Firm Density and Industry R & D Intensity: Theory and Evidence

By deriving a formal model of industry R & D that identifies factors influencing industry R & D intensity, this paper first suggests firm density, defined as the inverse of average firm sales or simply the number of firms divided by industry sales, as a measure of market structure that is appropriate in explaining industry R & D intensity. The model shows that the cost structure of R & D, consumer preference over quality and price, the appropriability of R & D, firm density, and the average level of firm R & D intensity jointly determine industry R & D intensity. In particular, firm density has a positive relationship with industry R & D intensity, implying that firms in higher firm-density industries feel fiercer competitive pressure and thus engage more intensively in R & D. An empirical analysis of panel data on industry R & D activities of Korean manufacturing industries during the period 1991–1996 provides supportive evidence for the predictions of the model including the positive relationship between firm density and industry R & D intensity. The theoretical model and the empirical results are also consistent with the recent survey of U.S. corporate R & D activities by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Science Foundation (1999).     

Market Power, Industrial Concentration and Innovative Activity

This paper discusses the paradox between the positive effect of industrial concentration on R & D spending, and its non-positive effect on the number of innovations. Also, I analyze whether concentration has different effects on small- and large-firm R & D. The analysis shows that the positive effect of industrial concentration on R & D spending is at least as strong for small firms as it is for large firms within an industry, which indicates that the possession of market power is not in itself conducive to innovative effort. In addition, high concentration appears to be attended with a loss of efficiency in R & D spending.     

Proposals for a digital industrial policy for Europe

A digital industrial policy should take into account the new opportunities for industrial policy arising from digitalisation for tackling the sluggish economic growth performance in the Europe. The structural problems and potential market failures related to the adoption of digital technologies are identified. Apart from incentives to invest into digital infrastructure, the policy measures should strengthen the intangible asset base along the value added chain of the digital economy, fostering the related R&D activities, along with the skills of researchers and of workers. Public and private sector financing, combined through financial instruments, should focus on furthering entrepreneurship and implementation of innovative business plans.     

The changing face of research anddevelopment in the public sector

This paper examines the changes that have occurred in the management and scale of R & D, in the contextof the'gas industry's experience. As a resultof the discovery o f North Sea gas and new and expanding operations, R & D has become larger, more central, and thus more integrated into and accountable to the organization as a whole. This has resulted in greater centralization and planning administered according to the ‘sponsorship’ principle. These changes have highlighted the problems of R & D choice and the comparison of commercial and non-commercial objectives in a public sector industry. The unique constraints under which nationalized industries operate and their commitment to the ‘public interest’ as well as to commercial goals, are discussed. These bear upon the way in which R & D decisions not amenable to cost/benefit analysis (such as the balance between long and short term work) are made. It is emphasized that these decisions are made by the industry as a whole and that R & D must thus be seen to be complying with industry objectives. The example of British Gas R & D Planning is used to show how ‘sponsorship’ operates and its values for R & D and the restof the industry. Comparison with other public sector industries indicates that there is no one great system for R & D and that its administration is a function of the history, technological characteristics, and present situation of the industry. These imply different procedures appropriate for the innovation process within the Industry. The role of British Gas within a national energy policy is discussed. The separation of the fuel industries affects the assumptions on which R & D plans are made and thus the degree of uncertainty inherent in all R & D planning. This raises interest- ing questions about the degree of flexibility possible in defining each industry's own objectives.     

Why did we make that cheese? An empirically based framework for understanding what drives innovation activity

In the more recent product development literature the interplay between R&D skills and competencies and market skills and competencies is seen as a major determinant of successful innovation. The study reported in this article was done in order to cast more light on these two constructs in an industry with low R&D expenditures, but where product development is nevertheless considered to be strategically important. That industry is the food processing industry. The results of a series of case studies indicate that constructs other than R&D and market orientation may be more appropriate for understanding innovation and explaining innovation success in the case material. A new set of constructs focusing on what causes specific innovation activities to occur is proposed and a revised framework is developed.     

Principal researcher and project manager: who should drive R&D projects?

In this paper, it is analyzed the hypothesis that in R&D the principal researcher (PR) is accepted as the coordinator or project manager (PM), carrying out the search for financing and to manage contracts, resources, cost, time, scope, risk and uncertainty, communication, stakeholders and so on, in addition to internal research activities. Thus, this study tries to verify this hypothesis through a major literature review in different types of projects developed by university, but also with a look to industry and industry-university cooperation. Two case studies are also analyzed, centered in its R&D project management maturity level. It is concluded that there is an important issue in projects’ success and in the time spent by PR in management, work for which they are under trained; while at the industry there is a greater approach to project management by the proximity of the innovation projects to other industrial projects. Following these initial findings and according to the case study results, it is proposed that R&D Projects in universities would be separated into two synergistic knowledge areas: R&D Management and Project Management. It is also recommended to allocate them to two distinct roles, where they could add value to R&D through their better knowledge and skills.     

