Cooperative R&D and firm performance

We analyse the impact of R&D cooperation on firm performance differentiating between four types of R&D partners (competitors, suppliers, customers, and universities and research institutes), and considering two performance measures: labour productivity and productivity in innovative (new to the market) sales. Using data on a large sample of Dutch innovating firms in two waves of the Community Innovation Survey (1996, 1998), we examine the impact of R&D cooperation in 1996 on subsequent productivity growth in 1996–1998. The results confirm a major heterogeneity in the rationales and goals of R&D cooperation. Competitor and supplier cooperation focus on incremental innovations, improving the productivity performance of firms. University cooperation and again competitor cooperation are instrumental in creating innovations generating sales of products that are novel to the market, improving the growth performance of firms. Furthermore, customers and universities are important sources of knowledge for firms pursuing radical innovations, which facilitate growth in innovative sales in the absence of formal R&D cooperation.     

R&D spillovers, patents and the incentives to innovate in Japan and the United States

National surveys of R&D labs across the manufacturing sectors in the US and Japan show that intraindustry R&D knowledge flows and spillovers are greater in Japan than in the US and the appropriability of rents due to innovation less. Patents in particular are observed to play a more central role in diffusing information across rivals in Japan, and appear to be a key reason for greater intraindustry R&D spillovers there, suggesting that patent policy can importantly affect information flows. Uses of patents differ between the two nations, with strategic uses of patents, particularly for negotiations, being more common in Japan.     

欧盟框架计划中基础研究与科学传播结合的政策分析与启示

很多科技发达国家都将科学传播作为重大科研项目的有机组成部分,促进公众对科研项目的了解。欧盟框架计划主要通过两种途径来增进基础研究与科学传播的结合:设置独立的科学传播板块和在非科学传播项目中嵌入科学传播内容。本研究通过对欧盟框架计划项目中科学传播的政策分析,希望能够为中国重大科研项目中开展科学传播工作提供借鉴。     

Implementing R&D policies: an analysis of Spain's pharmaceutical research program

We analyze Spain's National Pharmaceutical Research Program using detailed firm-level data. We find differences between ex ante announced evaluation criteria and ex post implementation. This suggests that judging R&D programs on their design, rather than their implementation, may be misleading. We also uncover that the apparent discrimination against non-European firms can be interpreted as a premium to having local production facilities. Overall, the program values firms on the basis of criteria, such as R&D investment and patent spending, consistent with empirically tested measures of innovative activity.     

Heart of darkness: modeling public–private funding interactions inside the R&D black box

This paper is a first step toward closing the analytical gap in the extensive literature on the results of interactions between public and private R&D expenditures, and their joint effects on the economy. A survey focusing on econometric studies in this area reveals a plethora of sometimes confusing and frequently contradictory estimates of the response of company-financed R&D to changes in the level and nature of this category of public expenditures. Yet, a theoretical framework seldom is provided within which the empirical results are to be interpreted. Some such structure is necessary, in view of the multiple channels through which public research can affect private R&D performance, especially as not all the effects flow in the same direction. A major cause of “inconsistencies” in the empirical literature is the failure to recognize key differences among the various policy “experiments” being considered — depending upon the economy in which they are embedded, and the type of public sector R&D spending that is contemplated. Using a simple, stylized structural model, we identify the main channels of impact of public R&D. We thus can characterize the various effects, distinguishing between short- and long-run impacts that would show up in simple regression analyses of nominal public and private R&D expenditure variables. Within the context of our simple model it is possible to offer interpretations that shed light on recent cross-section and panel data findings at both high (i.e., national) and low (specific technology area) levels of aggregation.     

The ex ante assessment of knowledge spillovers: Government R&D policy, economic incentives and private firm behavior

This paper investigates the role of government R&D subsidy programs in stimulating knowledge spillovers. R&D subsidies are an effective public policy instrument when knowledge spillovers exist yet ex ante it is difficult to identify projects that have the greatest potential to increase innovation and economic growth. This paper derives a set of project and firm attributes that the literature finds generate knowledge spillovers and uses data on project proposals to estimate the degree to which a government R&D program conforms. We find that projects that were awarded R&D subsidies were more likely to have attributes such as participation in new research joint ventures and connections to universities and other firms. Following the post-award activities of firm, we find that receipt of a government R&D subsidy increased the funding from other sources when compared to firms that were not awarded funding.     

