| 1. |
- Broström, Anders, 1978-
(författare)
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Strategists and Academics :
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral thesis consists of five self-contained essays on interaction in R&D between university researchers and private firms. Together, these essays explore the conditions under which private firms benefit from spillovers from publicly funded and organised research. From the first essay, which sets out to empirically validate the theoretical arguments about the benefits of university-industry interaction for private firms, the thesis follows a line of pursuit that goes back and forth between exploration of the different benefits that firms enjoy from university interaction and the relationships between these benefits and the conditions of interaction. In essay II, a typology of rationales for establishing cooperative relations is presented. A considerable breadth of interaction rationales is documented, but on closer examination, a “core” set of rationales related to innovation in terms of invented or improved products or processes are found to be the main drivers of interaction. Developing this view, three critical issues previously studied within innovation economics are re-considered from the point of view of firm rationales for interaction; public co-funding of university-firm interaction (essay II), the role of geographic proximity for interaction on R&D (essay III) and the organisation of public sector research (public research institutes and universities) in relation to firm level competences (essay IV). In a fifth essay, four ideal types of strategy for localised interaction between R&D subsidiaries and universities are proposed. Through the framework developed in this essay, the rationales for interaction are related to the overall R&D strategy of multinational firms. Concluding the thesis, it is discussed how the research presented herein opens up for improved theorizing around the roles of academic research for industrial innovation.
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| 2. |
- Wahlström, Marie, 1970-
(författare)
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Livable and Sustainable Cities : Explorations of the City Soul and Energy-Efficient Housing based on Swedish Data on Citizens’ Preferences
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Contemporary cities face many challenges, none the least from an urban planning perspective. Global climate change and urbanization is putting pressures on planning for combatting and adapting to, e.g., a warmer climate and an increased need for housing in already dense environments.The aim of this thesis is to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of residents’ opinions and preferences regarding various aspects of city livability and sustainability. Two of the papers discuss energy-efficient housing and two the identity/soul of the city and its neighborhoods. The papers are empirically oriented and rest on relatively large quantitative materials of Swedish data. The database used in the first two articles contains around 77,000 observations of single-family homes. The residential survey used in the two final papers was sent to a random sample of 6,600 residents in four cities, resulting in 2,573 respondents.Regression is the primary analytical method and the results indicate a preference for sustainable housing, in terms of a price premium on heat pumps (attributes that both reduce the energy consumption and are easily observed in the house). It is further suggested that the perception of a strong city/neighborhood soul is linked to positive relations to the city and to positive perceptions of its physical characteristics. In particular, feelings of attachment, belonging, and pride as well as perceptions of aesthetics, arts, and symbols, seem to be linked to a strong city/neighborhood soul.The presented research contributes to related literature through providing insight to Swedish residents’ preferences and opinions concerning energy-efficient housing and the city/neighborhood soul. It is shown that a citizen perspective based on carefully designed databases and appropriate analytical tools can be used by planners to gain new insights supporting urban livability and sustainability efforts.
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| 3. |
- Baltzopoulos, Apostolos, 1981-
(författare)
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Essays on High-Quality Entrepreneurship : On the Origins and Survival of Start-ups and the Role of Universities in the Location Decision
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of four self-contained essays on the topic of entrepreneurship. [Essay I] uses a unique and detailed Swedish dataset to explore firm, regional, and industry determinants that stimulate spin-offs using the choice of the individuals as the level of analysis. The most important results are that the size of the region and of the local entrepreneurial culture (the relative number of SMEs) has a positive effect on the propensity of the individual to set up a new venture corroborating the results of past firm- and regional-level studies. Industrial specialization is shown to have a positive impact on spin-offs, albeit only in high-tech manufacturing and in knowledge intensive business service sectors. Moreover, using an entropy measure to disentangle unrelated and related variety, it is found that the former has a significantly negative while the latter a significantly positive effect on the propensity of the individual to start a spin-off. [Essay II] asks how localisation (MAR) and diversity (Jacobs) externalities affect opportunity-based entrepreneurship across all industry sectors in Sweden’s private economy in the period 1999-2005. MAR externalities are found to positively affect entrepreneurship across all sectors. Jacobs externalities, measured as related variety using an entropy measure, positively affect entrepreneurship in high-tech manufacturing and in knowledge intensive business services but have no significant effect on low-tech manufacturing and other services. The results suggest that previous studies that find no evidence of entrepreneurship benefiting from a diverse local market composition might be using too broad measures of variety. [Essay III] analyses how different R&D strategies of incumbent firms affect the quantity and quality of their entrepreneurial spawning. By examining entrepreneurial ventures of ex-employees of firms with different R&D strategies three things emerge: First, firms with persistent R&D investments with a general superiority in sales, exports, productivity, profitability and wages are less likely to generate entrepreneurs than firm with temporary or no R&D investments. Second, start-ups from knowledge intensive business service (KIBS) firms with persistent R&D investments have a significantly increased probability of survival. No corresponding association between the R&D strategies of incumbents and survival of entrepreneurial spawns is found for incumbents in manufacturing sectors. Third, spin-outs from KIBS-firms are more likely to survive if they start in the same firm, indicating the importance of inherited related knowledge. The findings suggest that R&D intensive firms spur fewer entrepreneurs, but their entrepreneurial spawns tend to be of higher quality. [Essay IV] investigates how universities may affect regional entrepreneurship through the localisation decisions of entrepreneurial alumni. Empirically, a comprehensive, individual-level dataset from Sweden is used for the period 2003-2005. The results suggest that even when controlling for their spatial history, individuals have an increased propensity to set up in the region where they studied. This effect is found to substitute for both urbanisation economies and localisation economies as drivers of regional-level entrepreneurship. Thus, the analysis provides evidence on how universities affect regional economic development that complements the strong focus on spin-off activities by university researchers in previous studies.
