Returns to Inventors

A key input to inventive activity is human capital. Hence it is important to understand the monetary incentives of inventors. We estimate the effect of patented inventions on individual earnings by linking data on U.S. patents and their inventors to Finnish employer-employee data. Returns are heterogeneous: Inventors get a temporary reward of 3% of annual earnings for a patent grant and for highly-cited patents a longer-lasting premium of 30% in earnings three years later. Similar medium-term premia accrue to inventors who initially hold the patent rights, although they forego earnings at the time of the grant

Education and invention.

Modern growth theory puts invention on the center stage. Inventions are created by individuals, raising the question: can we increase number of inventors? To answer this question, we study the causal effect of M.Sc. engineering education on invention, using data on U.S. patents’ Finnish inventors and the distance to the nearest technical university as an instrument. We find a positive effect of engineering education on the propensity to patent, and a negative OLS bias. Our counterfactual calculation suggests that establishing 3 new technical universities resulted in a 20% increase in the number of USPTO patents by Finnish inventors.ability bias; citations; education; engineers; growth; innovation; invention; inventors; patents;

Returns to Inventors

A key input to inventive activity is human capital. Hence it is important to understand the monetary incentives of inventors. We estimate the effect of patented inventions on individual earnings by linking data on U.S. patents and their inventors to Finnish employer-employee data. Returns are heterogeneous: Inventors get a temporary reward of 3% of annual earnings for a patent grant and for highly-cited patents a longer-lasting premium of 30% in earnings three years later. Similar medium-term premia accrue to inventors who initially hold the patent rights, although they forego earnings at the time of the grant.citations; effort; incentives; inventors; intellectual property; patents; performance pay; return; wages

Genetic-based evaluation of management units for sustainable vendace (Coregonus albula) fisheries in a large lake system

The goal of the processing industry, trade and consumers is to get eco-labelled freshwater fish products from sustainable fisheries into the market as soon as possible. The fourth largest natural lake system in Europe, the Saimaa lake system supports a fishery for vendace (Coregonus albula). Certification of the fishery requires an understanding of population structure to help determine the number and spatial extent of management units. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity of local vendace populations in the Saimaa lake system and aimed to identify the conservation and management units of vendace. Within the Saimaa, the genetic divergence between local populations of vendace was weak and their genetic divergence did not follow an isolation by geographic distance pattern. Vendace has potential to disperse effectively within and between local populations in different lake basins. Even if we observed subtle genetic divergence within our study systems, available information showed no significant evidence that the local populations had unique evolutionarily significant traits. The local populations of the Saimaa lake system seem to have similar life history and morphological traits as in the whole Central Finland lake district. The conservation of genetic diversity seemed not to require basin-specific actions and we conclude that management of local vendace populations of Saimaa as one management unit is advisable

