What drives the capacity to integrate Industry 4.0 technologies? Evidence from European R&D projects

ABSTRACT

Industry 4.0 is a word that identifies innovative technologies, processes and products, typical of a Fourth Industrial Revolution characterised by a massive and pervasive use of interdependent digital technologies and the rise of cyber-physical spaces or smart factories. European Member States are committed to adapting their innovation systems in order to be able to benefit from Industry 4.0 and the European Commission is also facing the challenge of putting less advanced regions in a position to do so. However, little is known about the drivers of the capacity to compete in the domain of Industry 4.0 by integrating different enabling technologies at the regional level. On the basis of data on regional participation in the 7th European Framework Programme for research and technological development, we investigate the factors underlying the capacity to compete by integrating Industry 4.0 enabling technologies. The evidence shows that EU funding, centrality in research networks and interregional cooperation all play a significant role in technology integration, and these results have important policy implications.     

欧盟工业生物技术研发现状及发展趋势分析

欧盟是现代工业制造业的发源地,长期保持着工业技术的世界领先水平。欧委会根据全球高新技术日新月异的快速发展及其重要性,以及欧盟相对处于世界领先地位的技术优先领域,扬长避短确定了欧盟工业可持续发展的六大关键势能技术(KETs)。工业生物技术,作为欧盟优先确定的六大关键势能技术之一,欧盟己制定具体的优惠政策和行动举措给予重点扶持,旨在提升欧盟先进制造业的世界竞争力,促进经济增长和扩大就业。通过综合研究分析欧盟工业生物技术及产业的发展现状、研发创新、面临的挑战和未来发展趋势,旨在为我国战略性新兴技术产业的可持续发展,提供有益的路径和经验借鉴。     

欧盟先进材料技术的研发现状及发展趋势

欧盟是现代工业制造业的发源地，长期保持着世界工业的领先水平。欧委会根据全球高新技术发展态势和欧盟的发展需求及相对竞争优势，确定了欧盟工业可持续发展的六大关键势能技术（KETs）领域。先进材料技术是欧盟确定的六大关键势能技术之一，欧盟已为之制定了具体的优惠政策和行动举措给予重点扶持，旨在提升欧盟先进制造业的世界竞争力，促进经济增长和扩大就业。综合研究分析了欧盟先进材料技术工业的研发现状、市场需求、面临的挑战和未来发展趋势，意在为我国战略性新兴技术产业的可持续发展提供有益的线索和经验借鉴。     

欧盟光子学技术的发展现状与研发趋势

欧盟是现代工业制造业的发源地,长期保持着工业技术的世界领先水平。光子学技术,作为欧盟优先确定的六大关键势能技术(KETs)之一,欧盟已制定具体的优惠政策和行动举措给予重点扶持,旨在提升欧盟先进制造业的世界竞争力,促进经济增长和扩大就业。欧盟光子学技术在可持续发展经济、医疗保健、知识型社会建设、公共安全和环境保护以及先进工业制造等领域发挥了重要作用。通过综合研究欧盟光子学技术及其产业的发展现状、研发创新面临的挑战和未来发展趋势,旨在为我国战略性新兴技术产业的可持续发展,提供有益的路径和经验。     

欧盟工业先进制造系统的研发现状及趋势分析

欧盟是现代工业制造业的发源地,长期保持着世界工业的领先水平。欧委会根据全球高新技术发展态势和欧盟的发展需求及相对竞争优势,确定了欧盟工业可持续发展的六大关键势能技术(KETs)领域。工业先进制造系统是其六大关键势能技术之一,为此,欧盟为之制定了具体的优惠政策和行动举措给予重点扶持,旨在提升欧盟先进制造业的世界竞争力,促进经济增长和扩大就业。通过对欧盟工业先进制造系统的产业发展现状、研发创新、面临的挑战和未来发展趋势进行综合研究分析,意在为我国战略性新兴技术产业的可持续发展提供有益的线索和经验借鉴。     

Do export and technological specialisation patterns co-evolve in terms of convergence or divergence? Evidence from 19 OECD countries, 1971–1991

