Technological diversification and assimilation of spillover technology: Canon's scenario for sustainable growth

Under the paradigm shift from an industrial society to an information society in the 1990s, contrary to the decrease of profits in Japan's electrical machinery firms, only Canon demonstrated its increasing trend. This contrasting performance corresponds to Canon's another contrast with respect to increasing technological diversification while reverse trends in other electrical machinery firms. These contrasts suggest us that Canon's technological diversification strategy can be the source of high level of its profits.Prompted by this hypothetical view, this paper analyzes Canon's scenario for sustainable growth and attempts to elucidate its technological diversification dynamism with special attention to its contribution to high level of profits. On the basis of the identification of the correlation between technological diversification and assimilation of spillover technology, comparative empirical analyses are conducted focusing on the consequence of technological diversification and development trajectory in Japan's leading electrical machinery firms over the last two decades.     

Technological diversification, complementary assets, and performance

Most research on technological diversification or complementary assets has been carried out in isolation when assessing their effects on performance. In this study, we posit that technological diversification and performance are positively linked and that specialized complementary assets have a moderating effect on this relationship. This study also finds that different specialized complementary assets have distinctive moderating effects on the relationship between technological diversification and performance. We conclude that maintaining a coherent relationship between technological diversification and specialized complementary assets give firms generates competitive advantage.     

An assessment of crop diversification in Bangladesh: a spatial analysis

The main aim of this article is to assess the crop diversification in different districts of Bangladesh. As there are some variations in topology and rainfall across regions, crop diversification index is computed for 23 old districts. The trend in diversification between 1980/81 and 2002/03 is analysed to see changing pattern over the years. Spatial analysis is also made to examine variations in diversification across regions, using time series data on acreage under different crops.     

Financial structure and diversification of European firms

Small and medium enterprises have been shown to rely mainly on banks for funding and, unlike larger firms, rarely have direct access to capital markets. This article looks at the extent to which SMEs avail of a wider range of funding options and how their use differs across firms and countries. Across all countries, we find that firms are currently using two or three sources of finance to fund their operations and have had previous experience of other types of funding. There are some noticeable differences across countries with peripheral economies generally being less diversified. Differences across firm size and age groups are more marked than cross-country variation, with smaller and younger firms significantly more reliant on a limited set of finance types and older, larger firms having more diversified financial structures. Looking at individual sources of financing, we find that trade credit and informal sources of finance are extremely prevalent across all countries, with Irish firms being particularly likely to use them as sources of funding.     

Green technological diversification of European ICT firms: a patent-based analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates whether and how diversified firms in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector innovate in green technologies and assess the potential impact of these innovations on firm performance. The analysis relies on a balanced panel dataset of European ICT firms in the period 2009–2013. The results suggest an inverted u-shaped relationship between the extent of technological diversification and the likelihood to develop green technologies. Technological diversification generally increases the likelihood of green innovations, but too high a dispersion of resources across a large variety of different technologies decreases the intensity of green innovations. The results show also that the development of green technologies is positively associated with firm performance: ICT firms involved in green patenting activity perform better than ICT firms with no green patents.     

技术多元化对企业持续创新的影响——基于佳能的纵向案例分析

基于资源能力和知识学习的视角,采用单案例研究方法探索了日本佳能公司的技术多元化战略的形成及演化过程,进而总结了技术多元化对企业持续创新的影响机制。研究发现:技术机会能力、产品开发战略以及外部知识获取在技术多元化影响企业持续创新的过程中起中介作用;不同类型的技术多元化对企业持续创新的影响路径存在差异。     

Resource constraint,sustainable economic growth pattern and transformation of economic system in China

Over the past 20 years, China has made spectacular achievements in economic growth as well as in thetransformation of economic growth pattern. Industrial structure is being updated, and technology is playing a more andmore important role in economic development. The energy and resource consumption in many industries and enterprisesare reducing. However, we should realize that there are still many problems in changing the economic growth pattern,such as high input, high consumption, high discharge, inharmony, recycling difficulty, and low efficiency, which havegreatly impaired and restrict Chinese economic development. Therefore, the fundamental change of the economic growthpattern is inevitable. Based on the analysis on the status quo and the exploit of resources, this paper suggests that thetransformation from unsustainable to sustainable growth is the only choice in changing the economic growth pattern. Inaddition, the transformation should not completely rely on the fundamental effects of market mechanism. We should makefull use of the power of governments to speed up the transformation of economic system.     

