We study investments in R&D and the formation of R&D clusters of firms which are competitors in the market. In a three stage game, firms first decide on the budget allocated to their R&D department, then form research clusters and finally compete in quantities. The second stage cluster formation is modeled by the unanimity game introduced in Bloch(1995). We show that for any distribution of R&D...

A fundamental principle of economics with which Adam Smith begins The Wealth of Nations is the division of labor. Some firms, however, have been pursuing a practice called job rotation, which assigns each worker not to a single and specific task but to a set of several tasks among which he or she rotates with some frequency. We examine the practice of job rotation as a serious alternative to sp...

The theoretical literature on technological changes distinguishes between paradigmatic changes and changes in trajectories. Recently several scholars have performed empirical studies on the way technological trajectories evolve in specific industries, often by predominantly looking at the artifacts. Much less if any empirical work has been done on paradigmatic changes, even though these have a ...

This paper analyzes a model of oligopolistic competition with ongoing investment. It incorporates the following models as special cases: incremental investment, patent races, learning-by-doing, and network externalities. We investigate circumstances under which a firm with low costs or high quality will extend its initial lead through further cost-reducing or quality-improving investments. In m...

We develop a microeconomic model of endogenous growth where clean and dirty technologies compete in production and innovation– in the sense that research can be directed to either clean or dirty technologies. If dirty technologies are more advanced to start with, the potential transition to clean technology can be diffi cult both because clean research must climb several rungs to catch up with ...

This paper develops a model for analyzing the costs and benefits of intellectual property enforcement in LDCs. The North is more productive than the South and is the only source of innovator. There are two types of goods, and each bloc has a comparative advantage in producing a specific type of good. If comparative advantage is strong enough, even under piracy there are goods that the South wil...

C ommunity-acquired pneumonia (CAP) continues to be a major healthcare problem. The associated mortality of 14% in hospitalised patients is still high [1]. Established clinical scores, such as the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) and CRB-65 score (confusion, respiratory frequency o30 breaths?min, systolic blood pressure ,90 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure f60 mmHg, and age o65 yrs) are used for ...

Schumpeter (1939) proposes that recessions have virtue in promoting growth-enhancing activities. However, this view is often at odds with data, as many innovative activities appear pro-cyclical. We revisit the “virtue of bad times”theoretically and empirically. Our theory suggests that recessions have such virtue only when the cyclicality of innovation’s marginal opportunity cost dominates that...

This paper investigates whether the distinction between patent citations added by the inventor or the examiner is relevant for the issue of geographical concentration of knowledge flows (as embodied in citations). The distinction between inventor and examiner citations enables us to work with a more refined citation indicator of knowledge flows. We use information in the search reports of paten...