Marian Beise

Public Research and Industrial Innovations in Germany

This paper deals with the effects of publicly funded research at universities, polytechnics and federal research labs on industrial innovations in Germany. We discuss the characteristics of companies that benefit from the findings of public research institutions. In questioning 2,300 companies we found that less than one tenth of product or process innovating firms introduced innovations between 1993 and 1995 that would not have been developed without public research. These new products amount to approximately 5 percent of all new product sales. Regressions show that firms? own R&D support the ability to absorb the findings of public research and turn them into innovations. Contrary to the widely held opinion that proximity to public research institutions does promote collaboration between firms and public research and increase the amount of received knowledge spillovers, we found no higher probability of publicly supported innovations for firms in Germany that are located near universities or polytechnics.

Lead Markets of Environmental Innovations: A Framework for Innovation and Environmental Economics

Environmental regulations often want to stimulate the generation and adoption of ecoefficient innovations. An important argument in the public debate is also the creation of new markets for environmentally benign products, processes and services that other countries adopt and therefore generate export opportunities for the pioneering country. The research so far concentrated on the question on how national environmental regulation can induce innovations. The question addressed in this paper is whether environmental regulations can create lead markets, enabling local firms to export innovations that are induced by local market conditions and national regulations. We identify relevant factors for lead markets of environmental innovations. So far, the lead market concept in innovation economics has only been applied to innovations in general. We extend the lead market model to environmentally friendly innovations, considering their peculiarities, in particular the public good character of environmental benefits and the role of regulations. The approach is applied to two case studies: fuel-efficient passenger cars and wind energy. In both cases, one country adopted the innovation first. Later, other countries followed the same innovation design favoured by the lead market. The lead market became a large exporter in the wind generation and car industry respectively. We discuss the regulations employed and the reasons for the international success of the innovations induced by them. We find that strict regulation has created lead markets when it was supported by a global demand or regulatory trend.

Lead-markets and the international allocation of R&D

Summary form only given. This paper aims to find a theoretical foundation for the phenomena of lead-markets. It outlines how international corporations can cope with varying international demand specifics and market receptions of new products and processes, technological alternatives and market trends on the one side and the necessity of global innovations on the other.

The impact of national environmental policy on the global success of next-generation automobiles

In this paper, we identify the most crucial factors of the potential world market success of alternative car designs: fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and conventional fuel efficient vehicles (FEVs). We assess which vehicle concept is favoured under which regulation regime. We suggest that the global success of a certain technology critically depends on the ability of a regional lead market to leverage and transfer its local success, be it through large cost reductions or the international diffusion of a pioneering environmental regulation, etc. Due to the high cost of FCVs and the lack of strict regulation supporting this radical innovation, incremental innovations, such as new versions of conventional combustion engines and hybrid cars, have the best chances of becoming globally successful.

Public research and industrial innovations

The paper deals with the effects of publicly-funded research on industrial innovations at universities, polytechnics and federal and state financed research labs. In Germany, like in other countries, inefficiencies in the transfer of technology and lack of orientation with regard to the commercialization of scientific results are in question, not the quality of research results in terms of scientific performance.

Trends der Internationalisierung in ausgewählten Schlüsseltechnologien

In diesem Kapitel werden Trends der Internationalisierung der FuE-Aktivitaten multinationaler Unternehmen fur die drei ausgewahlten Technikbereiche beschrieben. Quellen hierfur sind eine statistische Patentanalyse und die Auswertung sekundarstatistischer Daten, die vor allem auf der Ebene einzelner Branchen bzw. Technologien wenig verfugbar sind. Damit sollen zum einen die Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten der Technikbereiche und zum anderen Aussagen zu Stand und Entwicklung der Internationalisierung von FuE in den Technikfeldern herausgearbeitet werden. Die Ergebnisse der statistischen Untersuchungen bilden so den Hintergrund fur die Interviews in den Unternehmen. Sie erlauben die Wertung und Einordnung der Informationen und Einschatzungen aus den einzelnen Unternehmen, die ihrerseits uber die statistischen “Lucken” hinausgehen.

Innovationsstandorte multinationaler Unternehmen und Schlußfolgerungen für die Technologiepolitik

Die Internationalisierung der Unternehmen ist in den Technikbereichen unterschiedlich stark fortgeschritten. Unterschiede im Liberalisierungsgrad des internationalen Handels, der Regulierung von Direktinvestitionsstromen, derregionalen Nachfragespezifik, den GroBenvorteilenin derProduktion und der Internationalisierung technischen Wissens fuhren zu diesen Unterschieden des Internationalisierungsgrads.