Governance typology of universities’ technology transfer processes

Despite the growing interest in university-to-industry technology transfer, there are very few studies on the governance of universities’ technology transfer offices (TTOs). The few existing ones tend to focus on US universities and generally tackle one dimension of the governance. The present paper aims at contributing to this literature in two ways. First, it takes into account the diversity of organizational models with a theoretical perspective: the paper presents a discussion on which combinations of four structural dimensions should yield viable configurations. Four main types of TTOs are identified: (1) classical TTO; (2) autonomous TTO; (3) discipline-integrated Technology Transfer Alliance; and (4) discipline-specialized Technology Transfer Alliance. Second, the paper relies on 16 case studies of universities located in six European countries in order to address the pros and cons of the four types of TTOs. The results provide both a conceptual understanding and an empirical overview of how universities organize their technology transfer and intellectual property management.     

Netzwerkstruktur, Handlungslogik und politische Räume: Institutionenwandel in europäischen und nordamerikanischen Grenzregionen

This paper is a contribution to the debate on political order and governance in a “debordered world” beyond the “Westphalian system”. It is based on empirical information about the development and change of political institutions in cross-border regions in Europe and North America in the 20th century. First, it is shown that the nation state is loosing its gate keeper role at the end of the century and that various sub-national actors institutionalise independent cross-border links or participate on an equal footing. Therefore, the pattern of interaction is changing from formal hierarchies to networks. Nevertheless, if we define hierarchies and networks as modes of governance, we cannot conform such a change since the mode of interaction has not changed over the years. There does not exist and never has existed any other mode of interaction as “negotiated agreement”. What has changed is the institutional logic for finding such a cross-border agreement. Whereas older institutions were designed to find a common solution by using a technocratic-deductive logic, younger institutions use a symbolic-inductive logic (mainly in Europe). In North America they are based either on a rationalistic-evolutionary logic (at the US-Mexican border) or on a discursive-constructivist logic (in the Pacific Northwest). Also in respect to the much proposed tendency towards “deterritorialization” of political orders we find strong differences between the continents: Whereas in Europe even the younger institutions are based on “spaces of place”, in North America the more recent institutions are much more oriented towards “spaces of flows”.     

Religion, Historical Contingencies, and Institutional Conditions of Criminal Punishment: The German Case and Beyond

Religion and historical contingencies help explain cross-national and historic variation of criminal law and punishment. Case studies from German history suggest: First, the Calvinist affiliation of early Prussian monarchs advanced the centralization of power, rationalization of government bureaucracy, and elements of the welfare state, factors that are likely to affect punishment. Second, the dominant position of Lutheranism in the German population advanced the institutionalization of a separation of forgiveness in the private sphere versus punishment of "outer behavior" by the state. Third, these principles became secularized in philosophy, jurisprudence, and nineteenth-century criminal codes. Fourth, partly due to historical contingencies, these codes remained in effect into post–World War II Germany. Fifth, the experience of the Nazi regime motivated major changes in criminal law, legal thought, public opinion, and religious ideas about punishment in the Federal Republic of Germany. Religion thus directly and indirectly affects criminal law and punishment, in interaction with historical contingencies, institutional conditions of the state, and other structural factors.     

The development of the Project NetWork administrative records database for policy evaluation.

This article describes the development of SSA's administrative records database for the Project NetWork return-to-work experiment targeting persons with disabilities. The article is part of a series of papers on the evaluation of the Project NetWork demonstration. In addition to 8,248 Project NetWork participants randomly assigned to receive case management services and a control group, the simulation identified 138,613 eligible nonparticipants in the demonstration areas. The output data files contain detailed monthly information on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Disability Insurance (DI) benefits, annual earnings, and a set of demographic and diagnostic variables. The data allow for the measurement of net outcomes and the analysis of factors affecting participation. The results suggest that it is feasible to simulate complex eligibility rules using administrative records, and create a clean and edited data file for a comprehensive and credible evaluation. The study shows that it is feasible to use administrative records data for selecting control or comparison groups in future demonstration evaluations.     

