This paper considers a theoretical model of n asymmetric firms that reduce their initial unit costs by spending on R&D activities. In accordance with the Schumpeterian hypotheses, more efficient (bigger) firms spend more on R&D and this leads to a more concentrated market structure. This calls...

The objective of this paper is to test two related hypotheses: The first is that the involvement of both prolific and foreign inventors in the production of knowledge has a direct, positive impact on the collective dimension of this knowledge production as measured by the size of the inventive...

Corporate governance and the governance of knowledge were for a long time distinct fields of analysis. Reasons for this incompatibility are linked to the restricted vision of corporate governance supported by shareholder value which essentially refers to information rather than knowledge. In...

In this paper, we analysed empirically the innovative behaviour of firms in the Swiss service sector building on the wide consent in economic literature that demand prospects, type and intensity of competition, market structure, factors governing the production of knowledge (appropriability,...

This study considers situations in which specialized innovators and incumbent manufacturers trade on innovations. Manufacturers also invest in their own R&D, and only if they are unsuccessful do they go to the outside market for innovations. We then consider the impacts of public R&D support and...

Knowledge compositeness measures the variety of scientific disciplines that it is necessary to command in order to generate new technological knowledge. The paper investigates the relations between the knowledge compositeness of the flow of patents delivered to the main European automobile...

Using an original survey sample of 103 unquoted Belgian technology-based small firms (TBSFs), we examine the capital structure of start-up companies during their consecutive development stages. We find that internal funds, either alone as personal savings or in combination with family and...

Business cycles might affect the ability of firms to finance R&D, since firms rely on cash flow to finance most R&D activities. However, business cycles also influence the incentive to perform R&D. The opportunity cost of funds devoted to R&D falls during recessions, since the return on...

Taking in hand the two sides (i.e. cognitive and risk-bearing) of authority in design and production in complex tasks, this paper aims to give a first look at shifts in the locus of authority in the aviation electronics—or avionics—industry. Relying on patent and joint ventures data, we...

This paper studies the market valuation of R&D in Denmark for 1989-2001, adding to the limited number of studies of countries outside of the US or the UK. In terms of financial systems or ownership structure, Denmark can be seen as an intermediate case between Anglo-Saxon models in the US and...