation in mining, a sector which has long traditions in Norway and has by far been the largest export sector in Chile for centuries. Similar types of ‘knowledge organisations’ with the direct aim of developing knowledge for mining were developed in both countries. Formal mining education, scientifically trained professionals, organisations for technology transfer and geological mapping and ore surveys are compared in search of differences which may explain the underlying reasons for variations in economic growth. |
| Keywords: | natural intensive economies, Chile, Norway, mining, innovation, mining education, technical education, knowledge organisations |
| JEL: | N30 N50 L72 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0105&r=knm |
| By: | Buera, Francisco J. (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Oberfield, Ezra (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | We provide a tractable theory of innovation and technology diffusion to explore the role of international trade in the process of development. We model innovation and diffusion as a process involving the combination of new ideas with insights from other industries or countries. We provide conditions under which each country's equilibrium frontier of knowledge converges to a Frechet distribution, and derive a system of differential equations describing the evolution of the scale parameters of these distributions, i.e., countries' stocks of knowledge. In particular, the growth of a country's stock of knowledge depends only on its trade shares and the stocks of knowledge of its trading partners. We use the framework to quantify the contribution of bilateral trade costs to cross-sectional TFP differences, long-run changes in TFP, and individual post-war growth miracles. |
| Keywords: | Frechet distribution; global outlook; technology diffusion; trade |
| JEL: | F1 F43 O33 O47 |
| Date: | 2015–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2016-13&r=knm |
| By: | Sam Arts; Reinhilde Veugelers |
| Abstract: | Matching survey data on Ph.D. scientists and engineers currently working in an R&D job in industry with their publications and patents, we study the relationship between their motives and their inventive performance. We find that individuals with a strong taste for science, i.e. motivated by intellectual challenge, independence, and contribution to society, create more novel and valuable patents. We find partial mediation of the effect of taste for science on value-weighted inventive output through academic boundary spanning, proxied by scientific publications co-authored with academic scientists. For novelty of inventive output, we find no mediation through academic boundary spanning. We confirm the negative relation between academic co-publications and annual base salary in industry. This helps to explain why individuals with a strong taste for salary collaborate less with academic scientists, negatively affecting their value-weighted inventive output. |
| Keywords: | taste for science, boundary spanning, industry-science links |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:msiper:555548&r=knm |
| By: | Saiz, Patricio (Departamento de Análisis Económico: Teoría Económica e Historia Económica. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid); Amengual, Rafael (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid y Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas) |
| Abstract: | The appropriateness of patent systems has been largely discussed and has led to substantial theoretical debates and empirical analyses. One of the most significant arguments in favor of patents is that they enable knowledge disclosure, which would compensate their social cost. Through an evolutionary approach to a key case study based on a radical innovation and business –the four-stroke engine invented by the German Nicolaus August Otto in 1876– we provide new and fresh insights on the disclosure issue, on patent management hidden strategies, and on patent institutions and controversies. |
| Keywords: | patent disclosure, ipr management, thermal machines, four-stroke engine, Otto |
| JEL: | N70 N83 O32 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpapeh:201602&r=knm |
| By: | Ylenia Curciy; Mireille Matt; Isabelle Billard; Thierry Burger-Helmchen |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role played by individual creativity in shaping collaborations styles and its impact on research productivity. To operationalise creativity we consider two contrasting visions of collaboration style: the Freak collaboration style that we define according to a popular characterization of creative individuals, and a Monolithic collaboration style that we define as Freak style's opposite. We then observe the relationship between the collaboration style and research productivity - measured by the number of publications - by estimating a Tobit model. Explanatory variables include a set of traditional variables plus preferences of collaborators in terms of gender, nationality, age, cognitive distance, as well as the reason for collaborating and the circumstances in which the collaboration began. The model shows that there are great gender differences in collaboration styles. Many of the outcomes of the estimation procedures are in line with extant researches on scientific collaborations, while some are not. In particular cognitive distance between collaborators shows a positive linear relationship and not an inverted U-shape one, partially in contrast with literature's findings. Finally, and more intriguing, uncommon ways of meeting collaborators are found to positively affect researchers' productivity. These less common ways are indeed linked to the personal attitude of establishing relationships with people met in social occasions (e.g., while talking in a cafeteria, attending a conference), in line with the literature on creative societies. |
| Keywords: | Research Productivity, Creativity, Collaboration. |
| JEL: | I23 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2016-46&r=knm |
| By: | Allan Dahl Andersen (TIK Centre, University of Oslo); Olav Wicken (TIK Centre, University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | Natural resource based industries (NRBIs) have received only limited attention in Innovation Studies. In this paper we explore how qualitative diversity of ecological and geological conditions influence innovation—a phenomenon we denote natural resource knowledge idiosyncrasy (NKI)—as one particular aspect of change in NRBIs. We find that the dominant thinking in Innovation Studies about innovation and industry change—which is largely informed by studies of high-tech manufacturing industries—does not allow us to achieve a full understanding of change in NRBIs. To advance our thinking about NRBIs we propose a definition of NKI, a conceptualization of how NKI influence innovation and industry change, and explore implications of the latter for strategies for resource based development and sustainability in natural resources. Lastly, we argue that a new model of innovation is required for grasping and guiding innovation and transformation in NRBIs. |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20161107&r=knm |
| By: | Elina Berghäll |
