Is R&D always growth-enhancing? Empirical evidence from the EU countries

This study provides empirical evidence regarding the effects of R&D on economic growth in a panel of 28 European Union (EU) countries over the period 1997–2014. In particular, we investigate whether the impact of business and government R&D stocks on economic growth depends on the country’s distance to the world technology frontier. The main findings are that in the EU (i) there is positive, statistically significant business R&D stock–economic growth nexus in countries that are relatively close to the frontier and (ii) no statistically significant relationship was found to exist between government R&D stock and economic growth. From the policy perspective, the results suggest that designing proper national policies that allow switching from investment-based to innovation-based strategies at appropriate moments may be far more important than a simple call for increase in R&D expenditures and setting common numerical targets for all EU-member states.     

银行主导型金融对制造业企业技术进步的影响——基于技术距离的视角

制造业企业的技术发展离不开适宜类型的金融支持。那么,我国以商业银行为主导的金融体系对其具有怎样的影响？本文从技术距离视角出发,通过构建熊彼特内生增长模型探究银行主导型金融体系对制造业企业技术进步的影响效应及作用机理,并运用中国工业企业数据库与城市数据库的匹配数据进行实证检验。研究发现：当制造业企业远离技术前沿时,银行主导型金融对其技术进步具有明显的促进作用,但随着企业接近技术前沿,该作用将由正转负。相较于国有和抵押资产丰富的制造业企业,银行主导型金融对技术进步的负向作用在非国有和抵押资产匮乏企业中出现较早。机制检验表明,在远离技术前沿阶段,银行主导型金融能够激励制造业企业创新从而促进其技术进步,但在接近技术前沿后,银行主导型金融难以通过激励企业创新驱动其技术进步。研究结论对如何深化金融供给侧结构性改革、增强金融服务制造业之功效具有一定的指导意义。     

中国嵌入全球价值链对绿色技术创新的影响

在对全球价值链嵌入影响绿色技术创新特质、机理、异质性、滞后性与动态效应进行理论分析的基础上，运用2008-2018年中国内地25个省份面板数据，测度中国各省份全球价值链嵌入对绿色技术创新的影响。结果发现：(1)从全国层面看，绿色技术创新是一个动态演化、循序渐进的过程，嵌入全球价值链对绿色技术创新具有显著促进作用，但这种影响存在逐渐减弱的滞后性；(2)从时间层面看，嵌入全球价值链对绿色技术创新的影响具有显著时间差异性，伴随着中国自主创新水平提升和环境规制力度加大，以及发达国家逆全球化趋势盛行，近年来嵌入全球价值链对绿色技术创新的影响日渐减弱；(3)从地区层面看，嵌入全球价值链对绿色技术创新的影响具有显著地区差异性，中西部地区嵌入全球价值链对绿色技术创新的影响比东部地区更明显。据此，提出进一步优化全球价值链嵌入度、扩大全球价值链溢出效应、缩小不同地区间技术差距等政策建议。     

Linking technology intelligence to open innovation

The explosive growth of the Internet has led to a dramatic increase in data sources for (competitive) technology intelligence. Appropriate implementation and use of IT tools to gather and analyze these data is of key importance for the creation of actionable technology intelligence. A strategy to optimize investments in the identified technologies becomes of paramount importance if an organization wants to match knowledge and ideas originating from outside of the organization with internal core competences. Such a strategy can create competitive advantage by effectively linking technology intelligence to open innovation.We show how VIB, a life sciences research organization, has established technology intelligence processes to identify a multitude of external technologies of interest, which are subsequently “probed” for their potential and fit with VIB using real options reasoning, thereby supporting open innovation. Our methodology may be useful for other organizations which are considering implementing open innovation approaches.     

