The impact of advanced vocational education and training on earnings in Sweden

Researchers have established a relationship between greater education and training and higher earnings but it is difficult to infer that the former causes the latter if those with higher earnings tend to engage in more education and training. The present study attempts to control for ability and family background to see if stronger inferences can be made about education and training as the independent variable. The study focuses upon advanced vocational education and training (AVET) in Sweden. This is post‐secondary school education for individuals who are 20 years of age or older. The aim of this article is to estimate the effects of AVET on earnings by controlling for selection bias. We used various approaches such as instrumental variables, Hausman–Taylor estimates, fixed effects estimates and propensity score matching to achieve this aim. A panel, or longitudinal, data set for eight different labor markets in Sweden for the period 1996–2008 was used. The results indicate that earnings from AVET are higher than the return on investment in comprehensive education. The average effect on income is estimated to be in the range of 3–8 percent.     

Costs of in-house genomic profiling and implications for economic evaluation: a case example of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Abstract

Objectives

Genomic profiling in oncology is vital for determining eligible patients for mutation-specific targeted therapies. Use of commercial genomic testing has the potential to improve patient outcomes. Economic evaluations of in-house genomic profiling typically only include material costs while external commercial services include many other factors. Using non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an example, this study sought to characterize the unique challenges of costing testing services and their impact on results of economic evaluations.     

A new approach to estimation of the R&D–innovation–productivity relationship

ABSTRACT

We apply a generalized structural equation model approach to the estimation of the relationship between R&D, innovation and productivity that focuses on the potentially crucial heterogeneity across sectors. The model accounts for selectivity and handles the endogeneity of this relationship in a recursive framework which allows for feedback effects from productivity to future R&D investment. Our approach enables the estimation of the different equations as one system, allowing the coefficients to differ across sectors, and also permits us to take cross-equation correlation of the errors into account. Employing a panel of Swedish manufacturing and service firms observed in three consecutive Community Innovation Surveys in the period 2008–2012, our full-information maximum likelihood estimates show that many key channels of influence among the model's components vary meaningfully in their statistical significance and magnitude across six different sectors based on the OECD classification on technological and knowledge intensity. These results cast doubt on earlier research which does not allow for sectoral heterogeneity.     

Designing Green Entrepreneurship Model in Sustainable Development Consistent with the Performance of Tehran Industrial Towns

The purpose of this paper design a green entrepreneurship model in sustainable development path consistent with the performance of industrial towns in Tehran (center of IRAN). The population was the active small/medium enterprises (SMEs) with full capacity in industrial towns of Tehran, which were about 3000 active units, accounting for 20% of the companies in Tehran industrial towns. Sample size was obtained as 514, which was used in calculations. The results showed that green entrepreneurship mediates the effect of green innovation, organizational culture, competitive advantage, and social-environmental responsibility of company on the financial performance of company. There was no mediating role concerning the effect of state laws and regulations on company’s financial performance. Additionally, market turbulence moderates effect of green entrepreneurship on organization financial performance, but financial shocks do not modulate the effect of green entrepreneurship on organization finance.     

Survival,productivity and growth of new ventures across locations

We assess the impact of the location of genuinely new ventures and spinoffs on these firms’ survival, productivity and growth. The study distinguishes between four different categories of locations: metro cities, metro regions, urban areas, and rural areas. Using a unique database covering more than 23,000 new entrants between 2000 and 2004 in Sweden and observing them for 5 years, several conclusions may be drawn from our study. First, there is a substantial difference in ex-post entry performance between the manufacturing and service sectors. Second, the proposed superiority of start-ups by ex-employees depends on the performance measures and the sector. Third, knowledge and technology intensity of the industry matter for the viability of the new firms.