This paper analyzes the impact of the skill composition of the working labor force on the innovative activity of firms when there is both an imperfect labor market and monopolistic competition on the product market. The labor market imperfections arise through a kind of insider outsider mechanism where in the bargaining round the union attaches a greater weight to the wage and employment intere...

This paper analyzes the behavior of monopoly firm serving its products to two countries. The main focus of this paper is on how the product-quality choice in different markets are related with the cost structure of the firm. First, This paper examines the effects of production and R&D costs on the product quality separately, and then discusses the general case where the both costs exists. This ...

The paper investigates the differences between small, medium-sized and large firms regarding their performance in the introduction of new products and processes. After a review of the relevant literature, two models are proposed and tested in search for different business strategies and innovation inputs connected to product and process innovations. The empirical analysis uses innovation survey...

We estimate hurdle rates for firms’ investments in pollution abatement technology, using ex post data. The method is based on a structural option value model where the future price of polluting fuel is the major source of uncertainty facing the firm. The empirical procedure is illustrated using a panel of firms from the Swedish pulp and paper industry, and the energy and heating sector, and the...

We estimate productivities at the sector level for 75 countries and 5 decades, and examine how they evolve over time in both developed and developing countries. We find that in both country groups, comparative advantage has become weaker: productivity grew systematically faster in sectors that were initially at the greater comparative disadvantage. The global welfare implications of this phenom...

We examine the number of patent applications for climate change mitigation technologies (CCMT) filed at the European Patent Office and seek to relate it to the oversupply of emission allowances under the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS). We use a panel count data approach to show that firms covered by the policy take the oversupply into account when determining their level of inn...

Using the tools of real-options theory, Farzin, Huisman and Kort (1998) investigate the optimal timing of technology adoption in a model in which there is ongoing technological progress and the "rm's investment decision is irreversible. When the "rm can switch technologies n(R times, Farzin et al. (1998) obtain the surprising result that the criterion for adopting a new technology derived from ...

Using firm-level data for three Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and four manufacturing industries, I examine how imports from OECD countries lead to productivity gains for domestic establishments through their knowledge absorption capabilities. I find that domestic firms with technology standards farther away from the international frontier benefit more from trade than those with technology...

The rate and magnitude of technological change is a critical component in estimating future anthropogenic carbon emissions. We present a methodology for modeling low-carbon emitting technologies within the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the world economy. The methodology translates bottom-up engineering information for ...

We study the impact of incentive pay, local development objectives and government constraints on university licensing performance. We develop and test a simple contracting model of technology licensing offices, using new survey information together with panel data on U.S. universities for 1995-99. We find that private universities are much more likely to adopt incentive pay than public ones, bu...