Firm size,sectors and countries as sources of variety in innovation

This paper aims at providing a comprehensive empirical appraisal of the nature, extent and sources of variety in innovation in industry across Europe. The results presented in the empirical section of this paper are based on a unique database (SIEPI) containing data drawn by the second Community Innovation Survey (CIS2) for 10 countries, 22 manufacturing sectors and three firm-size classes. This database has allowed us to look beyond the sectoral aggregate statistics provided by Eurostat and explore in detail the differences in innovation processes both within and across European countries and manufacturing industries. Further, the SIEPI database has been used to identify the determinants of the variety in innovation across Europe. In particular, the analysis focuses on the relative importance of sector-specific, context-specific and firm-size factors in driving firms’ innovative behaviours and performances.     

The role of innovation in venture capital: empirical evidence from European Union and EFTA countries

This article investigates the effects of innovation attempts on the venture capital and investment activity in the cases of the selected European Union plus European Free Trade Agreement countries using annual panel data and by controlling for real income growth and business sophistication. Our findings suggest that innovation has positively significant effects on venture capital in the cases without opt-out countries (United Kingdom and Denmark); however, these effects become negative in the cases with opt-out countries. Policy implications are provided in the conclusion section of this study.     

关键研发者创造力变化研究综述与未来展望——组织内与组织间嵌入视角

关键研发者为数不多但承担企业大量的核心技术创新工作,是企业最重要的战略人力资源。以往学者基于关键研发者内涵,从各维度提出不同的关键研发者识别方法,探讨影响关键研发者创造力的各种因素,但尚未形成统一认识和系统理论框架。回顾关键研发者内涵,阐述关键研发者识别方法及其异同,提出环境不确定性下影响关键研发者创造力的4个方面:①组织内工作环境变动;②组织间工作环境变动;③组织内合作网络;④组织间合作网络。最后,提出4个未来重要研究方向,为企业在快速变化的市场环境下实现关键研发者管理及促进技术创新提供理论与应用依据。     

Managing technological and social uncertainties of innovation: The evolution of Brazilian energy and agriculture

This paper explores how technological, commercial and social uncertainties shaped the development of Brazilian biofuels. Technological innovation allowed the country to emerge as a global leader, but Brazil continues to struggle with major social uncertainties due to poverty and environmental concerns common in many emerging economies. Contemporary approaches to development within the innovation literature focus primarily on overcoming technological and commercial uncertainties, but only peripherally explore social uncertainties. To fill this void, we draw on Martin and Hall's framework for managing innovative uncertainties, which is based on Kuhn and Popper's approaches to the evolution and methodology of science, and extend it with Aldrich and Fiol's concept of cognitive versus socio-political legitimacy. Based on qualitative data collected in Brazil, we outline the evolution of automotive fuel ethanol and flex-fuel technology, the development of Brazilian soybean production, and castor for socially inclusive biodiesel production. We show how innovation solved some technological and commercial uncertainties and generated new opportunities, but also created additional social uncertainties that are now being addressed. Through this process, Brazil has acquired capabilities in alternative energy technologies and more sustainable agriculture, becoming an exemplar for other emerging economies. We conclude with implications for policy and industry.     

技术变迁视角下企业技术生态位对创新能力的影响

以2013—2017年中国航空航天制造企业专利数据为研究样本,采用泊松回归模型检验了企业技术生态位特征与创新能力之间的关系,并将系统中心生态位作为调节变量检验其对于企业技术生态位与创新能力关系的影响。结果表明：企业技术生态位的宽度及重叠度均与其创新能力呈倒U型关系;系统中心生态位进入正向调节企业技术生态位宽度与创新能力的关系,负向调节企业技术生态位重叠度与创新能力的关系。系统中心生态位深度负向调节企业技术生态位宽度与创新能力的关系,而对技术生态位重叠度与创新能力的关系无显著影响。     

中国科协推动科技成果转化的科技服务路径研究

中国科协在承接政府职能转移过程中发挥着重要作用,如何有效发挥科技服务功能推动科技成果转化是值得探讨的问题。近几年来,中国科协网络组织资源和自身优势能力不断凸显,科技服务内容逐步向创新链上下游延伸,对于促进科技成果转化发挥的科技服务作用越来越重要。针对科技成果转化过程中的4个创新环节,基于服务链和创新链相融合的视角,以创新服务需求为导向,提出了科技服务四段论模式,并针对该模式提出了中国科协促进科技成果转化的科技服务路径。     

A comparison of proxy variable and stochastic latent variable approaches to the measurement of bias in technological change in south african agriculture*

