Slavo Radosevic | University College London (original) (raw)

Papers by Slavo Radosevic

Research Policy, 2022

This essay is an interpretative survey that explores the post-socialist transformation in Eastern... more This essay is an interpretative survey that explores the post-socialist transformation in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (EE&fSU) from a neo-Schumpeterian perspective. It argues that we cannot understand the challenges of technological upgrading of the postsocialist region if we only adopt the lens of what can be termed transition economics. Instead, the post-socialist transformation is an open-ended process whose outcomes can be better understood as a disequilibriating evolutionary process involving the misalignment of different levels and parts of innovation systems. We develop a multi-level analytical framework and outline several major transformation processes involving dynamic interactive capabilities as the core precondition for technology catching up. Technology accumulation and innovation systems are hybrid systems whose dynamism rests on various governing principles. The swing from one pure mode of coordination (plan) to other (market) explains limited technological upgrading in both periods. Dynamic innovation systems are quintessentially hybrid systems. Crucial to this is an understanding of the role which the state plays, both as a contributor and as an obstacle to the transformation towards sustainable economic growth. I am grateful to Izadi Nikray for excellent research assistance. Editing by Cynthia Little added clarity to my argument, as have valuable comments from anonymous referees. However, all errors are my responsibility.

This paper explores the changing role of world regions in science with special reference to the E... more This paper explores the changing role of world regions in science with special reference to the EU15 and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in 1981-2011 period based on bibliometric data. In addition to descriptive statistics we use RCA indicators applied to citations and papers as well as their graphic derivatives in form of multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering. We also explore differences in disciplinary structures between the CEE and EU15 and their contribution to impact gaps between these two regions. Our results show that there is global shift in science largely in terms of quantity (papers) and much less in terms of impact (citations). Science systems are characterised by strong inertia and by long lasting historically inherited advantages and disadvantages. Within this context CEE region is catching up both in terms of quantity (papers) as well as impact (citations) while former-USSR science systems have declined in terms of relative share of papers. Results show positive trends in terms of the CEE region catching up in science knowledge generation. However the issue remains whether these changes are sufficient to enable greater reliance on science for future growth not only in terms of generation of absorptive capacity but more in terms of innovative capability.

Scientometrics, 2014

, we investigate (i) over time changes in descriptive indicators such as publications, citations,... more , we investigate (i) over time changes in descriptive indicators such as publications, citations, and relative impact; (ii) static specialization measured by revealed comparative advantage (RCA) in citations and papers; and (iii) dynamic specialization measured by absolute growth in papers. Descriptive results show a global shift in science largely in quantity (papers) and much less in impact (citations). We argue this should be interpreted as a shift in science's absorptive capacity but not necessarily a shift of knowledge generation at the world science frontier, which reflects the nature of science systems operating with high inertia and path dependency in areas of their historically inherited advantages and disadvantages. In view of their common historical legacy in science we are particularly interested in the process of convergence/divergence of the catching-up/transition regions with the world frontier regions. We implement an interpretative framework to compare regions in terms of their static and dynamic specialization from 1981-1989 to 2001-2011. Again, our analysis shows that while science systems are mostly characterised by strong inertia and historically inherited (dis)advantages, Asia Pacific, Latin America and CEE show strong catching-up characteristics but largely in the absorptive capacity of science.

International Industrial Networks and Industrial Restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe

Elektrim is one of the biggest private companies in Poland in terms of market capitalisation and ... more Elektrim is one of the biggest private companies in Poland in terms of market capitalisation and the second largest publicly traded company after TPSA, the national telecom company. Before 1989, Elektrim operated as one of the large Polish foreign trade organisations which, during the course of transition, became a conglomerate. Elektrim SA manufactures cables, power, provides telecom services, mobile and fixed, and is in process of divesting a host of unrelated businesses.

East-West Journal of Economics and Business, 2005

The paper discusses the determinants of productivity growth in manufacturing foreign subsidiaries... more The paper discusses the determinants of productivity growth in manufacturing foreign subsidiaries in Slovenia. Special attention is given to the impact of control pattern. Using the standard growth accounting approach we show that productivity growth is significantly and positively correlated with the level of foreign parent companies' control of marketing and strategic business functions. Larger subsidiaries and subsidiaries with higher exports to sales ratio also experience higher changes in the productivity level. Subsidiaries in high ...

