How Innovative are Canadian Firms Compared to Some European Firms? A Comparative Look at Innovation Surveys

This paper investigates the comparability of the 1999 Canadian Survey of Innovation with the European Community Innovation Surveys for 1997/1998 (CIS2). Four European countries are compared to Canada: France, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. Differences in terms of design and implementation of the survey and formulation of the questionnaire are pointed out. Proposals are made to harmonize the two datatsets and make them comparable as much as possible. Different innovation indicators -- percentage of innovators, sale of innovative products – show different results across countries. Canada leads the pack by far if we consider the percentage of innovating firms in the respective country samples, however it ranks last if we consider the share in sales of innovative products. Canada, Germany and Ireland seem to be relatively similar regarding the percentage of first-innovators (a narrower definition of innovation). France and Spain lag behind in this regard but seem to have a high intensity of first-innovators among the innovators. Results also show some common trends for all countries studied. Firms in high-tech sectors are more frequently innovative and reach a greater share of revenue from innovation than firms in other sectors. Large firms are more often innovative but size is not always a good predictor for the percentage of revenue from innovation.economics of technology ;

Comparing the Innovation Performance of Canadian Firms and those of Selected European Countries: An Econometric Analysis

This paper follows on Therrien and Mohnen (2001). Here, we compare the innovation performance of manufacturing firms in Canada and four European countries - Germany, France, Ireland, and Spain - on the basis of an econometric model that identifies some of the determinants of the probability to innovate and of the intensity of innovation. We estimate jointly a probit for the incidence of innovation and a censored ordered probit for the intensity of innovation. The analysis is performed on the data from Statistics Canada's 1999 Innovation Survey and Eurostat's second Community Innovation Survey. Due to administrative constraints, data from Europe and Canada cannot be pooled together. From the estimates we compare and disentangle the observed and the expected innovation intensities in Canada and in Europe, using the framework developed by Mairesse and Mohnen (2002). Canada has a higher proportion of innovating firms but a lower share of innovative sales for its innovating firms. From the two effects combined we expect a typical Canadian firm to have a slightly higher share of innovative sales. The effects of firm size, cooperation in innovation, and government support make Canadian firms slightly more innovative than European firms, whereas the sectoral composition of output, the pressure of competition, the scope of innovation activities, and the novelty of innovation confer a slight advantage to Europe. Cette étude fait suite à celle de Therrien et Mohnen (2001). Cette fois-ci, nous comparons les performances en matière d'innovation des entreprises du Canada et de quatre pays européens - l'Allemagne, la France, l'Irlande et l'Espagne - à partir d'un modèle économétrique, où nous identifions quelques-uns des facteurs qui déterminent la probabilité d'innover et l'intensité d'innovation. Nous estimons conjointement un probit pour la probabilité d'innover et un probit ordonné pour l'intensité d'innover. Pour des raisons administratives, nous ne sommes pas en mesure d'empiler les données canadiennes et européennes. Ensuite, nous comparons les probabilités et les intensités d'innover observées et attendues en utilisant le cadre de décomposition développé par Mairesse et Mohnen (2002). Plus d'entreprises innovent au Canada que dans les quatre pays européens, mais parmi celles qui innovent les européennes ont un plus grand chiffre d'affaires en produits innovants. La taille des entreprises, la coopération en innovation et l'aide gouvernementale favorisent l'innovation au Canada, tandis que la composition sectorielle, la pression concurrentielle, le nombre d'activités innovantes et le degré de nouveauté des produits confèrent un léger avantage aux entreprises européennes de notre échantillon.Innovation surveys, innovativeness, international comparison, Enquêtes innovation, innovativité, comparaison internationale

Comparing the Innovation Performance in Canadian, French and German Manufacturing Enterprises

This paper compares pairwise the innovation performance of Canada with France and Germany, respectively. The comparison is based on two ordered probit models with sample selection, one where innovation is measured by the introduction of new-to-the firm products and one where it is measured by the introduction of new-to-the market products. The econometric analysis attempts to explain part of the country differences as the result of the sectoral composition of output, and the effects of size, environment conditions (proximity to basic research and competition) and innovation activities (internal R&D, the number of innovation activities, cooperation and government support). The Canadian firms benefit from being larger and more numerous in receiving government support, but suffer from a lack of competition and internal R&D. These structural effects combined, while informative, are not enough to explain a lot of the basic pattern of innovation revealed by the raw data. If we take the stronger measure of first-to-market innovation as a yardstick of innovation, the observed pairwise country differences are less strong, and our model explains a little bit more of the observed differences. Cette étude compare les performances d’innovation entre le Canada et la France d’une part, et entre le Canada et l’Allemagne d’autre part. La comparaison repose sur deux modèles de probit ordonné avec sélection. Le premier mesure l’innovation par l’introduction sur le marché de produits nouveaux pour la firme, le second par l’introduction de produits nouveaux pour le marché. L’analyse économétrique essaye d’expliquer une partie des différences nationales d’innovation par la composition sectorielle de la production, l’effet taille, les conditions environnementales (proximité de la recherche de base et concurrence) et les activités d’innovation (R-D interne, nombre d’activités innovantes, coopération et support gouvernemental). Les firmes canadiennes tirent avantage de leur plus grande taille et sont plus nombreuses à recevoir du support gouvernemental. Par contre, elles souffrent du manque de concurrence et de R-D interne. Au total, la prise en compte de ces effets structurels est certes révélatrice, mais n’explique qu’une faible partie des différences bilatérales dans les processus d’innovation. La mesure plus forte d’innovation par l’introduction de produits nouveaux pour le marché réduit les différences observées et les explique un peu mieux.innovation, international comparisons, innovation, comparaison internationale

