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The overall purpose of this thesis is to analyze the role of public policies for technological development (i.e., innovation) in the renewable energy sector. The thesis consists of an introductory part and three self-contained papers. Paper I investigates the innovation effects of renewable energy support policies and their interaction in the empirical context of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. This is achieved by using data on solar PV patent counts and policies targeting solar PV development across 13 countries over the time period 1978-2008. These policies include public R&D support to solar PV as well as two different types of production support schemes: feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable energy certificates (REC). The data are applied to a negative binomial model and the results indicate that: (a) both FIT and REC schemes stimulate solar PV patenting activity although the impact of the former is of a larger magnitude; (b) public R&D has been more influential than the production support schemes in inducing solar PV innovation; and (c) policy interaction exists in that the innovation effect of public R&D support is greater at the margin if it is accompanied by the use of FIT schemes for solar PV. Paper II analyzes the role of pilot and demonstration plants (PDPs) in technological development. As surprisingly little explicit attention has been devoted to this issue in prior research, the existing literature is synthesized and categorized, and an agenda is proposed for future work. Scholarly work on PDPs can be found across several research fields and the discussion in the paper is organized around three research streams: engineering and natural science research, technology and innovation management, and innovation systems. Based on searches in key bibliographic databases more than 200 publications were identified and reviewed. According to the literature synthesis, the plants bridge basic knowledge generation and technological breakthroughs on the one hand (promoted by public R&D support), and exploitation of new technology for commercial use on the other (promoted by production support schemes). Still, more research on the subject is needed. For instance, the role of PDPs for inducing innovation needs to be assessed in a rigorous empirical setting as this issue has only been researched in conceptual studies or retrospective case studies based entirely on qualitative or descriptive approaches. Paper III provides an econometric analysis of the innovation impacts of publicly funded PDP activities in the case of advanced biofuel technology. This is achieved by using data on biofuel patent counts and PDPs across eight European countries over the time period 1980-2011. It is acknowledged that PDPs have two main objectives: testing and optimization of technology (experimental PDPs), and diffusion and commercialization of technology (exemplary PDPs). The data are applied to a negative binomial model and indicate that: (a) PDP activities are overall positively correlated with biofuel patents; (b) experimental PDPs are more innovation-promoting than exemplary PDPs; and (c) experimental PDP activities encourage innovation also indirectly through knowledge spillovers. The overall conclusion is that environmental policy encourages renewable energy innovation. Public R&D support as well as production support schemes are important for inducing innovation, and there are interactions between these policy types which must be acknowledged when designing public support. As public R&D support is more innovation-promoting when accompanied by the use of certain production support schemes, these policies should be employed simultaneously. Moreover, publicly funded PDP activities foster innovation and thus, their role must also be acknowledged when designing public policy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4476.pdf: 2553260 bytes, checksum: 886a3551d7f7958e7865b63da7cd1621 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-27 / This work focuses on the development and support of clusters of firms in a local productive arrangement, analyzing the relevance of innovation, the innovation system that companies form, along with educational institutions and support agencies, analyze business interactions between the firms and their interactions with the education institutions and support agencies, from the point of view of skilled labor employment, relations among the components of the system for training, knowledge acquisition and research and development. Beginning with the case study of the Valley of Electronics, technological pole located in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, a small town in Minas Gerais - Brazil, it was possible to conclude that, even with little commercial trade among the actors of the local productive arrangement, there is information exchange between educational institutions and businesses and there are subjective aspects that justify the continued development and maintenance of the pole for almost four decades. / A pesquisa enfoca o desenvolvimento e a sustentação de aglomerações de empresas em um arranjo produtivo local, através da análise da relevância da inovação, do sistema de inovação que as empresas formam, junto às instituições de ensino e de apoio institucional, analisa as interações comerciais entre as empresas e as interações delas para com as instituições de ensino e apoio, sob o ponto de vista do emprego da mão de obra especializada, das relações entre os componentes do sistema para o treinamento, a aquisição de conhecimento e para a pesquisa e desenvolvimento. A partir do estudo do caso do Vale da Eletrônica, polo tecnológico do município de Santa Rita do Sapucaí, no interior de Minas Gerais Brasil, é possível depreender que, mesmo não havendo intercâmbio comercial entre os atores do arranjo produtivo local, há troca de informações entre as instituições de ensino e as empresas e há aspectos subjetivos, que justificam o contínuo desenvolvimento e sustentação do polo, por quase quatro décadas.

Dans un contexte d’augmentation constante des dépenses de santé, la création et l'utilisation des technologies innovantes en chirurgie mini-invasive est de plus en plus tributaire de notre capacité à démontrer leur efficacité et évaluer leurs impacts. À ce jour, comme nous le montrons tout au long de cette thèse, la littérature en sciences économiques ne fournit pas aux décideurs et aux évaluateurs les outils adéquats pour réaliser de telles évaluations.Notre travail combine les meilleurs aspects de l'économie de la santé et de l'économie de l'innovation afin d’établir un cadre méthodologique commun pour l'évaluation des innovations chirurgicales hybrides. En utilisant l'institut de chirurgie guidée par l'image (IHU Strasbourg) comme fondation pour nos analyses, nous créons les bases pour une évaluation coût-bénéfice globale couvrant aussi bien ses activités de soin que de R\&D.L'utilisation des outils développés dans cette thèse permettra à l'IHU, ou tout autre institut chirurgical, de justifier l’intérêt de ces types d'activités en démontrant que les impacts socio-économiques d'une innovation chirurgicale peuvent, éventuellement, compenser le coût supplémentaire qu'elle génère pour le système de santé. / With constant rises in healthcare expenditures, the creation and use of innovative technologies in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is increasingly dependent on our ability to demonstrate their efficiency and evaluate their impacts. To date, as we show throughout this thesis, the economic literature has not provided decision makers and analysts with the adequate tools to perform such evaluations.Our work combines the best aspects of health economics and economics of innovation to establish a common methodological framework for the evaluation of hybrid innovations in MIS. Using the Institute of Image Guided Surgery (IHU Strasbourg) as a base for our investigations, we create the groundwork for a comprehensive cost-benefit evaluation covering the institute’s patient care and R\&D activities.The use of the tools developed in this thesis will allow the IHU, or any other surgical institute, to provide advocacy for these types of activities by demonstrating that the socio-economic impacts of a surgical innovation can possibly outweigh the additional cost it incurs to the healthcare system.

