The course focuses on important factors that drive the innovation performance of firms, like innovation capabilities, the use of digital technologies, environmental policy and it shows how innovation activities relate to firm performance and to the technological dynamic of industries. Hence, the course provides an understanding of the relationship between technical change and industrial dynamics.
Learning objective
The course provides students with the basic skills to understand and assess empirically the technological activities of firms and the technological dynamics of industries.
Content
The course consists of two parts. Part I provides an introduction into important topics in the field of the economics of innovation. Part II consists of empirical exercises based on various data sets, e.g., the KOF Innovation Data, data about the digitization of firms, or patent data. In part I we will learn about ...a) market conditions that encourage firms to invest in R&D (Research and Development) and develop new products. ...b) the role of universities for the technological activities of a firm (technology transfer). ...c) how technologies diffuse among firms. ...d) how the R&D activities of firms are affected by economic crises and how firms finance their R&D activities. ...e) how we can measure the returns to R&D activities. ...f) how (environmental) policies affect the technological activities of a firm. In part II we will use the KOF Innovation Survey Data, data on digitization of firms, or other data sources, to investigate empirically the technological activities of firms in relation to the topics introduced in part I.
Lecture notes
Will be provided in the course
Literature
Literature will be presented in the course. For an introduction into the economics of innovation see G.M. Peter Swann, The Economics of Innovation - an Introduction, Edward Elgar, 2009. For an overview of empirical innovation studies see W.M. Cohen (2010): Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovation Activities and Performance, in: B.H Hall, N. Rosenberg (eds.), Handbook of Economics of Innovation, volume 1, Elsevier, pp. 129-213.
Prerequisites / Notice
Course is directed to advanced Master-Students and PhD Students with an interest in empirical work.
