Spatial Metrics of the Technological Transfer: Analysis and Strategic Management

The Triple Helix thesis states that research laboratories and universities can play an enhanced role in innovation in increasingly knowledge-based societies. In fact the locus of industrial innovation is shifting towards networks focused on technological transfer from public research laboratories to firms. This scenario presents challenges for investigating the new behaviour of research laboratories and the measurement and evaluation of their scientific and technological activity. This study analyses how the variable ‘space’ affects an important activity carried out within these laboratories: the technological transfer. The purpose of this research is to: (1) construct indicators, called sensors, starting from the geographical neo-classical approach based on physical distance, for measuring and studying the spatial dynamics of technological transfer;(2) apply the metrics to case studies using data from three institutes of the Italian National Council of Research operating in an industrialised region in the north-west Italy. The sensors are useful for understanding the spatial behaviour both of the technological transfer process, and the strategy of research laboratories. Some management implications conclude the research.     

Rockets and feathers behaviour in the Spanish gasoline and diesel market: New evidence

In this paper we analyse the potential asymmetric response of retail prices for gasoline and diesel‐fuel to changes in oil prices for the Spanish economy and its relation with the so‐called ‘rockets and feathers’ behaviour. We show that the assumption made by previous studies, which use as the key explanatory variable the sign –positive or negative‐ of the change in international oil prices, is inadequate for the Spanish case and the magnitude of the change in international oil prices is also relevant. For small changes in international oil prices there is neither price asymmetry nor rockets and feathers behavior in the retail markets. However, price asymmetries in line with rockets and feathers behavior in retail gasoline and gasoil markets are present when these changes exceed a certain threshold. Following Martín‐Moreno et al. (2018) we first apply an Auto‐regressive Error Correction Model and endogenously estimate the threshold triggering the rockets and feathers behaviour. A time‐varying nature for the dynamic response of retail prices to oil price shocks is revealed when we estimate the TAR‐ECM model using rolling windows. Hence, in a second stage, we use a Markov‐switching estimation of the model to test the robustness of the results given its suitability to changing environments. This study could have relevant policy implications for the Spanish gasoline and gasoil retail markets due to the ongoing debate on the existence of a rockets and feathers behavior in gasoline and gasoil retail markets between the Spanish regulatory body and the oil companies.     

Universities and global competition for graduate students: scenarios for Latin America

The purpose of this paper is to lay out future scenarios related to the impact of the intensification of competition between universities and research centres of OECD countries on the stocks and flows of university graduates in Latin America. In conditions of intensified competence, it is possible that the ways in which Latin American countries, universities and university professionals participate in the processes of international mobility will change significantly. This paper proposes different scenarios, combining hypotheses about the global dynamics of skilled mobility and migration of graduate students (conditioned by the behaviour of the demand in developed countries), about their main impacts on Latin America, and about the responses that Latin American governments and universities could make to face this process.     

The technological capabilities of nations: The state of the art of synthetic indicators

Composite synthetic indicators of the technological capabilities of nations have been used more frequently over the last years becoming a sort of Olympic medal table of the innovation race. The European Commission, specialised United Nations Agencies, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and individual scholars have developed several of these measurement tools at macroeconomic level. All these indicators are based on a variety of statistical sources in order to capture the multidimensional nature of technological change. This paper reviews these various exercises and: i) it brings into light the explicit and implicit assumptions on the nature of technological change; ii) it discusses their pros and cons; and iii) it explores the consistency among the results achieved. Most of the final rankings at the country level are fairly consistent, but significant discrepancies for some nations emerge. The value of synthetic indicators of technological capabilities for public policy, company strategies and economic studies is finally discussed.     

On some criticisms of critical realism in economics

Methodological comments on critical realism in economics haveproliferated over the past decade—typically focusing onTony Lawson's Economics and Reality and Reorienting Economics,which constitute the core of this project. In the present paperwe select a series of important, mostly very recent argumentsagainst critical realism in economics and assess their meritsand demerits.     

Bank Capital and Risk: Is Voluntary Disclosure Enough?

This paper considers whether banks have an incentive to disclose accurate information concerning their risk and capital adequacy. State-of-the-art capital regulation relies on quantitative capital requirements, bank supervision, and public disclosure of information to the markets. Is voluntary regulatory disclosure of risk information sufficient to achieve policy objectives? The game-theoretic model of this paper suggests that voluntary disclosure can be usefully supplemented with other regulatory tools, in particular with direct supervision and financial market discipline.     

The Home Market Effect in Models with Multinational Enterprises

Trade patterns in new trade theory models and agglomeration patterns in new economic geography models crucially depend on the effect that a higher local demand leads to a larger share of production of these products, namely the home market effect. Multinationals can exploit higher foreign demand without incurring transport costs by setting up a plant abroad. This paper demonstrates that in the presence of multinationals the home market effect appears even in cases where it otherwise would not. But it works via a different channel, relying on the repatriation of profits rather than on interindustry trade.     

Production et rationalisation des intermédiaires financiers: Leçons à tirer de l'expérience des Caisses Populaires Acadiennes

Nous mesurons à l’aide du DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) l’efficacité des caisses populaires acadiennes en utilisant la valeur des produits d’intermédiation ainsi que le nombre de transactions réalisées par chaque caisse entre 1997 et 2000, au moment où un important programme de fusions et de réingénierie financière était mis en place. Cette analyse permet d’établir plusieurs résultats. Tout d’abord, l’inclusion des produits transactionnels réduit environ de moitié l’inefficacité technique et économique par rapport à l’inefficacité obtenue lorsque l’output des caisses est limité seulement aux produits transactionnels. Un algorithme d’auto‐amorçage permet de vérifier que ce résultat est statistiquement significatif. Ensuite, nous montrons que le programme de fusions a touché surtout les caisses moins efficaces et a permis d’augmenter de façon importante leur efficacité grâce à une baisse du nombre d’employés en équivalent temps complet. Finalement, nous montrons que d’importants progrès technologiques ont été réalisés entre 1997 et 2000 en raison de l’accroissement du nombre de transactions informatisées. Des gains additionnels de productivité ont été rendus possible grâce à l’amélioration de l’efficacité des caisses ayant participéà une fusion tandis que les caisses n’ayant pas fusionné, bien que plus efficaces au départ que les autres, n’ont pas réalisé de gains d’efficacité.     

NEOCLASSICAL THEORY AND THE TEACHING OF UNDERGRADUATE MICROECONOMICS

This paper explores possible reasons for the long and enduring dominance of neoclassical theory over the undergraduate microeconomics textbook. It proposes that those very attributes of neoclassical microeconomics that raise serious theoretical misgivings constitute the basis for the current hegemony of the standard undergraduate textbook. It further discusses the effects of the standard text on the education of economists in developing countries and conditions of the entrenchment of this text in undergraduate teaching. Finally, it looks at the possibilities of the emergence of alternative textbooks both in the centre and in the periphery of the global academic map.