|
on Technology and Industrial Dynamics |
| By: | Acemoglu, Daron; Akcigit, Ufuk; Hanley, Douglas; Kerr, William R. |
| Abstract: | We develop a microeconomic model of endogenous growth where clean and dirty technologies compete in production and innovation–in the sense that research can be directed to either clean or dirty technologies. If dirty technologies are more advanced to start with, the potential transition to clean technology can be difficult both because clean research must climb several rungs to catch up with dirty technology and because this gap discourages research effort directed towards clean technologies. Carbon taxes and research subsidies may nonetheless encourage production and innovation in clean technologies, though the transition will typically be slow. We characterize certain general properties of the transition path from dirty to clean technology. We then estimate the model using a combination of regression analysis on the relationship between R&D and patents, and simulated method of moments using microdata on employment, production, R&D, firm growth, entry and exit from the US energy sector. The model’s quantitative implications match a range of moments not targeted in the estimation quite well. We then characterize the optimal policy path implied by the model and our estimates. Optimal policy makes heavy use of research subsidies as well as carbon taxes. We use the model to evaluate the welfare consequences of a range of alternative policies. |
| Keywords: | carbon cycle, directed technological change, environment, innovation, optimal policy |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O33 C65 |
| Date: | 2015–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512101465&r=tid |
| By: | Cecere, Grazia; Rexhäuser, Sascha; Schulte, Patrick |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to shed light on the role of technological opportunities for green innovation by studying the case of Green ICT innovation. We test two hypotheses: (1) Firms active in low-opportunity technological areas are less innovative; (2) Firms active in low-opportunity technological areas are more likely to change their direction of technical change. To do so, we construct a firm-level panel data set for the years 1992-2009 combining patent data from the European Patent Office with firm-level data from the German Innovation Panel (Mannheim Innovation Panel). The results are based on dynamic count data estimation models applying General Methods of Moments estimators. Our results support our hypotheses: firms active in low-opportunity technological areas are less innovative but are more likely to switch from pure ICT innovation to Green ICT innovation. |
| Keywords: | technological opportunities,innovation,information and communication technology (ICT),green ICT,firm-level patent data,dynamic count data model |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:15091&r=tid |
| By: | Petra Moser |
| Abstract: | A strong tradition in economic history, which primarily relies on qualitative evidence and statistical correlations, has emphasized the importance of patents as a primary driver of innovation. Recent improvements in empirical methodology – through the creation of new data sets and advances in identification – have produced research that challenges this traditional view. The findings of this literature provide a more nuanced view of the effects of intellectual property, and suggest that when patent rights have been too broad or strong, they have actually discouraged innovation. This paper summarizes the major results from this research and presents open questions. |
| JEL: | K0 K21 L51 N0 O30 O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21964&r=tid |
| By: | Adam B. Jaffe; Gaétan de Rassenfosse |
| Abstract: | The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of patent citation data in social science research. Facilitated by digitization of the patent data and increasing computing power, a community of practice has grown up that has developed methods for using these data to: measure attributes of innovations such as impact and originality; to trace flows of knowledge across individuals, institutions and regions; and to map innovation networks. The objective of this paper is threefold. First, it takes stock of these main uses. Second, it discusses four pitfalls associated with patent citation data, related to office, time and technology, examiner, and strategic effects. Third, it highlights gaps in our understanding and offers directions for future research. |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21868&r=tid |
| By: | Stefano Bianchini (BETA, University of Strasbourg); Federico Tamagni (Scuola Superiore San'Anna); Gabriele Pellegrino (WIPO & EPFL & IEB) |
| Abstract: | In this work, we explore the relations between sales growth and a set of innovation indicators that capture the different sources, modes and results of the innovative activity undertaken within firms. We exploit a rich panel on innovation activity of Spanish manufacturing firms, reporting detailed CIS-type information continuously over the period 2004-2011. Standard GMM-panel estimates of the average effect of innovation activities reveal significant and positive effect for internal R&D, while no effect is found for external sourcing of knowledge (external R&D, acquisition of embodied and disembodied technologies) as well as for output of innovation (process and product innovation). However, fixed-effects quantile regressions reveal that innovation activities, apart from process innovation and disembodied technical change, display a positive effect on high-growth performance. Finally, we find evidence of super-modularity of the growth function, revealing complementarities of internal R&D with product innovation, and between product and process innovation. |
| Keywords: | Firm growth, product and process innovation, internal and external R&D, embodied and disembodied technical change, fixed-effects quantile regressions, complementarity |
| JEL: | C21 D22 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2016-10&r=tid |
