Knowledge Production Function Research Articles

Do academia-industry R&D collaborations necessarily facilitate industrial innovation in China?

Purpose It is widely accepted that enterprises obtaining academic discoveries through R&D collaboration improve their innovation performance. However, it is not necessarily true in emerging economies, such as China and post-socialist countries in Europe. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap by investigating how R&D collaboration between industry and academia (i.e. universities and research institutes) affects the industrial innovation performance; and whether and how intermediaries moderate their relationships. Design/methodology/approach This paper constructs the research model according to the knowledge production function, and the pooled ordinary least square regression is used to verify our hypotheses. Findings Evidence from a sample of Chinese industrial enterprises in thirty provinces spanning from 2009 to 2014 suggests that R&D collaboration with research institutes (CWR) is positively related to innovation output, while R&D collaboration with universities (CWU) exerts negative effect on innovation output measured by sales revenue of new product (NPSR). The significant moderating role of technology transfer institutions is confirmed in the negative relationship between CWU and NPSR. Originality/value This paper empirically examines the moderating role of intermediary organisations in academia–industry cooperation and industrial innovation, and has practical implications for the government to formulate policies to improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation between academic and industrial sectors. These results vary in inland and coastal areas, which suggest the policy makers to formulate policies according to local conditions not only in China but also in other countries, like European countries.

Knowledge Spillovers: An Evidence from The European Regions

The article deals with the issue of knowledge spillovers in the European regions. For this purpose, a standard Knowledge Production Function (KPF) approach was extended by the application of spatial econometrics methods. Our analysis started from the construction of the alternative structures of the spatial weight matrices. These matrices were based on technological and institutional proximities, which represent compelling alternatives to geographic proximity regarded as a kind of all-encompassing connectivity measure. The next step in our analysis was the modeling of regional knowledge generation processes. We treated R&D expenditures and human resources in science and technology as the input measures and patent applications to the European Patent Office as the output measure in our basic and extended models. The results show that the scope and direction of knowledge spillovers are sensitive to the type of knowledge (tacit vs. codified) and proximity dimension engaged. These findings contribute to the current debate in the geography of innovation and economics of knowledge literature.

The contribution of the University of California Cooperative Extension to California's agricultural production

ABSTRACTPurposeThis paper is concerned with the impact of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) on regional productivity in California agriculture. UCCE is responsible for agricultural research and development (R&D), and dissemination of agricultural know-how in the state.Method/methodology/approachWe estimate the effect of UCCE on county-level agricultural productivity for the years 1992–2012, using an agricultural production function with measures of agricultural extension inputs alongside the traditional agricultural production inputs at the county level.FindingsResults show a positive impact of UCCE through its stock of depreciated expenditures. For an additional dollar spent on UCCE expenditures stock, agricultural productivity, measured as value of sales at the county level, improves by $1–9 per acre of farmland for knowledge/expenditure depreciation rates between 0 and 20 percent.Practical implicationsResults suggest that county differences in productivity could affect extension expenditures. The high level of contribution found in the results would be especially useful during a period of political pressure to reduce public spending for agricultural extension in the state.Theoretical implicationsTheoretical implications suggest that agricultural systems with higher level of knowledge depreciation are associated with higher resulting incremental agricultural productivity per an additional dollar spent on UCCE expenditures stock. This suggests that extension policy should consider also the agricultural system (crop mix).OriginalityWe use original budgetary data that was collected especially for answering our research questions from archives of UCCE. We estimate impact of extension at the county level in California, on the value of agricultural sales (of crops and livestock). We developed an extension expenditure stock, using current and past expenditures data, and different depreciation rates, following the theory of Knowledge Production Function.

Innovation, industry and firm age: are there new knowledge production functions?

In this paper we investigate how the knowledge production function is at work in different industrial sectors comparing mature and young companies in Italy. We estimate a two-step model using community innovation survey data. We provide evidence that young firms are particularly effective in translating R&D into product innovation in ‘entrepreneurial sectors’ (especially in services where it is likely that capital requirements and experience are negligible), while mature companies turn out to be more effective in translating technological acquisitions (TAs) into process innovation in ‘routinized sectors’ (especially in low-tech manufacturing industries where the main strategy is cost reduction).