| Abstract: | Contradictory empirical and theoretical evidence on the relationship between innovation and competition has been reconciled in a model that yields an inverted U-shaped curve. I test whether the predictions of the model are supported by the data with an unbalanced panel of firms for 1990-2003 in a high productivity growth, high-tech industry, Finnish ICT manufacturing. In particular, I investigate how well alternative, yet rigorous measures of innovation and the technology gap, such as R&D intensity, R&D elasticity, technical change, technical efficiency and total factor productivity fare with respect to competition measured by the Lerner index. The results prove sensitive to the choice of variable. Overall, the model is not supported by the empirical evidence of the industry. |
| Keywords: | competition, innovation, technical efficiency, technology frontier, R&D intensity |
| JEL: | O25 L50 L60 D20 O30 |
| Date: | 2016–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:77&r=knm |
| By: | Fuchs, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | A growing body of research suggests that, even after controlling for cognitive abilities, personality predicts economic success in later life. The learning environment at school focuses on knowledge and cognitive skills. The transmission of character skills, however, is not at the center of attention. Leisure activities as informal learning activities outside of school may affect the formation of skills. By providing valuable opportunities, working part-time while attending full-time secondary schooling can be seen as a stepping stone toward independence and adulthood. The channel of the positive influence, however has not been identified empirically. I suggest that employment during adolescence promotes the formation of character skills that are known to have a positive effect on labor market outcomes and educational achievement. Employing a exible strategy combining propensity score matching and regression techniques to account for self-selection, I find beneficial e ects on character skills. Further, it improves future expectations, the knowledge on which skills and talents school students have and reduces the importance of parents advice with respect to their childs future career. The results are robust to several model specifications and varying samples and robust to including family-fixed effects. |
| Keywords: | human capital,teenage employment,non-cognitive skills,time use,treatment effect |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hohdps:142016&r=knm |
| By: | Martin R. West; Ludger Woessmann; Philipp Lergetporer; Katharina Werner |
| Abstract: | We study whether current spending levels and public knowledge of them contribute to transatlantic differences in policy preferences by implementing parallel survey experiments in Germany and the United States. In both countries, support for increased education spending and teacher salaries falls sharply when respondents receive information about existing levels. Treatment effects vary by prior knowledge in a manner consistent with information effects rather than priming. Support for salary increases is inversely related to salary levels across American states, suggesting that salary differences between the two countries could explain Germans’ lower support for increases. Information about the tradeoffs between different categories of education spending shifts preferences away from class-size reduction and towards alternative purposes. |
| JEL: | D72 D83 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22808&r=knm |
| By: | Robin Döttling (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Tomislav Ladika (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Enrico Perotti (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | In response to technological change, U.S. corporations have been investing more in intangible capital. This transformation is empirically associated with lower leverage and greater cash holdings, and commonly explained as a precautionary response to reduced debt capacity. We model how firms' payout and cash holding policies are affected by this shift. Our insight is that the creation of intangibles is largely achieved by human capital investment and requires lower upfront outlays. Firms can self-finance the retention of human capital by granting deferred equity compensation. Interestingly, retaining cash and repurchasing shares enhances the value of unvested equity, thereby facilitating retention and reducing equity dilution. Our empirical evidence confirms that firms with higher intangible investment have lower upfront investment needs. They make similar payouts as tangible investment firms, suggesting they are not on average more financially constrained. They also tend to grant more deferred equity and prioritize repurchases over dividends in particular when their stock volatility is high, in line with our model's predictions. |
| Keywords: | Technological change; corporate leverage; cash holdings; human capital; intangible capital; equity grants; deferred equity; share vesting |
| JEL: | G32 G35 J24 J33 |
| Date: | 2016–11–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20160093&r=knm |
| By: | Janger, Jürgen; Schubert, Torben; Andries, Petra; Rammer, Christian; Hoskens, Machteld |
| Abstract: | In October 2013, the European Commission presented a new indicator intended to capture innovation outputs and outcomes and thereby "support policy-makers in establishing new or reinforced actions to remove bottlenecks that prevent innovators from translating ideas into products and services that can be successful on the market". This article aims to evaluate the usefulness of the new indicator against the background of the difficulties in measuring innovation outputs and outcomes. We develop a unique conceptual framework for measuring innovation outcomes that distinguishes structural change and structural upgrading as two key dimensions in both manufacturing and services. We conclude that the new indicator is biased towards a somewhat narrowly defined "high-tech" understanding of innovation outcomes. We illustrate our framework proposing a broader set of outcome indicators capturing also structural upgrading. We find that the results for the modified indicator differ substantially for a number of countries, with potentially wide-ranging consequences for innovation and industrial policies. |
| Keywords: | Innovation Output,Innovation Outcome,Innovation Measurement,Structural Change,Structural Upgrading,EU 2020 Strategy,Innovation Policy |
| JEL: | O25 O31 O38 O52 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16072&r=knm |
| By: | Strulik, Holger |
| Abstract: | This study presents a new view on the association between education and longevity. In contrast to the earlier literature, which focused on inefficient health behavior of the less educated, we investigate the extent to which the education gradient can be explained by fully rational and efficient behavior of all social strata. Specifically, we consider a life-cycle model in which the loss of body functionality, which eventually leads to death, can be accelerated by unhealthy behavior and delayed through health expenditure. Individuals are heterogeneous with respect to their return to education. The proposed theory rationalizes why individuals equipped with a higher return to education chose more education as well as a healthier lifestyle. When calibrated for the average male US citizen, the model motivates about 50% percent of the observable education gradient by idiosyncratic returns to education, with causality running from education to longevity. The theory also explains why compulsory schooling has comparatively small effects on longevity and why the gradient gets larger over time through improvements in medical technology. |
| Keywords: | health inequality,schooling,aging,longevity,health expenditure,unhealthy behavior,smoking,value of life |
| JEL: | D91 I10 I20 J24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:293&r=knm |