Several researchers looking at the development of international export specialisation patterns have shown that there is a weak tendency for OECD countries to exhibit decreased levels of specialisation. This finding is in contrast to findings made by other authors, who found increasing technological specialisation. The first aim of this paper is to investigate whether these contradictory findings are due to a `real world' phenomenon, or whether the explanation is purely technical, by comparing the development of export specialisation to specialisation in terms of US patents, using the same methodology and level of aggregation. The second aim is to analyse the extent to which countries and sectors display stable specialisation patterns over time, also both in terms of exports and in terms of technology. The paper confirms that the OECD countries tend in general to become less specialised in terms of exports. The evidence is less conclusive with regard to technological specialisation, as the results are mixed in the sense that just about half of the countries tend to exhibit increased levels of specialisation, while the other half tend to exhibit lower levels of specialisation. In terms of country and sectoral stability of specialisation patterns, it can be concluded that both trade specialisation and technological specialisation patterns are path-dependent. In comparison, however, trade specialisation patterns are more stable than are technological specialisation patterns.     

Modelling creative destruction: Technological diffusion and industrial structure change to 2050

Future disruptive, pervasive technologies will have important consequences for industrial structure, economic growth and the environment. Drawing on theories of technological diffusion, industrial evolution and long-term technological change this paper explores the effect of the development and diffusion of two future pervasive technologies on five industrial sectors in three regions during the 21st century in terms of their effect on economic structural change. Through semi-structured interviews with over 100 experts in the two technologies, the paper quantifies the effects of future biotechnologies and nanotechnologies on the industrial structure of the EU, USA and China in 2020 and 2050. The paper finds that as a result of the development and diffusion of future biotechnologies and nanotechnologies, some industries grow whilst others decline and some new ones emerge. The evidence suggests that the effect is different across countries and time; whereas the experts commonly believe that effect of the technologies on the industrial structure of the EU and US is likely to be similar, the effect in China is considered to be less by 2020 but the same as in the EU and US by 2050. This finding has important implications for the location of production, economic growth and energy demand in the future.     

Convergence,geography and technology

Empirical studies on regional economic development in Europe traditionally concluded that income per capita converged at a steady rate of about 2%. Recent studies on regional disparity have repudiated these findings: in the 1980s convergence was absent in Europe. This paper adds some new empirical findings. Firstly, convergence re-emerged at the end of the 1980s and in the 1990s. Secondly, growth was a combined result of poor regions catching up with richer ones, peripheral regions growing faster than central ones, innovation and of technology spillovers. Thirdly, by conditioning so-called σ-convergence, it is found that convergence was most pronounced between regions that were localised far away from each other and that were dissimilar in terms of innovative activity, technological specialisation and the amount of spillovers received.     

Patterns of technological specialisation in Latin American and East Asian countries: an analysis of patents and trade flows

This article provides an extensive analysis of the technological specialisation of three Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico) and two East Asian countries (South Korea and Taiwan). Technological specialisation is measured both with respect to patents and trade flows. This article provides different measures of technological specialisation: Ricardian and Smithian specialisation indexes and the contribution to trade balance. These indicators provide a new picture of the evolution of the patterns of technological specialisation. Latin American countries show a divergent technological specialisation from East Asian countries, since the 1970s. In particular, Latin American countries display weaknesses in computers and communications and electrical and electronic sectors and their specialisation in fast growing technological classes is declining, in contrast to East Asian countries. While East Asian countries have shifted to specialised supplier or science-based sectors, Latin American countries have increased their trade specialisation in supplier-dominated or scale-intensive sectors.     

Regional output growth synchronisation with the Euro Area

This paper investigates the patterns and determinants of the co-movement of economic activity between regions in the European Union and the Euro Area. We use a panel dataset of 208 regions over the period 1989–2002 and estimate a system of simultaneous equations to analyse the impact of regional trade integration, industry specialisation and exchange rate volatility on regional output growth synchronisation with the Euro Area. We find that deeper trade integration with the Euro Area had a strong direct positive effect on the synchronisation of regional output growth with the Euro Area. Industrial specialisation and exchange rate volatility were sources of cyclical divergence. Industrial specialisation had however an indirect positive effect on regional output growth synchronisation via its positive effect on trade integration, while exchange rate volatility had an indirect additional negative effect on regional output growth synchronisation by reducing trade integration.     

