The economic impact of engineering research centers: preliminary results of a pilot study

This article describes the results of a pilot study that tested the feasibility of estimating quantitatively the regional and economic impacts of NSF-supported Engineering Research centers. For regional impacts, we combined estimates of the direct plus indirect and induced economic impacts of ERC expenditures generated from a regional input–output model with estimates of the additional impact on the state due to center-based start-up companies, licensing income from intellectual property produced by the center, the cost savings enjoyed by local firms that had hired center graduates, and advice and consulting to local firms by center faculty. For national economic impact, a suitably modified version of the regional approach was employed, supplemented by use of a consumer surplus model to estimate the net public benefits of newly commercialized technologies based in center research. As the project proceeded, it became clear that efforts to focus solely on economic impacts that could be quantified relatively easily would greatly underestimate the actual national economic impact of ERCs. The types of impacts included and the kinds of data collected from centers and their collaborating companies were therefore expanded in the later case studies. Results of the first three cases are described here; findings from the remaining two studies did not change our overall results or conclusions. The profile of regional and, especially, national economic impact estimates varied widely across the centers studied. Only some of these variations could be attributed to ERC characteristics; most were the result of variations in the amount and type of data that could be obtained from the centers involved and the companies they worked with. We concluded that even the most conscientious and costly data collection efforts would be unlikely to yield comparable data across centers because the accessibility of key data, especially proprietary data, will differ unpredictably from center to center. Further, focusing on narrowly-conceived, quantifiable economic data alone should be avoided in these kinds of impact studies. Doing so distorts the amount and characteristics of actual impacts, many of which—perhaps most of which—cannot feasibly be converted to monetary terms. Such a narrow focus will greatly underestimate the impact of ERC-like centers, masking the much broader and, based on our findings, larger and more significant impacts on society.     

Performance of knowledge interactions between public research centres and industrial firms in Spain: a project-level analysis

This paper examines cooperation between public research centres (PRCs) and industrial firms. We analyse two types of impact—scientific and techno economic—using objective and subjective measures, and explore the determinants of these impacts by investigating the pre-project context, and the way that relationships are implemented and managed. The main novelty of this paper is that the empirical analysis focuses on project level relationships, based on an original database for the Spanish case; it is the characteristics of these relationships that are the core of our analysis. The results show that the impacts identified are contingent on different characteristics in the relationships between PRCs and industrial firms, and that the influence of these characteristics varies depending on the type of impact considered.     

Influences and conflicts of federal policies in academic–industrial scientific collaboration

This paper examines the role of the federal government in shaping the relationship between academics scientists and industry. There exists a potential conflict between government policies encouraging collaboration within academia and the policies encouraging collaboration between academia and industry. To test and model these potential conflicts, this paper uses data collected in a 2004–2005 survey by the Research Valuing Mapping Project (a project based at Georgia Tech and led by Barry Bozeman) of more than 2000 academically based research scientists and engineers. The major finding in this paper shows that academic scientists working with industry collaborate more (with all types of collaborators) than those that do not collaborate with industry. However, when examining only those scientist that collaborate with industry, the results reveal a negative relationship between the amount of time spent collaborating with industry and the number of collaborators; implying that increasing collaboration with industry leads to less academic–academic collaboration.     

Conditionally-mediated effects of scale in collaborative R&D

This paper reports the results of an empirical investigation into the role of project scale, as reflected in consortium size, on the impacts obtained by partners participating in publicly-funded collaborative R&D projects. I argue in this study that scale may affect performance indirectly rather than directly. Specifically, I model the influence of scale as being mediated by a set of intervening variables that may be said to ??transmit?? both positive and negative effects through (i) complementarity of resources, (ii) learning, and (iii) transaction costs in project implementation. Moreover, I hypothesize that these indirect effects are conditional on certain moderators that include resources committed, project management mechanisms, and project uncertainty and scope. The results offered in this study largely confirm the proposition of conditionally-mediated effects of scale on performance. They indicate that a number of conditional indirect effects are indeed significant, and surprisingly, that these effects are mostly negative.     

Has the SARB become more effective post inflation targeting?

This paper assesses the impact of a monetary policy shock on 15 key macroeconomic variables of South Africa, in the pre- and post-inflation targeting periods. For this purpose, we use a Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) model comprising of 107 monthly time series over two equal sub-samples of 1989:01–1997:12 and 2000:01–2008:12. The results, based on impulse response functions, are in line with economic theory and indicate no puzzling effects often observed with small-scale monetary Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models. More importantly, we find that the ability of monetary policy in affecting key macroeconomic variables, including inflation, has increased in the post-targeting period. But, majority of the effects are insignificant, which could, however, also be due to the shorter-lengths of the sub-samples relative to the number of variables used in this study, rather than depicting the inability of monetary policy to significantly affect the South African economy.     

