Myriam Mariani

Next to Production or to Technological Clusters? The Economics and Management of R&D Location

This paper examines the relationshipbetween the location of R&D and productionactivities. By using a sample of 799 Japaneseinvestments in Europe, it distinguishes betweenaffiliates performing only R&D, bothR&D and production, and productiononly. The analysis produces two main results.First, R&D tends to locate close to productionactivities. Interestingly, however, the higherthe science-intensity of a sector, the lessimportant is the linkage with production. Thisis interpreted as the effect produced by moregeneral and transferable scientific work,compared to applied work. Second, by performinga multinomial logit analysis, we show that R&Dactivities, independent or linked toproduction, are attracted by different localfactors. Specifically, geographical proximityto the local science base is an importantfactor for locating only R&Dlaboratories compared to R&D andproduction, and production only. Firmand sector-specific characteristics also affectthe probability of setting up an independentR&D affiliate.

The Chemical Sector al System. Firms, markets, institutions and the processes of knowledge creation and diffusion

According to the Sectoral Systems of Innovation and Production approach, the analysis of a specific sector has to describe its knowledge and technological base, existing complementarities among knowledge, technologies and products, the heterogeneity of agents, their learning processes and competencies, the role of non-firm organisations, and the presence of (co)evolutionary processes. This study applies this theoretical framework to the chemical industry, and examines evolution and co-evolution processes that have characterised this industry over its 200 years history. It emerges a strong dichotomy in industry dynamics. On the one hand, big discontinuities can be observed in knowledge and technological dimensions, which implied a major change in industry structure and a growing division of labour at the industry level. On the other hand, a big continuity can be observed as well, mainly in companies life. Indeed, one important feature of the chemical industry is that between small and large companies, markets, research institutions and other organisations there has been a continuous process of co-evolution, with firms playing the central role within the chemical system.

The Market for Knowledge in the Chemical Sector

Few industries epitomize the market for knowledge as the chemical industry. Large and small companies, universities, and research laboratories are heterogeneous sources of scientific and technological knowledge. Market and non-market interactions are the means through which knowledge diffuses among them, and enhance the potential complementarities.

How ‘Provincial’ is your Region? Effects on Labour Productivity in Europe

This paper estimates the determinants of labour productivity in European NUTS regions during 1989-1996. Unlike previous studies, which have focussed either on local technological capabilities or on agglomeration economies, we compare three potential explanations of regional advantages: Technological capabilities (proxied by regional patents), agglomeration economies (employment density), and openness. To study the latter we use a new measure, the number of airplane passengers embarked and disembarked in the region, and found that in spite of some limitations, this is a meaningful index for the openness of the regions and possibly of other locations (e.g. cities). By using instrumental variables, we confirm existing results that patents and employment density affect labour productivity. Our novel finding is that openness affects labour productivity as well.

It’s a Man’s Job: Income and the Gender Gap in Industrial Research

This study examines differences in income and job performance between women and men in creative, highly skilled jobs tasked with achieving technological inventions. By building on data pertaining to 9,692 inventors from 23 countries, this study shows that female inventors represent only 4.2% of total inventors, and they earn about 14% less than their male peers. The gap persists even when controlling for sources of heterogeneity, the selection of inventors into types of jobs and tasks, and potential parenthood, instrumented by exploiting a source of variation related to religious practices. The income gap is not associated with differences in the quality of the inventions that female and male inventors produce. Thus, even in this human capital–intensive profession, where capabilities and education are important assets, and productivity differentials can be observed, women earn less than men, though they contribute to the development of high-quality inventions as much as men do. This paper was accepted by ...

Research Collaborations Among Inventors and the Location of R&D in the European Chemical Industry

This work traces the geographical distribution of R&D activities in Europe in 5 chemical sectors — i.e. biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, organic chemistry, materials and polymers — and explores research collaborations at the level of the individual inventors. It compares the firm and the geographical cluster as two organisational modes for producing interdisciplinary patents and for pulling together large teams of inventors. The results confirm that chemical companies perform most of their research in the home-country, and that patenting activity clusters geographically. However, compared to the geographical cluster, the large firm is a more effective mechanism for producing interdisciplinary innovations and for fostering the formation of large and de-localised teams of inventors.