Does Enlargement Conceal Globalisation ? Location Issues in Europe les notes de l'ifri There is a... more Does Enlargement Conceal Globalisation ? Location Issues in Europe les notes de l'ifri There is a strong perception in the public that enlargement is linked to the current competitiveness and fiscal problems faced by the 'old' EU members. This "Note" argues that the relocation problems experienced in the EU15, which are often attributed to 'unfair competition' from the new member states, are driven by deeper structural changes in the global economy. An analysis of EU international trade and investment is used in combination with industry case studies to assess the impact of global competition and enlargement on the location of production. Previous enlargements had allowed productivity growth through scale and competition effects among quite similar countries. The latest enlargement has on the contrary stimulated a process of vertical specialisation, with a more radical impact on the location of production. It thus represents a further pressure to structural change in a context of increasing global competition. Examples in the paper illustrate the process of value creation through value chain reorganisation and relocation of production within the EU and more globally. Whether the initially positive effects of enlargement on competitiveness and growth will be maintained depends on firms' strategies and both national and EU structural policies.

IWH Discussion Papers, 2003

By Boris Majcen, Slavo Radosevic and Matija Rojec; FDI Subsidiaries and Industrial Integration of... more By Boris Majcen, Slavo Radosevic and Matija Rojec; FDI Subsidiaries and Industrial Integration of Central Europe: Conceptual and Empirical Results.

Research Policy, 2019

This paper explores technology upgrading of BRICS economies based on a threepronged approach, whi... more This paper explores technology upgrading of BRICS economies based on a threepronged approach, which distinguishes between the intensity of technology upgrading, structural change and global interaction. We develop a statistical framework based on patent indicators to measure technological upgrading and apply it to BRICS economies in the period 1980 to 2011. The paper shows that there is no single path of technology upgrading. Instead, we find several unique paths with different trade-offs between intensity, structural change and the nature of global interaction. All BRICS economies display increased generation of frontier technological activities, while China and Russia have also increased the intensity of behind frontier technological activities. China has also diversified its technology knowledge base and entered into dynamic frontier areas. With increasing intensity of frontier technology activities of the BRICS, the relative, but not absolute, importance of foreign actors and international collaboration has declined. However, BRICS economies seem to lack the organisational and complementary capabilities to match the extent of technology sourcing from abroad, observed in high income countries. Our result represents the application of a new conceptual framework and contributes to assess the sustainability of innovation based growth among BRICS.

Technovation, 2022

The beneficial effects of innovation for firm performance and competitiveness are well establishe... more The beneficial effects of innovation for firm performance and competitiveness are well established but it has been suggested in recent years that innovation regimes differ between advanced and emerging economies. While advanced economies rely on knowledge generation, their emerging counterparts follow mainly knowledge use regime through the application of existing knowledge and technology. Climbing up the technological ladder can be helped through spillovers from foreign investors to local firms. We investigate whether FDI spillovers influence different phases of innovation process (from decision to innovate to productivity) among knowledge using and knowledge creating firms in an emerging European economy. The results show that innovation process in emerging economies is closer to imitation than creation of novel products. Local firms benefit from foreign counterparts in the early phase of innovation process. Stronger FDI effects are found on firms that undertake innovation through knowledge use than through knowledge generation.

Routledge eBooks, Mar 4, 2010

New firms formation, as one of the key mechanisms of entrepreneurship, is relatively high in the ... more New firms formation, as one of the key mechanisms of entrepreneurship, is relatively high in the region though slowing down in all countries in recent years. This dynamism shows two faces. On one hand, we observe very limited KBE, which is confined on few sectors, among which software is the most common. On the other hand, entrepreneurship is very often expression of survival rather than of new opportunities as new firms formation is not followed by investments. In particular, KEINS has explored network requirements in EE Countries for start-up entrepreneurship and for academic entrepreneurship. Indeed, in some sectors conditions for KBE are more favourable than in others i.e. common differences, which arise from low levels of development, are found to be significantly smaller in some sectors than in others. This research has also generated a critical new mass of understanding of KBE in EE so that it will inform EU structural policy.

The objective of this deliverable is to explore the systemic properties of knowledge-intensive en... more The objective of this deliverable is to explore the systemic properties of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship. We develop: a) analytical framework on the relationship between knowledge intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) and innovation system by developing the concept of entrepreneurial propensity of innovation system, and b) methodology for assessment and measurement of knowledge intensive entrepreneurship at mezzo (sector) level for emerging high technologies.

Sistem nauke-faktor poticaja ili ograničavanja razvoja, 2021

The paper presents the current understanding of the role of public R&D in economic growth and the... more The paper presents the current understanding of the role of public R&D in economic growth and the science–industry links from middle-income economies like Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In the second part, we present the conventional view on science–industry links which see these linkages primarily in terms of a one-way transfer of knowledge or its commercialisation from R&D to the business enterprise sector. Based on the comparative data, which also includes BiH, we show an alternative approach and argue about its relevance in the context of BiH. Our conclusion is that science–industry links (SIL) should support technology upgrading and not (or not only) R&D based growth. In the next section, we present the current understanding of the role of public R&D in economic growth. Section two explores the role of public R&D in the catching up context, while section 3 explores specifically the role of science-industry links in catching up context. Section 4 proposes a ‘Triple Helix’ approac...

