Description
Book SynopsisThoroughly grounded in an extensive body of international research and analysis, this book investigates the concepts surrounding a firm’s knowledge capital. These concepts play an integral part in the evolution of economic and managerial thinking, particularly in relation to the themes of firm, knowledge and innovation.
The author advocates a greater socialization of the production of knowledge capital that stands in contradiction to the strong appropriation strategies that are predominant today. This book presents a historical analysis of the facts with a strong basis in the recent literature in economics and innovation management as well as in case studies of CAC 40 companies that have been conducted over the course of the past few years.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vii
Foreword ix
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 The Firm, Knowledge and Capital: Toward the Definition of Knowledge Capital 1
1.1 Innovation: definition, organization and measurement 1
1.1.1 “From vice to virtue”: the evolution of the definition for innovation 1
1.1.2 Typology of innovation: the contemporary definition 7
1.1.3 How are innovation activities organized? The innovation models 15
1.1.4 Measuring innovation 21
1.2 Knowledge capital: definition and roles 28
1.2.1 From scientific and technical knowledge to knowledge capital 28
1.2.2 The productive use of knowledge capital 35
1.3 The theoretical origins of knowledge capital 41
1.3.1 Contemporary theories of the firm and of innovation 41
1.3.2 The contribution of pioneer economists in the definition of knowledge capital 52
Chapter 2 The Building of the Knowledge Capital 61
2.1 The first forms of knowledge capital and the formation of national innovation systems 61
2.1.1 The science–technology relationship: from opposition to integration 61
2.1.2 The role of the State in the appropriation of scientific and technical information and knowledge 64
2.2 Multi-partner innovation and formation of knowledge capital 87
2.2.1 Network firm and multi-partner innovation 87
2.2.2 The formation of knowledge capital and multi-partner relations: open innovation 91
2.2.3 Public research in the service of knowledge capital 112
Chapter 3 The Knowledge Capital in Global Networks 123
3.1 The constitution of knowledge capital within global networks 123
3.1.1 From multinational to global production 125
3.1.2 Globalization of R&D and the broadening of the firm’s boundaries: the importance of networks 129
3.1.3 Opportunities and limits of the R&D globalization 140
3.2 Intellectual property rights (IPR) and knowledge capital 142
3.2.1 The new roles of intellectual property rights: between incentives, coordination and offensive use 145
3.2.2 The expansion of intellectual property 159
Conclusion 173
Postface 177
Bibliography 181
Index 211
