The Regional Dimension of Knowledge Transfers—A Behavioral Approach

Innovations are inherently connected to knowledge transfers. The need of face-to-face contacts to transfer tacit knowledge is commonly argued to cause a regional dimension of innovative activities. The paper presents an alternative explanation based on a model of boundedly rational actors who search for knowledge. It is shown that a regional dimension exists in these processes that results from a regional bias in an actor's search activities. Social embeddedness, a shared regional identity and limited spatial mobility foster this bias. We argue that insights from research on these topics can help to define the geographic size of a region.     

Cluster-Based Technology Policy—The German Experience

The German Federal Government has undertaken a series of particularly interesting policy experiments in the field of technology policy in recent years, a major policy innovation being the explicit recognition of regional clustering aspects in federal support programmes. The paper provides a categorization and assessment of these policy experiments and tries to shed some new light on two fundamental policy questions that are important beyond the German context: (i) can clusters be built by national government policy action? and (ii) is regionalization of technology policy a suitable means of achieving goals at the national level? We find that utilizing the regional level to boost national innovation and competitiveness can—under certain conditions explicated in the paper—indeed be seen as a promising means of achieving national goals. More specifically, we find that InnoRegio type programmes might be particularly useful in regions with distinctive structural problems such as the Central and Eastern European countries, whereas BioRegio type models might be a suitable means of policy‐making at the level of the European Union.     

The Dependence of Innovativeness on the Local Firm Population—An Empirical Study of German Patents

Local clusters and the co-location of firms are repeatedly related to a high level of innovativeness in the literature. The underlying argument is that firms that are co-located with other firms of the same industry undertake more innovation than “lonely” firms because of spillovers, local labour markets and cooperations. These arguments are tested here for four industries in Germany. To this end, four different hypotheses about the impact of co-location on the innovativeness of firms are formulated and empirically compared. The results show that the innovativeness of firms indeed depends on the existence of other firms in the same region. However, the relationship between co-location and innovation output depends on the industry studied.     

重庆化学工业的发展对区域经济的重要作用

重庆是西南重镇,也是国家布局规划的综合性化工基地。经过六十多年的发展,化学工业已成为了重庆“6＋1”支柱产业之一,建立了门类较齐全的现代化学工业体系,形成了以长寿、涪陵及万州为中心的三大化工基地,力争发挥西部千亿综合性化工基地的优势,拉动长江中上游区域经济的增长。     

Leveraging Lead User Knowledge in Software Development—The Case of Weblog Technology

Firms increasingly rely upon information technology (IT) to manage organizational knowledge, though this does not inevitably result in increased knowledge sharing. In contrast, we know that in the case of non-commercial open software development, IT plays a central role in knowledge sharing between software developers. This paper acknowledges the impact of a blogosphere—a system of connected weblogs (i.e. personalized and informal publications on the Internet in reverse chronological order)—on the motivation of lead users to develop commercial software together with the employees of a large for-profit organization. On the basis of multi-method data, collected over a 28-month period, our results indicate parallels to the field of open source software: we argue that weblog technology and its features evoke intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to engage in knowledge sharing within a commercial software development project.     

IT外包中知识转移的风险规避对策研究1

本文对IT外包中的相关文献与IT外包、知识转移、风险规避等概念进行了阐述,提出了建立IT外包知识管理系统、加强IT外包双方的关系管理系统等对策,该些对策对IT外包双方知识转移中的风险进行控制具有一定的指导性意义。     

The Role of Time in Assessing the Economic Effects of R&D

This study investigates the impacts of R&D on firm performance. It extends previous research by constructing alternative stocks of R&D‐Capital that take into account that time plays an important role in assessing the pay‐off of industrial research. The results show that even when we employed R&D‐Capitals that placed more emphasis on the industrial research that had been undertaken 7 years ago, the effects of R&D were very (statistically) significant and relatively high, thereby suggesting that the life of R&D (on average) tends to be long. The results however, vary across organizations depending on both firm size and the technological opportunities that a company faces. It appears that the depreciation rate of R&D investments is higher in the case of technologically sophisticated firms. In contrast, strategic investments in industrial research generate a relatively constant effect on the performance of other firms, supporting the notion that the corresponding returns for such firms decay slowly.     