Human capital,employment protection and growth in Europe

Using data for a large sample of manufacturing and service sectors in 14 EU countries, this paper shows that the value added and TFP growth rate differential between high and low human capital intensive industries is greater in countries with low than countries with high levels of employment protection legislation. We also find that such negative effect of EPL is slightly stronger for countries near the technology frontier, in the manufacturing sector and after the 1990s. We interpret these results suggesting that technology adoption depends on the skill level of the workforce and on the capacity of firms to adjust employment as technology changes: therefore, firing costs have a stronger impact in sectors where technical change is more skill-biased and technology adoption more important.     

Technology level evaluation methodology based on the technology growth curve

Technology has been the driving force of development for knowledge-based economies. As competition in technology innovation among nations becomes more intense, there is a growing need for improved judgment, evaluation and prediction of scientific technology capacity in order to enhance national competitiveness. Until now, a country's technology level has been evaluated on a relative basis by comparing it with that of the country with the world's best technology. However, this kind of static methodology makes the interpretation of results unclear and makes time series analysis difficult. One of the most important limitations of this methodology is that it cannot be used to establish a strategy to improve the technology level. This paper examines the methodological problems of technology level evaluation and develops a dynamic methodology by applying the technology growth curve model. We also analyze the real technology level by using a new model application and review the relevance of this method. Finally, we discuss how to use the results in order to create a dynamic technology strategy.     

ASSESSING THE RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN THE US AND UK: A STOCHASTIC DISTANCE FUNCTION APPROACH

University technology transfer offices (henceforth, TTOs) play a critical role in the diffusion of innovation and the development of new technology infrastructure. Studies of the relative efficiency of TTOs have been based on licensing output measures and data from a single country. In contrast, we present the first cross-country comparison of the relative performance of TTOs, based on stochastic multiple output distance functions. The additional dimension of output considered is the university's propensity to generate start-up companies, based on technologies developed at these institutions. We find that US universities are more efficient than UK universities and that the production process is characterized by either decreasing or constant returns to scale. Universities with a medical school and an incubator are closer to the frontier.     

技术模仿、技术创新的战略选择模型和经济增长

一国技术水平程度的高低在很大程度上影响和决定了该国经济发展的水平和经济增长的速度,技术水平提高的途径主要有两种:技术模仿和技术创新.但技术创新并不只是发达国家的"专利",技术创新除了与人均资本存量和人均人力资本水平有关外,也与总体的人均资本存量和人力资本水平有关.本文将国家技术发展战略分为四类,并给出了各种不同技术发展战略的情景条件.     

Technological development and rates of return to investment in a catching-up economy: the case of South Korea

Technological change has been the key driving force in the growth spurt of East Asia in the past decades. Assimilation theorists stress the importance of building up technological capabilities and demonstrate the dynamic processes of technology assimilation and learning, which have taken place through case-studies. However, especially after the Asian financial crisis, it can be argued that it is not enough to show that firms have increased their technological competencies. It is also important to assess the economic returns to the pecuniary investment flows linked with these learning processes. The main idea put forward in this paper is that investment in technology is necessary to maintain rates of return to physical capital investment, and that this is increasingly difficult, the closer a country gets to the global technology frontier. This idea finds support in an analysis of the development of four technology-intensive industries in South Korea, using technology investment indicators such as foreign direct investment, R&D expenditures and technology licensing fees. The results suggest that a strategy of technological diversification might generate higher returns to investment than a pre-occupied search for industrial leadership.     

基础研究是否推动我国先进制造技术向国际前沿收敛——基于追赶阶段与技术子领域差异的分析

为探究加速我国先进制造技术差距收敛的有效途径，以技术追赶过程的阶段性和先进制造技术不同子领域的结构化差异为切入点进行实证研究，揭示基础研究在先进制造技术追赶过程中的作用机制。研究发现：相较于追赶阶段，基础研究在后追赶阶段显著促进我国先进制造技术差距收敛；基础研究知识成果产出吸引企业进行研发活动，推动我国先进制造技术差距收敛。进一步讨论发现，先进制造技术结构化特征影响基础研究对技术差距收敛的促进作用。因此，在后追赶阶段，准确把握技术追赶阶段变迁带来的机会窗口，强化基础研究是推动我国先进制造技术向国际前沿收敛的必要手段。     

