R & D in Israeli industry

This paper deals with several aspects of R & D activity in Israel's manufacturing industries on three levels — the economy, industrial branch and the firm. Relative to other industrial countries, Israel is characterized by a high share of R & D expenditure in GNP but a low level of industrial R & D. If we take registered patents as an indicator of R & D output no significant correlation is found between this measure and expenditure on R & D; this may point to a low level of success or to the nature of R & D being directed more to small improvements of existing products and processes than to new inventions. An inter-industry analysis shows that R & D expenditure is positively correlated with average firm size and capital per employee and negatively correlated with concentration ratio. A positive correlation was also found with respect to increase in sales and export per employee but not with the rate of growth of export. Although most R & D is performed by large companies there is no significant correlation between R & D expenditure and firm's size among firms engaged in R & D, nor between R & D expenditure and firm's profitability. Concerning the relationship between domestic R & D and imports of technology a tentative conclusion is that Israel does not derive sufficient benefit from the international stock of knowledge.     

Recoupment of government R&D expenditures: issues and practices in the USA

Recently there have been discussions in the US concerning the implementation of a recoupment policy for government expenditures on R & D.The basic questions in developing recoupment policies can be stated as: (1)“it appropriate to seek recoupment of government-supported R & D when such R & D subsequently is utilized to generate private profits? (2) If so, what options exist?”In addressing the first question, the authors develop some pro and con arguments with respect to recoupment. The authors conclude that there are no easy criteria for judging whether and when recoupment of government expenditures on R & D is appropriate. There is currently inadequate information about, and analyses of, the benefits and costs of a recoupment policy upon which to base a policy design. Reasonable people may disagree both on general criteria and on specific cases.In addressing the second question, a review of foreign programs that incorporate recoupment provisions was made to see what lessons they might provide for the US. Programs with recoupment provisions do not represent a major part of total government expenditures on R & D, although in some countries and time periods they have been a significant part of government expenditures on civilian, industry-related R & D, especially in selected industries. When employed, recoupment policies do not seem on average to have been particularly successful.     

奖惩机制下废弃电器电子产品回收处理商合作研发决策研究

为研究奖惩机制与回收处理商创新研发决策之间的相互影响,考虑存在技术溢出效应和回收竞争,构建有无奖惩机制下回收处理商独立研发与合作研发的4种决策模型。研究表明:无论政府是否实施奖惩,回收处理商合作研发时的利润始终不小于独立研发时的利润,而研发水平的相对高低与技术溢出率和奖惩力度有关;当回收处理商合作研发时,奖惩机制总可以激励回收处理商提高研发水平,而回收处理商是否获得更优的利润,受到技术溢出率和奖惩力度的影响。     

R&D,patenting and innovative activities: A statistical exploration

Better understanding of, and policies towards, technical change, requires better measurement of technical change. No single measure is perfect. Taken together, statistics on R&D and on patenting activities give important clues about the rate and direction of innovative activities, and also show the dangers of too hasty interpretation based on one measure. They both show a neavy concentration of innovative activities in chemicals and engineering (electrical, electronic and non-electrical) sectors; relatively rapid growth of innovative activities in drugs, scientific instruments and food products, and slow growth in aerospace and electrical products, in the USA between 1963 and 1974. They both show relatively high levels of innovative activities in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, and relatively rapid rates of increase in Japan and Sweden between 1967 and 1975. They also show the strong association in the chemicals and engineering industries between the levels of innovative activities and of export competitiveness.On the other hand, taken together they suggest that patent statistics underestimate innovative activities in large firms, and that R&D statistics do so in small firms. This casts doubt on widely held assumptions about diminishing rates of innovative activity in very large firms, and about the non-electrical machinery and fabricated metal products sectors as “traditional” and “non-innovative” industries. Four factors are put forward to explain differences in what is shown by the patent and by the R&D measures: First, competitive behaviour, with smaller firms making a relatively greater use of patents, and bigger firms of R&D activities; second, different degress of specialisation and formalisation of innovative activities in and around R&D departments; third, variation across sectors in the degree to which patents measure an increment of technical improvement; fourth, institutional factors in aerospace and other defence-related sectors, and in motor vehicles, where patenting is low and the proportion of routine testing in R&D comparatively high.     

