nep-ppm New Economics Papers
on Project, Program and Portfolio Management
Issue of 2009‒11‒07
four papers chosen by
Arvi Kuura
Parnu College - Tartu University

  1. Social capital and knowledge in interorganizational networks: Their joint effect on innovation By Ana Pérez-Luño; Carmen Cabello Medina; Antonio Carmona Lavado; Gloria Cuevas Rodríguez
  2. Innovative interventions in support of innovation networks. A complex system perspective to public innovation policy and private technology brokering By Federica Rossi; Margherita Russo; Stefania Sardo; Josh Whitford
  3. Traffic forecasts under uncertainty and capacity constraints By Anna Matas; Josep-Lluis Raymond; Adriana Ruiz
  4. Oportunidades: Program Effect on Consumption, Low Participation, and Methodological Issues By Angelucci, Manuela; Attanasio, Orazio

  1. By: Ana Pérez-Luño (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Carmen Cabello Medina (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Antonio Carmona Lavado (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Gloria Cuevas Rodríguez (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide)
    Abstract: This research analyzes the effects of interorganizational links on innovation using a comprehensive framework that integrates three research streams: social capital, knowledge based view and innovation. Using data from 143 R&D and/or marketing departments of innovative manufacturing and service companies, our results show that while knowledge complexity, per se, exerts a clear influence on the degree of innovations radicalness, the effect of knowledge tacitness appears only when it is combined with social capital. Similarly, the mere existence of strong cooperation agreements (relational social capital) does not guarantee more radical innovations. It is only when this social capital is combined with tacit knowledge that it really produces more innovative products. We also find that such radical products have an important impact on firm performance.
    Keywords: : Innovation; radicalness; social capital; knowledge complexity; knowledge tacitness; firm performance
    Date: 2009–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpbsad:09.04&r=ppm
  2. By: Federica Rossi; Margherita Russo; Stefania Sardo; Josh Whitford
    Abstract: The linear model of innovation has been superseded by a variety of theoretical models that view the innovation process as systemic, complex, multi-level, multi-temporal, involving a plurality of heterogeneous economic agents. Accordingly, the emphasis of the policy discourse has shifted over time. It has gone from a focus on direct public funding of basic research as an engine of innovation, to the creation of markets for knowledge goods, to, eventually, the acknowledgement that knowledge transfer very often requires direct interactions among innovating actors. In most cases, these interventions attempt to facilitate the match between “demand” and “supply” of the knowledge needed to innovate. A complexity perspective calls for a different framing, one focused on the fostering of process characterized by multiple agency levels, multiple temporal scales, ontological uncertainty and emergent outcomes. The article explores what it means to design interventions in support of innovation processes inspired by a complex systems perspective. It does so by analyzing two different examples of coordinated interventions: an innovative public policy funding networks of innovating firms, and a private initiative supporting innovation in the mechanical engineering industry thanks to the set up of a technology broker. Relying on two unique datasets recording the interactions of the various organizations involved in these interventions, the article combines social network analysis and qualitative research in order to investigate the dynamics of the networks and the roles and actions of specific actors in fostering innovation processes. Building upon this comparative analysis, some general implications for the design of coordinated interventions supporting innovation in a complexity perspective are derived.
    Keywords: Innovation policy; local development policies; regional development policies; evaluation management
    JEL: D78 O31 O32 O38 R58
    Date: 2009–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:depeco:0619&r=ppm
  3. By: Anna Matas (GEAP, Dpt. Economia Aplicada. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Josep-Lluis Raymond (GEAP, Dpt. Economia i Història Econòmica. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Adriana Ruiz (GEAP, Dpt. Economia Aplicada. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
    Abstract: Traffic forecasts provide essential input for the appraisal of transport investment projects. However, according to recent empirical evidence, long-term predictions are subject to high levels of uncertainty. This paper quantifies uncertainty in traffic forecasts for the tolled motorway network in Spain. Uncertainty is quantified in the form of a confidence interval for the traffic forecast that includes both model uncertainty and input uncertainty. We apply a stochastic simulation process based on bootstrapping techniques. Furthermore, the paper proposes a new methodology to account for capacity constraints in long-term traffic forecasts. Specifically, we suggest a dynamic model in which the speed of adjustment is related to the ratio between the actual traffic flow and the maximum capacity of the motorway. This methodology is applied to a specific public policy that consists of suppressing the toll on a certain motorway section before the concession expires.
    Date: 2009–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2009-12&r=ppm
  4. By: Angelucci, Manuela (University of Arizona); Attanasio, Orazio (University College London)
    Abstract: In this paper we estimate the effect of the Mexican conditional cash transfer program, Oportunidades, on consumption, and we explore some issues related to participation to the program and to the estimation of treatment effects. We discuss the comparability of treatment and control areas, provide evidence that the expected transfer may not be sufficiently high to induce many eligible households to participate, and find positive effects on consumption.
    Keywords: program evaluation, consumption, matching, Oportunidades
    JEL: D12 O12
    Date: 2009–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4475&r=ppm

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