How do Brazilian firms approach technology transfer and patent licensing? How can new storage technologies improve food security, especially in the context of climate change? And how can Europe turn around its asylum policy, in terms of fair identification, distribution and access to jobs? These are just a few of the questions tackled by our researchers in November 2016 — in 12 journal articles, five working papers, one discussion paper and five PhD defences, among many others. Click here for the full list.
Working papers
‘Tilting at windmills or whipping up a storm? Elites and ethno-nationalist conflict during democratisation‘ examines two prominent and opposing views on the role of leadership in ethnic conflict, namely the theories of elite manipulation and ethnic security dilemma. This paper tests these two theories in the framework of ethnically heterogeneous societies undergoing a process of democratisation and proposes a hybrid alternative that applies particularly to democratisation cases. By Dr. Lutz Krebs.
‘Post-Enlargement Migration and the Great Recession in the E(M)U: Lessons and policy implications‘ summarises key results from a research about post-enlargement mobility in the EU. The paper outlines a policy agenda for a labour mobility model for a vibrant EU, enabling Europe to cope with labour market imbalances and asymmetric economic shocks, and providing for a more prosperous, cohesive and equal EU. By Dr. Martin Kahanec and Prof. Klaus F. Zimmermann.
‘Contracting for technology transfer: patent licensing and know-how in Brazil‘ studies the relationship between the inclusion of know-how in cross-border patent licensing agreements and the contractual terms used by firms to deal with moral hazard risks. The paper finds that contracts between unaffiliated parties involving know-how transfer show distinctive contractual and technology features compared to the rest: (i) they involve younger but lower quality technologies (compared to contracts without know-how); (ii) they are more prone to up front lump sum payments than royalty or combined payments (royalty and fixed); and (iii) they are more likely to be accompanied by the licensing of other IPRs, in addition to patents, such as trademarks. By Dr. Pluvia Zuniga et al.
‘Towards a new European refugee policy that works‘ argues that identifying true asylum seekers effectively and distributing them fairly across Europe requests loyalty to the once accepted humanitarian standards and solidarity with the principles of Europe. The authors call for a turnaround of the European asylum policy: Commonly organised registration, selection and distribution systems have to be followed by an early access of asylum seekers to the European labour markets. By Profs. Amelie Constant and Klaus F. Zimmermann.
‘The effect of improved storage innovations on food security and welfare in Ethiopia‘ analyses the effect of improved storage, a climate-smart crop management technology, on household food and nutrition security, market participation and welfare. Overall, the study suggests that improved storage technologies are effective tools for risk coping and enhancing food security and would play a key role in the current debate of feeding a growing population in the face of climate change. By PhD fellow Wondimagegn Tesfaye and Dr. Nyasha Tirivayi.
Journal articles
‘The impact of innovation support programs on small and medium enterprises innovation in traditional manufacturing industries: An evaluation for seven European Union regions‘. This article was motivated by a definition of traditional manufacturing industry that includes capacity for innovation, and by evidence of its continued importance in European Union employment. The authors conducted a survey in seven European Union regions, from which they found that the estimated effects of innovation support programs are positive, typically increasing the probability of innovation and of its commercial success by around 15%. Yet, they also found that a greater return on public investment could have been secured by supporting firms chosen at random from the population of innovating traditional sector small and medium enterprises. These findings indicate the effectiveness of innovation support programs while suggesting reform of their selection procedures. By Hugo Hollanders, Dr. Rene Wintjes et al.
‘China’s family planning policies and their labour market consequences‘ systematically examines the labour market consequences of China’s family planning policies. The article shows that although urban areas and coastal provinces have implemented stricter family planning policies, the ageing problem is more severe in rural areas and in inland provinces because of internal migration. Simulation results further indicate that the new two-child policy might fall short of pulling China out of its ageing situation. By Prof. Zhong Zhao et al.
