Measuring the impact of international R&D cooperation: the case of Spanish firms participating in the EU Framework Programme

The objective of this paper is to analyse the effects of international R&D cooperation on firms’ economic performance. Our empirical analysis, based on Spanish firms’ participation in the Framework Programme (FP) between 1995 and 2005, has confirmed that: (1) cooperation within the FP has a positive impact on the technological capacity of firms, captured through intangible fixed assets and (2) the technological capacity of firms is positively related to their economic performance, measured by labour productivity.International R&D cooperation, Framework Programme, Impact assessment

Scalable Bayesian nonparametric measures for exploring pairwise dependence via Dirichlet Process Mixtures

In this article we propose novel Bayesian nonparametric methods using Dirichlet Process Mixture (DPM) models for detecting pairwise dependence between random variables while accounting for uncertainty in the form of the underlying distributions. A key criteria is that the procedures should scale to large data sets. In this regard we find that the formal calculation of the Bayes factor for a dependent-vs.-independent DPM joint probability measure is not feasible computationally. To address this we present Bayesian diagnostic measures for characterising evidence against a "null model" of pairwise independence. In simulation studies, as well as for a real data analysis, we show that our approach provides a useful tool for the exploratory nonparametric Bayesian analysis of large multivariate data sets

Exchangeable Claims Sizes in a Compound Poisson Type Proces

When dealing with risk models the typical assumption of independence among claim size distributions is not always satisfied. Here we consider the case when the claim sizes are exchangeable and study the implications when constructing aggregated claims through compound Poisson type processes. In par- ticular, exchangeability is achieved through conditional independence and using parametric and nonparametric measures for the conditioning distribution. A full Bayesian analysis of the proposed model is carried out to illustrate.Bayes nonparametrics, compound Poisson process, exchangeable claim process, exchangeable sequence, risk model.

Government Boarding Schools and Indian Communities

The following research concerns the relationship between U.S-implemented boarding schools and Indian communities. Throughout this paper I’ll present the overall initial rationale creating Indian-focused boarding schools, explain how policy and physical facility placement illustrates a type of colonial mechanism, and coerced youth relocation due to government leverage. I’ll also be highlighting the importance of students’ lived experiences, power of school agents, and continuing boarding school effects. To this extent, the trauma experienced due to sexual violence and abuse is mainly rooted in boarding schools and proves to be a product of colonialism

Mexico and the European Union trade renegotiation of 2020: A deep integration agreement Version 2.0?

After more than 20 years of trade integration, Mexico and the European Union (EU) started renegotiating the accord in 2016 and concluded in 2020. The treaty signed in 2000 corresponds to a series of deep integration agreements that seek to go further than the liberalization of goods, services, and investments and aspire to be more of an understanding of cooperation in several policy areas. Mexico joined the agreement to achieve more diversified exports to offset Mexico's dependence on the US market and to include other spheres besides trade. The EU found in Mexico a trade partner with a strategic geographical location to access the US and Canadian markets. Likewise, the EU would benefit from the liberalized Mexican financial market with potential profits in the financial and telecommunication sectors. This work reviews the agreement in 2020 from the deep integration agreement framework lens. We examine to what extent these provisions provide the conditions for a deep integration that benefits both regions. We also analyze whether the renegotiation of 2020 can be seen as an attempt to further this cooperation process and the economic implications for Mexico. We argue in this paper that the former Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mexico (FTA-EU-MX) consolidated a trade pattern that existed before the agreement with EU multinationals concentrated in critical industrial sectors, without significant trade creation for medium and small businesses. This result confirms that there have been advances in shallow integration but no substantial changes in cooperation or deep integration. After analyzing the 2020 renegotiation text, we conclude that Mexico could achieve significant gains in areas of cooperation as the 2020 text has more enforceable policies, which was not the case with the 2000 treaty.  Keywords: deep integration, Mexico, European Union, international cooperation JEL: F10, F15, F5

Large falcine meningioma fed by callosomarginal branch successfully removed following contralateral interhemispheric approach

We report the case of a highly vascular facline meningioma removed following surgical ligation of a large callosomarginal feeding branch via a contralateral interhemispheric approach. Successfully addressing this vessel via a contralateral interhemispheric approach prior to any debulking allowed for en bloc Simpson Grade 1 tumor removal with minimal blood loss and short term tumor control without evidence of recurrence at 2 year follow up. A 56 year old man presented with first time generalized tonic-clonic seizure. Imaging revealed a right sided 5 cm falcine meningioma. The patient underwent pre-operative embolization of feeding branches, however, the most significant supply, arising from the right callosomarginal artery, could not be occluded. A bipartite frontotemporal craniotomy was performed. From a left sided interhemispheric approach the pericallosal and callosomarginal arteries were identified and the large callosomarginal tumor feeding branch were occluded using a straight Yasargil aneurysm clip. From the right the superior sagital sinus was ligated anteriorly and posteriorly. The sinus, falx, and adherent tumor were then removed en bloc. We present the case of a highly vascular falcine meningioma with a large callosomarginal feeding branch which was successfully occluded using surgical clipping of this vessel via a contralateral interhemispheric approach. This case provides an excellent example of one approach to directly dealing with large, deep interhemispheric feeding vessels unsuitable for embolization. A 3D animation of the surgical approach is provided for instructional purposes