PATTERNS OF INNOVATION IN THE SERVICE SECTOR: SOME INSIGHTS FROM THE SPANISH INNOVATION SURVEY

Although the attention of innovation studies has traditionally been focused on manufacturing, the differential features of innovation activities carried out by services are gaining more and more relevance in innovation research. The aim of this paper is to thoroughly analyse the data from the Spanish Innovation Survey 2000, the first large-scale innovation survey that included service activities in Spain, in order to identify the main patterns of innovation in Spanish services. The results of our investigations confirm that a high degree of heterogeneity, in relation to innovation patterns, exists among service firms and among service industries as well. Nevertheless, important similarities are found between pioneer classifications, such as the theoretical taxonomy of service industries by Soete and Miozzo (1989) Soete, L. and Miozzo, M. 1989. “Trade and Development in Services: A Technological Perspective”. The Netherlands: MERIT Research Memorandum, 89-031. MERIT.  [Google Scholar] or the classification of service firms elaborated by Hollenstein (2003) Hollenstein, H. 2003. Innovation modes in the Swiss service sector: a cluster analysis based on firm-level data. Research Policy, 32(5): 845–863. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], and the taxonomy we obtained by applying multivariate analysis.     

CREDIT CONSTRAINTS IN THE MARKET FOR CONSUMER DURABLES: EVIDENCE FROM MICRO DATA ON CAR LOANS*

We investigate the significance of borrowing constraints in the market for consumer loans. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey on auto loan contracts we estimate the elasticities of loan demand with respect to interest rate and maturity. We find that, with the exception of high income households, consumers are very responsive to maturity and less responsive to interest rate changes. Both elasticities vary with household income, with the maturity elasticity decreasing and the interest rate elasticity increasing with income. We argue that these results are consistent with the presence of binding credit constraints in the auto loan market.     

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT, AND FIRM SURVIVAL IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: EVIDENCE FROM MICRO DATA

Financial constraints have been found to play an important role on various aspects of firm behavior. Yet, their effects on firm survival have been largely neglected. We use a panel of 61,496 UK firms over the period 1997–2002 to study the effects of financial variables on firms' failure probabilities, differentiating firms into globally engaged and purely domestic. Estimating a wide range of specifications, we find that lower collateral and higher leverage result in higher failure probabilities for purely domestic than for globally engaged firms. This can be seen as evidence that global engagement shields firms from financial constraints.     

KNOWLEDGE ACCUMULATION, AND PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM PLANT-LEVEL DATA FOR IRELAND

This paper investigates whether knowledge accumulating activities, such as exporting, R&D, or worker training, can enhance plants' productivity. To this end, we use plant‐level panel data for Irish manufacturing. Our results importantly indicate that productivity enhancing effects of these factors are found only for domestic firms, but not for foreign multinationals located in Ireland. We postulate a number of potential reasons inherent to multinational activity possibly driving this result.     

BANKING MARKET STRUCTURE, CREATION AND ACTIVITY OF FIRMS: EARLY EVIDENCE FOR COOPERATIVES IN THE ITALIAN CASE

ABSTRACT ** :  This paper investigates whether local differences in banking competition impact on the creation and activity of firms, with a special focus on cooperatives. The empirical analysis, implemented on a sample of Italian firms, reveals non-monotonic effects of bank market power on firm creation and activity. In regard to the former, a bell-shaped relationship is found for both cooperative and non-cooperative firms, suggesting that a moderately concentrated banking market favours firms' creation. A less homogeneous pattern characterizes firms' activity: a bell-shaped parabola is still found for non-cooperative firms, while a U-shaped relationship emerges for cooperatives, showing that active coops benefit from relatively more intense banking competition.     

