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on Technology and Industrial Dynamics |
| By: | Francesco Nicolli (Facoltà di Economia (Faculty of Economics) - Università degli Studi di Ferrara); Francesco Vona (Facoltà di Economia (Faculty of Economics) - Università degli Studi di Ferrara) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates empirically the effect of market regulation and renewable energy policies on innovation activity in different renewable energy technologies. For the EU countries and the years 1980 to 2007, we built a unique dataset containing information on patent production in eight different technologies, proxies of market regulation and technology-specific renewable energy policies. Our main findings show that lowering entry barriers is a more significant driver of renewable energy innovation than privatisation and unbundling, but its effect varies across technologies, being stronger in technologies characterised by the potential entry of small, independent power producers. Additionally, the inducement effect of renewable energy policies is heterogeneous and more pronounced for wind, which is the only technology that is mature and has high technological potential. Finally, the ratification of the Kyoto protocol – determining a more stable and less uncertain policy framework - amplifies the inducement effect of both energy policy and market liberalisation. |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01087864&r=tid |
| By: | Bronwyn H. Hall; Christian Helmers; Georg von Graevenitz |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of patent thickets on entry into technology areas by firms in the UK. We present a model that describes incentives to enter technology areas characterized by varying technological opportunity, complexity of technology, and the potential for hold?up in patent thickets. We show empirically that our measure of patent thickets is associated with a reduction of first time patenting in a given technology area controlling for the level of technological complexity and opportunity. Technological areas characterized by more technological complexity and opportunity, in contrast, see more entry. Our evidence indicates that patent thickets raise entry costs, which leads to less entry into technologies regardless of a firm?s size. |
| Keywords: | Patenting, Entry, Patent Thickets |
| JEL: | K11 L20 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgs:wpaper:60&r=tid |
| By: | David Popp |
| Abstract: | The mix of public and private research funding investments in alternative energy presents a challenge for isolating the effect of government R&D funding. Factors such as energy prices and environmental policy influence both private and public R&D decisions. Moreover, because government R&D is further upstream from the final commercialized product, it may take several years for its effect on technology to be realized. Combining data on scientific publications for alternative energy technologies with data on government R&D support for these technologies, we address these challenges. First, we ask how long it takes for energy R&D to provide successful research outcomes. We both provide information on the lags between research funding and new publication and link these articles to citations in U.S. energy patents. One million dollars in additional government R&D funding leads to 1-2 additional publications, but with lags as long as ten years between initial funding and publication. Second, we ask whether adjustment costs associated with large increases in research funding result in diminishing returns to government R&D. There is no evidence of diminishing returns on the level of publication output, but some evidence that additional funding leads to lower quality publications, using citations as a measure of publication quality. |
| JEL: | O21 O38 Q42 Q48 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21415&r=tid |
| By: | Rachel Griffith (Institute for Fiscal Studies and IFS and Manchester); Sokbae Lee* (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Bas Straathof (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | There is considerable interest in understanding how important market frictions are in stiffing the transmission of ideas from one firm to another. Although the theoretical literature emphasizes the importance of these frictions, direct empirical evidence on them is limited. We use comprehensive patent data from the European Patent Office and a multiple spells duration model to provide estimates that suggest that they are substantial. It is around 30% more costly to successfully discover and utilize new ideas created in another firm than in your own. This compares to the increased costs of accessing new ideas across national borders of around 5%, and across technologies of around 20%. These result point towards substantial imperfections in the market for technology. |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:cemmap:40/14&r=tid |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany, Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), & Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden.) |
| Abstract: | Crinò and Epifani (2012) report and discuss two empirical regularities they find in a representative sample of Italian manufacturing firms. First, there is a negative correlation between firms’ productivity and their export share to low-income destinations. Second, there is a negative correlation between firms’ innovation activity and their export share to low-income destinations. This note uses recently available comparable high quality firm level data for six European countries (including Italy) and similarly specified empirical models in an attempt to replicate these results. Replication failed completely. The link found between the share of exports to low-income countries and either productivity or R&D intensity is never in line with the results from Crinò and Epifani (2012). |
| Keywords: | exports; low-income destinations; productivity; innovation; EFIGE data |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2015–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0417&r=tid |