Localised Knowledge Spillovers (LKS)

In this research we look at the factors that determine firm growth in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector among 580 municipalities in the Netherlands. In particular, we examine the role of agglomeration economies and other locational attributes in determining how agglomeration economies are attached to firm's performance. Both proximity (contiguous) and heterogeneous (non-contiguous) structures at the local, regional and national level are examined when considering localised firm growth. We ...

The phenomenon of inc::::-easin; activity internationalization is one of the most frequently discussed I'li thin the current li terature of HuI tinational Corporations (l-lNCS). In fact, i t is part of a more general trend of a nel, and gro~•:ing role of subsidiary companies t'li thin the r-rNCS to \.¡hich '''aduptations ar improvements ¡ Hhich include a very iT;'lportant prO"::!BSS of evolving from technical support activities into proper development projects (GRANSTRAND et al, 1993); ii) basic material or product research ¡ usually undertaken for t~•.i'O reasons: the immobility of such a kind of resources and the need for continual testin9 and interaction ¡.¡ith customers; iii) research for rationalizing or cost minimizing productions and iv) to acquire or gain an insight into foreign innovating activities. This last point basically affects to R&D extension to countries belonging to the "Triade" (PATEL, 1993, DUNNING, 1994).

This paper addresses the issue of the spreading of technology transfer processes and the ability of the policies implemented to trigger spillover effects fostering the reduction of existing territorial imbalances. The analysis of specific indicators shows how, in the face of an overall advanced technological innovation of the country as a whole, the structural gaps characterizing Southern regions are significant. The policies adopted in recent years have shown that the measures
put in place have not changed the innovation performance on a territorial
basis yet, although the route taken and the support by the NRRP envisages
positive effects on the creation and development of innovation ecosystems also in the South. This paper presents proposals in this sense, discussing the need to strengthen the potential impact of policy implementation, at the same time considering more specifically territorial cohesion objectives.

The analysis of structures and processes of spatial agglomeration of new firms in the innovative sectors of biotechnology and multimedia seems to be a promising field for listening to the “background noise” of the regional concentration of economic activities. This paper is analysing the differences in the agglomeration tendencies of two economic sectors. Whilst new biotechnology firms are essen-tially dependent on science and research infrastructure, linkages to the market matter for newly founded multimedia companies. It is argued that differences in the innovation processes bring about distinct requirements for networking and thence lead to diverse forms of firm formation processes. The characteristics of interaction and networking in the early stages of firm foundation and sector evolution have a fundamental influence on the different spatial patterns of eco-nomic activity in the two examined sectors.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether inflows of FDI and innovative activities act as a channel of knowledge spillovers in improving export performance of countries. In measuring export performance, sophistication of a countries' export basket and the value of exports of high technology products are utilized. A rich panel data with 114 countries that comprises both developed and developing countries for the period from 2002 to 2015 is used in the analysis. Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) dynamic panel estimator developed by Arellano and Bond (1991) is utilized to control for potential endogeneity and dynamic nature of the problem. Estimation results indicate that the level of financial development, the quality of human capital and globalization of a country have a determinative role on the relation between knowledge spillover channels and the quality of exports in terms of sophistication and technology content. Overall, patent applications generally positively affect sophistication of exports. However, FDI serves as a channel for knowledge spillovers to benefit the sophistication level of exports only for developed, more educated, financially developed and globalized countries. The results of the study demonstrate a weaker relationship between knowledge spillovers and technology content of exports with respect to sophistication of exports.

Cluster or industrial district has long been acknowledged as firm’s, in particularly micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) mechanism to cope their limitation. This mechanism also could be viewed as a form of entrepreneurial development and a manifestation of the agglomeration of the firm, hence the institutional perspective and the industrial district theory are fruitful to explore the dynamics of MSME cluster. This paper proposes the conceptual model to interpret the dynamics of MSME cluster, by exploring the institutional context of MSME cluster and examining the impact of social capital and cluster policy on the collective efficiency of MSME cluster. The social capital represents the internal characteristics of cluster, whilst cluster policy refers to external factor affecting the central competitiveness of cluster, collective efficiency. To support the model, literatures explaining the institutional perspective, collective efficiency, social capital and cluster policy are c...

