Documents Blind, Knut 4 results

"Regulatory framework conditions have been identified as important factors influencing the innovation activities of companies, industries and whole economies. However, in the empirical literature, the impacts of regulation have been assessed as rather ambivalent for innovation. Different types of regulations generate various impacts and even a single type of regulation can influence innovation in various ways depending on how the regulation is implemented. The endogenous growth approach developed by Carlin and Soskice (2006) and empirically applied by Crafts (2006), which determines endogenously the rate of technological progress and therefore innovation, allows a conceptual analysis of the influence of different types of regulation on innovation. In general, the negative effect of compliance costs should be compared with the more dynamic effect of regulations generating additional incentives for innovative activities. Based on this approach, we derive hypotheses on the impact of different specific regulations on innovation.



We differentiate between economic, social and institutional regulations following the OECD taxonomy on regulations. Existing economic analyses are surveyed, which are characterised by rather heterogeneous approaches, data bases and results. The paper aims to apply a comprehensive and comparative approach to investigate quantitatively the innovation impacts in 21 OECD countries using panel data for the period between 1998 and 2004. In summary, the empirical results confirm the hypotheses derived from the conceptual theoretical framework determining technical progress and innovation endogenously and allowing a distinction between short-term and long-term effects. Consequently, the theoretical approach is an appropriate starting point for the empirical analysis of the influence of different regulations on innovation."

"Labor market flexibility continues to be one of economics, politics and society highly debated topic. In recent years, the impact of increased labor market flexibility on research and innovation has gained more and more attention. Previous studies have shown, depending on the measurement of flexibility as well as on the data that both positive and negative influences can be found. However, the financial flexibility in terms of wage rigidities has hardly been explored empirically. With the use of a unique dataset combining comprehensive information from both employers and employees we can accomplish variables not only to numerical and functional, but also to financial wage flexibility. In a panel probit model, we show that the influences of most of the indicators of wage flexibility are positive and vary by type of innovation. While the variables of wage bargaining has a higher impact on process innovations, information about specific wage levels, however, affects in particular the development of new products. The same applies to a separate consideration of wage bargaining levels. Aspects of numerical and functional labor market flexibility, in contrast, act negative on all types of innovation. Thereby, part time employees affect particularly processes, while flexible employment contracts have a stronger influence on product innovations. It seems that new products depend more on employment status and the resulting motivation of the employees."

"Nanoscience and nanotechnology are science fields which are growing extremely dynamically. Germany occupies the top position in Europe and is only second to the US worldwide, which can be attributed to growing research promotion by the state. Based on a general conceptual framework on the role of different types of standards in the research process and technology life cycle, we argue that the market success of nanotechnology applications depends very much on the development of corresponding standards, which clarify not only terminology, measurement and testing methods, but also regulate safety and health aspects and specify interfaces. Other countries, European and international standardisation organisations have launched first initiatives rather early. However, Germany was not able to translate its excellent starting position in nanotechnology research into a leading position in standardisation initiatives, which pave the way for future commercialisation of nanotechnology and also the basis for the next generation of research activities. Based on a survey among stakeholders of German nanotechnology research, we are able not only to provide a first empirical validation of our conceptual model on the role of standards in the research process, but also to define the major problems at the interface between research and standardisation, and finally, to recommend possible options for their solution."