The obsession for competitiveness and its impact on statistics: the construction of high-technology indicators

High technology is a concept much in vogue in OECD countries, for it is a symbol of an “advanced” economy. This paper looks at why and how the concept and its indicator acquired such fame. It explains that the reason has to do with the fact that the indicator emerged in the context of debates on the competitiveness of countries and their efforts to maintain or improve their positions in world trade. The first part looks at the early statistics behind the indicator (R&D/sales), statistics developed in official analyses of industrial R&D surveys before the 1950s. The second part traces the evolution of the R&D/sales ratio in the 1960s through its use as an indicator of research or technological intensity. The third part discusses the internationalization of the indicator via the OECD.     

Liberalization, outward orientation and in-house R&D activity of multinational and local firms: A quantitative exploration for Indian manufacturing

In an increasingly globalizing and knowledge-based world economy, the declining importance of R&D activity in India is a matter of concern. This paper analyzes the determinants of R&D behaviour of Indian enterprises over the 1990s in the context of the reforms of 1991 and their impact on the R&D behaviour of MNE affiliates and local enterprises. The analysis suggests that although average levels of spending have fallen, increased competition due to liberalization seems to have pushed local firms to rationalize their R&D activity and make it more efficient. Also, R&D spending seems to rise more than proportionally with firm size after a certain threshold level has been reached. The analysis brings out differences in the nature of R&D activity of MNE affiliates and local firms. Local firms direct their R&D activity primarily towards the assimilation of imported technology, and to providing a backup to their outward expansion via exports and FDI. MNE affiliates, on the other hand, focus on exploiting the advantages of India as an R&D platform for their parents. The paper is concluded with some policy implications of the findings.     

基于专利地图的企业研发定位方法及实证研究

 专利情报分析是企业研发定位的关键,基于专利地图信息整合功能,构建企业研发定位分析框架,并以哈尔滨医药集团为例系统阐述了企业研发战略分析与选择方法,同时给出了哈尔滨医药集团研发战略,旨在从专利视角为企业研发战略管理提供理论方法指导与实例参考。     

A note on the implementation and use of models for r&d planning

Several advanced methods have been developed to aid managers in the selection of which new product ideas they should develop. By examining some empirical studies it is shown that only very simple quantitative methods (if any) are used.This situation is discussed by considering some specific properties of the new product development process, some results from empirical studies concerning how firms actually behave when selecting new products and some recent studies concerning implementation of quantitative methods in general (mainly in contexts other than R & D).Finally some suggestions are made concerning how implementation of R & D models can be facilitated.     

Application of ppbs to r&d planning

As R & D are the main sources of social and economic progress, decisions in the field of scientific research cannot be taken on the basis of scientific criteria alone. The goal and programme oriented planning process of PPBS facilitates the orientation of R & D planning along extra-scientific criteria and leads to a more efficient use of the means available.PPBS, however, neglects the problem of operationalisation of goals. As the ‘national goals’ are regarded as given and the operational goals leading to their realisation as easily deducible, the planning process starts on too low a level.The integration of research planning into the comprehensive mean-term planning of governmental goal achievement requires the inclusion of future R & D activities into the planning process. Only then can the priority of the individual R & D goals and their relationship with general political goals to whose fulfillment they contribute be assessed correctly.     

