nep-tid New Economics Papers
on Technology and Industrial Dynamics
Issue of 2014‒12‒08
six papers chosen by
Fulvio Castellacci
Universitetet i Oslo

  1. Appropriability Mechanisms, Innovation and Productivity: Evidence from the UK By Bronwyn H. Hall; Vania Sena
  2. The Cost of Knowledge By Antonelli, Cristiano; Colombelli, Alessandra
  3. Allocation of human capital and innovation at the frontier: Firm-level evidence on Germany and the Netherlands By Bartelsmann, Eric; Dobbelaere, Sabien; Peters, Bettina
  4. Young Firms and R&D subsidies in Catalonia By Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 1958-; Teruel, Mercedes
  5. European Innovation Dynamics and US Economic Impact: Theory and Empirical Analysis By Welfens, Paul J. J.; Irawan, Tony
  6. Knowledge characteristics and the dynamics of technological alliances in Pharmaceuticals: Empirical evidence from Europe, US and Japan By Jackie Krafft; Francesco Quatraro; Pier-Paolo Saviotti

  1. By: Bronwyn H. Hall; Vania Sena
    Abstract: We use an extended version of the well-established Crepon, Duguet and Mairesse model (1998) to model the relationship between appropriability mechanisms, innovation and firm-level productivity. We enrich this model in several ways. First, we consider different types of innovation spending and study the differences in estimates when innovation spending (rather than R&D spending) is used to predict innovation in the CDM model. Second, we assume that a firm simultaneously innovates and chooses among different appropriability methods (formal or informal) to protect the innovation. Finally, in the third stage, we estimate the impact of the innovation output conditional on the choice of appropriability mechanisms on firms' productivity. We find that firms that innovate and rate formal methods for the protection of Intellectual Property (IP) highly are more productive than other firms, but that the same does not hold in the case of informal methods for the protection of a firm's IP, except possibly for large firms as opposed to SMEs. We also find that this result is strongest for firms in the services, trade, and utility sectors, and negative in the manufacturing sector.
    JEL: L25 O30 O34
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20514&r=tid
  2. By: Antonelli, Cristiano; Colombelli, Alessandra (University of Turin)
    Abstract: This paper contributes the economics of knowledge and innovation with the analysis of the knowledge cost function and sheds light on the determinants of the large variance in the cost of innovation across firms. The amount and the structure of external knowledge and the internal stocks of knowledge that firms can access and use in the generation of new technological knowledge help firms to reduce the costs of innovations. The empirical section is based upon a panel of companies listed on UK and the main continental Europe financial markets (Germany, France and Italy) for the period 1995 – 2006, for which information about patents have been gathered. The econometric analysis of the costs of knowledge considers the unit costs of patents on the right hand side, and on the left hand side next to R&D expenditures, the stock of knowledge internal and external to each firm. In order to articulate the different facets of the external knowledge that is made accessible by proximity with firms co-localized in the same region (NUTS2), we further include other variables proxying for regional variety, complementarity and similarity. The results confirm that the stock of internal knowledge and the access to external knowledge play a key role in reducing the actual cost of the generation of new technological knowledge at the firm level.
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201427&r=tid
  3. By: Bartelsmann, Eric; Dobbelaere, Sabien; Peters, Bettina
    Abstract: This paper examines how productivity effects of human capital and innovation vary at different points of the conditional productivity distribution. Our analysis draws upon two large unbalanced panels of 6,634 enterprises in Germany and 14,586 enterprises in the Netherlands over the period 2000-2008, considering 5 manufacturing and services industries that differ in the level of technological intensity. Industries in the Netherlands are characterized by a larger average proportion of high-skilled employees and industries in Germany by a more unequal distribution of human capital intensity. In Germany, average innovation performance is higher in all industries, except for low-technology manufacturing, and in the Netherlands the innovation performance distributions are more dispersed. In both countries, we observe non-linearities in the productivity effects of investing in product innovation in the majority of industries. Frontier firms enjoy the highest returns to product innovation whereas for process innovation the most negative returns are observed in the best-performing enterprises of most industries. We find that in both countries the returns to human capital increase with proximity to the technological frontier in industries with a low level of technological intensity. Strikingly, a negative complementarity e¤ect between human capital and proximity to the technological frontier is observed in knowledge-intensive services, which is most pronounced for the Netherlands. Suggestive evidence suggests an interpretation of a winner-takes-all market in knowledge-intensive services.