This report examines Ukraine's economic decline and development through the lens of technolog... more This report examines Ukraine's economic decline and development through the lens of technology upgrading. The technology upgrading framework assumes that economic growth is a function of technology capability, whereby upgrading occurs through technological, industrial, and organizational change. This technology upgrading framework is applied to analyze the Ukrainian economy, which reflects its limited capability to generate, as well as absorb, new technology. The report finds that Ukraine ranks last among comparison countries in a composite index of technology upgrading, with especially low performance in terms of production, management, and R&D capabilities. A case study on Ukraine's booming ICT sector, Ukraine's fastest-growing sector, showcases the country's potential, while simultaneously demonstrating which factors and capabilities can constrain its future growth. While Ukraine has developed a vibrant ICT industry, significant challenges exist for its long-term ...

The paper explores the issues of trans-regional and transnational collaboration in the context of... more The paper explores the issues of trans-regional and transnational collaboration in the context of smart specialisation in regions with the less developed research and development and innovation (R&D&I) systems, identified as the 13 countries (EU-13) that joined the European Union (EU) after 2004. The paper proposes a systematic methodological approach to trans-regional and transnational cooperation and discusses how this can be utilized to build innovation capacities and enhance innovation potential in selected regions. Specifically, paper addresses following questions: what is conceptual approach to trans-regional cooperation within the context of Smart Specialisation? What is the role of regional governments/national authorities? How regional authorities can deal with analysis of trans-regional opportunities, potential competitors and collaborators? Based on the analysis, what steps can policy-makers take to improve trans-regional cooperation? Our discussion is grounded in the key...

This paper uses the neo-Schumpeterian framework to explore differences in innovation policy that ... more This paper uses the neo-Schumpeterian framework to explore differences in innovation policy that arise from or relate to differences in technological levels among countries and regions. The core of the paper is about specifics of innovation policy in less developed countries/regions, which, as a rule, are characterised by low institutional capacities for design and implementation of innovation policy. So, two featuresdifferent nature of innovation activities and the undeveloped institutional context for designing and implementing appropriate innovation policyare the primary analytical focus of the paper. Non-R&D and production related knowledge activities, as well as the interaction between own and imported embodied knowledge, are the core of innovation activities in LDC/LDRS. This requires broadening of the scope of innovation policy, which should go well beyond R&D driven innovation. In the conditions of the low implementation capacity, 'the best practice' policy solutions will not work. Instead, policy should focus on 'best matches' which would require external assessment of institutional and implementation capacities. We recognise the incompatibilities between the need to embrace experimental approach in innovation policy and low institutional implementation capacity with the accountability requirements of the conventional public policy. We propose to introduce principles of 'action learning' and 'learning networks' as governance mechanism which could resolve these incompatibilities. Technology transfer via GVCs is an indispensable mechanism of technology upgrading in less developed countries/regions. We point to trade-offs of GVC based integration and propose establishing European GVC oriented industrial innovation policy as a mechanism to reduce regional imbalances within the EU and Europe broadly. The OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) on Twitter: @OECD_local Citation: Radosevic, S. (2018), "Fostering innovation in less-developed and low institutional capacity regions: Challenges and opportunities", Background paper for an OECD/EC Workshop on 22 June 2018 within the workshop series "Broadening innovation policy: New insights for regions and cities", Paris.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research pu... more Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world's largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.

The Journal of Technology Transfer, 2020

The globalisation trend of the past few decades, driven to a large extent by the proliferation of... more The globalisation trend of the past few decades, driven to a large extent by the proliferation of GVCs, has led to a set of significant changes in patterns of technology upgrading and new modes of interaction between domestic technology efforts and external sources of technological knowledge. Whether this new dynamic will lead to continuing increase in the economic importance of emerging economies will ultimately depend on whether their productivity growth will be driven by technology upgrading, requiring active and coordinated activity orchestrated by a variety of state and non-state actors under diverse sectoral, regional and national innovation systems. The new dynamic also reinforces the focus on local-global interfaces which becomes ever more important once we recognize that in the 21st century technology upgrading challenges depend much more on improvements in connectivity and on the industrial ecosystem. Still, the globalization process experienced in the past few decades-reflected in this collection of papers-may need to be recalibrated in the face of the drastic geopolitical changes that the process itself has brought about.

IZA World of Labor, 2017

Pros Coupling domestic technology efforts with the import of new equipment and management practic... more Pros Coupling domestic technology efforts with the import of new equipment and management practices could help promote technology upgrading in CEE. Production capability and engineering, in addition to research, are important antecedents to development and innovation in CEE. Production capability is the most significant driver of productivity growth in CEE. CEE economies are specialized in the low valueadded segments of the global production chain and benefit from vertical specialization with EU North firms.