Introducing Inventiveness into the Patent System: Submission to the Review of the National Innovation System

Because of the potential impact of the patent system on innovation diffusion, particularly on continuous and/or incremental innovation, patent policy should be of central importance to the review of the national innovation system. Substantial empirical evidence shows that most industrial innovations are not induced by the patent system. Even in very large markets, such as the USA, only a minority of patents are likely to be induced by the patent system. To the extent that patents do induce innovations, it is the inventiveness of the innovation which gives rise to possible social benefits (externalities, mainly in the form of knowledge spillovers) which may offset the costs of a patent system and thus give rise to a net economic benefit. On the basis of this evidence about the inducement effect of the patent system, and evidence on the current very low inventiveness standard for patent grant, policy proposals are put forward to re-introduce inventiveness into the patent system, thus making it potentially welfare-enhancing. These proposed changes would also have a major impact in ameliorating the negative impact of the patent system on continuous/incremental innovation

Universities, regional policy and the knowledge economy

This article focuses on the spatial clustering dimension of new information and communications technology (ICT)-driven economic activity based on knowledge industries and especially the tacit knowledge synergies to be achieved through networking in geographical space. The article first details the new knowledge economy, reviewing claims made for its distinctiveness and its role in raising levels of productivity before turning to a brief study of the clustering effects of new ICT-driven economic activity and the development of policies designed to enhance regional development. The remainder of the article details a case study – Univercities: the Manchester Knowledge Capital Initiative – in the North-west of the United Kingdom based on recent research into the attempt to create a ‘Knowledge Capital’ within the Greater Manchester conurbation, which is designed to position Manchester at the heart of the knowledge economy

Public Procurement for Innovation (PPI) – a Pilot Study

Public organizations may place an order for something (normally a product or a system) that does not exist. This “something” has to be developed by the supplier before it can be delivered. In other words, R&D and/or innovation are needed before delivery can take place. Until about 10 years ago this phenomenon was called “public technology procurement” Edquist et al 2000). This vocabulary of the 1990s and earlier has changed; the concept of “technology” has been replaced by the concept of “innovation”, reflecting a widening of the content of the notion. The phenomenon is a matter of using public demand (or similar) to trigger innovation. We will use the term “public procurement for innovation (PPI)” to denote this phenomenon. Further definitions are presented in section 2.4.Innovation Systems; innovation policy

The Role of Technology in Music Education: a Survey of Computer Usage in Teaching Music in Colleges of Education in The Volta Region, Ghana

The study sought to find out the role of computer technology in music education in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana. It aimed at surveying the use of computer technology for teaching music and exploring the instructional prospects for computer technology usage in music in Colleges of Education. The study employed Rogers’ Diffusion Innovation theory and descriptive survey research method. Data was collected from the respondents using questionnaire, interview, and observation. The study revealed that even though about 90% of the music tutors have good academic qualification and over five years teaching experience, lack of competence in handling computer technology in teaching music among some music tutors and incoherent ICT initiatives hindered proper application of computer technology in the field of music education. It is however envisaged that increasing access and coherent computer technology initiatives will be paramount for the teaching of music in the Colleges of Education

Commercialisation of Sustainable Energy Technologies

Commercialization efforts to diffuse sustainable energy technologies (SETs) need to be sustainable in terms of replication, spread and longevity, and should promote goal of sustainable development. Limited success of diffusion through government driven pathways illustrates the need for market-based approaches to SET commercialization. This paper presents a detailed treatment of the pre-requisites for adopting a private sector driven business model approach for successful diffusion of SETs. This is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development with innovative regulatory, marketing, financing, incentive and intermediary mechanisms. Further, it envisages a public-private partnership driven-mechanism as a framework for diffusion leading to technology commercialization.Commercialisation, Energy, Financing, technology, Sustainable

Governance of Environment-Enhancing Technical change - past experiences and suggestions for improvement

