Resurrecting the ghostly entrepreneur

The longstanding debate on the exact theoretical role and nature of the entrepreneur has traditionally featured the works of three great economists, Joseph Schumpeter, Frank Knight and Israel Kirzner. Each had a somewhat different take on this question, but each of them shared the common assumption that the entrepreneurial function exists as an independent and objective input into the productive order. However, this assumption was vigorously called into question in a little noticed but very important piece by Harold Demsetz in 1983. Demsetz may be said to have “unbundled” the other writers entrepreneurial packages and could find substantially nothing therein that was not already accounted for in the standard neoclassical market model, with investors being rewarded for taking risk under conditions of uncertainty. He comes very close to denying that there even exists a separate entrepreneurial function in the production process. This paper then proceeds to argue that Demsetz has overstated his case and that there is a distinctive aspect to entrepreneurship that has not heretofore been noted in the literature. That is the idea of “the idea”, the original cognitive formulation of a plan, a new business, an invention, a reorganization or any other new concept. The problem in understanding the role of the entrepreneur is one of intellectual property, since, at the moment of idea formulation, there is no practical way to give property right protection to an abstract idea. A comparison to the patent and the copyright system elucidates this point. The only practicable method of protecting the inherent value of a new non patentable or non-copyrightable idea is by joining it with another input which can receive property right protection, such as any of the traditional production inputs. This explains the common confounding between entrepreneurship and starting a new firm. Because of the team production nature of the venture, it is impossible to measure the marginal contribution of each of the constituent elements, thus explaining why a lot of entrepreneurial ventures are “one-man” firms. The matter of compensating for entrepreneurial services in publicly held corporations is also considered.     

Stochastic imitative game dynamics with committed agents

We consider models of stochastic evolution in two-strategy games in which agents employ imitative decision rules. We introduce committed agents: for each strategy, we suppose that there is at least one agent who plays that strategy without fail. We show that unlike the standard imitative model, the model with committed agents generates unambiguous infinite horizon predictions: the asymptotics of the stationary distribution do not depend on the order in which the mutation rate and population size are taken to their limits.     

基子知识视角下的企业家精神

本文通过封国内外有关知识资本、企业家和企业家精神的文献研究和总结，在知识视角下封企业家理论进行简要回顾，得出企业家精神的实质是创新精神，更是识别创新机会、把握创新机会的过程的结论。使用信号传递模型，分离条件假设以及斯宾赛一莫裹斯条件建立模型，说明企业家的沟通成本对企业创新的影响。本文为企业家精神的研究提供一个新的视角或认识工具。     

From unemployed to entrepreneur: The role of the absolute bequest motive

Using the British Household Panel Survey, this paper finds that inheritance has a concave effect on the hours worked by male entrepreneurs. Receiving an inheritance increases the labor supply of unemployed male entrepreneurs; however this effect becomes smaller for higher inheritances.     

Schumpeter’s ‘conduct model of the dynamic entrepreneur’: scope and distinctiveness

Schumpeter formulated a ‘conduct model’ of entrepreneurial behaviour. Received wisdom has emphasised the economic functions of Schumpeter’s entrepreneur, neglecting behavioural aspects. Schumpeter’s model is examined; it posits a continuum of behaviours which are ‘entrepreneurial’, that rely on socially situated, tacit knowledge and are expressions of conscious, subjective rationality. Schumpeter’s model excluded unconscious optimisation and decision rules derived from bounded rationality. Comparisons are drawn with modern neoclassical, Austrian, and the older behavioural characterisations of entrepreneurial behaviour. The newer ‘effectuation’ model of entrepreneurial behaviour is also contrasted with Schumpeter’s approach. We find, among other things, that modern Schumpeterian economics associated with Nelson and Winter is not a natural continuation of Schumpeter’s model. However, some developments in neo-Schumpeterian economics, including the effectuation model deriving from the older behavioural tradition, are congruent with both the original ‘conduct model’ and Schumpeter’s directions for further research.     

