This thesis examines the organisation of innovative activities at the firm level by proposing a conceptual framework that is built upon a survey of the recent economic literature on technical change and by applying this framework to the computer software and services industry. The objectives of the study were the following: to analyze the nature of technical change in the software industry, the sources of firms' innovation and the competencies used in the innovative activities; to focus on the relationship between internal competencies and external sources of innovation~ and to give a picture of the division of labour among firms in the innovative activities. This work proposes a conceptual framework that takes into account the interactions between technical and organisational innovations at the firm level and focuses on the innovation process as a 'division of knowledge' that involves different types of actors: individuals, with different skills, working in the same organisation, firms specialising in substitute or complementary products, users and academic research centres. The empirical analysis employed qualitative data drawn from interviews with both large a.nd small firms, and quantitative data on corporate changes of large firms (e.g., creation or shut-down of subsidiaries, launch of new producis, set up of cooperative agreements). The main results of the research can be summarised as follows. First, software firms show a cumulative, incremental pattern of product innovations and an increasing commitment to process innovations. The research shows the linkages between technical and organisational changes. Process innovations affect the retraining of software analysts-programmers and project managers, encounter obstacles in the transmission of new software engineering knowledge from the R&D department to business departments, and shape the division of tasks throughout the firm. The second research result concerns the correlation between internal skills and the firms' propensity to set up linkages with external sources of innovation. The use of generic-abstract capabilities (mathematical skills) in innovative activities make firms more open towards external channels of technical change. On the contrary, the use of context-specific capabilities (experience with the development of software applications) reduces finns' propensity to interact with external sources of technical change. Finally, there is evidence of an increasing division of labour among firms in the software industry, as indicated by the large and rising number of inter-firm cooperative agreements stipulated during the period between 1984 and 1 ?92. The analysis of inter-firm linkages and internal restructuring also points to the importance of organisational change as one dimension of the general corporate change.

No description available.

In the eighties the Spanish Government launched an ambitious policy aimed at restructuring the militaryindustrial base. Central to it was a remarkable defence R&D effort. Government sources often argue for the military industry as an engine for the modernization of the Spanish industrial base. The object of this dissertation is to reach conclusions on the potential role of Spanish military production as a technological engine for the Spanish economy. This is done through an analysis of the structure of the Spanish military-related industry and its linkages with the rest of the economy. Up till the present most research on the role of military production has adopted too narrow a view focusing mainly on arms producers. This work presents an alternative way of conceptually focusing research of this nature. It expands the ambit of the study to examine all firms involved in military production from components to systems producers, no matter the degree of their involvement. In this way, we find that the strongest linkages with the rest of the industrial and research activities appear in the more "mature" sectors of the economy (mainly in the metal sector) and among producers of components and sub-systems. Consequently, more channels for technological diffusion from military to civilian production are found in these sectors. Yet, these areas have been found to be overlooked by and large by the present defence industrial policy which targets systems assemblers and the electronics, aerospace and software producers as the main recipients of research contracts and incentives. These results further question the conventional usage of implicitly treating defence production and technology as homogenous entities. Through our broad conceptual approach we obtain new insights into the linkages between military-rel~ted and civilian activities. The study reveals that the potent1al effects of military research and production on the rest of the economy depend on the specific sect~rs and,stages,of production targeted by the defence 1ndustr1al policy.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Inför aktiefinansierade företagsförvärv påvisar tidigare studier att det finns incitament för förvärvande företag att manipulera resultatet med avsikt att öka den egna aktiekursen för att köpa målföretaget för ett mindre antal egna aktier. Forskning påvisar att resultatmanipulering förekommer bland amerikanska förvärvande företag och att det förekommer i högre utsträckning i Europa än i USA. I och med att publika företag inom EU sedan 2005 använder den gemensamma redovisningsstandarden IFRS möjliggörs studiens syfte, att undersöka om resultatmanipulering förekommer bland publika förvärvande företag i EU inför ett företagsförvärv. I studien genomförs tre t-test som undersöker förändring i andelen diskretionära periodiseringar, vilka tas fram av den modifierade Jones-modellen. Inga av resultaten påvisar att resultatmanipulering förekommer. Att resultaten inte styrker förekomsten av resultatmanipulering inför företagsförvärv i EU behöver inte innebära att resultatmanipulering inte förekommer. Liknande studier kan eventuellt påvisa resultatmanipulering om modellen utvecklas och tar hänsyn till fler omständigheter.