There is much talk about environmental policies being faulty. Past policies are being criticisedfor failing to achieve environmental goals (the environmentalist complaint), for being overlyexpensive (the industrialist complaint) and for failing to encourage innovation and dynamicefficiency (the complaint of economists dealing with innovation). This paper looks at theinnovation and technology adoption effects of past environmental policies. It finds indeed fewexamples of environmental policies that stimulated innovation. The common technologyresponse is the use of expensive end-of-pipe solutions and incremental process changesoffering limited environmental gains. This begs the question: why did the policies fail topromote more radical innovation and dynamic efficiency? One explanation—well-recognisedin the economic literature—is the capture of government policies by special interests. Thispaper offers a second explanation—based on innovation and technology adoption studies—which says that in order to have a decisive and socially beneficial influence policy instrumentsmust be fine-tuned to the circumstances in which sociotechnical change processes occur and tipthe balance. Within this alternative view, the starting point of government interventions is thecapabilities, interests, interdependencies and games of social actors around an environmentalproblem instead of the set of environmental policy instruments for achieving an environmentalgoal. The paper sees a need for government authorities to be explicitly concerned with technicalchange (rather than implicitly through a change in the economic frame conditions) and to beconcerned with institutional arrangements beyond the choice of policy instruments, and act as achange agent. This requires different roles for policy makers: that of a sponsor, planner,regulator, matchmaker, alignment actor and ‘creative game regulator’. The paper offers twoperspectives on environmental policy: an instrument one and a modulation one. The latter isespecially important for promoting innovation and bringing about radical change, somethingwhich is very difficult with traditional regulatory instruments. Instruments for promotingenvironment-enhancing technical change are appraised and suggestions are offered for thepurposes for which different policy instruments may be used in differing economic contexts.environmental economics ;

Discourses on ICT and development.

Research on ICT and development (ICTD) involves assumptions on the nature of ICT innovation and on the way such innovation contributes to development. In this article I review the multidisciplinary literature on ICTD and identify two perspectives regarding the nature of the ICT innovation process in developing countries - as transfer and diffusion and as socially embedded action - and two perspectives on the development transformation towards which ICT is understood to contribute - progressive transformation and disruptive transformation. I then discuss the four discourses formed by combining the perspectives on the nature of IS innovation and on the development transformation. My review suggests that ICTD research, despite its remarkable theoretical capabilities to study technology innovation in relation to socio-economic context, remains weak in forming convincing arguments on IT-enabled socio-economic development.

A Quest for Pro-Poor Globalization

pro-poor globalization, inequality, poverty

Using agriculture for development: Supply- and demand-side approaches

For most poor countries of today, using agriculture for development is widely recognized as a promising strategy. Yet, in these countries, investment in agriculture has mostly been lagging relative to international norms and recommendations. Current wisdom on how to use agriculture for development is that it requires asset building for smallholder farmers, productivity growth in staple foods, an agricultural transformation (diversification of farming systems toward high value crops), and a rural transformation (value addition through rural non-farm activities linked to agriculture). This sequence has too often been hampered by extensive market and government failures. We outline a theory of change where the removal of market and government failures to use this Agriculture for Development strategy can be addressed through two contrasted and complementary approaches. One is from the “supply-side” where public and social agents (governments, international and bilateral development agencies, NGOs, donors) intervene to help farmers overcome the major constraints to adoption: liquidity, risk, information, and access to markets. The other is from the “demand-side” where private agents (entrepreneurs, producer organizations) create incentives for smallholder farmers to modernize through contracting and vertical coordination in value chains. We review the extensive literature that has explored ways of using Agriculture for Development through these two approaches. We conclude by noting that the supply-side approach has benefited from extensive research but met with limited success. The demand-side approach has promise, but received insufficient attention and is in need of additional rigorous research which we outline

The Role of Management Practices in Closing the Productivity Gap

There is no doubt that management practices are linked to the productivity and performance of a company. However, research findings are mixed. This paper provides a multi-disciplinary review of the current evidence of such a relationship and offers suggestions for further exploration. We provide an extensive review of the literature in terms of research findings from studies that have been trying to measure and understand the impact that individual management practices and clusters of management practices have on productivity at different levels of analysis. We focus our review on Operations Management (om) and Human Resource Management (hrm) practices as well as joint applications of these practices. In conclusion, we can say that taken as a whole, the research findings are equivocal. Some studies have found a positive relationship between the adoption of management practices and productivity, some negative and some no association whatsoever. We believe that the lack of universal consensus on the effect of the adoption of complementary management practices might be driven either by measurement issues or by the level of analysis. Consequently, there is a need for further research. In particular, for a multi-level approach from the lowest possible level of aggregation up to the firm-level of analysis in order to assess the impact of management practices upon the productivity of firms