Determinants of knowledge flows and their effect on economic growth.

This thesis consists of three essays that analyse the determinants of the diffusion of knowledge and their impact in terms of economic growth. The first essay analyses the patterns of diffusion of knowledge between European regions during the period 1981-2000. Knowledge flows are measured by two variables: patent citations and collaboration among inventors. A modified gravity model is estimated to show that geographical proximity and territorial borders are important barriers to knowledge flows during the period analysed and that their effects are greater for technological collaboration than for patent citation. We show that inventor propensity to collaborate within the same country decreases and inventor propensity to cite inventors residing in the same country increases. We show also that the geographical distance effect decreases only for inventor collaboration. Finally, we show that the EU enlargement processes during the period analysed have favoured knowledge flows between old and new EU members, although with significant differences for the two measures of knowledge flows. The second essay analyses the impact of knowledge capital on the economic growth of Italian regions for the period 1995-2007. To measure regional knowledge capital we use indicators for the processes of knowledge creation, i.e. R&D and patents, and the processes of diffusion of knowledge, i.e. patent citations and inventor mobility. We use a technology gap model to show that the economic growth of Italian regions can be explained by internal R&D activities and by the interregional mobility of inventors. The third essay analyses the impact of knowledge flows on economic performance at firm level. It distinguishes between various sources of knowledge flows, i.e. suppliers, customers, rivals and research institutions, and between two types of innovative activities, i.e. sales realized by products new to the firm but not to the market (imitation) and sales realized by products new to the firm and to the market (innovation). We show that knowledge flows from rivals lead to more imitation, while knowledge flows from customers and research institutions enhance original innovation

Determinants of knowledge flows and their effect on economic growth.

This thesis consists of three essays that analyse the determinants of the diffusion of knowledge and their impact in terms of economic growth. The first essay analyses the patterns of diffusion of knowledge between European regions during the period 1981-2000. Knowledge flows are measured by two variables: patent citations and collaboration among inventors. A modified gravity model is estimated to show that geographical proximity and territorial borders are important barriers to knowledge flows during the period analysed and that their effects are greater for technological collaboration than for patent citation. We show that inventor propensity to collaborate within the same country decreases and inventor propensity to cite inventors residing in the same country increases. We show also that the geographical distance effect decreases only for inventor collaboration. Finally, we show that the EU enlargement processes during the period analysed have favoured knowledge flows between old and new EU members, although with significant differences for the two measures of knowledge flows. The second essay analyses the impact of knowledge capital on the economic growth of Italian regions for the period 1995-2007. To measure regional knowledge capital we use indicators for the processes of knowledge creation, i.e. R&D and patents, and the processes of diffusion of knowledge, i.e. patent citations and inventor mobility. We use a technology gap model to show that the economic growth of Italian regions can be explained by internal R&D activities and by the interregional mobility of inventors. The third essay analyses the impact of knowledge flows on economic performance at firm level. It distinguishes between various sources of knowledge flows, i.e. suppliers, customers, rivals and research institutions, and between two types of innovative activities, i.e. sales realized by products new to the firm but not to the market (imitation) and sales realized by products new to the firm and to the market (innovation). We show that knowledge flows from rivals lead to more imitation, while knowledge flows from customers and research institutions enhance original innovation

Sources of spillovers for imitation and innovation

We estimate the effect of R&D spillovers on sales realized by products new to the firm (imitation) and new to the market (innovation). It turns out that spillovers from rivals lead to more imitation, while inputs from customers and research institutions enhance original innovation

Unemployment resistance across EU regions: the role of technological and human capital

none3openCappelli, Riccardo; Montobbio, Fabio; Morrison, AndreaCappelli, Riccardo; Montobbio, Fabio; Morrison, Andre

