317 research outputs found
Innovation, competition and incentives for R&D
This paper analyses the relationship between past innovation output, competition, and future innovation input in a dynamic econometric setting. We distinguish two dimensions of competition that correspond to the concepts of product substitutability and entry barriers due to fixed costs. Based on firm-level panel data for Germany and Switzerland we obtain consistent results for both countries. Innovation output in t-1 as measured by the sales share of innovative products is positively related to the degree of product obsolescence in t, and negatively to the degree of substitutability in t in both countries. Further, we find that rapid product obsolescence provides positive incentives for higher - primarily product-oriented - R&D investments in t+1, while high substitutability exerts negative incentives for future R&D investment. --Innovation,R&D,Competition
Innovation budgeting over the business cycle and innovation performance
The global economic crisis of 2008/2009 hit many firms hard. Faced with rapidly declining
sales and highly uncertain economic prospects, firms had to cut costs and reconsider their
business strategies. With respect to innovation, cost cutting often means to stop or underresource
innovation projects which may harm a firm’s long-term competitiveness. Firms may
therefore refrain from reducing innovation budgets during crises but rather deliberately
allocate more resources to innovation activities in order to update their product portfolio for
the following recovery. Our analysis examines the effects of changes in innovation budgets
during the most recent economic crisis on firms’ post-crisis innovation performance. Based
on firm-level panel data from the German Innovation Survey covering the period 2006 to
2012, we find a positive effect of crisis adjustment. Raising the ratio of innovation
expenditure to sales does increase subsequent sales of market novelties, but not of product
imitations. Our findings are dependent upon the way business cycle effects are measured,
however. While the results hold for macroeconomic business cycle indicators (change in real
GDP), they do not for demand changes in a firm’s primary sales market. This may imply that
lower opportunity costs of innovation during an economic crisis are transferred into higher
post-crisis new product sales by firms in markets less strongly affected by the crisis
Efficiency of thin film photocells
We propose a new concept for the design of high-efficiency photocells based
on ultra-thin (submicron) semiconductor films of controlled thickness. Using a
microscopic model of a thin dielectric layer interacting with incident
electromagnetic radiation we evaluate the efficiency of conversion of solar
radiation into the electric power. We determine the optimal range of parameters
which maximize the efficiency of such photovoltaic element.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Innovation, competition and incentives for R&D
This paper analyses the relationship between past innovation output, competition, and future innovation input in a dynamic econometric setting. We distinguish two dimensions of competition that correspond to the concepts of product substitutability and entry barriers due to fixed costs. Based on firm-level panel data for Germany and Switzerland we obtain consistent results for both countries. Innovation output in t-1 as measured by the sales share of innovative products is positively related to the degree of product obsolescence in t, and negatively to the degree of substitutability in t in both countries. Further, we find that rapid product obsolescence provides positive incentives for higher – primarily product-oriented – R&D investments in t+1, while high substitutability exerts negative incentives for future R&D investment
Modelling production cost scenarios for biofuels and fossil fuels in Europe
This paper presents the results of a calculation model for biofuel production costs
in 2015 and 2020 based on raw material price projections and considering scale
and learning effects. Distinguishing six types of biofuels, the paper finds that scale
economies and learning effects are critical for 2nd generation biofuels to become
competitive. In case these effects can be utilized, cost saving potentials for 2nd
generation biofuels are significant
Policy instruments and self-reported impacts of the adoption of energy saving technologies in the DACH region
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First Principles Quantum Transport with Electron-vibration Interactions: A Maximally Localized Wannier Function Approach
We present an ab initio inelastic quantum transport approach based on
maximally localized Wannier functions. Electronic-structure properties are
calculated with density-functional theory in a planewave basis, and
electron-vibration coupling strengths and vibrational properties are determined
with density-functional perturbation theory. Vibration-induced inelastic
transport properties are calculated with non-equilibrium Green's function
techniques, which are based on localized orbitals. For this purpose we
construct maximally localized Wannier functions. Our formalism is applied to
investigate inelastic transport in a benzene molecular junction connected to
mono-atomic carbon chains. In this benchmark system the electron-vibration
self-energy is calculated either in the self-consistent Born approximation or
by lowest-order perturbation theory. It is observed that upward and downward
conductance steps occur, which can be understood using multi-eigenchannel
scattering theory and symmetry conditions. In a second example where the
mono-atomic carbon chain electrode is replaced by a (3; 3) carbon nanotube, we
focus on the non-equilibrium vibration populations driven by the conducting
electrons using a semi-classical rate equation.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figure
The influence of the Hall force on the vortex dynamics in type II superconductors
The effect of the Hall force on the pinning of vortices in type II
superconductors is considered. A field theoretic formulation of the pinning
problem allows a non-perturbative treatment of the influence of quenched
disorder. A self-consistent theory is constructed using the diagrammatic
functional method for the effective action, and an expression for the pinning
force for independent vortices as well as vortex lattices is obtained. We find
that the pinning force for a single vortex is suppressed by the Hall force at
low temperatures while it is increased at high temperatures. The effect of the
Hall force is more pronounced on a single vortex than on a vortex lattice. The
results of the self-consistent theory are shown to be in good agreement with
numerical simulations.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, published in Physical Review
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