The effect of foreign and domestic patents on total factor productivity during the second half of the 20th century

This paper analyses the relationship between total factor productivity (TFP) and innovation-related variables during the second half of the 20th century. We perform this analysis for several European countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain) and the U.S., extending Coe and Helpman’s (1995) empirical specification to include human capital. We use a new dataset of patents data for the past 150 years to calculate the stock of knowledge using the perpetual inventory method. Our time series empirical analysis confirms the heterogeneous relationship between innovation variables (domestic stock of knowledge, imports of knowledge, and human capital) and productivity. Our results reveal the extent to which observed differences in technology adoption patterns and the levels of endowment of such resources can explain differences in TFP dynamics across countries. The estimated coefficients confirm the considerable gap that still exists between the European countries and the U.S. in innovation-related variables. Furthermore, we obtain a finding that may have important implications for innovation policies: the higher the level of investment in human capital, the higher the level of investment in domestic innovation, and the higher the response of TFP to a 1% increase in any of the aforementioned variablesEste trabajo analiza la relación entre la productividad total de los factores (PTF ) y las variables relacionadas con la innovación durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX . Este análisis se lleva a cabo en varios países europeos (Francia, Alemania, el Reino Unido y España) y en Estados Unidos, ampliando el trabajo de Coe y Helpman (1995) sobre la especificación empírica para incluir el capital humano. Utilizamos un nuevo conjunto de datos de patentes durante los últimos 150 años para calcular el stock de conocimiento mediante el método de inventario permanente. Nuestro análisis empírico con series temporales confirma la relación heterogénea entre las variables de innovación (stock de conocimiento nacional, importaciones de conocimiento y capital humano) y la productividad. Nuestros resultados ponen de manifiesto hasta qué punto las diferencias observadas en los patrones de adopción de tecnología y los niveles de dotación de esos recursos pueden explicar las diferencias en la dinámica de la PTF entre países. Los coeficientes estimados confirman la brecha considerable que aún existe entre los países europeos y EE.UU. en las variables relacionadas con la innovación. Además, se obtiene un hallazgo que puede tener importantes implicaciones para las políticas de innovación: cuanto mayor sea el nivel de inversión en capital humano, mayor es el nivel de inversión en innovación nacional y mayor será la respuesta de la PTF a un aumento del 1 % en alguna de las variables mencionadas previament

The effect of foreign and domestic patents on total factor productivity during the second half of the 20th century

This paper analyses the relationship between total factor productivity (TFP) and innovation-related variables during the second half of the 20th century. We perform this analysis for several European countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain) and the U.S., extending Coe and Helpman’s (1995) empirical specification to include human capital. We use a new dataset of patents data for the past 150 years to calculate the stock of knowledge using the perpetual inventory method. Our time series empirical analysis confirms the heterogeneous relationship between innovation variables (domestic stock of knowledge, imports of knowledge, and human capital) and productivity. Our results reveal the extent to which observed differences in technology adoption patterns and the levels of endowment of such resources can explain differences in TFP dynamics across countries. The estimated coefficients confirm the considerable gap that still exists between the European countries and the U.S. in innovation-related variables. Furthermore, we obtain a finding that may have important implications for innovation policies: the higher the level of investment in human capital, the higher the level of investment in domestic innovation, and the higher the response of TFP to a 1% increase in any of the aforementioned variablesEste trabajo analiza la relación entre la productividad total de los factores (PTF ) y las variables relacionadas con la innovación durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX . Este análisis se lleva a cabo en varios países europeos (Francia, Alemania, el Reino Unido y España) y en Estados Unidos, ampliando el trabajo de Coe y Helpman (1995) sobre la especificación empírica para incluir el capital humano. Utilizamos un nuevo conjunto de datos de patentes durante los últimos 150 años para calcular el stock de conocimiento mediante el método de inventario permanente. Nuestro análisis empírico con series temporales confirma la relación heterogénea entre las variables de innovación (stock de conocimiento nacional, importaciones de conocimiento y capital humano) y la productividad. Nuestros resultados ponen de manifiesto hasta qué punto las diferencias observadas en los patrones de adopción de tecnología y los niveles de dotación de esos recursos pueden explicar las diferencias en la dinámica de la PTF entre países. Los coeficientes estimados confirman la brecha considerable que aún existe entre los países europeos y EE.UU. en las variables relacionadas con la innovación. Además, se obtiene un hallazgo que puede tener importantes implicaciones para las políticas de innovación: cuanto mayor sea el nivel de inversión en capital humano, mayor es el nivel de inversión en innovación nacional y mayor será la respuesta de la PTF a un aumento del 1 % en alguna de las variables mencionadas previament

