Indicators for national science and technology policy: how robust are composite indicators?

This article addresses a set of issues that were central to Keith Pavitt's research, that is, the construction and use of tools to measure national innovative performance and to design national policies relating to innovation. It presents an overview of the development of science and technology (S&T) indicators and their use in national policy making and provides evidence of the vulnerability of composite S&T indicators to manipulation. A brief history of the development of S&T indicators begins with the role of the United States followed by their worldwide diffusion with particular emphasis on Europe. Newer developments towards composite indicators, benchmarking and scoreboarding are discussed. To investigate the robustness of innovation scoreboards empirically, a sensitivity analysis of one selected case is presented. It is shown that composite scores and country rank positions can vary considerably depending on the selection process. Thus, the use of scoreboards leaves room for manipulation in the policymaking system. Further research is needed on alternative methods of calculation to prevent their misuse and abuse.     

Scientists’ collaboration strategies: implications for scientific and technical human capital

“Scientific and technical human capital” (S&T human capital) has been defined as the sum of researchers’ professional network ties and their technical skills and resources [Int. J. Technol. Manage. 22 (7-8) (2001) 636]. Our study focuses on one particular means by which scientists acquire and deploy S&T human capital, research collaboration. We examine data from 451 scientists and engineers at academic research centers in the United States. The chief focus is on scientists’ collaboration choices and strategies. Since we are particularly interested in S&T human capital, we pay special attention to strategies that involve mentoring graduate students and junior faculty and to collaborating with women. We also examine collaboration “cosmopolitanism,” the extent to which scientists collaborate with those around them (one’s research group, one’s university) as opposed to those more distant in geography or institutional setting (other universities, researchers in industry, researchers in other nations). Our findings indicate that those who pursue a “mentor” collaboration strategy are likely to be tenured; to collaborate with women; and to have a favorable view about industry and research on industrial applications. Regarding the number of reported collaborators, those who have larger grants have more collaborators. With respect to the percentage of female collaborators, we found, not surprisingly, that female scientists have a somewhat higher percentage (36%) of female collaborators, than males have (24%). There are great differences, however, according to rank, with non-tenure track females having 84% of their collaborations with females. Regarding collaboration cosmopolitanism, we find that most researchers are not particularly cosmopolitan in their selection of collaborators—they tend to work with the people in their own work group. More cosmopolitan collaborators tend have large grants. A major policy implication is that there is great variance in the extent to which collaborations seem to enhance or generate S&T human capital. Not all collaborations are equal with respect to their “public goods” implications.     

China's innovation system reform and growing industry and science linkages

In this paper, linkages of S&T activities between industry and science are statistically investigated, based on a firm level dataset from an S&T survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the PRC of about 22,000 manufacturing firms. During the transition period of China's innovation system from 1996 to 2002, firms’ S&T outsourcing activities increased significantly. Econometrics analysis reveals that (1) “absorptive capacity” for S&T outsourcing becomes important over time, (2) innovation system reforms for more market-based competition work for better incentive scheme for innovation though S&T linkage activities and (3) government funding of S&T induces more S&T linkages.     

The emergence of S&T indicators: why did governments supplement statistics with indicators?

Science and technology (S&T) indicators are widely used in policy documents as well as in science and technology studies. This paper traces their origins and shows that it was the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that first imagined and developed science and technology indicators. In the 1960s, the debate on technological gaps between the United States and Europe gave the OECD the opportunity to develop the first world-wide indicators on science and technology. The National Science Foundation (NSF) followed in the 1970s and improved the methodology of indicators on science and technology with its publication entitled Science Indicators. Science and technology indicators remain contested however, because centered on inputs rather than outputs, and because preoccupied mainly with the economic dimension of science and technology.     

基于指标数值变化的科技评价模型及省份实证

根据"坚持以人为本,树立全面、协调、可持续的发展观,促进经济社会和人的全面发展"的科学发展观内涵,通过R聚类和因子分析建立中国省份科技评价指标体系。根据科技产出、科技对经济和社会的影响、科技投入等准则,通过指标数值变化方法确定指标权重,建立基于指标数值变化的科技评价模型,并采用我国14个典型省份2009年的科技数据进行实证研究。本文的创新及特色一是根据特定指标数值变化前、变化后两种状态对评价结果的影响程度来确定该指标的权重。体现对评价结果影响越大的指标、对应权重越大的赋权思路。改变现有研究在确定权重时忽略了指标值变化对评价结果影响程度大小的问题。二是万元GDP综合能耗、科技进步贡献率、工业固体废物综合利用率、高技术产品出口额、高技术产业总产值占工业总产值比重等五个评价指标对省份科技发展起着至关重要的作用。这五个评价指标的权重之和高达0.615 0。     