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| 4. |
- Ridderstedt, Ivan, 1990-
(författare)
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Improving the Efficiency of Public Procurement : Empirical evidence using micro-level contract data
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Among OECD countries, close to one-third of government expenditure is allocated using public procurement. This implies that the skill of public authorities in handling the procurement format has a significant impact on how much the public sector accomplish in relation to their goals and responsibilities. The aim of this thesis is to provide new insights into how public procurers can achieve more for the money by improving the design of their auctions and contracts. Specifically, the thesis examines how the efficiency can be influenced by the following three aspects: the method of bid evaluation (the award mechanism), whether items are procured separately or grouped into larger contracts, and variations among procurers in the activities and quantities they specify in a given case.The thesis includes four essays that analyze detailed contract information from Swedish procurements of road reinvestments and public bus services. For a comprehensive sample of the examined contracts, information has been collected from procurement documents and compiled into rich microdata sets. The use of microdata has enabled detailed reviews of how the procurements have been designed as well as statistical analysis of associations between the procurer’s choices and the outcome. While the essays primarily focus on results and implications regarding their respective research questions, the kappa provides a more general discussion about quantitative microanalysis in the field of procurement. This reflects a complementary aim of the thesis, which is to contribute to well-informed decisions regarding whether and how contracting authorities should facilitate analyses of this kind.Two of the essays investigate to what extent and how the Swedish national infrastructure manager Trafikverket can improve its efficiency in procurements of highway pavement replacement. Trafikverket spends approximately EUR 200 million on these works annually. Hence, if better procurement methods could lower the cost by 5% without reducing the quality, about EUR 10 million would be freed up annually for additional road maintenance or other uses. Both essays indicate that even greater efficiency gains can be achieved through improved dissemination of best practices. The results support Trafikverket's policy to bundle similar and adjacent road work but imply that the contracts are generally not large enough to fully benefit from the economies of scale. A conclusion is that it is motivated for Trafikverket to consider the scope for efficient bundling when deciding on the timing of these pavement replacement measures.The other two essays examine how the Swedish regional Public Transport Authorities (PTAs) have implemented the scoring rule award mechanism and its efficiency. This alternative to the lowest price and quality-only mechanisms is promoted within the EU procurement directive and is dominant in many countries. However, the literature on how well public agencies implement this policy is scarce and fragmented. One of the essays shows that scoring rules are common in Swedish procurements of public bus services, but also that there are significant differences between the PTAs in whether and how they have applied this award mechanism. Several implementations have unsound and likely unintended properties, in the light of economic theory. The findings suggest that best practices are not spread effectively between the organizations. The second essay on this theme exploits the property that one PTA alternated between lowest price and a performance focused variant of scoring rules and, equally important, could provide data on a relevant and reliable outcome measure. Based on 30 months of observations on monitored punctuality, performance is not found to be better in contracts awarded using scoring rules. The results suggest that the promotion of scoring rules is not accompanied with adequate guidance on when and how to implement it efficiently.The kappa highlights how microdata at the contract level enable research that considers both the ‘uniqueness’ of each procurement and random variation. In the analyses of road reinvestments, the detailed data allows us to consider several important characteristics of the contracts and the treated road segments. Similarly, the analysis of bus punctuality considers several aspects of the traffic assignment. In this way, quantitative microanalysis can provide reliable quantifications of how costs and quality are affected by both the procurer's actions, while considering the external conditions. Many of these associations are too complex to be reliably assessed by an individual civil servant, even if it is highly knowledgeable and experienced. However, the thesis emphasizes that even quantitative analysis can yield misleading results if the data material is not good enough, for example, if the sample is too small or relevant aspects are not captured.A central argument in the thesis is that the standardized and rigid procurement process creates particularly excellent conditions for collecting useful procurement data. However, the potential for this has largely remained untapped by the public agencies themselves. Instead, these data have primarily been compiled within individual research projects, where even the collection of tendering documents has been a notorious obstacle. In Sweden, Trafikverket's information management and cost control have repeatedly been criticized. However, Trafikverket is far from the ‘worst in class’ in these matters, and the criticism mainly reflects the agency's position as one of Sweden's largest procurers. An overall conclusion of the thesis is that public agencies in general should take a more active role in improving how procurement data are collected and managed. Of particular importance is the establishment of well-structured archiving processes for procurement documents, along with systems to track changes in both costs and content after a contract is awarded. For smaller authorities, it is reasonable that this development is coordinated or driven by a centralized function, whereas Trafikverket is well positioned to take a leading role in finding and disseminating best practices. Ultimately, the responsibility for instructing and overseeing improvements in this area lies with the governing bodies of the public agencies, given that the agencies do not set their own agendas.
