Determinants of regional variations in the rate ofl profit. An empirical analysis for Austrian manufacturing 1972-1992

The rate of profit represents a central concept in economics and is commonly seen as one of the most accurate indicators for economic vitality of firms, industries, and regions. The level of profit rates is supposed to guide investment shifts between sectors and over space, the speed and direction of technological change, and the development of economic activity in the long run. Differentiales in regional profit rates may therefore be a major source for differences in regional economic development and regional competitiveness. While neoclassical regional economic theory postulates a tendency towards an equalisation in regional rates of profit, empirical studies show considerable and persistent regional differences in profitability. The aim of the paper is to analyse the pattern of profitability over time and space for Austrian manufacturing on a highly disaggregated regional level for the time period 1972-1992. An eclectic model is employed in order to analyse major sources for regional variations in profit rates. The model distinguishes four groups of determinants: production technology, capital-labour-relations, market competition, and spatial variables such as transport costs and agglomeration economies.

Drivers and Effects of Internationalising Innovation by SMEs

This paper investigates the drivers and the effects of the internationalisation of innovation activities in SMEs based on a large data set of German firms covering the period 2002-2007. We look at different stages of the innovation process (R&D, design, production and sales of new products, and implementation of new processes) and explore the role of internal resources, home market competition and innovationrelated location advantages for an SME's decision to engage in innovation activities abroad. By linking international innovation activities to firm growth in the home market we try to identify likely internationalisation effects at the firm level. The results show that export experience and experience in knowledge protection are highly important for international innovation activities of SMEs. Fierce home market competition turns out to be rather an obstacle than a driver. High innovation costs stimulate internationalisation of non-R&D innovation activities, and shortage of qualified labour expels production of new products. R&D activities abroad and exports of new products spur firm growth in the home market while there are no negative effects on home market growth from shifting production of new products abroad. --Internationalisation of Innovation,Globalisation,SMEs,Effects of Innovation,Absorptive Capacities,Market Structure

Local User-Producer Interaction in Innovation and Export Performance of Firms

There is ample evidence that user-producer interaction is an important factor for successful innovations. It is often claimed that user-producer interaction is most effcient in close proximity. On the other hand, innovations are a major determinant for the export performance of firms. Does this mean that intense local user-producer interaction always leads to exports? In contrast to this reasoning international marketing studies stress the problem of responsiveness to local preferences. In order to generate global innovation, an international firm should look for the global common denominator of national preferences. This paper investigates the question to what extend local demand is able to induce innovations that are export effective. We investigate data from the ZEW Innovation survey of 4,786 firms in the manufacturing and service industries. These firms were asked about the sources of their innovation and their exporting activities. We find evidence that the export orientation of the domestic market of innovators such as and the degree of competition stimulate export success. For multinational firms these results are important as well, because they can assess country markets in terms of the leverage effect of domestic demand and market conditions to generate global innovations. --Export Performance,Innovation Activities,User Producer Interaction

Into the Doll’s House: Understanding Presumed Female Housekeeping in Children’s Literature

This essay analyzes Edith and Milly’s Housekeeping (1866), written anonymously by Laura Valentine, a general editor for Frederick Warne & Company Publishing. The essay considers the book in the context of gender roles and class in Victorian England. Part of the “Aunt Louisa’s London Toy Books” collection, Edith and Milly’s Housekeeping reflects common nineteenth-century lessons for young girls in regards to housekeeping, morals, maturity, and class consciousness. The essay also suggests that the reason for the book’s failure to remain popular over centuries is that the notion of the doll’s house has been transformed in westernized countries from a tool to help young girls learn how to keep a house into a play toy with which girls are encouraged to use their strong imaginations and not restrict themselves to traditional notions of gender roles, including housekeeping

Increasing energy and resource efficiency through innovation: an explorative analysis using innovation survey data

Energy and resource efficiency innovations (EREIs) are often seen as win-win opportunities for both the economic and the environmental performance of firms. It is thus worth asking how the innovation activities and performance of firms with regard to energy and resource efficiency look like: Do EREI firms follow distinct innovation strategies? Do EREIs spur or limit innovation success? And what are the particular features of EREI firms compared to conventional innovators? Using German innovation data, we find that EREIs are determined by a larger set of technology-push and market-pull factors. On the supply side, R&D budgets, research infrastructure and networking with other firms are important factors of influence, while on the demand side increased productivity and cost reductions are decisive, as well as improved product quality. On the other hand, EREIs are complex activities which also need regulatory incentives. Although EREIs are not more successful compared to conventional innovations, they contribute substantially to the economic success of firms. --Resource efficiency,energy efficiency,environmental innovations,innovation surveys

Noise spectrum of a tunnel junction coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator

A nanomechanical resonator coupled to a tunnel junction is studied. The oscillator modulates the transmission of the junction, changing the current and the noise spectrum. The influence of the oscillator on the noise spectrum of the junction is investigated, and the noise spectrum is obtained for arbitrary frequencies, temperatures and bias voltages. We find that the noise spectrum consists of a noise floor and a peaked structure with peaks at zero frequency, the oscillator frequency and twice the oscillator frequency. The influence of the oscillator vanishes if the bias voltage of the junction is lower than the oscillator frequency. We demonstrate that the peak at the oscillator frequency can be used to determine the oscillator occupation number, showing that the current noise in the junction functions as a thermometer for the oscillator.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, references adjuste

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

LEP Tunnel Movements at Point 1 caused by LHC Civil Engineering

The excavation of underground openings causes the surrounding ground to move towards the newly created opening. The magnitude of the movement is dependant of various factors, such as the shape and the size of the excavation, the geotechnical ground conditions, the in-situ ground stress, the distance from the excavation, etc. The excavation technique and the rock support measures are to be adapted to the prevailing ground conditions to limit the displacements to an acceptable level. From the output of the numerical analyses for the design of the underground structures, data can be obtained to determine the predicted movements. For the particular case of the LHC excavations at Point 1 in close proximity to the existing LEP tunnel, a facility had to be designed and installed in the LEP tunnel to allow adjustments of the machine alignment to compensate for the tunnel movements. The design was based on the predicted displacements, and the adequacy of the facility has been validated during excavation

Determinants of regional variations in the rate ofl profit. An empirical analysis for Austrian manufacturing 1972-1992

The rate of profit represents a central concept in economics and is commonly seen as one of the most accurate indicators for economic vitality of firms, industries, and regions. The level of profit rates is supposed to guide investment shifts between sectors and over space, the speed and direction of technological change, and the development of economic activity in the long run. Differentiales in regional profit rates may therefore be a major source for differences in regional economic development and regional competitiveness. While neoclassical regional economic theory postulates a tendency towards an equalisation in regional rates of profit, empirical studies show considerable and persistent regional differences in profitability. The aim of the paper is to analyse the pattern of profitability over time and space for Austrian manufacturing on a highly disaggregated regional level for the time period 1972-1992. An eclectic model is employed in order to analyse major sources for regional variations in profit rates. The model distinguishes four groups of determinants: production technology, capital-labour-relations, market competition, and spatial variables such as transport costs and agglomeration economies