Advancing Economic Research on the Free and Open Source Software Mode of Production

Early contributions to the academic literature on free/libre and open source software (F/LOSS) movements have been directed primarily at identifying the motivations that account for the sustained and often intensive involvement of many people in this non-contractual and unremunerated productive activity. This issue has been particularly prominent in economists’ contributions to the literature, and it reflects a view that widespread voluntary participation in the creation of economically valuable goods that is to be distributed without charge constitutes a significant behavioral anomaly. Undoubtedly, the motivations of F/LOSS developers deserve to be studied more intensively, but not because their behaviors are unique, or historically unprecedented. In this essay we argue that other aspects of the “open source” phenomenon are just as intriguing, if not more so, and possibly are also more consequential topics for economic analysis. We describe the re-focusing and re-direction of empirical and theoretical research in an integrated international project (based at Stanford University/SIEPR) that aims at better understanding a set of less widely discussed topics: the modes of organization, governance and performance of F/LOSS development -- viewed as a collective distributed mode of production.. We discuss of the significance of tackling those questions in order to assess the potentialities of the “open source way of working” as a paradigm for a broader class of knowledge and information- goods production, and conclude with proposals for the trajectory of future research along that line.

Coordinated defender strategies for border patrols

International audienceAn effective patrol of a large area can require the coordinated action of diverse security resources. In this work we formulate a Stackelberg Security game that coordinates such resources in a border patrol problem. In this security domain, resources from different precincts have to be paired to conduct patrols in the border due to logistic constraints. Given this structure the set of pure defender strategies is of exponential size. We describe the set of mixed strategies using a polynomial number of variables but exponentially many constraints that come from the matching polytope. We then include this description in a mixed integer formulation to compute the Strong Stackelberg Equilibrium efficiently with a branch and cut scheme. Since the optimal patrol solution is a probability distribution over the set of exponential size, we also introduce an efficient sampling method that can be used to deploy the security resources every shift. Our computational results evaluate the efficiency of the branch and cut scheme developed and the accuracy of the sampling method. We show the applicability of the methodology by solving a real world border patrol problem

Open Access Publishing: A Literature Review

Within the context of the Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy (CREATe) research scope, this literature review investigates the current trends, advantages, disadvantages, problems and solutions, opportunities and barriers in Open Access Publishing (OAP), and in particular Open Access (OA) academic publishing. This study is intended to scope and evaluate current theory and practice concerning models for OAP and engage with intellectual, legal and economic perspectives on OAP. It is also aimed at mapping the field of academic publishing in the UK and abroad, drawing specifically upon the experiences of CREATe industry partners as well as other initiatives such as SSRN, open source software, and Creative Commons. As a final critical goal, this scoping study will identify any meaningful gaps in the relevant literature with a view to developing further research questions. The results of this scoping exercise will then be presented to relevant industry and academic partners at a workshop intended to assist in further developing the critical research questions pertinent to OAP

A policy to boost R&D: Does the R&D tax credit work?

In this article we address various issues raised by the evaluation of the R&D tax credit policy. We first consider the studies that estimate the direct effects of the tax credit on R&D inputs. We discuss results obtained through different approaches and methods and show that they give a contrasted picture of the policy’s effectiveness. Next we argue that a comprehensive evaluation of the R&D tax credit should include other outcomes and present studies focussing on them. We also initiate a very tentative meta-analysis to obtain a more synthetic view on the various evaluation results. We finally conclude that harmonization and increased comparability in evaluation studies would be useful to bridge the gab between evaluation and policy design and implementation.R&D; R&D tax credit; R&D capital; capital use cost; evaluation; meta-analysis

R&D capital and economic growth: The empirical evidence

This paper reviews the empirical literature on rates of return on R&D and interprets the economic significance of these estimates using a semi-endogenous growth model with a calibrated knowledge production sector. We analyse how R&D subsidies, a reduction of entry barriers for start-ups and increasing high-skilled labour would contribute towards raising productivity and knowledge investment in the EU. The simulation results show that substantial efforts will have to be made if Europe wants to come close to achieving the Lisbon productivity and knowledge-investment targets. Achieving US standards in all three areas would reduce the productivity gap by about 50 percent. Improving the quality of tertiary education and increasing competition in non-manufacturing sectors would also help the EU to get to the productivity frontier.Productivity differences; endogenous growth; R&D; DSGE models

The R&D-patent relationship: An industry perspective

This paper re-visits the empirical failure to establish a clear link between R&D efforts and patent counts at the industry level. It is claimed that the “propensity-to-patent” concept should be split into an “appropriability propensity” and a “strategic propensity”. The empirical contribution is based on a unique panel dataset composed of 18 industries in 19 countries over 19 years. The results confirm that the R&D-patent relationship is affected by research productivity, appropriability propensity and strategic propensity factors. The observed increase in the propensity to file for patents is much stronger for supranational (that is, triadic or regional) patents than for priority filings, suggesting that the current patent hype is essentially the result of a globalization phenomenon.Propensity to patent; strategic propensity; appropriability; research productivity

