The Regional Dimension of Sectoral Innovativeness An Empirical Investigation of Two Specialised Supplier and Two Science-Based Industries

The aim of this paper is to test how geographical and technological proximity relate to a particular industry's innovative output. Two mechanisms are therefore tested, i.e. agglomeration economies and the regional exploitation of technological proximity. A new dataset is applied, which includes German patent applications from within the period 1995 to 2006. Four industries are considered, two of which are science-based, whereas the remaining two are specialised supplier industries. While diversity is associated with high innovative output in the specialised supplier industries, the results for specialisation are mixed. However, all industries seem to benefit, at least to a certain degree, from the regional re-combination of their own technologies with those of specific key industries.Innovation, Proximity, Diversity

How do distinct firm characteristics affect behavioural additionalities of public R&D subsidies? Empirical evidence from a binary regression analysis

In the recent past, interest of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) policies to influence the innovation behaviour of firms has been increased considerably. This gives rise to the notion of behavioural additionality, broadening traditional evaluation concepts of input and output additionality. Though there is empirical work measuring behavioural additionalities, we know little about what role distinct firm characteristics play for their occurrence. The objective is to estimate how distinct firm characteristics influence the realisation of behavioural additionalities. We use survey data on 155 firms, considering the behavioural additionalities stimulated by the Austrian R&D funding scheme in the field of intelligent transport systems in 2006. We focus on three different forms of behavioural additionality – project additionality, scale additionality and cooperation additionality – and employ binary regression models to address this question. Results indicate that R&D related firm characteristics significantly affect the realisation of behavioural additionality. Firms with a high level of R&D resources are less likely to substantiate behavioural additionalities, while small, young and technologically specialised firms more likely realise behavioural additionalities. From a policy perspective, this indicates that direct R&D promotion of firms with high R&D resources may be misallocated, while attention of public support should be shifted to smaller, technologically specialised firms with lower R&D experience.

How Structural Change Differs, and Why it Matters (for Economic Growth)

Several types of theoretical literature on the topic of trade, growth and specialisation, including neoclassical approaches, post-Keynesian literature and some models in evolutionary economics, have shown that it is possible enjoy higher rates of economic growth, given the presence of certain sectors in the economy, being it high-tech or fast-growing sectors. This paper investigates these propositions empirically. Basically the idea is to conduct a constant market share (CMS) analysis, and afterwards include the obtained effects in regression models, using panel data techniques in explaining aggregate economic growth. The results display that the fixed effects model is the most appropriate technique, and that using this tool, the initial level of income (the catch up variable) is significant and has a negative sign as expected. The investment (growth of the capital stock) variable is also significant, while the growth adaptation effect (measuring whether the country in question has actively (more than the average country) moved into slow or fast growing sectors) is the only significant variable (positive sign) of the CMS effects. Hence, it is concluded that a certain dynamism in terms of structural change is required by countries in order to achieve high levels of economic growth at the macro level. The final part of the paper deals with the question of whether the fast-growing sectors (as measured in the CMS analysis) are high-tech or not. Based on a comparison between the OECD growth vector from the CMS analysis, on the one hand, and R&D intensities in the 22 sectors (for the 1970s and for the 1980s), on the other, it is concluded that the fast-growing sectors are in general also high-tech sectors.trade specialisation, economic growth, constant market share analysis, panel data

Do Export and Technological Specialisation Patterns Co-evolve in Terms of Convergence or Divergence? Evidence From 19 OECD Countries, 1971-1991

Several researchers looking at the development of international export specialisation patterns have shown that there is a general tendency for OECD countries to de-specialise. This finding is in contrast to findings made by other authors, working on technological specialisation. These authors found increasing technological specialisation. The first aim of this paper is to investigate whether these contradictory findings are due to a real world phenomenon, or whether the explanation is purely technical, by comparing the development of export specialisation to specialisation in terms of US patents, using the same methodology, and level of aggregation. The second aim is to analyse the extent to which countries and sectors display stable specialisation patterns over time, also both in terms of exports and in terms of technology. The paper confirms that the OECD countries did in general de-specialise in terms of export specialisation. The evidence is less conclusive with regard to technological specialisation, as the results are mixed in the sense that just about half of the countries tend to increase in terms of the level of specialisation, while the other half tend to engage in de-specialisation. In terms of country and sectoral stability of specialisation patterns, it can be concluded that both trade specialisation and technological specialisation patterns are path-dependent in the sense that all country and sectoral patterns are correlated between seven three year intervals, within the period in question. In comparison however, trade specialisation patters are more stable than are technological specialisation patterns.trade specialisation, technological specialisation, structural change

Do Inter-sectoral Linkages Matter for International Export Specialisation?