The paper throws new light on the debate about the role played by local knowledge spillovers (LKS) as a driver of regional innovative activity. It transcends the regional level of analysis that has been commonly adopted in the literature so far, using insights from the evolutionary theory of the firm. This makes it possible to derive a typology of mechanisms through which regional agglomeration may stimulate learning and innovation. When this typology is brought to bear on the extant approaches in the debate, the contrasting viewpoints can be reconciled to some extent. The main conclusion is that little theoretical ground for the LKS debate remains.

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In this article we show how the use of more reliable data on average years of schooling can change the conclusions about the magnitude of international R&D spillovers based on previous evidence, while pointing to a superior role of human capital.

Appropriate national and regional localization support industrial and entrepreneurial development and their relationship with economic development are the central issue of this contribution. Comparing the cases of Italy and Israel since the war, the study traces the changing role of the public policies of industrialization and their impact on economic development, linking them to national and international contingencies. The different trajectories of growth appear to be due to the different role that planning has had in the two countries as well as different approaches to the public and private sectors to support the education system, research and development, and its possible industrial applications, such as the spin-offs, and finally the existence of different social and economic in some Italian regions have facilitated the formation of entrepreneurial economies in Israel and the growth of high-tech sector. On this last point, the study explores the case of Israeli technology incu...

In this research we look at the factors that determine firm growth in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector among 580 municipalities in the Netherlands. In particular, we examine the role of agglomeration economies and other locational attributes in determining how agglomeration economies are attached to firm's performance. Both proximity (contiguous) and heterogeneous (non-contiguous) structures at the local, regional and national level are examined when considering localised firm growth. We ...

The literature is inconclusive as to whether Marshallian specialization or Jacobian diversification externalities favour regional innovativeness. The specialization argument poses that regional specialization towards a particular industry improves innovativeness in that industry. Regional specialization allows for knowledge to spill over among similar firms. By contrast, the diversification thesis asserts that knowledge spills over between firms in different industries, causing diversified production structures to be more innovative. Building on an original database, we address this controversy for the Netherlands. We thereby advance on the literature by providing a two-level approach, at the region's and the firm's level. At the regional level, we compare specialized with diversified regions on numbers of accommodated innovators. At the firm level, we establish causalities between externalities and degree of innovativeness. The results suggest Marshallian externalities: specialized regions accommodate increased numbers of innovating firms and, consistently, incumbent firms' innovativeness increase with regional specialization. Once the product has been launched, innovators in diversified Jacobian regions prove more successful in commercial terms than innovators in specialized Marshallian regions.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has initiated a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project to produce an official BEA/NSF R&D Satellite Account (R&DSA). This paper presents a possible trade-based methodology for estimating cross-border R&D spillovers, which reflects an important component of the overall project because spillovers may be formally integrated into the official BEA/NSF R&DSA. Beginning with Coe and Helpman (1995), we evaluate four methodologies used to estimate the impact of international R&D spillovers on economic growth and select Xu and Wang (1999) as the model most appropriate for calculating net outward spillovers. Based on our calculations, we conclude that including cross-border R&D spillovers would increase 1990 U.S. Gross Domestic Product by 0.33%.

The aim of this paper is to study the effects of the domestic and foreign Research and Development (R&D) on the total factor productivity (TFP) in the case of the developing countries. In other words, it is to determine the important role of the R&D externalities through the commercial opening in the TFP of these countries and the necessary conditions to enable them absorb the technological transfer. To achieve this, we apply a static and non-stationary (FMOLS and DOLS) panel data model of 24 developing countries, on data covering the period from 1996 to 2007. According to the estimates, it seems that the impact of the foreign R&D is greater than that of the domestic one. Therefore, technology transfer has a positive role in economic growth in the developing countries, namely in the economies where the human capital is so important that it helps adapt and assimilate foreign technology.

An influential literature argues that trade promotes knowledge flows and tech-nology transmission between trading partners. This literature focuses on ‘di-rect ’ R&D spillovers which are related to the levels of R&D produced by the trading partners. In this paper we argue that ‘indirect ’ trade-related R&D spillovers also take place between countries, even if they do not trade with each other. These ‘indirect ’ spillovers are associated with available rather than with produced levels of R&D. Our empirical results suggest that these ‘indi-rect ’ trade-related spillovers are at least as important as the ‘direct ’ ones, and strengthen the view that trade does matter for the international transmission of R&D. They also suggest that, due to the existence of these ‘indirect ’ effects, bilateral trade patterns are relatively less important as determinants of the level of foreign R&D spillovers acquired through trade.

