Patent text mining and informetric-based patent technology morphological analysis: an empirical study

Patent technology morphological analysis utilises the advantages of both patent information analysis and morphological analysis to provide more detailed information on current and future patent technology. Current patent technology morphological analysis methods are largely reliant on manual expertise in the construction of morphological boxes with few approaches to the evaluation of future morphological configurations. We developed a patent text mining and informetric-based patent technology morphological analysis technique. We defined the basic parameters of the morphological box as the factors in factor analysis, with a patent keywords matrix, and the clusters in clustering analysis with factor scores. Patent citation, year of patent registration, keyword frequency, and contributing factors were used to evaluate future morphological configurations. We used an empirical study of liquid crystal display wide viewing angle patents to validate our method. The Thomson Reuters Derwent Innovation Index was used to collect patent text datasets. Our study indicates that this method is feasible for the implementation of patent technology morphological analysis. Our method provides advantages in terms of cost and time reductions during morphological box construction and more flexible methods for evaluating morphological configurations. We discuss problems and possible development of our method in the last section.     

Intra-industry Trade and Innovation: An empirical study of the Colombian manufacturing industry

This paper analyses the theoretical and empirical relationship between intra-industry trade (IIT) flows in manufactures and technical change for the Colombian manufacturing industry during the 1970-95 period. A general estimating equation for the sources of change of the equilibrium number of varieties, in which TFP growth is one of its components, is derived from the basic model of trade in differentiated goods with monopolistic competition. Based on that relationship, several estimations on the determinants of IIT flows are carried out. The econometric set up follows a panel data and cross-section estimations of system of simultaneous equations. TFP and IIT indices are the endogenous variables of the system with industry characteristic, trade policy, and innovation-activity variables as the set of exogenous variables. The paper also presents a comparative analysis in the direction and trends of Colombia's IIT flows in manufactures with the Group of Seven, NAFTA, and the Latin American Free Trade area members (LAFTA) since 1974.     

世界铁矿资源分布对我国钢铁工业发展的影响

钢铁工业是国民经济的基础性产业。随着我国钢铁产量的不断提高,对铁矿石的需求也在逐年增加,尽管我国铁矿石产量一直大幅度提高,但仍不能满足我国钢铁工业发展的需要,使得进口铁矿石的数量必须不断增加．我国也因此成为世界上进口铁矿石最多的国家。而世界铁矿资源分布比较集中,对我国钢铁工业的发展有直接的影响。根据铁矿资源的分布情况,分析我国钢铁工业在原料供需方面所面临的问题,并提出一些相应的对策。     

An empirical study of income growth and manufacturing industry pollution in New England, 1980-1990

This paper is an empirical examination of how a community's income growth is affected by polluting manufacturing activity. The hypothesis I test is that this activity has two conflicting effects: first, industrial investment encourages economic growth through the creation of employment and other positive economic spillover effects and, second, the associated pollution causes out-migration of residents. I hypothesize that a community that is initially relatively wealthy will experience relatively more out-migration of its higher income residents, who are assumed to have a lower tolerance for pollution. Thus, such communities will grow less in response to such investment compared to its poorer neighbors. Therefore, in my econometric model the marginal effect of pollution on income growth is allowed to vary with initial incomes. I use a unique data set that incorporates Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and census tract-level data for New England for the years 1980 and 1990. The estimated effect of pollution on growth is negative, on average, and is more negative in initial incomes. In an effort to measure the out-migration effects of pollution, I use a separate measure of toxic pollution. I find that, holding constant total pollution, ‘toxic’ pollution has a more negative effect on growth for wealthier communities. These results are consistent with the above hypotheses.     

Economies of scale in the Australian tourism industry

The measurement of economies of scale in the tourism industry has not been done to this point, as tourism is not a specific industry according to international statistical standards. Among many industries related to tourism, four sectors (accommodation, transport, retail trade and recreational services) across six states and two territories from 1997 to 2007 are studied as they contribute nearly 70% of tourism output in Australia. By comparing regression results from the Cobb–Douglas (C–D) production function and the translog production function, we find that there is evidence of increasing returns in transport, retail trade and recreational services at the industry level. However, accommodation is characterized by constant returns to scale at the industry level. As accommodation is responsible for the biggest share of tourism output, this suggests that overall the tourism sector is not characterized by increasing returns. We also find that the degrees of returns to scale from the C–D and translog production functions are different and that the imposition of input share also influences the empirical results. Both of these factors stress the importance of model specification to the measurement of economies of scale.     

