Jean-Alain Héraud

Regional Innovation Capacities in New Member States: a Typology

Abstract The paper examines the characteristics and performance of regional innovation systems in 12 new member states of the European Union. More specifically, it develops a typology that differentiates their various potentials as innovative regions. Based on a principal component analysis, five different groups of regions are identified. The characteristic profile of each group is detailed and exploration of possible paths of innovation‐based regional development is presented for each type of region. The paper concludes with an examination of policy implications emerging from the analysis.

Innovation diffusion from a qualitative standpoint: Technological networks and economic evolution through case studies☆

Abstract This article presents the work of the BETA research group in developing an economic analysis of technical progress using qualitative methods. By means of four case studies—of benefits derived from the European space programme, developments in the chemical industry, energy management and new materials strategy—the authors show how an analysis of the process of innovation assists in understanding economic evolution.

Smart specialisation strategies and cross-border integration of regional innovation systems: Policy dynamics and challenges for the Upper Rhine

The aim of this paper is to provide insights into the implications of the European Commission’s smart specialisation agenda in a specific, cross-border context. The paper critically reflects on some of the RIS3 (research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation) agenda’s premises by illustrating its practical implementation in the Upper Rhine area (i.e. Alsace in France and Baden-Württemberg in Germany). The first section revisits not only the smart specialisation concept in itself but also discusses it vis-à-vis the thematic of cross-border regional innovation systems and outlines some implications that it may have for the choice of innovation policy instruments. The second section introduces the specific framework of the Upper Rhine area and outlines possible options for the co-ordination of innovation policies on the basis of a yet to be developed, theoretically possible joint RIS3 strategy. The last section brings together these conceptual and applied perspectives on smart specialisation and outlines suggestions for progressive cross-border integration via regional innovation policies.

A Microeconomic Approach to the Dynamics of Knowledge Creation

The aim of this contribution is to analyze the period of collective research extending from the emergence of the first innovative idea to the moment when a patent can be written and claimed. The authors argue that the period of collective research is characterized by the building of public or semipublic good in order to equip the innovative idea with a “codebook” (shared codes, tests, and “grammar of usage”) and to reveal its economic potential. They emphasize the role of knowing communities as the active units in the dynamic process of invention and discuss some of the consequences in two domains of application: property rights and creative clusters.

Are Innovation Systems Complex Systems

Basically, complex systems are defined as a large number of autonomous entities in interaction, that create several levels of collective organization leading to emergent (and immergent) behavior. In short, complex systems are characterized by the observation that the whole is more than the sum of the parts (Aristotle). The aim of this paper is to address the issue of innovation systems in order to determine by how much they constitute complex systems.

Nuclear Waste Disposal in France: the Contribution of Economic Analysis

This article addresses the following question: How to deal with uncertainty, emergence of new information and irreversibility in the decision process of the long-term disposal of radioactive waste? Intuitively, one might think that measures taken today are more relevant when they are flexible. We show that the theoretical economic insights supplement this intuition and more precisely we emphasize the real options theory as one means of valuing flexible strategies in the disposal of highly radioactive waste. Moreover, we argue that the optional approach must involve a more complex utilization in the recently developed French project of reversible repository given the presence of multiple disposal stages.

Division of Labour and Division of Knowledge in Firms’ Innovative Networks: An Essay on Ehud Zuscovitch’s Theoretical Perspectives

This book addresses the foundations of economic growth at the firm level, combining both theoretical and econometric contributions by established scholars. Challenging contributions revisit Marshall’s view on the management of innovation, investigate the decision of firms to venture into entrepreneurship and clarify some misunderstanding about Schumpeter’s ideas. The book goes on to shed light on the classical specialisation-flexibility trade-off and provides a vision on the role of the knowledge-based economy and firm networks in technology development. Firm survival and performance, price-cost margins and the determinants of research intensity are also investigated econometrically.