Opetusvideo osana erikoiskahviosaamista: Wayne's Coffee

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli erikoiskahveja käsittelevän opetusvideon tuottaminen Tampereen Keskustorin Wayne’s Coffeelle. Video toimii ensiopetuksena kahvilaan saapuville uusille työntekijöille ja työssäoppijoille, joiden erikoiskahvitietämys on vielä huono. Tällaiselle oppimateriaalille oli tarvetta, sillä kahvien valmistukseen perehdyttäminen alusta asti vie yrittäjältä paljon aikaa ja huomiota. Video antaa teoriapohjan espresson oikeanlaisesta valmistustavasta, maidon vaahdotuksesta, eri erikoiskahvien valmistuksesta ja laitteiston puhdistuksesta. Työn teoriaosuudessa käsiteltiin erikoiskahvien historiaa ja valmistuksessa huomioon otettavia seikkoja, joista tärkeimmät ovat espressopavut, niiden jauhatusaste, käytettävä laitteisto ja kahvin valmistaja, eli barista itse. Työssä pohdittiin myös erikoiskahvien suosion tilannetta ja osaamisen tasoa nyky-Suomessa. Teoriaosuuden toinen osio käsitteli oppimateriaalin tuottamista: minkälaisia seikkoja on huomioitava oppimateriaalia suunniteltaessa ja mitä hyötynäkökulmia on juuri videomuotoisen, audiovisuaalisen materiaalin käytössä. Opetusvideo kuvattiin keväällä 2011 Keskustorin Wayne’s Coffeen tiloissa. Videon sisällön ja käsikirjoituksen laadin itse, esiintyjänä videolla toimi kahvilayrittäjä Hannele Kalliomäki ja kuvauksen sekä materiaalin editoinnin hoiti mediatekniikan opiskelija Matti Luiro. Videon tuottaminen oli aikaavievä, mutta mielenkiintoinen projekti. Videota voidaan käyttää paitsi Keskustorin Wayne’s Coffeessa, myös laajemmin ketjutasolla esimerkiksi internetsivujen kautta tai osana vuosittaisia baristakoulutuksia.The aim of this thesis was to produce an educational video about espresso based coffee drinks for Wayne’s Coffee at Keskustori, Tampere. The video works as an introduction to new employees and trainees who are not very familiar with espresso based coffee drinks yet. There was a need for this kind of study material, because initiating employees all the way from the start takes a large part of the entrepreneur’s time and attention. The video includes theory on how to brew espresso correctly, steam milk, prepare different kinds of espresso based drinks, and how to clean the equipment. The theory part of this thesis discusses the history of espresso and the things one should pay attention to when preparing espresso based coffee drinks. The most important of them are espresso beans, the grind, machinery, and the person making the coffee, barista. The popularity of these coffee drinks and the level of know-how in modern Finland are also pondered in the work. The other section of the theory part deals with the production of educational material: which facts must be considered when planning study material, and what are the benefits when using audio-visual material in video format. The video was filmed in spring 2011 in the facilities of Wayne’s Coffee at Keskustori. I myself planned the contents of the video and wrote the manuscript, coffee shop entrepreneur Hannele Kalliomäki performed on the video, and the shooting and editing of the material was carried out by media technology student Matti Luiro. The video production process was time-consuming but interesting. The video cannot only be used in Wayne’s Coffee at Keskustori, but also widely in the whole coffee shop chain, for example through the web pages or as a part of the annual barista training

Human capital and incentives in the creation of inventions : a study of Finnish inventors

Innovation has long been acknowledged as a key factor influencing economic growth. Innovations, in turn, arise out of ideas produced by human capital. Thus, the study of inventors forms an important aspect of the economics of innovation that can offer new insights into the origins of innovative activity. Yet, economic research on inventors is scarce, and not much is known about factors that affect the inventiveness of individuals. To contribute to the study of innovation by studying inventors, we construct a detailed dataset covering almost all Finnish inventors of USPTO patents in the period 1988 to 1999, by linking the inventor information in the NBER patents and citations data file to the Finnish longitudinal employer-employee dataset. This linkage of inventor information to a dataset on the individuals and the companies they work for gives us a great opportunity to study various novel questions on inventors and the economics of innovation. Using this unique data on inventors, this thesis examines two key factors that play a role in determining individuals’ inventiveness: human capital and incentives. Human capital translates to ability, incentives imply effort. Both are needed for invention to take place. To understand these factors, in this thesis we a) examine the effect of tertiary engineering education on the propensity to patent, b) quantify the financial rewards that accrue to patent inventors, and c) investigate the life-cycle profile of the propensity to patent. The main way to accumulate human capital is through education. In Finland, educational policies in the 1960s and 1970s had a strong emphasis on engineering higher education. Thereafter, the Finnish economy has transformed into one of the most innovative economies in the world, and our data shows that a large share of the innovations (patents) is created by engineers. These facts motivate the first question in the study, which deals with the effect of tertiary engineering education on individuals’ patent productivity. Using instrumental variables based on the proximity of the universities that offer engineering education, the analysis indicates that education has a positive effect on the propensity to patent, and that educational policies can play a role in promoting a country’s innovative capacity. The establishment of three new universities that offer engineering education in different regions of Finland had the effect of inducing individuals to take up such education, which ultimately lead to increased patenting in the 1990s. The second question of the study focuses on incentives. Financial incentives play an important role in directing the time and effort of individuals, and the existence of monetary incentives for inventing is a vital factor in encouraging inventive activities. To study the role of incentives, we take the approach of examining whether financial incentives exist, i.e. do inventors earn a reward for their inventions. We analyze the returns to patent inventors by estimating the effect of granted patents on the inventors’ income. We find that inventors earn a small bonus reward in the year of the patent grant, about 3 % of their annual earnings, and 3-4 years later there is a more permanent wage increase. Inventors of highly cited patents earn the largest rewards, a wage premium of 20-30 % of annual earnings. The results indicate that the labor market provides high-powered financial rewards for employee-inventors in Finland. From the ex-ante perspective, this translates to incentives that direct individuals’ effort into inventions that lead to valuable patents. In the third part of the study, we investigate the life-cycle productivity of inventors. Our results indicate that the relationship between age and the propensity to patent has the shape of an inverse U, also suggested by the previous literature. Our data on Finnish inventors show a steeply increasing profile after the age of 25 and a peak around the early 30s with a stable period of high propensity to patent for about 10 years. From the beginning of the 40s, there appears to be a decline in the propensity to patent, although the fall is much flatter than the rise at the beginning of the caree