商业银行超额准备金率变动分析

商业银行持有超额准备金的多少是中央银行货币政策的重要监测指标。我国商业银行的超额准备金率总体呈逐年降低趋势，但不同类型商业银行超额准备金率存在相当大的差异。支付系统尤其是大额支付系统的发展对降低超额准备金率的均值和波动起了重要作用。预防动机在一定程度上能解释股份制商业银行具有较高超额准备金率。未来，中央银行在制定货币政策时应考虑支付系统发展和超额准备金率分布不均衡带来的影响，并增加货币政策的透明度。     

智能制造的生产成本属性异变及边际成本递减律

智能科技革命驱动的智能制造,是新时期推进制造强国建设的不二选项。智能制造以工业智能体取代人力作业,采用“车间智能体+镜像网络”的单要素虚实融合生产模式,这将带来迥异于传统制造业的生产特征和成本属性,进而改变成本函数形态。比较研究发现,智能制造具有“高固定成本、弱可变成本”属性,并据此推导出随产量弱增长的弱成本函数,以及相应产生的边际成本递减规律。智能制造边际成本递减律,主要源于智能制造的单要素虚实融合生产模式对可变成本的冲淡与弱化效应。从政策层面,建议有序开展智能制造系统的众筹建造模式,积极推行智能制造系统的产能共享模式,尽早谋划智能时代产业工人的全新就业模式,大力引导消费者不断介入生产活动,实现消费者向“消产者”的身份转变。     

Dynamic product differentiation strategies: an examination of the interplay of firm and industry characteristics

Technologically dynamic industries are characterised by the availability of ample differentiation opportunities. Implementing an appropriate product differentiation strategy is a critical determinant of entrant success in such industries. Firms typically have to engage in two sequential decisions. They need to first decide whether to differentiate and if they decide to do so, they need to choose between a horizontal and a vertical differentiation strategy. Despite the growing literature on the consequences of product differentiation strategy, limited attention has been paid to ascertaining the determinants of these dynamic decisions. We suggest that a complex interplay of firm-level (firm size and pre-entry experience) and industry (technology regime) characteristics impacts the choice of differentiation strategies. Empirical tests using multinomial logit models on data obtained from a census of all entrants into the personal computer industry between 1974 and 1994 support our theory.     

The French rejection of the European constitution: An empirical analysis

The French rejection of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe on 29 May 2005 resulted from (1) fear of loss of national identity as a result of the European integration process and (2) the voters' sanction of the French government's record. Using cross-section data covering the 96 French metropolitan departments, we estimate referendum vote functions in order to assess the effects of these influences on the outcome of the referendum. Estimated coefficients are compared with estimates from the 1992 Maastricht referendum.     

An empirical study of the initial adoption of ISO 14001 in Japanese manufacturing firms

This paper analyzes stakeholders' environmental preferences/pressures and the financial flexibility that together influence firms to adopt ISO 14001, which is the international standard primarily concerned with an Environmental Management System (EMS). Since firms retain ISO 14001 once they have adopted it, a firm's decision to adopt ISO 14001 is considered from the period that they initially acquire the certification. Therefore, we assert that we have to focus on the determinants of initial ISO 14001 adoption. We analyzed: 1) the determinants of initial ISO 14001 adoptions respective to 1996, 1999, and 2004; and 2) the determinants of initial ISO 14001 adoptions during the period 1996-2004. The estimation results support the view that stakeholders' environmental preferences/pressures and firms' financial flexibility influenced their decision to adopt ISO 14001 in both analyses. Particularly, it is remarkable that we found that: 1) the determinants of the initial ISO 14001 adoption differed among the years of adoption; and 2) there is a positive relationship between economic performance and initial ISO 14001 adoption.     

An empirical analysis of incentive regulation and the allocation of inputs in the US telecommunications industry

A translog cost function is estimated to examine whether carriers use an efficient combination of inputs in the telecommunications industry. Special attention is given to the role of rate regulation reform in an increasingly competitive business environment. Findings suggest that telecommunications carriers facing price-cap regulation do use an efficient mix of labor and capital. In contrast, the condition for cost minimizing use of inputs is not met for telecommunications carriers facing rate-of-return. The superior factor input use allocation by carriers facing price-cap regulation compared to carriers facing rate-of-return regulation is interpreted as suggesting that incentive regulation plays an important role in promoting efficient use of inputs even in a competitive business environment.     