Technical change is inherently unobservable and has conventionally been represented by proxy variables, from simple time trends to more sophisticated knowledge stock variables. This paper follows Lambert and Shonkwiler (1995) in modelling technical change as a stochastic unobservable variable and tests this formulation against the alternative of using R&D and patent indices. This is done by fitting a system of share equations, derived from the dual profit function, to production data for South African agriculture. Each equation includes both unobserved technical change components and technical proxy variables. Variable deletion tests show that conventional proxy variables fail to explain the biases of technological change, while cointegration tests show that technical change is both stochastic and biased. The latent variables provide estimates of biases that are consistent with past studies and the historical record and can be explained by policy change in South Africa following WWII. The demonstration of high rates of return to R&D is not sufficient to justify R&D activity when biased technological change exacerbates input use and welfare distortions within and without the sector. * We thank the University of Pretoria for funding the study and the referees and delegates for many useful comments.     

The relationship between innovation network and innovation capability: a social network perspective

The key for acquiring innovation capability is knowledge transmission which is primarily based on the closer and tighter connections among businesses and other actors within innovation networks. Previous literature of patent analysis based on social network only explains the most influential corporations within an industry through social network indicators, but did not investigate the impact of these indicators on a firm’s innovation capability. This study uses social network perspective ‘centrality, cohesion and density’ to investigate the relationship between innovation network and innovation capability in the global semiconductor industry. Two purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate the innovation network relationship within the semiconductor industry at different periods and its evolution and (2) to study whether network position occupied by a firm in innovation network influences innovation capability. The empirical results show that firms with higher centrality and higher density have stronger innovation capability, but the weaker innovation capability with closer connection of sub-cluster (cohesion).     

The role of codified sources of knowledge in innovation: Empirical evidence from Dutch manufacturing

This paper explores ongoing debates about the role that codified forms of knowledge play in fostering innovative behaviour. It aims to provide an empirical exploration of the use of codified sources of information for innovation at the firm and sectoral level. Despite considerable interest in David and Forays (1995) work on the codification of knowledge and the changing nature of innovation due to the use of information and communication technologies, there are relatively few empirical studies that probe the role of codified sources of information in the innovation process. Our goal is to assess how important codified sources of information are for innovation among different firms and sectors. We find that use of codified sources of knowledge is highly concentrated in high technology sectors and among firms with existing absorptive capacity. The analysis shows that the use of other sources of information for innovation is a strong predictor of a firms use of codified sources. The data used for the analysis is based on The Netherlands Community Innovation Survey (II) for the manufacturing sector and covers over 2001 firms in 11 industries.JEL Classification: L60, O32, O33     

技术创业与技术创新研究

在文献梳理基础上,对技术创业和技术创新的概念和内涵进行了理论和实践辨析,分析了创业和创新、技术创业和技术创新的联系与区别,并分别A以公司技术创业和B公司技术创新两个案例说明技术创业和技术创新的具体表现形式。     

Exploring and comparing innovation patterns across different knowledge intensive business services

Using data from a survey of 769 firms, this paper provides empirical evidence of the nature of innovation and its determinants within knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). The aim of the paper is to analyse how KIBS innovate and whether they innovate differently in three Canadian knowledge intensive business industries: Computer System Designs and Related Services; Management, Scientific and Technical Consulting Services; and, Architectural, Engineering and Related Services. There are clear differences in the innovation profiles of the three sectors, which suggest that KIBS cannot be analysed as an undifferentiated group of establishments. However, there are also important within-sector differences that call for further investigation.     

不同技术创新形式在环境规制与工业绿色增长关系中的作用

在绿色浪潮席卷全球背景下,基于2011-2017年中国34个工业行业面板数据,将考虑能源消耗和环境污染的绿色增长作为中国工业增长的衡量标准,借助EBM模型构建“工业绿色增长指数”以测算分行业绿色增长水平,进而运用GMM两步迭代法检验在环境规制对工业绿色增长影响过程中,不同创新形式的作用差异。结果表明,环境规制对工艺创新和产品创新均有激励作用,但对工艺创新的激励作用更大;工艺创新和产品创新都能促进工业绿色增长,但产品创新的贡献更大;两种创新形式在环境规制对工业绿色增长影响中均起部分中介作用,但产品创新的中介作用略大。这表明,产品创新是工业企业应对环境规制、实现工业绿色增长的最佳战略选择。研究结论不仅解锁了环境规制影响工业绿色增长的中间过程机制,同时也对绿色转型中工业企业如何在环境规制约束下选择创新形式具有指导意义。     

Firms as the source of innovation and growth: the evolution of technological competence

