Productivity and the international firm: dissecting heterogeneity

Firms in competitive markets are more likely achieve higher productivity. Indeed a better performance of multinationals and exporters with respect to domestic firms has been documented in the literature. The sources of these premia have however largely remained a black box: standard theoretical models consider differences in productivity as the results of a random draw. Only recently models have acknowledged that in competitive environments, firms are more likely to adopt new technologies. This theoretical framework reconciles recent empirical work noting that productivity differences among firms can be explained by different managerial practices, I.T. and organizational capital. In this paper, using an original dataset on Italian firms, we show that the higher use of knowledge workers (such as R&D workers, as well as workers in managerial and clerical occupations) explains some of the TFP premium of exporters and multinational firms. Our results suggest that TFP differences are not only the results in different constant in the production function between international and noninternational firms, but they rather reflect differences in the slopes of the production function. In fact, allowing for different returns to inputs between domestic and international firms, we explain all of the productivity premium and beyond. This is the result of the fact that multinational firms are both more capital intensive and exhibit higher returns to capital. Furthermore, we find that managers and capital are complements in the productivity of multinational firms. This is consistent with the idea that multinational firms have superior organizational capabilities and managerial practices.productivity, tfp, competition, management, mode of internationalization

Optimized pipeline of MuTect and GATK tools to improve the detection of somatic single nucleotide polymorphisms in whole- exome sequencing data

Background: Detecting somatic mutations in whole exome sequencing data of cancer samples has become a popular approach for profiling cancer development, progression and chemotherapy resistance. Several studies have proposed software packages, filters and parametrizations. However, many research groups reported low concordance among different methods. We aimed to develop a pipeline which detects a wide range of single nucleotide mutations with high validation rates. We combined two standard tools – Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) and MuTect – to create the GATK-LODN method. As proof of principle, we applied our pipeline to exome sequencing data of hematological (Acute Myeloid and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemias) and solid (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor and Lung Adenocarcinoma) tumors. We performed experiments on simulated data to test the sensitivity and specificity of our pipeline. Results: The software MuTect presented the highest validation rate (90 %) for mutation detection, but limited number of somatic mutations detected. The GATK detected a high number of mutations but with low specificity. The GATK-LODN increased the performance of the GATK variant detection (from 5 of 14 to 3 of 4 confirmed variants), while preserving mutations not detected by MuTect. However, GATK-LODN filtered more variants in the hematological samples than in the solid tumors. Experiments in simulated data demonstrated that GATK-LODN increased both specificity and sensitivity of GATK results. Conclusion: We presented a pipeline that detects a wide range of somatic single nucleotide variants, with good validation rates, from exome sequencing data of cancer samples. We also showed the advantage of combining standard algorithms to create the GATK-LODN method, that increased specificity and sensitivity of GATK results. This pipeline can be helpful in discovery studies aimed to profile the somatic mutational landscape of cancer genomes

European Atlas of Natural Radiation

Natural ionizing radiation is considered as the largest contributor to the collective effective dose received by the world population. The human population is continuously exposed to ionizing radiation from several natural sources that can be classified into two broad categories: high-energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth and still present in the Earth’s crust (terrestrial contribution). Terrestrial radioactivity is mostly produced by the uranium and thorium radioactive families together with potassium. In most circumstances, radon, a noble gas produced in the radioactive decay of uranium, is the most important contributor to the total dose. This Atlas aims to present the current state of knowledge of natural radioactivity, by giving general background information, and describing its various sources. This reference material is complemented by a collection of maps of Europe displaying the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources. It is a compilation of contributions and reviews received from more than 80 experts in their field: they come from universities, research centres, national and European authorities and international organizations. This Atlas provides reference material and makes harmonized datasets available to the scientific community and national competent authorities. In parallel, this Atlas may serve as a tool for the public to: • familiarize itself with natural radioactivity; • be informed about the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources; • have a more balanced view of the annual dose received by the world population, to which natural radioactivity is the largest contributor; • and make direct comparisons between doses from natural sources of ionizing radiation and those from man-made (artificial) ones, hence to better understand the latter.JRC.G.10-Knowledge for Nuclear Security and Safet

High Risk of Secondary Infections Following Thrombotic Complications in Patients With COVID-19

Background. This study’s primary aim was to evaluate the impact of thrombotic complications on the development of secondary infections. The secondary aim was to compare the etiology of secondary infections in patients with and without thrombotic complications. Methods. This was a cohort study (NCT04318366) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients hospitalized at IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital between February 25 and June 30, 2020. Incidence rates (IRs) were calculated by univariable Poisson regression as the number of cases per 1000 person-days of follow-up (PDFU) with 95% confidence intervals. The cumulative incidence functions of secondary infections according to thrombotic complications were compared with Gray’s method accounting for competing risk of death. A multivariable Fine-Gray model was applied to assess factors associated with risk of secondary infections. Results. Overall, 109/904 patients had 176 secondary infections (IR, 10.0; 95% CI, 8.8–11.5; per 1000-PDFU). The IRs of secondary infections among patients with or without thrombotic complications were 15.0 (95% CI, 10.7–21.0) and 9.3 (95% CI, 7.9–11.0) per 1000-PDFU, respectively (P = .017). At multivariable analysis, thrombotic complications were associated with the development of secondary infections (subdistribution hazard ratio, 1.788; 95% CI, 1.018–3.140; P = .043). The etiology of secondary infections was similar in patients with and without thrombotic complications. Conclusions. In patients with COVID-19, thrombotic complications were associated with a high risk of secondary infections

Productivity and the international firm: dissecting heterogeneity

Higher productivity of multinational firms and exporters has been widely documented in the literature, but the sources of this heterogeneity are still a black box. Using an original dataset on Italian firms, we show that higher total factor productivity of international firms can be to some extent explained by higher R&D intensity and managerial capabilities. However, our results suggest that heterogeneity is more in the slope than in the constant of the production function. In particular, allowing international firms to have different return to labour and capital inputs, we are able to account for their entire productivity premium. This has implications for both labour and capital market reforms.total factor productivity, firm heterogeneity, exporters, multinational firms,

Alimenti - Libro Primo: Persone e famiglia art. 433-448 bis

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