This paper discusses the role of capabilities and competitiveness for the economic growth of nations. The capability concept is commonly used in analyses of firms, however, as this paper shows, it may also be used at the level of nations. Capabilities at the national level may be defined broadly...

While the distinction between manufacturing and services becomes increasingly blurred to some observers, we find, using a panel of Swedish firms, clear evidence that foreign sales (exports) are more important than domestic sales for stimulating R&D. This is particularly clear for manufacturing...

Relying on efficiency analysis we evaluate to what extent policy makers have been able to promote the establishment of consolidated and comprehensive research groups to contribute to the implementation of a successful innovation system for the Spanish food technology sector, oriented to the...

The recent increase in R&D offshoring have raised fears that knowledge and competitiveness in advanced countries may be at risk of `hollowing out'. At the same time, economic research has stressed that this process is also likely to allow some reverse technology transfer and foster growth at...

In this paper, by reviewing the development of telecommunication equipment industry from fixed phone switches to later 3G, TD-SCDMA, we conclude that the degree of matching between existing foreign products with Chinese market is the primary incentive for Chinese companies to catch-up. The...

The global location of R&D centres by MNCs is a rather new phenomenon; especially when it comes to establishing R&D centres in developing countries. The existing and rather limited literature on globalization of innovation provides four possible explanations of why multinationals locate R&D...

This paper examines the effects of regional R&D on patenting for Sweden within an accessibility framework. We use two measures of patenting: number of patents granted per capita and a composite of quality-adjusted patents which we regard as an innovation indicator, respectively. Three...

Electricity has been regarded as a typical example of a general purpose technology and important for the surge both in energy productivity and overall productivity in the American economy in the 1920s. This view was challenged by Nicholas and Moser (2004) based on patent statistics. We argue...

The paper explores development blocks around electrification at a 14 sector level in the Swedish economy 1900-1974. We suggest that long-run cointegration relations in combination with mutually Granger-causing short-run effects form a development block. One block centred on electricity that...

The issue of the rationale for public intervention under the systems of innovation perspective has recently received an increasing attention among scholars and practitioners. However, with few exceptions, this literature has been based on the analysis of innovation policies and innovation...