In 1990s there has been a "boom" of extensive technology foresight studies based on the use of the Delphi method. This study examines critically e.g. national foresight studies made in Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and Austria. The study suggests that the epistemic paradigm of the general...

The aim of this report is to look at the role of science, technology and innovation policies from the perspective of the national policy process and to offer certain conclusions for the tasks related to the progress toward a knowledge-based society and economy in the European union. Three...

The relationship between product market competition (PMC) and innovative activity has attracted the attention of many economists lately. In this study we elaborate the theory of Aghion et al. (1997, 2001) of an inverted-U relationship between competition and innovations. We provide a theoretical...

This KNOGG report analyses the role of Transnational Corporations in the small European countries and synthesises their importance in generating spillovers. For dissemination of technology it is important to build and/or increase the efficiency of national innovation systems and strengthen the...

This paper looks at the role of network effects in telecommunications markets. Network effects are said to exist when an existing user of a network benefits from any new user to the network. Even the expectation of a large network will positively influence users' willingness to pay. After the...

In the Kyoto Protocol carbon sinks became a tool for releasing the economic burden of achieving the emission target. For Finland, credits from carbon sinks might be important since the amount of carbon sequestered in total forest area has been large relative to total emissions. It was agreed in...

The relationship between firm size and age relative to technical change and efficiency is examined in a highly innovative and dynamic sector, the Finnish ICT equipment manufacturing industry. A stochastic frontier model is applied to an unbalanced firm level panel over the period 1990?2003. The...

A stochastic frontier model is applied to firm level panel data from the Finnish ICT manufacturing sector to explore the role of R&D and technological progress in the outstanding productivity growth Finland demonstrated in the latter half of the 1990?s. The sample is representative of over 90 %...

This paper provides an exhaustive discussion of the impact of airline deregulation in the U.S., followed by a discussion of the likely effects of deregulation in the EU. The paper argues that the benefits of U.S. deregulation, as manifested in lower fares, were generated in part by the...

Technical efficiency levels in Finnish ICT manufacturing are established by applying a stochastic frontier model and retrieving Method of Moments and Battese-Coelli efficiency measures to identify both permanent and time-varying efficiency levels, as well as determinants of inefficiency such as...