The logic of appropriability: From Schumpeter to Arrow to Teece

This note expounds the abstract fundamentals of the appropriability problem, re-assessing insights from three classic contributions—those of Schumpeter, Arrow and Teece. Whereas the first two contributions were explicitly concerned with the implications of appropriability for society at large, Teece's main concern was with practical questions of business strategy and economic organization. This note argues that, his practical concerns notwithstanding, Teece contributed, en passant but fundamentally, to the clarification of basic questions that previous authors had addressed less comprehensively and less satisfactorily. Specifically, his analysis of the innovator's access to complementary assets, undertaken from a contracting perspective, can be seen as filling a significant gap in the previous theoretical discussion of appropriability.     

How much should society fuel the greed of innovators?: On the relations between appropriability, opportunities and rates of innovation

The paper attempts a critical assessment of both the theory and the empirical evidence on the role of appropriability and in particular of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) as incentives for technological innovation. We start with a critical discussion of the standard justification of the attribution of IPR in terms of “market failures” in knowledge generation. Such an approach, we argue, misses important features of technological knowledge and also neglects the importance of non-market institutions in the innovation process. Next, we examine the recent changes in the IPR regimes and their influence upon both rates of patenting and underlying rates of innovation. The evidence broadly suggests that, first, IPRs are not the most important device apt to “profit from innovation”; and second, they have at best no impact, or possibly even a negative impact on the underlying rates of innovation. Rather, we argue, technology- and industry-specific patterns of innovation are primarily driven by the opportunities associated with each technological paradigm. Conversely, firm-specific abilities to seize them and “profit from innovation” depend partly on adequacy of the strategic combinations identified by the taxonomy of [Teece, D., 1986. Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy. Research Policy 15, 285-305.] and partly on idiosyncratic capabilities embodied in the various firms.     

In search of complementary assets: The determinants of alliance formation of high-tech start-ups

Why do new technology-based firms (NTBFs) cooperate? Starting from Teece's [Teece, D.J., 1986. Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing, and public policy. Research Policy 15, 285-305] conceptual framework and taking advantage of subsequent literature on alliance formation in the resource and competence-based tradition and in the social structure perspective, we derive an empirical model that aims at highlighting the inducements and obstacles that these firms face in alliance formation according to firm-specific characteristics and the nature of the alliance. In particular, a distinction is made between exploitative commercial alliances and explorative technological alliances. The econometric estimates, based on a large sample of Italian young high-tech firms that are observed from 1994 to 2003, provide strong evidence supporting two key intuitions of Teece's work. First, the “combination of specialized complementary assets” appears to be a key driver of the formation of exploitative commercial alliances by NTBFs. More specifically, patent holding affects positively the likelihood to establish commercial alliances, but this propensity is found to rapidly decrease with firm size, suggesting that as long as NTBFs become larger and possess specialized commercial assets their urge for commercial alliances diminishes. Second, following the parallelism set forth by Teece between search for alliance partners and access to external financing, the analysis indicates that potentially beneficial alliances may not take place because of the high transaction costs faced by smaller NTBFs. In this respect, our results clearly support the view that sponsor institutions as public research organizations, venture and corporate venture capitalists may sensibly reduce these costs and that their role crucially depends on both the identity of the sponsor and the type of alliance.     

Reflections of David Teece's “Profiting from technological innovation…”

This paper builds on Teece's, 1986 paper to consider how appropriability conditions affect the ability of an industry, and the economy as a whole, to progress. In particular, it offers a careful discussion of the broader costs and benefits of patenting. Can too much appropriability actually work against the broader interests of society in fostering economic growth and technical advance in the market?     

Production technologies and financial performance: The effect of uneven diffusion among competitors

We explore the impact of a production technology on financial performance from the perspectives of technology diffusion and competitive strategy theory. We analyse how diffusion at firm and market levels influences the returns from the technology. We suggest that firm heterogeneity in the level of technology use leads to competitive advantages for relatively intensive adopters. We empirically test our propositions through the analysis of the diffusion of the Automated Teller Machine among Spanish savings banks between 1986 and 2004. Our results show that it is not the absolute but the relative level of use that drives the impact of the technology on profitability. Furthermore, as the technology is more intensively deployed in the market, the profitability of every firm decreases. Interestingly, in our empirical setting, this negative effect eventually leads to an aggregate negative impact on the profitability of the savings banks.     

大力推进技术创新体系建设

指出了技术创新是高风险,高回报的科研生产活动,提出了确立企业是技术创新的主体地位等５项措施促进创新体系建设和发展。     

信息技术扩散过程的经济学分析

运用微观经济学有关理论及分析方法,揭示了信息技术扩散过程中垄断利益的诱导规律以及扩散利益的作用。从新旧创新技术交替的厂商静态博弈分析、消费者需求动态分析来阐明信息技术扩散的动力、条件、持续时间及网络锁定效应等的作用机理。以期对企业及国家技术创新与扩散政策的制定提供理论依据。     

Innovation speed: Transferring university technology to market

This study extends innovation speed theory by empirically linking the antecedents and outcomes of technology commercialization at universities. Assessing university technology transfer offices (UTTOs) in the U.S., we found that the faster UTTOs can commercialize patent-protected technologies, the greater their licensing revenues streams and the more new ventures they spin off. Furthermore, using commercialization time as a surrogate for innovation speed, we identify several determinants of speed. That is, UTTO resources and the competency in identifying licensees are related to commercialization time. Also, the participation of faculty-inventors in the licensing process is a critical determinant of commercialization time. Illustrating that innovation speed is an antecedent of performance as well as a desired outcome in and of itself, provides support for innovation speed theory.     

