This dissertation analyzes two factors which may lie behind the recent productivity surge in the US, the lack of productivity growth in Europe and, ultimately, the persistence of significative differences in the levels of productivity across the two macro areas. First, we analyse the role played by Information Technologies (IT). Second, we study the impact of specific regulatory policies, focusing on the consequences of regulations which constrain the entry of large and peripheral retail stores ("big-boxes"). These issues are explored in the context of the UK economy, whose recent economic performance is consistent with the overall European picture of sluggish productivity growth (Basu et al., 2003). Furthermore, the questions are approached from a micro data perspective, using a series of novel establishment and firm-level datasets drawn from Census data sources. In the first two essays I focus on the role played by Information Technologies (IT), which appear to have played a substantial role in driving the recent productivity surge of the US economy. Chapter I sets out a theoretical and empirical context in which to study the impact of IT on productivity. Chapter II discusses the effects of IT on a large panel of firms active in the UK economy, observed between 1995 and 2003. A key finding of the study is the apparent ability of US multinationals to obtain higher productivity than non-US multinationals (and domestic UK establishments) from their IT capital. Chapter III, IV and V are dedicated to the study of the retail industry, which accounts for a large part of the European productivity gap vis a vis the US over the past decade. In particular, we study the effect of entry regulations against large retail stores ("big-boxes"). In Chapter III, it is shown that the recent introduction of entry regulations against large stores in the UK has paradoxically increased the competition faced by mom and pops retailers. Chapter IV show evidence that entry regulations have also significantly lowered the productivity of UK retail chains, forcing them to operate at a lower scale of retail activity. This result is set in an international context in Chapter V, where the market structure and the productivity dynamics of the UK retail industry with that of the US and Japan are compared using novel Census data sources.

While cross-border financial activity continues to grow, facilitated by the adoption of electronic information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the multi-jurisdictional presence of large financial corporations, securities marketplaces have remained locally organised. Why has marketplace integration in this area lagged when ICTs have made possible the linking of geographically remote transacting parties and enhanced their calculative capabilities. This question raises issues regarding distinctions between markets and marketplaces and the implication of ICTs in the constitution of financial marketplaces that this research seeks to address through a study of an initiative to use ICTs to integrate the securities marketplaces of the UK and Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, and Brussels-based international central securities depository Euroclear Bank. Adopting an approach informed by the social studies of finance that emphasise the importance of technologies, systematic knowledge, and material practices in the functioning of financial markets, the central empirical focus of the research is to trace the articulation of human and non-human entities involved in the development of the Euroclear cross-marketplace securities settlement platform. The study shows that integrating securities marketplaces is far from being a neat technical process requiring the integration of ICT systems. Instead, a meticulous sociotechnical re-articulation of the exchange architectures that format the encounters between transacting parties and transacting parties and objects of exchange is required. Furthermore, as the new arrangements take shape, they become a concrete interrogation of the world - both conceptual and material - surrounding them; technical issues become part of wider controversies, with points of interface between the emerging system and other sociotechnical networks it comes into contact with becoming nodes of actions, questions, and reactions from agencies required to respond to the demands of the new platform from the world around it. In the process, competing inscriptions of assumptions about the world are rendered explicit and contestable as the experiment of ICT-inspired marketplace integration becomes embroiled in a trial of rival conceptions of politico-economic integration.

The research presented in this thesis investigates the nature of the relationship between the development of the Knowledge-Based Economy (KBE) and Structural Funds (SF) in European regions. A particular focus is placed on the West Midlands (UK) and Silesia (Poland). The time-frame taken into account in this research is the years 1999 to 2009. This is methodologically addressed by firstly establishing a new way of calculating the General Index of the KBE for all of the EU regions; secondly, applying a number of statistical methods to measure the influence of the Funds on the changes in the regional KBE over time; and finally, by conducting a series of semi-structured stakeholder interviews in the two key case study regions: the West Midlands and Silesia. The three main findings of the thesis are: first, over the examined time-frame, the values of the KBE General Index increased in over 66% of the EU regions; furthermore, the number of the “new” EU regions in which the KBE increased over time is far higher than in the “old” EU. Second, any impact of Structural Funds on the regional KBE occurs only in the minority of the European regions and any form of functional dependency between the two can be observed only in 30% of the regions. Third, although the pattern of development of the regional KBE and the correlation coefficients differ in the cases of Silesia and the West Midlands, the analysis of variance carried out yields identical results for both regions. Furthermore, the qualitative analysis’ results show similarities in the approach towards the Structural Funds in the two key case-study regions.

