Knowledge-intensive Activities Research Articles

Zmiany strukturalne jako determinanta popytu na kapitał ludzki

The study deals with a problem of changes in demand for human capital, that are caused by structural changes in Polish economy in the context of its convergence with the EU structures. There was assumed that structural features that are observed nowadays in the EU as a whole constitute a model for development of these countries that limit their development gap. Thus, a direction of transformation in branch relationships leads to convergence of Poland with other EU members and changes in branch relationships determine demand for human capital. The research was aimed at identification of the realised demand for human capital, concerning a level and a character of the resources. Considering the first aspect there was assumed that an indicator of a level of human capital engaged in economic processes is education of the employees. There were made comparisons of a share of highly educated employees in Poland and the EU, a structure of education in branches, as well as a share of employment in knowledge-intensive activities. The identified development tendencies showed decreasing development gap of Polish economy, connected with creation of a knowledge-based economy. The essential barrier of human capital absorption in Poland appears to be unfavorable structure of branches. The second aspect of the analysis was connected with a character of the engaged human capital, that was specified as basing on general or specific knowledge. To identify the character of knowledge there was assessed a concentration of occupations between branches and a share of professional groups in the specified branches. Disparities between Polish economy and the EU countries are described by a lower share of occupations and branches basing on a general knowledge in Poland. Meanwhile development trends show an increase of such kind of knowledge. A barrier to achieve cohesion within EU in this dimension also appeared to be the unfavorable branch relationships in Poland.

Technological content of exports

ABSTRACTA large body of literature argues that the characteristics of exports matter for economic growth and development because some goods trigger positive externalities or are subject to increasing returns. Thus, for policy purposes, it is important to know whether a country’s export basket enjoys these productive opportunities. They have been associated with technological content of exports. However, measuring them is not easy. Previous methodologies to account for exports’ technological content used either R&D data or trade data. The former is used to account for knowledge-intensive activities during the production phase and the latter to identify levels of ‘sophistication’ of exports based on exporting countries’ characteristics. Building on these contributions, this paper combines industry-based and product-based indicators to circumvent some of the shortcomings of the received literature, including the product-industry controversy (i.e. are the actual activities during the production process or the product characteristics what better accounts exports’ technological content?). We use data from Uruguay on direct and indirect R&D spending from public and private sources and also trade data to build the sophistication index corrected by quality. We contrast our findings with existing methodologies to highlight our contribution.

Skills and Activity Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Trends and Drivers for Asia

This paper examines the trends in skill and activity upgrading in global value chains (GVCs) and the drivers of upgrading in Asian economies. It uses the newly constructed ADB Multi-Region Input-Output Tables as well as occupation data on jobs by educational attainment and business activities, namely research and development; production; logistics, sales, and marketing; administration and back-office; and headquarter activities. Our results suggest an ongoing specialization process in high-income Asian countries and in developing member countries (DMCs) toward high-skilled knowledge-intensive activities. The pace of upgrading differs across Asian countries, being more rapid and encompassing in the People’s Republic of China in comparison to other DMCs. We use a structural decomposition method to account for the drivers of the trends observed. In particular, technological change in GVCs that is biased toward knowledge-intensive activities is important in accounting for the trends observed.

Going with the flow: An activity theory analysis of flow techniques in software development

Abstract Managing flow is fundamental to continuous development, particularly in knowledge intensive work activities such as software development. However, while numerous articles describe flow tools and practice there is little research on their application in context. This is a significant limitation given that software development is a highly complex and socially embedded activity. This research applies activity theory (AT) to examine the adoption of flow techniques by using the multiple-case method in two companies. AT is particularly pertinent in this study as it identifies contradictions, which manifest themselves as problems such as errors or a breakdown of communication in the organisation and congruencies between flow techniques and the development context and indeed contradictions between components of flow techniques themselves. Rather than view contradictions as a threat to flow or as an argument to abandon, a theoretical contribution of this study is that it shows how contradictions and congruencies can be used to reflect, learn, and identify new ways of structuring and enacting the flow activity. It also provides an immediate practical contribution by identifying a set of lessons drawn from the cases studied that may be applicable in future implementations of flow techniques.