科技项目与科技型企业创新价值标准化评价研究与实践

本文是广东省科技计划项目《基于TME体系的科技项目与科技型企业创新价值标准化评价研究与应用》的方法总结,目的是探索科技项目与科技型企业创新价值标准化评估的新理论、新方法以及在实际工作中的应用效果。提出基于TME体系的评价模型并进行了深入的研究,并对TME体系的评价指标进行了多次迭代论证。根据评价模型及评价指标随机选取广东省有代表性的三家企业进行调研,采集被调研企业2015年-2017年间经营数据验证评价模型、评价指标的可用性和合理性。根据获得的客观数据,提出标准化评价体系的方案设计,依据TME、QQE、TIL、技术报表等评价工具,结合采集到的客观数据提出了若干评价指标,经历采集、挖掘、评价和分析各类指标数据,证明基于TME体系的标准化评价可以运用于科技项目和科技型企业创新价值评价。     

Measuring the change in R&D efficiency of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry

This paper presents a data envelopment analysis (DEA)/Malmquist index methodology for measuring the change in R&D efficiency at both firm and industry levels. Letting each of ten firms in each year be a separate decision-making unit, and employing one input and three outputs in a DEA case of R&D activity input-output lag, we measure “total factor R&D efficiency” change of Japanese pharmaceutical firms for decade 1983-1992 as defined by the period of R&D input. Decomposing Malmquist index into catch-up and frontier shift components and using “cumulative indices” proposed in this study, we evaluate R&D efficiency change for each firm and empirically show that R&D efficiency of Japanese pharmaceutical industry has almost monotonically gotten worse throughout the study decade.     

R&D cooperation and failures in innovation projects: Empirical evidence from French CIS data

The second French Community Innovation Survey (CIS) indicates that 14% of R&D collaborating firms had to abandon or delay their innovation projects due to difficulties in their partnerships, an outcome which we term “cooperation failures”. Controlling for sample selection on the cooperation decision, our estimates show that firms collaborating with competitors and public research organizations (PROs), especially when they are foreign, are more likely to delay or stop an innovation project because of difficulties encountered in their R&D partnerships. More surprisingly, firms collaborating with their suppliers also face a higher risk of “cooperation failures”. At least for PROs, firms can reduce the risk of “cooperation failures” through previous experiences in partnerships. Larger firms and group subsidiaries are less likely to face “cooperation failures”, and so do firms in industries with a strong appropriability regime.     

基于熵权-G1法的科技评价模型及实证研究

 利用客观赋权的熵权法和主观赋权法的G1法对指标进行组合赋权,建立了基于组合赋权法的科学技术综合评价模型,并对中国2000-2005年期间的科技发展进行了评价。本文的特色与创新一是构建了包含治理工业污染投资等反映科学发展观的评价指标体系。二是在G1法确定指标权重时,对准则层和各指标层分别用G1法赋权,解决G1法直接对指标层赋权、无法对准则层进行评价与排序的问题。三是对主观赋权G1法与客观赋权熵权法得到的权重组合赋权。这就避免了现有研究的客观赋权法无法反映专家经验、或主观赋权法无法反映客观条件变化的双重弊端。     

National innovation systems, capabilities and economic development

This paper focuses on the role of capabilities in economic development. In recent years, the quality and availability of data on different aspects of development have improved, and this provides new opportunities for investigating the reasons behind the large differences in economic development. Using factor analysis on data for 25 indicators and 115 countries between 1992 and 2004, we identify four different types of “capabilities”: the development of the “innovation system”, the quality of “governance”, the character of the “political system” and the degree of “openness” of the economy. Innovation systems and governance are shown to be of particular importance for economic development.     

R&D support programs in developing countries: The Turkish experience

In this study, the determinants of private R&D investment are examined at the level of firms in the Turkish manufacturing industry. We focus our attention on the effect of public R&D support programs. Our findings indicate that public R&D support significantly and positively affects private R&D investment. There seems to be even an “acceleration effect” on firm-financed R&D expenditures. Smaller R&D performers benefit more from R&D support and perform more R&D. In addition, technology transfer from abroad and domestic R&D activity show up as complementary processes. Given the scarcity of studies on R&D support in technologically weaker economies, our hope is that the less-developed countries can exploit these findings in constructing socially beneficial technology policies.     

Today's Edisons or weekend hobbyists: technical merit and success of inventions by independent inventors

We set out to determine if independent inventors can be considered “heroes” or “hobbyists”, that is, if they produce the most or the least influential inventions in a product category. We study patented inventions by independent and firm-based inventors by comparing patents along four dimensions: Patent citation impact, detail, scope, and maintenance. Examining 225 tennis racket patents granted in the US between 1981 and 1991, we find that independent inventors are a heterogeneous group who generate inventions that are overrepresented both among the most impactful and the least impactful patents. The metrics we develop provide insight into ex ante identification of the importance of inventions.     

What determines patent value?: Insights from the semiconductor industry

This paper contributes to an understanding which impacts certain patent characteristics have on the value of patent rights. In an exploratory study, 127 individual patents from a semiconductor company were evaluated comprehensively by technical and marketing representatives. The analysis of this rare data shows that for patents used as “bargaining chips”, novelty and inventive activity are most important. Difficulty of inventing around and disclosure turn out to be of limited importance. Due to a selection bias the influence of patent age on its value cannot be determined. The results hint at a differentiated theoretical plausibility of value indicators.     