‘Ethnic diversity and well-being‘ investigates how ethnic diversity, measured by immigrants’ nationalities, influences the well-being of the host country. Using panel data from Germany from 1998 to 2012, the article finds a positive effect of ethnic diversity on the well-being of German natives. The positive effect of ethnic diversity is stronger for immigrant groups that are culturally and economically closer to Germany. By Dr. Alpaslan Akay, Prof. Amelie Constant, Dr. Corrado Giulietti et al.
‘Strong ties, weak ties: Exploring the role of networks in domestic worker migration from Ethiopia to the Middle East‘ explores how migrating via a strong or weak tie results in different outcomes for Ethiopian domestic workers in their migration to the Middle East. Migrating via a strong tie was expected to result in better migration outcomes. The study‘s results, however, suggested that migrating via a strong tie can provide support in some cases, but is not enough to guarantee protection to Ethiopian migrant workers in the Middle East. By Dr. Katherine Kuschminder.
‘The CDM framework: knowledge recombination from an evolutionary viewpoint‘ is an exploration of the spread and recombination of ‘knowledge’ in the ‘CDM universe’, comprising all papers in Scopus indexed journals citing CDM or/and CDM cited papers. The article finds that CDM is cited by a growing number of papers, which spread over a variety of fields, and that it compares very well with the most cited comparable articles in indexed journals in its domain of research. The authors further find that the CDM universe is mainly constituted of three large clusters and for each of them they are able to identify knowledge paths going from the CDM and earlier cited papers to the subsequent main citing papers. By PhD fellow Ad Notten, Prof. Jacques Mairesse and Prof. Bart Verspagen.
‘Idiosyncratic and Aggregate Risks, Inequality and Growth‘ disaggregates productivity shocks at a firm level into idiosyncratic and aggregate risks, and studies their impacts on inequality, growth and welfare. This article develops a growth model with human capital and incomplete insurance and credit markets that provides a closed-form solution for income inequality dynamics. The author finds that uninsured idiosyncratic risks are the most important determinants of inequality, growth and welfare. They are the source of nondegenerate wealth distribution. By Dr. Yoseph Yilma Getachew.
‘Credit constraints, growth and inequality dynamics‘ examines how credit constraints affect the dynamics of wealth and thereby the dynamics of capital and output growth. This article develops standard Ak growth models that display transitional dynamics, contrary to general belief, once the complete credit markets assumption is relaxed. The mechanism is that credit constraints make individual productivity differences persist, which in turn leads to the persistence of income inequality. The application of the model to the analysis of intergenerational mobility and inequality dynamics suggests substantial economic and policy significance. In particular, introducing credit constraints to the Barro Ak model, public investment could have an indirect impact on growth via its effect on inequality and mobility. By Dr. Yoseph Yilma Getachew.
‘The middle income trap: a way out based on technological and structural change‘ aims to provide an updated discussion on a series of issues that the relevant literature suggests to be crucial in dealing with the challenges a middle income country may encounter in its attempts to further catch up to a higher income status. This article attempts to map the concrete ways through which a middle income country can engage in a technological catching-up, having in mind that developing countries are deeply involved in globalised markets where domestic innovation has to be complemented by the role played by international technological transfer. By Prof. Marco Vivarelli.
‘Globalisation, technological change and labour demand: a firm-level analysis for Turkey‘ studies the interlinked relationship between globalisation and technological upgrading in affecting employment and wages of skilled and unskilled workers in a middle income developing country. The article confirms the theoretical expectation that developing countries face the phenomena of skill-biased technological change and skill-enhancing trade, both leading to increasing the employment and wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers. By Prof. Marco Vivarelli et al.
‘To be born is not enough: the key role of innovative start-ups‘ investigates the evidence showing that innovative start-ups survive longer than their non-innovative counterparts. The results show that greater survival is achieved when start-ups engage successfully in both product innovation and process innovation, with a key role of the latter. This article goes beyond a purely microeconomic perspective and discusses the key role of the environment within which innovative entries occur. By Prof. Marco Vivarelli et al.
