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PublicationHow firms absorb external knowledge - modelling and managing the absorptive capacity process( 2021)This paper contributes to the literature and management practice by opening the ""black box"" of firms' absorptive capacity (AC) processes. Following a process research approach and based on in-depth comparative case studies of four German manufacturing companies, we develop and empirically validate a procss model of the firm-internal AC process. Our model integrates the different single elements (e.g., individuals, teams, departments) as well as the different linear and nonlinear causal interactions that constitute the firm's ability to identify, adopt, implement and exploit external information and knowledge. Furthermore, the paper elaborates on various organizational leverages to increase the effectiveness of the identified process flows. The findings provide explanatory insight into the organisational prerequisites of AC. Thus, the paper simultaneously contributes to enhance the academic and management's understanding of firms' AC by identifying its constitutional key elements, their different kinds of processual interrelation as well as organisational prerequisites and points of leverage to modify, measure, and improve the AC of a company.
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PublicationStandardisierung als innovationspolitisches Instrument( 2020)Der Beitrag zeigt nach einem einleitenden Kapitel mit den wichtigsten Definitionen zunächst die verschiedenen innovationsfördernden Effekte von Standards auf. Anschließend werden die wichtigsten Markt- und Systemversagensgründe bezüglich Innovation vorgestellt und die Potenziale der Standardisierung zu deren Behebung herausgearbeitet. Abschließend werden Möglichkeiten aufgezeigt, das innovationsfördernde Potenzial der Standardisierung und von Standards noch weiter zu steigern.
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PublicationDesigning complex policy mixes: Elements, processes and characteristics( 2018)In the last decade, researchers and policy makers alike have increasingly moved away from the consideration of single policy tools and towards a greater consideration of their combination and resulting interactions. Much of this policy design work has used - albeit with varying definitions and based on different bodies of literature - the term policy mix to capture such interacting instruments, may that be in environmental policy, innovation policy, biodiversity policy, or other policy fields. However, these 'simple' conceptualizations of policy mixes have been recently extended to a consideration of more 'complex' policy mixes, particularly in the context of sustainability transitions, such as the transition to low-carbon energy systems. This chapter will provide an overview of this new orientation in policy mix research, including an introduction to the major building blocks - the elements, processes and characteristics - as well as dimensions of 'complex' policy mixes. It concludes by outlining how such an extended policy mix concept can serve as integrated framework for policy mix evaluation and design.
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PublicationExploring the german living lab research infrastructure: Opportunities for sustainable products and services( 2017)
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PublicationReviewing the evidence on the innovation impact of the EU Emission Trading System( 2016)The Paris Climate Agreement calls for decarbonization of the economy in the second half of this century. This requires a radical redirection and acceleration of technological change towards low- and particularly zero-carbon solutions. Global carbon pricing is seen as a key enabler for such decarbonization, with the European Union's Emission Trading System (EU ETS) serving as an important pillar. In this paper, I therefore re-view the evidence on the innovation impact of the EU ETS. The review shows a very limited effect of the scheme on technological innovation, but there are clear signs of it having stimulated organizational innovation, with the impact being more pronounced for the electricity sector than for industry. The initially high expectations of the EU ETS regarding technological innovation largely dissipated once the scheme's lack of stringency became apparent and prices collapsed accordingly. Also, for many of the rather incremental innovations that have taken place, the EU ETS was shown to be only one contributing factor among others, with the broader policy mix and long-term targets playing a particularly pivotal role in stimulating innovation. In contrast, there is clear evidence that the EU ETS has been a key driver of various organizational innovations, including making climate change a top management issue. However, so far, these organizational innovations have only had limited effects on shifting corporate strategies towards low-carbon solutions because of low carbon prices, the relatively high share of free allocations in industry, and more pressing business concerns. Despite this, the scheme's positive impact on organizational innovations should not be underestimated, as these constitute a necessary precondition for future technological innovations. The findings suggest that the Commission's proposal for the fourth trading period of the EU ETS points in the right direction, but further efforts will be needed to significantly in-crease the scarcity of EU allowances and the share of auctioning in order to fully unleash the scheme's transformative power. If the identified shortcomings are not ad-dressed, the EU ETS cannot play its foreseen role in guiding the decarbonization of the European economy, for which innovations in low-carbon solutions are a fundamental requirement.
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PublicationEmbodied and disembodied technical change. A multi-factorial analysis of german firms( 2002)Disembodied and embodied technical progress (capital investment in innovative goods) seen to be clear-cut theoretical concepts in traditional economic theory. However, the innovative evolution of firms is describes as a quite complex phenomenon in positive economics. In this empirical approach, major determinants of innovation and their interrelation are analysed using regression and factorial analyses for 240 German firms. Apart from the analysis of patents and research and development expenditures, the appropriation of disembodied technical progress along with embodied progress is considered in order to get a concise picture of innovation. It is found that firms follow a distinctly different pattern in this respect, but the embodied and the disembodied parts of innovative sources cannot be measured by the usual proxies as is suggested in theory. Rather the innovative patterns can be derived from different arrays of indicators. Size and industry effects seem to the weak determinants in innovation as industry branches are quite heterogeneous. A proper distinction between disembodied and embodied change seems to be more important.
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