Appropriability mechanisms,innovation, and productivity: evidence from the UK

ABSTRACT

We use an extended version of the well-established Crepon, Duguet, and Mairesse model [1998. “Research, Innovation and Productivity: An Econometric Analysis at the Firm Level.” Economics of Innovation and New Technology 7 (2): 115–158] to model the relationship between appropriability mechanisms, innovation, and firm-level productivity. We enrich this model in three ways: (1) We compare estimates obtained using a broader definition of innovation spending to those that use R&D spending. (2) We assume that a firm simultaneously innovates and chooses among different appropriability methods to protect the innovation. (3) We estimate the impact of innovation output on firm productivity conditional on the choice of appropriability mechanism. We find that firms that innovate and rate formal methods for the protection of intellectual property highly are more productive than other firms, but that the same does not hold in the case of informal methods of protection, except possibly for large firms as opposed to SMEs. We also find that this result is strongest for firms in the services, trade, and utility sectors, and negative in the manufacturing sector.     

The influence of the regional context on firms’ innovation patterns: evidence from Ecuador*

ABSTRACT

Using data from the Ecuadorean Innovation Survey of 2015, this paper identifies the innovation patterns that can be found in Ecuador. In addition, we analyse the influence of the regional innovation systems in determining these patterns. The results show that there are six differentiated patterns of innovation, although they all are related to the adoption and imitation of technologies. Finally, we observe that different regional characteristics condition the way in which firms organise innovation.     

Innovation and productivity in agricultural firms: evidence from a country-wide farm-level innovation survey

ABSTRACT

The literature on the links between innovation and productivity at the firm level in agriculture is almost nonexistent. In this paper, we analyze the factors behind the innovation effort of farms and the impact that innovation effort has on farm’s productivity, exploiting a unique farm-level agricultural innovation survey carried out in Uruguay. The results indicate that farm size, cooperation with other agents to perform R&D, the education of the owner of the farm, the participation of foreign capital and the existence of links with other organizations, in particular scientific, horizontal and vertical ones, are positively correlated with innovation effort. Public and private financial support are not clearly linked with innovation effort. The innovation effort has a positive effect on farm’s productivity. Some heterogeneities across industries in agriculture are found.     

The persistence of innovation: a panel data investigation on manufacturing firms

This paper represents a contribution to empirical debate on the persistence of innovation in the firm, by exploiting an innovative panel database that, for the first time, links three waves of the Italian Community Innovation Survey with an administrative data source providing economic and financial information for firms in the Italian manufacturing sector, 1996–2003. By using both a dynamic logistic model and a Granger causality approach, we show that in order to innovate successfully it is much more important to have an adequate flow of profits during an appropriate time span rather than high profits only during one period before innovation. Our causality tests prove the existence of a dynamic interaction between innovation and profitability: successful innovation can, in the short run, generate the profitability conditions that can then enhance the financial resources needed to reinvest in new technological opportunities, thus causing the firm to persist in its innovative behaviour. We have also shown that another important source of persistence is represented by past innovative experience. A firm with consolidated innovative behaviour would have a higher probability of future successful innovation with respect to a firm that occasionally (or accidentally) innovates. Persistence in innovation enables a firm to take advantage of substantial technological and organizational learning effects, which improve with time.     

Open innovation and intellectual property strategy: the catch-up processes of two Chinese pharmaceutical firms

We explore the interaction of open innovation and intellectual property (IP) in two Chinese latecomer pharmaceutical firms in their catch-up process. Studying archival data, documentation, and interviews, we found that the two firms exhibited five periods that were characterised by different open innovation activities and R&D capabilities. In their early stages, the two firms lacked R&D functions; thus, they imported technologies and pursued production-oriented strategies. As they gradually entered into collaborations and established their R&D departments, open innovation and IP protection played important and dynamic roles in this process. Thus, a catch-up process involves not only acquiring technological capabilities and innovative competencies but also transforming a firm's capacity to strategies.     

The innovation effect of dual-class shares: New evidence from US firms

The proliferation of dual-class structures in the US stock market presents a controversial trend since such shares are traditionally deemed to damage governance quality. We study the relationship between 362 firms with dual-class shares and their innovativeness using patent citations from Google Patents over the 1976 through 2006 period. We find dual-class shares have significant innovation effect in high-tech sectors, hard-to-innovate industries, firms with higher external takeover threat and firms heavily dependent on external equity financing. We also document a positive causality relationship between dual-class structures and the quality of innovation. The channel for this causal relationship is the protection mechanism by which managers can take a long-term view. From a policy perspective, regulators should promote a corporate governance system that protects corporate long-term interest for shareholders.     