The internal audit of research and development

Most activities might benefit from an independent review; but very little attention has been given to the review of research and development (R & D). The evolving scope of internal audit together with trends in R & D provide a more favourable climate for the internal audit of this industry of discovery (Walley, 1974, p. 191). This paper presents the results of a survey which was questionnaire based and completed by internal auditors, most of whom worked for industrial multinationals which are household names. They represented companies employing 0–61 m staff with a turnover of |SL12b p.a.; 75|X% of the respondent organizations were industrial concerns employing 0.56m with a turnover of |SL10.7b p.a., most of the remaining respondents being financial organizations. Forty-two per cent were under overseas control. By focusing on the practice and intentions of leading organizations with a record of progressive management, the results of the survey point a way which is likely to be followed more generally. As the internal audit departments were also large (29 auditors in each; 35 for the industrial departments) they were better placed to extend the scope of their work.     

Innovative productivity and returns to scale in the pharmaceutical industry

This study shows that firms in the pharmaceutical industry experience decreasing returns to scale in R & D as the level of R & D expenditures rises. The paper presents the results of our study of the innovative output of 16 pharmaceutical firms over a 19 year period. Given the strong correlation between R & D budgets and firm size, our study suggests the wave of mergers in the industry may yield less innovative productivity than managers expect.     

区域工业企业R&D投入产出绩效的DEA评价及分析

为解释不同区域工业企业RD活动投入规模、结构和绩效之间的关系,找出区域工业企业RD活动的差异和特点,利用数据包络分析方法(DEA)的C2 R模型和BC2模型,构建了由2个投入指标和3个产出指标构成的区域工业企业RD投入产出绩效评价指标体系,运用详实的统计数据对2014年和2010年中国部分省市区工业企业的RD投入产出绩效进行了DEA测度及分析。结果表明,中国区域工业企业RD投入产出绩效的技术效率小于规模效率,各省市区工业企业RD投入产出绩效的技术有效性与规模有效性呈现很强的正相关关系。各省市区要根据自身的经济、技术基础,因地制宜地制定提高其工业企业RD投入产出绩效的有效对策。     

European Economic Community industrial research priorities for the early 1980s

Respondents claimed that European effort on basic research rnay have so diminished that the long-term competitiveness of its industries is endangered. They saw a major role for the Commission in redressing this imbalance. There was little support for Commission sponsorship of applied industrial research. Some respondents felt that this could even be counter-productive by diluting effort in areas seen as important by industrial management. A role was seen for the commission in supporting more research on the legislative context and general environment in which industry operates ('contextual research'). The need for such research imposes a growing burden on industry and diverts scarce resources from work directly related to competitiveness.
A study sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities aimed to identify the types of R & D activity in aid of European industry that the Commission might support over the next three or four years. The findings are based on interviews with senior managers from some fifty firms, representing eight sectors of manufacturing industry in five European countries.     

碳税政策对我国工业企业技术创新行为的政策绩效研究

本文以碳税政策对我国工业企业技术创新行为和创新绩效问题为研究对象,分别研究了碳税政策对工业企业研发投入、研发创新模式选择以及研发创新绩效的影响,进而分析了我国工业企业技术创新能力的收敛性。通过研究发现,碳税政策的实施有助于激励工业企业技术创新的自主性,也有利于企业创新绩效的实现。提出我国在碳税政策设计和实践中应坚持建立激励与约束相容的碳税政策、促进碳税征收与碳排放交易协同、匹配碳税征收行政管理体系建设以及利用碳税发起设置低碳产业基金等政策实施路径。     

R & D,Foreign Direct Investment and Technology Sourcing?

The U.S. experienced a surge in foreign directinvestment (FDI) during the 1980s.To date, we do notfully understand what the research and development(R & D) effects of FDI are. FDI can affect the hostcountry's R & D activities in at least two ways. First,if domestic firms perceive foreign entrants as seriousthreats to their domestic market share, they willchange their R & D policies hence industry-wide R & Dintensity also changes. Second, the increase in R & Dintensity may be attributed to foreign firms' R & Dactivities to acclimatize to U.S. conditions. Using apanel of 4-digit SIC industries from 1981–91, there issome evidence that the latter scenario may be apossible explanation for the observed changes inindustry-wide R & D intensity.     

