The nexus between science and industry: evidence from faculty inventions

Knowledge transfer from science to industry has been shown to be beneficial for the corporate partner. In order to get a better understanding of the reasons behind these positive effects, this study focuses on the junction of science and industry by comparing characteristics of academic inventions that are transferred to industry and those staying in the public sector. Academic inventions are identified via patent applications of German academic scientists. We find that academic patents assigned to corporations are more likely to enable firms reaping short term rather than, possibly more uncertain, long-run returns, in contrast to patents that stay in the public sector. Firms also strive for academic inventions with a high blocking potential in technology markets. Academic patents issued to corporations appear to reflect less complex inventions as compared to inventions that are patented by the public science sector.     

HIV-1 prevalence in deaths caused by drug overdose in various large cities of West Germany and West Berlin between 1985 and 1988

The development of the HIV-1-prevalence among drug deaths (n = 753) in several German cities (West Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne and Stuttgart) from 1985 to 1988 was evaluated; in 1988 43% of 674 deceased drug addicts were examined. The regional prevalence rate was between 15 and 25%; only in Berlin 42% of the drug deaths were HIV-infected (cumulated data of all cities over the 4-year-period: 26%). There was no uniform or steady regional development of HIV-1-prevalence in the different cities. The ratio men/women among drug deaths was 3:1. The HIV-1-prevalence among males was 22%, among females 40%. HIV-infected individuals were 2-3 years older than seronegatives. Predictions concerning the trend of prevalence rates are not possible up to now. Continuous monitoring of the HIV-status of drug deaths seems to be a worthful method to evaluate the spread of this disease among the risk group of intravenous drug addicts.     

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of DNA extracted from postmortem muscle tissues

DNA extracted from 33 postmortem muscle specimens was analyzed using MZ 1.3, a hypervariable minisatellite probe, as well as locus-specific minisatellite probes (g3, MS1 and MS43). After storage at -25 degrees C for 10 months, DNA from all the samples was partially (approximately 21% of total DNA) degraded even when autopsy was performed 1 day postmortem. However, more than 90% of DNA samples up to at least 3 days postmortem were suitable to obtain good restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns. When small strips of specimen were stored for 8 days at room temperature in moist chambers, approximately 42% of total DNA was degraded. Only 30% of these DNA samples still showed good RFLP patterns. However, no obvious relation between qualities of DNA analyzed by detection of RFLP and quantities of total and high-MW DNA became apparent. A case of familial relationship was ascertained by DNA fingerprints. Since DNA of good quality can be recovered from muscle tissues in large quantities, DNA extraction from muscle tissues and detection of RFLP patterns should be very useful for individual identification in autopsy cases.     

HIV-1- prevalence among drug deaths in major cities of central and northern Europe.

Since 1985, a number of Institutes of Forensic Medicine in Germany have cooperated in a multicenter study, to provide a constant monitoring of HIV-1-prevalence among drug related deaths. In 1990/91, the Institutes in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vienna and Zürich also participated in this study. HIV-1-prevalence is decreasing in the German cities, whereas the epidemiological development is not uniform in the other major cities. Regional differences are obvious. In 1991, the prevalence rates were as follows: Berlin 15% (n = 220), Hamburg 4% (n = 179), Frankfurt 17% (n = 167), Munich 9% (n = 136), Stockholm 10% (n = 79), Copenhagen 14% (n = 130), Vienna 20% (n = 56), and Zürich 23% (n = 84).     

Policy research and analysis: an empirical profile, 1975–1980

A content analysis was conducted on 181 randomly sampled articles published in nine leading social policy journals from 1975 through 1980. The purpose of the study was to obtain a methodological and substantive profile of the state of the art of the policy sciences. Results indicate the existence of two prevailing types of policy analysis: quantitative-empirical and rhetorical-discussive.The positions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, or Applied Science Associates, Inc.     

EVALUATION RESEARCH AND POLITICAL SCIENCE: AN ARGUMENT AGAINST THE DIVISION OF SCHOLARLY LABOR

Political science might have been the birthplace of evaluation research, but it has instead been unreceptive to it for a number of reasons. Hofferbert's suggestion that political scientists become involved by studying the impact of policy on democratic processes does not take into account the ferment that has been taking place in the field of evaluation. Political scientists should not conduct evaluation studies using the same methodology they normally use because these may not produce the kind of information needed for improving policies or programs. A disciplinary division of labor is impractical for a number of reasons. Instead, they should use a policy sciences framework, which contains normative elements and focuses on potentials for change, among other things.     

Twelve tongues, one voice: An evaluation of European political cooperation

Abstract. Traditional integration theories disagree over the scope of the main foreign policy instrument of the European Union (EU), the so-called European Political Cooperation (EPC). While intergovernmentalism suggests that EPC actions are weak, neofunctionalism maintains that cooperation within the EPC framework is characterised by strong measures. In this article, we present a game-theoretic and statistical analysis of these conflicting propositions and show that European foreign policy making is much more diversified than predicted by the predominating theoretical approaches. A signalling game demonstrates that the exploitation of uncertainty by a possible profit-seeker outside the organisation can cause inadequate EPC decisions. The formal model also explores the extent to which joint interest in closer foreign policy coordination can help to overcome diverging national policy preferences. The empirical test of some game-theoretic hypotheses shows that European foreign policy making has become more intensive. The increasing number of declarations is, however, also a sign of the proliferation of non-committing statements. Logit regressions reveal a close relationship between the economic salience of an EPC target nation to the European Union and the intensity of an EPC reaction.     

Public attitudes toward economic conditions and their impact on government behavior

This article reviews extant studies of the impact of economic conditions on government electoral behavior in the Western democracies. Three conclusions are reached: (1) in representative democracies there exists a consistent relationship between the economic situation and citizen evaluation of government; (2) the proposition that governments are interested in achieving their selfish goals in elections fares well compared with the competing proposition that governments are interested in the state of the economy as such; and (3) governments and voters are not the only actors in politico-economic decisions: bureaucracies and interest groups may make government incapable of changing its policies quickly in the face of stiff resistance from this multitude of other actors. Their inclusion in relevant models is a necessary next step in research designed to understand better the functioning of modern democratic societies.This paper was written while the author was at GSIA, Carnegie-Mellon University.