Measuring the "Ideas" Production Function: Evidence from International Patent Output

This paper estimates the parameters of the ideas' production function central to recent models of economic growth. We do so by evaluating the determinants of international' patenting rates across the OECD, where an international patent is one granted by the U.S. patent office to a foreign establishment. Taking advantage of variation in the flow of ideas produced by different countries over time, we provide evidence for three main findings. First, at the level of the production of international patents, country-level R&D productivity increases proportionally with the stock of ideas already discovered, a key parametric restriction associated with the Romer model of ideas-driven growth (Romer, 1990; Jones, 1995). Second, we find that ideas productivity in a given country is constant or declining in the worldwide stock of ideas. Ideas production by other countries raises the bar for producing new-to-the-world technology domestically, outweighing the positive effects of international knowledge spillovers. Finally, ideas productivity is concave in the size of the R&D workforce and the linkage between ideas production and overall productivity growth is small. These results suggest that while the parametric restrictions required to generate endogenous technological change may be satisfied for individual economies, the growth rate associated with such effects may be modest. There seems to be a gap between the the sustained production of ideas by advanced economies and the ability to translate ideas into measured productivity growth.

New Strategies for Inner-City Economic Development: Initiative for a Competitive Inner City

The economic distress of America's inner cities is one of the most pressing issues facing the nation. The lack of businesses and jobs in inner cities fuels not only poverty but also crippling social problems such as drug abuse and crime.The time has come to recognize that revitalizing these areas requires a radically different approach. Today, most efforts and public resources are targeted toward meeting residents' immediate needs rather than generating jobs and economic opportunity that will mitigate the need for large-scale social programs. Although efforts to provide education, housing, healthcare, and other needed services are essential, they must be balanced with a concerted  and realistic economic strategy focused on for-profit business and job development. The necessity-and the real opportunity-is to create income and wealth by harnessing the power of market forces, rather than trying to defy them. The private sector must play a leading role in inner-city economic development and, in many ways, is already beginning to do so.In order to create better linkages between the private sector and the inner-city economy, Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter founded The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (!CIC) in 1994. With the knowledge that there is genuine economic potential in inner cities that has been largely unrecognized and untapped, we continue to pursue our mission of fostering healthy economies  in America's inner cities through  our research  and programmatic  efforts

The Determinants of National Innovative Capacity

Motivated by differences in R&D productivity across advanced economies, this paper presents an empirical examination of the determinants of country-level production of international patents. We introduce a novel framework based on the concept of national innovative capacity. National innovative capacity is the ability of a country to produce and commercialize a flow of innovative technology over the long term. National innovative capacity depends on the strength of a nation's common innovation infrastructure (cross-cutting factors which contribute broadly to innovativeness throughout the economy), the environment for innovation in its leading industrial clusters, and the strength of linkages between these two areas. We use this framework to guide our empirical exploration into the determinants of country-level R&D productivity, specifically examining the relationship between international patenting (patenting by foreign countries in the United States) and variables associated with the national innovative capacity framework. While acknowledging important measurement issues arising from the use of patent data, we provide evidence for several findings. First, the production function for international patents is surprisingly well-characterized by a small but relatively nuanced set of observable factors, including R&D manpower and spending, aggregate policy choices such as the extent of IP protection and openness to international trade, and the share of research performed by the academic sector and funded by the private sector. As well, international patenting productivity depends on each individual country's knowledge stock.' Further, the predicted level of national innovative capacity has an important impact on more downstream commercialization and diffusion activities (such as achieving a high market share of high-technology export markets). Finally, there has been convergence among OECD countries in terms of the estimated level of innovative capacity over the past quarter century.

Practical applications of interactive voice technologies: Some accomplishments and prospects

A technology assessment of the application of computers and electronics to complex systems is presented. Three existing systems which utilize voice technology (speech recognition and speech generation) are described. Future directions in voice technology are also described

Social Progress Index 2014

Over the last half century, economic growth has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and improved the lives of many more. Yet it is increasingly evident that a model of development based on economic development alone is incomplete. A society which fails to address basic human needs, equip citizens to improve their quality of life, erodes the environment, and limits opportunity for its citizens is not succeeding. Economic growth without social progress results in lack of inclusion, discontent, and social unrest. A broader and more inclusive model of development requires new metrics with which policymakers and citizens can evaluate national performance. We must move beyond simply measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, and make social and environmental measurement integral to national performance measurement. Tracking social and environmental performance rigorously will inform and drive improvement in policy choices and investments by all stakeholders. Measuring social progress will also help to better translate economic gains into better social and environmental performance, which will unleash even greater economic success. The Social Progress Index aims to meet this pressing need by creating a holistic and robust measurement framework for national social and environmental performance that can be used by leaders in government, business and civil society at the country level as a tool to benchmark success, improve policy, and catalyze action. Our vision is a world in which social progress sits alongside economic prosperity as the twin scorecards of success