Local Nodes in Global Networks: The Geography of Knowledge Flows in Biotechnology Innovation

The literature on innovation and interactive learning has tended to emphasize the importance of local networks, inter-firm collaboration and knowledge flows as the principal source of technological dynamism. More recently, however, this view has come to be challenged by other perspectives that argue for the importance of non-local knowledge flows. According to this alternative approach, truly dynamic economic regions are characterized both by dense local social interaction and knowledge circulation, as well as strong inter-regional and international connections to outside knowledge sources and partners. This paper offers an empirical examination of these issues by examining the geography of knowledge flows associated with innovation in biotechnology. We begin by reviewing the growing literature on the nature and geography of innovation in biotechnology research and the commercialization process. Then, focusing on the Canadian biotech industry, we examine the determinants of innovation (measured through patenting activity), paying particular attention to internal resources and capabilities of the firm, as well as local and global flows of knowledge and capital. Our study is based on the analysis of Statistics Canada's 1999 Survey of Biotechnology Use and Development, which covers 358 core biotechnology firms. Our findings highlight the importance of in-house technological capability and absorptive capacity as determinants of successful innovation in biotechnology firms. Furthermore, our results document the precise ways in which knowledge circulates, in both embodied and disembodied forms, both locally and globally. We also highlight the role of formal intellectual property transactions (domestic and international) in promoting knowledge flows. Although we document the importance of global networks in our findings, our results also reveal the value of local networks and specific forms of embedding. Local relational linkages are especially important when raising capital—and the expertise that comes with it—to support innovation. Nevertheless, our empirical results raise some troubling questions about the alleged pre-eminence of the local in fostering innovation.     

人事决策专家与新手的知识诱发和多维空间结构分析

本研究运用认知工程学实验方法，对21名人事管理干部(专家)和大学生(新手)进行人事决策知识的诱发与获取实验，并采用多维量表法作出多维空间结构分析。结果表明，两类知识结构存在较大差异，等家的知识结构表现出“人一职”元素之间的依存关系．知识元素分化程度较高，并具网络特征；而新手的知识结构则缺乏分化和明确的维度特征，较少结构化。本研究为多层次决策支持与辅助提供了新的实验依据。     

Local Knowledge Spillovers and Development: An Exploration of the Software Cluster in Uruguay

The paper contributes to the understanding of the nature of local knowledge spillovers and their importance for innovation in clusters in developing countries. Using detailed primary data about a cluster of software firms in Montevideo, Uruguay, the paper finds plenty of evidence of the existence of pure unintentional knowledge spillovers. In addition, it supports previous theoretical studies that have contended that there are also many knowledge flows that are to some degree produced purposively by local parties—these flows can be placed somewhere in between pure spillovers and pure market transactions. While the respondents themselves place most value on knowledge flows that are more or less purposively co-produced with customer transactions, a more objective statistical analysis shows that good product/service-innovation performance is associated with intensive use of flows with more pronounced spillover characteristics. The respondents possibly underrate the latter because of their invisibility and spontaneous nature. Heavy use of knowledge flows lying close to the market-transaction side of the spectrum is found to be associated with relatively advanced organizational capability, but not with product innovation. Overall, the findings point towards the relevance of cluster-based policies to promote innovation in a less developed country context. Various policy measures to stimulate the local circulation of knowledge are suggested.     

决策知识结构的全方格诱发与分析

本研究以决策者的信息加工模式和决策机制作为系统设计的理论依据，获得了富有意义的结果。在研究中，通过全方格技术对具体和抽象的概念在不同标准下的知识结构诱发，探讨全方格技术在决策知识结构中的具体运用，得出了一些有关决策知识结构的新的规律和特点。研究表明，不论是抽象概念组还是具体概念组，当标准清晰时，其结构就相对整合得有规则，更符合人们的认知规律。反之，结构就比较混乱和模糊。另外，当进行区分的维度标准都比较清晰时，同一组概念的认知结构就比较接近，因素间的区别也小，结构较明确，而当标准比较模糊时，认知结构就缺乏规则。本文讨论了研究的理论意义和应用价值。     

基于力学效应的机械传动原理设计知识库的结构研究

对机械传动功能,效应,原理解之间的关系进行分析,提出了基于力学效应的机械传动原理解设计目录结构模式。研制了力学效应目录,利用功能,效应,原理解之间的映射关系建立了用于机械传动原理求解的设计目录最后给出了应用实例。     

