arXiv subjects

Paolo Castelnovo

Publications and source records attributed to Paolo Castelnovo.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Technological Learning and Innovation Gestation Lags at the Frontier of Science: from CERN Procurement to Patent

This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of Big Science Centres on technological innovation. We exploit a unique dataset with information on CERN's procurement orders to study the collaborative innovation process between CERN and its industrial partners. After a qualitative discussion of case studies, survival and count data models are estimated; the impact of CERN procurement on suppliers' innovation is captured by the number of patent applications. The fact that firms in our sample received their first order over a long time span (1995-2008) delivers a natural partition of industrial partners into "suppliers" and "not yet suppliers". This allows estimating the impact of CERN on the hazard to file a patent for the first time and on the number of patent applications, as well as the time needed for these effects to show up. We find that a "CERN effect" does exist: being an industrial partner of CERN is associated with an increase in the hazard to file a patent for the first time and in the number of patent applications. These effects require a significant "gestation lag" in the range of five to eight years, pointing to a relatively slow process of absorption of new ideas.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2018

Evaluating regulatory reform of network industries: a survey of empirical models based on categorical proxies

Proxies for regulatory reforms based on categorical variables are increasingly used in empirical evaluation models. We surveyed 63 studies that rely on such indices to analyze the effects of entry liberalization, privatization, unbundling, and independent regulation of the electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications sectors. We highlight methodological issues related to the use of these proxies. Next, taking stock of the literature, we provide practical advice for the design of the empirical strategy and discuss the selection of control and instrumental variables to attenuate endogeneity problems undermining identification of the effects of regulatory reforms.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2018

The socio-economic impact of a breakthrough in the particle accelerators' technology: a research agenda

Preliminary evidence on the long--run trajectory of the accelerator industry suggests that it may be close to the maturity phase of its cycle. If this is the case, how can we measure the benefits of an uncertain breakthrough in acceleration technology? Who are the main stakeholders interested by such a breakthrough? We identify these subjects and sketch some avenues for answering these questions. We thus present a model for the social Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of research infrastructures and illustrate the results of its implementation for assessing the benefits of accelerators in basic science and hadrontherapy. Lastly, we move from the social CBA of single research infrastructures to modeling a major change in the accelerator technology and hence in the industry. A research agenda on the potential impacts of a technological breakthrough is presented.

physics.soc-ph↗