信息技术投资对我国制造企业技术效率影响的区域差异分析——基于面板数据随机前沿分析方法的实证研究

基于我国26个省和直辖市的3440家制造企业的相关数据,运用面板数据随机前沿分析的方法,对我国东、中、西三大区域制造企业信息技术投资对技术效率的影响进行了对比分析。实证研究的结果显示,在考虑信息技术影响的前提下,东部地区与中西部地区制造企业的技术效率出现了差异化增长的情况。最后,从信息技术投资应用的角度分析了出现这种区域差异化增长的原因,并给出了相应的建议。     

The relative weight of manufacturing and services in Europe: An innovation perspective

This paper uses an innovation-based taxonomy of both manufacturing and service industries to assess the role of the process of structural change of the last 25 years on the rate of productivity growth in Europe, US and Japan. The empirical analysis exploits the shift-share methodology for a decomposition of aggregate labor productivity growth. A modified version is applied, that allows to interpret whether employment has shifted to higher or lower productivity sectors. The results are discussed in light of the role that the different industries play according to the innovation-based taxonomy.     

Forecasting the Technology Revolution: Results and learnings from the TechCast Project

This research report presents latest results on the TechCast Project, first reported in Technology Forecasting & Social Change 14 years ago [1]. TechCast is an online Delphi system that pools background trends and the judgment of experts around the world to forecast breakthroughs in all fields. Results are presented for strategic technological advances that are likely to enter the mainstream and their expected impacts, providing an overview of the Technology Revolution. Aggregating the forecast data then provides macro-forecasts of broad timetables for economic and social change. This analysis suggests that the global economy is likely to enter a new economic upcycle about 2015 and reach an advanced stage of development about 2020. We also examine examples of how organizations develop technology strategy to compete in an era of economic transformation, and conclude by analyzing the role of forecasting as one of many methods for reducing uncertainty.     

Knowledge sourcing and firm performance in an industrializing economy: the case of Taiwan (1992–2003)

We examine the impact of R&D and technology imports on firm performance in Taiwan??s manufacturing industry in a policy context of industrial upgrading. To do so, we estimate a Translog production function on two panels (covering 1992?C1995 and 1997?C2003), using stochastic frontier models. We find that the effects of both knowledge inputs become significant in a larger number of industries in the second panel. These results suggest that the policies encouraging innovation implemented from 1991 onwards paid off in the second half of the 1990s, with innovation driving firm sales. In traditional industries, the effect of innovation can be interpreted as an effort to catch up with the global technology frontier. In the electronics and high-technology industries, it rather testifies of the emergence of a new domain of specialization for Taiwan??which was largely enabled by the aforementioned innovation policies.     

中国的工业生产力革命--用随机前沿生产模型对中国大中型工业企业全要素生产率增长的分解及分析

本文运用中国大中型工业企业 1 995— 2 0 0 2年期间的年度企业数据 ,系统地研究 3. 7个两位数工业行业的全要素生产率 (TFP)增长趋势 ,并用随机前沿生产模型 ,将生产率增长分解为前沿技术进步 (FTP)、相对前沿技术效率 (TE)的变化、配置效率 (AE)以及规模经济性 (SE)四大因素。主要结论 :(一 )TFP的行业加权年均增长率为 6. 8% ,并呈逐年上升的趋势 ;(二 )前沿技术进步已经成为TFP增长的最重要动力 ,企业因前沿技术进步平均每年提高全要素生产率高达 1 4个百分点 ;(三 )企业相对前沿的技术效率差距拉大 ,已经严重阻碍了TFP增长 ,导致TFP平均每年下降 7个百分点 ,这既是挑战 ,也是反映今后企业通过追赶先进技术提高生产力的潜力。 (四 )企业投入要素的配置效率对TFP增长几乎没有贡献 ,年均贡献仅为 0 . 0 2个百分点 ,而企业的规模经济性对TFP的贡献也仅为负 0 . 3 3个百分点 ,这与前沿技术进步和技术效率变化对TFP的影响相比都微不足道。分析表明 ,前沿技术进步一方面推动着生产力的快速增长 ,另一方面却加剧了企业间的技术效率差距 ,导致更激烈的市场竞争压力。世纪之交的中国最重要的工业企业正经历着一场以前沿技术进步及追赶先进企业为核心的生产力革命。     