‘How can political trust be built after civil wars? Evidence from post-conflict Sierra Leone‘ looks at the role played by improved provision of public services in a trust-building process and shows that service enhancement only works if it reflects the needs of people. Projects that do not properly mirror the needs of people have no direct effect on building political trust. Using micro-level data from Sierra Leone, the article finds that people are more likely to trust governments that are willing to listen and respond to their needs and demands. By PhD fellow Pui-hang Wong.
Discussion papers
‘Personality and Mental Health: The Role and Substitution Effect of Emotional Stability and Conscientiousness‘ analyses the relationship between low emotional stability and mental ill-health as well as the possible substitution effect of conscientiousness both theoretically and empirically. Using the British Cohort Study, the study finds that low emotional stability at ages 10 and 16 significantly predicts mental ill-health at ages 16, 26, 30, 34 and 42 and that more conscientiousness significantly mitigates the negative relation between low emotional stability and mental health. The results suggest that particularly both low emotionally stable and low conscientious individuals are more likely to experience mental ill-health related to a reduced problem-solving ability. By PhD fellow Caroline Wehner et al.
PhD defences
‘Migration in the Periphery of the European Union: Determinants of Successful and Sustainable Labour Market Integration of Return Migrants in Albania, Egypt, Moldova and Tunisia‘ sheds light on the process of labour market integration, or in other words of the process of return migrants finding employment, in order to provide a better understanding of the factors that influence it. It attempts to understand what factors play a role in the reintegration of returnees with various skill levels. Further, the study analyses how the nature of return − voluntary or forced − affects labour market reintegration. By Dr. Natalia Popova.
‘Organising concurrent engineering through ICT platforms – Blueprinting Product Lifecycle Management platforms across disciplinary agencies‘ studies role of ICT in organising information sharing and creation across disciplinary boundaries within complex concurrent engineering processes. The investigation is structured around the blueprinting process of a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, which is a collective exercise taking place when an industrial company engages in the acquisition of standard software to address distributed engineering challenges. The contribution highlights how ICT mediations coalesce and perform novel “techniques of staging the world” that actively organise heterogeneous agencies to account for the emerging industrial product. By Dr. Luiz Henrique Bautzer Rothier.
‘The Tacit Bargain in Short-Term Medical Missions: Why US Physicians Go and What It Costs‘ uses combined methodologies of systematic literature review, an online survey of physicians, and interviews with physicians to explore the motivating factors for physicians who participate in STMMs from the US and to estimate the economic and manpower inputs. The results provide insight into a partial profile of participating physicians, and indicate that motivation is driven by the sense of satisfaction from helping, using their medical and surgical skills, influenced by a blend of attributes, attitudes, and feedback. By Dr. Paul Henry Caldron.
‘Uncertainty and Resource Constraints in the Small Island Developing States‘ studies the entrepreneurial decision-making that takes place under uncertainty and resource constraints in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The results show that entrepreneurs in the SIDS context are flexible and apply the effectual, causal and bricolage logics in combination. Furthermore, the gap between the entrepreneur’s technical knowledge and the technical knowledge required to developing the product influences how the entrepreneur leverages his or her social network in the process to becoming ‘born-global’ firms. By Dr. Richard Martina.
‘The Expansion of Basic Social Protection in Low-income Countries‘ investigates the extent to which, and the mechanisms through which, foreign aid actors have influenced the emergence of permanent, scaled-up and nationally owned social transfer schemes in sub-Saharan Africa. Empirical evidence drawn from a dozen case studies establishes foreign aid actors as important players, and shows that aid can have a catalytic effect on the mobilisation of domestic resources for social transfers. A people-centred analysis reveals original understandings into social transfer policy-making processes. In particular, it uncovers the importance of personal leadership and trust as critical, yet often underestimated, factors favourable to the uptake of social transfer policies. By Dr. Cecile Cherrier.
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