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on Technology and Industrial Dynamics |
| By: | Ben R. Martin |
| Abstract: | With the field of innovation studies now half a century old, the occasion has been marked by several studies looking back to identify the main advances made over its lifetime. Starting from a list of 20 advances over the field's history, this discussion paper sets out 20 challenges for coming decades. The intention is to prompt a debate within the innovation studies community on what are, or should be, the key challenges for us to take up, and more generally on what sort of field we aspire to be. It is argued that the empirical focus of our studies has failed to keep pace with the fast changing world and economy, especially the shift from manufacturing to services and the increasingly urgent need for sustainability. Moreover, the very way we conceptualise, define, operationalise and analyse 'innovation' seems somewhat rooted in the past, leaving us less able to grapple with other less visible or 'dark' forms of innovation. |
| Keywords: | innovation studies; science policy; research challenges; dark innovation |
| JEL: | O30 O31 O32 O38 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp475&r=tid |
| By: | Stefano Comino (Univeristy of Udine); Fabio M. Manenti (University of Padova); NIkolaus Thumm (European Commission JRC Seville) |
| Abstract: | During the last decades, the number of ICT related patents has increased considerably. In association with a great fragmentation in IP rights, the increasing number of patents has generated a series of potentially problematic consequences. Patent thickets, royalty stacking, the emergence of patent assertion entities, increased patent litigation – in particular around standard essential patents – and the difficulties in the definition of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms are among the most debated issues in the literature that we review in this paper. We devote a specific section of our survey to patents involving software products, where the above problems are amplified by the high level of abstraction of computer algorithms. In our analysis we mix theoretical and empirical arguments with a more policy-oriented reasoning. This allows us to better position the different issues in the relevant political and economic context. |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0212&r=tid |
| By: | Ben R. Martin |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the term 'policy instrument' has been used more frequently with regard to R&D policy and innovation policy. What does this term mean? Where did it come from? What do we know about it, both with regard to the general field of policy studies but also in the specific context of R&D policy? This article examines the development of the notion of policy instruments as part of a body of research known as 'policy design'. Over the last 50 years, there has been substantial progress in setting policy design on a more systematic basis, with the development of established concepts and analytical frameworks, including various taxonomies of policy instruments. However, with just a few exceptions, this body of research seems to have had little impact in the world of R&D policy. The paper reviews the literature on R&D policy instruments. It identifies a number of challenges for R&D policy instruments in the light of four transitions – the shift from linear to systemic thinking about R&D and innovation, the shift from national governments to multi-level governance, the shift from individual actors to collaborations and networks, and the shift from individual policies to policy mixes. It sets out a research agenda for the study of R&D policy instruments, before ending with a number of conclusions. |
| Keywords: | Policy instruments; R&D policy; policy design; policy mix |
| JEL: | O38 I28 H11 D78 E61 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp476&r=tid |
| By: | Benjamin Montmartin (UniversitŽ C™te dÕAzur, France; GREDEG CNRS); Marcos Herrera (CONICET - IELDE; National University of Salta, Argentina); Nadine Massard (GAEL UMR 1215; UniversitŽ Grenoble Alpes, France) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique database containing information on the amount of R&D tax credits and regional, national and European subsidies received by firms in French NUTS3 regions over the period 2001-2011, we provide new evidence on the efficiency of R&D policies taking into account spatial dependency across regions. By estimating a spatial Durbin model with regimes and fixed effects, we show that in a context of yardstick competition between regions, national subsidies are the only instrument that displays total leverage effect. For other instruments internal and external effects balance each other resulting in insignificant total effects. Structural breaks corresponding to tax credit reforms are also revealed. |
| Keywords: | Additionality, French policy mix, R&D investment, Spatial panel, Structural break |
| JEL: | H25 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2017-22&r=tid |
| By: | Michele Capriati (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro); Marialuisa Divella (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the way in which innovation and absorptive capacity affect the productivity of Italian provinces. It builds on the Neo-Schumpeterian literature which investigates how technology gaps explain development disparities between countries and regions. The study is carried out at the provincial level, which allows a more fine-tuned analysis of the resource endowment linked to knowledge generation and economic performance. Moreover, it distinguishes between two very different types of innovation: those directly dependent on R&D and new knowledge generation which are generally measured by the number of patents; and those relying on the adaptation of processes, products and materials and thus mostly based on the exploitation of already existing knowledge, which are here measured by a new index based on registered utility models and industrial designs. Main results indicate a case of divergence in productivity levels instead of one of catching up among the Italian provinces; moreover, they suggest that the main effort to get productivity gains in this country has been carried out through a reduction of employment and of its related costs instead of via increasing R&D and human capital. |
| Keywords: | innovation, patents, utility models, industrial designs, provinces, proximity |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cme:wpaper:1702&r=tid |