Government policies towards industrial innovation: a review

Existing economic theories show that continuing innovation, diffusion, and technical and managerial improvement are necessary for economic growth and international competitiveness in the industrially advanced countries. But knowledge of why, where and how governments should intervene in the processes of industrial innovations stems more from trial and error than from systematic empirical information of the nature and extent of the hindrances to economically and socially desirable innovations, and of the effectiveness of alternative government policies to remove them. Nonetheless, past empirical studies do offer some clues.Differences amongst industrial sectors. The sources of new technology vary widely amongst inustrial sectors: in the costs of innovation, in the relative importance of outside suppliers of equipment and materials, of large and small firms, and of full-time R & D departments as compared to part-time innovative activities (sect. 7, 8). Similarly, the conditions for successful innovation vary amongst sectors (sect.6). Thus, government policies designed to influence innovation are likely to act with different intensities in different industries.The management of innovation. Nonetheless, there are some features common to innovation in different industries. Considerable costs beyond R & D are often necessary before the innovations reach commercial use (sect.4). And the following managerial characteristics are in general associated with successful innovation: a deliberate policy of seeking innovations; close and careful attention to customer requirements; good personal communications both within the firm and with outside sources of relevant knowledge; a style of management that is ‘organic’ and ‘participatory’ rather than ‘hierarchical’ and ‘authoritarian’; strong project leadership; and a strong engineering capability (sect. 6).R & D managers are still unable to predict the outcome of R & D projects to a useful degree of accuracy and, in the literature on methods of project selection, very little attention is paid to market uncertainties. Furthermore, a greater use of conventional investment appraisal criteria in deciding on R & D projects may re-inforce the already observed tendency in industry towards short-term, low-risk projects, to the neglect of longer-term, high-risk projects (sect. 5).Governments should therefore examine whether the benefits of policies towards education and management advisory services for innovation might outweigh their costs. They may also have a significant role to play in financing longer-term research that is basic to the development of industrial technology (subsect. 12.5).The nature of market and production demands. The direction of industrial innovation is often very sensitive to market and production demands (sect. 3). This fact, together with the high degree of market uncertainty facing innovating firms (sect. 5), suggest that governments can potentially influence both the pace and the direction of industrial innovation through their influence on the scale of industrial, consumer and public service demands. However, this potential influence will become real only if users of innovations are able to specify the innovations that they need, or to evaluate those that they get. This is generally the case for industrial demand, but not in consumer and public service markets, where fashion, insensitivity to users' needs and lack of technical competence often prevail. Government-funded technological institutes and laboratories are ideally placed to provide such technical competence (sub-sect. 12.3).Economic incentives and rewards for innovation. A whole range of economic factors are said to influence the resources, the incentives and the rewards for innovation: for example, the degree of monopoly or the degree of competition, the patent system, the level of profits, the level of taxation, and the level of demand. The empirical evidence on the effects of most of these factors on industrial innovation is either inconclusive or non-existent. However, in the USA a close relationship has been observed between growth of industry sales and growth of industry-financed R & D activities (sect. 10). The rate of growth of demand is also one of the key factors influencing the rate of diffusion of innovations amongst their potential population of users (sects. 11, 12.2).The government-financed scientific and technological infrastructure. Scientific and technological knowledge from outside of innovating firms is often crucial to the completion of successful innovations, and three UK studies show that a significant proportion of this outside knowledge comes from government-financed technological institutes and laboratories, and from the universities (sect. 3). If the same is true in other countries, it should be an essential feature of any government policy towards industrial innovation to know how effectively government-funded laboratories and universities provide supportive knowledge to industry, and how government laboratories should be organised and financed (subsect. 12.4).Direct government-financing of innovative activities in industry. Governments specifically finance R & D activities in industrial firms, although these expenditures are less than those for general industrial development (sect. 13). These R & D activities in industry are relatively more important in France and UK, than in F.R. Germany and the Netherlands.In the four countries, more than 70% of all civilian government R & D activities related to industry are spent on aircraft, space, nuclear energy and electronics (subsect. 14.4). In all these high technologies, governments attempted in the 1960's to implement ‘policies for innovation’, involving government procurement, industrial mergers and attempts at European co-operation, in addition to the financing of R & D (subsect. 14.5). Government expenditures on civilian R & D related to other industrial sectors are very much smaller in all four countries (subsect 14.4).Where should governments intervene? A, number of attempts have been made to develop a formal framework of criteria to assist governments in deciding where they should intervene in industrial innovation. They all run into the following difficulties: dealing with multiple policy objectives; assessing national costs and benefits; comparing with alternative policies, choosing appropriate policy instruments (sect. 17).How should governments intervene? Very little information is available on the effectiveness of various policy instruments that have been used by governments in order to promote innovation in industry. Although it is often possible to measure the inputs into such policies, the measurement of their outputs (or results) is more difficult. Nonetheless, detailed studies would enable some such measurements to be made, and internationally comparable studies would increase the range of experiences and the number of cases that could be examined (sect. 18).Why should governments intervene? A full appreciation of the nature and scale of hindrances to industrial innovation, on which governments should act to remove, requires direct information on what innovations are (or are not) being introduced by industry, and why they are (or are not) being inyroduced. This information can best be obtained from analyses of the behaviour of industrial firms. They would differ from most existing innovation studies that concentrate on asking how firms must behave in order to make successful innovation, by asking what innovations are attempted, and why firms are stimulated to attempt them (sect. 19).     

