Definitions Flashcards
externalities
Costs (or benefits) that are borne (or reaped) by individuals other than those responsible for creating them.
technological innovation
The act of introducing a new device, method, or material for application to commercial or practical objectives.
Innovation
The practical implementation of an idea into a new device or process.
Idea
Something imagined or pictured in the mind.
Creativity
The ability to produce novel and useful work (or generate new and novel ideas).
basic research
Research targeted at increasing scientific knowledge for its own sake. It may or may not have any long-term commercial application.
applied research
Research targeted at increasing knowledge for a specific application or need.
Development
Activities that apply knowledge to produce useful devices, materials, or processes.
Complementors
Producers of complementary goods or services (e.g., for video game console producers such as Sony or Nintendo, game developers) are complementors.
absorptive capacity
The ability of an organization to recognize, assimilate, and utilize new knowledge.
technology transfer offices
Offices designed to facilitate the transfer of technology developed in a research environment to an environment where it can be commercially applied.
science parks
Regional districts, typically set up by government, to foster R&D collaboration between government, universities, and private firms.
incubators
Institutions designed to nurture the development of new businesses that might otherwise lack access to adequate funding or advice.
technology clusters
Regional clusters of firms that have a connection to a common technology, and may engage in buyer, supplier, and complementor relationships, as well as research collaboration.
Complex knowledge
Knowledge that has many underlying components, or many interdependencies between those components, or both.
Tacit knowledge
Knowledge that cannot be readily codified (documented in written form).
agglomeration economies
The benefits firms reap by locating in close geographical proximity to each other.
knowledge brokers
Individuals or organizations that transfer information from one domain to another in which it can be usefully applied.
technological spillovers
A positive externality from R&D resulting from the spread of knowledge across organizational or regional boundaries.