Cluster or industrial district has long been acknowledged as firm’s, in particularly micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) mechanism to cope their limitation. This mechanism also could be viewed as a form of entrepreneurial development and a manifestation of the agglomeration of the firm, hence the institutional perspective and the industrial district theory are fruitful to explore the dynamics of MSME cluster. This paper proposes the conceptual model to interpret the dynamics of MSME cluster, by exploring the institutional context of MSME cluster and examining the impact of social capital and cluster policy on the collective efficiency of MSME cluster. The social capital represents the internal characteristics of cluster, whilst cluster policy refers to external factor affecting the central competitiveness of cluster, collective efficiency. To support the model, literatures explaining the institutional perspective, collective efficiency, social capital and cluster policy are c...

Learning economy, tecnologie dell’informazione e sistemi produttivi regionali (di Riccardo Cappellin) - ABSTRACT: L’articolo sottolinea che la diffusione delle nuove tecnologie dell’informazione e delle comunicazione (ICT) e complementare con lo sviluppo di un nuovo modello di organizzazione industriale, nel quale le relazioni a rete tra le imprese e la velocita dei processi di adozione di innovazioni tecnologiche ed organizzative, rappresentano fattori cruciali della competitivita e dello sviluppo delle imprese. Inoltre, l’articolo sottolinea la differenza tra il concetto di "new economy" e quello piu ampio di "learning economy", che permette di considerare lo sviluppo di tecnologie anche diverse da quelle informatiche e indica che l’adozione di innovazioni dipende da processi continui di apprendimento interattivo e dalla crescita degli investimenti nella qualificazione delle risorse umane. Le teorie recenti dell’innovazione e l’approccio dei network nell’analis...

The purpose of this thesis is to shed new light on the theorizations discussing the economic benefits of geographical clustering in a space economy increasingly characterized by globalization processes. This is made possible through the employment of a plant-perspective and a focus on how the relative fixity and mobility of labour influence plant performance throughout the entire Swedish economy. By means of the longitudinal micro database ASTRID, connecting attributes of individuals to features of plants and localities for the whole Swedish economy, the empirical findings indicate that both localization and urbanization economies produce significant labour market externalities and that such inter-plant linkages positively affect plant performance as compared to the partial effects of relative regional specialization and diversification. Moreover, it is also demonstrated that it is necessary both to distinguish how well the external skills retrieved via labour mobility match the exi...

The primary aim of this paper is to show that " information matters " in shaping space and cities. This statement has both theoretical and empirical foundations. Theoretical reasoning, especially on the basis of economic geography modelling, is able to provide consistent and realistic explanations for the agglomeration of information using activities including producer services and R&D. Empirical testing of

The process of European integration has introduced a valuable empirical example on the impact of economic integration on income convergence. Many empirical papers confirm the income convergence within the new member states and between the new and old members. At the same time it is found that the main contribution to economic growth in these catching-up countries comes from the total factor productivity growth (TFP), which motivates us to take a deeper look on the factors behind TFP developments. The objective of this paper is to shed light on the characteristics behind the productivity development in the new EU member countries. It may be generalised that the productivity development of a country, industry or firm is determined by two main factors: its own effort to develop new technologies and some external technology pool. The ability to internalize the latter into the own productivity growth depends again on many factors like: various technology diffusion channels as foreign dir...

Questo contributo mira ad illustrare le differenze tra il modello dei network ed il modello walrasiano del mercato tipico dell'economia neoclassica. Esso analizza le caratteristiche delle reti di innovazione e di conoscenza, che si formano all'interno dei sistemi produttivi locali di piccole e medie imprese, e il ruolo di tali reti nell'attivare processi di sviluppo cumulativo in queste regioni. Infine, sulla base di questo approccio metodologico vengono esaminate le indicazioni di politica industriale regionale implicite nel concetto di learning region ed i problemi della governance dei processi di apprendimento e di innovazione nei sistemi produttivi locali.

Questo contributo mira ad illustrare le differenze tra il modello dei network ed il modello walrasiano del mercato tipico dell'economia neoclassica. Esso analizza le caratteristiche delle reti di innovazione e di conoscenza, che si formano all'interno dei sistemi produttivi locali di piccole e medie imprese, e il ruolo di tali reti nell'attivare processi di sviluppo cumulativo in queste regioni. Infine, sulla base di questo approccio metodologico vengono esaminate le indicazioni di politica industriale regionale implicite nel concetto di learning region ed i problemi della governance dei processi di apprendimento e di innovazione nei sistemi produttivi locali.