Case study of R&D efficiency in an ATP joint venture

This paper summarizes the technical accomplishments and presents selected measures of research efficiencies and early stage economic impacts of the Printed Wiring Board (PWB) Research Joint Venture Project. The project was cost-shared by the Advanced Technology Program and carried out by a group of seven companies, with participation by Sandia National Laboratories. The period considerred in this case study is from mid-1991 through mid-1996, the time during which the research was conducted. ATP’s funding of the PWB Research Joint Venture has thus far had a number of direct and indirect economic impacts. Of the direct impacts, the largest to date has been the increase in R&D efficiency. The project achieved at least a 53 percent reduction in overall research costs. The increase in research efficiency has in turn led to reduced cycle times for both new project development and new process development. Collectively, the result has meant productivity improvements for member companies and improved competitive positions in the world market.     

Subnational Determinants of National Multipartism in Latin America

Recent research points to the importance of subnational elections as variables shaping the national party system in federal states (Jones 1997b; Mainwaring and Shugart 1997; Samuels 2000). I propose that the effects of subnational elections are not limited to federal states but instead can be seen throughout the region. This paper examines the impacts of gubernatorial elections across eighteen Latin American countries during the most recent democratic period. The analysis suggests that intermediate subnational elections do exert an influence on national party systems, whether the state is federal or not, and particularly influence how many parties are elected to a legislature's lower house.     

Three‐Dimensional Comparative Analysis of Bitemarks*

Abstract: Historically, the inability to accurately represent bitemarks and other wound patterns has limited their evidentiary value. The development of the ABFO #2 scale by Krauss and Hyzer enabled forensic odontologists to correct for most photographic plane distortions. The technique presented here uses the ABFO #2 scale in conjunction with the evolving technologies of laser scanners and comparative software commonly used by the automobile industry for three‐dimensional (3D) analysis. The 3D software comparison was performed in which measurements were analyzed of the normal distance for each point on the teeth relative to the bitemarks. It created a color‐mapped display of the bitemark model, with the color indicating the deviation at each point. There was a correlation between the bitemark and the original teeth.     

The importance of “spillovers” in the policy mission of the advanced technology program

Government policies like the Advanced Technology Program (“ATP”) are intended, at least in part, to remedy the “market failure” inherent in the fact that a significant portion of the social benefits of new knowledge and technology are not captured by a firm that invests in R&D. ATP’s project selection, and its evaluation of the impact of its program, can be made more effective by explicitly incorporating the analysis of such “spillovers.” For project selection, this means identifying technological, organizational and economic factors that tend to oint to a large “spillover gap,” or deviation between the social and private rates of return to a proposed project. For program evaluation and assessment, it means adapting existing study methods that measure social returns to innovation in ways that explicitly capture spillover effects. This paper is based on a study that I performed for the ATP, Economic Analysis of Research Spillovers: Implications for the Advanced Technology Program, NIST GCR 97-708. I have benefited from comments and useful discussions with Zvi Griliches, Jeanne Powell, Rosalie Ruegg, and Richard Spivack. Some of the ideas in this paper grew out of previous joint research with James Adams. The views expressed herein are my own, however, and should not be attributed to any of these individuals or to the ATP.     

The efficacy of the Egyptian bank reform plan in mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis

This study tests the ability of the Egyptian Bank Reform Plan (2004–2009) to enhance bank efficiency and attain the prime national macroeconomic objectives of generating youth employment, stabilizing consumer prices and managing national debt, which were significantly impacted by the global financial crisis (GFC). The Pedroni Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method is employed and the period covered extends from 2003:01 till 2010:03. The results of the study reveal that the bank reform program has helped the economy weather the impact of the global economic meltdown. On the whole, the reformed banking sector showed evident success in helping the Central Bank of Egypt achieve its nominal anchor of price stability, with the highest outcome delivered by foreign banks. State banks are the most efficient in creating jobs and financing national debt. Private domestic banks are fairly functional in job creation and financing foreign debt. While these results attest to the general success of the reform in mitigating the impact of the blow of the GFC, further enhancement of the role of foreign banks is needed to attain the other two macroeconomic goals.     