Exact Consequences of the Trace Anomaly in Four Dimensions

The general form of the stress-tensor three-point function in four dimensions is obtained by solving the Ward identities for the diffeomorphism and Weyl symmetries. Several properties of this correlator are discussed, such as the renormalization and scheme independence and the analogies with the anomalous chiral triangle. At the critical point, the coefficients a and c of the four-dimensional trace anomaly are related to two finite, scheme-independent amplitudes of the three-point function. Off-criticality, the imaginary parts of these amplitudes satisfy sum rules which express the total renormalization-group flow of a and c between pairs of critical points. Although these sum rules are similar to that satisfied by the two-dimensional central charge, the monotonicity of the flow, i.e. the four-dimensional analogue of the c-theorem, remains to be proven.Comment: 39 pages, 3 tables; published version, some misprints corrected; Mathematica routines can be found at: http://arturo.fi.infn.it/cappelli/papers/ttt

Technological Competition and Patent Strategy: Protecting Innovation, Preempting Rivals and Defending the Freedom to Operate

Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, we examine the effect of technological competition for a patent on a firm’s choice of patenting strategy. We claim that technological competition makes the traditional strategy of protecting focal innovations from imitation less likely and increases the likelihood of a play strategy — i.e., using patents to avoid the risk of hold-up by other patent owners, or as a bargaining chip in litigation and cross-licensing. However, technological competition for a target close to the firm’s core technology should instead lead firms to use a fence strategy, i.e. blocking the commercial endeavors of rivals and preempting substitute inventions. We find support for these hypotheses using data from a large-scale survey of European patent applications

Industrial Pattern and Robot Adoption in European Regions

Recent literature on the diffusion of robots mostly ignores the regional dimension. The contribution of this paper at the debate on Industry 4.0 is twofold. First, IFR (2017) data on acquisitions of industrial robots in the five largest European economies are rescaled at regional levels to draw a first picture of winners and losers in the European race for advanced manufacturing. Second, using an unsupervised machine learning approach to classify regions based on their composition of industries. The paper provides novel evidence of the relationship between industry mix and the regional capability of adopting robots in the industrial processes.Recent literature on the diffusion of robots mostly ignores the regional dimension. The contribution of this paper at the debate on Industry 4.0 is twofold. First, IFR (2017) data on acquisitions of industrial robots in the five largest European economies are rescaled at regional levels to draw a first picture of winners and losers in the European race for advanced manufacturing. Second, using an unsupervised machine learning approach to classify regions based on their composition of industries. The paper provides novel evidence of the relationship between industry mix and the regional capability of adopting robots in the industrial processes

CD133 and CD24 expression in renal tissue of patients affected by autosomal dominant polcystic kidney disease

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is a condition mainly character- ized by the progressive development and enlar- gement of cysts in each kidney. In this process a high rate of proliferation and apoptosis of tubu- lar cells has been documented and interpreted as a futile attempt of tissue repair. In considera- tion of the role of stem cells in reparative proc- esses we investigated the presence and local- ization of CD133 + CD24+ renal progenitors in renal ADPKD tissue and cells. Methods: Two normal kidneys and two ADPKD kidneys were examined. CD133 and CD24 expression was in- vestigated by confocal microscopy and immu- noblotting. Furthermore cystic isolated cells and cultured immortalized cells were characterized. Results: CD133 and CD24 have the same local- ization in ADPKD tissues and in normal kidneys: expression is restricted to a subset of epithelial cells (PEC) of Bowman’s capsule and to tubular cells in a focal and segmental pattern. Further- more, in ADPKD tissue, cysts diffusely express CD133 and CD24. According to a quantitative analysis in ADPKD tissue CD133 + CD24 + cells are statistically more expressed in tubules (p < 0.001) and less expressed in the Bowman’s capsule (p = 0.0016) compared to the same lo- calizations in control tissue. Conclusions: CD133 and CD24 antigens, typically expressed by renal epithelial progenitors, are more expressed in ADPKD tubules and highly expressed in ADPKD cysts. Whether CD133 and CD24 expression would signify renal progenitor recruitment or alternatively an expression pattern of the dedif- ferentiation of ADPKD cells remains unclear