Mark Rogers

Networks, Firm Size and Innovation

Using survey data on Australian firms this paper investigates the determinants of innovation. Various possible determinants are investigated, including market structure, export status, the use of networks, and training. Regression analysis is conducted separately for manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms and, within each sector, by firm size categories. The results include evidence of persistence in innovative activities and that the use of networks is associated with innovation in some sector-firm size categories. Specifically, small manufacturing firms exhibit a positive association between networking and innovation. In contrast, for non-manufacturing firms this association is present for medium and large sized firms.

A Survey of Economic Growth

Understanding the process of economic growth has been called the ultimate objective of economics. It has also been likened to an elusive quest – like the Holy Grail or the Elixir of Life (Easterly 2001). Taking on such a quest requires ingenuity and perseverance. Even small insights along the way can have major benefits to millions of people; small mistakes can do the reverse. Economies which achieve large increases in output over extended periods of time, not only enable rapid increases in standards of living, but also have dramatic changes in the economic, political and social landscape. For example, the USA is estimated to produce approximately 30 times as much in 1999 as it did in 1899. This sustained economic growth means that in 1999 the USA had an average income per capita of US

Innovation and Performance: Benchmarking Australian Firms

34 100. In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa had an average income of

The Influence of Diversification and Market Structure on the R&D Intensity of Large Australian Firms

490. Understanding these vast income differences, produced over many decades, is the elusive quest. The aim of this survey is to explain how economists try to understand the process of economic growth. To make the task manageable, the focus is on major issues and current debates. Models and conceptual frameworks are discussed in section III. Section IV summarises empirical studies, with a particular focus on econometric studies of groups of countries. This is not to say that case studies of single countries are not valuable, but space precludes covering everything. The following section sets out some facts about economic growth and, hopefully, motivates the further effort needed to tackle the theory and econometrics.

Modelling firm innovation using panel probit estimators

This article empirically analyses the link between innovation and performance using a sample of large Australian firms, with a specific aim of developing benchmarking tools. Innovation is measured by firms investment in R&D and applications for patents, trademarks and designs. An innovation index is constructed to provide one method of benchmarking. The index incorporates a firms innovative activities into a single figure after accounting for firm size. The index provides a ranking of the most innovative firms in Australia. A second method of benchmarking uses a stochastic production frontier. This type of analysis identifies the firms which are located closest to a ‘best practice innovation frontier’.

The role of market share and concentration in firm profitability: implications for competition policy

This article empirically investigates the determinants of R&D intensity for large Australian firms (1994–1997). The results indicate that more focused firms have higher R&D intensities and that lower levels of industry competition are associated with lower R&D intensities.

Network density and R&D spillovers☆

Firm-level innovation is investigated using three probit panel estimators, which control for unobserved heterogeneity, and a standard probit estimator. Results indicate the standard probit model is misspecified and that inter-firm networks are important for innovation.

The Choice between Formal and Informal Intellectual Property: A Literature Review

This paper analyses empirically the relationship between market share and profitability in a sample of 722 large Australian firms. This issue is linked to merger policy in Australia since the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) guidelines state that, in many cases, creating a market share in excess of 40 per cent is a reason for an investigation. Using the most up-to-date Australian firm-level data, it is shown that profitability tends to rise the market share exceeds 30%. This result suggests that the merger policy guidelines are broadly in agreement with empirical evidence. However, the empirical results suggest a U-shaped relationship between market share and profitability, with profitability first declining and the rising. This result challenges traditional theory and suggests that the market share to profitability relationship is complex.