The experience of technological collaborations by MERCOSUR companies

This paper examines some of the experiences in information and knowledge sharing involving MERCOSUR firm. It finds that while technological collaborations by MERCOSUR firms are relatively few, located in low-tech sectors and taking place in an environment of little innovation, they are motivated by the need to ‘fuse’ their own knowledge with that of partner or to improve available information. Modes of governance vary accordingly, with equity or contractual forms being used for new developments and informal agreements for improvements. Govmments and business associations can be important facilitators of technological collaborations. The analysis of technological collaborations suggested that the better prepared a corporation entered an agreement the more successful it was likely to be. It also pointed out that where interactions were intense, well intended and transparent, included personnel exchanges, were properly assessed and involved receptive participants, learning progressed smoothly and partners were satisfied. Benefits of the collaborations included new patentable and non-patentable products new factories, as well as building trust between partners. Premature termination of some collaborations was the result of financia1 limitations unrelated to the success of the collaboration.     

数字经济时代下联盟管理能力对企业颠覆性技术创新的影响——知识流动的中介作用与知识重构能力的调节作用

随着5G网络、人工智能等新科技的推广，数字经济时代已经到来。然而，在数字经济时代下，工业企业要在新一轮科技革命中抢占先机，必须组建联盟关系推动颠覆性技术创新。基于创新联盟理论，构建联盟管理能力与企业颠覆性技术创新研究框架，通过对451份有效问卷数据的实证研究发现：①联盟管理能力对企业颠覆性技术创新有显著正向影响；②知识流动在联盟管理能力与企业颠覆性技术创新的关系中起部分中介作用；③知识重构能力调节联盟管理能力与知识流动和颠覆性技术创新之间的正相关关系。     

技术战略联盟中企业技术能力提高过程研究

本文根据技术所处阶段和企业技术能力强弱对比关系总结了各类技术战略联盟的特点,构建了技术战略联盟中企业技术能力提高的过程模式。研究表明,这一过程的核心在于有效地将合作企业的隐性知识整合到企业自身的技术中,并发挥自主创新能力,创造新的知识与合作企业的知识进行融合,从而进行新一轮学习。如此多次循环,企业通过不断学习,技术能力逐渐得到提升。     

The motivations,institutions and organization of university-industry collaborations in the Netherlands

This study builds on the economics and organization literatures to explore whether and how institutions and organizational structure complement or substitute each other to create specific spaces of alignment where specific individual actors’ motivations co-exist. Focusing on university-industry collaborations, the study examines whether and how different axes of alignment of university and industry motivations are integrated in projects with specific technological objectives and organizational structures, benefitting from the presence of specific institutions designed to facilitate collaboration. Empirically, the study relies on in-depth data on 30 university-industry collaborations in the Netherlands, and provides preliminary evidence that the technological objective and organizational structure of collaboration are malleable variables allowing the integration of both partners’ objectives and expectations. Different institutional incentives for university-industry collaboration favor specific axes of alignment of motivations and certain types of collaborative projects’ design. Hence, our exploratory results suggest that specific organizational and technological structures tend to prevail in the presence of specific institutions.     

Effect of proximity on recombination innovation in R&D collaboration: an empirical analysis

Recombination innovation is a process of creatively combining different knowledge domains in an invention. Recombination innovation in R&D collaboration – joint recombination process, which is integration of the organisation’s internal knowledge with the partner’s new knowledge, serves as the stepping stone of the knowledge search in the technological space. This paper tries to illuminate how different dimensions of proximity of the collaborating partners affect the probability of the collaborative innovation to be recombination innovation. Our result shows that technological proximity has a negative effect on joint recombination innovation. Geographical proximity has an inverted U-shaped effect on joint recombination innovation. The positive effect of organisational proximity on joint recombination innovation is not supported.     

The knowledge bases of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups: what do patent citations to non-patent literature reveal?

This article examines the knowledge bases of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups by sales. It builds upon the concepts of knowledge specialisation and knowledge integration as the relevant dimensions along which knowledge bases can be mapped. The former is studied developing indicators of breadth. Breadth is measured by analysing the evolution of specialisation by scientific field over time. It hints at the widening range of bodies of scientific and technological knowledge relevant to firms’ innovative activities. Knowledge integration is studied developing indicators of depth. Depth is measured by analysing the evolution of integration across different typologies of research. It hints at the complex, non-linear interdependencies that link the scientific and technological domains. We develop the analysis on the strength of an original database of 33,127 European Patent Office patents and 41,931 citations to ‘non-patent document’ (of which 19,494 were identified as scientific articles included in the ISI databases) of the 30 largest pharmaceuticals groups during the period 1990–1997. The groups studied seem to have incrementally increased the breadth of their knowledge bases, moving towards the fields proper to the new biopharmaceutical research trajectory. At the same time, some of the groups studied exhibit remarkable depth in knowledge integration in particular fields such as biotechnology, biochemical research and neurosciences.     