How Innovative Are Canadian Firms Compared to Some European Firms? A Comparative Look at Innovation Surveys

This paper investigates the comparability of the 1999 Canadian Survey of Innovation with the European Community Innovation Surveys for 1997/1998 (CIS2). Four European countries are compared to Canada: France, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. Differences in terms of design and implementation of the survey and formulation of the questionnaire are pointed out. Proposals are made to harmonize the two datatsets and make them comparable as much as possible. Different innovation indicators -- percentage of innovators, sale of innovative products show different results across countries. Canada leads the pack by far if we consider the percentage of innovating firms in the respective country samples, however it ranks last if we consider the share in sales of innovative products. Canada, Germany and Ireland seem to be relatively similar regarding the percentage of first-innovators (a narrower definition of innovation). France and Spain lag behind in this regard but seem to have a high intensity of first-innovators among the innovators. Results also show some common trends for all countries studied. Firms in high-tech sectors are more frequently innovative and reach a greater share of revenue from innovation than firms in other sectors. Large firms are more often innovative but size is not always a good predictor for the percentage of revenue from innovation. Cette étude examine à quel point l'enquête innovation canadienne de 1999 et les enquêtes communautaires européennes d'innovation CIS2 de 1997/1998 sont comparables. Quatre pays européens sont comparés au Canada: la France, l'Allemagne, l'Irlande et l'Espagne. Nous faisons ressortir des différences dans la réalisation de l'enquête et la formulation du questionnaire. Nous proposons des façons d'harmoniser les données pour les rendre aussi comparables que possible. Les performances entre pays diffèrent suivant l'indicateur retenu. Le Canada est loin en tête sur base du pourcentage d'innovateurs,0501s se classe en dernière position sur base du chiffre d'affaires en produits innovants. Le Canada est à peu près à égalité avec l'Allemagne et l'Irlande pour ce qui est du pourcentage d'innovateurs dans le sens plus strict d'une première sur le marché. La France et l'Espagne sont moins performantes à cet égard,0501s pas dans la proportion d'innovateurs au sens strict parmi les innnovateurs au sens large. A côté de ces differences se dressent aussi des régularités, telles qu'une plus grande propension à innover dans les enterprises des secteurs high-tech ou de grande taille. La part du chiffre d'affaires en produits innovants est également plus élevée pour les firmes des secteurs de haute technologie0501s pas nécessairement pour les grandes firmes.Innovation, indicators, international comparisons, Innovation, comparaisons internationals, indicateurs

Restructuring and economic performance: the experience of the Tunisian economy

This paper aims at identifying the sources of comparative advantage and the bottlenecksof the Tunisian economy. By using an activity analysis model and yearly data on theinput-output structure and the factor endowments, the paper determines the evolution ofthe potential of the Tunisian economy between 1983 and 1996 and some of its keyaspects that the industrial restructuring program of 1996 could improve or reinforce. Theanalysis sheds light on the scarcity of various types of labor, in particular of qualifiedlabor.economics of technology ;

Innovation performance and embeddedness in networks: evidence from the Ethiopian footwear cluster

This study focuses on innovation in a cluster of informal shoemaking firms in Ethiopia - namely the Mercato footwear cluster. It examines how differently those firms are embedded in networks and how heterogeneous they are in absorptive capacity, and how this heterogeneity affects their innovation performance. Business interactions with buyers, suppliers and other producers are the major channels through which knowledge flows into the cluster. These business networks are mainly built on trust and long-term relationships and tend to be selective. The study reveals that despite homogeneity in social background the firms in the cluster behave and perform differently. Based on econometric analysis we document a positive and strong effect of local network position and absorptive capacity on innovation performance.industrial clusters, networks, innovation performance, informal sector, Africa, Ethiopia

To Be Or Not To Be Innovative: An Exercise In Measurement

not availableeconomics of technology ;

The Importance of R&D for Innovation: A Reassessment Using French Survey Data

This paper compares the contribution of R&D to innovation in terms of the various innovation output measures provided by the third Community Innovation Survey (CIS 3) for French manufacturing firms and in terms of accounting for interindustry innovation differences.research and development ;

The Importance of R&D for Innovation: A Reassessment Using French Survey Data

This paper compares the contribution of R&D to innovation in terms of the various innovation output measures provided by the third Community Innovation Survey (CIS 3) for French manufacturing firms and in terms of accounting for inter-industry innovation differences.

Snow Removal Auctions in Montreal: Costs, Informational Rents, and Procurement Management

Using semiparametric and nonparametric estimation techniques we infer cost distributions and informational rents from 457 snow removal contracts o¤ered for tender by the City of Montreal. Our results are compatible with standard received theory of competitive auctions: there is a positive correlation between costs and bids, and rents increase with the variance of costs. Bids and costs have decreased over the sample period while rents remained relatively constant. The City deserves credit for these results, as it has succeeded in exploiting economies of scale and triggering innovations while maintaining competition. Further, it has been successful in adjusting its reserve prices to keep up with the decreasing cost of snow removal.microeconomics ;