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.     

Technological opportunity and the growth of knowledge: A Schumpeterian approach to measurement

A model of endogenous growth, based on Schumpeter's notion of trustified capitalism, is developed and applied to firm-level data for the period 1973–1991. The model relates the market value of a firm to its current profits and to its R&D expenditures. The relationship depends upon the expected rate of knowledge growth, the expected value of an innovation and the elasticity of the R&D production function. Over the sample period, investors expected knowledge to grow at an average rate of 5 percent, a measure which reflects both process innovations and new product discoveries. Elasticities of the R&D production functions are estimated for thirteen industry groups and interpreted as measures of technological opportunity. There is no evidence of secular decline in technological opportunity over the sample period, but there is some evidence of diminishing returns to R&D intensity. Variations in technological opportunity over time are not correlated across industries. In contrast, the expected rates of knowledge growth at the industry level are highly correlated with the aggregate expected rate.     

Technological paradigms,patterns of learning and development: An introductory roadmap

This paper presents an evolutionary microeconomic theory of innovation and production and discusses its implications for development theory. Using the notions of technological paradigm and trajectory, it develops an alternative view of firm behavior and learning. It is shown then how these are embedded in broader national systems of innovation which account for persistent differences in technological cappacities between countries. Finally, this bottom-up evolutionary analysis is linked with an institutional top-down approach, and the potential fruitfulness of this dialogue is demonstrated.We thank the discussants and participants at the workshop on Technology and Competitiveness in Developing Countries, Venice, 26/11/93, for their useful comments.The research leading to this work has benefited at various stages from the support of the Italian National Research Council (CNR, Progetto Strategico Combiamento Technologico e Crescita Economica) and of the International Institute of Applied System Analysis (IIASA, Austria).     

Quantitative analysis on the contribution of industrial structure change to sustainable development： a case study of Fujian Province

Development and sustainability are the core connotation of sustainable development. Sustainability of economic development and the provision capability of resources and environment are two aspects of sustainable development. The former ones are the foundation of the latter ones＇. Industrial structure has a close relationship with sustainable development. The optimization of industrial structure is the important base for the sustainable development of modern economy and also the important ways of the sustainable utilization of resources and environment; The intensive growth effect of industrial structure change has the meaning of sustainable development. This paper reviews and explains the theory on the contribution of indus＇trial structure change to sustainable development, builds the calculation model through introducing the coefficient of industrial structure change, makes an empirical study on the contribution of industrial structure change to sustainable development in Fujian, and puts forward ways and policies of optimizing industrial structure both among industries and inside the industry in the process of industrial structure change.     

发达国家农业可持续增长的经验及启示——人口转型与技术进步

完成人口转型的发达国家中,土地、劳动力等传统农业生产要素已不再是农业增长的主要影响因素。而实际上人口转型已成为影响农业技术进步的决定性因素。文章基于1980-2000年14个已完成人口转型的发达国家面板数据的实证分析,通过农业技术与农业增长、人口转型与技术进步两个模型的检验结果,验证了发达国家农业人口数量的减少、受教育水平的提高对技术进步具有正向影响,通过对发达国家农业可持续增长的经验分析,得出中国农业可持续增长的关键为重视农村教育、加快农业人口转型以及提高农业科技投入。同时给出中国农业可持续增长的政策建议:利用教育投资的外溢效应促进农业人口转型,借助科技投入步入高效益农业可持续增长轨道。     

技术创新活动中政府和企业作用的实证分析

文章利用2003-2011年中国31个省、自治区、直辖市的面板数据,采用面板协整方法捕捉政府行为和企业自主行为对技术创新的动态影响。研究发现,企业行为是推动中国技术创新发展的重要动力,但企业技术创新的主体地位还没有完全确立;政府行为对促进技术创新发展有着重要意义：政府对人力资本的投入和技术市场的完善对技术创新有明显的积极作用,政府的技术创新投入对技术创新有促进作用,政府采购对技术创新有正向的作用,但显著度不够高。因此,建议加快确立企业技术创新核心主体地位,同时政府应加大教育投入力度,进一步完善技术市场,调整政府采购结构并加大政府采购对技术创新倾斜的力度。     

