The Department of Human Capital and Innovation focuses on:
Educational systems generate the knowledge base for a well-educated workforce that will bring about future innovations. Together, education and innovation are key factors for economic growth and social cohesion in the era of globalisation. The accumulation of human capital and the generation of knowledge, as well as innovation and the dynamic structural change made possible by it are crucially important to a modern economy’s position in global competition and its long-term growth prospects. Only superior knowledge will allow a country to prevail against in a context of worldwide, low-wage competition. Moreover, education and innovation are key factors influencing equality and inequality within society. For this reason the department is engaged in the analysis of growth-theory relationships below the macro level, like the microeconomic causes of education and innovation, structural change among sectors and the diffusion of new technologies. By examining how policy measures influence an economy’s human capital development and innovativeness, the department explores policy approaches to enhancing allocative efficiency and equitable distribution in a dynamic, globalised framework.
The department’s first main research areas is the formation of skills and knowledge, the institutional efficiency of the educational system, equal opportunity in education and the relative importance of basic competencies and specific knowledge. Several studies of the department, which have been conducted on the basis of comprehensive data sets of various comparable international pupil performance tests, provide micro-economic evidence on the most important determinants of pupil performance that serve as the basis for policy recommendations.
Another focus is the research on the consequences of international differences in pupil performance for economic growth and social cohesion. In combination with research projects on the importance of education for historical development processes, a leading international centre for the empirical research into the importance of education for long-term economic development processes is to be established. Looking to the future, there will be a greater emphasis on the advantages and drawbacks of dual vocational training, as well as the opportunities and limits presented by lifelong learning. Lastly, the department is responsible for the co-ordination of the European Expert Network on Education Economics, a European think-tank financed by the European Commission.
At the interface of educational and innovation research, the importance of education for innovation and its implementation, the development of entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurship and skill-specific technological progress are examined.
The second main research area is dominated by three topics that are of special significance in terms of long-term growth. The first topic is the economics of innovation. The department conducts micro-econometric research into determinants and effects of innovation, utilising the unique panel data set provided by the Ifo Innovation Survey, which has documented innovation activity of businesses in the manufacturing industry in Germany for over 25 years. This enables, for example, the analysis of the effects of financing cutbacks during recessions, or of cooperation and knowledge transfer on the ability to innovate on the part of companies. Moreover, the effects of innovation on productivity, exports and employment, which in turn influence future growth trends and social cohesion, are also investigated.
The second topic deals with the economics of the information society and of innovation in network industries such as telecommunications. The importance of information and communication networks is examined with regard to economic growth. There is a special focus on regulation policies, which are evaluated in the context of rapidly unfolding technological change.
The third topic deals with the importance of industrial-policy assistance for an economy’s innovativeness. This includes support for national and European “industrial champions.” This topic also covers analysis of the effects that cluster policies attempting to imitate Silicon Valley’s success have on corporate innovativeness. There is a new focus on the field of demand-based innovation policy.
RSS