Measuring intangible capital and its contribution to economic growth in Europe

This study describes the state of the art in the measurement of intangible capital and its contribution to economic growth, with a focus on an international comparison of intangible capital deepening among eleven advanced economies. By employing a broad measure of intangibles, including computerized information, innovative property and economic competencies, we find a relatively large impact on growth. Intangible capital explains about a quarter of labour-productivity in the US and larger countries of the EU. The continental West-European countries show a distinction between countries with significant contributions from intangible capital deepening and a group of laggards. Catching-up countries such as the Czech Republic, Greece and Slovakia show much larger contributions from tangible capital deepening than from intangibles, and also larger multi-factor productivity (MFP) growth rates related to the restructuring of those countries.Economic growth; productivity; capital; innovation

Business R&D expenditure and capital in Europe

This study presents new estimates of business R&D capital stocks for 22 countries at the aggregate and industry levels. At 9 percent of GDP, the EU business R&D capital stock falls short of its US and Japanese counterparts. Within the EU, R&D capital stocks are much lower in the southern and the new member states, reflecting large and persistent disparities in R&D expenditure. There was hardly any convergence over the past decade. The R&D capital stock is concentrated on three technologyintensive manufacturing industries and is positively correlated with growth in total factor productivity across countries and industries. Finally, the ratios between the stocks of R&D capital and tangible capital suggest marked differences in how R&D and tangible capital are combined in production.R&D capital stock; R&D expenditure; tangible capital stock; R&D intensity; high-tech manufacturing

Computational study on the effect of the microstructure on macroscopic properties for carbon fiber felts

[EN] Carbon/phenolic ablators are successfully used as thermal protection materials for spacecraft. Nevertheless, the characterization of their properties experimentally in a microscopic scale is expensive and time-consuming. Accurate and robust numerical models are required to optimize design margin policy. The feasibility of using numerical models to extract effective material properties of carbon/ablators is assessed. In this thesis, a synthetic model based on Calcarb CBCF 18-2000 is developed using the Porous Microsctucture Analysis (PuMA) software. This model is first validated with available experimental data and then is applied to represent the response of carbon fibers exposed to high temperatures.The synthetic model faithfully represents the simulation of experimental analyses given a limited number of parameters. Even though further verification of the model must be done by comparing with the analysis of microtomographies from real materials, these results open the possibility for generating better carbon/phenolic ablators with the aid of computer simulations.[CA] Els materials ablatius de carboni/fenòlics s'utilitzen amb èxit com a materials de protecció tèrmica per a naus espacials. No obstant això, la caracterització de les seues propietats experimentalment a escala microscòpica és costosa i porta molt temps. Es requereixen models numèrics precisos i robustos per a optimitzar la seua experimentació. S'avalua la viabilitat de l'ús de models numèrics per a extraure propietats efectives de materials de carboni ablatius. En aquest treball, es desenvolupa un model sintètic basat en Calcarb CBCF 18-2000 utilitzant el Porous Microsctucture Analysis (PUMA) software. Aquest model es valida primer amb les dades experimentals disponibles i després s'aplica per a representar la resposta de les fibres de carboni exposades a altes temperatures. El model sintètic representa fidelment la simulació d'anàlisis experimentals donat un nombre limitat de paràmetres. Si bé s'ha de realitzar una major verificació del model comparant-lo amb l'anàlisi de microtomografies de materials reals, aquests resultats obrin la possibilitat de generar millors materials de carboni/fenòlics amb l'ajuda de simulacions numèriques.Los materiales ablativos de carbono/fenólicos se utilizan con éxito como materiales de protección térmica para naves espaciales. Sin embargo, la caracterización de sus propiedades experimentalmente a escala microscópica es costosa y lleva mucho tiempo. Se requieren modelos numéricos precisos y robustos para optimizar su experimentación. Se evalúa la viabilidad del uso de modelos numéricos para extraer propiedades efectivas de materiales de carbono ablativos. En este trabajo, se desarrolla un modelo sintético basado en Calcarb CBCF 18-2000 utilizando el Porous Microsctucture Analysis (PuMA) software. Este modelo se valida primero con los datos experimentales disponibles y luego se aplica para representar la respuesta de las fibras de carbono expuestas a altas temperaturas. El modelo sintético representa fielmente la simulación de análisis experimentales dado un número limitado de parámetros. Si bien se debe realizar una mayor verificación del modelo comparándolo con el análisis de microtomografías de materiales reales, estos resultados abren la posibilidad de generar mejores materiales de carbono/fenólicos con la ayuda de simulaciones numéricas.Rico Orero, JB. (2020). Computational study on the effect of the microstructure on macroscopic properties for carbon fiber felts. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/148803TFG