Fertility and the puzzle of female employment in the Middle East and North Africa

Female labour force participation rates across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have remained low for over four decades even though, in the same period, women's education rapidly increased and fertility rates substantially decreased. This study provides a better understanding of this surprising phenomenon by testing whether the number of children affects the mother's labour supply (using twins at first birth as an instrumental variable.) Despite a strong first stage, it does not find statistically significant effects in the second stage, even in the combined sample of over 100,000 observations. This non‐result, however, does not rule out that fertility affects women's employment in these countries. But it rejects impacts larger than 0.09. Similar twin‐studies in the United States found effects between 0.12 and 0.31. The paper discusses the implications of this result in understanding the puzzle of female participation in MENA and in designing policies to increase women's employment.     

Embracing invention similarity for the measurement of vertically overlapping claims

ABSTRACT

Clear and well-defined patent rights can incentivize innovation by granting monopoly rights to the inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. However, with cumulative innovation, when a product draws from intellectual property held across multiple firms (including fragmented intellectual property or patent thickets), contracting failures may lead to suboptimal economic outcomes. However, an alternative theory, developed by a variety of scholars, contends that patent thickets have a more ambiguous effect. Researchers have developed several measures to gauge the extent and impact of cumulative innovation and the various channels of patent thickets. This paper contends that mis-measurement may contribute to the incoherence and overall lack of consensus within the patent thickets literature. Specifically, the literature is missing a precise measure of vertically overlapping claims. We propose a new measure of vertically overlapping claims that incorporates invention similarity to more precisely identify inventive overlap. The measure defined in this paper will enable more accurate measurement, and allow for novel economic research on cumulative innovation, fragmentation in intellectual property, and patent thickets within and across all patent jurisdictions.     

基于知识产权的组织间关系网络的演化特征

分析了基于知识产权的组织间关系网络的基本内涵和构成要素,将基于知识产权的组织间关系网络的生命周期划分为5个阶段——创立阶段、成长阶段、成熟阶段、衰退阶段和解散阶段,具体论述了各阶段的组织间关系网络的演化特征。以对450家企业的深度访谈和问卷调查为基础,通过描述性统计分析、因子分析以及多元方差分析来实证研究目标一致性、信息沟通以及信任等关系属性在各阶段的传递规律。研究结果表明,基于知识产权的组织间关系属性的顶峰阶段并非都出现在关系生命周期的成熟阶段。     

我国农村劳动力＂反梯度＂流动的经济学分析——以新疆采棉工为例

农村劳动力“反梯度”流动是我国经济和社会转型期间出现的一种特殊现象。从流向看，它有悖于劳动力由乡一城、由落后地区一发达地区流动的规律。文章采用经济学分析方法，以新疆采棉工为研究对象，从理论和现实两个层面研究分析采棉工理性的流动决策行为以及基本特征和相关影响因素。     

How to estimate market concentration given grouped data

A novel method is proposed of estimating market concentration for the census case in which firms are grouped into size classes and all that is known about the firms in each category is their number and aggregate size. The formula arises as a way of applying an alternative expression for the concentration ratio based upon the original and first moment size distributions of firms. The semi-parametric technique, which includes a method of interval as well as point estimation, is derived, applied and validated using actual and simulated data. It is anticipated that the estimator will be of use in competition analysis as well as in academic research.     

运动休闲——运动导向转变的力量

运动休闲在个人、社区以及国家(社会)的生活中正逐渐被看作一种强有力的导向性因素,它可以提高社区文化的生活品味,改善人们的生活状况,还可以影响国家政策制定者的行动指向以及国家整体生活状况的幸福指数。     

为企之道 重在执行

文章围绕如何提高执行力，如何建立良好的执行力保障体系，如何把企业战略、规划转化成为成果、效益等问题，根据人力资源管理的相关理论和日常的工作实践，对执行力深意进行解析和探讨。     

数学教学的生活化与非智力因素开发

数学,源于生活,寓于生活,用于生活,高于生活。数学教学的生活化,不仅是数学教学的大势所趋,也是数学教学改革的应有之义。数学教学的生活化,不仅有利于非智力因素的开发,也有利于发挥非智力因素的作用。     

创新、知识产权与新经济

创新与知识产权对新经济发展有重要作用,以新制度经济学的产权理论分析知识产权的排他性权利实质及特征,论述了知识产权在我国的现状,以契约理论回答了如何实现知识产权产业化的问题。     

创新创业载体视角下的知识产权服务体系研究

知识产权是创新创业成功的重要保障,是保护创新创业成果的有效支撑。通过问卷调查和案例调研方法,以2016年北京248家创新创业载体为研究对象,分析了这些载体的知识产权服务体系。结论是:创新创业载体的知识产权服务体系尚在建设完善中,从产业、区域、政策及资质等层面看,知识产权服务方面存在一定差异性;区域创新创业载体的知识产权服务缺乏规范,尚未形成一套适于每个创新创业载体的知识产权服务指南;区域创新创业载体的知识产权服务绩效还需要系统的评价指标,有待进一步研究。