| By: | Izquierdo, Mario (Bank of Spain); Jimeno, Juan (Bank of Spain); Kosma, Theodora (Bank of Greece); Lamo, Ana (European Central Bank); Millard, Stephen (Bank of England); Room, Tairi (Eestipank); Viviano, Eliana (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Against the backdrop of continuing adjustment in EU labour markets in response to the Great Recession and the sovereign debt crisis, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)conducted the third wave of the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN)survey in 2014–15 as a follow-up to the two previous WDN waves carried out in 2007 and 2009. The WDN survey collected information on wage-setting practices at the firm level. This third wave sampled about 25,000 firms in 25 European countries with the aim of assessing how firms adjusted wages and employment in response to the various shocks and labour market reforms that took place in the European Union (EU) during the period 2010–13. This paper summarises the main results of WDN3 by identifying some patterns in firms’ adjustments and labour market reforms. It seeks to lay out the main lessons learnt from the survey in terms of both the general response of EU labour markets to the crisis and how these responses varied across the countries that took part in the survey. |
| Keywords: | Wage Dynamics Network; survey data; labour market adjustment; labour market reforms |
| JEL: | E24 J30 J52 J68 |
| Date: | 2017–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:0661&r=tid |
| By: | Max-Peter Menzel; Johannes Kammer |
| Abstract: | In this study, we combine KlepperÕs framework on the evolution of industries with the Varieties of Capitalism approach to argue that industry evolution is mediated by institutional differences. We expect that new industries will evolve with a stronger connection to established industries in coordinated marked economies than in liberal market economies. Our assumptions are supported by the survival analysis of US and Danish wind turbine manufacturers from 1974 to 2014. Length: |
| JEL: | L64 O15 P51 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1716&r=tid |
| By: | Pierre-Alexandre Balland; Ron Boschma; Joan Crespo; David L. Rigby |
| Abstract: | Smart specialization has become a hallmark of the EUÕs Cohesion Policy. Envisaged as a bottom-up initiative identifying local knowledge cores and associated competitive advantages, the operationalization of smart specialization has been rather limited, as a coherent set of analytical tools to guide the policy directives remains elusive. To tackle the weak underpinning of smart specialization policy, we propose a policy framework around the concepts of relatedness and knowledge complexity. We use EPO patent data to provide evidence on how EU regions develop new technologies in the period 1990-2009. We find that diversifying into more complex technologies is highly attractive but difficult for EU regions to accomplish. Regions can overcome this diversification dilemma by developing new complex technologies that build on local related capabilities. We use these findings to construct a policy framework for smart specialization that highlights the potential risks and rewards for regions of adopting competing diversification strategies. We show how potential costs of alternative strategies in regions may be assessed by making use of the relatedness concept, and how potential benefits of various smart specialization strategies can be derived from estimates of the complexity of technologies. A series of case-studies of different types of regions illustrate the utility of this policy framework. Length: |
| JEL: | O25 O38 R11 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1717&r=tid |
| By: | Reinhilde Veugelers |
| Abstract: | China is building up its global competitiveness in knowledge-intensive sectors and its ambition to be a global leader in science and innovation by 2050 seems well within reach. China outperforms the European Union in terms of expenditure on research and development as a share of its GDP, and already produces about the same number of scientific publications, and more PhDs in natural sciences and engineering, than the United States. China aspires to produce and capitalise on home-grown scientific talent, but its growth model for science still involves sending out its increasingly better locally-trained scholars to the best institutes in the world and reaping the benefits when they return in the later stages of their careers, after they have fully developed their capabilities and built their networks. The US remains the favoured destination for Chinese students, which has led to the creation of US-Chinese science and technology networks and connections that are mutually beneficial - enabling China to catch up and helping the US to keep its position at the science frontier. The EU has much less-developed scientific connections to China than the US. The EU should take steps to engage more with China if it is not to miss out in the future multipolar science and technology world. |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:21154&r=tid |
| By: | Antonelli, Cristiano; Colombelli, Alessandra (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an extended CDM approach to analyse jointly the simultaneous effects of knowledge spillovers in the knowledge generation function and in the technology production function. It introduces the distinction between imitation and knowledge externalities and articulates the hypothesis that spillovers yield their effects via three well distinct mechanisms: i) knowledge externalities that exert positive and direct effects on the knowledge production function, and ii) indirect effects on the technology production function via their effects on the cost of knowledge; iii) imitation externalities exert direct and positive effects on productivity in the technology production function. We test our hypotheses on a large panel of Italian companies distributed in the NUTS2 regions for the period 2005 – 2009. The econometric analysis consists in a model comprising a system of equations that test the simultaneous role of spillovers in the knowledge generation function and the technology production function with the inclusion of endogenous knowledge costs. The results confirm that the access to external knowledge – as an input in the knowledge generation function – plays a key role in increasing the knowledge output and – as an input in the technology production function – has positive indirect and direct effects on the productivity of firms. |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201728&r=tid |