The relative effectiveness of patents and secrecy for appropriation.

Appropriation;Innovation surveys;Patents;Secrecy;

The costs of convenience: unpacking the self-storage industry

Abstract: Increasing numbers of self-storage facilities on the urban landscape is illustrative of a culture of excessive consumption, underpinned by conventions such as ‘more is better’. This paper explores some key drivers of the growing phenomenon known as self-storage, contending that they are representative of a social malaise we would do well to address. My findings point towards a seemingly ceaseless increase in demand for these storage services, with the implications including that they will continue to facilitate our propensity to consume, and perhaps inadvertently hoard, with direct and indirect negative environmental and other impacts. Unless there is a significant shift in how we act and react in relation to our impulses and desires for goods, the dreams and material aspirations we hold today may turn into the collective global nightmare of tomorrow

Proximity and the Use of Public Science by Innovate European Firms

We use the results of a 1993 survey of EuropeÕs largest firms to explore the effect of proximity on knowledge flows from suppliers, customers, joint ventures, competitors and public research organisations to innovative firms. The focus is on the latter, since they are an essential component of National Innovation Systems. The importance of proximity for sourcing knowledge from public research increases with the quality and output of domestic public research organisations and declines with activity in the North American market, an increase in the firmÕs R&D expenditures, and the importance of codified knowledge to the firm.public research, knowledge flows, tacit knowledge, innovation

Does Proximity Matter for Knowledge Transfer from Public Institutes and Universities to Firms?

'National Innovation Systems' theories are built upon the assumption that linkages among organisations matter to innovation. Specifically, proximity is a crucial factor in most of the explanations of regional innovation systems. Yet several thing, such as the rapid growth of the internet and email, suggest that the role of proximity could be breaking down, particularly for large firms with the financial resources to seek out knowledge anywhere in the world.However, the need to access tacit knowledge in rapidly evolving science-based technologies could counter the centrifugal features of modern communication technologies. This study examines the effect of proximity on the sourcing of knowledge by firms from suppliers, customers, joint ventures, competitors (via reverse engineering) and publicly-funded research organisations (PROs). The focus is on PROs, since they are an essential component of National Innovation Systems. Relevant data for up to 615 firms are available from the 1993 PACE survey of Europe's largest industrial firms. Descriptive results show that compared to four other information sources proximity effects are greatest for PROs. The factors that influence the importance of proximity to the use of information from PROs are explored through an ordered logit model. The dependent variable is the relative importance of domestic and foreign PROs. The independent variables include firm size, activity in foreign markets, R&D intensity, a proxy for codified knowledge, and two proxies for the quantity and quality of the scientific base of a country. The ordered logit model results show that proximity effects decline with an increase in the firm's R&D expenditures, the importance attached to basic research results in publications, and activity in the North American market, but increase with the quality and availability of outputs from domestic PROs.Public research, localisation, knowledge flows, knowledge spillovers, process of innovation.

What percentage of innovations are patented?: empirical estimates for European firms.

Patents;Propensity;Innovation surveys;Europe;Industry;

Developing internationally comparable indicators for the commercialization of publicly-funded research

It is a common perception that European public-funded research fails to commercialize their discoveries, in contrast to the perceived success of their American counterparts. This resulted in policies aimed at improving the commercialization of European publicly-funded research, including the establishment of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs). Recent surveys on the activities of these TTOs show that although European public-funded research lags behind the United States in patent applications and grants, they produce more start-ups, and have comparable results for the number of licenses executed. Steps to improve the international comparability of TTO surveys could provide useful new indicators for policy development. However, this will also require indicators for knowledge transfer through informal 'open science' methods.Public R&D, Commericalization, Research Indicators, Open Science, Europe

Measuring Eco-Innovation

In this paper we offer a discussion of eco-innovation and methods for measuring it. Eco-innovation is a new concept of great importance to business and policy makers, covering many innovations of environmental benefit. Past research and measurement activity primarily focused on pollution control and abatement activities or on the environmental goods and services sector. We argue that eco-innovation research and data collection should not be limited to such environmentally motivated innovations, but should encompass all products, processes, or organizational innovations with environmental benefits. Attention should be broadened to include innovation in or oriented towards resource use, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas reduction, waste minimization, reuse and recycling, new materials (for example nanotechnology-based) and eco-design. Research should cover the drivers, patterns, and benefits of eco-innovation for each of these applications, since these factors are likely to differ. For measuring eco-innovation, no single method or indicator is likely to be sufficient. In general, one should therefore apply different methods for analyzing eco-innovation, to see the "whole elephant" instead of just a part. More effort should be devoted towards direct measurement of eco-innovation outputs using documentary and digital sources to complement the current emphasis on innovation inputs such as R&D or patents. Innovation can also be measured indirectly from changes in resource efficiency and productivity. These two avenues are underexplored and should be given more attention in order to augment our rather narrow knowledge basis.eco-innovation, environment, innovation, measurement, indicators, data needs