nep-knm New Economics Papers
on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy
Issue of 2019‒06‒17
six papers chosen by
Laura Ştefănescu
Centrul European de Studii Manageriale în Administrarea Afacerilor

  1. Concordance and Complementarity in IP Instruments By Marco Grazzi; Chiara Piccardo; Cecilia Vergari
  2. Human Capital, Knowledge Creation, Knowledge Diffusion, Institutions and Economic Incentives: South Korea versus Africa By Simplice A. Asongu; Vanessa S. Tchamyou
  3. Creativity-Enhancing Technological Change in the Production of Scientific Knowledge* By Link, Al; Scott, John
  4. Knowledge-Driven Economic Growth: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa By Stephen Oluwatobi; Isaiah Olurinola; Philip Alege; Adeyemi Ogundipe
  5. Immigrant Communities and Knowledge Spillovers: Danish-Americans and the Development of the Dairy Industry in the United States By Nina Boberg-Fazlić; Paul Sharp
  6. Diversity Management and Human Resource Management: Personnel System Reform and Working Practice Flexibility (Japanese) By SATO Hiroki

  1. By: Marco Grazzi; Chiara Piccardo; Cecilia Vergari
    Abstract: This work investigates the relationship between proxies of innovation activities, such as patents and trademarks, and firm performance in terms of revenues, growth and profitability. By resorting to the virtual universe of Italian manufacturing firms this work provides a rather complete picture of the Intellectual Property (IP) strategies pursued by Italian firms, in terms of patents and trademarks, and we study whether the two instruments for protecting IP exhibit complementarity or substitutability. In addition, and to our knowledge novel, we propose a measure of concordance (or proximity) between the patents and trademarks owned by the same firm and we then investigate whether such concordance exert any effect on performance.
    Keywords: Trademarks; Patents; Innovation; Intellectual Property; Complementarity; Concordance; Technological proximity; firm performance; firm growth.
    Date: 2019–06–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2019/19&r=all
  2. By: Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroon); Vanessa S. Tchamyou (University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium)
    Abstract: This article compares African countries to South Korea in terms of knowledge economy (KE). Emphasis is laid on human capital, knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion, institutions and economic incentives. The analytical approach consists of providing knowledge economy catch-up strategies that can be understood within the context of country-specific gaps between the frontier country in KE and laggard African countries. The empirical evidence is based on sigma convergence with data for the period 1996-2010. Overall, a KE diagnosis is provided by assessing KE gaps (between South Korea and specific-African countries) and suggesting compelling catch-up strategies with which to reduce identified gaps. Contemporary and non-contemporary policies from South Korea and more contemporary policies based on challenges of globalisation are discussed. The policy relevance of this inquiry aligns with the scholarly perspective that catch-up between South Korea and more advanced economies was accelerated by the former adapting to and assimilating relatively obsolete technological know-how from more developed nations.
    Keywords: Knowledge economy; Benchmarks; Policy syndromes; Catch-up; Africa
    JEL: O10 O30 O38 O55 O57
    Date: 2018–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:18/008&r=all
  3. By: Link, Al (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Scott, John (Dartmouth College)
    Abstract: We view scientific publications as a measure of technical knowledge. Using the Solow method of functional decomposition and scientific publication data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, we find that 79 percent if the increase of scientific publications per unit of scientific personnel is explained by an increase in federal R&D capital per unit of scientific personnel. We describe the unexplained or residual 21 percent as a measure of creativity-enhancing technological change, a phenomenon that offers a way to reverse the perceived slowing of the productivity of science. The explained 79 percent offers a possible metric for federal laboratories' mandated reporting of a ROI to federal R&D. Understanding the drivers of the residual 21 percent could enable public policy to mitigate the resource constraints caused by the breakdown of exponential growth of the resources devoted to science.
    Keywords: scientific publications; technological change; R&D; knowledge production function;
    JEL: O33 O38
    Date: 2019–06–17
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2019_007&r=all
  4. By: Stephen Oluwatobi (Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria); Isaiah Olurinola (Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria); Philip Alege (Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria); Adeyemi Ogundipe (Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria)
    Abstract: The experience of South Korea, India, China and Singapore reveals that developing economies can fasttrack development, leapfrog the stages of development and catch up with advanced economies by putting knowledge capital as the driver of development. If the knowledge economy is therefore an accelerant of development for both advanced and developing economies, it is possible for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies to also catch up with advanced economies. It was on this basis that this study assessed the knowledge capacity of SSA and the effect it has on its economic advancement. Given the importance of the interrelatedness among the knowledge economy elements, this study, thus, examined how the interaction effect between the elements of the knowledge economy affects economic growth in 32 SSA countries, for which data were available, over the period of 17 years (1996-2012). Using the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM), the study found out that institutions and human capital in SSA mitigate the effect of innovation on economic growth in the region, thus, making it a lean knowledge economy.
    Keywords: Economic Growth; Human Capital; ICT; Innovation; Institutions; Knowledge Economy
    JEL: O10 O30 O38 O55 O57
    Date: 2018–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:18/030&r=all
  5. By: Nina Boberg-Fazlić (University of Southern Denmark); Paul Sharp (University of Southern Denmark)
    Abstract: Despite the growing literature on the impact of immigration, little is known about the role existing migrant settlements can play for knowledge transmission. We present a case which can illustrate this important mechanism and hypothesize that nineteenth century Danish-American communities helped spread knowledge on modern dairying to rural America. From around 1880, Denmark developed rapidly and by 1890 it was a world-leading dairy producer. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, and data taken from the US census and Danish emigration archives, we find that counties with more Danes in 1880 subsequently both specialized in dairying and used more modern practices.
    Keywords: Dairying, immigration, knowledge spillovers, technology
    JEL: F22 J61 N11 N31 N51 O33 Q16
    Date: 2019–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0155&r=all
  6. By: SATO Hiroki
    Abstract: The current socioeconomic environment requires Japanese companies to adopt diversity management as a method of human resource management, not only by accepting greater diversity of personnel but also by providing them opportunities to excel in the workplace, which will subsequently lead to better business performance. Based on a review of prior research, we hypothesize that doing so requires companies to establish workplace management practices that facilitate incorporating personnel with diverse qualities and values while simultaneously eliminating full-time work with regular overtime hours assigned; to be flexible in terms of working hours and place of employment; and to reform their human resources systems. To verify our hypothesis, we analyzed specific factors related to diversity management that are commonly used as explanations for performance levels of personnel as explanatory variables, through conducting individual questionnaires targeting white-collar, full-time workers who held university degrees or a higher level of academic qualification. Our analysis model used performance levels of diverse personnel as a dependent variable and the following seven explanatory variables: a personnel system geared to diversity management (i.e., a non-seniority system based personnel management and self-directed career management), diversity and inclusion policies, measures to promote women's careers, efforts to eliminate long work hours, flexibility in work hours and place of employment, the means to provide managers with better work-life balance, and workplace culture respectful of diversity.
    Date: 2019–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:19024&r=all

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