Diffusion of Knowledge: The Ignored Goal of Public Education

This dissertation provides a capability creation perspective on the story of China’s technological catching up, or resurgence, if viewed from a broader historical perspective. Since the first Asian tigers caught up to modern technological standards (e.g., South Korea, Singapore), two schools of thought have dominated causal explanations (Nelson and Pack, 1999). The first perspective is the conventional accumulation approach, which attributes the major share of growth to the accumulation of physical and human capital, and views learning as a more-or-less automatic byproduct of those investments. The second perspective is the assimilation approach, which emphasizes the arduous learning, risk-taking entrepreneurship, and innovation that is involved in the process and argues that the former proposition neglects this aspect of the endeavour and may therefore lead to erroneous estimates. This dissertation focuses on the second school of thought. Compared to the first-tier Asian tigers, the second-tier tigers, of which China is representative, pose many challenges to the assimilation approach. First, the sheer size of the country results in an unusual scale and scope of activities and interactions in any field. Second, the long history of civilization in China suggests that many modern phenomena have historical roots that are unknown to outsiders and invisible and complex to insiders. The present study aims to contribute a small piece of the puzzle to our understanding of the big picture. By providing an in-depth study of the Chinese information and communication technologies (ICT) sector, this study explores changes that have occurred in the three key building blocks of capability creation; specifically, the sourcing, generation, and appropriation of technological knowledge. A qualitative case study approach was employed for the main, empirical part of the study, which consists of extensive firm-level interviews. Complementary statistical data, including patent data and historical archives, were used to provide context and a deeper look into the study topic. The results are described in five articles. The first article presents establishing overseas research and development (R&D) laboratories as one of the major learning methods for overcoming disadvantages related to dislocation from technology sources and advanced markets. This approach allows China to search for industry-relevant scientific knowledge rather than adopting ready-made technologies introduced by western multinational enterprises in China. The second article describes the modularity-in-design approach, which opens new windows of opportunity for technological advancement. The lack of essential intellectual property rights (IPRs) acts as a key inducement and a factor-saving bias that influences the direction of innovation. When both (international) competitiveness and learning are involved in the catching-up process, the development of industry-wide capability becomes a particularly vital aspect of indigenous innovation. The third article describes the geographic consequences of historically planted industrial capabilities in China’s inland regions, which impact the absorption of different types of industrial knowledge. Fields of industry that are densely populated with patents- IPR thickets- represent a novel situation that was not experienced to the same extent by nations whose technological development occurred earlier. This thesis dedicates two articles to this dimension of knowledge appropriation. The fourth article describes the duality of Chinese ICT patenting, and the fifth article identifies an ambidextrous strategy that depends on where the major competition emerges. In general, the decision to patent and the extent of patenting are determined by four factors: a) the distance to the frontier (Aghion et al., 1997) particularly for technology; b) the nature of the technology (Teece, 1986), but with a rural extension in the case of China; c) the specificities of information (Arrow, 1962) that are embodied in a firm’s origins in China; and d) the supporting institutions that co-evolve in that process. Learning proceeds at different levels: that of individuals, firms, industries, and nations.   This dissertation provides an industry-level perspective on learning and innovation-based technological advancement.from developing economy to global high-tech competitiveness - the case of Chinese ICT expansio

The Problem of Doping

In this Essay, we examine Professor Michael J. Sandel and Judge Richard A. Posner\u27s thoughts on how to draw the line between substances and techniques that are fair game and those that constitute doping; whether there is a difference between sport and spectacle; and the nature of the public’s interest in sport as an institution and in doping as a practice that risks its integrity. Although we do not agree with all of their conclusions, they have made serious contributions to the ongoing discussion of these issues. Their linedrawing work in particular deserves considered attention from WADA and other stakeholders as they continue to work toward a useful and defensible definition of the spirit of sport

Magnetic latitude effects in the solar wind

The Weber-Davis model of the solar wind is generalized to include the effects of latitude. The principal assumptions of high electrical conductivity, rotational symmetry, the polytropic relation between pressure and density, and a flow-alined field in a system rotating with the sun, are retained. An approximate solution to the resulting equations for spherical boundary conditions at the base of the corona indicates a small component of latitudinal flow toward the solar poles at large distances from the sun as result of latitudinal magnetic forces

Correlative studies of the solar wind. The interplanetary magnetic field, and their effects on the geomagnetic cavity using Explorer 33 and 35 data

The work completed in the study of the effects of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field on the bow shock and geomagnetic cavity is reported along with work underway but not yet completed. The correlative data from Explorer 33 and 35, and the computer programs for processing the data are described. The research discussed includes: polar cusps, substorms, geomagnetic activity, and North-South component of the interplanetary magnetic field. Lists of publications, and papers presented at meetings are included