Wie wichtig ist Wissensakquisition im Ausland für Innovation und Produktivität in der Schweiz?

Spyros Arvanitis, Florian Seliger () and Martin Wörter ()
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Florian Seliger: KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, http://www.kof.ethz.ch
Martin Wörter: KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, http://www.kof.ethz.ch
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Martin Woerter

KOF Analysen, 2019, vol. 13, issue 2, 26-37

Abstract: In this study we use patents filed by Swiss firms to measure a firm’s total knowledge capital. Moreover, we distinguish between domestic and foreign knowledge capital by exploiting the informa-tion about the location of a patent’s inventors. Based on Swiss firm data for the period 1996–2015, we specify and estimate econometrically an innovation output and a total factor productivity equation with domestic and foreign knowledge capital variables as the focus right-hand variables in both equations. We find a significantly positive effect of total knowledge capital on both innovation performance and productivity. We find significant differences of the effects of the two categories of knowledge capital depending on the type of innovation (‘incremental’ or ‘radical’). We identify two possible mechanisms through which knowledge capital may influence total factor productivity, namely (a) through radical innovation and (b) through employee qualification. Finally, we find significant size-related differences with respect to the relative influence of the two knowledge categories on productivity.

Keywords: international knowledge sourcing; domestic knowledge capital; foreign knowledge capital; patents; innovation performance; total factor productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F21 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kof:anskof:v:13:y:2019:i:2:p:26-37

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