Determinants of national patent ownership by public research organisations and universities

This paper focuses on the question of whether the national production functions of patents owned by universities and public research organisations (PROs) differ. We use Eurostat patent and R&D data broken down by institutional sector for the European Union 27 and other countries in years 1982–2007, and we estimate dynamic panel models. The impact of R&D expenditure on patent ownership is higher for PROs than for universities. University patent ownership activity is dependent on business funding, while PRO patent ownership is not. We recommend a reversal of the current decline of PRO R&D expenditure and discuss whether PROs perform better at macroeconomic level vis a vis universities.     

No More! Women Reporting Intimate Partner Violence in Mexico

An analysis of the National Survey of Violence Against Women (2006) in Mexico was performed to estimate the prevalence and the associated factors of women suffering intimate partner violence (IPV) that report their aggressor by severity of violence. Women aged 15 years or older who reported IPV were analyzed by using logistic regression models. Prevalence of IPV was 33.33 %, 64.11 % of them were classified as non-severe violence (NSV) and 35.89 % as severe violence (SV). Women with SV reported the aggressor more often (24.69 % vs. 6.08 % of NSV). Variables associated with reporting the aggressor for both NSV and SV were having children living in the household, higher socioeconomic status, frequent alcohol consumption by the partner, and health personnel informing women that they were experiencing IPV. We can conclude that a low percentage of women reported IPV. Greater efforts should be made to empower women so they can effectively execute their right to live a life free of violence.     

Politicization,banking experience and risk in savings banks

During the global financial crisis, criticism of the politicization and lack of professionalization of the savings banks has taken a central position in the political debate. The aim of this article is to analyze if the political presence of governing bodies in Spanish savings banks has been reflected in their various risk-taking behaviors before and during the financial crisis. We will also analyze whether the influence of the chairman’s banking experience matters. The results do not provide evidence that the composition of the boards of savings bank, or even their politicization, have played a role. However we show that savings banks run by a chairman with previous banking experience are likely to be significantly more solvent and less volatile.     

Differences in Physical Fitness and Body Composition Between Active and Sedentary Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Previous research analyzing the differences in physical fitness and body composition between active and sedentary adolescents aged 12–16 has not provided...     

Forensic Facial Reconstruction: A Systematic Review of Nasal Prediction Techniques

Prediction facial features from the skull are recurring theme on the forensic literature. The nose has been investigated since it has a significant role in facial recognition and the literature shows that there is not an universal method for nasal prediction. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review to analyze what are the most consistent techniques of nasal reconstruction. Primary studies describing or validating nasal reconstruction techniques in adults and published in journals of Forensic Sciences were included in this review. Tedeschi‐Oliveira's method positioned nasal tip with acceptable accuracy as Gerasimov's method. The Krogman's and Iscan's technique underestimated nasal projection in North Americans. The Prokopec's and Ubelaker's method obtained accuracy in Caucasoid. George's method presented results similar to reference standard in Caucasoid. In a supplementary way, studies are needed to accurately estimate the nasal width.     

First Generation in Chilean Higher Education: Tension between Access and Inclusion in a Segmented University System

We analysed the Chilean university student selection processes, comparing ‘First Generation’ and ‘Continuist’ students, using the Chilean Higher Education population databases (2000–2015). Findings confirm that 60 percent of participants in the selection process are First Generation students. The data registers an increasing self-exclusion phenomenon. Of the students who did not take the selection test after enrolling, 80 percent are First Generation and 18 are enrolled in a selective university, compared to 44 in the Continuist conglomerate. These differences may be explained by cultural capital in the Bourdieu sense, in conjunction with a diversified, massified and marketalised higher education system.     

Intergenerational transmission of longevity is not affected by other familial factors: evidence from 16,905 Dutch families from Zeeland, 1812-1962

ABSTRACT

Studies have shown that long-lived individuals seem to pass their survival advantage on to their offspring. Offspring of long-lived parents had a lifelong survival advantage over individuals without long-lived parents, making them more likely to become long-lived themselves. We test whether the survival advantage enjoyed by offspring of long-lived individuals is explained by environmental factors. 101,577 individuals from 16,905 families in the 1812–1886 Zeeland cohort were followed over time. To prevent that certain families were overrepresented in our data, disjoint family trees were selected. Offspring was included if the age at death of both parents was known. Our analyses show that multiple familial resources are associated with survival within the first 5 years of life, with stronger maternal than paternal effects. However, between ages 5 and 100 both parents contribute equally to offspring’s survival chances. After age 5, offspring of long-lived fathers and long-lived mothers had a 16-19% lower chance of dying at any given point in time than individuals without long-lived parents. This survival advantage is most likely genetic in nature, as it could not be explained by other, tested familial resources and is transmitted equally by fathers and mothers.     

Environmental predictability influences the relationship between virtues and antisocial/delinquent behavior

ABSTRACT

Despite the notion that characterizes criminals as lacking virtues or character strengths, evidence shows that people who engage in antisocial and delinquent behavior are not dissimilar in possessing character strengths as compared to the general population. Character strengths may be used to either do ‘good’ or ‘wrong’; so that the question is, what situation does direct this use to either choice? This study hypothesized environmental predictability may influence a person using their character strengths to inhibit antisocial or delinquent behavior. Two samples were examined, one consisting of individuals convicted of a criminal offense, and the other composed of non-convicted participants. Individuals responded to a series of instruments targeting virtues and character strengths, antisocial and delinquent behaviors, and environmental predictability in their environment –inferred from life-history strategy. In both groups, virtues were negatively and significantly associated with antisocial/delinquent behavior. A further test of the moderating and mediating influence of environmental predictability showed that this environmental dimension modified the aforementioned relationship, decreasing the inhibitory influence of virtues on antisociality. This means that, in predictable contexts, possessing (or lacking) character strengths is not important to inhibiting antisocial behaviors; however, in unpredictable environments virtues are useful to prevent antisociality and delinquent behavior.     

Is cooperation cost reducing? An analysis of public–public partnerships and inter-municipal cooperation in Brazilian local government

ABSTRACT

In local government systems worldwide, financial pressures have obliged local authorities to focus on cost-efficient methods for providing local services, including inter-municipal agreements and public–public partnerships. However, in comparison with municipal mergers, privatisation and other approaches to the problem, the cost impact of the cooperative provision has not yet been thoroughly examined empirically. Moreover, available empirical research has largely concentrated on waste disposal in developed countries. The present paper seeks to contribute to the empirical literature on inter-municipal agreements and public–public partnerships by comparing their impact on costs with ‘stand-alone’ provision in a range of non-waste local services. In contrast to the bulk of existing studies, our analysis takes place in a developing country context by examining Brazilian local government over the period 2013/15. We found that – on the whole – cooperative provision is less expensive than the ‘stand-alone’ provision for the services studied. Our results can be explained by the size and composition of the population, together with the politics for cooperation.