Books by Francesco Crespi
There is wide consensus on the importance of knowledge for economic growth and local development... more There is wide consensus on the importance of knowledge for economic growth and local development patterns. This book proposes a view of knowledge as a collective, systemic and evolutionary process that enables agents and social systems to overcome the challenges of the limits to growth. It brings together new conceptual and empirical contributions, analysing the relationship between demand and supply factors and the rate and direction of technological change. It also examines the different elements that compose innovation systems.
The Economics of Knowledge, Innovation and Systemic Technology Policy provides the background for the development of an integrated framework for the analysis of systemic policy instruments and their mutual interaction the socio-political and economic conditions of the surrounding environment. These aspects have long been neglected in innovation policy, as policymakers, academics and the business community, have mostly emphasized the benefits of supply side strategies. However, a better understanding of innovation policies grafted on a complexity-based approach calls for the appreciation of the mutual interactions between both supply and demand aspects, and it is likely to improve the actual design of policy measures.
This book will help readers to understand the foundations and working of demand-driven innovation policies by stressing the importance of compent and smart demand.
Journal articles by Francesco Crespi
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017
The introduction and adoption of green technologies are considered the most cost effective way to... more The introduction and adoption of green technologies are considered the most cost effective way to reduce environmental pressure without compromising economic competitiveness. The scientific literature has emphasized the crucial role played by diffusion pathways of green technologies along the supply value chain, but empirical quantitative findings on the effectiveness of green technologies in improving environmental performance are scarce. The objective of this paper is to highlight the role of inter-sectoral linkages in shaping the influence played by eco-innovations on sectoral environmental performance. Empirical findings show that both the direct and indirect effects of ecoinnovations help reduce environmental stress and that the strength of these impacts varies across the value chain depending on the technology adopted and the type of pollutant under scrutiny. The main implications we can deduce are that, first both corporate and policy governance strategies should specifically address the goal of maximizing environmental gains that can be achieved through the development and adoption of clean technologies along the supply chain, and second both strategies should be coordinated in order to minimize the costs for reducing environmental pressures.
svolgono la funzione di divulgare tempestivamente, in forma definitiva o provvisoria, i risultati... more svolgono la funzione di divulgare tempestivamente, in forma definitiva o provvisoria, i risultati di ricerche scientifiche originali. La loro pubblicazione è soggetta all'approvazione del Comitato Scientifico.
Small Business Economics, 2015
This paper investigates the dynamics of productivity in a large sample of Italian manufacturing f... more This paper investigates the dynamics of productivity in a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms, focusing on the determinants of firm-level persistence in time of high total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates relative to the corresponding sectoral distributions. In particular, we assess the impact of both the internal characteristics of companies, including size and management strategies, and external systemic conditions, including business cycles and regional innovation performance. In order to disentangle the effects of the mix of internal and systemic factors in shaping firm-level persistence, we implement both transition probability matrices and dynamic probit models. Results reveal the presence of significant persistence in TFP growth rates. Such persistence turns out to be path-dependent since it is shaped by a number of complementary and contingent factors that locally affect the dynamics of the process.
This paper contributes the analysis of the persistence of innovation activities, as measured by t... more This paper contributes the analysis of the persistence of innovation activities, as measured by total factor productivity (TFP) and explores its internal and external determinants stressing its path dependent characteristics. The external conditions, namely the quality of local knowledge pools and the strength of the Schumpeterian rivalry, together with the internal conditions, that is the actual levels of dynamic capabilities, as proxied by the levels of wages and the size of firms, exert a specific and localized effect upon the persistent introduction of innovations. A Multiple Transition Probability Matrixes (MTPMs) approach has been implemented to grasp the contingent effects of external effects on the long-term innovation persistence. The empirical analysis of the dynamics of firm level TFP for a sample of about 7000 Italian manufacturing companies observed during the years1996-2005 is based on both the comparison of different transition probability matrixes and on dynamic discrete choice panel data models. The evidence provided by the test of MTPMs in sub-periods suggests that innovation persistence is path dependent, as opposed to past dependent.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 80 pp. 1523-1534.