An empirical investigation into the gravitation and convergence of industry return rates in OECD countries

Tests are offered for the hypotheses that sectoral average profit rates and incremental return rates are gravitating around or converging towards a common value. We study data for various OECD countries relying on an econometric method able to account for residual autocorrelation and cross‐sector correlation. Our null hypotheses receive only a mixed empirical support. This is interpreted as the result of various kinds of limitations to capital mobility. Policy implications are discussed.     

An empirical investigation of complexity and its management in new product development

New product development (NPD) programmes are increasingly complex and difficult to manage. The consequences of poorly managed development complexity can be highly visible and even lead to project failure. To effectively screen new product proposals and manage NPD projects more efficiently, NPD teams need to be equipped with the capacity to identify development complexity and possess the knowledge to manage it. Unfortunately, there have been few studies which specifically illuminate the challenges and experiences product developers face in dealing with complexity. Our research attempts to help fill this gap. Our study is based on exploratory field interviews with 32 project leaders and team members. We first focus on identifying the specific complexity issues encountered in NPD. We then identify what NPD teams actually do to minimise the potential adverse consequences of complexity. Finally, we examine whether a company's development process reduces or increases the complexities NPD teams encounter. Based upon our research, we present our results and conclude by offering several recommendations for complexity management as well as suggestions for future research.     

Transferable quotas,enforcement costs and typical firms: An empirical application to the Norwegian trawler fleet

An alternative to traditional regulations of fisheries to avoid rent dissipation is the use of individual transferable quotas (ITQ _s ) where prices in the quota market provide the necessary information to owners of harvest rights to contract with each other. However, even under such a decentralized regime, information on the underlying technology of the fishing vessels is also necessary. First, since most fisheries consist of many interrelated production processes, in order to avoid rent dissipation by discarding wrong output mix etc., the structure of production in the multispecies fishery must be known to design a proper quota system. Second, an ITQ system may create incentives for misreporting by understating the actual catch. This may especially be the case where the expected degree of self-enforcement is low. The paper proposes a way to reduce the information requirements under regulation with asymmetric information by constructing a typical firm and comparing performance for the other vessels to this firm. Based on the typical firm, and if the industry is relatively homogenous, the performance and hence catch of any other firm in the industry can be predicted within a certain range. Further, the paper applies this idea to the Norwegian trawler fleet to assess the production structure in terms of jointness, input-output separability, and the supply and demand elasticities for the fishing firms. This information characterizes the fishery and thus how the quota system may be designed and how to construct a yardstick in order to reduce the enforcement cost under a decentralized regulation of ITQs.The authors would like to thank Trond Bjørndal, Røgnvaldur Hannesson, Ola Flaaten and two referees for useful comments and suggestions.     

An empirical study of outbound tourism demand in the UK

A general to specific methodology is used to construct UK demand for outbound tourism models to twelve destinations. A tourism destination preference index is introduced to take into account social, cultural and psychological influences on tourists' decisions concerning their overseas holiday destinations. The tests support the existence of a cointegration relationship for each of 11 UK overseas holiday destinations. The corresponding error correction models are estimated. The empirical results show that the long-run income elasticities for all destinations range from 1.70 to 3.90 with an average of 2.367. The lowest and highest short-run income elasticities are 1.05 and 3.78 respectively, with an average of 2.216. The estimates of the income elasticities imply that overseas holidays are highly income elastic while the own-price elasticities suggest that the demand for UK outbound tourism is relatively own-price inelastic. In terms of the significance of substitution prices in the regression equations, Ireland is the favourite substitute destination for UK outbound tourists. Ex post forecasts over a period of six years are generated from the ECM models and the results compared with those of a naive model, an AR(1) model, an ARMA(p,q) model, and a VAR model. The forecasting performance criteria show that the ECM model has the best overall forecasting performance for UK outbound tourism.     