    Keywords: Human capital,innovation,productivity,quantile regression
    JEL: C10 I20 O14 O30
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14064&r=tid
  4. By: Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 1958-; Teruel, Mercedes
    Abstract: Based on four different public R&D calls from the Catalan government, this article evaluates the propensity of entrants and young firms to apply for R&D public grants and, as compared to their counterparts, their capacity for obtaining subsides. This analysis is particularly relevant since entrants and young firms encounter greater market difficulties. Our sample contains 22,139 firms and corresponds to a merge of two databases: one from the Catalan agency responsible for promoting private innovation (ACC1Ó) and the other from the Mercantile Register. Merging these databases has two advantages. Firstly, participants and non-participants in the public R&D call (“InnoEmpresaâ€) are included and, secondly, it provides us with information at firm and project level. The period of observation is between 2006 and 2010, since some explanatory variables are lagged by one period. We apply a two-step methodology. Our results show that entrants and young firms show a lower propensity to apply for R&D subsidies and to obtain R&D public grants. Firm size, exports and participation in a previous call show a positive impact on the likelihood of applying, and firms located in the Barcelona metropolitan area have a greater propensity to apply. Additionally, project quality and R&D cooperative reports presented jointly with other partners have a positive impact on the likelihood of obtaining the R&D subsidy. Finally, firms that have previously obtained an R&D subsidy do not exhibit a greater propensity for obtaining subsequent grants. Keywords: R&D subsidies, entrants and young firms Classification JEL: L53, L25, O38
    Keywords: Subvencions, Empreses -- Creació, Política industrial, Empreses -- Dimensió -- Catalunya, Innovacions tecnològiques -- Política governamental, 332 - Economia regional i territorial. Economia del sòl i de la vivenda,
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/242276&r=tid
  5. By: Welfens, Paul J. J. (University of Wuppertal); Irawan, Tony (University of Wuppertal)
    Abstract: The role of product innovations is growing in the world economy, and the EU and the US are key players here. The analysis presented herein explains product innovations in the EU25 for the period 2006-2012, namely through lagged R&D (relative to GDP), cumulated FDI inflows (relative to the host country capital stock) and cumulated FDI inflows (relative to the host country capital stock), joint internet intensity, broadband intensity and potential competition. For the first time we can offer a broad analysis of product innovation dynamics in Europe which should be the basis for not only better supply-side policy in EU countries and growth policy, respectively, but it also suggests a strong role for international digital communication in relation to product innovation dynamics. Moreover, the approach provides new important arguments in favor of the TTIP negotiations between the US and the EU and it suggests a broader analytical link between trade, FDI, innovation, employment and output growth.
    Keywords: innovation, foreign direct investment, TTIP negotiation
    JEL: F21 F15 O31
    Date: 2014–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8507&r=tid
  6. By: Jackie Krafft (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)); Francesco Quatraro (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)); Pier-Paolo Saviotti (GAEL - Grenoble Applied Economic laboratory - Aucune)
    Abstract: The paper investigates the co-evolutionary patterns of the dynamics of technological alliances and of the structure of the knowledge base in the pharmaceutical sector. The main hypothesis under scrutiny is that technological alliances represent a key resource for firms in knowledge intensive sectors to cope with dramatic changes in the knowledge base, marked by the introduction of discontinuities opening up new technological trajectories. Using patent information and data on technological alliances drawn from the CATI-MERIT database, we compare the evidence concerning the so-called triad regions, i.e. United States, Europe and Japan. The empirical results support the existence of a life cycle in biotechnology affecting the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the dynamics of alliances is found to depend on (i) the phase of the biotechnology life cycle, (ii) the strength of the region in biotechnology and (iii) the general features of the economic environment of the region.
    Date: 2014–03–18
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01070561&r=tid

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