Productivity at the macro level is a complex concept but also arguably the most appropriate measure of economic welfare. Currently, there is limited research available on the various approaches that can be used to measure it and especially on the relative accuracy of said approaches. This thesis has two main objectives: firstly, to detail some of the most common productivity measurement approaches and assess their accuracy under a number of conditions and secondly, to present an up-to-date application of productivity measurement and provide some guidance on selecting between sometimes conflicting productivity estimates. With regards to the first objective, the thesis provides a discussion on the issues specific to macro-level productivity measurement and on the strengths and weaknesses of the three main types of approaches available, namely index-number approaches (represented by Growth Accounting), non-parametric distance functions (DEA-based Malmquist indices) and parametric production functions (COLS- and SFA-based Malmquist indices). The accuracy of these approaches is assessed through simulation analysis, which provided some interesting findings. Probably the most important were that deterministic approaches are quite accurate even when the data is moderately noisy, that no approaches were accurate when noise was more extensive, that functional form misspecification has a severe negative effect in the accuracy of the parametric approaches and finally that increased volatility in inputs and prices from one period to the next adversely affects all approaches examined. The application was based on the EU KLEMS (2008) dataset and revealed that the different approaches do in fact result in different productivity change estimates, at least for some of the countries assessed. To assist researchers in selecting between conflicting estimates, a new, three step selection framework is proposed, based on findings of simulation analyses and established diagnostics/indicators. An application of this framework is also provided, based on the EU KLEMS dataset.

This thesis involves the secondary data of 1806 innovative manufacturing firms derived from the database of 2nd Taiwanese Innovation Survey. Three topics are researched. The first topic investigates the innovation value chain (IVC) in Taiwanese manufacturing firms. Previous IVC studies are all done in developed countries such as UK, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland, and it leaves the gap of those non-developed countries. The result shows the overall knowledge sourcing pattern of Taiwanese manufacturing firms presenting a complementary relationship which is consistent to the previous IVC studies. The main innovation input is still derived from internal R&D which suggests more utilisation of external knowledge may boost innovation outcome. Product innovation does enhance firm growth while process innovation reduces a firm’s productivity. The second topic uses the lens of IVC to investigate the difference of the innovation process from knowledge linkages to value added between high-tech and low- tech sectors. The findings indicate (1) there are significant differences in the IVC between high- and low-tech sectors, however these are defined; (2) how you define ‘sector’ matters i.e. the nature of the high-tech and low-tech differences varies depending on whether the technology definition is carried out at the industry or firm level; and (3) the high uncertainty of innovation cause the difficulty to predict firm performance especially for those firms with high intensity of innovation. The third topic investigates the innovation-exporting relationship and explores the determinants of export performance. Product innovation enhances export performance once a firm enters international markets while process innovation affects negatively on a firm’s likelihood of being an exporter. Furthermore, IP protection is found to affect directly export performance positively.

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This thesis represents an interdisciplinary study with original theoretical contributions to knowledge identified across three distinct disciplines: Entrepreneurship, the Creative Industries and Gender Studies along with methodological contributions with regards the use of research diaries as a data source. The last fifteen years have seen a huge focus, from policy makers and researchers, on entrepreneurship and the creative industries. Both have been seen as key drivers for economic growth in the UK and beyond. Studies have been wide and varied, looking at both disciplines individually and more recently where they converge. However, there is a paucity of research into the role that gender plays within this sector, and specifically the impact of gender on entrepreneurship within the creative industries. Using a highly reflexive approach, this study examined the career stories of a cohort of fine art graduates, the cohort with whom the researcher had graduated (1991-94, BA Fine Art, Wolverhampton School of Art and Design). The rationale was to make the best use of insider perspective and to access a group who had all had the same starting point, were within a similar age group (38-44), had worked through the ‘Blairite’ creative industries/economy policy framework and most likely had had to consider their ambitions as parents. It was considered that this group would offer a concentrated sample of creative graduates’ experience. Participants were interviewed using a narrative methodology and detailed career stories were gathered. The study took an inductive, grounded theory approach, making use of memoing and research diaries to aid reflexivity. Though a process of open, axial and thematic coding (Strauss and Corbin, 2003) themes emerged which, although linked to the original literature, also extended to new themes and topics which helped to better understand and explain where entrepreneurship fits within creative industry career journeys. Both theoretical and methodological contributions to knowledge are made:

