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on Technology and Industrial Dynamics |
| By: | Ortega-Argilés, Raquel (European Commission); Piva, Mariacristina (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | The literature has pointed to different causes to explain the productivity gap between Europe and United States in the last decades. This paper tests the hypothesis that the lower European productivity performance in comparison with the US can be explained not only by a lower level of corporate R&D investment, but also by a lower capacity to translate R&D investment into productivity gains. The proposed microeconometric estimates are based on a unique longitudinal database covering the period 1990-2008 and comprising 1,809 US and European companies for a total of 16,079 observations. Consistent with previous literature, we find robust evidence of a significant impact of R&D on productivity; however – using different estimation techniques – the R&D coefficients for the US firms always turn out to be significantly higher. To see to what extent these transatlantic differences may be related to the different sectoral structures in the US and the EU, we differentiated the analysis by sectors. The result is that both in manufacturing, services and high-tech sectors US firms are more efficient in translating their R&D investments into productivity increases. |
| Keywords: | R&D, productivity, embodied technological change, US, EU |
| JEL: | O33 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5586&r=tid |
| By: | Cozzi, Guido; Galli, Silvia |
| Abstract: | To foster innovation and growth should basic research be publicly or privately funded? This paper studies the impact of the gradual shift in the U.S. patent system towards the patentability and commercialization of the basic R&D undertaken by universities. We see this movement as making universities becoming responsive to "market" forces. Prior to 1980, universities undertook research using an exogenous stock of researchers that were motivated by "curiosity." After 1980, universities patent their research and behave as private firms. This move, in a context of two-stage inventions (basic and applied research) has an a priori ambiguous effect on innovation and welfare. We build a Schumpeterian model and match it to the data to assess this important turning point. |
| Keywords: | R&D and Growth; Sequential Innovation; Basic Research; Patent Laws. |
| JEL: | O41 O34 O31 |
| Date: | 2011–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:29710&r=tid |
| By: | Braunerhjelm, Pontus (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Halldin, Torbjörn (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Pedersen, Torben (Copenhagen Business School); Pajarinen, Mika (The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy); Ylä-Anttila, Pekka (The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy); Heum, Per (Institute for Research in Economics and Business Administration (SNF)); Kalvet, Tarmo (Tallinn University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of the 30 largest firms in the respective Nordic country and in Estonia over the last decade and for some variables between 1975 to 2006. The analysis confirms that the largest firms play a critically important role for industrial dynamics in the Nordic countries. Statistics are presented with regard to e.g. ownership, the distribution of employment between home country and foreign units, internationalization, R&D, the share of overall employment and value-added, and the dynamics over time. Both firms in the manufacturing and the service sectors are included. Even though large firms differ in terms of size and industry distribution, they do still play a dominant in all Nordic countries, albeit somewhat diminished over the investigated time period. From a policy point of view it seems of vital concern for the Nordic countries to retain their increasingly foot-loose and globally oriented large firms. |
| Keywords: | Large firms; internationalization and industrial dynamics |
| JEL: | F23 L20 O30 |
| Date: | 2011–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0244&r=tid |