Innovation
These projects examine how education, vocational training, and knowledge complementarities contribute to innovation, regional development, and firms’ innovative performance.
Intergenerational mobility fosters innovation in Europe. Nature (first published online 08.07.2026). By Sarah McNamara, Guido Neidhoefer and Patrick Lehnert. Working Paper version
Boundary Spanning and Team Innovativeness: The Role of Teams’ Technology Portfolios. Swiss Leading House "Economics of Education" Working Paper No. 243, 2025. By Chiara Zisler, Patricia Palffy, Harald Pfeifer, Kerstin Pull and Uschi Backes-Gellner.
Bridging Academic and Vocational Human Capital in Inventor Teams: Implications for Inventor Team ProductivitySwiss Leading House "Economics of Education" Working Paper No. 248, 2025. By Bastian Silvester Brüstle, Patrick Lehnert, Erik Buunk, Uschi Backes-Gellner and Dietmar Harhoff
Berufliche Bildung als Innovationstreiber: Ein lange vernachlässigtes Forschungsfeld. Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 24(2023)1: 85-97. By Uschi Backes-Gellner and Patrick Lehnert. Working Paper version
Education expansion and high-skill job opportunities for workers: Does a rising tide lift all boats? Labour Economics, 82(2023). By Tobias Schultheiss, Curdin Pfister, Ann-Sophie Gnehm and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
Proxying Economic Activity with Daytime Satellite Imagery: Filling Data Gaps Across Time and Space. PNAS Nexus, 2(2023)4. By Patrick Lehnert, Michael Niederberger, Uschi Backes-Gellner and Eric Bettinger. Working Paper version
Fachhochschulen beschleunigen regionale Innovation – aber nicht überall gleich. Transfer, Berufsbildung in Forschung und Praxis, 01/2022. By Tobias Schlegel, Patrick Lehnert and Uschi Backes-Gellner.
Innovation Effects and Knowledge Complementarities in a Diverse Research Landscape. Swiss Leading House "Economics of Education" Working Paper No. 164, 2022 (first version 2020). By Patrick Lehnert, Curdin Pfister, Dietmar Harhoff and Uschi Backes-Gellner.
Innovation Effects of Universities of Applied Sciences: an Assessment of Regional Heterogeneity. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 47(2022): 63-118. By Tobias Schlegel, Curdin Pfister, Dietmar Harhoff and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
Tertiary Education Expansion and Regional Firm Development. Regional Studies, 56(2022)11: 1874-1887. By Tobias Schlegel, Curdin Pfister and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
Fachhochschulen als Innovationstreiber. Die Volkswirtschaft, (2021)6: 46-47. By Curdin Pfister, Patrick Lehnert and Uschi Backes-Gellner.
How do apprentices moderate the influence of organizational innovation on the technological innovation process? Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 13(2021)1. By Christian Rupietta, Johannes Meuer and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
Regional innovation effects of applied research institutions. Research Policy, 50(2021)4. By Curdin Pfister, Miriam Koomen, Dietmar Harhoff and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
The Contribution of Vocational Education and Training to Innovation and Growth. The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, (2021 online first). By Uschi Backes-Gellner and Patrick Lehnert. Working Paper version
Employment of R&D personnel after an educational supply shock: Effects of the introduction of Universities of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. Labour Economics, 66(2020). By Patrick Lehnert, Curdin Pfister and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
Combining knowledge stock and knowledge flow to generate superior incremental innovation performance – Evidence from Swiss manufacturing. Journal of Business Research, 94(2019): 209-222. By Christian Rupietta and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
How firms’ participation in apprenticeship training fosters knowledge diffusion and innovation.Journal of Business Economics, 89(2019)5: 569-597. By Christian Rupietta and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
The Contribution of Vocational Education and Training to Innovation – The Case of Switzerland. Research and Innovation in Switzerland 2020 (2019). Zürich: State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI. By Uschi Backes-Gellner and Curdin Pfister.
Firms’ Knowledge Acquisition During Dual-Track VET: Which Sources are Important for Innovativeness. Swiss Leading House "Economics of Education" Working Paper No. 131, 2017. By Christian Rupietta, Harald Pfeifer and Uschi Backes-Gellner.
Layers of co-existing innovation systems. Research Policy, 44(2015)4: 888-910. By Johannes Meuer, Christian Rupietta and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Working Paper version
The Innovative Capacity of an Aging Workforce. München und Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag. By Katharina Frosch. Beiträge zur Personal- und Organisationsökonomik. Volume 24(2011), Eds. Uschi Backes-Gellner, Matthias Kräkel, Kerstin Pull.