跨国创业投资:FDI的新动向

20世纪90年代以来,随着世界经济一体化进程的加快,创业投资(VentureCapita)l的国际化趋势越来越明显,跨国创业投资已经成为国际直接投资(FDI)的重要组成部分。创业投资是一种股权投资,寻求资本的长期投资收益,而不追求资本的流动性,属于直接投资的范畴。在知识经济时代,创业投资是推动一个国家经济增长和技术进步的关键因素,这已经成为各国政府、学界和商界的共识。从1995年至今,国际创业投资进入了一个高速发展时期,根据普华永道公司研究报告提供的数据,1995年到2000年期间创业投资取得了爆发式的增长,全球创业资本筹资总额从440亿美元增…     

Innovation and the Economy

Unemployment has remained at relatively high levels across most European countries for a generation now. There have been a number of suggested explanations for this, with correspondingly different policy implications. Two of the major hypotheses relate, first, to the impact on the European economies from increased international competition, and 'globalisation' more generally, and, secondly, to the effects of new technology and innovation. The effects of both globalisation and technology on growth and employment in Europe have been researched over the past two years through an EU-funded project, the results of which, relating in particular to innovation, are reported in this Special Issue of the International Review of Applied Economics. (The results relating to globalisation were reported in a Special Issue of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics , Volume 13.) It is clear from the empirical work reported that the effects of technological innovation have been mixed. There is no doubt that some innovation has had a negative effect on employment, without the compensatingly positive effects that new technology usually brings in its wake. However, in high technology manufacturing sectors there is scope for boosting both productivity and employment. But this requires an appropriate policy environment, conducive to increased investment in capital, R&D and the workforce itself.     

Middle-ground players in dynamic imitative markets: global entry strategies of Korean firms in the biosimilars market

ABSTRACT

This study examines the strategies used to enter the biosimilars market – the emerging biogeneric market – by five Korean biopharmaceutical firms. The analysis is based on a conceptual framework that characterises the use of imitative innovation by middle-ground firms. These middle-ground firms are positioned between globally innovative firms from major developed economies and latecomer firms from large emerging economies. The study finds that the five Korean firms used three entry modes that resemble the typology of strategies commonly used in the previous catch-up stage: exploiting scale economies and specialisation. The study also reveals the risk and potential of each entry mode.     

Next generation entrepreneur: innovation strategy through Web 2.0 technologies in SMEs

This essay studies the diffusion/adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)’ innovation strategies and particularly in research, development, design and other innovation activities. It looks at the effects of these technologies on the evolution and the dynamics of firm's innovation capabilities and the implications of entrepreneurial turnover on the adoption of said technologies. The study is based on original fieldwork with some 130 SMEs. The author finds that a consistent share of SMEs is actively trying to fill the knowledge gap and integrate Web 2.0 technologies in their innovation strategies. SMEs are managing this integration by progressively adjusting their behaviour in reaction to the opportunities offered by the technology and balancing the dependence of the business from the web. Barriers to the adoption of such technologies are also discussed.     

创新网络环境下开放式创新与企业创新绩效关系研究

在创新网络环境下,深入探讨开放式创新（Open Innovation,OI）与创新绩效之间的关系,有利于促进企业整合外部资源进行产品创新,提升创新绩效。基于创新网络环境,对252家高技术企业相关数据进行实证检验,发现网络关系能力是提升创新绩效的重要因素,加快开放式创新有利于提升合作成员的网络关系能力,进而提升企业绩效。在创新网络环境中,网络溢出效应可进一步提高网络关系能力的调节能力,网络关系能力能够影响OI对企业绩效水平的作用。     

创新认知、创新理论与创新能力测度

客观准确地测度创新能力是制订科技政策、加快推进创新驱动发展战略的基础性工作。创新测度方法的形成完善是创新认知和创新理论不断深化发展的结果。20世纪50年代以来,三者共同演进,先后出现"创新线性模型""创新体系""创新生态系统"等创新理论;在创新测度实践中则有"投入产出法""综合指标法""DEA效率评价法""数据挖掘法"等与之对应。依托"创新生态系统"理论,在数据集成基础上引入数据挖掘法将是创新测度的重要趋势和方向。数据挖掘法是对其他测度方法的补充而非替代;有效整合不同方法下的测度结果将有助于提高测度的客观性和准确性。     

技术创新、企业创新与社会创新

文章通过案例分析发现创新应该包括许多维度,如单纯意义上的技术创新、组织创新、经营方式与理念创新、企业制度创新、商业模式创新、企业关系创新、公共关系及整合能力创新等。而且创新分成多个层次,从技术创新到企业创新,再到整个经济体系的社会创新。     

Determinants of quadic patenting: Market access,imitative threat,competition and strength of intellectual property rights

This paper analyzes firms' decisions to seek intellectual property rights in global markets, particularly in China. We introduce the notion of a ‘quadic patent,’ defined as a patent family that consists of patent applications filed at the European Patent Office, the Japanese Patent Office, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the national patent office of a fourth country. We examine the determinants of quadic patenting at the industry level for China, and at the country level for a sample of 38 countries. Our results indicate that quadic patenting is driven by the need to access markets, respond to imitative threats, and compete in product markets.     

