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Can dirty incumbents leverage their existing knowhow to transition to clean technologies? To address this question, we systematically measure direct and indirect knowledge spillovers between clean and dirty technologies using the patent citation network. We assume citations reflect pathways of learning and knowledge proximity. We first examine the proportion of citations in clean patents that directly refer to dirty technologies. Secondly, we investigate how clean and dirty technologies are indirectly linked in the citation network and which sectors most frequently bridge these two fields. We find that less than one-tenth of clean patents contain a direct citation to prior dirty patents, but nearly two-thirds are indirectly linked. Significant sectoral heterogeneity exists. Patents related to control technologies, data processing and optimization, and the management of heat and waste, frequently serve as bridges between clean and dirty technologies in the citation network. Our results have implications for: firm-level diversification strategies, green industrial policy, and the modelling of directed technical change, where lower knowledge spillovers between clean and dirty technologies correspond to higher path dependencies. • We present novel evidence on the extent to which clean technologies learn from prior dirty technologies. • We construct a new measure of indirect knowledge spillovers between clean and dirty sectors. • We systematically identify "bridge technologies" that connect clean and dirty sectors. • We highlight key implications for the transition from dirty to clean innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of the influence of social capital on the ability of countries to produce innovations. The analysis of the achievements of economic science in the field of studying social capital and innovation revealed the ambiguity of views on the relationship between these categories, as well as wide discussions about the influence of the stock of social capital on the nature of economic growth. The authors associated the existing difficulties of the research process with insufficient attention of scientists to different levels and forms of manifestation of social capital, which have different potential in promoting innovation. On the basis of the methodological approach, in which individualistic and holistic ideas about economic activity are combined in the framework of institutional theory, the decomposition of public social capital into its individual and organizational levels and corresponding functional forms is carried out. On this basis, the nature of their interaction and role in the innovation process is shown. In order to quantify social capital in view of its ability to promote innovation, an integral indicator "Index of Innovative Social Capital" was constructed as a combination of three key components: close cooperation between the university and R&D, Information & communication technologies, and social capital itself. In a sample of 26 countries of different levels of development, a strong two-way direct relationship with an average degree of significance was found between the "Index of Innovative Social Capital" and GDP per capita. The presence of such dependence serves as another explanation for the unevenness of innovative development in the world, and therefore, opens up guidelines for poor countries to increase their innovative potential in view of social and institutional factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of barriers to knowledge diffusion in energy technologies in 29 countries from 1990 to 2015, distinguishing between efficient fossil-based generation and mature renewable options, namely wind and solar. We show that knowledge flows are higher in countries with similar technological profiles, particularly for mature renewables. The study finds that international knowledge spillovers have increased in intensity for wind and solar, while the opposite is true for fossil-based technologies. That means that foreign knowledge has increasingly informed domestic investors and points to the key role that knowledge flows from abroad had in promoting innovation in low-carbon technology options. Integrated assessment models should account for the role international knowledge spillovers play in the generation of new knowledge and in contributing to rapid decrease in costs. • Knowledge flows play an important role in low-carbon innovation. • Knowledge flow in fossil-based generation and mature renewables is hampered by distance and language, not trade barriers. • International knowledge flows are comparatively higher in mature renewables than in fossil-based. • International knowledge spillovers in wind and solar intensify over time. • Ignoring international knowledge flow in IAMs underestimates a country's innovation potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]