我国制造业区域集聚程度决定因素的研究

本文分析了中国近年来(1998—2003)制造业行业集聚的趋势以及影响行业集聚的微观基础。研究表明样本期间中国制造业行业集聚呈上升态势。我们利用面板数据和动态估计过程模型,一定程度上控制了现有实证研究文献中存在的一些可能造成结果偏差的缺陷。我们发现:地方保护主义在很大程度上限制了中国制造业的区域集聚。同时,溢出效应、运输成本和自然禀赋也是影响行业集聚的重要因素。     

地区专业化、产业集中与经济集聚——对我国制造业的实证分析

以新经济地理学模型为基本理论框架,对我国各省区专业化水平、制造业各行业的集中程度和整个制造业的集聚程度进行了实证分析,结果显示1993—2003年间我国各省份的专业化水平呈显著上升趋势,制造业大部分行业集中程度提高,整个制造业集聚程度上升。在制造业各行业集中程度和整个制造业集聚程度的测算中,引入SP指数,结果显示这一指标的引进是非常必要的。     

经济增长与环境质量:来自中国省际面板数据的证据

环境库兹涅茨曲线是经济增长与环境污染之间呈倒U型关系的曲线,即随着经济增长,环境质量先恶化,当经济发展到一定程度,环境质量又会逐渐改善。文章基于中国1991—2003年29个省级区域环境质量与人均GDP的数据,利用工业废水、废气、固体排放物等变量与人均GDP拟合方程验证环境库兹涅茨曲线假说。研究结果验证了环境库兹涅茨假说,人口密度和外商直接投资对不同的污染物有不同的影响,而工业发展对这三种污染物排放的影响比较大,因此加强产业结构的调整将有助于改善环境质量。     

PRODUCTIVITY AND BUSINESS CYCLES IN JAPAN: EVIDENCE FROM JAPANESE INDUSTRY DATA*

Constructing a database of 37 industries, we examine whether the measured productivity in Japan is pro‐cyclical and investigate the sources of this pro‐cyclicality by using the production function approach employed by Hall (1990) and Basu and Fernald (1995). The aggregate Solow residual displays pro‐cyclicality. A large number of industries show constant returns to scale. No significant evidence for the presence of thick‐market externalities is found. Our results also hold when we consider labour hoarding, part‐time employment, and the adjustment cost of investment. The results indicate that policies to revitalize the Japanese economy should concentrate on promoting productivity growth.     

CONVERGENCE IN THE UK SERVICE SECTOR: FIRM LEVEL EVIDENCE, 1988–1998

Bernard and Jones (1996) have previously argued that similarity in the technologies used by firms in the service sector helps to explain evidence of absolute convergence at the cross‐country level. This paper searches for convergence at the firm level using data for the UK service sector over the period 1988–1998. Initial mixed support for this view is partly explained by strong business cycle effects in the data. Upon closer examination we find evidence that convergence was more likely in industries that had high levels of technology investment, greater exposure to new technologies and high levels of absorptive capacity.     

服务外包与产业链长度：来自中国的经验证据*

本文参考Antrs et al（2012）方法，利用中国1997年、2002年、2007年、2012年和2017年投入产出表测度30个省份17个细分行业的产业链长度，并在此基础上分析服务外包对延伸产业链长度的作用。实证结果表明：第一，从整体上看，服务外包对我国产业链长度攀升具有显著促进作用，服务外包每提高10%，可以促进我国产业链长度提升062%。第二，从细分类型的服务外包看，交通仓储外包对产业链长度延伸的促进作用最大。第三，分地区研究发现，服务外包对中部地区产业链长度提升最大，其次是西部地区，东部地区最小。第四，分行业后发现，服务外包对制造业和服务业产业链长度均有提升作用，但是对服务业促进作用是制造业的近2.7倍。     

PREFERENCES FOR STATE TAX AND SPENDING POLICIES: EVIDENCE FROM SURVEY DATA ON THE ROLE OF INCOME

Employing a commonly-used method of creating a continuous income variable from categorical data, we obtain results from a fiscal survey that reveal a strong nonmonotonic effect of income on the willingness to pay additional taxes for state expenditures on education and public aid. The existence of income-demand schedules that are U- or inverted U-shaped casts doubt on the appropriateness of assuming that the median income voter is decisive. After investigating the sensitivity of our results to different income measures, we suggest that fiscal surveys should be designed to provide sufficiently detailed information about respondents'incomes, especially for high-income respondents.     