This paper basically adopts a ‘technology gap’ approach for explaining international export specialisation. Within this broad label there has been one tradition which has applied cumulativeness in technological change as an explanation, while another tradition has emphasised the role of inter-sectoral linkages (the so-called home market effect) in this context. However, given that the sources of innovation (inducements mechanisms) differ between firms according to principal sector of activity, different variables should not be expected to be of equal importance across industrial sectors. Thus, using the Pavitt taxonomy as a starting point, the paper statistically investigates the importance of variables reflecting different inducement mechanisms, across 9 OECD countries. The paper concludes that the two types of technological activities, namely technological activities in the ‘own’ sector, and inter-sectoral linkages are both important in the determination of national export specialisation patterns. However, the importance differ according to the mode of innovation in each type of sector.international export specialisation, patent data, input-output analysis, inter-sectoral li

An Empirical Model of Firm Behaviour A Dynamic Approach to Competence Accumulation and Strategic Behaviour

The aim of this paper is to develop and implement an empirical model of firm behaviour. The data applied are patent applications taken out by 16 multinationals within telecommunications. The first dimension of the model deals with the strategic behaviour of firms. Second dimension deals with the accumulation of technological competencies, and finally a test of persistence and diversification in the technological profile of the single firm over time is carried out. Three types of results are reported: 1. For a small number of firms the process of accumulating technological competencies is very unstable leading to fragile competence bases. 2. The main part of the firms experience incremental accumulation of technological competencies over time even though the environment is highly dynamic. 3. For some firms the dynamics of the environment through competitor activities influence the accumulation of technological competencies to such a degree that the strategic intent is not reflected in the competence base. These findings support the theoretical argument that the resource-based view is too narrow and should include the dynamic effects imposed upon the firm by the environment in which the firm operatesStrategic behaviour, accumulation of technological competencies, patents, methodology

The Fruits of Intellectual Production Economic and Scientific Specialisation Among OECD Countries

This paper brings together data from 14 OECD countries on scientific publications, patents and production specialisation to explore the relationship between economic and production specialisation for 17 manufacturing sectors. Since Marx, there has been a fundamental debate in economics about the link between science and the economic system. Marx argued that the developments in the science system are strongly influenced by changes in the economic sphere, whereas Polanyi argued that developments in science are largely independent of economic sphere. Using a panel data model and econometric estimations at the sectoral-level, the paper assesses the two positions and finds considerable support for Marx’s position, that is, that scientific and production specialisation are, often, tightly linked.Scientific specialisation, international economic specialisation, bibliometric data

Location and R&D alliances in the European ICT industry

This paper shows empirically that in an intra-industry oligopolistic scenario the location of a firm's innovative activities plays an important role in determining its partner selection in R&D alliances. Such a role is mainly attributed to a strategic use of R&D alliances as a means to limit knowledge flows and protect competences, rather than to promote knowledge flows. By drawing on a novel dataset matching alliances and patent data for the European ICT industry, the econometric analysis shows that partners' prior co-location (at both national and sub-national regional level), previous ties and technological overlap matter in the choice of partner, while common nationality has a negative impact on alliance formation.alliances, strategy, efficiency, R&D location

The Dynamics of European Industrial Structure

Has the European integration process lead to increased specialisation and what drives changes in specialisation? To address these questions we apply a model that incorporates endowments, technology and increasing returns to scale (IRS). Analyses reveal that countries with high capital accumulation have become increasingly specialised in capital-intensive industries; this holds for both human and physical capital while countries have diverged (converged) in physical (human) capital abundance. No increased concentration of IRS industries to large markets is found. Analysing R&D indicates scale economies in R&D at the firm level and that firm level R&D is what drives competitiveness. Finally, there is robust evidence for a domestic interdependency in industries specialisation patterns.Specialisation; Productivity; Trade; Technology; Technology transfers; R&D

Revealed Comparative Advantage and the Alternatives as Measures of International Specialisation

The paper is an analysis of Balassa’s ‘revealed comparative advantage’ (RCA). The papers shows that when using the RCA, it should always be adjusted in such a way, so that it becomes symmetric. The conclusion is based on a theoretical discussion of the properties of the measure, but also on convincing empirical evidence, based on the Jarque-Bera test of normality of the error terms from regressions, using both the RCA and the ‘Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage’ (the RSCA). The RSCA is also compared to other measures of international trade specialisation. These measures included the Michaely index and the chi square measure. The conclusion emerging from the analysis is that the RSCA is - on balance - the best measure of comparativerevealed comparative advantage, international specialisation