The Revolution Within: ICT and the Shifting Knowledge Base of the World’s Largest Companies.

This empirical paper analyses the importance of information and communications technologies (ICT) in the technological diversification trend among the world’s largest manufacturing firms during the 1980s and 1990s. The objective of the research is twofold: firstly, to emphasise the emerging differences among technologies when companies from different industries patent outside their traditional technological capabilities; secondly, to investigate whether the tendency among large companies from all industries to patent in ICT is distinctive when compared with the tendency to patent in other technologies. We find that technological diversification in large companies has clearly occurred in ICTs. Non-ICT specialist industries increasingly develop, rather than just utilise, the cluster of ICT-related technologies. We conclude that the development of corporate capabilities in the key technologies of the emerging ICT paradigm is more widespread than previously emphasised in the literature. One implication of this observation is that technological diversification and the information revolution may be related phenomena.Technological diversification, Large firms, ICT, Patents.

The ICT Component of Technological Diversification: Is there an underestimation of ICT capabilities among the world's largest companies?

This empirical paper analyses the importance of information and communications technologies (ICT) in the technological diversification trend among the world's large industrial firms. The objective of the research is twofold. First, to emphasise the emerging differences among technologies when companies from different industries patent outside their traditional technological competencies. Second, to investigate whether the tendency among large companies from all industries to patent in ICT is distinctive when compared with other technologies. We find that technological diversification in large companies has certainly occurred in ICTs. For other technologies the results are ambiguous. As could be expected there is considerable industry variation in the intensity and specific directions of ICT patenting. We conclude that the development of corporate capabilities in the key technologies of the emerging ICT paradigm is more widespread than previously emphasised in the literature. One implication is that the rise of multi-technology corporations can be related to the concept of long waves of techno-economic change and to studies characterising ICT as a general-purpose technology.ICT, technological diversification, patents, corporate capabilities, long waves

A chain-interactive innovation model for the learning economy: Prelude for a proposal

The implementation of innovation has a central role in the dynamic knowledge economy of the twenty-first century. The ability to assemble new expertise and commercialise new business propositions constitutes one of the central characteristics in today’s globalising, learning-intensive, fast changing economic life. This paper sets out to articulate a stylised understanding of the modern innovation process on the basis of the currently available understanding in the innovation studies tradition. The conceptual model seeks to capture the essential features of organisations engaged in developing dynamic factors of competitiveness.innovation; innovation process; conceptual model

Modeling insurgent-incumbent dynamics : vector autoregressions, multivariate Markov chains, and the nature of technological competition

The struggle between sail and steam is a long-standing theme in economic history. But this technological competition story has only partly tackled, since most studies have appreciated the rivalry between the two alternative modes of commercial sea carriage in the late 19th century while the early period has remained relatively under-analysed. This paper models the early dynamics between the two capital goods using a vector autoregression approach (VAR) and a Multivariate Markov Chain approach (MMC). We find evidence that the relationship was nonlinear, with a strong indication of complementarities and cross-technology learning effects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Steady change : the 200 largest US manufacturing firms throughout the 20th century

This paper discusses the existence of structural change in business activity and technological competence among the 200 largest US manufacturing companies throughout the 20th century. The data were taken from Chandler (Scale and Scope, 1990) and Fortune magazine. The analysis of corporate evolution in used to assess continuity versus turbulence of business organizations in the context of the neo-Schumpeterian long-wave hypothesis. The empirical results show that the giants of the late 20th century are not the same as those at the beginning of that period. Persistence in the sample is very limited. Moreover, turbulence is not smooth, but rather occurs by impulses that affect specific industries, and it has increased over time. Overall, the pattern of corporate entry and industry development is very indicative of the new opportunities emerging with information and communication technologies. This process of open-ended continuous trans formation supports the case for putting change at the centre of economic analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Decomposing technological change at the twilight of the twentieth century: evidence and lessons from the world’s largest innovating firms

DINÂMIA, Dezembro de 2007.The present-day economy, characterised by a pattern of steady technological and organisational change, has its roots in the so-called information revolution of the late twentieth century. As this unique period of recent history recedes, the benefits of hindsight make it possible to deliver new perspectives on what really happened across industries facing rapidly mutating global competitive settings. This paper provides an analysis of the transformations that occurred in a collection of technological capabilities nurtured by industrial sectors as represented by nearly 500 of the world’s largest industrial corporations during the 1980s and 1990s. Using structural decomposition analysis it shows how industries adapted under the strain of radical shifts in the technological context with varying degrees of success.FC

Towards a taxonomy of innovation systems

The concept of National Innovation System (NIS) has been recently applied in the context of developing nations even tough it was originally developed in relation to the more developed economies (Japan, Scandinavian countries, US etc.). This raises the methodological problem of knowing whether what was learnt in the study of more advanced NISs is relevant for all sorts of economies regardless the maturity of their actual innovation systems. With this question in mind an exploratory exercise is implemented. First a technique for mapping different NIS is put forward and next based on such mapping a taxonomy of NISs is proposed. The technique although simple in the steps it requires shows analytical potential. The cartography it generates allows one to compare directly different countries, by visualizing in bi-dimensional space the graphic pattern of the relevant dimensions of their respective NISs. This technique is applied to 69 countries (87.4% of the world population) and a set of 29 indicators is used to examine these NISs along eight major dimensions. With the resulting data, and with the help of cluster analysis, a taxonomy of innovation systems is proposed. That taxonomy which contains 6 major types of NISs indicates that what differentiates most the individual systems is their performance in three critical dimensions: innovation, diffusion and basic and applied knowledge. Country size and the natural resources endowment of the economies also emerge as important contingency factors underlying the overall dynamics of different NISs.innovation; national innovation systems; economic development.

Evidence from Portugal

Ernesto, L., Damásio, B. & Mendonça, S. (2023). How networked are Medical Schools? Evidence from Portugal [preprint]. 27th International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (STI 2023).Institutional collaboration between universities and other actors is crucial to generate new knowledge and for advancing innovation. But, how important is this for the healthcare sector? This work analyses 441 institutional collaborations between Portuguese Medical Schools and other entities (pharmaceutical industry, funding organisations, hospitals, other universities, non-profit organisations, other private for-profit organisations, public bodies and public research organisations). We identify, validate, disambiguate, classify and analyse evidence available from a variety of sources. Our original database reveals that most of the partnerships of Portuguese Medical Schools are with academic institutions. A sectoral failure regarding partnerships with other type of actors (e.g. industry, other research organisations) is suggested. As for future policy objectives, we argue that a systems building view could be considered.preprintsubmitte

O negócio da força em África: o nexo estabilidade-segurança

Volvido mais de meio século sobre o início dos processos de independência da generalidade dos países africanos e quase um quarto de século sobre o fim da Guerra Fria é importante tentar discernir as especificidades da actual fase de desenvolvimento subsaariano. Que lógicas ao nível de estabilidade social se desenham num contexto de reanimação económica em países onde o Estado moderno formal de tipo ocidental sempre teve fortes dificuldades de legitimação e actuação? Neste trabalho pretendemos entender as condi- ções-base para prospectivar áreas temáticas onde a paz social e os interesses económicos se justapõem: os mecanismos de gestão de risco econó- mico-social e de tensão étnico-política