Productivity growth and stock returns: firm- and aggregate-level analyses

A firm’s stock return is affected not only by its own productivity growth rate, but also by other firms’ productivity growth rates. We show that this spillover effect is significant and time-varying, and underlies a fallacy of composition observed in late 20th century U.S. data: stock returns and productivity growth are correlated positively in firm-level data but negatively in aggregate data. This seeming fallacy of composition reflects Schumpeterian creative destruction: a few technology winners’ stocks rise with their rising productivity while many technology losers’ stocks fall with their declining productivity. Thus, most individual firms’ stock returns correlate negatively with aggregate productivity growth. This implies that technological innovation need not be a blessing for all firms and as a result, for investors holding the market. Our findings also provide a firm-level technology innovation-based explanation of prior findings that the market return correlates negatively with aggregate earnings.     

How firm capabilities affect who benefits from foreign technology

We explore how firm capabilities affect the diffusion of technology brought with foreign direct investment (FDI). Using a panel dataset on Indonesian manufacturers from 1988 to 1996, we measure how the productivity of differing domestic firms responds to the entry of multinational competitors. We find that firms with investments in research and development and firms with highly educated employees adopt more technology from foreign entrants than others. In contrast, firms that have a small “technology gap,” meaning that they are close to the international best-practice frontier, benefit less than firms with weak prior technical competency. This finding suggests that the marginal return to new knowledge is greater for firms that have more room to “catch up” than it is for already competitive firms.     

Income Distribution and Demand-Induced Innovations

We introduce non-homothetic preferences into an innovation-based growth model and study how income and wealth inequality affect economic growth. We identify a (positive) price effect—where increasing inequality allows innovators to charge higher prices and (negative) market-size effects—with higher inequality implying smaller markets for new goods and/or a slower transition of new goods into mass markets. It turns out that price effects dominate market-size effects. We also show that a redistribution from the poor to the rich may be Pareto improving for low levels of inequality.     

Cyclical industrial dynamics: The case of the global semiconductor industry

In this paper, we focus on firms' cyclical behavior in the global semiconductor industry. We demonstrate that these cyclical dynamics at the industry level differ from both the business cycles at the macro-economic level and the lengthy industrial technology life cycle. We discuss a range of possible causes of those cyclical industrial dynamics, including the general business cycles as well as industry-specific factors. Our study reports three stylized facts in relation to the cyclical industrial dynamics in the global semiconductor industry: first, the industry is more concentrated during the industry cycle downturns; second, the capital investment of the industry as a whole follows a ‘pro-cyclical’ pattern; and third, firms that pursued a ‘counter-cyclical’ capital investment strategy during the industry cycle downturn have reaped rewards during the subsequent cycle period. These facts suggest that cyclical industrial dynamics, especially the industry cycle downturns, play an important role in firm rivalry, strategic positioning and industrial growth.     

技术董事、技术资源配置与企业成长:来自上市公司的经验数据

选取2012-2017年上市企业为样本，探索技术董事对企业成长的驱动效应及技术资源配置的中介作用，以解读技术董事、技术资源与企业成长的多重关系。研究发现：技术董事对企业成长具有显著驱动效应；技术董事对技术资源规模具有一定的放大效应,且能够改善技术资源配置质量；进一步讲，技术资源配置规模与质量是技术董事与企业成长之间的部分中介变量。立足于创新发展现实情境，以上结论可为处于创新十字路口的中国企业董事治理及技术培育提供一定参考借鉴。