“Stacking” and “picking” inventions: The patenting behavior of European inventors

By using a sample of 793 inventors drawn from the PatVal-EU dataset, this paper explores three aspects of patent production at the individual inventor level: (1) the number of EPO patents that the inventors produce; (2) the average value of their inventions; (3) the production of the most valuable patents. By jointly estimating the three equations we find that the inventors’ level of education, employment in a large firm, and involvement in large-scale research projects positively correlate with quantity. Yet, apart from the size of the research project, none of these factors directly influence the expected value of the inventions. They do, however, have an indirect influence, as we find that the number of patents explains the probability of producing a technological hit (the maximum value). Also, there is no regression to the mean in the invention process at an individual level, as the number of inventions that an inventor produces is not correlated with the average value.     

The evolution of local production systems: the emergence of the “invisible mind” and the evolutionary pressures towards more visible “minds”

The aim of this paper is to propose an explanation of the changes of dynamic matching between systemic properties of local production systems (LPS) and characteristics of the competitive environment. An evolutionary sequence travelled during the last three decades by Italian LPS is identified and an explanation of long-term dynamics is based on how information flows and knowledge are structured within a local environment. The “traditional” pattern of interlocking behaviours of different agents is defined as cognitive architecture, which evolutionarily emerges as invisible mind. Evolutionary pressures lead new patterns of relationships and interlocking behaviours, which we define as a tendency for more visible “minds” to assert themselves.     

Reaching for the “cloud”: How SMEs can manage

Cloud computing is an emerging new computing paradigm for delivering computing services. The approach relies on a number of existing technologies e.g., the Internet, virtualization and grid computing. However, the provision of this service in a pay-as-you-go way through the popular medium of the Internet renders this computing service approach unique compared with currently available computing service modalities. This article highlights some aspects of this uniqueness and also explores some of the concerns that might be preventing some companies from adopting it. Notwithstanding these concerns, it is argued in this article that cloud computing is likely to prove commercially viable for many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to its flexibility and pay-as-you-go cost structure, particularly in the current climate of economic difficulties. A case study of a cloud experience by a British SME is also presented in this study in order to further highlight the perceived values of cloud computing in terms of cost and efficiency for real small enterprises.     

“Pyramiding: Efficient search for rare subjects”

The need to economically identify rare subjects within large, poorly mapped search spaces is a frequently encountered problem for social scientists and managers. It is notoriously difficult, for example, to identify “the best new CEO for our company,” or the “best three lead users to participate in our product development project.” Mass screening of entire populations or samples becomes steadily more expensive as the number of acceptable solutions within the search space becomes rarer.The search strategy of “pyramiding” is a potential solution to this problem under many conditions. Pyramiding is a search process based upon the idea that people with a strong interest in a topic or field tend to know people more expert than themselves. In this paper we report upon four experiments empirically exploring the efficiency of pyramiding searches relative to mass screening. We find that pyramiding on average identified the most expert individual in a group on a specific topic with only 28.4% of the group interviewed - a great efficiency gain relative to mass screening. Further, pyramiding identified one of the top 3 experts in a population after interviewing only 15.9% of the group on average. We discuss conditions under which the pyramiding search method is likely to be efficient relative to screening.     

User-innovators and “local” information: The case of mountain biking

In a study of innovations developed by mountain bikers, we find that user-innovators almost always utilize “local” information - information already in their possession or generated by themselves - both to determine the need for and to develop the solutions for their innovations. We argue that this finding fits the economic incentives operating on users. Local need information will in general be the most relevant to user-innovators, since the bulk of their innovation-related rewards typically come from in-house use. User-innovators will increasingly tend to rely on local solution information as the stickiness of non-local solution information rises. When user-innovators do rely on local information, it may be possible to predict the general nature of the innovations they might develop.     

Digital copyright and the “new” controversy: Is the law moulding technology and innovation?

This exploratory article sets out to examine if and how the new digital copyright laws in the U.S. and Europe are affecting innovation on the Internet. It argues that these laws, in balance, at least to date, are having a positive effect on Internet innovation, despite the strident argument that these laws will inhibit innovation. The innovations the article discusses are peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing technology and the new business models for music retailing that P2P has spawned. It concludes that digital copyright laws could create perverse incentives for innovation and wonders if legislators may not require a better understanding of the innovation process when crafting IP laws.     

Understanding the emergence and deployment of “nano” S&T

As an introduction to the special issue on “emerging nanotechnologies”, this paper puts in perspective contemporary debates and challenges about nanotechnology. It presents an overview of diverse analyses and expectations about this presumably revolutionary set of technological, scientific and industrial developments. Three main lines of argument can then be delineated: first of all, the degree of cumulativeness of science and technologies and the respective roles of newcomers and incumbents in the industrial dynamics; second the knowledge dynamics in nanotechnologies, especially the linkages by science and technology and third the role of institutions (network, geographic agglomeration and job market). It finally discusses methodologies to delineate the field of nanotechnologies and to collect data.     