Spatial determinants of inventive capacity in Brazil: the role of inventor networks

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the role of inventor networks in regional inventive capacity in Brazil for 558 regions in the period 2000–11. Based on the knowledge-production function (KPF), it focuses on four network measurements: intra- and interregional collaborative inventor links, density of the network, and international collaboration among Brazilian and foreign inventors. The main results show that intra-regional inventive collaborations exert a positive impact, while denser networks negatively influence regional inventive productivity. Interregional collaborative links have a ‘U’-shape relationship with inventive productivity only for South and Southeast. Inventions in the North, Northeast and Centre–West rely on international collaborative links.

Determinants and spatial dependence of innovation in Brazilian regions: evidence from a Spatial Tobit Model

Abstract This paper analyses the spatial patterns and spatial interdependencies of innovation and the role that local determinants of innovation play in Brazilian micro-regions. Specifically, it evaluates how local firms’ R&D, regional academic research, agglomeration level and local industrial specialization or diversification affect regional innovation. To analyse these factors, an empirical model based on the Knowledge Production Function (KPF) is estimated using a Spatial Autoregressive Tobit (SAR-Tobit) with Brazilian patent data. The results indicate that higher levels of regional industrial R&D imply greater innovation and that greater university research at a regional level positively impacts industrial innovation. Moreover, agglomerated and diverse regions present better innovative performance. Regarding spatial dynamics, the proximity of the most innovative microregions positively affects local innovation, which shows the existence of interregional knowledge spillovers that are associated with innovative activities.

Stepping on toes in the production of knowledge: a meta-regression analysis

ABSTRACTDecreasing returns to scale in physical resources in the knowledge production function have been widely considered in the economic growth literature. However, given the heterogeneity of empirical results, it is difficult to assess its magnitude. We provide a meta-analysis of the value of the decreasing returns to physical resources in the knowledge production function (stepping-on-toes effect). This has important policy implications regarding the subsidization of R&D activities and policy measures to enable the diffusion of knowledge. We conclude that there is some evidence of publication bias. Moreover, the average effect size is quite small, around 0.2, which implies a high stepping-on-toes effect. This value tends to be higher when variables related to international linkages are present, resources allocated to R&D are measured by labour, the knowledge pool is proxied by population, and instrumental variable estimation techniques are employed. On the contrary, the average returns to scale estimate decreases when resources allocated to R&D are measured by population and when only rich countries are included in the sample.

Waste recycling patents and environmental innovations: An economic analysis of policy instruments in the USA, Japan and Europe

Since natural resources are finite, new policy instruments to sustain the most efficient processes of waste recycling are required in all countries. To this end, it is critical to explore all technology mechanisms underlying solid waste researchers and practitioners’ behaviors. The study focuses on to demonstrate the importance of knowledge diffusion between the source and destination of environmental innovations. This way, policymakers can elaborate opportune strategies to improve the efficiency of innovation activities. By analyzing a sample of 240 large international firms from the USA, Japan, and Europe, this paper discusses the extent to which innovation inputs, research and development, and relative technological spillovers affect environmental innovation—that is measured by the number of waste recycle and land fertilizers patents. The novelty of the study comes from introducing a knowledge production function approach to analyze the role of technological knowledge spillovers on waste recycling and land fertilizers efficiency at the firm level. The technological relatedness between the firms is computed through technological proximity, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm. The results reveal a significant positive impact of external spillovers on firms’ environmental innovation levels. This finding is important particularly in terms of policy implications concerning industrial strategies; as in order to improve environmental innovation, incentives that favor industrial relatedness and establishing integration between firms are crucial.

Inside the regional innovation system black box: Evidence from French data

The paper aims to support regional policy-makers who seek to understand the determinants of regional innovation dynamics. The challenge is to penetrate the black box of the RIS (Regional Innovation System) by identifying the building blocks and interaction processes that stimulate innovation at the regional level. Thanks to a creative database, the main originality of this study is to analyse regional innovation as a process of competences building. To test this explanatory model, a Knowledge Production Function is estimated at the regional level in France by using a simultaneous equations setting. Our results validate the systemic dimension of regional innovation and identify the most valuate input-output transmission mechanisms.

