General purpose technologies (GPT) have a significant impact on economic activity through radical technological change and wide technological diffusion. This paper aims to address the generality of technologies associated with the GPT concept. Information and communications technologies (ICT),...

In this paper our aim is to assess the evolution of the Finnish biotechnology sector during the 2000's. Particular focus is given to the growth expectations and realized outcomes of Finnish biotechnology companies, to the evolution of public investments, and to potential determinants of company...

This paper utilizes queuing models to analyze health care processes. We extend previous queuing models to allow for i) heterogeneous resources, ii) resource allocation to various tasks, and iii) teams (complementary resources). We model a process of one clinical unit. We use the model to analyze...

The construction industry has suffered from low growth in recent decades. Motivated by the economic impor-tance of the industry, we revisit the construction produc-tivity puzzle by analyzing the construction value chains of 12 European countries with data from the World In-put-Output and EU...

New technological applications are usually expected to increase the health care costs. But they can also spawn cost savings in the long run, for example, when making time-consuming diagnostic methods more efficient and facilitating targeted therapy. This study analyses how the implementation of...

The need for the strategic initiatives for biotechnology strategy emerged in interviews with 90 Finnish biotechnology leaders in the ETLA Biotechnology Survey, conducted at the end of 2004. This paper discusses on the policy implications for the project on “The biotechnology industry as a part...

ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, conducted surveys at the end of 2004 and at the beginning of 2002 on the enterprises listed in the Index of Biotechnology Companies in the Finnish Bioindustries organization. The surveys provide data on financial accounting, R&D activities,...

Patents form a central pathway for capturing the value of intangible assets in a knowledge-intensive business. Patents can potentially generate and support earnings in two ways: they can be traded or licensed out, and they can provide critical protection for core production technologies or...