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Author

Óscar Afonso

Other affiliations: University of Beira Interior
Bio: Óscar Afonso is an academic researcher from University of Porto. The author has contributed to research in topics: Endogenous growth theory & Technological change. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 173 publications receiving 1816 citations. Previous affiliations of Óscar Afonso include University of Beira Interior.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors revises the thesis that exporting firms learn to be more innovative and efficient as they have contact with certain information flows from their foreign activity and explore the connections between two concepts: self-selection and learning-by-exporting.
Abstract: This article revises the thesis that exporting firms learn to be more innovative and efficient as they have contact with certain information flows from their foreign activity It begins by exploring the connections between two concepts: self-selection and learning-by-exporting The study proceeds with a comparative analysis of the most recent literature and presents common facts and key issues still open to debate Learning-by-exporting should be measured directly using firms' innovative performance Given the lack of suitable data on firms' innovative activities, most studies—although without consensus—have followed an indirect approach using productivity measures

120 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a theoretical growth model with which to frame analytically the Quadruple Helix Innovation Theory (QHIT) with the aim to emphasize the investment in innovation transmission mechanisms in terms of economic growth and productivity gains, in one high-technology sector, by stressing the role played by the helices of the quadruple helix innovation model: Academia and Technological Infrastructure, Firms of Innovation, Government and Civil Society.
Abstract: We propose a theoretical growth model with which to frame analytically the Quadruple Helix Innovation Theory (QHIT). The aim is to emphasise the investment in innovation transmission mechanisms in terms of economic growth and productivity gains, in one-high-technology sector, by stressing the role played by the helices of the Quadruple Helix Innovation Model: Academia and Technological Infrastructures, Firms of Innovation, Government and Civil Society. In the existing literature, the relationship between the helices and respective impacts on economic growth does not appear clear. Results are fragile due to data weakness and the inexistence of a theoretical framework to specify the relationship between the helices. Hence our motivation for providing the QHIT with a theoretical growth model. Our intent is to model the importance of emerging, dynamically adaptive, and transdisciplinary knowledge and innovation ecosystems to economic growth. We find that higher economic growth rate is obtained as a result of an increase in synergies and complementarities between different productive units, or an increase in productive government expenditure.

105 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a R&D-based growth model with productive public expenditure in order to frame the Quadruple Helix innovation concept, based on four helices: Academia & Technological Infrastructures, Firms, Government and Civil Society.
Abstract: We develop a R&D-based growth model with productive public expenditure in order to frame the Quadruple Helix (QH) innovation concept, based on four helices: Academia & Technological Infrastructures, Firms, Government and Civil Society. Our motivation stems from acknowledgment that the relationship between these four helices and their joint impact on growth is in need of a theoretical framework. We aim to emphasise the importance to economic growth of innovation systems structured on these four helices. The introduced model confirms theoretically the notion that increases in: (i) complementarities between distinct productive units, or (ii) in productive government expenditure, lead to higher growth.

85 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a meta-analysis of the empirical literature that estimates the effect of inequality on growth is presented, and the authors conclude that the high degree of heterogeneity of the reported effect sizes is explained by study conditions, namely the structure of the data, the type of countries included in the sample, the inclusion of regional dummies, the concept of inequality and the definition of income.

68 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that the recent rise of the skill premium, which is highlighted by, e.g., Acemoglu (2002a), arises from the price-channel effect, complemented with a mechanism that can be called technological-knowledge-absorption effect.
Abstract: In the skill-biased technological change literature, the technological-knowledge bias, which drives wage inequality, is determined by the market-size channel. Motivated by the literature on scale effects since Jones (1995a, b), the standard R&D technology is modified so that wage inequality results similarly from the technological-knowledge bias, which is instead induced by the price channel. Thus, by solving the transitional dynamics numerically, it is shown that the recent rise of the skill premium, which is highlighted by, e.g., Acemoglu (2002a), arises from the price-channel effect, complemented with a mechanism that can be called technological-knowledge-absorption effect.