Innovation, creativity and governance: Social dynamics of economic performance in city-regions

The pressure towards a globalizing, knowledge-based economy raises questions about the underlying determinants of economic performance in city regions. The creation and diffusion of new knowledge drives innovation in knowledge-intensive production and service activities, which in turn, drives economic performance and growth. Although these processes are strongly shaped by national institutions and global knowledge flows, recent analyses of innovation and creativity emphasize the continuing relevance of regions in general and urban regions in particular as critical sites for determining economic performance. This work also suggests that the underlying social dynamics of urban regions are particularly significant in shaping economic outcomes. This paper explores some recent evidence on the social nature of innovation dynamics in urban regions, the increasing significance of talent and creativity in urban economies and their implications for the economic performance of city regions. It concludes with a discussion of the need for the strategic management of urban economies to cope with the challenges they face.

Rethinking sectoral typologies: A classification of activity according to knowledge and technological intensity

This article aims to integrate and adapt two classifications of economic activity from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Statistical Office of the European Commission (Eurostat) into a Brazilian context and contemporary studies of economic development. The classification that emerges, called the “Classification of economic activity according to technology and knowledge intensity”, results in (i) valuing the criteria that deals with the present and future factors of competitiveness, such as technology and knowledge, science and innovation, and transversability and dissemination of information; (ii) overcoming the old dichotomy between manufacturing and services with a new but flexible and gradual classification, ranging from more high-tech and knowledge-intensive activities to low-tech, less knowledge-intensive activities.

Firm performance in the periphery: on the relation between firm-internal knowledge and local knowledge spillovers

ABSTRACTFirm performance in the periphery: on the relation between firm-internal knowledge and local knowledge spillovers. Regional Studies. One of the most established arguments in regional studies is that knowledge dynamics shape the geography of economic activities and, more specifically, that knowledge-intensive activities benefit from collocation due to knowledge spillovers, local buzz and access to labour. There are, however, competing arguments that knowledge-intensive firms also suffer from negative spillovers and are less dependent on local knowledge sources than often presumed. Using Swedish micro-data from 2005–11, this paper shows that firms with weak internal knowledge grow faster in knowledge-intensive regions. However, the growth difference disappears or is even reversed for knowledge-intensive firms.

Southern Europe in crisis: industrial policy lessons from Italy and Portugal

Italy and Portugal have characteristics in common and some relevant differences, both of which provide useful inputs for a comparative analysis. Lucchese et al. (Industrial policy and technology in Italy, 2016) argue that deindustrialization in Italy stems partially from the shortcomings of industrial policy, which has been unable to promote the development of more knowledge-intensive activities. In contrast, our assessment of industrial policy in Portugal indicates that the absence of structural change towards more knowledge-intensive activities does not seem to result from the absence of adequate industrial policy measures. Even though most of the policy instruments that have been put in place in Portugal being of a ‘horizontal’ nature, support has been unevenly distributed across industries, often being concentrated in more technology-intensive industries. We conclude that despite existing room for improvements in the industrial policies, overcoming the current crisis in the Southern belt of the euro zone will require decisive changes in macroeconomic policies.

Economic growth, human capital and structural change: A dynamic panel data analysis

Human capital is identified as one of the main determinants of economic growth and plays an important role in the technological progress of countries. Nevertheless, existing studies have to some extent neglected the importance of human capital in the growth process via the interaction it can have with a country’s industrial specialization. Additionally, the emphasis is mainly placed on supply-side determinants, while demand-side factors are neglected, particularly the relevance of the processes of structural change. Thus, using a growth model which integrates variables from both the supply side and demand side, we assess the direct and indirect effects of human capital on economic growth, including in the latter the interaction of human capital with the industrial specialization of countries. Based on dynamic panel data estimations, we found that human capital and the countries’ productive specialization dynamics are crucial factors for economic growth. Moreover, the interaction between human capital and structural change in high knowledge-intensive industries impacts significantly on economic growth. However, the sign of this effect depends on the type of country and the period of analysis. Specifically, over a longer time span (1960–2011) and for more highly developed (OECD) countries, the impact of the interaction between human capital and structural change is positive. When we also include transition and Mediterranean countries over a shorter time period (1990–2011), we find that human capital significantly and positively impacts on the countries’ economic growth but the effect of human capital via specialization in high-tech and knowledge-intensive activities is negative. The latter result indicates that the lack of industrial structures able to properly integrate highly educated individuals into the productive system leads countries to experience disappointing economic returns.

