ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS FOR LARGE INTERNATIONAL FIRMS: A SURVEY

-

Private monetary transfers and altruism: an empirical investigation on Italian families

The aim of this paper is to explore the motivation of monetary transfers received by household heads. Indeed, the financial transfers may be motivated by altruism or by the expectation of future services. For this reason, we select a sample of Italian families from the 2006 European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) dataset. The empirical analysis is divided into two parts. First, we consider the transfer decision and try to account for the factors that affect the probability that the household member will receive a transfer. Next, we restrict our analysis to those families who did receive a positive transfer and examine the factors that affect the size of the transfer. The economic interest in the intrinsic explanation of monetary transfers is supported by the efficacy of policy makers instruments. For this reason, we also explore the relationship between private and public financial transfers. The main contribution to the existing literature is to investigate the social motivation of private transfers and their implications in terms of policy in a unified framework.Altruism; Household behaviour; Cross-sectional Models

DOMESTIC VERSUS INTERNATIONAL R&D SPILLOVERS AND PRODUCTIVITY PERFORMANCE OF LARGE INTERNATIONAL FIRMS

-

An investigation of the relation between the number of children and education in Italy

In this paper we have investigated the impact of the level of education on the number of children in Italy. We have selected 1,490 families from the 1997- 2005 Longitudinal Investigation on Italian Families (ILFI) dataset. Our dependent variable is represented by the number of children ever born to each respondent (and to his partner). Since the number of children ever born (CEB) is a count variable, we have implemented three empirical models: Poisson, Zero-Truncated Poisson and an Instrumental Variable Poisson, where grandparents’ education is exerted as an instrument of parents’ education. In particular, we have considered two stages for each model: in the first stage, we have estimated the impact of female’s education on her number of children, and in the second one, we have used also partner’s education to identify the previous effect. From the empirical results, we may observe a significant negative effect of the level of education on the number of children.Fertility; Human Capital; Education

Human Capital and Ferility Decisions: A Comparative Microeconometric Analysis in Europe

In this paper we have investigated the relationship between human capital proxied by the schooling level and fertility decisions for some EU countries. For this purpose we have resorted to a dynamic random effect probit model controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and initial problem, by using eight waves of 2001 European Community Household Panel (ECHP) data. The main objective has been to compare the effects of education on the probability of having a child for some EU countries. Since the probability of having a child is affected by the same probability related to the previous year, we have implemented a dynamic model instead of a static one. From the empirical results, we have found out a significant relationship between the schooling level and fertility decisions.

How Nature Calls in a More Secure Sense of Self in the Face of Perfectionism: An Expressive Arts Therapy Journey to Self-Identity

This thesis explores the relational dimensions of perfectionism, expressive arts therapy (ExAT), and the more-than-human natural world as these components influence the development and maintenance of the “sense of self.” This term refers to a perception of the “self” as a set of traits and beliefs that shape an individual’s perceived purpose in the world, often heavily influenced by external societal pressures at a young age. “I’m not good enough” often rings in the ears of educators, parents, coaches, expressive arts therapists, and other mental health workers as the fear of vulnerability, judgment, and failure inhibits creative impulse and intuitive identity. The query began with how expressive arts therapy can aid in managing perfectionism and whether using nature as a co-therapist could facilitate and deepen interpersonal connections. This paper reviews literature on nature-based therapies and examines the author’s own experience working with nature as a third entity in the therapeutic relationship through an autoethnographic arts-based research approach. Findings advocate that nature informed ExAT can invite the innermost authentic self into a therapeutic conversation, give it space for healing, and aid in combating perfectionistic tendencies

Firms' Innovation in Waste Management and Land Fertilizers within the Triad

In this paper we investigate agricultural innovation in three economic areas: the USA, Japan and Europe, taking into account simultaneously both the spatial and technological dimensions.In particular, we introduce a theoretical framework and an empirical analysis based upon a dataset composed of worldwide R&D-intensive firms to discuss the role of spillover components in the waste management efficiency at firm level. The technological relatedness between the firms is computed through an original Mahalanobis Environmental industry weight matrix, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm. Methodologically, from one hand, we explore the extent to which knowledge spillovers are important through spatial analysis procedure and from the other hand, we measure the effects of technology spillovers on firms' productivity through econometric methods to handle heterogeneity and endogenous explanatory variables. The findings show a positive impact of Jacobian R&D spillovers on firms' productivity and environmental performance and this result can be relevant repercussions in terms of policy implications

Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Energy Production Efficiency Activity

The objective of this paper is to explore the energy production efficiency activity of large R&D-intensive firms. Research methodology follows two steps: first, we describe the theoretical background through a firm level model and, second, we develop econometric techniques that explore spatial spillovers and deal with the endogeneity of the explanatory variables. The findings show a significant effect of energy innovation externalities on firms' environmental performance

Transforming growth factor-β and oxidative stress in cancer: A crosstalk in driving tumor transformation.

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Metabolic changes in tumor microenvironment play a critical role in cancer, related to the accumulated alterations in signaling pathways that control cellular metabolism. Cancer metabolic deregulation is related to specific events such as the control of oxidative stress, and in particular the redox imbalance with aberrant oxidant production and/or a deregulation of the efficacy of the antioxidant systems. In cancer cells, different cytokines are involved in the development and/or progression of cancer; among these cytokines, the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is central to tumorigenesis and cancer progression. In tumor cells, it has been demonstrated that there is a close correlation between oxidative stress and TGF-β; this crosstalk strongly contributes to tumorigenesis, both in tumor development and in mediating its invasiveness. This review is addressed to better understanding this crosstalk between TGF-β and oxidative stress in cancer cell metabolism, in an attempt to improve the pharmacological and therapeutic approach against cancer. ABSTRACT: Cancer metabolism involves different changes at a cellular level, and altered metabolic pathways have been demonstrated to be heavily involved in tumorigenesis and invasiveness. A crucial role for oxidative stress in cancer initiation and progression has been demonstrated; redox imbalance, due to aberrant reactive oxygen species (ROS) production or deregulated efficacy of antioxidant systems (superoxide dismutase, catalase, GSH), contributes to tumor initiation and progression of several types of cancer. ROS may modulate cancer cell metabolism by acting as secondary messengers in the signaling pathways (NF-kB, HIF-1α) involved in cellular proliferation and metastasis. It is known that ROS mediate many of the effects of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), a key cytokine central in tumorigenesis and cancer progression, which in turn can modulate ROS production and the related antioxidant system activity. Thus, ROS synergize with TGF-β in cancer cell metabolism by increasing the redox imbalance in cancer cells and by inducing the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), a crucial event associated with tumor invasiveness and metastases. Taken as a whole, this review is addressed to better understanding this crosstalk between TGF-β and oxidative stress in cancer cell metabolism, in the attempt to improve the pharmacological and therapeutic approach against cancer