收入差距、有效需求与自主创新

文章利用中国地区层面的面板数据,实证检验了收入差距与自主创新之间的关系。研究发现,收入差距与中国自主创新呈倒"U"形关系,收入差距既可以通过扩大创新产品的需求规模促进国家或地区的技术创新,又可以通过抑制消费结构升级最终阻碍国家或地区技术创新能力的提升;收入差距对技术创新的影响存在显著的区域差异性,在东部和中部地区其影响显著为正,而在西部地区其影响为负但不显著;当前,我国大部分地区的城乡收入比均处于倒"U"形曲线的上升阶段,对这些地区而言,适当的收入差距促进了其自主创新能力的提升。     

技术关联、技术转移对区域技术演化的影响——以成渝地区双城经济圈为例

技术演化是区域实现高质量发展的关键动力。基于1999-2019年成渝地区142个县（市区）、637个专利技术领域的面板数据，考察技术关联、技术转移对成渝地区技术演化的影响，并进一步讨论区域发展阶段和技术含量的异质性作用。研究发现，技术关联、技术转移对区域技术演化均存在促进作用，同时，技术关联在先发地区和低技术含量领域的作用更显著，而技术转移在后发地区和高技术含量领域的作用更显著。进一步研究发现，技术关联、技术转移对区域技术演化存在“倒U”型影响，邻近地区技术演化对本地具有溢出效应。基于上述研究结论，建议成渝地区同时发挥技术关联与技术转移的作用，在发达区域技术关联强的领域加大要素投入，鼓励技术落后区域进行技术引进，加强区域协作，破除研发要素流动壁垒。     

Structural Change in OECD Export Specialisation Patterns: de-specialisation and ‘stickiness’

This paper examines whether the OECD countries are characterised by a high degree of stability of their export specialisation patterns at the country level or not. Furthermore, we test whether the countries have become more or less specialised. In this context we distinguish between specialisation (or de-specialisation) in trade patterns on the one hand, and divergence (or, on the contrary, convergence) on the other. A specialisation process refers to a process in which specialisation intra-country becomes more dispersed (and counter-wise for de-specialisation). In contrast, a divergence process refers to a process in which countries become more different in terms of specialisation in a particular sector, across countries (and counter-wise for convergence). We examine the sensitivity for the level of aggregation, and we apply a period of nearly three decades from 1965 to 1992. Twenty OECD countries are considered. The intra-country results show that the national specialisation patterns are rather sticky, although there is a tendency for countries to de-specialise in the medium to long term. The sector-wise results display convergence both in terms of β-and σ-convergence. In conclusion, we discuss the results (de-specialisation in particular) in the context of economic integration, and furthermore we contrast the findings with similar exercises conducted on structural change in technological specialisation.     

科技创新人才区域性需求趋势研究

科技创新人才是结构转型和经济社会高质量发展的重要支撑力量。运用灰色系统GM（1,1）模型,对四川、陕西、上海三省市2017-2021年科技创新人才进行需求预测和比较分析。R语言求解结果表明,三地及高技术产业对科技创新人才的需求数量均呈稳步增长态势,但增速存在区域性差异,新的科技创新人才发展区域性非均衡态势将逐渐形成,区域性人才竞争将进一步加剧。加大科技创新人才培育力度,合理规范人才竞争应成为国家层面的人才政策;加快产业转型升级、优化人才生态环境、提高人才与产业匹配度既是优化人才资源配置效率的关键,也是区域性人才管理工作的重点。     

Productivity,innovation and convergence in Poland1

This paper provides evidence on factors driving productivity growth in the new EU member states, focusing on Polish manufacturing industries. The results obtained indicate that companies in Poland benefit significantly from transfer of technologies accumulated in more developed economies. No strong evidence is found on immediate technology transfer. The significant effect of domestic innovation activity is mainly due to its impact on the speed of convergence and is particularly strong in high‐tech industries, relatively privatized industries and industries initially further from the technological frontier.     