A parameter study regarding the IBIS correlator

The electronic system IBIS has been used by numerous agencies worldwide as the standard tool to compare firearm markings on bullets and fired cartridges. There is a general interest among users concerning the likelihood with which the IBIS correlator may locate hits in its databases. Test results of the performance under different test conditions have been published in various papers. Experience has also been gained with the IBIS system from years of practical usage. All of these findings are difficult to compare with each other. No systematic presentation exists that actually shows the parameters upon which the success rate of the IBIS correlator depends. There has also been no mention of what values these parameters take on during each test. This paper first generally defines the success and error rates of the IBIS correlator. The parameters used will be discussed. Results of previously published tests will be re-examined based on this methodology. An illustrative form of presentation for the success rate of an electronic comparison system will also be suggested. It will be shown that the success rate of the IBIS correlator highly depends on the quality of the firearms-generated markings. It increases with the number of considered mark types, the number of available signatures per firearm, and the number of items inspected in the hit list. The success rate decreases with the database size. The paper will conclude with a series of practical recommendations for the setting up and successful operation of an electronic collection of ballistic evidence.     

Psychopathy and Sexual Sadism

Psychopathic personality disorder and sexual sadism share several common characteristics, such as emotional detachment from the suffering of others or the preparedness to inflict pain or injuries. Based on a sample of 100 male forensic patients (all of them sex offenders, half of them sadistic), the concept of psychopathy and sexual sadism as a unified construct was tested empirically. Pooling indicator variables for psychopathic and sexually sadistic disorders showed that a two-factorial solution yielded a better fit than a single-factor model. The two factors identified psychopathy and sexual sadism as separate latent variables. More specifically, the data were compatible with a path model in which affective deficits and behavioral disinhibition of the psychopathy domain are precursors to sexually sadistic conduct.     

Regime change and public administration in East Germany ‐ some findings from a research project in Brandenburg and Saxony

After the accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic, the transfer of institutions and personnel from the west to the east, especially the transformation of a ‘cadre‐administration’ into a modern western‐type public administration ranked very high on the political agenda. This article presents some findings from a research project on ‘Administrative Culture in East Germany’, conducted in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. The questions to be addressed are whether one could speak of a total replacement of eastern and western élites during the process of unification. What are the results of élite transfer from the west? What is the composition of the new administrative elites in the east German Länder? Are there significantly different political perceptions by ‘easterners’ and ‘westerners’ of the problems confronting public administrators?     

Shareholder value in an adverse environment: the German case

The German political economy has often been cited as a classical case of non-shareholder value orientation. Its productionist, long-term, consensus orientation has often been contrasted with the 'Anglo-Saxon approach'. The influence of shareholders who press for shareholder value and the importance of the equity market have traditionally been low. But there are signs of change. In this article we describe some of these changes and try to assess the dynamics of this change process. First we show that the limited role of the equity market for company financing and for private household savings still provides a very narrow base for a shareholder value economy in Germany. The central pillars of the German system of corporate governance - the dominating role of banks, the system of co-determination and the company centred management system - are not crumbling. Change in the direction of shareholder value is therefore limited.     

Post-mortem forensic neuroimaging: correlation of MSCT and MRI findings with autopsy results

Multislice-computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are increasingly used for forensic purposes. Based on broad experience in clinical neuroimaging, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were performed in 57 forensic cases with the goal to evaluate the radiological methods concerning their usability for forensic head and brain examination. An experienced clinical radiologist evaluated the imaging data. The results were compared to the autopsy findings that served as the gold standard with regard to common forensic neurotrauma findings such as skull fractures, soft tissue lesions of the scalp, various forms of intracranial hemorrhage or signs of increased brain pressure. The sensitivity of the imaging methods ranged from 100% (e.g., heat-induced alterations, intracranial gas) to zero (e.g., mediobasal impression marks as a sign of increased brain pressure, plaques jaunes). The agreement between MRI and CT was 69%. The radiological methods prevalently failed in the detection of lesions smaller than 3mm of size, whereas they were generally satisfactory concerning the evaluation of intracranial hemorrhage. Due to its advanced 2D and 3D post-processing possibilities, CT in particular possessed certain advantages in comparison with autopsy with regard to forensic reconstruction. MRI showed forensically relevant findings not seen during autopsy in several cases. The partly limited sensitivity of imaging that was observed in this retrospective study was based on several factors: besides general technical limitations it became apparent that clinical radiologists require a sound basic forensic background in order to detect specific signs. Focused teaching sessions will be essential to improve the outcome in future examinations. On the other hand, the autopsy protocols should be further standardized to allow an exact comparison of imaging and autopsy data. In consideration of these facts, MRI and CT have the power to play an important role in future forensic neuropathological examination.