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| 5. |
- Viklund Ros, Ingrid, 1988-
(författare)
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Exploring the links between knowledge spillovers, trade, productivity, and innovation
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of four papers which consider internal and external determinants of innovation, productivity, or export at the firm level sing matched panel data from various national and international databases.In the first paper, we examine a universal set of Swedish employer-employee panel data for the period 2000-2014. There is evidence for spillover from exporters to almost 1,300 non-exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through outside board directors. The identification strategy to account for endogenous selection of external board members relies on external instruments and applications of different instrumental variable approaches, which capture also unobserved heterogeneity. Our findings are robust to controlling for export background among managers and employees, as well as firm size, human capital, total factor productivity, productivity spillovers, firm location, and industry classification.The second paper investigates whether board directors interlocked with or employed by innovative firms affect start-up firms’ propensity to be innovators themselves. Drawing upon a sample of more than 50,000 Swedish start-up firms, we find that board connections to incumbent innovators have a causal impact on the new firms’ probability to apply for patents. The results are robust when controlling for industry, geography, and firm age as well as spillovers through worker and managerial mobility, external knowledge sourcing through patent disclosure, access to venture capital, and board attributes.The third paper examines the impact of offshoring on patenting and total factor productivity using a panel of 7,000 mainly small Swedish manufacturing firms over the period 2001-2014. We apply the United Nations Broad Economic Categories (BEC) system to identify offshoring-related intermediate imports. The results show that the link between offshoring and innovation as well as productivity is largely explained by self-selection and reverse causality. We find a positive but statistically weak impact of offshoring on innovation, and no effect on productivity.The fourth paper examines solar innovation drivers in a panel of firms seeking energy patents across 12 European countries. Using 26-year micro and macro observations plus a 10-year pre-sample, it finds a strong link between electricity prices and solar photovoltaic patents. For a sample of 108 unique firms from the 12 European countries, Poisson estimates are insignificant for public policies like feed-in tariffs, investments, subsidies, and support. Positive spillover from solar and wind patent stocks and negative impact from fossil energy patents are found. Studying 226 firms located outside of the 12 European countries, the results suggest that European feed-in tariffs and public solar investments increase the propensity for patent protection within the 12 European countries.
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| 6. |
- Heshmati, Almas, et al.
(författare)
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Ojnareskogen värd långt mer än kalkjobben
- 2015
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Ingår i: Svenska Dagbladet. - Stockholm : Schibsted. - 1101-2412.
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Den kanske största miljöstriden i svensk historia håller nu på att avslutas, efter tio år i olika rättsliga instanser ända upp till Högsta domstolen. Det handlar om ett 50-tal kalkjobb eller bevarandet av ett av vårt lands mest skyddsvärda områden, skriver flera nationalekonomer gemensamt.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Nabavi, Pardis
(författare)
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Innovation and Productivity : A Microdata Analysis
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral thesis consists of four papers. The first two papers deal with firms’ innovation strategies, knowledge spillover and their impact on growth and productivity. The last two papers are focused on spinoffs and their survival.The first paper finds a strong indication of variation in the capacity of firms to benefit from external knowledge among persistent innovators, temporary innovators and non-innovators. It considers the distinct and complementary effect of internal innovation efforts and spillovers from the local milieu.The second paper shows that persistently innovative exporters benefit considerably more than other exporters from access to a rich spectrum of neighbouring knowledge. The level of productivity among non-innovative exporters and exporters that are only temporarily engaged in innovation is positively influenced by externalities in the most knowledge-intense local milieus.The third paper reveals that there is a substantial difference in ex-post entry performance between genuinely new ventures and spinoffs in the manufacturing and service sectors based on their location. The proposed superiority of start-ups by ex-employees depends on the performance measures and the sector. Moreover, knowledge and the technology intensity of the industry matter for the viability of the new firms.The fourth paper focuses on exports, innovation, tenure and management and investigates how the incumbent firm characteristics affect the viability of its spinoffs. While experience from an exporting parent has a significant and positive effect on market success, no spillover effect from innovative firms can be found.
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