欧盟纳米技术的研发现状及趋势分析

欧盟是现代工业制造业的发源地,长期保持着世界工业的领先水平。欧委会根据全球高新技术发展态势和欧盟的发展需求及相对竞争优势,确定了欧盟工业可持续发展的六大关键势能技术(KETs)领域。纳米技术作为其六大关键势能技术之一,欧盟已为之制定了具体的优惠政策和行动举措给予重点扶持,以提升欧盟先进制造业的世界竞争力,促进经济增长和扩大就业。通过研究分析欧盟纳米技术工业的发展现状、研发创新、面临的挑战和未来发展趋势,旨在为我国战略性新兴技术产业的可持续发展,提供有益的线索和经验借鉴。     

Exports,Supply Constraints and Growth: An Investigation using Regional Data

In this work we first model the role of demand‐ and supply‐side factors (labour market adjustment, productive efficiency) in explaining economic growth. Empirically testing the model, we evaluate why different growth regimes may appear in the 20 Italian administrative regions. This exercise uses a two‐stage econometric approach. Estimates for the elasticity of manufacturing output to exports are obtained from regional time series: a significant long‐run relationship indicates the existence of a demand‐constrained growth regime. We then ascertain whether the regional dispersion of supply‐side factors has an impact on the regional dispersion of growth regimes. The empirical evidence supports our expectations of strong regional differences. Southern regions are less likely to display demand‐constrained regimes. In explanation of these differences, second‐stage analysis reveals that a strong role is played by such efficiency‐enhancing factors as technological innovation, bank diffusion and ‘social capital’. No role is found for labour market rigidities.     

Capitalism, profits and innovation in the new techno-economic paradigm

Innovative profits (of the kind conceptualized by Schumpeter) are today being increasingly created through international corporate networks for technological development. Such profits through innovation are encouraged by newer more flexible organizational forms, and further encouraged (unlike in the conventional perspective on profits and on the incentive to innovate) by knowledge flows between firms. Our empirical evidence, based on US patent data, shows that multinational companies are currently more likely to develop abroad technologies which are less science-based, and less dependent upon tacit knowledge. However, within the science-based industries firms may generate abroad some technologies which are heavily dependent on tacit knowledge, but normally in fields that lie outside their own core technological competencies. We find some evidence of a convergence in corporate technological diversification across large firms, facilitated by the now common spread in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as an integrator of formerly separate technological systems. This has led smaller firms to diversify, but giant firms to consolidate activity around those technologies that have become most interrelated.     

产业集群中知识溢出与区域竞争力提升研究

在知识经济时代,产业集群内知识溢出成为区域经济增长的主要内生变量,发挥着重要的作用,区域的竞争力也日益表现为对知识占有和利用之间的较量,研发创新、知识吸收与创新成为经济发展的内在动力源泉。本文分析了集群内知识溢出主要通过集群内企业间人员流动、集群内企业间观察模仿、集群内企业非正式交流及集群内企业衍生等途径来实现。探讨了集群内知识溢出和技术创新与区域竞争力的相互作用关系。提出了集群内知识溢出有利于集群企业的技术创新能力提升集群的知识积累水平,激活创新活力,增强区域的整体创新功能、有利于集群内企业降低创新成本与风险提升区域创新效率、有利于集群企业的人力资源的流动提升区域竞争力,从而形成集群区域独特的竞争优势。     

Technological leadership and sectorial employment growth: A spatial econometric analysis for U.S. counties

This paper studies the determinants of technological catch‐up considering spatial and sectoral aggregation of industries. We investigate how geographical and technological proximity to the technology leader impact regional employment growth. We model technological progress by means of a hierarchical process of catch‐up to the technology leader. We also incorporate measures for knowledge spillover effects to test the roles of competition, specialisation, and diversity at the industry level. Empirical results using data at the county level for different economic sectors (2‐dig NAICS) for the United States indicate that human capital plays a crucial role in promoting sectoral employment growth. The association between technological/geographical distance to the technology leader and employment growth varies across sectors.