Systems biology: A disruptive biopharmaceutical research paradigm

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project a new biological paradigm has emerged, namely systems biology. This paradigm is advancing the view that biology is essentially an information science with information operating on multiple hierarchical levels and in complex networks. A new hierarchical framework for biological knowledge is being constructed to understand the relationships between the various levels of information. Although the goal of finding new medicinal entities is central to drug discovery, the search itself has been dramatically altered in the post Human Genome era.It is our view that systems biology is a disruptive biopharmaceutical research paradigm. Biopharmaceutical knowledge production processes, knowledge dissemination processes, and even knowledge appropriation mechanisms are rapidly evolving to maximize value creation during drug discovery and development. A knowledge framework is used in this paper for conceptualizing and enabling the efficient management of these new complexities in systems biology. Fundamentally important to medical progress is ensuring that multiple innovators can equitably exploit the technological opportunities presented by systems biology. We evaluate the role of academia, government, and industry in preserving these technological opportunities.     

China's patterns of international technological collaboration 1976–2010: a patent analysis study

This study focuses on the trajectories and patterns of China's international collaborations over the period 1976–2010, using patent statistics and association analysis methods. The results identify those government policies that have significantly encouraged changes in the scale and scope of China's collaborations since 1997. The USA and Taiwan are major international collaborators with China, and the top cooperative entities are large-scale multi-national firms, which specialise in production, sales research and development of information or electronics technology; in contrast, universities and research institutions have a negligible presence in international collaborative patenting. This study finds that although China has developed significant international collaborative networks since the 1990s, it still needs to extend these ties to an even greater range of international partners and establish a broader scope of research interests.     

Effects of trade diversion and trade creation of MERCOSUR on US and world apple markets

Apples are the third most valuable fruit in the United States and account for 18% of US fruit exports. Chile is a major competitor to the United States in the MERCOSUR market, since it is one of the leading apple producing countries and enjoys the tariff reductions as a member of MERCOSUR. Consequently, Chilean exports displace US exports in MERCOSUR. In addition, other MERCOSUR members import more from lower-cost Chile, leading to a reduction in production and an increase in consumption in these countries. This study develops a theoretical and an empirical model of world apple market to quantify the trade diversion and trade creation effects of the MERCOSUR free trade agreement and to estimate the welfare impacts.     

Delphi analysis of national specificities in selected innovative areas in Germany and France

The increasing complexity of the relations between technologies and economics combined with more social pressure, global competition, technological change, as well as national budget restrictions, imply new challenges for public policies. Thus, to be able to forecast the development of knowledge and technological change in some well-known trajectories could be one of the major stakes for science technology and industrial policies. It is then not surprising that recent years have brought a significant revival of public foresight activities in many countries. The purpose of the paper is precisely to propose a new foresight method in order to obtain a taxonomy of the future technologies, and consequently to provide a better understanding of industrial dynamics. We present a statistical analysis of a Delphi investigation, based on scientific and technological knowledge complementarities, in order to obtain coherent clusters, which may be looked upon as a theoretical tool for political decisions. Our methodology is then applied to French and the German sectors of life sciences, elementary particles, energy, environment and natural resources.     

专利联盟成员技术竞合对成员创新绩效的影响

专利联盟存在竞合现象，联盟成员技术竞合究竟是阻碍创新还是激励创新？着眼于专利联盟成员竞合网络，将技术合作划分为探索式合作和利用式合作，将技术竞争划分为学习型竞争和诉讼型竞争，以2006—2019年MPEGLA公司12个专利联盟的76个成员为研究样本，运用负二项回归实证检验专利联盟成员技术竞合对联盟成员创新绩效的影响。研究发现：探索式合作、利用式合作和学习型竞争有利于成员创新绩效提升，而诉讼型竞争不利于成员创新绩效提升；学习型竞争和诉讼型竞争对双元合作的创新激励效应均具有显著负向调节作用。     

Trade effects of regional integration: A panel cointegration analysis

The paper quantifies the most likely trade effects of the exceptional cases of the GATT/WTO system, namely, Regional Integration Agreements, on the selected member as well as non-member countries of the EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR and AFTA. To this end, the gravity model was estimated through fixed effects model and panel cointegration analysis. It was found that the explanatory power of the latter has superseded the former one. For the case of EU, it was found that the intra-union trade-creation effect is approximately six times larger than extra-union effects. In NAFTA, exports to outside countries are significantly diverted. For MERCOSUR, on the other hand, results indicate that the integration has not contributed to intra-union trade. The members are still significantly dependent on extra-union imports, just like the members of AFTA.     