The dispersion of technology and income in Europe: Evolution and mutual relationship across regions

The first part of this article explores whether convergence has occurred in technology and income across EU regions during the period 1990-2002. The second part evaluates whether these two processes of convergence are related to each other. With respect to the first question, we find that all R&D indicators and patents have converged among regions during the 1990s and this has ran parallel to a real convergence in income per capita levels. Regarding the second question, we have identified a strong relationship between the distribution of technology indicators and the distribution of regional income in Europe. Our main result is that convergence in business R&D leads to convergence in patents, which in turn leads to convergence in income per capita. Although, we identify a role for government R&D and higher education spending in this process, the policy implications for these two variables are less clear.     

技术创新影响产业结构的空间传导路径分析

在理论分析技术创新影响产业结构优化升级路径的基础上,构建技术创新评价指标,引入三种不同类型空间权重,选取2000-2015年我国30个省级面板数据进行空间杜宾模型实证检验,结果表明：技术创新不仅促进了本地产业结构,还有助于邻近地区合理化发展,但对邻近地区高级化的抑制作用和促进作用并存;省域间技术创新和产业结构具有显著空间相关性,产业结构高级化存在正向溢出效应而产业结构合理化却有着负向溢出效应;技术创新能够通过一条直接路径和空间效应形成的三条间接路径作用于本地及其他地区产业结构;技术创新对产业结构的作用方向和强度存在较大区域差异。据此,加强技术创新提升产业结构结构的“先富带后富”,是可以通过政策引导实现的。     

模糊层次分析法在图书馆总体服务质量评价中的应用

模糊层次分析法在科学地分析比较服务质量一系列评价指标重要程度基础上,从高层到低层依次构造判断矩阵,利用数学方法进行指标权重计算,进一步利用指标权重进行服务质量综合评价;综合评价是从低层到高层依次构造评价矩阵,利用数学模型M(.,+)计算出综合评价结果。     

How do collaborations with universities affect firms’ innovative performance? The role of “Pasteur scientists” in the advanced materials field

This article aimed to identify the effect of university-industry (U-I) collaborations on the innovative performance of firms operating in the advanced materials field, and by doing so, it proposed an original classification of the research organization partners. The main contribution resides in the estimation of the role played by collaborations with differently experienced scientists. In contrast with previous studies, whose empirical setting was the life science industry, in the advanced materials industry the most effective collaborations are not with “Star scientists”, but with “Pasteur scientists”. The latter concept was empirically tested first by the authors of this article, to deepen the present understanding of industrial heterogeneity in innovation processes and to offer new insights for the formulation of corporate innovation strategies. The results of the estimation of a negative binomial regression model applied to a sample of 455 firms active in the photocatalysis in Japan confirm the idea that engaging in research collaborations, measured as co-invention, with “Pasteur scientists” increases firms’ R&D productivity, measured as number of registered patents. In contrast, we found that firms’ collaborations with “Star scientists” exert little impact on their innovative output.     

我国商业银行效率的评估与分析——基于傅立叶变换成本函数的研究

选取我国14家主要商业银行2005年- 2009年的面板数据,估计了基于傅立叶变换的成本函数参数,并利用影子输入价格得到我国14家主要商业银行输入成本的配置参数之比.结合环境变量时我国银行业发展的影响,计算了我国14家主要商业银行2009年的技术效率,配置效率,综合效率及规模效率,进行比对分析,并为今后我国银行业的发展提出了相关建议.     

Learning for learning economy and social learning

Failure to meet the preferences and needs of users has been consistently stressed as a major cause of unsuccessful R&D for over 30 years. Yet little seems to change. An important element in this “producer-user paradox” is a lack of frameworks able to inform empirical research and the work that people do when they bridge designing, implementing, using and managing new technology. “Learning economy” and “social learning in technological innovation” appear promising as such integrative frameworks not least due to their emphasis on learning between producers and users. The present paper examines the value in the way learning is treated in these frameworks for empirical research and for the practitioners, and to this aim contrasts these frameworks to findings from a line of studies on learning between producers and users of new health technologies.     

变异系数加权的组合赋权模型及科技评价实证

通过R聚类剔除反映信息重复的指标,利用因子分析遴选对科技评价影响较大的指标,构建了能够反映科学发展观内涵的科技评价指标体系。在此基础上,利用变异系数对主观G1权重、客观余弦夹角权重进行组合加权,建立了基于变异系数加权的组合赋权模型,并对中国14个典型的省份科技评价数据进行了实证。创新与特色:一是通过变异系数对主观G1权重、客观余弦夹角权重进行加权,构建了变异系数加权后组合权重最大的目标函数,进而确定了主、客观权重的组合系数θ_1、θ_2,反映了组合赋权中主、客观权重分布变异性越大、权重越大的赋权思路。弥补了现有组合赋权中主、客观权系数相等,无法有效反映专家知识经验和客观数据差异的不足。二是实证研究表明:科技投入不足是制约江西、广西两省科技发展较差的主要因素;科技对经济与社会的影响偏弱是制约四川省科技发展的关键因素;科技产出不足是制约黑龙江、山东、河南三省科技发展的瓶颈因素。