Coe and Helpman presented evidence consistent with the hypothesis that technology spills over across countries through the channel of trade flows, and provided estimates of the magnitude of these spillovers. We reexamine two features of their econometric model. First, we argue that the weighting scheme they used to compute foreign R&D capital stocks is subject to an 'aggregation bias'. We suggest an alternative weighting scheme that is theoretically much less biased and that yields somewhat better empirical results. Second, we correct an 'indexation bias' and generalise their empirical framework by analysing how the output elasticity of foreign R&D depends on a country's openness to trade. The empirical results confirm that the more open to trade a country is, the more likely it is to benefit from foreign R&D. 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

In this paper I make the claim that academic business research on technological innovation and international competitiveness ought to move further in the direction of meso-level analysis, to complement the majority of research to date that has been conducted at either the micro level of analysis or the macro level of analysis. I survey meso-organizational literature from fields such as geography, urban studies and regional planning, and explore how theoretical contributions of those fields might be linked to recent insights from business research to produce strategies for building competitive technology regions. I conclude by outlining two alternative approaches, the "Local Technological Milieux" approach and the "Industrial Location Factors" approach. I suggest that high-technology industry development policies based on the Local Technological Milieux approach are more likely to be successful than policies based on the other approach.

Research and development (R&D) raises not only the own technology levels, but also that in other sectors and abroad. We examine the trade-related diffusion of R&D in three steps. First, using OECD and UNESCO data we provide an overview of global R&D expenditures. Second, we estimate the relation between sectoral R&D expenditures and growth. Finally, these R&D linkages are incorporated in WorldScan: a dynamic applied general equilibrium model for the world economy. We simulate trade liberalisation and analyse the effects on GDP in different regions. We find that the GDP effects of trade liberalisation are magnified considerably for some regions - - notably Japan and South- East Asia - - where for others - - for example China and Sub-Saharan Africa - - the GDP effects are not blown up at all. These findings can be traced back to changing specialization patterns and changing import patterns. A region either specialises in R&D-intensive sectors or imports R&D-intensive goods. Some regio...

Le economie moderne sono economie sempre più basate sulla conoscenza e, più in generale, sui fattori immateriali che concorrono in modo decisivo a determinare lo sviluppo economico; in tali economie sono, in particolare, le dinamiche tecnologiche, alimentate dalla diffusione di conoscenza scientifica e tecnologica, a essere al centro dei processi di sviluppo dei sistemi economici e quindi della loro trasformazione ed evoluzione qualitativa oltre che quantitativa. In questo contesto il ruolo delle istituzioni è certamente rilevante, in quanto sia le istituzioni, che rappresentano, secondo North (1990), le regole del gioco di una società e quindi il quadro di riferimento normativo volto a ridurre l'incertezza, sia le organizzazioni quali, per esempio, le imprese, che sono invece i protagonisti del gioco, contribuiscono in modo determinante allo sviluppo e al cambiamento strutturale di tali sistemi. Ecco allora che il problema dello sviluppo economico ci appare come un fenomeno complesso in cui interagiscono diversi fattori. In questo saggio tenteremo di mettere in luce i tratti principali di un'economia basata sulla conoscenza e la natura del ruolo delle istituzioni. Faremo inoltre riferimento a due modelli di attuazione di una economia della conoscenza: Tampere in Finlandia e Cambridge in Inghilterra che presentano caratteristiche diverse. Cercheremo così di evidenziare le condizioni necessarie affinché si possano attivare e stimo-337 * Ringrazio Marilene Lorizio e Giovanni Pegoretti per gli utili commenti. L'autore resta il solo responsabile delle opinioni espresse e di eventuali omissioni e inesattezze.

Since at least the publication of Pigou's "The Economics of Welfare" (Pigou 1932) and Arrow's seminal article on "Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources of Invention" (Arrow 1962), most economic theorists have argued that "knowledge is expensive to produce but cheap to reproduce." Following Hayek (1948) and , scholars working in the tradition of Austrian economists have dissented from that view by pointing out that if a good deal of knowledge, such as the price of gold, can be easily codified and transmitted, much important knowledge is tacit and dependent on the "particular circumstances of time and place." One line of work that supports the Austrian view can be found in economic geography and neighboring disciplines where the geographic concentration of economic activity is explained, among other factors, by the importance of geographical proximity between individuals in the transmission of tacit knowledge.This paper therefore argues that the spatial agglomeration of economic activities constitutes a powerful vindication of Austrian insights.

World Development 27(9): 1651-71 1999.