Bridge over troubled waters? problems and opportunities in interfirm research collaboration

Effective interfirm collaboration is an incresingly significant factor in technological innovation. A wide and complex range of options exists within collabotative arrangements which affect the outcome and rewards for both partners. Firms are often unaware of the strategic implications of collaborative ventures. While some large firms may be invloved in strategic alliances at the corporate level in order to establish or maintain competitiveness, many remain unaware or unconvinced of the potential for the generation of innovations through collaborations with small, flexible, 'hi-tech” firms. the pace of change and the challenge of international competition threatens Western European firms with a 'technology gap' within a 'disorganized capitalist' setting. Various forms of interfirm cooperation within and across natinal boundaires may be important responses to such uncertainty and amy ultimately provide successful strategic remedies to the situation. This article presents the findings of a recently completed research project in which 27 pairs (mostly small/large) of collaborating, innovative firms were studied in order to examine the strategic and operational issues involued in interfirm research cooperation. Whilst highlighting the advantages of collaboration, and the potential problems for both the small and the large partner, we argue that the adoption of 'cooperative game' rules id vital for successful collaborative innovation. Additionally, we attempt to posit our findings within the current debate on organized/disorganized capitalism.     

Preferential Liberalization,Antidumping, and Safeguards: Stumbling Block Evidence from MERCOSUR

There is not yet consensus in the trade agreements literature as to whether preferential liberalization leads to more or less multilateral liberalization. However, research thus far has focused mostly on tariff measures of import protection. We develop more comprehensive measures of trade policy that include the temporary trade barrier (TTB) policies of antidumping and safeguards; studies in other contexts have also shown how these policies can erode some of the trade liberalization gains that arise when examining tariffs alone. We examine the experiences of Argentina and Brazil during the formation of the MERCOSUR over 1990–2001, and we find that an exclusive focus on applied tariffs may lead to a mischaracterization of the relationship between preferential liberalization and liberalization toward non‐member countries. First, any “building block” evidence that arises by focusing on tariffs during the period in which MERCOSUR was only a free trade area can disappear once we also include changes in import protection that arise through TTBs. Furthermore, there is also evidence of a “stumbling block” effect of preferential tariff liberalization for the period in which MERCOSUR became a customs union, and this result tends to strengthen upon inclusion of TTBs. Finally, we also provide a first empirical examination of whether market power motives can help explain the patterns of changes to import protection that are observed in these settings.     

基于科学的产业创新主体专利合作伙伴识别研究

近年来，发展基于科学的产业已成为全球科技和产业竞争的焦点。基于科学的产业具有开放式创新特点，产业创新主体致力于寻找合作伙伴以充分利用外部资源。专利信息涵盖丰富的技术信息、法律信息及经济信息，是创新主体寻找合作伙伴并开展创新合作的重要资源，但鲜有学者运用专利信息研究基于科学的产业创新问题。构建基于科学的产业专利合作伙伴识别研究框架，以石墨烯这一典型的基于科学的产业为例，采用专利技术组合和社会网络分析方法，从行动者网络理论的4个行动者转译环节出发，全面展现我国石墨烯产业中最具潜力的国内和跨国专利合作伙伴识别过程，以挖掘专利合作机会并提高企业竞争优势。最后，从政府、高校、企业3个层面为我国石墨烯产业创新发展提供决策参考。     

Exploring potential R&D collaboration partners through patent analysis based on bibliographic coupling and latent semantic analysis

The aim of the present research is to provide a new systematic methodology to explore potential Research and Development (R&D) collaboration partners using patent information. The potential R&D collaboration partners are visualised as a patent assignee level map based on technological similarity between patents by using the network analysis. The proposed framework utilises two analytic methods to measure technological similarity. The first method, bibliographic coupling analysis, measures technological similarity based on the citation relationship using patent bibliographic information. Second, latent semantic analysis is utilised based on semantic similarity using patent textual information. The fuel cell membrane electrode assembly technology field is selected and applied to illustrate the proposed methodology. The proposed approach allows firms, universities, research institutes and governments to identify potential R&D collaborators as a systematic decision-making support tool.     

