Program
The course Innovation and Industrial dynamics will be structured in modules in order to face different aspects of innovation theory. The topics are:
1) Introduction to the course. Why are Innovation studies relevant for the economic debate. (3 hours)
2) Quantitative methods for innovation studies, why are they important and what do we need to know. (6 hours)
3) The contribution of J. Schumpeter to innovation studies: Concept of innovation, Invention Versus innovation, creative destruction, Schumpeter Mark I and Mark II. (9 hours). References: Selected pages of: J. Schumpeter (1942) Capitalism, socialism and Democracy.
4) Schumpeterian Legacy, the main economic theory born from Schumpeterian Studies. Main reference: Jan Fagerberg, Schumpeter and the revival of evolutionary economics: an appraisal of the literature. Journal of Evolutionary Economics April 2003, Volume 13, Issue 2, pp 125-159.
Inside this module we will delve into the following strands of literature:
- Revival of Schumpeterian studies. (2 hours)
- Innovation and entrepreneurship. (2 hours)
-The interaction between technological and institutional change and “long waves”.(2 hours)
- National system of Innovation. (References: Freeman C (1995) The ’National System of Innovation’ in historical perspective. Cambridge Journal of Economics 19: 5–24; Lundvall BA (1992) National systems of innovation: towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning.; Nelson RR (ed) (1993) National systems of innovation: a comparative study. Oxford University Press, Oxford) (6 hours)
- Regional system of innovation. Main reference: Cooke PM, Uranga G, Etxebarria G (1997) Regional innovation systems: institutional and organisational dimensions. Research Policy 26: 475–491) (6 hours)
- An Evolutionary Perspective of technical change. The role of bounded rationality and routines. Selected pages of : Nelson RR, Winter SG (1982) An evolutionary theory of economic change. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. (6 hours)
- Selection, multiple solutions and path-dependence. Main reference: Arthur WB (1994) Increasing returns and path dependency in the economy. The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor) (3 hours)
- Innovation and market structure and new Schumpeterian model. Main reference: Competition and Innovation: An Inverted U Relationship Aghion P, Bloom N, Blundell R, Griffith R and Howitt P (2005) Quarterly Journal of Economics Direction of technical change (5 Hours)
5) Innovation and the environment. Drivers and effect of Eco-innovation. The role of environmental policies according to the Porter Hypothesis. Main reference: Horbach, J., Rammer, C., & Rennings, K. (2012). Determinants of eco-innovations by type of environmental impact — The role of regulatory push/pull, technology push and market pull. Ecological Economics, 78, 112–122. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.04.005. (6 hours)
An application to the energy Sector, main reference: Nesta, L., Vona, F., & Nicolli, F. (2014). Environmental policies, competition and innovation in renewable energy. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. Volume 67, Issue 3, May 2014, Pages 396–411 doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2014.01.001