Internet of Things

Purpose – An empirical testing on IBM smart cities projects was applied so as to demonstrate that the combination between the use of Internet of Things (IoT) and the implementation of the Open Innovation (OI) model within smart cities which has been changed the development of urban areas and effected firms’ innovativeness. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A case study methodology on a leading multinational firms deeply involved in smart cities projects has been chosen. Findings – From this study it emerged how IBM: has a clear vision of smart cities and IoT; adopt a worldwide OI approach to smart cities; delineate-specific strategies and create OI units ad hoc for smart cities’ projects. Research limitations/implications – The major limitation of this work is that the analysis presented has been developed only on one case of multinational firm that operate in smart cities contexts. Practical implications – Recommendations will be made both to public and private actor in order to plan and implement efficient strategies to improve their performances. Originality/value – The concept of smart city has become quite popular between scholars and practitioners in the era of digital economy. Cities become smart developing new urban area using new Information and Communication Technologies such as mobile devices, the semantic web, cloud computing, and the IoT. Smart cities make innovation ecosystem, joining together different forces like knowledge-intensive activities, institutions for cooperation and learning, and web-based applications collective intelligence. This research is of importance and significance to scholars, government, and firms who need to understand the relevance of smart cities in the current economy.

The role of mediation resources in the operation and development of knowledgeintensive small and medium enterprises

Address social and economic processes of social capital system between universities and the business sector – because of their special and similar characteristics – major emphasis will be displayed. Knowledge-intensive companies would be hard to imagine functioning without established links with tertiary education institutions and universities can now functions would be unthinkable without displaying the corporate sector sectoral specificities of knowledge and strategies of the university.
 Because of the development of knowledge-intensive business activities based on innovation-oriented economic development which are specific to innovative SMEs, funding sources and opportunities. In a typical operating environment of innovation, with sectoral, spatial and temporal factors are constantly changing. These factors are decisive elements in the innovation opportunities, and through this indirectly the success of these enterprises. The resources involved in mediating the markets perceive a high risk to price this innovation activities and their funding. Under the study to try to answer that by optimizing the functions of universities, how and in what form they may have a role in mitigating financial risks.

SMEs Internationalization and New Product Development: Evidence from U.S. and South Korea Data

We draw on the organizational learning, innovation and international entrepreneurship literatures to develop hypotheses that link two types of international activities - foreign sales and offshoring of knowledge-intensive value chain activities - to new product development capability (NPDC) of SMEs. Furthermore, we also examine the impact of CEOs foreign experience on the NPDC of SMEs. Using a sample of small and medium-size enterprises from three industry sectors in the U.S. and South Korea, we test our hypotheses and find support. Implications of our findings for international entrepreneurship theory and practice are discussed.

Research, Development and Innovation in Malaysia: Elements of an Effective Growth Model

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between research and development activities in Malaysia and the country’s economic growth record. In particular, the paper lays out the changes in the growth model Malaysia adopted to make the transformation from an agriculture-based to a technology-based economy, thereby moving up the value chain. Notwithstanding data sparsity, this paper makes an effort to quantitatively examine the relationship between research and development and innovation activities in Malaysia by running simple linear regressions and multiple regressions to capture the impact of these variables on the GDP per capita variations. The paper notes that Malaysia has managed to achieve significant progress in its development efforts and in transforming its economy from an agrarian-based economy into a more diversified economy with a greater role for knowledge intensive activities, research and development, and innovation. Concluding that R&D and science and technology indicators have been associated with economic development indicators, the study proposes that further research be conducted to gauge the role of public sector intervention as well as the business sector R&D and innovative activities separately, and preferably at the sectoral level, where data would probably be more available than at the national level.