Important research and other decisions in the field of innovation policy have been influenced, in recent years, by the national systems of innovation framework. Our doctoral research attempts therefore, to contribute to the evaluation of its theoretical basis and its application. Particularly, it sheds some light on the following issues: (1) what is the origin of the framework, its theoretical foundations and particularly how is it related to systems theory and the 'systems approach'? (2) To what extent has this framework been actually applied in policymaking processes, and more precisely, how have different economic theories and rationales been used in the design and implementation of innovation policies? (3) If economic theories and rationales have changed and evolved since the beginning of the conceptualisation and application of science and technology policy, why is it that the specific policy instruments currently used in different countries apparently show very little change with regard to those originally suggested? To answer these questions we have integrated a theoretical framework based on the systems approach and the main economic literature that constitutes the backbone of innovation policy. With this, we have analysed critically the empirical and theoretical 'systemic approaches' of innovation and carried out brief case studies about the actual implementation of these on policy-making practices. Finally, we suggest an alternative way to use the systems approach in the field of innovation studies. This is made through the introduction of the concept of second order systems of innovation -or more precisely industrial sustainability, policies, i.e. by distinguishing between the model that represents economic processes and the model of the measures intended to transform those processes. We argue that our proposal provides a unified framework for innovation policies within which it is possible to explain the coexistence and convergence of orthodox and heterodox economics in policymaking activities. In addition, the recursive nature of the suggested model allows to make sense of the interactions between diverse dimensions and integrate areas of research that were perceived as separated, such as those of national, regional and sectoral systems of innovation. It also implies a shift from the promotion of innovation to the support of a wider range of activities and functions that are essential for industrial competitiveness and growth.

The three chapters of this thesis analyze different issues regarding the role of expectations in macroeconomics. The first two chapters consider that private economic agents can either be rational and forward looking or may actually need to use past data to learn how to form expectations. The first two chapters try to describe and estimate the different dynamics that these two types of expectation mechanisms induce. The third chapter analyzes the interaction between policy makers and forward-looking rational agents. The policy is time-inconsistent in such setting, leaving room for the debate between discretion and commitment. The third chapter analyzes optimal policy when the policy maker only defaults on past promises under certain conditions.

This study traces the development of innovative capacity in the three transition economies Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since their independence from the USSR. Using three different techniques, it explores the mechanisms of national competence-building and how this is influenced by the interaction of different economic agents, both foreign and domestic. The first part of the project concerns itself with developing an econometric model to test factors such as FDI, market attractiveness, geographic distance and innovative capacity of the major investing countries for their influence on knowledge inflows over time (proxied by patent application in the Baltics originating abroad). Its aim is to explore what actually attracts knowledge into a country/ a system, thus acting as a counterbalance to the second part, which focuses on the mechanisms inside the host economy, while taking knowledge inflows as an independent variable. The second part of the research analyses patenting dynamics in and around the Baltic States, drawing on an extensive patent database compiled from different sources, such as the EPO’s, WIPO’s, and national patent information sources. Knowledge flows into the Baltic host countries, knowledge generation within them, and the dissemination of internationally competitive innovations in the form of international patents coming from the three countries are put in context with an analysis of the institutional base of innovative activity in order to gain an overview of the structure and the patterns of developing innovative capacity. Furthermore, indices of relative technological specialisation were constructed for the Baltic States’ patenting as well as for those countries that represent their largest foreign investors to assess the influence multinational enterprises exact on the formation of national innovation systems. A third part of the study tackles possible innovation systems themselves by identifying spillovers through patent citation analysis, among other things. Focusing on international patents that originate in the Baltic States, which represent cutting-edge innovation with a greater chance for commercial success, interactions between applicants are monitored in order to identify central players in the countries’ innovative activities. The contributions to knowledge of this study are threefold: firstly, the theory of the Investment Development Path is applied to transition economies; secondly, proximity as a determinant of FDI and knowledge transfer is incorporated into and analysed within the existing theoretical framework; and thirdly, intangible assets are included into the IDP.