nep-ino New Economics Papers
on Innovation
Issue of 2023‒06‒19
seven papers chosen by
Uwe Cantner
University of Jena

  1. The Transfer of Federally Funded Technology: A Study of Small, Entrepreneurial, and Ambidextrous Firms By Guerrero, Maribel; Link, Albert; van Hasselt, Martijn
  2. Clean Innovation and Heterogeneous Financing Costs By Emanuele Campiglio; Alessandro Spiganti; Anthony Wiskich
  3. Interest groups and thefailure of transformativeinnovation policy - Insights from the ethanolcar bubble in Sweden 2003-2013 By Björnemalm, Rickard; Sandström, Christian
  4. Innovation and the Labor Market: Theory, Evidence and Challenges By Nicoletta Corrocher; Daniele Moschella; Jacopo Staccioli; Marco Vivarelli
  5. Demand, public procurement and transformation By Edler, Jakob
  6. Productivity Spillovers among Knowledge Workers in Agglomerations: Evidence from GitHub By Lena Abou El-Komboz; Thomas Fackler
  7. The Returns to Government R&D: Evidence from U.S. Appropriations Shocks By Andrew J. Fieldhouse; Karel Mertens

  1. By: Guerrero, Maribel (Arizona State University); Link, Albert (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); van Hasselt, Martijn (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics)
    Abstract: In this paper, we study the technology transfer mechanisms used to protect intellectual property by small, entrepreneurial firms that received Phase II research awards from the U.S Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The technology transfer mechanisms considered are patenting and publishing. Controlling for the agencies that funded the Phase II research (DOD and NIH), we find that the presence of a university as a research partner engenders greater patenting and publishing. We also find that minority-owned firms patent more intensely than do other firms. A portion of the firms patent and publish; we define these firms, based on our advanced review of the literature, to be ambidextrous. Ambidextrous firms are more likely to include a university as a research partner, to be male-owned and minority-owned, and to be relatively small. Our findings represent a new and important advancement to the literature.
    Keywords: SBIR program; technology transfer; patenting; publishing; intellectual property; ambidexterity; entrepreneurial firms; program evaluation;
    JEL: L21 L26 O34 O38
    Date: 2023–05–30
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2023_003&r=ino
  2. By: Emanuele Campiglio; Alessandro Spiganti; Anthony Wiskich
    Abstract: Access to finance is a major barrier to clean innovation. We incorporate heterogeneous and endogenous financing costs in a directed technical change model and identify optimal climate mitigation policies. The presence of a financing experience effect induces more ambitious policies in the short-term, both to shift innovation and production towards clean sectors and to reduce the financing cost differential across technologies, which further facilitates the transition. The optimal climate policy mix between carbon taxes and clean research subsidies depends on whether experience is gained through clean production or research. In our benchmark scenario, where clean financing costs decline as cumulative clean output increases, we find an optimal carbon price premium of 47% in 2025, relative to a case with no financing costs.
    Keywords: carbon tax, directed technological change, endogenous growth, financing experience effect, innovation policy, low-carbon transition, optimal climate policy, sustainable finance
    JEL: H23 O31 O44 Q55 Q58
    Date: 2023–05
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2023-25&r=ino
  3. By: Björnemalm, Rickard (Stockholm School of Economics); Sandström, Christian (The Ratio Institute)
    Abstract: Literature on innovation policy has so far paid little attention to policy failure and the mechanisms leading to failure. We describe the Swedish bubble in ethanol cars 2003-2013 and explain why well intended policies may end up with unsatisfactory results. Directives from the European Union forced policymakers in Sweden to act swiftly and the Swedish government put in place The Pump law which forced gas stations to supply ethanol as a fuel from 2006 and onwards. In combination with targeted tax deductions for ethanol cars, a sharp increase in demand took place in 2006-2008. As these started to experience engine problems by 2009-2010, demand declined. Tax deductions were subsequently altered in order to also include cars with very low CO2 emissions, a shift that contributed further to the downfall of ethanol cars. Our data suggests that domestic car manufacturers Volvo and Saab, along with Ford benefited from the ethanol policies as their combined market share for green cars surged from 12 to 75 percent 2005-2008. Ethanol was competitive in the political domain as the fuel was backed by the Centre Party and the associated farmers’ lobby group, but lacked economic, technological and environmental competitiveness. Our findings suggest that innovation policies aimed at supporting new technologies against vested interests may instead end up extending established interests as policies are put in place under the influence of various stakeholders.
