1,721,181 research outputs found
Industry Dynamics and the Distribution of Firm Sizes
No full textThe aim of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the size distribution of young firms within some selected industries, using as a background three theories of the distribution of firm sizes, which respectively identify a process of passive learning (Jovanovic 1982), one of active learning (Ericson and Pakes, 1995), and an evolutionary one (Audretsch, 1995) in the post-entry dynamics of business firms. We use a non-parametric technique, the kernel density estimator, applied to a data set from the Italian National Institute for Social Security (INPS), consisting in 12 cohorts of new manufacturing firms which were followed on a quarterly base for 6 years. We find that firm size distribution is in general skewed to the right, although different industries display different paths and speeds of convergence towards the limit distribution. This finding is fairly consistent with theories allowing for industry heterogeneity in terms of structural and technological features which, in turn, result in industry-specific evolution of the size distribution of new entrant
Bottom-up integrated approach for sustainable groundwater management in rural areas
Full text linkGroundwater resources represent the largest
volume of all unfrozen fresh water on Earth.
However the knowledge and understanding of
this precious resource is very little, if compared
to surface water, especially when considering
the general public and policy makers.
Nonetheless groundwater abstraction for human
needs significantly increased in the past sixty
years (Foster and Chilton 2003), playing a major
role in agricultural production and the support to
rural livelihoods (especially in developing
regions; Giordano and Villholth 2007).
For this reason it is of paramount importance to
promote groundwater protection and to raise
awareness on both its relevance and
vulnerability to anthropic pressure. This, on the
one hand, implies the implementation of science-
based management practices, clearly resulting
from sound hydrogeological and
hydrogeochemical investigations, but also to
start considering the social impacts of scarce
and/or polluted water.
Indeed, groundwater resources if carefully
managed can significantly contribute in meeting
the increasing water demand, sustaining
agricultural needs and adapting to global climate
change (WWAP 2012).
Based on these assumptions, a bottom-up
integrated approach for sustainable groundwater
management in rural areas is proposed as a
replicable example of a methodology for tackling
groundwater issue
Innovative Output, Productivity adn Profitability. A Test Comparing USPTO and EPO Data
No full textThe aim of this paper is to test whether patent-based indicators are still reliable measures of
innovativeness in light of organizational changes in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection
and the regulatory reforms already occurred and under way, respectively, at the US Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). For most high-tech industries, patents represent an
outcome of the production process and their number can be taken as a proxy for a firm’s ability to improve its
productivity growth and profitability. The case study reported here concerns the biotechnology industry in Italy,
whose firms, by definition, have Intellectual Property (IP) activities in their portfolios. For this purpose, we use
a unique dataset which collects balance sheet items and patent information from EPO and USPTO. After
linking firms’ financial and production data with the patent information, we estimate a modified knowledge
production function in which the dependent variable is alternatively (labor) productivity growth and profitability.
Although based on a quite small sample, our findings provide some indication of a statistically significant
relation
The Survival of Family Firms: The Importance of Control and Family Ties
No full textAbstract The aim of this article is to analyze the survival patterns of a group of family firms which have already spent at least 25 years in the market. To this end, we use the Kaplan–Meier product limit estimator supplemented with qualitative information gathered by direct observation and discussions with entrepreneurs. The main findings are that small family firms which have reached their 30th year in the market face a very high risk of sudden exit, increasing with firm age. Further control carried out by means of interviews with entrepreneurs identifies problems connected with succession as one of the main causes of the decision to close down.Succession, Survival Function, Kaplan–Meier Estimator, Hazard Function, Italy, JEL Classifications: L20, C34, C41, M13,
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
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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