Research activity,output growth and productivity increase in Japanese manufacturing industries

The contribution of R & D expenditures to the productivity increase in Japanese manufacturing industries is investigated. With a popular single-equation approach, this contribution was found to be not only significant in all of the three periods, (1960–1966, 1966–1973 and 1973–1977), but also to exceed that estimated for the United States. However, when a simulataneous-equations approach was used to allow for an interaction between the learning effect (output growth enhancing productivity increase through the accumulation of experience) and the price effect (productivity increase stimulating output growth through a declining price), the results suggested not only the importance of these two effects but also the over-evaluation of the contribution of R & D in the usual ordinary least-squares estimation.     

What determines overseas R&D activities? The case of Japanese multinational firms

This paper explores what factors determine the nature, extent, and location of Japanese multinationals’ R&D activities abroad. Taking advantage of a rich micro-level dataset from the survey on Japanese overseas subsidiaries, the study distinguishes between two types of overseas R&D: basic/applied research and development/design. We find several differences between the determinants of those R&D activities. These differences confirm the view that basic/applied research of overseas subsidiaries aims at the exploitation of foreign advanced knowledge, whereas their development/design activities are mostly influenced by the market size of the host country. Our results provide a convincing and comprehensive explanation of the geographical distribution of overseas R&D by Japanese MNEs.     

Taiwanese IT firms’ offshore R&D in China and the connection with the global innovation network

Although it is evident that technology is becoming increasingly globalized, resulting in the expansion of R&D internationalization by firms, despite this discernible trend, the substantial body of literature in this area is based mainly on the experience of the developed country. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of this issue by examining the R&D internationalization of a newly-industrializing country, Taiwan being a prime example, and its connection with the global production network. We begin with an examination of the literature on R&D internationalization and globalization, based upon which we propose a conceptual framework adapted from Dunning’s eclectic paradigm. In doing so, we set out to develop arguments based not only on the reasons why cross-strait R&D internationalization may be undertaken by Taiwanese information technology (IT) firms, but also the likely patterns of their R&D portfolios across the strait. Drawing on an original questionnaire survey and firm-level interviews, the paper presents and discusses empirical data on the cross-strait R&D deployment of Taiwanese IT firms. It then goes a stage further, using the ‘smiling curve’, to put forward a ‘holistic’ view of the cross-border innovation network in the IT hardware industry, in order to determine what cross-strait R&D internationalization means to the global production network.     

内部社会资本、二元学习与研发团队创造力

团队成员工作积极性不高与创造力不够是阻碍研发团队创新的最大问题,良好关系下的团队成员知识交流与思维碰撞对于研发团队创造力至关重要。以二元学习为中介变量,知识异质性为调节变量,构建了内部社会资本影响研发团队创造力的有调节的中介效应模型。采用结构方程模型,基于308个研发团队的数据的实证研究发现：结构资本和认知资本对研发团队创造力的直接影响显著,而关系资本对研发团队创造力的直接影响不显著;二元学习在结构资本及认知资本与研发团队创造力的关系中扮演部分中介角色,而在关系资本与研发团队创造力的关系中扮演完全中介角色;知识异质性正向调节二元学习中介效应。本研究有助于加强对团队创造力影响因素及作用机理的了解,也为提高研发团队创造力提供借鉴。     

