After completion of the course, the student is able to:
- understand what an innovation is from an economic perspective;
- understand that investments in innovation are inherently uncertain, and that companies are therefore learning by trail-and-error rational than taking fully rational decisions as assumed in standard microeconomics;
- be able to explain the pros and cons of different technology design strategies;
- mathematically understand how products spread in social networks;
- mathematically understand under what conditions lock-in occurs;
- be able to formulate a business strategy from the outside-in and inside-out paradigm;
- understand the theory of product life cycle model and its implications for industrial dynamics and geographical clustering;
- understand the role of geographical proximity and other forms of proximity in collaborative innovation processes
- understand evolutionary growth theory;
- be able to explain the theoretical basis of competition policy, technology policy, industrial policy and regional policy, and to formulate an independent opinion on current policy;
- write an academic paper;
- critically review the literature in a group discussion on the basis of propositions;
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In the course Economics of Innovation, we focus on the economic aspects of innovation and diffusion at the micro-level of the firms, the meso-level of industries, and the macro-level of the national economies. The first part of the course is about mathematical models of innovation and diffusion, and the role of patents. The second part focuses on innovation and competition at the level of firms, industries and countries using the theory of evolutionary (“neo-Schumpeterian”) economics. Finally, we devote special attention to the role of ICTs in the current economy.
This course includes an Honours component.
This course is the entry requirement for
- Management of Innovation Processes (GEO3-2221)
- Bachelor’s thesis GSS, track B&I (GEO3-2422)
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