The private value of patents by patent characteristics: evidence from Finland

I use renewal rates and fees to estimate the private value of Finnish patents by patent characteristic. I disaggregate the value estimations by applicant, patent breadth, and technology. Firm patents are 1.5 times more valuable than patents owned by individuals. This holds also when controlling for technology and breadth. There are large differences in values between technologies but in contrast to the usual assumption made in the theoretical literature, broader patents are not necessarily more valuable than narrower ones. Patent value is skewed and therefore the number of patents should be weighted by an index when measuring technological change. I construct this index for Finnish patents and find that renewing a patent one more year signals a 1.5 times more valuable patent.      

Continuity of aggressive antisocial behavior from childhood to adulthood: The question of phenotype definition

Aiming to clarify the adult phenotype of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), the empirical literature on its childhood background among the disruptive behaviour disorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), or hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HKCD), was reviewed according to the Robins and Guze criteria for nosological validity. At least half of hyperactive children develop ODD and about a third CD (i.e. AD/HD + CD or HKCD) before puberty. About half of children with this combined problem constellation develop antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. Family and adoption/twin studies indicate that AD/HD and CD share a high heritability and that, in addition, there may be specific environmental effects for criminal behaviours. “Zones of rarity” delineating the disorders from each other, or from the normal variation, have not been identified. Neurophysiology, brain imaging, neurochemistry, neurocognition, or molecular genetics have not provided “external validity” for any of the diagnostic categories used today. Deficient mental functions, such as inattention, poor executive functions, poor verbal learning, and impaired social interaction (empathy), seem to form unspecific susceptibility factors. As none of today's proposed syndromes (e.g. AD/HD or psychopathy) seems to describe a natural category, a dimensional behavioural phenotype reflecting aggressive antisocial behaviours assessed by numbers of behaviours, the severity of their consequences and how early is their age at onset, which will be closely related to childhood hyperactivity, would bring conceptual clarity, and may form the basis for further probing into mental, cognitive, biological and treatment-related co-varying features.     

Cream-skimming at the frontline: The role of administrative literacy

The notion of cream-skimming—defined as the propensity to prioritize clients who have a higher likelihood of meeting bureaucratic success criteria, including organizational goals—is at the heart of street-level bureaucracies. However, there is often no direct information available to street-level bureaucrats whether clients will actually meet bureaucratic success criteria. This study argues that street-level bureaucrats assess clients' potential to reach these criteria via their administrative literacy—a client's capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services from public administrations—as displayed in social interactions. Therefore, this study elaborates on the role of clients' administrative literacy and its effects on cream-skimming behavior. Using data from two experiments, we show that public employees prioritize clients with higher levels of preparedness and effective communication strategies. These findings suggest that cream-skimming is not just a rational cost–benefit analysis, but strongly influenced by social dynamics within public encounters.     

United Nations Security Council Reform Revisited: A Proposal

The United Nations [UN] came into being following the Second World War. Resembling earlier efforts of co-operation by the most powerful states of the international system, it was an attempt to effect global governance through the maintenance of international peace and security amongst states. However, led by its main executive organ, the Security Council, the UN has been unable to prevent and effectively deal with armed conflicts and mass atrocities in a number of situations. Over the years, the inability of the UN Security Council to take collective action has resulted in its ineffectiveness in dealing with war and humanitarian crises. This situation has led to calls for Security Council reform and has generated several initiatives to that end. This analysis discusses major shortcomings of the Security Council, analyses prominent reform initiatives, and introduces a proposal, the “Two-Layered Regional Model,” for Security Council reform.     

Litigation process of social movements as a driver of norm transformation?

The political science and international relations literature has extensively analysed the role of norm entrepreneurs, states, and international institutions as relevant actors generating norm transformation. However, although social movements’ reliance on courts to address core social problems has become a significant phenomenon, the role of the litigation process of social movements in norm transformation is understudied. Social movements have an ambiguous relationship with litigation. On the one hand, social movements perceive litigation to be the tool of the powerful, reproducing the status quo; on the other hand, it is argued that even when social movements lose their cases before the courts in the short term, legal mobilization can provide longer-term achievements. This article constructs a theory about the process through which the litigation of social movements impacts norm transformation. It proposes four mechanisms through which litigation plays a role in norm transformation: legal framing, legal interpretation, precedent setting and public attention. Through the examination of the Sardar Sarovar Dam as a case study, the analysis reveals that the role of the litigation process of social movements in norm transformation depends on how litigation mechanisms impact norm transformation in specific cases.     

Drivers of innovation productivity of academic researchers through career advancement

The Journal of Technology Transfer - This paper studies the innovation productivity of academic researchers across their career advancement. Taking patents and invention disclosures as indicators...     

Correction to: Promoting academic engagement: university context and individual characteristics

The Journal of Technology Transfer - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The corresponding author’s name was incorrect. The given name and family name were...     

Beliefs,social identity,and the view of opponents in Swedish carnivore management policy

Policy Sciences - In the policy sciences, the intractability of disputes in natural resource governance is commonly explained in terms of a “devil shift” between rival policy...     

Reclaiming constructivism: towards an interpretive reading of the ‘Social Construction Framework’

Policy Sciences - The ‘Social Construction Framework’ which addresses the relationship between policy design and the construction of target groups is one of the central approaches...     

School and Family Factors Predicting Adolescent Cognition Regarding Bystander Intervention in Response to Bullying and Victim Retaliation

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Youth aggression occurs at high rates. Aggressive acts can be curbed through bystander intervention; yet, little is known about school and family factors that...