Absorptive Capacity, Coauthoring Behavior, and the Organization of Research in Drug Discovery

We examine the interface between for-profit and publicly funded research in pharmaceuticals. Firms access upstream basic research through investments in absorptive capacity in the form of in-house basic research and 'pro-publication' internal incentives. Some firms also maintain extensive connections to the wider scientific community, which we measure using data on coauthorship of scientific papers between pharmaceutical company scientists and publicly funded researchers. 'Connectedness' is significantly correlated with firms' internal organization, as well as their performance in drug discovery. The estimated impact of 'connectedness' on private research productivity implies a substantial return to public investments in basic research.     

Mutual development : Towards new criteria and indicators

The processes of globalization driving restructuring in all countries are harbingers of a new dialogue about paths to development. This development will not be based on the old model of macroeconomic management, but on a broader, systemic view beyond economics—Mutual Development. This article examines a range of social indicators, quality-of-life indicators, and new forms of regional and national accounting, and their applicability in the planning and implementation of Mutual Development based on precepts of grassroots action, cultural diversity, and global sustainability.     

Technological Change and Transition: Relative Contributions to Worldwide Growth During the 1990s*

In this paper we use the Kumar and Russell [American Economic Review (2002) Vol. 92, pp. 527–548] growth‐accounting procedure to examine cross‐country growth during the 1990s. Using a data set comprising developed, newly industrialized, developing and transitional economies, we decompose the growth of output per worker into components attributable to technological catch‐up, technological change and capital accumulation. In contrast to the study by Kumar and Russell, which concludes that capital deepening is the major force of growth and change in the world income per worker distribution over the 1965–90 period, our analysis shows that, during the 1990s, the major force in the further divergence of the rich and the poor is due to technological change, whereas capital accumulation plays a lesser and opposite role. Finally, although on average we find that transitional economies perform similar to the rest of the world, the procedure is able to discover some interesting patterns within the set of transitional countries.     

MISGUIDED CORPORATE VIRTUE: THE CASE AGAINST CSR,AND THE TRUE ROLE OF BUSINESS TODAY1

The doctrine of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has now been accepted across the world – not only by businesses and business organisations, together with an array of commentators and NGOs, but also by many governments. This is a worrying development. The doctrine rests on mistaken presumptions about recent economic developments and their implications for the role and conduct of enterprises, while putting it into effect would make the world poorer and more over‐regulated.     

CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES: A DISSENTING VOICE

(The text which follows formed the basis for a brief presentation to a conference held on 22 April 2009 at the Said Business School, Oxford University. The subject of the conference was 'Beyond Kyoto – Green Innovation and Enterprise in the 21st Century'.)
Governments across the world are mishandling climate change issues. The content, the orientation, and in particular the basis and rationale of current policies to curb emissions of (so-called) 'greenhouse gases', are all open to serious question.     

Quasi‐Nationalisation in the UK Banking Crisis: A Problematic Policy Option

The systemic banking crisis in 2008 led to the quasi‐nationalisation of two UK listed banks: The Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group (National Audit Office, 2010). Using property rights and agency theory as the theoretical frameworks, this paper analyses whether the quasi‐nationalisation of these banks has been successful. It is argued that as a rescue mechanism, quasi‐nationalisation was a positive development. However, questions arise over its effect as an instrument of banking reform. The State's arm's length approach to management represents a lost opportunity to change the culture of profitability over people that contributed to the banking crisis.     

Super Bowl advertising: field testing the importance of advertisement frequency,length and placement on recall

This study investigates the effects of length, frequency and pod placement on advertising recall in a non-laboratory setting. Subjects were surveyed the day after Super Bowl XXVIII to determine recall of advertisements shown during the game. The results indicate that length and frequency positively and significantly influence advertisement recall.