A Proposal for Measuring Science, Technology and Innovation Activities

This conceptual framework for measuring Science, Technology and Innovation Activities (STIA) consists of five elements: (1) Human Capital, (2) Infrastructure, (3) Diffusion & Transfer, (4) Innovation, and (5) Research & Development (R&D). These components can be broken down into two categories: investment in S&T capital (human and infrastructure) and investment in innovation (R&D and national innovation activities). Diffusion and transfer of knowledge and technology is a consequence of these investments. All of these have economic and social impacts

Reconfiguring National Science and Research Systems: The Role of Charities

We have become familiar and comfortable with the idea that the science, technology and innovation (STI) system of countries is constructed around the so called ‘triple helix’ of government, universities and business. Contrary to the academic interest and government policy, the public is increasingly bypassing this club to impact science funding and innovation outcomes through directly creating and donating funds for research that they want. The charities and foundations coordinating this shift are neither ignorant of strategy or dealing in petty cash. In a significant number of OECD countries, private-non-profits as the statistical category is called, fund the higher education research system at a similar or greater level than business. This result has important implications for how we understand the STI system. This paper explores this gap in the literature, ambiguities in analyzing the phenomenon and suggests a framework for further analysis how charities and foundations are reconfiguring STI systems. &nbsp

Book Reviews

The Essentials of American Constitutional Law, by Francis Newton Thorpe, Professor of Political Science and Constitutional Law in the University of Pittsburgh. G. P. Putnam\u27s Sons, 1917, pp. 279. This is a very readable presentation of the fundamental principles of Constitutional law. Readable is used advisedly because the book is written for readers rather than students of the subject. It is more a statement of principles than an exposition of their particular application. Furthermore, the principles as stated are less those which are expressed by the courts as the bases of decisions than those which inductive analysis shows to be their logical foundation. This allows of, or possibly it is the result of, an unusual point of view of the respective powers of our Federal and State Governments, and one which is at first somewhat startling. Mr. Thorpe does not follow the conventional method of treating the Federal Constitution as a grant of powers and the State Constitutions as limitations; he considers both Federal and State governments as inherently possessing all powers of government but both limited by their respective constitutions, and each limited, also, by those spheres of action in which the other is supreme or sole. Consistently with this idea, he frequently discusses the powers of the Federal Government in comparison or contrast with the related powers of the State governments, instead of presenting the extent and character of Federal power as something complete within itself. This view of Federal power as a supreme power limited, instead of an extraneous power partially granted, leads naturally to new concepts of its character. Mr. Thorpe ignores, for instance, the whilom assumption that there is no Federal police power and concludes that Congress has authority, within its limits, to legislate for the general welfare of the country. While the author\u27s point of view is not altogether unique it is sufficiently out of the commonplace to made the book worth reading by lawyers as well as by laymen

Marketing and the Tragedy of the Commons: A Synthesis, Commentary, and Analysis for Action

The authors contend that solutions to the most pressing environmental challenges will result from understanding and solving social traps such as the commons dilemma. They propose a synthesis for analysis and action to suggest that marketing\u27s stakeholders can cooperate to contribute solutions and ultimately develop programs that help ameliorate the tragedy of the commons

Surviving Spin-offs as a Measure of Research Funding Effectiveness

Companies spun-off from university laboratories that commercialize intellectual property are significant drivers of innovation in Canada, where spin-offs are created at a much higher rate per research dollar than in the U.S. This paper is based on data from nine Canadian universities active in technology transfer on the spin-offs they created between 1995 and 2003