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The sources of innovations - looking beyond technological opportunities

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  • Christopher Palmberg

Abstract

The concept 'technological opportunity' has been coined to capture the vitality of the underlying sciences and technologies as the sources of technical progress that firms draw upon during innovation. Nonetheless, less attention has been paid to the fact that the commercialisation of technical progress through innovations also depends on the ability to assimilate a range of other sources of innovations, related less to the sciences and technologies and more to characteristics of the market and broader environment in which firms innovate. This paper focuses on the sectoral diversity in such sources, and on the ways in which they are assimilated and turned into commercialised innovations. The paper contributes to the extant literature by drawing on a unique survey data on Finnish innovations. The results both confirm and also challenge, and further elaborate on certain 'stylised facts' on the relationships between technological opportunities and the sources of innovation across sectors.

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  • Christopher Palmberg, 2004. "The sources of innovations - looking beyond technological opportunities," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 183-197.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:13:y:2004:i:2:p:183-197
    DOI: 10.1080/10438590410001628143
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nelson, Richard R. & Wolff, Edward N., 1997. "Factors behind cross-industry differences in technical progress," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 205-220, June.
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    4. Wolfgang Becker & Juergen Peters, 2000. "Technological Opportunities, Absorptive Capacities, and Innovation," Discussion Paper Series 195, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Caroline Orset, 2014. "Innovation and the precautionary principle," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 780-801, November.
    3. Edler, Jakob & Georghiou, Luke, 2007. "Public procurement and innovation--Resurrecting the demand side," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 949-963, September.
    4. Santamara, Llus & Nieto, Mara Jess & Barge-Gil, Andrs, 2009. "Beyond formal R&D: Taking advantage of other sources of innovation in low- and medium-technology industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 507-517, April.
    5. M. Moore, 2021. "Collaboration in Coworking Spaces: Impact on Firm Innovativeness and Business Models," Papers 2111.09866, arXiv.org.
    6. Arie Y. Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2011. "Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 81-98, February.
    7. Paraskevopoulou, Evita, 2012. "Non-technological regulatory effects: Implications for innovation and innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1058-1071.
    8. Terttu Luukkonen, & Mari Maunula,, 2006. "Coaching Small Biotech Companies into Success: The Value-adding Function of VC," Discussion Papers 1032, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    9. Yun, Siyeong & Song, Kisik & Kim, Chulhyun & Lee, Sungjoo, 2021. "From stones to jewellery: Investigating technology opportunities from expired patents," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    10. Leal-Rodríguez, Antonio L. & Ariza-Montes, José A. & Roldán, José L. & Leal-Millán, Antonio G., 2014. "Absorptive capacity, innovation and cultural barriers: A conditional mediation model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 763-768.
    11. Kiyoon Shin & Yeongjun Yeo & Jeong-Dong Lee, 2020. "Revitalizing the Concept of Public Procurement for Innovation (PPI) from a Systemic Perspective: Objectives, Policy Types, and Impact Mechanisms," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 187-211, April.
    12. Aschhoff, Birgit & Sofka, Wolfgang, 2009. "Innovation on demand--Can public procurement drive market success of innovations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1235-1247, October.
    13. Nunzia Carbonara & Roberta Pellegrino, 2020. "The role of public private partnerships in fostering innovation," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 140-156, February.
    14. Coronado, Daniel & Acosta, Manuel & Fernández, Ana, 2008. "Attitudes to innovation in peripheral economic regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 1009-1021, July.
    15. Frederico Rocha & Ana Urraca Ruiz, 2008. "Sources of Technological Opportunity in Brazil," Anais do XXXVI Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 36th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 200807091618140, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    16. Nissinen, A. & Parikka-Alhola, K. & Rita, H., 2009. "Environmental criteria in the public purchases above the EU threshold values by three Nordic countries: 2003 and 2005," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1838-1849, April.
    17. Maureen McKelvey, 2016. "Firms navigating through innovation spaces: a conceptualization of how firms search and perceive technological, market and productive opportunities globally," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 785-802, October.
    18. Gao, Yanyan & Zang, Leizhen & Roth, Antoine & Wang, Puqu, 2017. "Does democracy cause innovation? An empirical test of the popper hypothesis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1272-1283.

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