知识经济时代与包装设计浅述

信息产业的迅速发展和产业的信息化已成为现代经济的重要特点。通过分析阐述了适应经济时代决定了包装设计的时代化,以及未来的市场竞争是设计的竞争。     

Knowledge Bases in Worlds of Production: The Case of the Food Industry

This paper aims to contribute to research on the knowledge dimension of industrial innovation and competitive advantage by combining two conceptual constructs that are applied in growing but separate bodies of research. One, the so-called “SAS model”, regards knowledge bases of firms and distinguishes between Synthetic, Analytical and Symbolic knowledge. The second, the “Worlds of Production” construct, classifies firms according to differences in technologies and markets and outlines four possible action frameworks within which companies operate and innovate. Combining these conceptualizations seems to enrich analyses within both perspectives and provide a useful framework for studies on knowledge dynamics in different economic contexts. Empirical evidence regarding knowledge dynamics of two “alternative food” producers is presented, indicating that symbolic knowledge which in current literature is mainly delimited and described within cultural industries, may also be relevant for other industries such as the alternative food sub-sector.     

专利产出与区域经济增长的动态关联机制分析

运用动态计量经济学的分布滞后模型、单位根检验模型、协整分析模型和Granger因果检验模型,以及专利产出与经济增长数据,对首都区域专利产出与经济增长关联机制进行了动态计量经济实证分析.结果显示:首都地区专利产出与经济增长当前及之后具有两期的关联性,平均来讲,专利产出每增加1%,首都区域经济当年将增长0.4923%,专利产出在3年内共使得经济增长了0.9847%;专利产出增长与GDP增长存在长期稳定的动态均衡关系,但是其对首都地区经济增长促进作用还不够;专利产出是经济增长Granger意义上的原因,但专利产出没有有效地促进首都区域经济增长,二者之间没有形成一种协调互动的反馈机制.     

Economic biogas and cooling water rates in a lithium bromide—water absorption system

An economic analysis of the role of biogas and cooling water in a lithium bromide—water absorption system has been carried out to optimize the generator, condenser and absorber temperatures at a given evaporator temperature and solution pumping rate. The analysis has been repeated for different pumping rates (PR) to determine the optimum PR corresponding to the minimum over-all operating cost of the system. The study has also been carried out for the condition when biogas in the generator and cooling water in the absorber and condenser are supplied at equal flow-rates. It is found that the performance of the LiBr-H₂O system at equal biogas and cooling water flow-rates is about 5.988% higher than when operated at the minimum over-all operating cost, the latter being cheaper by only 2.71%. For low evaporation temperatures, use of a preheater in a LiBr-H₂O system creates a crystallization problem when operated at low pumping rates. The study has therefore been extended for a system without preheater. The parameters under study are illustrated graphically against the generator temperature. Equations to obtain the corresponding optimum condenser and absorber temperature are given. The functional relationship between crystallization limit and absorbent temperature has also been obtained. The optimum operating parameters are presented graphically.     

Knowledge Networks and Innovative Performance in an Industrial District: The Case of a Footwear District in the South of Italy

The traditional district literature tends to assume that: (1) the competitiveness of firms depends on external sources of knowledge; (2) all firms in a district benefit from knowledge externalities; (3) relying on external knowledge relationships necessarily means these are confined to the district area. Our case study of the Barletta footwear district in the South of Italy suggests otherwise. Based on social network analysis, we demonstrate that the local knowledge network is quite weak and unevenly distributed among the local firms. A strong local network position of a firm tended to increase their innovative performance, and so did their connectivity to extra-local firms. So, it mattered being connected either locally or non-locally: being co-located was surely not enough. Having a high absorptive capacity seemed to raise only indirectly, through non-local relationships, the innovative performance of firms.     

The Dynamics of Knowledge-intensive Sectors' Knowledge Base: Evidence from Biotechnology and Telecommunications

In this paper, we present a methodology to represent and measure knowledge which takes into account knowledge heterogeneity and its sectoral level theoretical and empirical implications in knowledge intensive environments. We draw on work on recombinant knowledge, extending the approach to include the way the dynamics of technological knowledge creation evolves according to a life cycle; testing the existence of concepts such as technological paradigms; mapping the characteristics of the search process in the phases of exploration and exploitation during this technology life cycle and detecting the differences in sectoral evolution that can be explained by the properties of the knowledge base. We use European Patent Office data (1981–2005) to propose some operational metrics for the knowledge base and its evolution in two knowledge intensive sectors: biotechnology and telecommunications. Our empirical results show that there are interesting and meaningful differences across sectors, which are linked to the different phases of the technology life cycles.