| By: | Santiago J. Rubio (Department of Economic Analysis and ERI-CES, University of Valencia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines international cooperation on technological development as an alternative to international cooperation on GHG emission reductions. In order to analyze the scope of cooperation, a three-stage technology agreement formation game is solved. First, countries decide whether or not to sign up to the agreement. Then, in the second stage, the signatories (playing together) and the non-signatories (playing individually) select their investment in R&D. In this stage, it is assumed that the signatories not only coordinate their levels of R&D investment but also pool their R&D efforts to fully internalize the spillovers of their investment in innovation. Finally, in the third stage, each country decides non-cooperatively upon its level of energy production. Emissions depend on the decisions made regarding investment and production. If a country decides to develop a breakthrough technology in the second stage, its emissions will be zero in the third stage. For linear environmental damages and quadratic investment costs, the grand coalition is stable if marginal damages are large enough to justify the development of a breakthrough technology that eliminates emissions completely, and if technology spillovers are not very important. |
| Keywords: | International Environmental Agreements, R&D Investment, Technology Spillovers, Breakthrough Technologies |
| JEL: | D74 F53 H41 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.02&r=tid |
| By: | Jan De Loecker; Johannes Van Biesebroeck |
| Abstract: | We propose a framework to evaluate the potential impact of international competition on firm performance and highlight two points. First, it is important to consider effects on productive efficiency and market power in an integrated framework. The popular concept of (revenue) TFP combines both effects which can lead to problems of estimation and interpretation. Second, greater international competition enlarges the relevant market and can affect both the number and the type of competitors a firm faces, as well as the nature of competition. While it is possible that firms respond by adjusting their production operations, pricing adjustments are all but guaranteed. We contrast three estimation approaches that start, respectively, from the demand side, the product extensive margin, and the production side. We conclude with a few avenues for future research. |
| JEL: | F10 L1 O30 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21994&r=tid |
| By: | Bettina Peters; Mark J. Roberts; Van Anh Vuong |
| Abstract: | This article investigates how a firm's financial strength affects its dynamic decision to invest in R&D. We estimate a dynamic model of R&D choice using data for German firms in high-tech manufacturing industries. The model incorporates a measure of the firm's financial strength, derived from its credit rating, which is shown to lead to substantial differences in estimates of the costs and expected long- run benefits from R&D investment. Financially strong firms have a higher probability of generating innovations from their R&D investment, and the innovations have a larger impact on productivity and profits. Averaging across all firms, the long run benefit of investing in R&D equals 6.6 percent of firm value. It ranges from 11.6 percent for firms in a strong financial position to 2.3 percent for firms in a weaker financial position. |
| JEL: | O3 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22035&r=tid |
| By: | Elena Grinza (Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Using a uniquely rich longitudinal matched employer-employee data set, this paper is the first to investigate the impact of replacing workers, as measured by excess worker turnover, on firm productivity. Using a modified version of the method proposed by Ackerberg et al. (2006), that allows to take into account unobserved heterogeneity, an augmented production function with excess worker turnover entering as the regressor of interest is estimated. The main result is that replacing workers is beneficial to firm productivity. A 1 standard deviation increase in the excess worker turnover rate is estimated to increase productivity by 0.81%. The possibility of finding more suitable employer-employee matches and the presence of knowledge spillover effects are seen as the main determinants of the impact. Robustness checks indicate that the impact has an inverted U-shape, suggesting that, beyond a certain point, replacing workers ends up being harmful. However, since about 90% of firms lie before this point, increases in excess worker turnover are beneficial for the vast majority of them. They also suggest that the effect is diversified across different categories of firms. High-tech firms and firms belonging to industrial districts benefit the most from excess worker turnover. On the contrary, young and very small firms seem to even suffer from it. |
| Keywords: | Workers’ replacement, excess worker turnover, job-matching, knowledge spillovers, firm-specific human capital, semiparametric estimation methods, ACF-FE. |
| JEL: | L23 L25 L60 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tur:wpapnw:034&r=tid |
| By: | Stefan Bender; Nicholas Bloom; David Card; John Van Reenen; Stefanie Wolter |
| Abstract: | Recent research suggests that much of the cross-firm variation in measured productivity is due to differences in use of advanced management practices. Many of these practices - including monitoring, goal setting, and the use of incentives - are mediated through employee decision-making and effort. To the extent that these practices are complementary with workers' skills, better-managed firms will tend to recruit higher-ability workers and adopt pay practices to retain these employees. We use a unique data set that combines detailed survey data on the management practices of German manufacturing firms with longitudinal earnings records for their employees to study the relationship between productivity, management, worker ability, and pay. As documented by Bloom and Van Reenen (2007) there is a strong partial correlation between management practice scores and firm-level productivity in Germany. In our preferred TFP estimates only a small fraction of this correlation is explained by the higher human capital of the average employee at better-managed firms. A larger share (about 13%) is attributable to the human capital of the highest-paid workers, a group we interpret as representing the managers of the firm. And a similar amount is mediated through the pay premiums offered by better-managed firms. Looking at employee inflows and outflows, we confirm that better-managed firms systematically recruit and retain workers with higher average human capital. Overall, we conclude that workforce selection and positive pay premiums explain just under 30% of the measured impact of management practices on productivity in German manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | management practices, productivity, wages |
| JEL: | L2 M2 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1416&r=tid |