Institutions and contracts: Franchising

This paper investigates a new dataset of franchise networks in nine countries in order to assess whether and to what extent do institutions influence the practice of franchising. Our regressions relate the structure of franchise networks (the rate of franchised units as opposed to corporate units) to individual parameters supposed to reflect the extent of moral hazards on the franchisor's and franchisee's sides and, more specifically, to various institutional parameters of the franchisor's country, namely, the legal tradition, the level of procedural formalism, the constraints imposed by labour regulation and the effectiveness of trademark protection. While agency theory parameters seem to perform rather badly in this international setting, institutions such as trademark protection and labour regulation have more explanatory power: greater trademark protection encourages franchising and the impact of labour regulation is mostly positive, depending on the type of labour regulation that is being considered. The effect of legal tradition and formalism seems negligible once these parameters are taken in. JEL Classification D23 · F23 · K12     

Patenting and spin-off creation by Canadian researchers in engineering and life sciences

This paper examines the determinants of patenting and spin-off creation using survey data of 479 researchers in engineering and 449 researchers in life sciences funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The results show that research novelty and laboratory size are the only two variables significantly explaining patenting and spin-off formation in both engineering and life sciences. Network capital explains spin-off formation in engineering and in life sciences as well as patenting in life sciences, but not in engineering. Furthermore, the results suggest that many categories of resources explain patenting and spin-off formation in engineering and in life sciences, but that the combinations of resources required differ for patenting and spin-off formation and between engineering and life sciences. The results of this paper suggest that customized policies would be required to accommodate differences between spin-off formation and patenting as well as between engineering and life sciences.      

Asia as a new border

Asia Europe Journal -     

Transitioning policy: co-production of a new strategic framework for energy innovation policy in the Netherlands

This article describes policy–science interactions in a transition process in which we were involved as scientists. We describe the interactions that occurred in a project for the fourth National Environmental Policy Plan in the Netherlands. The project was successful in that it produced a new concept and set of principles for policy to deal with persistent problems such as global climate change, which were used in the national policy plan. The new concept was that of transition and the principles were: policy integration, long-term thinking for short-term action, keeping multiple options open and learning-by-doing and doing-by-learning. Retrospectively, we ask ourselves: what factors facilitated the acceptance of the first ideas about transition management? Reconstructing the events and drawing on interviews with key individuals involved, we have tried to find the key factors for the adoption of the ideas developed in the project. Finally, we reflect upon our role as scientists-advisors and the role of others in the development of a new story line and set of principles for policy. Our own assessment, 8 years later, is that we were engaged in boundary work.     

Sex Differences in Physical and Indirect Aggression: A Developmental Perspective

Males generally use aggression more often than females. However, the magnitude of difference between the sexes varies widely according to the type of aggression that is considered, and according to the developmental period studied. Taking a developmental perspective, this paper reviews research that compares the progression of physical aggression (predominantly used by males) with indirect aggression (predominantly used by females) among males and females. Existing empirical evidence indicates that most children cease to use physical aggression during the course of childhood, but that a minority fails to do so. This group is comprised of children with high, stable levels of PA and is mostly male. Overall, most children use low levels of IA, but there is one group that uses this type of aggression with increasing frequency. This group is mostly female. Importantly, the differences between the sexes are not stable over time. Rather, while the gap between males and females is present during preschool years, it widens considerably during childhood and preadolescence. A review of hypotheses based on evolution, biology and social learning provides critical insight into the origins and development of sex differences in aggression over the life course. We conclude by arguing that violence in males may be effectively reduced through early, sustained intervention with high-risk mothers.     

对刑释人员安置工作的思考

在构建和谐社会过程中,加强刑释人员安置工作,降低重新犯罪率,对实现构建和谐社会的目标具有重要的意义。加强刑释人员安置工作需要对刑释人员保护进行立法、建立刑释人员保护组织、转变刑释人员安置方式。同时改革现行的监狱对服刑人员进行职业技术教育的内容,提高刑释人员回归社会后的生存能力。     

The mechanisms of the formation of kidney damages from action by blunt objects]

Analyzes 206 cases with renal injuries inflicted with blunt objects. Describes the type of renal injury in relation to the type of the trauma and direction of the strike with the blunt object with a limited surface of co-strike. Presents mechanisms of the injury formation.