Do personality traits affect productivity? Evidence from the lab

While survey data supports a strong relationship between personality and labor market outcomes, the exact mechanisms behind this association remain unexplored. In this paper, we take advantage of a controlled laboratory set-up to test whether this relationship operates through productivity, and isolate this mechanism from other channels such as bargaining ability or self-selection into jobs. Using a gender neutral real-effort task, we analyse the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance. We find that more neurotic subjects perform worse, and that more conscientious individuals perform better. These findings are in line with previous survey studies and suggest that at least part of the effect of personality on labor market outcomes operates through productivity. In addition, we find evidence that gender and university major affect the impact of the Big Five personality traits on performance

Medio siglo de innovación y transferencia de tecnología en España, 1950-2000

In this study we analyse the effect of both foreign and domestic technological innovation on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) for Spain in the second half of the XXth century. For this purpose we estimate an extended version of Coe and Helpman (1995) model including a general human capital variable. The foreign and domestic stock of knowledge have been approximated throughout several variables such as the stock of R&D, the stock of patents and the expenses for using foreign licenses and patents. Our results suggest that the inflow of foreign technology had a positive and significant effect on the Spanish TFP, being this effect higher than the effect of the domestic stock of knowledge. Moreover, the openness to foreign trade has also favoured the arrival of foreign technology and the increase of productivity. Finally, it is interesting to highlight that our results indicate that human capital played also a relevant role on the evolution of TFP.En este trabajo se analiza el impacto de la innovación, tanto doméstica como extranjera, sobre la evolución de la Productividad Total de los Factores (PTF) de la economía española a lo largo de la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Para ello se estima una versión revisada de la especificación empírica de Coe y Helpman (1995) que incluye el capital humano como variable de control. El stock de conocimiento doméstico y el extranjero se han aproximado a partir de diversos indicadores como el stock de gasto en I+D, el stock de patentes o el pago por el uso de licencias y patentes extranjeras. Los resultados sugieren que la entrada de tecnología extranjera ha tenido un impacto positivo y significativo sobre la evolución de la PTF y claramente superior al de la innovación doméstica. Además, la apertura exterior ha favorecido la incorporación de tecnología y el aumento de la productividad. Finalmente, es importante resaltar que nuestros resultados indican que la inversión en capital humano ha desempeñado un papel relevante como determinante de la evolución de la PTF

Institutions, Knowledge Accumulation and Productivity Growth in the Second Half of the XXth

This paper studies the relevance of institutional differences in the way knowledge determines productivity for a set of 21 OECD countries in the second half of the XXth century. The relationship between TFP and knowledge related variables is reconsidered after controlling for a new set of institutional variables tailored to represent the post WWII institutions: the Welfare State and international trade and capital flows liberalization. We estimate the impact of innovation variables over productivity during the Golden Age as compared to the whole period 1953-2007, after controlling by these specific institutional variables. Additionally, we distinguish the particular impact of these relationships for five groups of countries following Amable (2006) classification of different kinds of capitalism. Our results suggest institutions determine the response of TFP to the knowledge variables and that the resulting elasticities are higher during the Golden Age. We find that there are not significant differences between the different groups and the market oriented economies with regard to the elasticity of TFP to the indoor innovation, with the exception of Japan. However, the results suggest that in Anglo-Saxon market oriented economies, international spillovers of technology have a higher impact on TFP. Additionally, in continental and Mediterranean European countries and Japan, TFP is more sensitive to human capital accumulation than in the market-oriented economies (the US and the UK)

A Rydberg Quantum Simulator

Following Feynman and as elaborated on by Lloyd, a universal quantum simulator (QS) is a controlled quantum device which reproduces the dynamics of any other many particle quantum system with short range interactions. This dynamics can refer to both coherent Hamiltonian and dissipative open system evolution. We investigate how laser excited Rydberg atoms in large spacing optical or magnetic lattices can provide an efficient implementation of a universal QS for spin models involving (high order) n-body interactions. This includes the simulation of Hamiltonians of exotic spin models involving n-particle constraints such as the Kitaev toric code, color code, and lattice gauge theories with spin liquid phases. In addition, it provides the ingredients for dissipative preparation of entangled states based on engineering n-particle reservoir couplings. The key basic building blocks of our architecture are efficient and high-fidelity n-qubit entangling gates via auxiliary Rydberg atoms, including a possible dissipative time step via optical pumping. This allows to mimic the time evolution of the system by a sequence of fast, parallel and high-fidelity n-particle coherent and dissipative Rydberg gates.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Analysis of the residual safety level in R/C slabs with severe joist corrosion