Product mix,transactions and cost behaviour: a study of South African bank branches

This paper utilizes microeconomic theory and a panel data set to assess the impact of product mix and transactions on cost behaviour of bank branches in South Africa over the short and long‐term. Estimates of properties of concavity and monotonocity indicate that the cost functions of typical bank branches in South Africa are neither consistent with short‐term nor long‐term cost‐minimizing behaviour. This corroborates earlier findings which indicate that South African banks have low production efficiency and high market power. In addition the cost functions and two production‐output type indices indicate that overall, the intermediation‐output type mix (foreign exchange and custodial services) has a more significant effect on cost behaviour than the production‐output type mix (cheque and deposit accounts). The variety of production‐output type services provided by a branch appears to have limited effect on costs. However the financial value of production‐output type transactions has an impact on costs while the financial value of intermediation type products does not. Branches that provide intermediation‐output type products tend to have higher variable costs – the key determinant of costs is the number of transactions.     

An economic comparison of the net clinical benefit and treatment costs of raltitrexed and 5-fluorouracil + leucovorin (Mayo regimen) in advanced colorectal cancer

Summary

Background

This paper describes an economic evaluation in which raltitrexed (Tomudex®) was compared with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) + leucovorin (LV), and where net clinical benefits were related to differential health service costs. Raltitrexed, a specific inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase, has shown anticancer activity against a range of solid tumours.

Tomudex® is a registered trademark ofZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Materials and Methods

In a large, open, randomised, multicentre study in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, raltitrexed (n = 223) and 5-FU plus LV (n = 216) showed similar efficacy in terms of patient survival and objective response (i.e. tumour shrinkage rates). Palliative benefits were seen in both groups of patients and suggest that patients with stable disease are as likely to show improvement as those with a tumour response. Reductions compared with 5-FU plus LV in the number of toxicity days (median 1.5 vs 8 treatment days) and administration days (6 vs 22 days) with raltitrexed were consistent with a net clinical benefit.

Results

A cost minimisation analysis that drew on data from a number of sources showed direct medical costs per month to be similar for the two treatments (£781 for raltitrexed vs £834 for 5-FU + LV).

Conclusions

Raltitrexed therefore represents a clinically effective alternative to 5-FU plus LV (Mayo regimen) and offers net clinical benefit to patients with advanced colorectal cancer at no apparent additional cost.     

An empirical study of the determinants of UK oil and gas voluntary disclosures

Significant oil and gas firm market value is derived from their physical reserve quantum, assets which are not recorded on their statements of financial position. This article provides empirical evidence regarding voluntary disclosure of such reserves in line with the previously unresearched UK sector with regard to its unique reporting guidelines. The study considers both the reporting of the reserve quantum and the quality of that reporting. This article seeks to inform the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB’s) on-going consideration of mineral resource reporting. Listed companies are considered to evidence forms of reserve disclosure with a logistical regression approach applied to measure determinants of reporting. The risk associated with mineral reporting reserves is hypothesized as the key disclosure driver whilst controlling other relevant variables. The majority of firms disclosed reserve quantities in some form but only a minority disclosed in line with recommended practice, disclosure quality being more variable between companies. The findings indicate that a voluntary disclosure approach is ineffective, partially explained by agency related behaviour. Risk, proxied by the stage of production, drives reserve disclosure showing that producer firms are more likely to disclose reserve quantum balances and of a significantly higher quality.     

矿业权出让网上交易的实践与思考

矿业权出让公开透明运行是矿产资源管理的重要内容。国土资源部部署建立矿业权有形市场后,有的地方积极探索创新推进矿业权出让网上交易,在公开透明、降低运行成本、减少人为干扰等方面取得了初步成效。通过对各地推行矿业权网上试点工作进行深入总结,分析了在网上交易运行中存在的一些问题,并对如何更好地推进矿业权出让网上交易工作提出了几点建议。     

Economies of scale in the US computer industry: An empirical investigation using data envelopment analysis

Up to recently, economists have had no good tools to measure the returns to scale of individual corporations in an industry. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a linear programming technique for determining the efficiency frontier (the envelope) to the inputs and outputs of a collection of individual corporations or other productive units. While DEA offers an avenue for calculating the returns to scale of individual corporations, the approach has been riddled by mathematical complications arising from the possibility of alternate optima. The present paper develops theory for calculating the entire range of these alternate optima. Furthermore, in a quite ambitions empirical application, DEA is employed to determine the time path of returns to scale of all publicly held U.S. computer companies over the time period 1980–1991. For the great majority of companies, a unique time path is obtained; only in less than 4 percent of the linear programming calculations is an entire range of alternate optima obtained. The results indicate that the computer industry was polarized into two camps: large aging corporations with decreasing returns to scale, and swarms of small upstart companies with advanced technology exhibiting increasing returns to scale.