It is argued that the firm is the principal source of innovation and growth, a device for the establishment of technological competence, and for its continued development over time. Markets, products and background knowledge may change quite dramatically over time. Yet as a result of the cumulative nature of learning in the production processes of firms, the profile of corporate technological competence will tend to persist over quite long periods, provided there is institutional continuity. Within the same firm, competence may evolve into related areas, but the firm's technological origins will remain identifiable in its subsequent trajectories. However, if the institution itself changes more dramatically, this technological persistence may be disrupted. Supporting evidence is provided from data on the patenting of 30 large US and European companies, which have been continuously active since the interwar period. The science and the knowledge base, and the composition of products and markets may shift quite radically, but the firm's productive and technological system itself is potentially more stable. The firm provides a vehicle for potential institutional continuity and a device for managing transitions within the economic system.     

全球技术进步速度加快的成因及启示

本文系统地论述了全球技术进步加快发展的七大成因,剖析了全球技术进步速度加快给中国企业参与全球战略竞争带来了诸如技术赶超、时间紧迫、速度竞争、R&D投入资金、技术创新模式选择等多重压力.作者认为,中国企业应该从企业创新文化的构建、技术创新速度竞争、加大R＆D投入力度与合理选择企业技术成长模式等方面应对挑战.     

Context matters: How existing sectors and competing technologies affect the prospects of the Swiss Bio-SNG innovation system

Emerging technological fields are affected by developments in their broader context. This article proposes a differentiation of context structures as a crucial step in the analysis of technological innovation systems. A thorough context analysis, so the argument, is essential for understanding the pace and direction of technology development and the prospects of an emerging technological innovation system. Empirical insights are provided for Bio-SNG, a technology in an early stage of development. The article discusses the conditions under which actors from different sectors (forestry, wood industry, and energy supply) may play a role in the emerging field. It is shown that Bio-SNG is likely to become a victim of the recent boom in wood-to-energy technologies that has favored investments in more mature but technologically inferior alternatives. The case provides lessons for policy making as it highlights how effective support schemes might foster a lock-in into technologies that are readily available.     

Link between innovation and productivity in Canadian manufacturing industries

Empirical studies commonly use research and development (R&D) to measure innovation and often find, especially in Canada, no strong link between productivity and innovation. In this article, we model innovation as an unobservable latent variable that underlies four indicators: R&D, patents, technology adoption, and skills. We find that these indicators are reasonably good measures of innovation for aggregate manufacturing. However, except for skills, the reliability of the indicators for innovation differs among individual industries. Our innovation indexes, based on the latent variable model, show that most manufacturing industries became more innovative over the 1980–1997 period. The pace of innovation in the electrical and electronic products industry accelerated during the 1990s. In addition, we show that the new measure of innovation has a positive and statistically significant impact on productivity. It takes from 1 to 3 years, depending on the industry, for innovation to generate an impact on productivity.     

Modes of innovation in knowledge-intensive business services evidence from Lombardy

The present paper investigates the sectoral variety and common patterns across different typologies of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). We examine this issue by considering the case of Lombardy, a highly developed manufacturing area the industrial activities of which are experiencing a pervasive transformation towards higher knowledge content, demanding stronger and more pervasive support by advanced services. Drawing on an original survey-based firm-level dataset, we analyze innovation patterns across KIBS, evaluating the explanatory power of traditional classifications of the service sector, as well as the heterogeneity driven by firm and market specific characteristics. Our findings highlight four profiles of KIBS: interactive innovation mode, product innovation mode, conservative innovation mode and techno-organizational innovation mode. When examining in more depth the variables that are associated with cluster membership, we find that firm strategy is the most significant determinant, with size, customer location, and training also playing a role in defining cluster specificities.

The development of technology foresight: A review

The term “foresight” has long been used to describe readiness to deal with long-term issues (especially on the part of governments). This term “Technology Foresight” took off in the 1990s, as European, and then other, countries sought new policy tools to deal with problems in their science, technology and innovation systems. Large-scale exercises drew in numerous stakeholders as sources of knowledge and influence, and the prominence of these exercises led to “foresight” being used much more widely to describe futures activities of many kinds. While few new tools and techniques have been developed in these exercises, they represent an unprecedented diffusion of forecasting, planning and participatory approaches to long-term issues. Futures approaches are, in consequence, far more officially acceptable and legitimate than in the past.     

美,日两国技术创新战略的比较与启示

本文对美、日两国的技术创新战略进行了比较，对两国技术创新战略的最新发展作了分析，在此基础上提出，根据我国国情和世界各国技术创新的发展趋势，我国的技术创新战略应确立为：自主创新为主．模仿创新为辅，自主创新与模仿创新相结合。