Public support for private R&D: The case of the research tax credit

The U.S. government has long included in its tax code various special provisions designed to stimulate industrial R&D. In 1981, those provisions were substantially augmented by a special R&D tax credit, and various proposals are now under consideration to relax the antitrust statutes in order to encourage research through joint ventures. The case for any of these measures is difficult to establish, being based on assumptions that are not readily tested in objective terms. Nevertheless, one point is fairly clear: As between stimulating industrial R&D by individual firms and stimulating R&D joint ventures of such firms, the joint venture approach appears superior in its likely results.     

Human susceptibility to complex diseases. Genetic analysis in large populations]

Inherited susceptibility underlying the ethiopathogenity of complex diseases is based on the existence of a high number of genetic variants which are cooperating to generate different risk genetic profiles. We try to identify such profiles and construct wide data bases with this genetic information.     

Mandatory Arbitration and Civil Litigation: An Empirical Study of Medical Malpractice Litigation in the West

This article looks at the effect that pretrial, statutorilyrequired screening panels in Nevada have had on medical malpracticelitigation. I use two unique data sets on litigation in Nevadaand neighboring states from 1983–88, during which theNevada legislature enacted screening panels. Applying time-seriesand difference-in-difference analyses, I show that observeddecreases in Nevada with respect to damage awards, attorney'sfees, and duration in litigation reflected a broader seculartrend. The panels did, however, reduce the relative probabilityof claims requiring resolution by the Nevada courts.     

Batuque: African Drumming and Dance between Repression and Concession, Bahia, 1808–18551

In this essay I will discuss some of the meanings acquired by black revelry under slavery. Given the restrictions of the available sources, I discuss above all the attitudes and the views of masters, policemen, journalists and politicians towards the batuque. For this reason I have chosen those festive manifestations which are more African or seen as such by these individuals. I intend to point out particularly what changed and what did not during the first half of the nineteenth century in attitudes towards the batuque, which here generally means black percussion music usually accompanied by dance.     

COPARENTING ARRANGEMENTS IN A JURISDICTION WITH STATUTORY GUIDELINES

Some states have recently moved away from the traditional winner-loser model of child custody to one focused on coparenting. Under the old approach, divorce decrees typically "awarded" custody to one parent while relegating the other to a "visitor" with poorly defined status. The new system is premised on the child's need for a continuing relationship with both parents and promotes this goal by upgrading the noncustodial parent's status and time-share, assigning substantive rights and responsibilities to both parents. To give effect to the shared parenting idea, Texas adopted joint custody and statutory visitation guidelines legislatively. The policy covers all major aspects of parental rights and duties with great specificity (not just child support, for which all states must have guidelines). It applies equally to divorce and paternity cases. Judges are authorized to deviate from standard visitation guidelines but must state a rationale for doing so on request. Parties may also negotiate and agree to arrangements at variance with the guidelines, subject to approval by the court. This article describes the statutory regime in Texas and its implementation in the family court system. Based on a sample of divorce and paternity cases in the state's largest jurisdiction, it documents innovative court interventions and a wide array of coparenting and support arrangements.     

Variables influencing sentencing severity: Intercourt differences in Connecticut

Studies of criminal-court dispositions have traditionally aggregated courts along political and geographic boundaries. This article suggests that courts should be analyzed individually, even within the same jurisdiction, as a means of increasing the explanatory capacity of the variables involved. Further, it is contended that intercourt differences are a result of organizational influences operating within each court.     

Evaluating Public Sector R&D Programs: The Advanced Technology Program's Investment in Wavelength References for Optical Fiber Communications

Griliches (1958) [Journal of Political Economy,66: 419--431] and Mansfield et al. (1977) [Quarterly Journal of Economics 91: 221--240] pioneered the application of fundamental economic insight to the development of measurements of private and social rates of return to innovative investments. This paper illustrates field-based methods for measuring the social rates of return to innovative investments by the public sector. The case study described herein relates to the development of an improved standard reference material for the measurement of the wavelength of light in an optical fiber network.     

The Entrepreneur as Innovator

Throughout intellectual history as we know it, the entrepreneur has worn many faces and played many roles. One of those roles is innovator. This essay establishes a chronological trace of the entrepreneur as innovator in an effort to place contemporary writings within a proper historical perspective.