Cooperation in R&D through a network,an ‘organizational gamble’? an empirical analysis of rhône poulenc rorer-gencell

This paper is based on the empirical analysis of innovation challenges to Rhône Poulenc Rorer-Gencell (RPR-Gencell) resulting from development of biotechnology in the pharmaceutical industy. These we identify as an organizational innovation involving the development of a network of partners following and/or inducing a technological innovation. RPR-Gencell represents a ‘style of innovation’ since it is based on various factors specific to the firm and corresponds to a new organizational form, the ‘tight network’ of partners. We argue that this organizational from, in the context of the development of biotechnology in the pharmaceutical industry, can be likened to an ‘organizational gamble’ associated with a ‘technological gamble’ Altogether, this ‘gamble’ dimension means that the network of partners in R&D is still a marginal organizational form. After an introduction we show that the specficities of the pharmaceutical industry especialy since the emergence of biotechnohgy have led to the emergence of a multiplicity of institutional arrangements governing cooperation in R&D. We take as a specific example that of gene therapy. Later on, we present some stylized facts to emphasize the diversity among the network organizational forms. The network of partners is an alternative to the other complex but ‘clarsical’ forms of cooperation (R&D agreements, cross-licensing, joint-ventures, mergers/acquisilions). We propose a new definition of the network based on the case of RPR-Gencell: the ‘tight network’. We distinguish between the ‘tight network’ and all the other approaches, focusing in particular on the ‘loose network’ of cooperative relationship (mostly multifirm alliances implemented with several bilateral contracts). Only two pharmaceutical companies have adopted the ‘tight network’ to govern their cooperation in R&D. We present the network ofpartners as an organizational innovation governing a technological innovation. We argue that this organizational innovation could be likened to an ‘organizational gamble’ in the case of the pharmaceutical industry. Finally, we show that the network raises several organizational issues since it short-circuits traditional strategic operations in the pharamaceutical industry. We argue that among many different reasons, RPR's technological choices (especially the priorig given to gene therapy) have influenced the creation of its network of partners. As a conclusion, we discuss the link between the organizational innovation and the technological innovation focusing on the ‘gamble’ dimension of such an innovation.     

Technology-push, demand-pull and the shaping of technological paradigms - Patterns in the development of computing technology

An assumption generally subscribed to in evolutionary economics is that new technological paradigms arise from advances is science and developments in technological knowledge. Further, demand only influences the selection among competing paradigms, and the course of the paradigm after its inception. In this paper, we argue that this view needs to be qualified and modified. We demonstrate that, in the history of computing technology in the 20th century, a distinction can be made between periods in which either demand or knowledge development played the bigger role in shaping the technological paradigms. In the demand enabled periods, new technological (sub-)paradigms in computing technology have emerged as well.     

Conditional factors Pushing catch-up across developed and emerging countries in the nanotechnology sector, 2000–2010

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to test national and sectorial technological and innovation capability factors, as well as social capability indicators, which could explain a possible conditional convergence across countries in nanotechnology within the context of a model of innovative technological knowledge β convergence. Based on growth convergence models, our proposal also takes into account the Schumpeterian theory, the National System Innovation –NSI– approach, and particularly the sectorial system of innovation and the technological catch-up hypothesis, as well as theoretical and empirical literature on conditional convergence. The findings allow us to confirm that new nanotechnology knowledge convergence is conditioned by a higher growth rate of technological capabilities in nanotechnology: growth from the initial level of patents granted, cumulative knowledge, and links to technological and scientific activities. Finally, as regards social capabilities, only the institutional weakness variable (corruption index) associates negatively with β convergence. As an emergent paradigm, we realize that convergence and catch-up are starting processes, which could allow less technologically developed countries to benefit from higher growth of some of the factors identified.     

Knowledge sources and recombination capabilities in developing new convergent products

Recent surge in technological convergences has generated great interests from scholars, managers and policy-makers. Yet, few literatures have investigated firm-specific factors behind developing convergent products. This research has empirically analysed the role of firms’ knowledge recombination capabilities and external collaborations in developing convergent products by using a survey data from 858 Korean firms. The findings suggest that presence of interdisciplinary employees and the strong commitment of CEOs are among the important knowledge recombination capabilities for developing convergent products. When compared to other types of collaboration, the inter-firm collaboration turned out to be the most effective in developing convergent products. We suggest that firms should understand that knowledge generations are becoming more interdisciplinary and employees with interdisciplinary research background are an important enabler of knowledge recombination. We suggest that policy-maker should continue to allocate its resources in supporting inter-disciplinary research programmes.