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Complexity and Technological Change: Knowledge Interactions and Firm Level Total Factor Productivity

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Abstract

The analysis of social interactions as drivers of economic dynamics represents a growing field of the economics of complexity. Social interactions are a specific form of interdependence whereby the changes in the behavior of other agents affect utility functions for households and production functions for producers. In this paper, we apply the general concept of social interactions to the area of the economics of innovation and we articulate the view that knowledge interactions play a central role in the generation of new technological knowledge so that innovation becomes the emergent property of a system, rather then the product of individual actions. In particular, we articulate and test the hypothesis that different layers of knowledge interactions play a crucial role in determining the rate of technological change that each firm is able to introduce. The paper presents an empirical analysis of firm level total factor productivity (TFP) for a sample of 7020 Italian manufacturing companies observed during the years 1996-2005 that is able identify the distinctive role of regional, inter-industrial and localized intra-industrial knowledge interactions as distinctive and significant determinants, together with internal research and innovation efforts, of changes in firm level TFP

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  • Antonelli Cristiano & Scellato Giuseppe, 2011. "Complexity and Technological Change: Knowledge Interactions and Firm Level Total Factor Productivity," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201102, University of Turin.
  • Handle: RePEc:uto:labeco:201102
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lopamudra D. Satpathy & Bani Chatterjee & Jitendra Mahakud, 2017. "Firm Characteristics and Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 11(1), pages 77-98, February.
    3. Hidemichi Fujii & Kazuma Edamura & Koichi Sumikura & Yoko Furusawa & Naomi Fukuzawa & Shunsuke Managi, 2015. "How enterprise strategies are related to innovation and productivity change: an empirical study of Japanese manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 248-262, April.
    4. Lucrezia Fanti & Dario Guarascio & Matteo Tubiana, 2019. "Skill Gap, Mismatch, and the Dynamics of Italian Companies' Productivity," LEM Papers Series 2019/30, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    5. Ke-Liang Wang & Ting-Ting Sun & Ru-Yu Xu, 2023. "The impact of artificial intelligence on total factor productivity: empirical evidence from China’s manufacturing enterprises," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 1113-1146, April.
    6. Toan Thang TRAN & Thi Song Hanh PHAM, 2013. "Spatial Spillovers of Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of Vietnam," Working Papers 12, Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Vietnam.
    7. Ning, Lutao & Guo, Rui & Chen, Kaihua, 2023. "Does FDI bring knowledge externalities for host country firms to develop complex technologies? The catalytic role of overseas returnee clustering structures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    8. Mário Alexandre Patrício Martins da Silva, 2012. "The Knowledge Multiplier," FEP Working Papers 456, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    9. Rituparna Kaushik & Sourabh Bikas Paul, 2022. "Do Competition Improve Persistence in Innovation Effort? Sectoral Patterns and Evidence from India," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 259-296, June.
    10. Chatzistamoulou, Nikos & Kounetas, Kostas & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2022. "Technological hierarchies and learning: Spillovers, complexity, relatedness, and the moderating role of absorptive capacity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    11. Tran Toan Thang & Thi Song Hanh Pham & Bradley R. Barnes, 2016. "Spatial Spillover Effects from Foreign Direct Investment in Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(10), pages 1431-1445, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

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