Network positioning and R&D activity: a study of Italian groups

Traditionally, R&D studies focus on organisational characteristics and internal context factor effects on a firm's R&D activities. This paper extends previous research by analysing firm–level R&D expenditures in the wider context of inter–organisational networks. Using sample of 2002 manufacturing firms in Italy, it provides evidence that R&D intensity is linked to a firm's positioning within an industrial group's hierarchy. Further tests on the antecedents of R&D expenditures are carried out in relation to the effects of firm characteristics and industry factors. Important findings include a significant and positive association between R&D intensity and the firm's size, performance, intangible assets and industry concentration. These findings suggest that, in addition to firm–level factors and its market environment, network resources and organisation may play an important role in driving the intensity of the firm's R&D expenditures.     

Some evidence on the accuracy of forecasts in R & D projects

In recent years many formal attempts, e.g. Baker & Pound, (1964), have been made to help R & D management assess the worth of R & D projects and select those most worthy of inclusion in the R & D programme. Most of these attempts are based on financial appraisals of a project's worth and require estimates of the costs and likely revenues that will result from the adoption of a given project. It is clear, therefore, that the validity of any measure of a worth for a project is dependent upon the accuracy of the estimates of cost and revenue associated with that project. Unfortunately the limited amount of evidence so far presented suggests, in particular, that cost estimates are extremely inaccurate.
In this paper, therefore, we try to add some further evidence on forecast accuracy for a number of industrial R & D projects. We begin with a short review of the existing literature evidence and continue with an analysis of the past effectiveness of R & D work and, in particular, of forecast accuracy.     

我国工业布局调整与产业转移分析

“十一五”以来,我国中西部地区工业在全国所占份额大幅上升,东部沿海地区产业在向外转移,转出的主要是资源型产业、纺织服装和食品制造等劳动密集型产业,但目前在微型计算机、集成电路、钢铁、汽车等工业生产能力上东部仍有较大优势,产业还呈现出由珠三角、长三角向环渤海地区转移的“北上”趋势。工业发展从地区上看存在的主要问题是,各地仍普遍追求重工业化,制造业在沿海少数省份集中度较高,沿海沿江工业污染严重．多数地区工业研发能力不强。未来要以主体功能区规划为基础,推动各类区域转型升级,引导东部地区产业有序转移,进一步改善中西部地区投资环境,培育内生发展能力。     

The co–evolution of technologies and institutions: a comparison of Taiwanese hard disk drive and liquid crystal display industries

In this paper, we examine the different evolutionary processes and outcomes of the hard disk drive and liquid crystal display industries in Taiwan. To this end, we make two general theoretical claims. First, that an appreciation of the globalization of technology is as important as national institutions in understanding industry development in catch–up economies such as Taiwan. Second, in addressing both industrial survival and failure, that national institutions can have either a positive or a negative impact on sectoral activities. Empirically, we show that, in Taiwan, rigid social institutions conflict with the hard disk drive technology. This conflict, in turn, produces obstacles to Taiwanese firms' search for new markets and skills in hard disk drives. On the other hand, Taiwan's institutional structures provide a source of technical efficiency and market opportunity for the emerging liquid crystal display trajectory. This, in turn, drives Taiwanese industry towards adopting new practices in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays.     

Management Control and Innovative Activity

This paper discusses theoretically the different incentives of managers versus firm owners to invest in innovative activities. There are opposing effects concerning R & D intensity in the manager-controlled firm. Our study on the determinants of R & D intensity presentsempirical results concerning this question. A sample of German firms with 4,126 observations is used to estimate Tobit and semiparametriccensored least absolute deviation (CLAD) models. It turns out that the owner-led firms invest less into R & D than the managerial firms. With respect to the manager-ledfirms, we have mixed results concerning the question whether expenditures on R & Ddepend on the control exerted.     

产权结构、技术差距与R＆D收益率

对2000～2003年中国各地区大中型企业的考察发现R＆D与生产率的相关性很弱,技术落后地区企业与技术先进地区企业的R＆D收益率没有显著差异。进一步回归分析表明,产权结构是影响R＆D收益率的一个重要因素：当控制了产权结构这个因素后,R＆D与生产率的关系变得显著,而且技术落后地区企业的R＆D收益率明显大于技术先进地区的企业。造成技术落后地区企业和技术先进地区企业的R＆D收益率无差异的原因在于技术落后地区企业的国有资本比重较高,R＆D使用效率比较低。因此形成合理的产权结构,提高R＆D的技术吸收能力对技术落后地区企业的生产率增长有重要的意义     

How do Participants in Research Joint Ventures Diversify?

This paper investigates the incentives to participate in research joint ventures from the perspective of overall business diversification behavior. It presents evidence that: (a) RJVs tend to put together industrial activities differently than single firms; and, (b) the diversification decisions of RJV participants are triggered partly differently than the analogous decisions of firms that have not participated in the examined large set of RJVs. The results indicate that RJVs facilitate experimentation. They also indicate that the policy debate on inter-firm cooperation in R & D must consider the likely differences in strategic behavior between frequent RJV participants and other firms.