O3 - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property RightsReturn

The paper investigates how results obtained with standard CGE models can be improved by incorporating the effects of R&D activity in a recursively-dynamic CGE model built for the economy of the Czech Republic. The main objective of the paper is to quantify the impact of R&D activity on the long-term economic growth of the Czech Republic within the recursively dynamic CGE framework. The effect of R&D investment is modelled via the accumulation of knowledge that is treated as a specific production factor. The main findings show that knowledge accumulation can contribute to higher economic growth, but the impact of the dynamisation in the CGE model is very low. However, in terms of structural changes in the economy, the omission of knowledge capitalization might underestimate the tertiary sector in the longer run. The paper also investigates the efficiency of R&D investment and concludes that in the longer run, investment in capital goods is more efficient in achieving higher economic growth. In the concluding chapter, related factors that may improve the impact of knowledge in the CGE model are discussed.

The present article reexamines some of the issues regarding the benchmarking of patents using the NBER data base on U.S. patents by generalizing a parametric citation model and by estimating it using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) methodology. The main conclusion is that the estimated effects differ considerably from sector to sector, and the differences can be estimated nonparametrically but not by the parametric dummy variable approach.

The contribution of the "new economy" to economic growth in developing countries has so far been minimal. The "old economy" will for long be the fundamental force behind economic growth in transition economies. Nonetheless, in the longer run the "new economy" offers great potential for faster economic growth in post-socialist economies. Realizing this potential is, however, not automatic. It can be left unharnessed if there is no suitable institutional infrastructure, which would allow for adoption, diffusion, and productive use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The paper introduces a New Economy Indicator (NEI) measuring the level of preparedness of transition economies for harnessing the potential of ICT to accelerate the long-term economic growth and catching-up with developed countries. In the NEI ranking Slovenia scored the highest, followed by the Czech Republic and Hungary, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Yugoslavia occupy the bottom of the table.