政府研发补贴、国家审计和企业创新——基于中央企业控股上市公司的实证研究

以国家审计为切入点，选取2007—2016年中央企业控股上市公司为研究对象，基于审计署公布的审计公告这一事件构造准自然实验环境，采用多时点倍分法探讨国家审计对研发补贴政策激励效应的影响。研究发现，政府的研发补贴政策能显著促进企业研发投入，国家审计强化了政府研发补贴对企业研发投入的促进作用；并且，国家审计是通过监督作用和激励作用两种渠道改善研发补贴政策激励效应的。研究结论从外部监督和激励视角为理解国有企业研发补贴低效率之谜提供新的解释，为建立和健全我国国家审计制度提供参考。     

新型研发机构参与主体的合作策略选择——演化博弈视角

在有限理性假设前提下,利用演化博弈模型探究了新型研发机构中各参与主体之间合作策略的选择问题。通过分析多元主体收益支付矩阵,求解复制动态方程和雅可比矩阵,得到模型局部均衡点,从而得出随着时间变化参与各方最终的策略选择,并通过数值模拟仿真验证博弈系统策略演化趋势,同时梳理了合作创新下新型研发机构策略选择的影响因素。在此基础上,文章从合作模式、企业需求和政策环境等角度,提出实现新型研发机构可持续发展的策略建议。     

Information processing,evaluation, and utilization: The role of academic libraries in research and development (R & D) in Zambia

The study attempts to apply J.R. Bettman's consumer choice theory to the concept of information processing, evaluation and utilization within the present and future Zambian context. Central to this is the belief that information is a marketable commodity and is one that is critically essential in all activities relating to research and development (R & D) in Zambia. However, the author argues that unless there are discernible changes in the traditional attitudes and cultural values among Zambians, information processed and organized by academic libraries in Zambia will never be fully utilized even in research and development activities.     

Freerider behaviour and the public finance of R&D activities in enterprises: the case of the Spanish low interest credits for R&D

This paper analyses the freeriding behaviour in the case of public finance for R&D activities in enterprises. It will start with a brief discussion about the concept of freeriding and its importance to justify public support measures and offers a review of the methods, indicators and results reflected in the evaluation studies.In the second part of the paper, the impact of the Spanish low interest credits for R&D projects for individual firms will be analysed. A profile of the “freerider firms” will be offered, defined as those supported firms whose innovative efforts do not depend on public aid and probably would or could have carried out the same level of innovative activities without public support. Moreover, the paper presents some evidence that firms with a freerider behaviour show a lower level of goal achievement related to their technical and commercial objectives and consider the learning effects as less important than the other firms. This could suggest, indirectly, that freeriders generate fewer externalities available for the production system as a whole—than the non-freerider firms.     

R&D price indexes and real R&D expenditures in the United States

The rate of inflation in R&D is very difficult to measure. The official government statistics in the United States use the GNP deflator to deflate R&D expenditures. Little is known about the extent to which price indexes for R and D inputs, if they were constructed in various industries, would differ from the GNP deflator. This paper reports the findings of a study that attempts to fill this important gap. Laspeyres price indexes are presented both for R and D inputs and for inputs used in other stages of the innovation process. Also, price indexes for R and D inputs are constructed, assuming that the relevant production function is Cobb-Douglas. On the basis of the results, we estimate the extent and direction of the errors in the official R&D statistics due to the use of the GNP deflator.Our findings, based on detailed data obtained from firms accounting for about one-ninth of all company-financed R&D in the U.S., indicate that the GNP deflator underestimated the rate of price increase for R&D inputs during 1969–1979 in practically every industry we studied. The bulk of the apparent increase in real R&D in these industries (which was relatively modest in any event) seems to have been due to the inadequacies of the GNP deflator. One important moral seems to be that more attention and resources should be devoted to the construction of better price indexes for R&D.     

Globalization of R&D by US-based multinational enterprises

This paper examines patterns and determinants of overseas R&D investment by US-based manufacturing MNEs using a new panel dataset over the period 1990–2004. The analysis reveals that R&D intensity of operation of US MNE affiliates is determined mainly by the domestic market size, overall R&D capability and cost of hiring R&D personnel. There is no evidence to suggest that R&D specific incentives have a significant impact on inter-country differences in R&D intensity when controlled for other relevant variables. Overall, our findings cast doubts on the efficacy of efforts by host country governments to entice MNE affiliates to engage in domestic R&D activity, in a context where R&D is becoming a truly global activity.