Industrial structure and jobless growth in transition economies

When does employment growth mirror aggregate growth? Applying a two sector model, where productivity growth differs across sectors of production, this article is concerned with a feature characterising a number of transition economies: a divergence between production and employment growth. In our framework the industrial structure that allows employment growth to mirror output growth is endogenous, and related to a number of industry- and economy-wide characteristics. The article shows how the critical industrial structure necessary for avoiding ‘jobless growth’ is context-specific, questioning a ‘one size fits all’ policy approach when aiming to fulfil the Europe 2020 Strategy.     

The network of networks: Localized technological change in telecommunications and productivity growth

Radical innovations in the usage of telecommunication services have drastically changed the role of telecommunications in the economy. Today the usage of telecommunications services is associated with the opportunity to extract significant quasi-rents. An empirical analysis of the Italian case in the mid-eighties confirms the significant difference between telecommunications cost share and marginal productivity levels. The opportunity to reap transient quasi-rents has in turn pushed users to innovate so as to become major players in the arena of technological change in telecommunications and information technologies. In this context the notion of network of networks, implemented in the European Union, seems most appropriate to push the dynamic efficiency of the system and accommodate both centrifugal and centripetal innovations, yet also to retain network interoperability and interconnectivity.     

Technological progress and market growth: An empirical study based on the quality-ladder approach

This paper develops an extended version of the quality-adder model by allowing for heterogeneous markets. Based on this model, it presents an empirical analysis of innovation-based growth at the market level using a technometric measurement concept. It can be shown that a growth-promoting effect due to technological progress in a particular single year is observed after between 2 and up to 7 years. This is true not only for highly innovative markets but also for those in which fewer R&D resources are invested.     

企业家认知因素对技术创新行为及绩效影响的实证研究

从企业家理论出发,充分突出企业家的主导地位,探讨企业家认知因素对技术创新行为及绩效的影响,构建企业家技术创新行为关系模型。通过对企业家进行问卷调查,实证分析结论如下:企业家敏锐度与技术创新行为变量呈显著正相关,与技术创新绩效变量呈显著正相关;不确定容忍度及风险偏好与技术创新行为呈显著正相关;企业家私人关系网络与企业技术创新绩效显著正相关;但是,私人关系网络与技术创新行为、不确定容忍度及风险偏好与技术创新绩效之间不存在显著正相关。     

金融深化、技术进步与产业结构——基于海洋经济的PVAR分析

基于我国沿海地区11个省份的面板数据,构建金融深化、技术进步与产业结构三者关系面板向量自回归模型进行实证分析。首先,回归数据表明海洋经济中,金融发展水平对技术进步与产业结构优化存在一定的抑制作用,而技术进步则显著促进了产业结构的优化;其次,通过脉冲响应函数的分析,可见三者相互影响的关系存在长效机制;最后,通过方差分解发现,三者都存在较强的自我强化机制,但其对另外两者的贡献率都偏低。因此在海洋经济的发展过程中,要调整金融资源的配置效率,建立金融支持的长效机制,企业要加强科研创新,以技术进步拉动产业结构的优化升级,从而在海洋经济中建立起三者结合的良性循环机制。     

商业模式创新、技术创新与企业绩效关系:基于创业板上市企业的实证研究

商业模式创新、技术创新都是企业提升竞争力和绩效的重要手段。以58家创业板上市企业为样本,对商业模式创新与企业绩效的关系、技术创新与企业绩效的关系以及商业模式创新与技术创新的交互作用进行了研究。结果发现:商业模式创新只对企业营业收入增长具有显著的正向影响,技术创新只对企业利润增长具有显著的正向影响,而商业模式创新与技术创新是互补关系,二者的交互对企业绩效(营业收入增长、利润增长)具有显著的正向影响。这些结果表明,对于企业特别是类似于在创业板上市的科技型中小企业来说,商业模式创新与技术创新对于企业绩效的贡献是不同的,只有综合推进商业模式创新与技术创新并形成互补关系,确保商业模式创新和技术创新完全成功,才能全面提升企业绩效。