Objects and Subjects in Technological Interdependence. Towards a Framework to Monitor Innovation

Technology, even more than other aspects of economic life, is characterized by a strong interdependence across both sectors and organizations. However, we still know little about the determinants and impact of technological interdependence. The standard input-output analysis is unable to explain interdependence in technological life since a large proportion of innovations are either untraded or are disembodied from products. Innovations which are not appropriated by the innovators are not signalled by prices. Moreover, input-output tables do not systematically consider exchanges within economic organizations, such as firms. This paper proposes a more complex accounting framework for innovation which would monitor the technological field of the innovation and the product where it is used, as well as the producer-user interrelationship.     

From network ties to network structures: Exponential Random Graph Models of interorganizational relations

Theoretical accounts of network ties between organizations emphasize the interdependence of individual intentions, opportunities, and actions embedded in local configurations of network ties. These accounts are at odds with empirical models based on assumptions of independence between network ties. As a result, the relation between models for network ties and the observed network structure of interorganizational fields is problematic. Using original fieldwork and data that we have collected on collaborative network ties within a regional community of hospital organizations we estimate newly developed specifications of Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) that help to narrow the gap between theories and empirical models of interorganizational networks. After controlling for the main factors known to affect partner selection decisions, full models in which local dependencies between network ties are appropriately specified outperform restricted models in which such dependencies are left unspecified and only controlled for statistically. We use computational methods to show that networks based on empirical estimates produced by models accounting for local network dependencies reproduce with accuracy salient features of the global network structure that was actually observed. We show that models based on assumptions of independence between network ties do not. The results of the study suggest that mechanisms behind the formation of network ties between organizations are local, but their specification and identification depends on an accurate characterization of network structure. We discuss the implications of this view for current research on interorganizational networks, communities, and fields.     

Persistent high-growth firms in China’s manufacturing

Small Business Economics - This article explores the association between persistence of high-growth and crucial dimensions of firm structure and performance (productivity, profits, investment...     

Innovation,finance, and economic growth: an agent-based approach

This paper extends the endogenous growth agent-based model in Fagiolo and Dosi (Struct Change Econ Dyn 14(3):237–273, 2003) to study the finance–growth nexus. We explore industries where firms produce a homogeneous good using existing technologies, perform R&D activities to introduce new techniques, and imitate the most productive practices. Unlike the original model, we assume that both exploration and imitation require resources provided by banks, which pool agent savings and finance new projects via loans. We find that banking activity has a positive impact on growth. However, excessive financialization can hamper growth. Indeed, we find a significant and robust inverted U-shaped relation between financial depth and growth. Overall, our results stress the fundamental (and still poorly understood) role played by innovation in the finance–growth nexus.

     

Effects of Presentation Order on Product Evaluation: An Empirical Analysis

There are a number of consumer behaviour theories regarding the importance of the first stimulus and of a reference point in buying decision-making. However, there are not many empirical analyses, and they usually consider only hypothetical situations and payoffs. This paper aims to fill the gap by providing an empirical analysis for the effects of presentation order, using data collected in a natural setting. Two different personal computers are considered and evaluated along with the perceptions of price, quality, and price–quality relationship; evaluations are compared when the presentation order changes. The results confirm that the first alternative is more likely to be preferred; however, presentation order effects are not the same for all elements and show a relative rigidity for price perception. Managerial implications and issues for future research are highlighted.     

Exploring the acceptance of technology for mobile shopping: an empirical investigation among Smartphone users

In this work, we evaluate the phenomenon of asymmetric perception of some nonverbal stimuli located in an aisle of a virtual store. In a stimulus detection experiment, with a number of potentially confounding variables held under control, it was found that the nonverbal stimuli utilized (belonging to the color, size, and shape families) were perceived more rapidly when placed on shelves on the left rather than on the right of the observer. This response pattern was constant regardless the nature of stimulus and the gender of observer. The experiment also showed the following sequence, in descending order of perception rapidity: color–shape–size. Our results appear consistent with the predictions of the brain laterality theory. Overall, our article provides an initial contribution to extend the results of Rettie and Brewer (Journal of Product and Brand Management 2000; 9, no. 1: 56–70) pioneering work obtained by reference to specific problems of package design to the positioning of items with respect to in-store traffic flow. Limitations and managerial implications of our work are discussed.     

Bargaining over productivity and wages when technical change is induced: implications for growth, distribution, and employment

I study a model of growth and income distribution in which workers and firms bargain à la Nash (Econometrica 18(2):155–162, 1950) over wages and productivity gains, taking into account the trade-offs faced by firms in choosing factor-augmenting technologies. The aggregate environment resulting from self-interested, objective function-maximizing decision rules on wages, productivity gains, savings and investment, is described by a two-dimensional dynamical system in the employment rate and output/capital ratio. The economy converges cyclically to a long-run equilibrium involving a Harrod-neutral profile of technical change, a constant rate of employment of labor, and constant input shares. The type of oscillations predicted by the model is qualitatively consistent with the available data on the United States (1963–2003), replicates the dynamics found in earlier models of growth cycles such as Goodwin (A growth cycle, in C.H. Feinstein (ed). Socialism, Capitalism and Economic Growth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1967. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1967); Shah and Desai (Econ J 91:1006–1010, 1981); van der Ploeg (J Macroecon 9:1–12, 1987); Flaschel (J Econ: Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie 44:63–69, 1984) and Sportelli (J Econ: Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie 61(1):35–64, 1995), and can be verified numerically in simulations. Institutional change, as captured by variations in workers’ bargaining power, has a positive effect on the long-run rate of growth of output per worker but a negative effect on long-run employment. Economic policy can also affect the growth and distribution pattern through changes in the unemployment compensation, which also have a positive long-run impact on labor productivity growth but a negative long-run impact on employment. In both cases, employment can overshoot its new equilibrium value along the transitional dynamics.