    Keywords: Ethanol car; policy failure; innovation; technology; environment.
    JEL: O25 O31 O38 O44 Q42
    Date: 2023–05–18
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0362&r=ino
  4. By: Nicoletta Corrocher; Daniele Moschella; Jacopo Staccioli; Marco Vivarelli
    Abstract: This paper deals with the complex relationship between innovation and the labor market, analyzing the impact of new technological advancements on overall employment, skills and wages. After a critical review of the extant literature and the available empirical studies, novel evidence is presented on the distribution of labor-saving automation (namely robotics and AI), based on natural language processing of US patents. This mapping shows that both upstream high-tech providers and downstream users of new technologies - such as Boeing and Amazon - lead the underlying innovative effort.
    Keywords: Innovation; Technological Change; Skills; Wages; Technological Unemployment.
    Date: 2023–06–04
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/23&r=ino
  5. By: Edler, Jakob
    Abstract: In this article we want to explore the role of the state to influence and support the demand for innovation in the context of transformation with a triple focus. First, we discuss the importance of demand for innovation and transformation. Second, we elaborate the conceptual underpinning of state intervention on the demand side. This In doing so, we link the demand side interventions with both the transformation debate and the innovation based competitiveness of systems debate. We then zoom into the main focus of this discussion paper, public demand and public procurement practice for innovation and transformation as this is - or can be - a powerful lever to spur both transformation and innovation which is largely underexplored and underused. Here we differentiate different forms of public procurement as well as different functions it can play in different transformation contexts. Rather than elaborating individual instruments and measures to support procurement, which is done in many ways elsewhere, we conclude with a number of high level recommendation for policy and analysis in order to further a debate the value of which has been recognised, but yet which has not materialised in any serious policy strategies for procurement.
    Keywords: public procurement, public demand, transformation, innovation, policy strategies
    Date: 2023
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisidp:79&r=ino
  6. By: Lena Abou El-Komboz (ifo Institute, LMU Munich); Thomas Fackler (ifo Institute, LMU Munich, CESifo, Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard)
    Abstract: Software engineering is a field with strong geographic concentration, with Silicon Valley as the epitome of a tech cluster. Yet, most studies on the productivity effects of agglomerations measure innovation with patent data, thus capturing only a fraction of the industry's activity. With data from the open source platform GitHub, our study contributes an alternative proxy for productivity, complementing the literature by covering a broad range of software engineering. With user activity data covering the years 2015 to 2021, we relate cluster size to an individual's productivity. Our findings suggest that physical proximity to a large number of other knowledge workers in the same field leads to spillovers, increasing productivity considerably. In further analyses, we confirm the causal relationship with an IV approach and study heterogeneities by cluster size, initial productivity and project characteristics.
    Keywords: agglomeration effects; knowledge spillovers; open source; online collaboration;
    JEL: D62 J24 O33 O36 R32
    Date: 2023–05–26
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:399&r=ino
  7. By: Andrew J. Fieldhouse; Karel Mertens
    Abstract: We estimate the causal impact of government-funded R&D on business-sector productivity growth. Identification is based on a novel narrative classification of all significant postwar changes in appropriations for R&D funded by five major federal agencies. Using long-horizon local projections and the narrative measures, we find that an increase in appropriations for nondefense R&D leads to increases in various measures of innovative activity, and higher productivity in the long run. We structurally estimate the production function elasticity of nondefense government R&D capital using the SP-IV methodology of Lewis and Mertens (2023), and obtain implied returns of 150 to 300 percent over the postwar period. The estimates indicate that government-funded R&D accounts for about one quarter of business-sector TFP growth since WWII, and generally point to substantial underfunding of nondefense R&D.
    Keywords: government; R&D; productivity; growth; narrative analysis
    JEL: E62 O38 O47
    Date: 2023–05–18
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:96171&r=ino

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