Innovation in Services - Theoretical Approach

The aim of this article is to present the evolution of theoretical studies on service innovation. The author also attempts to put these different approaches to service innovation into order and to indicate the possible forms of service innovation that emerge from these researches. In further part of the article the issue of the availability of statistical data and its relevance to the possible forms of service innovation, as well as some changes that has been implemented recently in order to improve this relevance, are discussed.Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie ewolucji teoretycznych badań nad innowacjami w usługach. Autorka podejmuje również próbę uporządkowania różnych podejść do kwestii innowacji usługowych oraz wskazać możliwe formy tych innowacji, wyłaniające się z analizowanych badań. W dalszej części artykułu, podejmowana jest kwestia dostępności danych statystycznych oraz ich adekwatności, jeśli chodzi o możliwość zastosowania do analizy różnych form innowacji usługowych. Omawiane są również wprowadzone ostatnio zmiany, mające na celu poprawę adekwatności tych danych

Determinants of alliance portfolio complexity and its effect on innovative performance of companies

Alliance formation is often described as a mechanism used by firms to increase voluntary knowledge transfers. Access to external knowledge has been increasingly recognized as a main source of a firm's innovativeness. In this paper we examine decisions to form alliance portfolios of foreign and domestic partners by three groups of firms: innovators (firms that are successful in introducing new products to the market), imitators (firms that are successful at introducing new products, which are not new to the market) and product non-innovators. We consider an alliance portfolio that includes different partnership types (competitor, customer, supplier, university/research center). We develop a measure of portfolio complexity which we define as the number and diversity of elements of the alliance portfolio with which a firm must interact. We then estimate models that explain portfolio complexity and its impact on firm's innovative performance. Using panel data on more than 1800 firms in the Netherlands we find that foremost innovators have a strong propensity to form portfolios consisting of international alliances. Being an innovator or imitator also increases the propensity to form a portfolio of domestic alliances, relative to non-innovators; but this propensity is not stronger for innovators. Innovators appear to derive benefit from both intensive (exploitative) and broad (explorative) use of external information sources. The former sourcing is more important for innovators, while the latter for imitators. Finally, alliance complexity is found to have an inverse U-shape relationship to innovative performance.Innovation, R&D cooperation, Alliance portfolio

Економічне і правове регулювання міжнародного трансферу технологій

The article is devoted to the study of legal regulation of the most important branch of international economic and scientific and technical cooperation - international technology transfer. The article deals with specific legal forms and conditions for the transfer of technology, analyzes contractual relations of organizations of European countries among themselves, with firms and organizations of capitalist and developing countries. International technology transfer affects not only the interests of parties to treaties, but also important state interests in the field of economics. It has a significant impact on the level and pace of scientific, technical and socio-economic development of the countries of the world, largely defining the foreign economic relations between them. These factors, which are based on the intern ational transfer of technology, need to pay special attention to the fundamental transformation of the country's economy on the basis of the latest advances in world science and technology. The legal and economic regulation of the international transfer of technologies and objects of intellectual property is considered. Detailed analysis of the experience of different countries in the field of attraction of foreign technologies, as well as the problem of support of national technologically oriented industries at the present stage. Recommendations on the international transfer of innovative technologies in the conditions of the global financial crisis have been developed. In the article, the authors consider international transfer (transfer) of technologies in three aspects: as a mutually beneficial exchange of technologies, the international division of labor in the creation and practical study of intellectual property, as a decisive factor in the country's economic development, as a means of economic expansion, the technological dependence of one country on the other.Стаття присвячена вивченню правового регулювання найважливішої галузі міжнародної економічної та науково-технічної співпраці-міжнародного трансферу технологій. У статті розглядаються конкретні правові форми та умови передачі техніки, аналізуються договірні відносини організацій європейських країн між собою, з фірмами та організаціями капіталістичних і країн, що розвиваються. Міжнародна передача технології зачіпає не тільки інтереси сторін договорів, але і важливі державні інтереси в сфері економіки. Вона робить істотний вплив на рівень і темпи науково-технічного та соціально-економічного розвитку країн світу, багато в чому визначаючи зовнішньоекономічні зв'язки між ними. На ці фактори, в основі яких лежить міжнародна передача технології, необхідно звертати особливу увагу, домагаючись докорінної перебудови економіки країни на базі новітніх досягнень світової науки і техніки. Розглянуто правове та економічне регулювання міжнародного перенесення технологій та об'єктів інтелектуальної власності. Докладно аналізується досвід різних держав у сфері залучення зарубіжних технологій, а також проблема підтримки національних технологічно орієнтованих виробництв на сучасному етапі. Розроблено рекомендації щодо міжнародної передачі інноваційних технологій в умовах світової фінансової кризи. У статті автори розглядають міжнародну передачу (перенесення) технологій у три аспекти: як взаємовигідний обмін технологіями, міжнародний поділ праці у створенні та практичному дослідженні інтелектуальних цінностей, як вирішального фактора економічного розвитку країни, як засіб економічної експансії, технологічна залежність однієї країни від іншої

Innovation Indicators: for a critical reflection on their use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

It has been widely recognized that innovation is an important driver of economic growth. Many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) have adopted innovation indicators to monitor innovation performance and to evaluate the impact of innovation policies. This paper argues that innovation indicators should be customized to the different socio-economic structures of LMICs. For this, the definition of innovation needs to be relevant to the multitude of innovation actors and processes in LMICs. LMICs also need to build competences not only in the construction of innovation indicators within their statistical systems, but also in the use of these indicators by among others policy makers. Especially as the fourth edition of the Oslo Manual (OM 2018) has broadened the scope of “innovation”, opening up policy space for LMICs to accommodate the diversity in their national systems of innovation and to develop accompanying innovation indicators.JEL Classification Codes: O38, O32, O29, P47http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/iizuka-michiko