This paper examines the case of adjustment in a labor-intensive export industry (woolen knitwear) to understand how traditional sectors in developing regions cope with external crises and rise above them. India's woolen knitwear industry, concentrated in Ludhiana, recently survived two crisesÐthe collapse of its largest export market (the former Soviet Union), and the simultaneous opening up of the domestic market to freer trade. After an unusually short downturn, the cluster not only recovered rapidly, but is increasingly diversifying into more demanding and competitive external markets. Four factors are key to explaining this surprisingly resilient recovery. First, the best performing ®rms had a strong and simultaneous presence in dynamic segments of the domestic market alongside exports. This generated key organizational learning, and built managerial and production capacities that helped ®rms adapt quickly to more demanding markets later. Second, an important feature of the learning relationship between ®rst-time exporters and their foreign buyers was the small-scale nature of contracts and a ``customization of ®t'' between the producer and the feedback-giving intermediary. Third, better performing ®rms paid equal if not greater attention to making organizational changes in their work practices than to the purchase of new equipment. Fourth, the embedded nature of production networks, and the government's past programs to assist local ®rms have indirectly helped create a dynamic middle-tier of locally-rooted exporters who appear to be leading the cluster's transformation and modernization.

In global context, as human capital embodies technology, international student flows may channel R&D spillovers from developed countries to less developed ones. Empirical study on a data set of 76 developing countries during 1998-2005 lends strong support to this hypothesis.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate about the factors determining the growing internationalization of small and medium firms originating from intermediate countries. The reason for selecting the Spanish innovating firms consists of the interest they have for analysing the interaction between the characteristics they have as innovatory agents and their behaviour regarding the global economy. The paper is developed from the following hypothesis: first, in the case of firms of countries with a more recent history of opening up to the international economy, the patterns of overseas expansion combine different kinds of elements such as factors included in the eclectic theory and tacit components of the company advantages. Second, in the trajectories followed by those firms some accumulative learning patterns can be found. The starting point of this research is a previous one carried out on the patterns of technological innovation of Spanish innovatory firms. On this basis, I have combined two sources for obtaining relevant data. The first consists of the creation of a data bank of innovatory firms with 814 innovating companies.The second source is a survey carried out with those firms. The statistical analysis is made through the application of discriminant analysis and logit models. They are good tools for systematic comparison between clusters and allow me to follow a stepwise method for a close study of increasing complex international activity. q

In the continuing debate about the positive versus negative effects of inward investments in a host economy, a new perspective has arisen from new firms' strategy nowadays to internationalise their activity. One aspect is that knowledge that is not completely appropriable by foreign affiliates abroad may spill over into domestic firms. In the absence of conclusive evidence, two questions can be put forward: the first concerns the role played by technology in the generation of those external effects; the second, the micro-assessment of the dynamics of technological spillovers. In this paper, results show that benefits for domestic firms in Spain differ across industries by their technological content. The hypothesis of spillover dynamics is tested and supported by the availability of panel data for manufacturing firms in the 1990s.

The paper contributes to the understanding of local knowledge spillovers and their importance for innovation in clusters in developing countries. Extensive primary data collected from software firms in Montevideo, Uruguay, are used to bring out the varied nature of knowledge flows that occur in the local cluster. The relative importance of different types of knowledge flow is also highlighted. The most important knowledge flows are not pure spillovers, but rather emanate from intentional action and are associated with commercial transactions with customers.

Coe and Helpman (1995) and others report positive and equivalent R&D spillovers across G7 countries. We argue that their homogeneity constraint on spillovers across G7 countries is inappropriate, and show that it is rejected by the data. Extending the data set and applying new empirical approaches, we find: (i) R&D spillovers are extremely heterogeneous across G7 countries; (ii) panel estimates do not correspond to country specific estimates and conceal important cross-country differences in knowledge diffusion; and (iii) the US is a net loser in terms of international R&D spillovers. Our interpretation is that when competitors ‘catch-up’ technologically, they challenge US market shares and investments worldwide and this has implications for US productivity.

Recent research on industrial clusters in developing countries has increasingly focused on knowledge related issues to explain clusters' competitiveness. In particular, several empirical studies have shifted their attention from the analysis of production system to innovation system, considered the appropriate conceptual framework to give full account of clusters' dynamism. This paper aims at contributing to such literature providing further evidence on the innovation behaviour and on the organisational changes occurred to a Brazilian furniture cluster: Sao Bento do Sul.