48 citations


Cited by
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Book
01 Jan 2009

8,216 citations

01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: This article investigated whether income inequality affects subsequent growth in a cross-country sample for 1965-90, using the models of Barro (1997), Bleaney and Nishiyama (2002) and Sachs and Warner (1997) with negative results.
Abstract: We investigate whether income inequality affects subsequent growth in a cross-country sample for 1965-90, using the models of Barro (1997), Bleaney and Nishiyama (2002) and Sachs and Warner (1997), with negative results. We then investigate the evolution of income inequality over the same period and its correlation with growth. The dominating feature is inequality convergence across countries. This convergence has been significantly faster amongst developed countries. Growth does not appear to influence the evolution of inequality over time. Outline

3,770 citations

01 Jan 2012

3,692 citations

Book
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: Nonaka and Takeuchi as discussed by the authors argue that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy.
Abstract: How have Japanese companies become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries, among others? What is the secret of their success? Two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, are the first to tie the success of Japanese companies to their ability to create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Nonaka and Takeuchi provide an inside look at how Japanese companies go about creating this new knowledge organizationally. The authors point out that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy. U.S. managers focus on explicit knowledge. The Japanese, on the other hand, focus on tacit knowledge. And this, the authors argue, is the key to their success--the Japanese have learned how to transform tacit into explicit knowledge. To explain how this is done--and illuminate Japanese business practices as they do so--the authors range from Greek philosophy to Zen Buddhism, from classical economists to modern management gurus, illustrating the theory of organizational knowledge creation with case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, Nissan, 3M, GE, and even the U.S. Marines. For instance, using Matsushita's development of the Home Bakery (the world's first fully automated bread-baking machine for home use), they show how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge: when the designers couldn't perfect the dough kneading mechanism, a software programmer apprenticed herself withthe master baker at Osaka International Hotel, gained a tacit understanding of kneading, and then conveyed this information to the engineers. In addition, the authors show that, to create knowledge, the best management style is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but rather what they call "middle-up-down," in which the middle managers form a bridge between the ideals of top management and the chaotic realities of the frontline. As we make the turn into the 21st century, a new society is emerging. Peter Drucker calls it the "knowledge society," one that is drastically different from the "industrial society," and one in which acquiring and applying knowledge will become key competitive factors. Nonaka and Takeuchi go a step further, arguing that creating knowledge will become the key to sustaining a competitive advantage in the future. Because the competitive environment and customer preferences changes constantly, knowledge perishes quickly. With The Knowledge-Creating Company, managers have at their fingertips years of insight from Japanese firms that reveal how to create knowledge continuously, and how to exploit it to make successful new products, services, and systems.

3,668 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: The Oxford Handbook of Innovation as mentioned in this paper provides a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the phenomenon of innovation, with a focus on firms and networks, and the consequences of innovation with respect to economic growth, international competitiveness, and employment.
Abstract: This handbook looks to provide academics and students with a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. Innovation spans a number of fields within the social sciences and humanities: Management, Economics, Geography, Sociology, Politics, Psychology, and History. Consequently, the rapidly increasing body of literature on innovation is characterized by a multitude of perspectives based on, or cutting across, existing disciplines and specializations. Scholars of innovation can come from such diverse starting points that much of this literature can be missed, and so constructive dialogues missed. The editors of The Oxford Handbook of Innovation have carefully selected and designed twenty-one contributions from leading academic experts within their particular field, each focusing on a specific aspect of innovation. These have been organized into four main sections, the first of which looks at the creation of innovations, with particular focus on firms and networks. Section Two provides an account of the wider systematic setting influencing innovation and the role of institutions and organizations in this context. Section Three explores some of the diversity in the working of innovation over time and across different sectors of the economy, and Section Four focuses on the consequences of innovation with respect to economic growth, international competitiveness, and employment. An introductory overview, concluding remarks, and guide to further reading for each chapter, make this handbook a key introduction and vital reference work for researchers, academics, and advanced students of innovation. Contributors to this volume - Jan Fagerberg, University of Oslo William Lazonick, INSEAD Walter W. Powell, Stanford University Keith Pavitt, SPRU Alice Lam, Brunel University Keith Smith, INTECH Charles Edquist, Linkoping David Mowery, University of California, Berkeley Mary O'Sullivan, INSEAD Ove Granstrand, Chalmers Bjorn Asheim, University of Lund Rajneesh Narula, Copenhagen Business School Antonello Zanfei, Urbino Kristine Bruland, University of Oslo Franco Malerba, University of Bocconi Nick Von Tunzelmann, SPRU Ian Miles, University of Manchester Bronwyn Hall, University of California, Berkeley Bart Verspagen , ECIS Francisco Louca, ISEG Manuel M. Godinho, ISEG Richard R. Nelson, Mario Pianta, Urbino Bengt-Ake Lundvall, Aalborg

3,040 citations