THE CASE FOR PAY-AS-YOU-GO PENSIONS IN A SERVICE ECONOMY

The elderly consume more labour‐intensive services than young individuals. This makes them vulnerable to rising costs of services due to higher wages, which can be caused by increased capital accumulation. This paper shows that in a model with a service sector, the golden‐rule capital stock is lower and dynamic inefficiency is more likely to occur than in the conventional one‐sector model. This implies that in many cases, a positive Pay‐As‐You‐Go tax maximises long‐run welfare in a service economy. Calculations based on data from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands show that the long‐run optimal degree of funding coincides with the current situation in these countries.     

转型期广州市服务业区位演变及布局特征

改革开放以来,我国大都市服务业发展迅速,并逐步成为主导产业,服务业在城市聚集、扩散导致的区位演变及空间格局引起我国学者的关注.以广州为例,在采用服务业四分法基础上,运用1990、2000年人口普查数据及1996、2001年基本单位普查数据,分析了1990年以来广州市不同类型服务业就业和基本单位的区位演变、区位特征及形成机制.研究发现,生产性服务业在老城区集聚程度下降,新中心区集聚程度上升,总体上形成"双中心"格局;分配性服务业在老城区集聚明显下降,向新中心区及外围区扩散,布局逐步均衡化,但不同部门差异明显;消费性服务业从老城区逐步向外围区扩散,中心集聚仍较高,且有随人口均衡布局特征;社会性服务业在老城区集聚减弱,在新中心和外围区集聚增强,呈团块状或局部集聚.与国外相比,广州市服务业区位特征是"多中心集聚"区位.     

Identifying Neo-Schumpeterian Innovation in Service Firms: A Conceptual Essay with a Novel Classification

The identification of innovation in service firms is problematic since there is no consensus of opinion on its conceptualization. Recent papers suggest both distinctive features of innovation in services and distinctive types of service innovation. This article reviews and evaluates these findings from a Schumpeterian perspective. The evaluation justifies conceptualizing service innovation as a specific case of service development with a reference to Schumpeter, but not as strict as proposed by Drejer (2004) [Drejer, I. (2004) Identifying Innovation in Surveys of Services: A Schumpeterian Perspective. Research Policy, 33, 551–562]. Despite the simultaneity of production and consumption in services, this article claims that the distinction between product innovation and process innovation should be preferred to other ways of classifying innovation in service firms. Finally, changes in the denomination of services are advanced as a key to the identification of development and innovation in service firms.     

ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND INNOVATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE BUSINESS SERVICE SECTOR

Innovative activity is performed to a considerable extent in the service sector, namely within the so-called knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). Particularly emphasizing the role of absorptive capacity, we analyze possible determinants of incremental and radical firm innovation using firm micro data from the KIBS Foundation Survey. The results show that access to knowledge through networking and cooperation is of utmost importance for innovative activity in the KIBS sector. Access to knowledge from universities and research institutions is particularly important for radical innovation, notwithstanding the degree of formality of cooperation. In contrast, access to knowledge from clients or suppliers only has a significant impact on the probability to innovate if the cooperation with these partners is based on formal cooperation via joint projects or formal cooperation contracts. Furthermore, we find empirical evidence for a positive correlation between KIBS firms and clients from the manufacturing sector: these stimulate in particular incremental, but also radical innovation.     

The sources and aims of innovation in services: Variety between and within sectors

Services dominate economic activity, but remain under-researched by analysts of innovation and technological change. The early 'one size fits all' theories of innovation in services have in recent years given way to an appreciation that services are diverse, not least in their innovation activities. This paper draws on recent empirical evidence from large-scale surveys undertaken in 13 western European countries, to investigate the extent and the sources of innovation in five services sectors. The analysis includes the extent to which services innovate, and amongst innovators the extent to which they engage in R&D and collaborative arrangements for innovation. The analysis supports the recent literature which emphasises significant differences between sectors in their pattern of innovation behaviour, but also highlights significant intra-sectoral differences in innovation behaviour. This intra-sectoral variation deserves much fuller investigation in the future.