Donationer till statliga lärosäten – Förslag till förenklingar och förtydliganden

Högskolesystemets kvalitet och förmåga att positionera sig i den internationella konkurrensen är avgörande för Sveriges tillväxt, välstånd och globala attraktionskraft. Kritik, bland annat av OECD, har dock riktats mot långsiktigheten i politiken, försvagning av tidigare starka forskningsmiljöer, oklara regelverk och otydliga ledningsstrukturer. Flera utredningar har konstaterat att ett sätt att stärka universiteten är en ökad grad av ekonomisk självständighet. Detta skulle kunna uppnås genom att förenkla hanteringen av donationer och att underlätta för lärosäten att själva bilda eller förvalta stiftelser. I Donationer till statliga lärosäten – Förslag till förenklingar och förtydliganden presenteras möjliga vägar och lösningar som förhållandevis enkelt och snabbt skulle kunna lösa nuvarande hinder och begränsningar i donationsprocessern

Entreprenörskap i det 21 århundradet

QC 20171221</p

On the role of knowledge capital in firm performance -Empirical evidence from Swedish firms in the engineering industry

[fre] La littérature en matière d'organisation industrielle s'est longtemps préoccupée de l'écart existant entre les hypothèses théoriques relatives à l'égalisation des profits entre les entreprises et le défaut de support empirique. Afin de lever cette contradiction, on définit un stock de connaissances à partir des investissements en R & D, marketing, logiciels et formations, qui est introduit dans le modèle comme facteur de production supplémentaire. Une base de données d'entreprises unique (IUI) est exploitée en vue de montrer que la distribution des taux de profits des entreprises est corrélée positivement avec ces investissements non matériels. [eng] The Industrial Organization literature has long been concerned about the discrepancy between the theoretical assumptions of equalization of profits among firms and the lack of empirical support. To sort out this contradiction, this paper defines a knowledge stock derived from investments in R & D, marketing, software and education which is modeled as an additional production factor. A unique IUI firm data set is used to demonstrate that the distribution of profitability among firms varies positively with investments in such knowledge capital.

Academic Entrepreneurship : Social norms, university culture and policies

Is a shift in intellectual property rights to universities the key instrument in increasing com-mercialization of publicly funded research? How much can actually be learned from the U.S. system, disregarding the ongoing debate as to whether the U.S. do actually outperform Europe in terms of commercializing university based research? Taking Sweden as a role model I claim that this policy will not work. This allegation stems from the analysis of a unique data-base giving individual university researchers view on participation in commercialization of public research, their commercialization experiences, and the obstacles researchers claim exist to increase academic entrepreneurship. Despite researchers positive attitudes towards engag-ing in commercial activities, the university culture, weak incentive structures and badly man-aged support facilities impede the creation of efficient links to markets. I conclude that meas-ures must be taken at primarily the national level, but also at the university level, to enhance commercialization activities.QC 2012020

Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth - past experience, current knowledge and policy implications

Considerable advances, even breakthroughs, have been made during the last decades in our understanding of the relationship between knowledge and growth on one hand, and entrepreneurship and growth on the other. Similarly, more profound insights have also been gained as to how entrepreneurship, innovation and knowledge are interrelated. Yet, a comprehensive understanding is still lacking concerning the interface of all of those variables: knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship and growth. The link between the micro-economic origin of growth and the macro-economic outcome is still too rudimentary modeled to grasp the full width of these complex and intersecting forces. The main objective of this paper is hence to shed light on recent advances in our understanding of the forces that underpin the creation of knowledge, its diffusion and commercialization through innovation, and the role of the entrepreneur in the growth process. The policy implications of recent research findings conclude this survey. Particularly important policy implications refer to the design of regulation influencing knowledge production, ownership, entry barriers, labor mobility and (inefficient) financial markets. They all have implication for the efficient diffusion of knowledge through entry. Knowledge creation has to be matched by incentives that induce mechanisms to convert knowledge into societal and useful needs.QC 2012020

Entrepreneurship, Knowledge and Economic Growth

Knowledge plays a critical role in economic development, still our understanding of how knowledge is created, diffused and converted into growth, is fragmented and partial. The neoclassical growth models disregarded the entrepreneur and viewed knowledge as an exogenous factor. Contemporary current knowledge-based growth models have re-introduced the notion of the entrepreneur, however stripped of its most typical characteristics, and the diffusion of knowledge is kept exogenous. It implies that the predictions and policy conclusions derived from these models may be flawed. This paper reviews the literature that addresses the issues of knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion and growth, and the role attributed the entrepreneur in such dynamic processes. I will explore how these insights can be integrated into existing growth models and suggest a more thorough microeconomic foundations from which empirically testable hypotheses can be derived.QC 2012020

Madonna and the Music MiracleThe genesis and evolution of a globally competitive cluster

The issue addressed in this paper concerns the emergence and dynamics of a regional cluster inthe music industry. Whereas mainstream economic geography models explain agglomeration ofexisting economic activities, an evolutionary approach is necessary to understand the emergenceof genuinely new clusters. Based on an empirical analysis of the major Swedish music cluster, itis shown how cognitive features, the institutional and organizational framework, as well aseconomic incentives, were interlinked in the process of cluster emergence. A multitude of forcesthus coincided in time and space to support the emerging music cluster. A latent knowledge base,language skill and path-dependence all played a significant role. It is also shown how mobile anddensely located agents, displaying a high degree of connectivity, together with external impulsesthrough immigrants, contributed to the dynamics and re-vitalization of the Stockholm musiccluster.QC 2012020