Public policy plays a key role in supporting R&D activities and a variety of policy tools have be... more Public policy plays a key role in supporting R&D activities and a variety of policy tools have been applied to contrast the undersupply of technological knowledge including the provision of subsidies to private firms performing R&D activities. A large literature has identified the sources of 'government failures' in discretionary procedures in problems related to asymmetric information and the operation of interest groups. This paper explores the causes and effects of persistence in the discretionary allocation of public subsidies to R&D activities performed by private firms and elaborates a crucial distinction between vicious Matthew-effects and virtuous Matthew-effects. The latter identifies the role of dynamics increasing returns based upon accumulation of competence stemming from learning, learning to learn and knowledge cumulability. On the contrary vicious Matthew-effects lead to substitution of private funds with public ones and represent an additional source of 'government failure' which has not been specifically addressed by previous literature. The empirical analysis based upon Transition Probability Matrices, Probit regression and Propensity Score Matching tested the relevance of these arguments on a sample of about 750 Italian firms in the years 1998-2003. Our results show that the persistence in the discretionary allocation of public subsidies is relevant and that virtuous Matthew-effects prevail when a 'picking the winner strategy' is adopted by granting authorities. We conclude that while the decision to rely on discretionary incentives based on beauty context selection procedures may imply relevant costs, their benefits can be increased by pursuing a 'picking the winner strategy'.
We provide the background framework to the special section on systemic technology policy.We prese... more We provide the background framework to the special section on systemic technology policy.We present the special section illustrating the coherence of the contributions.We provide a short description of the papers included in the section.In this Introduction, we review the arguments that underpinned the workshop on which the special section is grounded and provide a structured sequence for the contents of the seven selected papers that comprise the section.
The aim of this essay is to analyse the evolution of the tax design for corporate taxation in Ita... more The aim of this essay is to analyse the evolution of the tax design for corporate taxation in Italy with specific reference to most recent reforms. A micro-simulation model applied to a large sample of Italian companies is built to estimate the effects of the introduction of the ACE in 2012. The analysis shows that the frequent attempts to modify the design of corporate taxation generated a high instability in this specific sector of the tax system rather than relevant effects in terms of economic growth. This result suggests that future tax changes should be more directly linked to capital accumulation by firms. JEL: H250, H320, H870
This paper contributes the analysis of the persistence of innovation activities, as measured by d... more This paper contributes the analysis of the persistence of innovation activities, as measured by different innovation indicators and explores its past and path dependent characteristics. The study provides new insights on the role of R&D investments in innovation persistence and analyses differentiated patterns of persistence across product and process innovation, by accounting for complementarity effects between the two types of innovative behaviour. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 451 Italian manufacturing companies observed during the years 1998–2006. Results highlight the relevance of innovation persistence. The highest level of persistence is found for R&D-based innovation activities, witnessing the actual presence of significant entry and exit barriers. Moreover, we obtain more robust evidence of persistence for product innovation than for process innovation when complementarity effects between the two types of innovation are accounted for.► The study offers new insights on the role of R&D in innovation persistence. ► The sample is based on 451 Italian companies for years 1998–2006. ► We found differentiated patterns of persistence for product and process innovation. ► Results confirm the path dependent character of innovation activities.