Clusters and entrepreneurship

This article examines the role of regional clusters in regional entrepreneurship. We focus on the distinct influences of convergence and agglomeration on growth in the number of start-up firms as well as in employment in these new firms in a given region-industry. While reversion to the mean and diminishing returns to entrepreneurship at the region-industry level can result in a convergence effect, the presence of complementary economic activity creates externalities that enhance incentives and reduce barriers for new business creation. Clusters are a particularly important way through which location-based complementarities are realized. The empirical analysis uses a novel panel dataset from the Longitudinal Business Database of the Census Bureau and the US Cluster Mapping Project. Using this dataset, there is significant evidence of the positive impact of clusters on entrepreneurship. After controlling for convergence in start-up activity at the region-industry level, industries located in regions with strong clusters (i.e. a large presence of other related industries) experience higher growth in new business formation and start-up employment. Strong clusters are also associated with the formation of new establishments of existing firms, thus influencing the location decision of multi-establishment firms. Finally, strong clusters contribute to start-up firm survival

Defining clusters of related industries

Clusters are geographic concentrations of industries related by knowledge, skills, inputs, demand and/or other linkages. There is an increasing need for cluster-based data to support research, facilitate comparisons of clusters across regions and support policymakers in defining regional strategies. This article develops a novel clustering algorithm that systematically generates and assesses sets of cluster definitions (i.e., groups of closely related industries). We implement the algorithm using 2009 data for U.S. industries (six-digit NAICS), and propose a new set of benchmark cluster definitions that incorporates measures of inter-industry linkages based on co-location patterns, input–output links, and similarities in labor occupations. We also illustrate the algorithm’s ability to compare alternative sets of cluster definitions by evaluating our new set against existing sets in the literature. We find that our proposed set outperforms other methods in capturing a wide range of inter-industry linkages, including the grouping of industries within the same three-digit NAICS

Benchmarking internacional: Análisis de la competitividad turística de Barcelona, Bilbao, París, Vancouver y Berlín

En el artículo se presenta una síntesis del capítulo Benchmarking Internacional y Análisis de la Competitividad, incluido en el informe final del proyecto llamado “Medellín Destino de Negocios”, el cual fue liderado por la Cámara de Comercio de Medellín para Antioquía con el Cluster Turismo de Negocios, Ferias y Convenciones, el BID y el FOMIN, en alianza con la Alcadía de Medellín . Uno de los objetivos del estudio fue identificar las ciudades que se constituyen en referente a nivel internacional en torno al turismo de negocios, así como identificar los aspectos, mecanismos que han contribuido a su éxito. En este artículo, y a partir de los cuatro vértices del diamante de M.E. Porter aplicado al turismo, se recogen las lecciones a ser aprendidas de cada uno de los destinos internacionales analizados: Barcelona, Bilbao, Paris, Vancouver y Berlín. Entre las conclusiones se destaca, la formación universitaria en Turismo & Planes de Investigación y de Desarrollo en Innovación en Turismo, impartida en España. La Cohesión intersectorial que se presenta en Paris, Bilbao, Barcelona y Berlín. La cohesión público privada que se evidencia en Paris; así como las estrategias de Convention Bureau para el apoyo a los actores del sector de Vancouver y Barcelona. AbstractThe article presents a synthesis of chapter International Benchmarking and Competitive Analysis: Porter Methodology included in the final report of the consultancy will advance around the “Increased competitiveness of Medellin and Antioquia from linking the territory with business events”. Project also called “Medellin Destination business “, which was led by the Chamber of Commerce of Medellín for Antioquia with Cluster business Tourism, Fairs and Conventions, the BID and the FOMIN, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office Medellín. One objective of the study was to identify the cities that constitute international benchmark on tourism business, as well as identifying aspects, mechanisms that have contributed to its success. In this article, and from the four corners of the diamond ME Porter applied to tourism, the lessons to be learned are collected from each of the international destinations analyzed: Barcelona, Bilbao, Paris, Vancouver and Berlín. Among the findings is highlighted, university education in Tourism & Plans for Research and Innovation in Tourism Development, taught in Spain. Intersectoral Cohesion presented in Paris, Bilbao, Barcelona and Berlin. The private public cohesion evidenced in Paris, as well as strategies Convention Bureau to support the industry players of Vancouver and Barcelona. Keywords:Tourism, Medellín business destination, tourism sector, competitiveness strategies, Methodology Porter, benchmarking