略论创新文化建设

创新文化主要指的是在技术领域能够激发人们进行自主创新的文化,通过创新文化来创新技术,其实质是科学精神与人文精神的融合。本文论述了建设创新文化的主要内容与途径。     

企业技术创新风险分析

实践证明,技术创新风险越来越成为我国工业企业技术创新的障碍.本文分析了企业技术创新风险的来源,讨论了企业技术创新风险管理的主要内容,并对企业技术创新风险评价问题进行了详细探讨.     

抓住西部大开发的机遇 加强青海技术创新体系建设

分析了青海省开展技术创新工作现状,提出了今后发展的主要思路及近期需要开展的４项工作。     

绿色技术创新的组合激励研究

本文从环境问题的复杂性出发,分析了绿色技术创新决策受囿于特定的选择环境,并指出绿色技术创新的激励不仅涉及绿色技术的层次特性、创新主体的行为特征,而且需要各层次激励工具的组合与协同,得出了组合激励是一个进化过程     

中外技术管理(MOT)理论发展及对我国的启示

国外研究认为,技术管理(MOT)是以技术价值最大化为目标,从企业战略出发,将战略、技术创新与技术转化相结合,技术与经营管理相结合的方法。我国对国外MOT相关理论的引进尚处于起步阶段。深入分析中外MOT的理论发展历程,研究其理论与实践的内涵,并在此基础上剖析我国在MOT理论与实践中存在的问题,提出解决方案。     

“科创飞地”嵌入区域协同创新网络运行机理研究—以浙江新昌县为例

科创飞地是飞地经济模式的延伸和创新,具有区位特殊性、功能叠加性和运作方式特殊性的特点。本文分析科创飞地嵌入区域协同创新网络后的运行机理及其对创新网络的影响,并以浙江省新昌县的科创飞地为例进行实证研究。结果表明,科创飞地是区域协同创新网络的重要节点,嵌入区域协同创新网络之后,通过多重功能叠加组合降低了创新搜索成本、提高创新协同精准性,改变区域协同创新空间互动机理,提升网络运行效率和传导效应,为科技创新资源相对弱势地区开展科技创新提供良好途径。最后基于研究结论,提出结合产业类型、企业需求等在科技创新资源密集地区建立科创飞地、充分发挥市场机制在管理运营科创飞地中的决定性作用、搭建从创新孵化到产业化的链式服务平台以及建立科创飞地政策支撑体系等建议,为促进区域科技创新提供参考。     

美国高校在区域技术创新中的作用及其启示

从五个方面分析了美国高校在区域技术创新中的作用：为技术创新提供基础知识和技术支撑;为技术创新提供人力资本;注重创新与创业精神的培养,培养致力于技术创新的企业家;直接参与技术创新;通过科技第三产业为技术创新提供服务.对我国大学在技术创新中的作用进行了扼要的比较分析.     

城市技术创新能力评价指标筛选方法研究

本研究根据城市技术创新系统运行的结构模式 ,初步构造了城市技术创新能力的理论评价模型 ,并运用专家筛选法、相关分析法和评价指标的辨别力分析对该理论模型进行了实证分析和检验 ,在此基础上设计和开发了城市技术创新能力的评价体系     

生态技术创新选择环境的探讨

本文指出生态技术创新包括末端技术、工艺导向型技术和产品导向型技术创新,认为营造有利于生态技术发展的技术选择环境是设计组合激励手段,以有效地促进生态技术创新的前提条件。由此,本文运用经济学理论从成本和效益,价值与文化、信息传递机制等角度,阐述了不同类生态技术创新的选择环境。研究表明,生态技术创新的激励不应将整个技术系统视为黑箱,激励机制的设计应当针对不同类型的技术创新而有所侧重     

抓住机遇,开拓奋进,努力实现科技创新和科技进步的新突破

指出了科技教育事业在青海跨世纪发展中的重要地位和作用,提出 了全面推进科技体制了改革等３大措施,努力实现科技创新和科技进步的新突破。     

国际贸易与国际投资对中国企业技术创新影响的比较研究-基于创新数量和创新质量视角

借鉴C-D型生产函数,采用创新投入和创新产出指标衡量技术创新水平,构建包括对外直接投资、外商直接投资、出口贸易和进口贸易四个变量的双对数模型,利用2010—2019年省际面板数据,基于创新数量和创新质量维度研究国际贸易与国际投资对中国技术创新的影响。结果显示,对外直接投资和出口贸易都促进了中国创新投入数量的增加和创新产出质量的提高;外商直接投资对中国创新投入的数量和创新产出的质量产生较为明显的积极影响;进口贸易对中国创新投入与创新产出的数量和质量均没有显著的影响,但对西部地区创新产出的质量起到明显的负向作用。