The Limits to Collaboration Across Four of the Most Innovative UK Industries

AbstractThis study demonstrates the importance and limits to external knowledge collaboration across different geographical dimensions and the most innovative UK industries (knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS), high‐tech manufacturing, information and communication technologies (ICT), creative industries). Traditionally, this issue has presented a challenge for the geography of innovation, external knowledge sourcing and open innovation literatures, in terms of first identifying the phenomenon and second measuring it. We propose and estimate a structural model that estimates the knowledge production function with innovation inputs and outputs at the firm level. Our sample includes 19,510 observations and 17,859 firms, mainly from the UK Innovation Survey and the Business Registry. We demonstrate that external collaboration may bestow a significant advantage for innovation developed by the firm and in collaboration with other businesses, but there are limits to collaboration. They are likely to be better offset by firms in knowledge‐intense sectors (KIS), while they remain consistent across collaboration with partners across four geographical regions. Our findings call for further research on innovation and revision of national and regional innovation policies.

Place-based innovation in industrial districts: the long-term evolution of the iMID effect in Spain (1991–2014)

ABSTRACTThe innovation-Marshallian industrial district (iMID) effect defines the existence of dynamic efficiency in the Marshallian industrial district (MID) in the form of a positive innovative differential compared to the average of the national economy. Cross-sectional analyses have proven the existence of the iMID effect. Nevertheless, these findings do not provide any evidence on the evolution in the iMID effect over a long period and, in particular, when phases of growth, crisis and economic recovery follow one another, as occurred in the world economy around 1990 and 2007. This paper aims at closing this gap in knowledge by measuring the evolution of the iMID effect for Spain for the period 1991–2014. The measurement is made using an exhaustive database of 143,229 patents and by estimating a knowledge production function for the local production systems (LPSs). The results show that MIDs registered the largest number of patents compared to the other LPSs during the time span considered, that the iMID effect is higher for the highest quantiles of innovative intensity, and that MIDs’ innovative intensity has been continuously above the national average, even after the 2007 economic crisis. MIDs are still fundamental for the generation of innovation in the Spanish economy.

The Production of Academic Technological Knowledge: an Exploration at the Research Group Level

Public research institutions have a key role in a knowledge-based society as they lead scientific research and generate patentable technology directly applicable to industrial productive processes. In this paper, we address the latter role. Several well-known papers have dealt with the production of university patents at the level of universities and laboratories; however, despite the relevance of research groups in national research systems, their capacity as producers of patents has been neglected. In this paper, we fill this gap by testing the effect of previous collaborations and the scientific background of the group on the production of knowledge, measured by the number of patents. In the framework of a knowledge production function, we estimate several empirical count models with a sample of 1120 research groups affiliated to the three major public research institutions in Spain. Our findings suggest that the production of patents at the research group level is positively and significantly correlated with the variables capturing private collaboration and scientific background. The results also point to significant differences in the production of technological knowledge across institutions and areas of research.

A heterogeneous coefficient approach to the knowledge production function

ABSTRACTPast literature has used conventional spatial autoregressive panel data models to relate patent production output to knowledge production inputs. However, research conducted on regional innovation systems points to regional disparities in both regions’ ability to turn their knowledge inputs into innovation and to access external knowledge. Applying a heterogeneous coefficients spatial autoregressive panel model, we estimate region-specific knowledge production functions (KPFs) for 94 NUTS-3 regions in France using a panel covering 21 years from 1988 to 2008 and four high-technology industries. A great deal of regional heterogeneity in the KPF relationship exists across regions, providing new insights regarding spatial spillin and spillout effects between regions.

Exploring the impact of R&D on patenting activity in small women-owned and minority-owned entrepreneurial firms

The relevant economics literature on the impact of R&D on patenting activity falls within two methodological areas of inquiry. The first area might be classified as a test of the Schumpeterian hypothesis. The second and lesser research area might be classified as an estimation of the knowledge production function relationship between R&D and patenting. This paper focuses on estimates of the R&D-to-patenting relationship for a random sample of small, entrepreneurial firms whose research projects were supported through the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Our paper contributes to the R&D-to-patenting literature in two ways. It examines empirically a unique set of small, entrepreneurial firms funded by the public sector, and it explores the effect of the gender and ethnicity of firm owners on the propensity of their firms to patent from funded research projects.