Inclusive National Governance and Trafficked Women in Australia: Otherness and Local Demand

Trafficked women are used and consumed in different ways and by different users in Australia. They are used by the traffickers and by the consumer of the destination country. They are used as prosecutorial tools by the national criminal justice agents. They are used by the national politicians to pursue border control policy objectives and to be seen as abiding by international protocols. In all these uses, the identity of the trafficked woman is formed and shaped to fit the users’ need. However, these women’s otherness and abjection is constantly maintained and reinforced. They are used as a commodity. Meanwhile, the discussion on the demand side, and the consequent responsibility of the destination country, is virtually omitted. This paper will raise the question of how the socio-legal analysis and discourse would evolve if a literal interpretation of trafficking women as a commodity was taken into account, exploring an international trade approach. The social construction of trafficked women as a commodity has been identified and criticised by academic scholars, NGOs’ and UN’s rapporteurs. By pursuing this line of approach, the destination country is forced to take more responsibility for how the woman is demanded within its territory. As a consequence of this international trade approach, the State should deliver equality and non-discrimination. Rather than being a cynical application of a trade framework to trafficked women, this approach aims to highlight the paradox of such a situation in legal terms. It is highlighted that approaching trafficked women from this legal and jurisprudential way may offer more possibilities to expand their claims against the State. Currently, in Australia, when a trafficked woman is located by the State, she would attract limited and temporal rights, her being the ‘other’ as well as an abject entity remains, notwithstanding the fact the she was imported because there is a demand within the territory.     

The changing landscape of higher education: an analysis of how national change might be brought about in American higher education compared with the Bologna signatory states

Throughout much of the world higher education has been subject to scrutiny, including for example cost, outcomes, stakeholder value, and change. The intensity of the scrutiny and the possible consequences in terms of change have accelerated as a result of 2009 being the year of financial turbulence and scarce resources being used to prop up failing industries such as the automobile industry, compounded by measures such as quantitative easing and huge amounts being made available to the banking sector. This article looks at the different contexts and legal frameworks regarding change being required as a result of legislation rather than happening through some organic way. The article does not focus on the merits of possible change but on how change may be brought about. The European context is that of the Bologna Process (with a brief reminder of the European Union's competency in this area), the US context is that of change at national, regional or state level but with the primary focus being national level change.     

Introducing Value Chain Stewardship (VCS)

After a decade of international negotiations to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a sufficient number of countries have ratified the Kyoto agreement. However, even with this positive development there is a formidable challenge since, according to the World Resource Institute (WRI 2004), For the most part, developed nations have failed to attain the non-binding emission reductions they committed to in the original climate treaty in 1992. Ensuring adherence to the reductions stated in the treaty by these nations may become an immense managerial task, not to mention the enforcement of sanctions. Instead of national emission targets the approach of this paper is to focus on trade within selected industry sectors – i.e. housing and transport – responsible for most of the world’s GHG emissions. This paper shows that vehicle manufacturers – the design owners – may use their information advantages to influence customers to focus on other aspects of the vehicle than costs during use. Expanding the environmental responsibility of the design owners to coincide with the area of environmental impacts will convert emissions cost into a production cost. It is indicated in this paper that when applying the estimated costs for GHG emissions to the vehicle user, strong enough incentives are not given to drive technological change, but if the responsibility is allocated to the design owner the very same additional costs will be an incentive for the designer to use its information advantage to innovate away from those emissions-rendering technologies. A value chain stewardship (VCS) is, thus, established.     

Intellectual property rights on creativity and heritage: the case of the fashion industry

Recently, as different projects aiming to define and reinforce property rights in the fashion industry have been elaborated and discussed, a lot of papers have been dedicated to the question of property rights in this industry. Our paper considers the problems from a specific point of view; it focuses on the relation between property rights and creativity. If property rights allow the allocation of the majority of standard industrial goods without any special difficulty, however, when they are applied to creative goods, new problems arise. Then, for us, the persistence of a low system of IPRs in the fashion industry does not mainly derive from its efficiency but from the characteristics of the inputs that are used in the creative production process. They constitute strong constraints for defining, entitling, legitimating, enforcing, valuating and exchanging property rights. Thus, the different economic actors develop different kinds of strategic behaviour in order to obtain earnings and can try to protect copyrights, trademarks, new assets, old assets (heritage), private or collective assets, and so on. The institutional characteristics of this specific industry—such as the models of management, the type of ownership, the size of the firms, … lead to different historical models of management through IPRs. Peculiarly, the financial groups that integrate fashion into the new luxury industries currently try to implement new IPRs and to move towards a stronger system of IPRs but the management model of the street fashion puts an obstacle to this project.     

