Industry-Specific Knowledge Spurs Productivity: An Application of Panel Cointegration

Using data for 14 OECD countries and 13 sectors for the period 1985-2004, this paper analyzes the significance of the linkage between channels of international knowledge spillovers and total factor productivity. We distinguish between domestic and international intra- and inter-sectoral spillover sources. Patent applications are exploited to estimate the contribution of technology transfer to industrial productivity. To account for technological distance, we weight foreign knowledge by bilateral technological proximity. By adopting estimation methods reflecting recent developments in the treatment of non-stationary panel data econometrics, we find that industry-specific knowledge both nationally and internationally mainly drives productivity in the respective sector.Knowledge Spillover, Total Factor Productivity, Manufacturing, Panel Cointegration

The Good Governance Indicators of the Millennium Challenge Account: How many dimensions are really being measured

This paper assesses the validity of the perception-based governance indicators used by the US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for aid allocation decisions. By conducting Explanatory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of data from 1996 to 2009, we find that although the MCA purports to measure seven distinct dimensions of governance, only two discrete underlying dimensions, the 'participatory dimension of governance' and the 'overall quality of governance' can be identified. Our results also show that some of the doubts that have been raised concerning the validity of perception-based governance indicators are less warranted when the indicators are applied exclusively to developing countries. --Aid Allocation,Governance Indicators,Factor Analysis,MCA

The Good Governance Indicators of the Millennium Challenge Account: How Many Dimensions Are Really Being Measured?

This paper assesses the validity of the perception-based governance indicators used by the US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for aid allocation decisions. By conducting Explanatory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of data from 1996 to 2009, we find that although the MCA purports to measure seven distinct dimensions of governance, only two discrete underlying dimensions, the perceived 'participatory dimension of governance' and the perceived 'overall quality of governance,' can be identified. Our results also show that some of the doubts that have been raised concerning the validity of perception-based governance indicators are less warranted when the indicators are applied exclusively to developing countries.Aid allocation, governance indicators, factor analysis, MCA, United States

Technology Portfolio and Market Value

This paper discusses the impact of a firm's technology portfolio on its market value. Two concepts are used to characterize a firm's portfolio: the number of technological fields and the degree of relatedness within the portfolio characterized by the amount of joint occurrences of patents in technological fields. Based on a theoretical framework using an expanded Tobin's q approach, it presents evidence for a negative influence of portfolio size on the market value caused by a diminishing potential to make use of economies of scale. This discount can be counterbalanced when the relevant fields share a common technological base which is measured by the degree of technological relatedness.technological portfolio, relatedness, patent statistics, tobin's q, economies of scope

Research Efficiency in Manufacturing: An Application of DEA at the Industry Level

This paper analyzes research efficiency at the industry level in manufacturing for 13 European member and four nonmember countries during 2000 and 2004. A unique dataset was compiled that matches patent applications at the European Patent Office (EPO) to industry-specific R&D inputs from EU KLEMS. We find that Germany, the United States, and Denmark have the highest efficiency scores on average in total manufacturing. The main industries that are at the technology frontier are those involved in electrical and optical equipment and machinery. Separate frontier estimations for these industries, conducted without the constraint of a constant technology frontier, provide additional support for our results.R&D efficiency, industry level, data envelopment analysis, manufacturing

how many dimensions are really being measured

This paper assesses the validity of the perception-based governance indicators used by the US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for aid allocation decisions. By conducting Explanatory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of data from 1996 to 2009, we find that although the MCA purports to measure seven distinct dimensions of governance, only two discrete underlying dimensions, the ‘participatory dimension of governance’ and the ‘overall quality of governance,’ can be identified. Our results also show that some of the doubts that have been raised concerning the validity of perception-based governance indicators are less warranted when the indicators are applied exclusively to developing countries

Technological and Regional Patterns in R&D Internationalization by German Companies