中国企业的需求导向创新实证研究

This paper analyzes the interrelationship among competition, market size and innovation by using the data from total 37 industries in China within a simultaneous equations model. It finds that: (1) Competition and innovation are mutually-enhanced, and this is the consequence of the long-run Darwinian effect in competitive market; (2) Market size and innovation are also positively correlated, because firms’ innovation is essentially demand-oriented (market-oriented), and innovation impelling technological progress will finally increase market size; (3) Between competition and market size, the effect of competition on market size is ambiguous, while the reverse is significantly positive. The policy implication of this paper is as follows: under the condition that China has especially huge market size and market demand, the industry policy of intensifying competition can stimulate firms’ persistent demand-oriented innovation.      

Open technology innovation activity and firm value: evidence from Korean firms

Despite the importance of Open Technology Innovation Activity (OTIA) for firm value, the literature investigating effects of OTIA announcements of developing country firms is not known in international academic circles. Our study using an event study approach examines the effects of OTIA (technology import and joint R&D) announcements of firms in Korea, one of the leading developing and highly innovative countries. We find that the announcements of OTIA produce positive average abnormal returns. Interestingly, unlike the prior studies on developed country firms, OTIA with firms in the homogenous industry leads to greater firm value than that involving firms in heterogenic industries. This implies an importance of a technological fusion with external firms in different industries for value of developing country firms. In addition, this article finds no home bias that a nationality of partner firms is not essential for the relation between OTIA and value of firms.     

Relationship lending and innovation: empirical evidence on a sample of European firms

This paper investigates the impact of relationship lending on innovation (the probability to innovate and the intensity of innovation). Using a unique dataset providing detailed information on bank–firm relationships across European firms, we relate different proxies of relationship lending (soft information, long-lasting relationships, number of banks and share of the main bank) to innovation. We find a very strong and robust positive effect of ‘soft-information-intensive’ relationships, a less robust positive effect of long-lasting relationships and a negative effect of credit concentration as measured by the number of banking relationships. We also find that ‘soft-information-intensive’ relationships reduce credit rationing for innovative firms, while long-lasting relationships seem to favour innovation via other relational channels. These results raise some concern on the impact of screening processes based on automatic procedures, as those suggested by the Basel rules, on firms' capability to finance innovative activities in Europe.     

Uncertainty and investment evidence from a panel of Chinese firms

Using data from various Chinese companies for the period 1994–2005 and applying GMM (System) technique, we report some stylized facts regarding the link between uncertainty and investment, where uncertainty is measured as the volatility of daily stock market returns. Controlling for the short- and long-run investment dynamics, we discover important effects of measured uncertainty on firm-level investment. Our study consistently indicates a positive and statistically significant effect of uncertainty on the company investment. Further more the macroeconomic and firm-specific components of uncertainty also have a significant positive effect on their own. Higher risk perception leading to higher investment, and in turn stronger aspirations of reinvestment.     

Technological and geographical proximity effects on knowledge spillovers: evidence from the US patent citations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pattern of knowledge flows as indicated by the patent citations in three areas: USA, Japan and Europe. In each economic area, we use information from United States Patent and Trademarks Office data to assess empirically the impact of the technological and geographical proximities for 530 international firms. In particular, the contribution to the existing literature is twofold: first, we use an international sample in such a way that we may compare the empirical results among different economic markets; second, we extend the analysis of the determinants of knowledge spillovers, taking into account the time dimension of the effects of the proximities. In order to compute the technological proximity, we follow the methodology developed by A.B. Jaffe (1986 Jaffe, A. B. 1986. Technological opportunity and spillovers of R&D: Evidence from firms’ patents, profits and market value. American Economic Review, 76(5): 984–1001. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Technological opportunity and spillovers of R&D: Evidence from firms’ patents, profits and market value. American Economic Review 76, no. 5: 984–1001), where a technological vector is based on the distribution of patents of each firm across technology classes. As far as the geographic proximity is concerned, we use the latitude and the longitude coordinates of the city in which each firm is situated to obtain the distance, in miles, between the firms. The empirical results, in line with results from previous studies, indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship between the knowledge flows, proxied by the patent citations, and the proximities, but the effects are rather differentiated according to the proximity type.     

The impact of R&D subsidy on innovation: evidence from New Zealand firms

This study examines the impact of government subsidy through R&D grants on innovation output for firms in New Zealand. Using a large database that links administrative and tax data with survey data, we find that R&D grants have a stronger effect on more novel innovation (e.g. applying for a patent or introducing new products to the world) than on incremental innovation (e.g. any product innovation) and that larger, project-based grants are more effective at promoting innovation than smaller, non-project-specific grants. There is little evidence that R&D grants have differential effects between smaller (<50 employees) and larger firms.     