An analysis until the failure on a series of one-way slabs with severe corrosion at the lower reinforcement of the R/C joists is presented. Different positions in the slab and number of damaged joists have been studied, obtaining the residual safety assessment in cases of slabs damaged by flexural failure mechanisms. Since the boundary conditions have proved decisive for obtaining the behavior, the damaged slab has been evaluated as part of the entire building, as precisely as possible, taking into account the different phases of the construction process and deterioration in time, and the complex behavior of concrete, steel and masonry. The results of the proposed methodology are consistent with the pathology of the observed cases. As a result of this study the authors propose practical recommendations to help in making decisions about the magnitude of the intervention, always necessary in this type of pathology.Vercher Sanchis, JM.; Gil Benso, E.; Mas Tomas, MDLA.; Cubel Arjona, FJ. (2014). Analysis of the residual safety level in R/C slabs with severe joist corrosion. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. 1-14. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000608S11

Generation of a mutator parasite to drive resistome discovery in Plasmodium falciparum

In vitro evolution of drug resistance is a powerful approach for identifying antimalarial targets, however, key obstacles to eliciting resistance are the parasite inoculum size and mutation rate. Here we sought to increase parasite genetic diversity to potentiate resistance selections by editing catalytic residues of Plasmodium falciparum DNA polymerase δ. Mutation accumulation assays reveal a ~5–8 fold elevation in the mutation rate, with an increase of 13–28 fold in drug-pressured lines. Upon challenge with the spiroindolone PfATP4-inhibitor KAE609, high-level resistance is obtained more rapidly and at lower inocula than wild-type parasites. Selections also yield mutants with resistance to an “irresistible” compound, MMV665794 that failed to yield resistance with other strains. We validate mutations in a previously uncharacterised gene, PF3D7_1359900, which we term quinoxaline resistance protein (QRP1), as causal for resistance to MMV665794 and a panel of quinoxaline analogues. The increased genetic repertoire available to this “mutator” parasite can be leveraged to drive P. falciparum resistome discovery

Assessment of routine surveillance data as a tool to investigate measles outbreaks in Mozambique

BACKGROUND: Measles remains a major public health problem in Mozambique despite significant efforts to control the disease. Currently, health authorities base their outbreak control on data from the routine surveillance system while vaccine coverage and efficacy are calculated based on mathematical projections of the target population. The aim of this work was to assess the quality of the measles reporting system during two outbreaks that occurred in Maputo City (1998) and in Manica Province (2002). METHODS: Retrospectively, we collected data from the routine surveillance system, i.e. register books at health facilities and weekly provincial and national epidemiological reports. To test whether the provinces registered an outbreak, the distribution of measles cases was compared to an endemic level established based on cases reported in previous years. RESULTS: There was a significant under-notification of measles cases from the health facilities to the province and national level. Register books, the primary sources of information for the measles surveillance system, were found to be incomplete for two main variables: "age" and "vaccination status". CONCLUSION: The Mozambican surveillance system is based on poor quality records, receives the notification of only a fraction of the total number of measles in the country and may result in failures do detect epidemics. The measles reporting system does not provide the data needed by Expanded Program on Immunisation managers to make evidence-based decisions, nor does it allow in-depth analysis to monitor measles epidemiology in the country. The progress of Mozambique to the next stage of measles elimination will require an improvement of the routine surveillance system and a stronger Health Information System

Optimality and distortionary lobbying: regulating tobacco consumption

We examine policies directed at regulating tobacco consumption through three types of instruments: (i) an excise tax hindering consumption by increasing the price of cigarettes, (ii) prevention programs helping consumers to make choices that are more time consistent when trading-off the current pleasure from smoking and its future health harms, and (iii) smoking bans directly restricting consumption. First, on normative grounds, we focus on the optimal design of public policies maximizing the economy’s surplus. Second, in a positive perspective, we investigate how the lobbying activities of the tobacco industry, of smokers, and of anti-tobacco organizations may distort government intervention