An analysis of patent applications filed with the European Patent Office reveals that German companies primarily expand their research activities abroad in high-tech sectors in which they already conduct long-term intensive research. These sectors are: electrical engineering, control technology, engines, pumps, turbines, thermal processes, mechanical components, and transport. German R&D internationalization is thus founded on fields of research that are highly productive domestically. By contrast, there is cause for concern for Germany as a location for research in the fields of telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. In these areas German companies have been intensifying their research activities abroad due to relative weakness at home. A particularly controversial topic in the political arena concerns the global competitiveness of Germany as a location for research. Empirical investigation of German research and its main competitors yields surprising results: Germany's competitors are almost exclusively Western European countries, particularly Austria, Switzerland, and France - all German neighbors. While the US continues to play a central role as a location for research funded by German companies, its importance has declined drastically since 1990.Innovation system, Composite indicator, Industrialized countries

Innovative Activity in Wind and Solar Technology: Empirical Evidence on Knowledge Spillovers Using Patent Data

This paper studies technological change in renewable energies, providing empirical evidence on the determinants of innovative activity with a special emphasis on the role of knowledge spillovers. We investigate two major renewable energy technologies - wind and solar - across a panel of 21 OECD countries over the period 1978 to 2004. Spillovers may occur at the national level, either within the same technology field or economic sector (intra-sectoral spillovers) or in related technologies or sectors (inter-sectoral spillovers), or at the international level. We find that innovation is strongly driven by knowledge spillovers, especially those occurring at the national level. Wind and solar technologies exhibit distinct innovation characteristics: both are stimulated by intra-sectoral spillovers, but respond differently to inter-sectoral spillovers, which are only influential in the case of wind technology. We also find evidence that public R&D stimulates innovation, particularly in solar technologies.Technological change, renewable energy, patents, knowledge spillover, climate change, innovation

Innovation in Concentrating Solar Power Technologies: A Study Drawing on Patent Data

Better understanding the innovative process of renewable energy technologies is important for tackling climate change. Though concentrating solar power is receiving growing interest, innovation studies so far have explored innovative activity in solar technologies in general, ignoring the major differences between solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies. This study relies on patent data to examine international innovative activity in concentrating solar power technologies. Our unique contribution, based on engineering expertise and detailed datawork, is a classification system matching solar thermal technologies to the International Patent Classification (IPC) system. To this end we suggest a narrowly defined set of IPC classes and a broader one of technologies relevant to CSP, but not exclusively so. We moreover exploit information from three international patent offices, the European, the United States and the Japanese patent office. Innovative activity in narrowly defined CSP technologies has experienced an early boom before 1980 and only recently showed some signs of more activity - a pattern closely resembling the R&D support path. R&D and innovation are concentrated in few high-tech countries - such as the U.S. or Germany. Large CSP potential is not a sufficient condition for innovation, only developed countries such as Australia with both CSP potential and adequate economic and scientific capabilities are found to be among the group of relevant innovators.Innovation, patent data, solar technologies, climate change

Auslandsforschung deutscher Unternehmen: kaum Belege für Abwanderung

Die Analyse der Patentanmeldungen deutscher Unternehmen am Europäischen Patentamt zeigt: Die Unternehmen lenken ihre Forschungsaktivitäten im Ausland vor allem in die Hochtechnologiebereiche, in denen sie seit langem besonders intensiv forschen. Dies sind die Elektrotechnik, Steuerungstechnik, Antriebstechnik, Wärmetechnik, Mechanik und Verkehrstechnik. Die Internationalisierung basiert dabei auf der besonders leistungsfähigen Forschung in Deutschland. Warnzeichen für den deutschen Forschungsstandort gibt es hingegen in den Feldern Telekommunikationstechnik, Pharma und Biotechnologie. Hier intensivieren deutsche Unternehmen ihre Auslandsforschung aus einer Position der relativen Schwäche im Heimatland. Ein politisch besonders kontroverses Thema ist die Frage der globalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des Forschungsstandorts Deutschland. Durchaus überraschend sind die empirischen Befunde in Bezug auf die Frage, mit welchen Standorten Deutschland in besonders intensivem Wettbewerb steht. So konzentriert sich der Wettbewerb der Forschungsstandorte nahezu ausschließlich auf Westeuropa. Dabei zählen wiederum die Nachbarländer Österreich, die Schweiz und Frankreich zu den wichtigsten Konkurrenten. Zwar spielt auch Nordamerika eine zentrale Rolle: Die Bedeutung Nordamerikas als Standort für deutsche Auslandsforschung ist jedoch seit den 90er Jahren deutlich zurückgegangen.Globalization, Research and development, German companies, Patents