Deregulation, technology imports and in-house R&D efforts: an analysis of the Indian experience

This paper analyses the effects of the deregulation policy introduced in India in the mid-1980s on the relationship between technology imports and in-house R&D efforts. Using appropriate statistical techniques, it examines the interactions between policy regime, economic environment and the determinants of inter-industry variation in technology imports in Indian manufacturing. In doing so, it introduces R&D efforts as one of the main determinants. Literature suggests that there is simultaneity in the relationship between technology imports and R&D efforts. To tackle this problem, lagged R&D expenditure intensity is adopted as a proxy for in-house R&D efforts. The empirical results reveal that technology imports were only weakly related with the past in-house R&D efforts in the protective regime. Deregulation promoted complementarity between technology imports and R&D efforts significantly. The results also suggest that after deregulation, the impact of product differentiation, demand conditions and technology-related factors increased significantly in determining the inter-industry patterns of technology imports. Thus, unlike in a regulated regime where technology imports are viewed important for filling gaps in domestic technological capabilities, in a deregulated regime technology upgradation seems to be the major role of technology imports.     

R&D, higher education and regional growth: Uneven linkages among European regions

This paper examines the relationship between the economic growth of European regions and their knowledge and human capital endowments. The share of adult population with tertiary education and the intensity of R&D expenditures in value-added emerge as the most effective factors enhancing the growth of GDP per capita recorded, during 1995–2002, by the regions belonging to twelve countries of the former EU15. However, while the educational variable is effective for the whole regional set, the impact of R&D is significant only for the regions that are above a given threshold of per capita GDP. Moreover, remarkable disparities arise among the regions of different countries. In particular, only within North European countries there is a significant relationship between regional growth and the intensity of R&D and higher education. The policy implications of both findings are discussed.     

The interaction of R&D intensity and firm age: Empirical evidence from technology-based growth companies in the German “Neuer Markt”

This study examines the technology strategies of 88 technology-based growth companies that went public on the German “Neuer Markt” between 1997 and 2002. The regression analyses show significant positive effects of R&D on growth but negative effects on profitability. The data suggests that firm age is a moderating factor influencing whether technology investments lead to higher growth or profitability in the life cycle of technology-based growth companies. In our sample, higher R&D intensity led to increased sales growth but lower return on sales, but the growth effect was negative and the impact on profitability positive. These results support the significance of company life cycle theories for formulating technology strategies, which suggests that different stages in the development of technology-based firms call for specific levels of R&D intensity to sustain growth and profitability.     

Liberalisation and R&D in network industries: The case of the electricity industry

Electricity sector liberalisation has coincided with a significant decline in R&D spending. This paper reviews the industrial organisation literature on R&D and innovation to explore the likely causes of the decline in R&D spending in the electricity sector. Meanwhile, R&D productivity and innovative outputs in utilities and equipment suppliers appear to have improved. However, a lasting decline in R&D expenditure can have a negative long-term effect on technological progress and innovation in the sector. We conclude that the decline in R&D could have been predicted from the literature. We also discuss the need to reorient the post-liberalisation technology policy.     

Determinants of successful R&D cooperation in Japanese small businesses: The impact of organizational and contractual characteristics

Using original survey data on Japanese small businesses, this paper analyses the impact of the organizational and contractual characteristics of cooperative R&D, such as membership structure, partner relationship, external support, and rules of cost and outcome sharing, on the probability of the technological and commercial success of the project. Empirical results suggest that cooperative R&D is more successful, the higher the quality and quantity of external resources available through cooperation, and the lower the transaction and coordination costs required for such arrangements. Moreover, we found that the determinants of technological and commercial success differ considerably.     

Innovative R&D and optimal investment under uncertainty in high-tech industries: An implication for emerging economies

In order to continue on the path to convergence with advanced countries, emerging countries need to strengthen their research capabilities. Often they try to do this through the development of strategic industries. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the effectiveness of policies aimed at the development of strategic industries in emerging economies. The paper develops a three-phase model for product innovation with capital investment under uncertainty to study the investment decisions of a manufacturer in an industry facing a volatile market demand for new inventions. The findings demonstrate the importance of interactions between market structure, a firm's market power and the associated cost of adjustment. The paper draws out implications for emerging economies with regard to policies striving to develop strategic industries in sectors such as semiconductors and information technology.