Transforming the Post-Soviet Research Systems Through Incubating Technological Entrepreneurship

For many years the Soviet Union and the Eastern block countries (member countries of the former Warsaw pact) had been considered as the main military competitors of the western countries buttressed in their struggle against the West by their economic and scientific resources. The Warsaw pact countries had high levels of R&D investments, a large number of researchers and engineers, and diverse research facilities. On the other hand, output indicators (patent applications, number of papers, scientific citations, etc.), and especially the rates of technological innovation were not so impressive. This paper analyzes the sources of these differences with special attention to the functions played by science and technology (S&T) programs in the formerly communist societies of Europe and Russia. The dynamics of changes in the R&D potential in these countries are considered along with ways and possible scenarios of convergence towards the national systems of innovation of developed western economies. Special emphasis is assigned to the constructive role that technology transfer and commercialization processes along with the use of a network of virtual incubators and the promotion of technological entrepreneurship, can play in fostering a socio-economic renaissance in Eastern Europe and Russia.     

European health systems reforms: looking backward to see forward?

In this article we outline the different schools of new institutionalism and a few other selected political science theories. Moreover, we relate the insights offered by a series of analyses of health sector change in a large number of European countries over the past twenty to thirty years to these theoretical frameworks. Our main conclusion is that it is unlikely that a single explanatory theory will ever be able to account for all of the health sector developments in any one country, let alone across many countries with diverse cultures, histories, institutions, and interest groups. Consequently, a real understanding of health sector change will require a recognition that different theoretical approaches will be more (or less) appropriate in some circumstances than in others.     

Theory of science and history of science

The article uses an interesting discussion between historian and philosopher of science as point of departure for a brief examination of the special task of the sociology of sciences. Both historian and philosopher proceed according to certain ritualised conventions. They take it for granted that it is possible, today as in the seventeenth century, to work out a theory of science by concentrating on one science only, on theoretical physics. They are unable to come to grips with the diversification of sciences as a theoretical problem. The growth of a single science itself is treated by them as if it were an absolutely autonomous social development. A sociological theory of sciences has to take account of the observable advance of scientific knowledge into areas of the universe that were previously unknown or inaccessible to scientific exploration. It has to take account for instance of the emergence of biological and social sciences both as a science-immanent and a science-transcendent problem. Philosophers and historians of science have constructed a seemingly impenetrable conceptual wall between immanent and transcendent developments. According to them, ‘internal’ history of a science can be treated as independent of ‘external’ history. The article indicates that this is part of a professional ideology. By claiming absolute autonomy for one's subject matter one tries to secure the absolute autonomy of one's profession. If that claim is abandoned the fashionable problem of continuities and discontinuities in the development of sciences appears in a different light. Neither discontinuity nor autonomy of a scientific development can ever be absolute. Its relative autonomy, however, can grow or diminish. That of physics, for instance, is at present noticeably greater than that of sociology. One may well ask why that is the case. That is the kind of problem which requires a sociological as distinct from a philosophical or historical investigation.     

The Adventure Of Finding an Apartment

正"German intern looking for an apartment in Xicheng District,or next to subway line 2.Budget:2000 yuan ($316)." That was how my ad appeared in the online magazine The Beijinger.Short,crisp,with a nice photo of myself.However,the photo perhaps was a little too nice given that I only received responses from some Chinese girls who were interested in making friends with me.Thus I stayed in a hostel.     

The effect of social networking sites and absorptive capacity on SMES’ innovation performance

The combination of knowledge and innovation has become a cornerstone among knowledge and labour intensive enterprises. A growing number of enterprises are defined as knowledge intensive entrepreneurship ventures that have been widely studied in relation to their eco-system. However only few research have addressed this phenomenon to enterprises digital eco-system by adopting mainly a qualitatively approach. We point out that the relevance of the digital eco-system focusing on the role of social networking sites in relationship to innovation and knowledge. The use of social networking sites can provide a wealth of information about individuals and their networks, which can be utilised for various business purposes. It enables enterprises to create online communities and share user-created content. Within this context, enterprises actively interact with external actors such as customers, public institutions, and other businesses to acquire and absorb external knowledge, and then generate innovation. To gain insights from the global economy, 215 small to medium enterprises from different sets of global enterprises, both knowledge-intensive (e.g. management consulting, marketing and advertising, ICT and related services, legal and technical services) and labour-intensive (such as high tech and electronics, food and beverage, and consumer durables), were analysed. Via the Partial Least Square-Path Modelling the relationships between social networking sites, absorptive capacity, and innovation performance were measured. Therefore, recommendations are proffered as to what small-medium enterprises should do in order to enhance their innovativeness. The research ends with conclusions and implications to both scholars and practitioners.     

Tripartite decomposition of labor productivity growth,FDI and human development: evidence from transition economies

This study investigates the relative contribution of technological change, technological catch-up and capital deepening as drivers of labor productivity growth in 14 transition economies during the period 2000–2012. In addition, the study extends the usual decomposition of labor productivity growth by encompassing the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on labor productivity growth in transition economies. To illustrate the relative contribution of FDI as a driver of labor productivity growth, we present a simple theoretical model that augments Kohli [Labour productivity vs. total factor productivity. IFC Bulletin 20 (April), Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics, International Statistical Institute, 2005] and Grosskopf et al. (Aggregation, efficiency, and measurement, Springer, New York, pp 97–116, 2007) decomposition of the labor productivity. The insights derived in this model provide an underpinning to the empirical analysis in this study. Using Blundell–Bond dynamic panel General Method of Moments estimators, the main finding of dynamic panel data regressions shows that technological catch-up, technological change, and human development level, trade and demographic of population ageing are the main factors that affect labor productivity growth in transition countries. Furthermore, the findings of dynamic panel data regressions show insignificant positive impact of FDI on productivity growth in transition economies. One explanation is that the 14 transition economies that are included in this study do not reach a minimum human development threshold level.