Get with the Program: Software-Driven Innovation in Traditional Manufacturing

Lee Branstetter, Matej Drev () and Namho Kwon ()
Additional contact information
Matej Drev: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Namho Kwon: Korea Institute of Public Finance Sejong-si 30147, South Korea

Management Science, 2019, vol. 65, issue 2, 541-558

Abstract: This paper documents the increasing importance of software for successful innovation in manufacturing sectors well beyond the traditional definition of electronics and information technology. Using panel data for 229 publicly listed firms from 18 countries across four manufacturing industries over the period 1981–2005, we find significant variation across firms in the software intensity of their innovative activity. Firms that exhibit a higher level of software intensity generate more patents per R&D dollar, and their investment in R&D is more highly valued by equity markets.

Keywords: software revolution; traditional manufacturing; technological change; innovation performance; Tobin’s Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2960 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Get With the Program: Software-Driven Innovation in Traditional Manufacturing (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:65:y:2019:i:2:p:541-558

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