More is better: evidence that joint patenting leads to quality innovation

Joint ownership of a patent is most often viewed by firms as a second-best option compared to single, monopoly ownership. However, the results of this article suggest that there may be reason for businesses and policymakers to incentivize joint patenting behaviour. This is because, joint patent ownership is found to positively impact the quality of an innovation (as measured by forward patent citations). In addition, the degree of quality increases with the number of patent owners. Since past research confirms the important links between patent quality and ongoing innovation, and between innovation and growth, those factors that impact patent quality are deserving of attention. Economic research on joint patenting is currently limited, but we hope to shed light on the importance of expanding dialogue on this topic.     

Financing constraints and investment efficiency: evidence from a panel of Canadian forest firms

This article examines the financial constraint of 18 listed Canadian forest firms between 2000 and 2014 following the stochastic frontier approach. Empirical results support the observation that Canadian forest firms have a strong dependence of using both equity financing and debt financing as the coefficients of both equity and debt financing mean functions are significant at 1% level. The distribution of investment efficiency index (IEI) of all 18 firms demonstrates a loss of around 40% of the rate of investment due to financing constraints. Regional analysis demonstrates that the time-varying patters of IEI of three provinces are significantly different.     

The role of contracts and intellectual property rights in open innovation

Our exploratory empirical study, based on interviews and a survey of firms, addresses a number of questions on the role of formal contracts and intellectual property rights (IPR) in the context of firm-to-firm open innovation (OI). We find that firms active in OI have a very strong preference for the governance of their OI relationships with other firms through formal contracts. Also, despite the open nature of OI, firms still see IPR as highly relevant to the protection of their innovative capabilities. We find the degree of openness of firms, their formal legal attitude, and the competitive dynamics of their product market environment to be related to the preference of OI firms for IPR. Furthermore, the strength of firms’ internal R&D capabilities increases the positive relationship between openness and the preference for IPR.     

How knowledge flow affects Korean ICT manufacturing firm performance: a focus on open innovation strategy

The paper presents an integrated viewpoint of technological innovation strategy by considering both the firm and industry levels. Further, we provide a new open innovation framework by adopting a knowledge flow perspective using patent citation information. Finally, we consider a firm’s outbound open innovation performance using cites per patent information together with financial performance to look at both the practical and the potential effects of technological innovation strategy. Through these analyses, this study examines determinants of open technology innovation activity in the information and communication technology manufacturing industry in Korea and draws managerial and policy implications for effective industry promotion and improvement of technology innovation capability.     

培育创新文化重在保护知识产权

党中央、国务院提出我国要在2020年进入创新型国家行列。要实现这一伟大的战略目标,必须提高我国的自主创新能力。政府机关、企事业单位和个人要积极营造保护知识产权的文化环境、法律环境、政策环境和制度环境,加大对自主知识产权的保护力度,形成一种创新文化。     

Influence of open innovation strategies on employment dynamics: evidence for Spanish manufacturing firms

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we explore the influence of different modes of openness of innovative firms on employment growth. Using a panel database of Spanish manufacturing firms during the period 1998–2015, we analyze the influence open innovation (OI) strategies on employment distinguishing by type of external partner. The main objective of the research is to know whether opening innovation strategy contributes to employment taken into account another firm capabilities and sectorial technological opportunities. For this purpose, a two-step procedure is specified. Firstly, a random-effect computes the effects of OI on the innovation probability. In the second step, the variation of innovativeness due to openness on GMM-system estimation controlling by potential endogeneity and unobserved firm heterogeneity is used. The results support that the influence of open strategy on employment growth is positive. Moreover, the employment depends on the breadth of OI measured by the number of out-inbound relationships. Finally, the employment consequences are different for each mode of open strategy.     

东盟五国农特产品加工业技术创新能力研究——基于专利信息分析的视角

通过检索新加坡、印度尼西亚、菲律宾、泰国及越南这东盟五国在国际专利分类号为C13(糖类产品制备技术)、A23F(茶叶产品制备技术)、A22(畜禽产品制备技术)和A01G(果蔬等栽培及设施技术)这4个农特产品加工技术领域的专利数据,统计其专利申请总量、领域分布、国别申请情况及年度变化趋势。在此基础上,对五国农特产品加工业的技术创新能力进行研究和评价。最后提出我国农特产品加工业在对东盟贸易中的技术创新目标及相应的专利战略。     

东盟五国有色金属领域的技术创新能力研究——基于专利信息的视角

从专利信息的角度,对东盟五国有色金属领域的技术创新能力进行分析。专利信息统计数据显示:在东盟五国的有色金属领域,新加坡和泰国的技术领先优势明显、技术创新能力强,而印尼和菲律宾具有一定的技术基础,越南的专利申请量最少,不过近年来其年度申请量增幅明显、技术创新活动增多;东盟五国有色金属领域的专利申请主要来自于美、日、德等国,技术创新能力实为跨国公司所拥有。对此,我国企业应当明确技术创新目标,采取相应的专利战略,加强自主创新,以使企业在国际竞争中获得主动地位。