Globalization and the Knowledge-Driven Economy

The study implements the Schumpeterian notion of creative reaction to articulate and test the hypothesis that the shift to the knowledge economy in advanced economies is the result of the creative reaction of firms, caught in out-of-equilibrium conditions by the fast globalization of product and factor markets since the last decade of the 20th century. Advanced countries specialized in the generation and exploitation of knowledge because of its relative abundance stemming from their sophisticated knowledge governance mechanisms and the large stock of knowledge. In turn, this had strong positive effects on total factor productivity. The empirical analysis confirms that in advanced economies the specialization in knowledge-based activities substituted for the previous specialization in mass manufacturing activities supporting the increase of total factor productivity. The new specialization in knowledge-intensive activities has been stronger in cases where patent activities have been more intense and the exposure to international trade and the revenue per capita have been larger.

Conventional and less conventional mechanisms of professionalisation underpinning knowledge-intensive activities: the case of design in food industries

Professions are not only primary targets of institutional change, but also key contributors to innovation processes. By focusing on how the knowledge needed in support of innovation is professionalised and reaches accepted modes of organising work, the paper examines the interplay between the emergence of a new professional domain and the institutional dynamics of the industry(ies) within which professionals operate. To this aim, we propose a reflection on the mechanisms that underpin the professionalisation of design activities in food industries. Empirical evidence draws attention to those practices that allow knowledge originated in different contexts to be socialised and converge towards the same institutional umbrella, that is, a new professional domain. The degree to which such professionalisation resonates with extant professions literature is discussed.

Explaining knowledge-intensive activities from a regional perspective

Knowledge-intensive activities (KIAs) are a fundamental part of innovation. In turn, innovation drives economic growth and regional development. Logically, therefore, understanding the factors that are conducive to KIAs is important for regions to plan and build toward a sustainable future. The literature discusses a host of environmental factors that affect a region's capacity to engage in KIAs. Adopting a regional focus, this study discusses these factors and presents a causal model to explain how these environmental antecedents affect KIAs. The study then presents an application of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze knowledge-intensive activities in 181 European regions across 22 countries. The analysis shows that several causal configurations of environmental factors are conducive to KIAs. Accordingly, the study discusses the policy implications of these findings.

The effect of external KISA on innovation in manufacturing firms

Manufacturing firms increasingly rely on externally supplied knowledge and services, which motivate many of them to pay increased attention to external knowledge-intensive service activities (KISA). This article aims to increase understandings of how and through which mechanisms external KISA can facilitate the generation of innovations by manufacturing firms. Results from this study of Chinese manufacturing firms and KISA suggest that knowledge integration (including knowledge combination and knowledge allocation) mediates between external KISA and innovation.

The State of Manufacturing in Pakistan

The history of successful industrializers, such as South Korea and Taiwan, shows a systematic shift in the production structure from low- to high- value added activities in manufacturing and its resulting impact on agriculture, mining and services. Within manufacturing, the transformation is seen in both a movement from low-value added sectors, such as apparel making, to high-tech activities, such as automotive and electronics products, and, within particular industries, vertical integration into knowledge-intensive activities. Pakistan’s failure to engender the conditions to stimulate technological upgrading within its leading manufacturing industry of clothing, and a shift away to higher-value added industries is the prime reason why the country has not achieved rapid growth in GDP per capital over the long-term. This paper discusses Pakistan’s stagnation in manufacturing over the period 1960-2013 against the experience of the rapid industrializers of South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. Drawing on empirical evidence it argues that Pakistan requires a dynamic industrial policy that focuses on technological upgrading in its existing manufacturing sectors and the creation of competitive advantage in high value-added sectors if the country is to experience sustained long-term economic growth.

