1,721,023 research outputs found
The Key Characteristics of Sectoral Knowledge Bases: An International Comparison
No full textThis paper builds upon and extends existing studies of scientific and technological specialisation by proposing an analytical
framework to compare sectoral knowledge bases across countries. It develops the concepts of knowledge persistence and
knowledge integration as the relevant dimensions along which knowledge bases can be compared. Persistence is studied by
analysing the evolution of specialisation over time. It hints at the cumulative, path dependent nature of learning processes.
Integration is studied by analysing the evolution of specialisation across different typologies of research. It hints at the complex,
non-linear interdependencies that link the scientific and technological domains. On the strength of an original database
encompassing 630,000 peer-reviewed papers published between 1989 and 1996 in 11 chemistry and pharmacology-related
fields across three types of research (i.e. basic, applied and development), it is argued that countries with high degrees of
both persistence and integration (e.g. the US in pharmacology) are the most likely sources of useful research results for EU
firms’ innovative efforts in the pharmaceutical sector. Also, some doubts are cast on the existence of a European paradox in
pharmaceuticals
Research assessment in the UK and Italy : Costly and difficult, but probably worth it (at least for a while)
No full textThis paper provides a comparative analysis of the development of the UK and Italian university research funding systems with a special focus on Peer Review-Based Research Assessment (PRBRA) and its cost. Much of the debate surrounding the value of performance-based allocation systems hinges on the disadvantages versus the benefits of their implementation, and there is very little evidence on either their absolute cost or their cost relative to other allocation systems. Our objective is to fill this gap, collating the best possible estimates of the costs of alternative research funding methods to inform the ongoing policy debate. First, we compare funding in the UK and Italy during the period 2005-2012 and analyze the development of performance-based allocation in the two systems. Second, based on public reports and documents collected from universities, we discuss the public agency and university costs of RAE2008 and REF2014 and provide some estimates for VQR2012. We find that RAE2008 costs accounted for less than 1% of the total performance allocation in the related period while the VQR2012 efficiency ratio is estimated at around 2.5%. Finally, we compare the costs and efficiency ratios of PRBRA with metrics-based assessment and Research Council allocations and show that costs increase going from metrics to PRBRA to Research Council allocation
Specialisation and Integration: Combining patents and publications data to map the ‘structure’ of specialised knowledge.
No full textThis chapter analyses and extends existing studies of how to characterise, trace and measure knowledge bases of firms, sectors and countries. The chapter is structured in two main parts. First, we present the concepts of knowledge specialisation and knowledge integration as the relevant dimensions along which knowledge bases can be mapped. The concepts proposed build upon extensive qualitative research that has focused on a variety of processes of knowledge generation and use in a range of industrial sectors and organisations. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate that these, largely qualitative, processes map into key characteristics of the knowledge bases they contributed to generating and shaping; and that these key characteristics can be measured relying on the innovative use of patents, citations and publications data. More specifically, the analysis of the evolution of knowledge specialisation over time provides information about the persistence of knowledge in firms and sectors. It hints at the cumulative, path dependent nature of learning processes. Integration is studied by analysing the evolution of specialisation across different typologies of research. It hints at the complex, non-linear interdependencies that link the scientific and technological domains. The second part of the chapter will be devoted to the presentation of indicators of breadth and depth that capture the key characteristics of the concepts introduced in the first part
The organization, economics, and policy of scientific research: what we do know and what we don't know--an agenda for research
No full textThe knowledge and instruments developed in recent years have paved the way to a substantial contribution from economics to support political and social decision making in matters of scientific progress, such as efficient funding, institutional settings, and allocation. We review the progress made in recent years and predict future directions. Copyright 2011 The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.
Persistence and Integration: the knowledge base of the pharmaceutical industry
No full textThis chapter builds upon and extends existing studies of scientific and technological specialization by proposing a unifying theoretical framework in which to compare sectoral knowledge bases across countries. In conducting this comparison, we elaborate upon the large body of literature that analyses National Systems of Innovation (NSI) (Lundvall 1992; Nelson, 1993)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Future Imperfect. Competence-Building in the Insurance Industry in Response to Predictive Genetic Testing.
No full textThis exploratory study of knowledge investment in the life insurance industry
aims at examining the impact of increasing medical knowledge on the
actuarial practice of life insurance companies. A huge literature exists on
the innovative dynamics of a number of service industries. In the service
industries, knowledge is often taken to be highly embedded in day-to-day
operations or to be received through the purchase of equipment from other
sectors. Indeed, most of the available studies of innovation in the service
industries focus on the introduction of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in banking and insurance. Most of these studies focus
on the impact of ICTs on the way recipient organizations do traditional
things, and how this leads them to introduce new products (see Hecht 2001
and the seminal work of Barras 1990)
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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