Exploring the duality between product and organizational architectures: A test of the “mirroring” hypothesis

A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that this organization produces. Specifically, products tend to “mirror” the architectures of the organizations in which they are developed. This dynamic occurs because the organization's governance structures, problem solving routines and communication patterns constrain the space in which it searches for new solutions. Such a relationship is important, given that product architecture has been shown to be an important predictor of product performance, product variety, process flexibility and even the path of industry evolution.We explore this relationship in the software industry. Our research takes advantage of a natural experiment, in that we observe products that fulfill the same function being developed by very different organizational forms. At one extreme are commercial software firms, in which the organizational participants are tightly-coupled, with respect to their goals, structure and behavior. At the other, are open source software communities, in which the participants are much more loosely-coupled by comparison. The mirroring hypothesis predicts that these different organizational forms will produce products with distinctly different architectures. Specifically, loosely-coupled organizations will develop more modular designs than tightly-coupled organizations. We test this hypothesis, using a sample of matched-pair products.We find strong evidence to support the mirroring hypothesis. In all of the pairs we examine, the product developed by the loosely-coupled organization is significantly more modular than the product from the tightly-coupled organization. We measure modularity by capturing the level of coupling between a product's components. The magnitude of the differences is substantial—up to a factor of six, in terms of the potential for a design change in one component to propagate to others. Our results have significant managerial implications, in highlighting the impact of organizational design decisions on the technical structure of the artifacts that these organizations subsequently develop.     

The product market and the market for “ideas”: commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs

This paper presents a synthetic framework identifying the central drivers of start-up commercialization strategy and the implications of these drivers for industrial dynamics. We link strategy to the commercialization environment—the microeconomic and strategic conditions facing a firm that is translating an “idea” into a value proposition for customers. The framework addresses why technology entrepreneurs in some environments undermine established firms, while others cooperate with incumbents and reinforce existing market power. Our analysis suggests that competitive interaction between start-up innovators and established firms depends on the presence or absence of a “market for ideas”. By focusing on the operating requirements, efficiency, and institutions associated with markets for ideas, this framework holds several implications for the management of high-technology entrepreneurial firms.     

How to play the “Names Game”: Patent retrieval comparing different heuristics

Patent statistics represent a critical tool for scholars, statisticians and policy makers interested in innovation and intellectual property rights. Many analyses are based on heterogeneous methods delineating the inventors’ or firms’ patent portfolios without questioning the quality of the method employed. We assess different heuristics in order to provide a robust solution to automatically retrieve inventors in large patent datasets (PATSTAT). The solution we propose reduces the usual errors by 50% and casts doubts on the reliability of statistical indicators and micro-econometric results based on common matching procedures. Guidelines for researchers, TTOs, firms, venture capitalists and policy makers likely to implement a names game or to comment on results based on a names game are also provided.     

Towards “meta-innovation” in Brazil: The evolution of the incubator and the emergence of a triple helix

A “meta-innovation system” has emerged in Brazil, comprising multiple sources of initiative: top-down, bottom-up and lateral. Meta-innovation explains why the same organizational mechanism, successful in one context, may be relatively ineffective or even a blockage to innovation in another. An incubator movement arose in the transition from the large-scale technology projects of the former military regime. The incubator was reconfigured from its original high-tech focus to a broader set of purposes by University-industry-government actors. Business and social goals were aligned in a development model that has potential for transfer to other countries.     

Biological applications of the “Filtered” Van der Pol oscillator

The present article deals with the development of an oscillatory model, which generates waveforms corresponding to ECG patterns. The present oscillatory system relies on coupling of oscillators derived from the famous VDP oscillator. We demonstrate that inducing a relaxation type of dynamics in the models contributes to their successful generation of ECG like signals. Furthermore, an interesting affinity is found, which associates the present models with a version of the well-known practical Wien Bridge oscillator. The presently discussed system relies on coupled elementary oscillator units. The present coupling is due to merely two units. The model, however, is likely to become even more realistic by coupling in the same manner an assembly of relatively many oscillators.     

自主创新与模仿的博弈分析

以罗默的领导——跟随者模型为基础,设计了创新者——模仿者博弈模型,推导出企业自主创新与模仿概率的决定因素,并对自主创新与模仿的决定进行了经济学分析,从而为企业或政府的创新政策提供参考。     

Review of “Search Engines: Information Retrieval in Practice” by Croft,Metzler and Strohman

Despite the common public use of Web search engines, their internal design details mostly remain as a black art. The speculation is that there is a significant knowledge gap between what is published by academia and what is guarded behind the doors of large-scale search companies. “Search Engines: Information Retrieval in Practice” is one of the few books that make an attempt to cover issues involved in search engine design and is probably the most comprehensive book published so far on this topic. Unfortunately, the book fails to be a complete search engine guide as its content is dominated by the topics from information retrieval, text processing, and statistics. More precisely, the focus of the book is biased towards the “search” rather than the “engines” as, in most places, discussions on effectiveness dominate those on efficiency by a great margin. However, the book stands as a very solid IR book.     

技术创新能力培养：特定的培养顺序还是有效的R＆D

现有的研究认为,发展中国家的企业培养自主技术创新能力,首先应引进国外技术,消化、吸收、然后创新。研究表明,这样一条路在我国已经很难走通,特定的R&D活动才是影响企业自主技术创新能力培养最直接、最根本的因素。讨论了这一发现对我国企业培养自主技术创新能力的战略和政策意义。