A comparative study of the effects of internal and external technology spillovers on the quality of innovative outputs in China: the perspective of multistage innovation

This study compares the extent to which external technology spillovers, represented by foreign direct investment (FDI), and internal technology spillovers, represented by university-institute-industry cooperation (UIC), influence the quality of innovative outputs. Through a combination of the three-stage innovation value chain approach and econometric modelling of the knowledge production function, a panel regression is used to analyse the effects of FDI and UIC on the quality of innovative outputs during each stage, using data for 2006-2015 on 30 provinces in China. By comparing UIC with FDI, we find that UIC has a higher coefficient and stronger significance level than FDI in the knowledge innovation and product innovation stages, while institute-university linkages exhibit a negative association with the quality of innovative outputs in the technology innovation stage. However, from a regional perspective, it is found that only institute-university linkages in the knowledge innovation stage show a positive association with journal paper quality in coastal regions.

A public sector knowledge production function

There are no studies of the R&D-to-patenting relationship at the federal agency level. We estimate a public sector knowledge production function using federal agency patent application data over the years 2003 through 2014. We find that the patent application elasticity with respect to per capita R&D spending is about 1.06. This measure might be interpreted as one dimension of the social returns to public sector R&D generated through newly created knowledge.

The impact of public R&D investments on patenting activity: technology transfer at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

ABSTRACTThis paper presents estimates of the impact of public R&D on patenting activity at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Using a time series of public sector agency data, we estimate the per-capita R&D elasticity of new patent applications using a knowledge production function framework model that is an expanded version of what other scholars have used with private sector data. New patent applications are an important step in the technology transfer activities of a federal agency. We estimate this elasticity to be about 2.0. This elasticity value represents an initial estimate of the impact of EPA’s R&D investments on its technology transfer activity.

International R&D Spillovers and Innovation Efficiency

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of international research and development (R&D) spillovers on innovation efficiency of specific R&D outcomes, employing the country-level panel data for 44 countries in the 1996–2013 period. Fully considering the heterogeneity of different R&D outputs, scientific papers, PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) patents, US patents, and domestic patents are observed separately, which enriches the angles of measuring international R&D spillovers. By applying a stochastic frontier analysis to knowledge production function, we find that foreign R&D capital stock positively contributes to the innovation efficiency of scientific papers, but suppresses the productivity of domestic patents, whereas it does not really matter for PCT or US patents. These results are robust to control for a set of institutional factors and also in sensitivity analyses. Hence, dependence on international R&D spillovers seems neither to be the right way for emerging economies to catch up, nor to be a sustainable model for developing countries to fill the technical gap. Local R&D capital stock, instead, keeps an essential contributor to all four R&D outputs, so raising internal R&D expenditure is actually the key to improving innovation level and sustainable development ability.

The impact of educational mismatch on returns to R&D: evidence from manufacturing in OECD countries

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the effect of educational mismatch of R&D workers on firm's returns to innovation. R&D labour mismatch emerges when R&D workers have competencies different from those required by their occupation providing a contribution to innovation lower than in the case of perfect educational matching. By estimating a knowledge production function on data for 13 manufacturing industries from 16 OECD countries between 2003 and 2011, we find that R&D labour mismatch may cause returns to R&D investment to be between 10 and 15% lower than estimated in the literature. These results are robust to controlling for institutional factors, simultaneity feedbacks and other mis-specification issues. The detrimental effect of the misallocation of R&D labour is found to be stronger in those sectors where R&D activities have greater potential (returns), i.e. high-tech sectors.

Is the Economics Knowledge Production Function Constrained by Race in the USA?

This paper considers if the dearth of black economists on the faculties of economics departments that grant economics doctorates reduce the production of knowledge about the economics and political economy of race. Approximately, 53 years after the Civil Rights Act, the typical Ph.D. granting economics with department in the USA has no black faculty. Parameter estimates of a simple knowledge production function for research output in an economics journal dedicated primarily to the economics and political economy of race reveals that knowledge about the economics and political economy of race is increasing in the number of black economists on the faculty of economics departments in the USA that grant doctorates in economics. Our findings suggest that the historical hiring practices of Ph.D. granting economics departments in the USA have constrained the production of economics knowledge that can inform public policies that would reduce racial inequality and improve the living standards of black Americans.