27,940 research outputs found
Patents versus ex-post rewards: a new look.
Economic studies that aim at comparing the patent system social efficiency versus an ex-post reward system rest on a traditional view of patents. They make the hypothesis that firms use the patent system only in order to be granted a short-term monopoly rent and therefore that patents lead to strong and steady monopolies. This assumption is convenient because it allows straightforward comparisons between patent and reward systems. But empirical studies do not confirm this vision of patents. Most firms do not consider patents as efficient devices to exploit commercial monopoly positions. Patents are rather perceived as strategic devices to signal firms’ competences and to strengthen firms’ bargaining power during negotiations prior to knowledge exchange and to R&D cooperation. These changes lead to rethink the framework of the patent-reward debate.Patent, ex-post reward, R&D cooperation, cross-licensing, knowledge exchange.
Patents versus ex-post rewards : a new look
Studies that aim at comparing the patent system social efficiency versus an ex-post reward system rest on a traditional view of patents. They make the hypothesis that firms use the patent system only in order to be granted a short-term monopoly rent and therefore that patents lead to strong and steady monopolies. This assumption is convenient because it allows straightforward comparisons between patent and reward systems. But empirical studies do not confirm this vision of patents. Most firms do not consider patents as efficient devices to exploit commercial monopoly positions. Patents are rather perceived as strategic devices to signal firms' competences and to strengthen firms' bargaining power during negotiations prior to knowledge exchange and to R&D cooperation. These changes lead to rethink the framework of the patent-reward debate.Patent, ex-post reward, R&D cooperation, cross-licensing, knowledge exchange
THE REAL OPTIONS PUZZLE FOR MICHIGAN TART CHERRY PRODUCERS
Capital budgeting decisions faced by tart cherry producers often challenge our traditional valuation techniques. Real Options Valuation (ROV) methods may be useful but assumptions of existing ROV approaches are restrictive and, in some cases, unrealistic. In this paper we assert that use of existing option pricing methods can not be justified. Instead, dynamic programming approach is more appropriate. We develop a multi-period model and use it to obtain an optimal orchard replacement policy. The model is applied to an example farm from Northwestern Michigan and the results provide the following messages. First, flexibility options can be estimated for individual tart cherry producers using the DP approach albeit, indirectly. Second, a farmer who uses the DP approach to develop contingency optimal replacement rules will be better off than one who uses an ad hoc standard replacement rule. Third, if the SW climate scenario shifts to NW Michigan, tart cherry orchard values may fall substantially with implications on the future of tart cherry production in that region, unless compensating price increases follow.Farm Management,
Cache policies for cloud-based systems: To keep or not to keep
In this paper, we study cache policies for cloud-based caching. Cloud-based
caching uses cloud storage services such as Amazon S3 as a cache for data items
that would have been recomputed otherwise. Cloud-based caching departs from
classical caching: cloud resources are potentially infinite and only paid when
used, while classical caching relies on a fixed storage capacity and its main
monetary cost comes from the initial investment. To deal with this new context,
we design and evaluate a new caching policy that minimizes the overall cost of
a cloud-based system. The policy takes into account the frequency of
consumption of an item and the cloud cost model. We show that this policy is
easier to operate, that it scales with the demand and that it outperforms
classical policies managing a fixed capacity.Comment: Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing 2014
(CLOUD 14
Properties of Design-Based Functional Principal Components Analysis
This work aims at performing Functional Principal Components Analysis (FPCA)
with Horvitz-Thompson estimators when the observations are curves collected
with survey sampling techniques. One important motivation for this study is
that FPCA is a dimension reduction tool which is the first step to develop
model assisted approaches that can take auxiliary information into account.
FPCA relies on the estimation of the eigenelements of the covariance operator
which can be seen as nonlinear functionals. Adapting to our functional context
the linearization technique based on the influence function developed by
Deville (1999), we prove that these estimators are asymptotically design
unbiased and consistent. Under mild assumptions, asymptotic variances are
derived for the FPCA' estimators and consistent estimators of them are
proposed. Our approach is illustrated with a simulation study and we check the
good properties of the proposed estimators of the eigenelements as well as
their variance estimators obtained with the linearization approach.Comment: Revised version for J. of Statistical Planning and Inference (January
2009
Vintage capital growth theory: Three breakthroughs
Vintage capital growth models have been at the heart of growth theory in the 60s. This research line collapsed in the late 60s with the so-called embodiment controversy and the technical sophisitication of the vintage models. This paper analyzes the astonishing revival of this literature in the 90s. In particular, it outlines three methodological breakthroughs explaining this resurgence: a growth accounting revolution, taking advantage of the availability of new time series, an optimal control revolution allowing to safely study vintage capital optimal growth models, and a vintage human capital revolution, along with the rise of economic demography, accounting for the vintage structure of human capital similarly to physical capital age structuring. The related literature is surveyed.Vintage capital, embodied technical progress, growth accounting, optimal control, endogenous growth, vintage human capital, demography.
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