The CIS Common Electric Power Market

Trade in electric power and mutual investments are at a low level and do not correspond with the sector’s potential. The CIS is a net exporter of electric power, but the actual volumes of import and export are small. CIS countries are capable of more, having large coal and gas reserves with huge potential for energy production, vast hydropower potential, and competitive advantage in power engineering. In spite of the considerable revival during recent years, mutual investments remain at a low level and are characterised by a one-sided structure. Power markets (power industry, hydrocarbons, coal, uranium) are specific: it is necessary to combine a complex approach to fuel and energy balance with functional integration in these unique markets. In the 2000s, the EurAsEC began work on creating a common power market (CPM). It goes without saying that, at the level of conception, power markets must be regarded as interrelated, which allows the implementation of the principle of comparative advantages in the process of integrating different countries. Alongside this, power industries may form separate markets with their own specific regulations. The idea of a common power market, which is the basis of the systematic work of the EurAsEC, inadequately reflects the peculiarities of the power industry. In our opinion, the subject that should be considered is the creation of a number of common markets, such as: an electric power market, an oil and gas market, and a coal market. The creation of a uranium market may then follow. In spite of their evident dependence on each other, each of these markets is very specific and consequently should be regulated independently Creating a common power market entails a number of solvable problems. The completion of the liberalisation of the Russian market, which is the biggest, networked market of the CIS, is one of the most important preconditions for the development of a common power market. In general, the integration of the power market is dependant on the institutional peculiarities of the national electric-power industry in the key countries. Despite this, if an optimal regulative environment is established, a common power market can still be created even with the preservation of a considerable presence of public companies in the generation and distribution of energy. Advancement towards a continental Eurasian common power market is economically rational. Russia and its neighbours are interested in Eurasian integration, which would not be constrained by the boundaries of the post-Soviet space. The very logic of a CPM urges us to go beyond the boundaries of the post-Soviet area. Russia and Kazakhstan are keen promoters of the CPM, as are a number of other CIS countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Belarus. Practically all of the CIS countries could gain real advantages as exporters and transmitters of electric power if real electric energy market mechanisms are introduced, thereby dealing with countries of Eurasia such as China, Iran, India, Turkey and EU countries. A CPM for Eurasia would develop gradually, founded on a number of bi- and multilateral agreements.post-Soviet space; electric power market; economic integration

R&D cooperation and spillovers: Some empirical evidence

This paper provides some first empirical evidence on the relationship between R&D spillovers and R&D cooperation. The results suggest disentangling different aspects of know-how flows. Firms which rate incoming spillovers more importantly and who can limit outgoing spillovers by a more effective protection of know-how, are more likely to cooperate in R&D. Our analysis also finds that cooperating firms have higher incoming spillovers and higher protection of know- how, indicating that cooperation may serve as a vehicle to manage information flows. Our results thus suggest that on the one hand the information sharing and coordination aspects of incoming spillovers are crucial in understanding cooperation, while on the other hand, protection against outgoing spillovers is important for firms to engage in stable cooperative agreements by reducing free-rider problems. Distinguishing different types of cooperative partners reveals that while managing outgoing spillovers is less critical in alliances with non-commercial research partners than between vertically related partners, the incoming spillovers seem to be more critical in understanding the former type of R&D cooperation.Research and development, cooperation, spillovers

Innovation and Economic Development

Innovation is often seen as carried out by highly educated labour in R&D intensive companies with strong ties to leading centers of excellence in the scientific world. Seen from this angle innovation is a typical “first world” activity. There is, however, another way to look at innovation that goes significantly beyond this high-tech picture. In this, broader, perspective, innovation – the attempt to try out new or improved products, processes or ways to do things – is an aspect of most if not all economic activities. In this sense, it is argued (section one), innovation may be as relevant in the developing part of the world as elsewhere. Section two discusses the existing theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. An important conclusion is that to be able to exploit technology to their own advantage, developing countries need to develop the necessary capabilities for doing so. But what are these capabilities and how can they be measured? The third section of the paper surveys attempts to identify and measure capabilities as the national level. However, the development of such capabilities, it is shown, depends in important ways on what firms do. Section four, therefore, focuses on recent attempt to survey innovation activity in firms in developing countries and what can be learnt from that. Section five discusses the role of domestic versus foreign sources in fostering innovation in the developing part of the world. The final section summarizes the main lessons.Development, innovation, measurement, innovation surveys, openness

R&D cooperation and spillovers: some empirical evidence.

This paper provides some first empirical evidence on the relationship between R&D spillovers and R&D cooperation. The results suggest disentangling different aspects of know-how flows. Firms which rate incoming spillovers more importantly and who can limit outgoing spillovers by a more effective protection of know-how, are more likely to cooperate in R&D. Our analysis also finds that cooperating firms have higher incoming spillovers and higher protection of know-how, indicating that cooperation may serve as a vehicle to manage information flows. Our results thus suggest that on the one hand the information sharing and coordination aspects of incoming spillovers are crucial in understanding cooperation, while on the other hand, protection against outgoing spillovers is important for firms to engage in stable cooperative agreements by reducing free-rider problems. Distinguishing different types of cooperative partners reveals that while managing outgoing spillovers is less critical in alliances with non-commercial research partners than between vertically related partners, the incoming spillovers seem to be more critical in understanding the former type of R&D cooperation.Cooperation; R&D; R&D cooperation; Spillovers;