Old master paintings,export veto and price formation: an empirical study

In this paper, we focus on the institutional setting where Old Masters’Paintings (OMP) markets transactions are carried. We develop a preliminary attempt to embody legal provisions in econometric, hedonic pricing models. We consider a particular regulation applicable only in Italy, the “export veto” for art objects that are particularly relevant for the national cultural patrimony. We proxy such legal provision in order to include it in the statistical analysis and to check whether it affects the OMP price differentials between pre-auction estimated price and post-auction hammer price. Preliminary results show that the price differential is affected by the legal variable, therefore suggesting that the country’s institutional framework plays an important role in price dynamics.     

吉林省汽车后市场发展路径探析

做为吉林省的支柱产业,吉林省汽车业当前仍处于＂重制造、轻服务＂的发展阶段,汽车前市场相对完善,而汽车后市场则刚刚起步。随着我国汽车业的竞争逐渐进入后市场时代,这必将成为吉林省汽车业发展的桎梏。本文立足于吉林省汽车产业的发展现状,分析了吉林省汽车后市场存在的问题,并对吉林省汽车后市场未来的发展路径进行了初步探索,旨在为吉林省汽车后市场的规范和建设提供有益思路。     

Do stings control crime? An evaluation of a police fencing operation

Police antifencing operations, euphemistically called “stings,” have been and continue to be a popular police undercover tactic for combating property crime. This paper is a time-series analysis of the effects of an antifencing sting project on what Mohr (1973) described as transitive (environmental impact) and reflexive (organizational survival) police organizational goals. The study, based on data from a 1985–86 Birmingham, Alabama sting, finds that only the reflexive goals were served and that the project may have had a negative environmental impact. It is concluded that the potential benefits to police reflexive goal achievement do not offset the potential costs associated with storefront stings and that the police industry should give serious consideration to removing this tactic from its arsenal.     

Attrition and Conviction Rates of Sexual Offences in Europe: Definitions and Criminal Justice Responses

The “loss” of cases within the criminal justice chain, especially from police to conviction level is known as attrition – a phenomenon that can be observed in every criminal justice system and for every offence type. But is this attrition particularly strong for sexual offences as theories based on the so-called “rape myths” suppose? This question is dealt with by this paper; it studies the different conviction ratios of sexual offences in Europe and tries to evaluate the resulting findings. The data presented are based upon the work done by the expert group for the European Sourcebook (ESB) of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics and a special EU-funded project on "Defining and Registering Criminal Offences and Measures, Standards for a European Comparison". In order to gain a basis for comparison, the differences between the national legal concepts and definitions are discussed. Then attrition and conviction rates (understood as the ratio of suspected to convicted persons) are examined, firstly for different crime types in order to show the relative importance of attrition in the field of sexual offences, secondly with a special focus on rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse of minors in some European countries. Beyond these mere statistical data the question whether there are particular reasons for the selection process in cases of sexual offences is raised.     

Entrepreneurship, Secrecy, and Productivity: A Comparison of Clinical and Non-Clinical Life Sciences Faculty

This paper addresses research in the life sciences, responsible for significant national expenditures for scientific investigations funded by both the federal government and industry. Our investigation examines faculty members' involvement with industry in entrepreneurial ways that is, involved in translating their research into potentially marketable knowledge or products. First, this study examines whether there are differences in entrepreneurial behaviour between clinical and non-clinical faculty in the life sciences with industry relationships, and, second, to discover any linkage between entrepreneurship and secrecy or productivity in different ways for clinical and non-clinical faculty. The study is based on survey responses of a national sample of 4,000 clinical and non-clinical life sciences faculty in 49 U.S. research universities. The results show non-clinical faculty as more involved at the back end. The more entrepreneurial end of commercialization while clinical faculty are involved at the back end. The more entrepreneurial faculty (non-clinical) are more likely to be secretive about their research. Clinical faculty are less likely to have been denied access to research results or products. Entrepreneurial faculty are not less productive in their faculty roles. This investigation is preliminary in that it addresses one large area of academic research but excludes fields with longer historical relationships with industry.     

The Study of Gender in the Courts: Keeping Bias at Bay

I am pleased to introduce the following two companion papers on gender in the United States Eighth Circuit courts. They emerge from a partnership of social scientists and legal professionals, spurred by a national movement to understand influences of gender on the judicial system. These studies reflect a majority of voices in the Eighth Circuit bench and bar– women and men who work in and preside over the federal courts of seven states. This project yielded a wealth of data, the analysis of which reveals ways both subtle and overt by which gender bias threatens fairness in the courts. Underscoring the importance of this and similar projects, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor once stated, "by acknowledging and not trivializing the effects of gender bias on reasonable women and men, courts can work toward ensuring that neither men nor women will have to run a gauntlet of abuse in return for the privilege of being allowed to work and make a living" (as quoted in the Final Report of the Eighth Circuit Gender Fairness Task Force [ECGFTF] 1997, 8).