团队创新失败复原与连续创新关系研究

创新失败是普遍的,又是有价值的,创新团队能否从失败中复原是决定其能否重启创新并获得创新成功的关键,而失败复原作为一个新兴议题,鲜有研究探讨创新团队如何开展失败复原以及失败复原与连续创新之间的关系。从创新失败复原过程入手,构建“团队创新失败-连续创新”过程框架,发现团队创新失败复原过程主要分为应激响应、批判反思以及策略构建与执行3个阶段;团队通过对失败追根溯源以及对失败所致结果的处理,能促进创新能力提升及创新思维改变,进而增强后续创新意向,最终取得创新成功。     

企业创新行为差异与政府技术创新支出效应

政府为推进本国技术创新而发生的财政支出对企业创新行为具有重要影响。本文基于这一事实,构建包含企业创新行为差异的简单动态随机一般均衡模型,分析得出:由于技术创新密度不同,企业可分为技术创新型企业和技术稳定型企业。技术创新型企业提高技术研发投资比重,虽然不一定能迅速实现经济产出的提高,却可以推动本国经济从传统的粗放投资型转化为高质量的技术创新型。在一定时期内,政府技术创新支出是企业技术创新支出增加的主要外在推动力,对企业创新具有显著的助推作用,对宏观经济及发展具有重要的正向作用,但具体效果还取决于企业创新投入情况。相比较而言,当创新企业技术投入率达到一定界值时,政府技术创新支出的效率会更高。这些结论对完善创新政策、改进市场规则、进一步提升创新效率具有一定的政策含义。     

文化与科技融合发展中的创新模式及革新进路

跨界转型、产业融合时代背景下,文化与科技融合作为一种技术诱发型产业发展模式,具有促进文化业态衍生、产业价值链延伸、产业商业模式创新等重要意义,其实践路径表现为文化科技化与科技文化化。基于产业融合内涵与特征,从生产链协同规划维度分析生产融合、市场融合、资源融合与渠道融合4种典型的文化与科技融合创新模式及其促发机理,归纳出融合创新过程中强化可治理性、重视文化需求、增进制度保障等促进产业融合的关键举措。最后指出,在当前环境下,文化与科技融合模式的优化与革新亟需从政策规章、法律规制、产业结构及自主创新等方面切入,通过文化与科技协同发展实现。     

从高校创业教育到创业实践的探析——以斯坦福大学创业教育为例

随着我国高等教育的不断发展,毕业生数量逐年增加,就业矛盾日益突出,以创业带动就业成为趋势,创业教育也因此备受关注。近年来我国高校创业教育发展取得了很大进步,但与美国等发达国家相比仍存在较大差距,特别是如何将创业教育与创业实践相结合的问题,使创业教育更好的服务于创业实践。通过对我国创业教育现状和美国斯坦福大学创业教育特点的分析,提出了深化创业教育理念,促进国内外高校的交流与合作、注重创业师资团队建设,增强创业实践教育环节、坚持理论教育与创业实践相结合的从创业教育到创业实践的具体途径,从而使我国的创业教育更具实践意义。     

Innovation and the precautionary principle

Recent environmental policies favour the polluter pays principle. This principle points out the pollutant financial liability for the eventual incidents induced by his activities. In this context, we analyse the decision of an agent to invest in new industrial activities, the consequences of which on human health and the environment are initially unknown. It is not possible for him to delay investing, but the agent has the opportunity to acquire information and to reduce the cost of an accident. This allows the agent to reduce uncertainty regarding dangers associated with the project and to limit potential damages that it might cause. However, the agent's chosen level of these actions may be considered as insufficient and not acceptable by society as response in the face of a possible danger. Precautionary state regulation may then be introduced. We appreciate that this regulation may slow down innovation and may favour innovation in countries with less safety requirements. We find that the agent may get around the goal of the regulation by ignoring the information on the dangerousness of its project. We then propose some policy tools which stimulate innovation and impose a certain level of risk considered as acceptable for society to the agent. Finally, we use a numerical analysis based on the Monsanto Company for studying the agent's behaviour with different regulatory frameworks.