Qu’est-ce qui détermine la survie et le succès des organisations à travers les différents régimes institutionnels? La présente étude tente à répondre à la question en analysant l’évolution d'une institution médicale publique russe, c. à. d. l'Institution de l'Etat Fédéral « Le Complexe Intersectoriel de Recherche et Technologie « Microchirurgie de l'Œil » de Rosmedtechnologie. L’étude s’étend sur quatre périodes bien définies: 1960-1985 (la Russie Soviétique, la période de pré-perestroïka), 1986-1991 (la perestroïka de Gorbatchev), 1992-2000 (la transition), et 2001-2009 (la Russie actuelle, la période post-Fyodorov). L’analyse se centre sur une coévolution des institutions externes et de la structure organisationnelle de l'entreprise, le système de droits de propriété, les tendances d'innovation et les canaux de diffusion technologique. Les conclusions suggèrent que l'environnement institutionnel général exerce une influence sur la performance de l'entreprise en déterminant « les règles du jeu » pour les transactions économiques et en établissant un ensemble de possibilités de développement. C'est alors les processus internes à l'entreprise, ses compétences dynamiques et sa capacité à innover qui déterminent si l'organisation peut s'adapter aux changements externes, reconnaître les possibilités de développement et en profiter. Par ailleurs, la direction (le leadership), le type de technologie et le niveau de sa diffusion, l’initial soutien de l'Etat, de même que la demande jouent un rôle apparent pour soutenir la performance réussie. Une structure multi-niveaux des récompenses de performance en combinaison avec les méthodes de traitement innovatrices (c. à. d. l’usage d’un conveyor chirurgical et la production en brigades) ont amené à des volumes de procédures cliniques performées plus élevées, de même que la qualité, la complexité et la diversité de traitement plus élevées. D’autant plus, pendant les étapes plus anciennes du développement de l’entreprise, la présence des inventeurs prolifiques et la structure organisationnelle qui soutenait l’apprentissage, la production et l’accumulation des connaissances (le cycle « clinique – ingénierie – approbation – production – clinique ») étaient cruciaux pour la création d’une base d’innovation persistante. Pendant les périodes plus récentes, la combinaison d’accès aux ressources (matérielles, financières, capital humain), les collaborations externes, les méthodes innovatrices d’organisation de traitement, la diffusion extensive des technologies inter- et intra-firme ont aussi contribué à des hauts niveaux d’innovation. Au total, le travail soutient une approche interdisciplinaire à l’étude des organisations, c. à. d. une combinaison de l'analyse institutionnelle, l’économie évolutionnaire et l’économie dynamique d’organisations, le management stratégique, l’économie d'innovation, l’analyse des droits de propriété et le rôle de leadership. / What determines organizational survival and success across different institutional regimes? The present historical case study attempts to answer the question by analyzing the evolution of a Russian state medical institution, i.e. the S.N. Fyodorov “Inter-Sectoral Research and Technology Complex “Eye Microsurgery””. The study spans over four clearly defined regimes: 1960 – 1985 (Soviet Russia, pre-perestroika period), 1986 – 1991 (Gorbachev’s perestroika), 1992 – 2000 (the transition years), and 2001 – 2009 (current Russia, post-Fyodorov period). The analysis focuses on the co-evolution of the external institutions and the firm’s organizational structure, the system of property rights, innovation patterns and the channels of technological diffusion. The findings suggest that the general institutional environment exerts influence on the firm’s performance through determining the “rules of the game” for economic transactions and through establishing a set of development possibilities. It is then the firm’s internal processes, dynamic competences and the ability to innovate that determine whether the organization can adapt to external changes, recognize the development possibilities and take advantage of them. In addition, the roles of leadership, the type of technology and its diffusion scope, initial State support, as well as the extent of demand are apparent in sustaining successful performance. Multi-level high performance rewards structure in combination with novel industrialized treatment methods (e.g. the use of a surgical conveyer and team production) resulted in greater volumes of clinical procedures performed, as well as higher quality, complexity and diversity of treatment. In addition, at the earlier stages of the firm’s development, the presence of prolific innovators and the organizational structure that supported learning, knowledge production and accumulation (the “clinic – engineering – approbation – production – clinic” cycle) were crucial for creating a basis for persistent innovation. In later periods, the combination of resource availability (material, financial, human capital), external collaborations, novel ways of organizing treatment, extensive inter and intra-firm diffusion of technologies also contributed to high levels of innovation. Overall, the work provides support for an interdisciplinary approach to the study of organizations, i.e. combining institutional analysis, evolutionary and dynamic organizational economics, strategic management, the economics of innovation, the analysis of property rights and the role of leadership.