The knowledge worker is dead: What about professions?

This article examines the uncertain and ambivalent position of professions and professionalism in the post-industrial service economy driven by the collapse of the concept of the knowledge worker with which professions have largely been identified since the 1990s. The poor definition of knowledge activities, which are uncritically identified with service activities and creativity of all types, including low-skilled/wage occupations, suggests that the service-dominated economy has significantly challenged the classical concept of professions. In order to understand directions of change in the concept of professionalism the article discusses the reasons for the rise and fall of the knowledge worker and the evolution of the technical-rational to ‘creatocratic’ model of profession. It critically examines the statistical measurement of ‘knowledge-intensive activities’ (KIAs), which is based on poor definition of ‘knowledge intensity’ and cannot serve as a proxy to measure the extent of knowledge occupations in the service economies. Although many concepts for new types of professions have been devised which follow either ‘idealistic’ or ‘realistic’ discourse, the theoretical and normative aspects of new professionalism have not been captured, which makes the idea of a profession a fluid and ephemeral concept. This calls for a more precise definition of occupations and professions in a service economy and their working conditions to understand structural changes and polarization of the labour market, particularly the aspects related to growing social inequalities among new type of professions with the aim to better value professional work and reduce disparities.

Firm value, spatial knowledge flow, and innovation: evidence from patent citations

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of geographic location of research-intensive firms in the ability to generate new research and products, which consequently affects firm value.Design/methodology/approach– The authors conduct the empirical study following a three-step process. First, if pharmaceutical firms are more likely to cite the patents of other firms and other innovators that are nearby, as opposed to firms and other innovators that are far away, then location (i.e. close proximity) is likely important when it comes to the ability to learn and to use the knowledge being generated by other innovators. The authors employ a “geographic information systems” (GIS) and geo-code each pair of citing and cited patents. In addition, the authors utilize spatial statistics such as Moran’sIto analyze the spatial clustering pattern of patent citations and knowledge flows. Next, the authors measure the pharmaceutical companies’ ability to generate useful patents as a function of the amount of innovation and industrial activity that is occurring close to them. Finally, the authors test whether a firm’s location relates to its firm value. Specifically, the authors model firm value as a function of its patents quality, but the authors also allow the firm’s patents quality to be a function of its location and locational attributes. In this way, the authors establish a link between location and firm value. Using a simultaneous system of equations, the authors find that location explains patent quality, which, in turn, explains firm value. In other words, there is a positive relationship between firm value, innovation and location.Findings– In empirical tests using pharmaceutical firms and their patents, the authors first find that firms more often cite patents of other firms that are geographically closer to them than those firms that are farther away. The authors then find that a patent’s quality is a function of the firm’s near proximity to other knowledge-intensive institutions and activities. Finally, the authors find that because patent quality is a function of a firm’s geographic location, location consequently affects firm value.Research limitations/implications– For knowledge-intensive firms, geographic location matters. More specifically, the authors contend that research-intensive firms are better able to use and to expand on existing knowledge when they are closer to other research-intensive enterprises. The implication is that firm value maximization involves a location factor.Practical implications– The practical implication for investors is that investors should invest in those firms that are situated in a location that is rich in geographic innovation resources because those firms are more likely to generate more and higher quality patents or innovations.Originality/value– The study is the first to establish the linkage among spatial knowledge diffusion, geographic drivers of innovation, and market valuation of the firm. The study is unique in that the authors not only present evidence on spatial knowledge flows by geo-coding the exact longitude and latitude location coordinates of citing and cited patens, but more importantly, the authors also identify geographic drivers of innovation, and examine their impacts on citation-weighted patent counts and knowledge stock. Finally, using a series of simultaneous equations, the authors show how geographic innovation resources positively affect citation-weighted patent stock and knowledge stock and consequently affect market value of the firm. Thus, the novel approach contributes not only to the literature that measures geographic localization of knowledge flow using patent citations, but also to the literature that examines the impact of geographic sources of innovations on patent outputs and patent quality and, thus on firm value for research-intensive firms.