Investigating Collaborative R&D Using Patent Data: The Case Study of Robot Technology in Japan

The growing trend of collaborative R&D initiated by firms has been well documented. However, the evidences regarding basic questions such as the benefits of collaboration and the motives of firms are still mixed. The main novelty of this paper is to investigate these questions by using comprehensive patent data with a focus on information concerning inventors. We consider the case of robot technology in Japan since early 1990s and get the following results. First, collaboration with external research partners lead to a higher quality of the invention. Second, the determinants and motives, which encourage firms to engage in collaborative research, differ depending on the partner they are collaborating with. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Urban Interventionism and Local Knowledge

Not only do government interventions tend to compromise the knowledge-utilizing properties of the price system, they also impinge directly and in important ways on local knowledge, or Hayek's “knowledge of the particular circumstances of time and place.” This local knowledge includes norms and trust levels that promote impersonal market interactions and complement more familiar forms of production-related skills and know-how. Thus, along with the well-known Hayekian lesson that the effective use of local knowledge depends on an extensively used and well-functioning price system, it is equally important to appreciate the reverse: i.e., the role of certain kinds of local knowledge in enabling the extensive use and smooth functioning of the price system to occur. In this way, interventionism can diminish the price system's effectiveness not only by directly distorting relative prices, but also indirectly by undermining local knowledge. As is generally true of interventionism, these consequences tend to reinforce the interventionist propensities of public choosers.     

Determinants of technological change in the service industries

The Service Industries provide numerous examples of how technological change may be impeded. Either the economic state of the industry or the state of scientific and engineering knowledge can limit inventive activity and productivity advance. Consumer ignorance, lack of producer incentives, complex production interdependencies, and market fragmentation are only a few factors limiting the role of demand in stimulating the discovery and diffusion of new services and production techniques. On the cost side, technical uncertainty, time horizons, and discount rates affect decisions to engage in R & D. In addition, strategic market considerations, such as potential entry, reaction speeds of rivals, and numbers of competitors affect the benefits from early introduction of new technologies. These institutional and economic considerations need to be taken into account for technological forecasting related to the Service Industries.     

Incorporating Service Quality into Yardstick Regulation: An Application to the Peru Water Sector

Yardstick regulation requires the utilization of benchmarking, a valuable tool for improving public service delivery, especially in developing countries where inefficiencies translate into negative health impacts and social unrest. However, benchmarking must account for both the cost and the quality of service. Using data from 38 Peruvian water utilities (1996–2001), the paper evaluates quality-incorporated firm performance and identifies changes in efficiency, technology (frontier), and service quality. The study utilizes the nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, a preference structure model, and the quality-incorporated Malmquist productivity index in evaluating firm performance; the study discusses their implications for regulating state-owned enterprises.      

What Are SEC Football Tickets Worth? Evidence from Secondary Market Transactions

Tickets to sporting events are highly differentiated—seat location, date and time of the game, and home‐team and opponent qualities make each ticket unique. Preferences also differ nontrivially across fans, all of which make the supplier's pricing problem complex. We examine strategies employed by Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities in pricing their football tickets and evaluate their effectiveness in extracting surplus from fans. We use hedonic analysis of data collected from online secondary market transactions to construct a synthetic season ticket, which we compare to prices actually charged by university athletic departments. We also compare quality premiums charged by universities for better seats with market evaluations of those quality differences.