The paper explores the causes and effects of persistence in the discretionary allocation of publi... more The paper explores the causes and effects of persistence in the discretionary allocation of public subsidies to R&D activities performed by private firms in high-tech and low-tech industries. It applies the crucial distinction between past dependent reputation-Matthew-effects and path dependent competence-Mattheweffects. The former qualifies the persistence in the discretionary allocation of public subsidies in terms of sheer information externalities exclusively based upon previous awards. The latter is identified by the role of the accumulation of competence stemming from past grants in current R&D activities. The paper articulates and tests the hypothesis that knowledge cumulability matters in assessing whether vicious or virtuous Matthew effects prevail. Competence-Matthew-effects are identified by the actual increase of total R&D activities of the recipients of public grants in the past. Virtuous Matthew effects are found in high-tech industries where learning, learning to learn and knowledge cumulability are higher. In traditional industries, vicious Matthew effects prevail for the lower levels of knowledge cumulability. Here reputation-Mattheweffects can lead to substitution of private funds with public ones. A rich and detailed empirical analysis including Transition Probability Matrices, probit regression and Propensity Score Matching on a database of around 700 Italian firms in the years 1998-2003, confirms the hypothesis and suggests that the selective use of discretionary allocation should be applied in high tech industries. The identification and appreciation of the key role of knowledge cumulability can become a major target for an effective innovation policy
In this paper, using a sample of 1035 Italian manufacturing firms observed in the period 1998–200... more In this paper, using a sample of 1035 Italian manufacturing firms observed in the period 1998–2003, we try to disentangle the different potential determinants underlying the observed positive elasticity between investments and internal resources by accounting for both the ownership structure of the companies and the role played by financial intermediaries as both investors and debt-holders. We found evidence of an inverted U relationship between concentration of ownership and the elasticity of investment to cash flow. Moreover, the analysis shows that the relationship between investment decisions and internal funds is significantly influenced by monitoring efforts played by institutional investors.
The labour productivity impact of demand and innovation is investigated in this paper combining i... more The labour productivity impact of demand and innovation is investigated in this paper combining insights from the Kaldorian and Schumpeterian traditions. After a review of studies in such traditions, a general model is proposed for explaining productivity growth in European manufacturing and service industries in the late 1990s, followed by two distinct specifications for the industries oriented toward product innovation, and for those where process innovation dominates. The empirical analysis is based on the match of the SIEPI‐CIS2 database developed at the University of Urbino and Eurostat Input–Output Tables at the industry level, for 22 manufacturing sectors and 10 services sectors. Six European countries are considered: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The results show that productivity growth in European industries can be explained by a combination of technology factors and demand dynamics, confirming the complementarity of technology and demand effects. On the demand side, household consumption emerges as the most pervasive component of demand, able to stimulate greater efficiency in all manufacturing and service industries. Investment also has a role, focused however on the capital goods producing industries. On the technology side, the mechanisms of productivity growth are fundamentally different in the industries oriented towards product innovation and in those dominated by process innovation. This evidence supports the view that innovation in firms and industries can be associated to two contrasting strategies, searching either for technological competitiveness, through knowledge generation, product innovation and expansion of new markets, or aiming at greater cost competitiveness, through job reductions, labour saving investment, flexibility and restructuring.
[JEL Classification: O31, O33, O41]
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Books by Francesco Crespi
The Economics of Knowledge, Innovation and Systemic Technology Policy provides the background for the development of an integrated framework for the analysis of systemic policy instruments and their mutual interaction the socio-political and economic conditions of the surrounding environment. These aspects have long been neglected in innovation policy, as policymakers, academics and the business community, have mostly emphasized the benefits of supply side strategies. However, a better understanding of innovation policies grafted on a complexity-based approach calls for the appreciation of the mutual interactions between both supply and demand aspects, and it is likely to improve the actual design of policy measures.
This book will help readers to understand the foundations and working of demand-driven innovation policies by stressing the importance of compent and smart demand.
Journal articles by Francesco Crespi
The Economics of Knowledge, Innovation and Systemic Technology Policy provides the background for the development of an integrated framework for the analysis of systemic policy instruments and their mutual interaction the socio-political and economic conditions of the surrounding environment. These aspects have long been neglected in innovation policy, as policymakers, academics and the business community, have mostly emphasized the benefits of supply side strategies. However, a better understanding of innovation policies grafted on a complexity-based approach calls for the appreciation of the mutual interactions between both supply and demand aspects, and it is likely to improve the actual design of policy measures.
This book will help readers to understand the foundations and working of demand-driven innovation policies by stressing the importance of compent and smart demand.