Patrick Llerena

Diversity of innovative strategy as a source of technological performance

This paper explores the impact of diversity of innovative strategies of firms upon the industrial dynamics through a micro-simulation model. We consider two types of firms each one being characterised by a specific innovative strategy. Basically we assume that some cumulative firms adopt an internal learning by searching strategy, while noncumulative firms adopt an external learning strategy aiming at absorbing external sources of knowledge. The results show that the co-existence of the two types of firms leads to an oligopolistic structure characterised by asymmetries in the size of firms and high technological performances. Thus the diversity of innovative strategies generates a diversity in firms market shares and is a source of dynamic efficiency in the long run.

Organisational rules, codification and knowledge creation in inter-organisation cooperative agreements

Abstract The aim of our paper is to analyse the process of collaboration between independent firms linked by a technological agreement in the energy field, with a specific focus on the degree of codification of inter-organisational rules. Considering the agreement as a collection of different types of more or less codified rules, we show that their degree of codification and some other characteristics have an impact on the process of inter-firm cooperation. The paper first provides an analytical framework defining the concept and the types of rules relevant for our purpose. A rule is conceived to solve a problem of allocation or creation of resources; it serves a main function which can be of a cognitive, incentive or coordination nature; it is ambivalent, i.e. it entails side functions in addition to the main one. Two theoretical propositions are then developed and largely confirmed by our empirical research results based on two detailed case studies in the emerging field of fuel cell (FC) technology.

Eco-Innovation Through Integration, Regulation and Cooperation: Comparative Insights from Case Studies in Three Manufacturing Sectors

This paper analyses the role of integration of environmental aspects with corporate strategy in private firms as well as institutional factors relating to market demand, cooperation and regulation as antecedents for eco-innovations. Using a framework based on evolutionary economic concepts, the paper derives results from analysing nine case studies and finds that the realization of eco-innovation is often an activity originating at the micro-level that however requires simultaneous integration of environmental aspects with the overall corporate strategy. Furthermore, market demand is identified as a crucial driver of eco-innovation and regulation as a complementary institutional factor especially for the diffusion of eco-innovation. Ultimately, the paper identifies issues of path-dependency at the firm level that so far have been insufficiently taken into account by policymaking bodies.

Indicators of higher-education institutes and public-research organizations technology transfer activities: Insights from France

The issue of technology transfer (TT) activities from science to the economy is attracting more and more attention, becoming one of the main foci of the fast growing field of economics of science. As often when a new field of research is emerging, the issue of the relevance of the related indicators is of key importance. This paper uses the study of TT activities in the French public-research system, conducted by BETA in 2005–2006 to analyze some aspects of this issue. After presenting the main results of the study a more global discussion focuses on the interactions between the institutional and organization context of TT activities, the design of the indicators, the methodological choices related to data collection, and the implicit or explicit goals pursued when using TT indicators. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Small worlds in networks of inventors and the role of academics: an analysis of France

Using data on patent applications at the European Patent Office, we examine the structural properties of networks of inventors in France in different technologies. We find that the higher the presence of inventors from universities and public research organizations (PROs), the more likely the networks are to exhibit small world properties. University and PRO inventors contribute to reduce average path length insofar they are more mobile (across applicants) than other inventors, thus linking up otherwise disconnected cliques. We achieve these results by implementing an original methodology for detecting small world properties in one-mode projections of two-mode graphs.

Information structure and coordination in technology policy: a theoretical model and two case studies

The main purpose of our paper is to present a model which allows a comparison of different types of technology policies to be made. It appears that there is a kind of model which is appropriate to that purpose but which belongs to the theory of the firm. Indeed, one of the characteristics of technology policies is the degree of centralization of decision; as it is in the design of firm organization. It seems that a model like AOKIs (1986) presents sufficient properties to be used in our context. The aim of this exercise is to compare vertical and horizontal institutional frameworks for technology policies, more precisely diffusion and mission oriented policies. This framework will be applied to the case of some technology policies in the Federal Republic of Germany (before re-unification): programmes in production technologies and the Transrapid programme.

The Role of Teams and Communities in the Emergence of Organizational Routines

This cutting-edge, multidisciplinary Handbook comprises specially commissioned contributions surveying state-of-the-art research on the concept of organizational routines. An authoritative overview of the concept of organizational routines and its contributions to our understanding of organizations is presented. To identify those contributions, the role of organizational routines in such processes as organizational learning, performance feedback, and organizational memory is discussed. To identify how the concept can contribute to different disciplinary fields, the expert authors review applications across a range of fields including political science, sociology, and accounting.

Academic Patenting in Europe: Evidence on France, Italy and Sweden from the KEINS Database

This book addresses the critical issue of how and why European universities are changing and learning to compete. Anglo-Saxon universities particularly in the US, the UK and Australia have long been subject to, and responded to, market-based competition in higher education. The authors argue that Continental and Nordic universities and higher education institutes are now facing similar pressures that are leading to a structural transformation of the university sector.

Division of labor and division of knowledge: Why the nature of the causality matters for the evolutionary theory of the firm

This article considers the role and interrelation of the division of labor and the division of knowledge, and its relevance for knowledge-based and evolutionary theories of the firm. As is well known, Adam Smith focused on the effect of the division of labor, while Charles Babbage focused on the effect of the division of knowledge. We are not the first to argue that both are connected in a loop, the division of labor guiding the division of knowledge via learning by doing, and the division of knowledge, in turn, guiding the development of competences for accomplishing steps of the work process. In this article, our main argument is that even knowledge-based and evolutionary approaches to the theory of the firm have focused more on the Smithian than the Babbagian part of the loop. We argue that the impact of the division of knowledge should not be glossed over and perhaps be considered first. The reason is that in the division of knowledge cognition enters the picture and makes a difference, amongst other things on the division of labor. Taking the division of knowledge into account also helps cast light on such important issues as understanding the emergence of routines.

The private contractual funding of academic laboratories: a panel data analysis

The article presents new evidence explaining contractual private funding of academic laboratories. We find that public funding crowds out private funding. While private funding increases with publications it decreases with publications corrected for impact.