Association of Incoterms 2020 delivery clauses with value added tax legislation and customs legislation – a cross-border transactions review

Kansainvälisen kauppakamarin kehittämiä, lainsäädäntöön kuulumattomia, mutta globaalisti vakiintuneita Incoterms-toimituslausekkeita käytetään yritysten välisissä liikesopimuksissa jakamaan toimitussidonnaisia vastuita sopimusosapuolten kesken esimerkiksi tullimuodollisuuksiin liittyen. Sopimusvapauden vallitessa yksityisoikeudellinen vastuunjako voi kuitenkin tapahtua eri tavoin, miten oikeusnormit sallivat toimien toteutuvan. Toimituslausekkeiden osoittamalla vastuunjaolla voi myös olla välillisiä vaikutuksia arvonlisäverotukseen tai tullitoimintoihin. Tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää Incoterms 2020 -toimituslausekkeiden yhteys arvonlisävero- ja tullilainsäädäntöön lainopillista systematisointia hyödyntäen, sillä kansainvälistä liiketoimintaa harjoittavien toimijoiden on syytä ymmärtää kyseinen relaatio tarpeettomat konfliktit ja rasitteet välttääkseen. Toimituslausekkeiden tullisidonnaisen vastuunjaon merkitys korostuu unionin tullirajan ulkopuolelle suuntautuvissa transaktioissa. Tulli-ilmoittajan lainsäädäntöön pohjautuva sijoittautumisvaatimus voi aiheuttaa haasteita unioniin sijoittautumattomille toimijoille pakollisen tulli-ilmoituksen osalta. Toimituslausekkeet jakavat osapuolten kesken sopimukseen perustuen maksuvastuun tulleista, veroista ja muista maksuista, joihin lainsäädäntöön peilaten sisältynee tuontitullien lisäksi esimerkiksi lisätullit ja maahantuonnin arvonlisävero. Kansainvälistä liiketoimintaa harjoittavien toimijoiden onkin syytä harkita huolellisesti pääsäännöstä poikkeavien toimituslausekkeiden, Ex Works (EXW) ja Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), käyttämistä, sillä kyseiset toimituslausekkeet kohdentavat tullimuodollisuuksien rasitteet kokonaisuudessaan toiselle sopimusosapuolelle. Toimituslausekkeilla on myös välillinen yhteys unionin lainsäädäntöpohjaiseen tullausarvon laskentaan. Toimituslausekkeiden osoittama välitön vastuunjako arvonlisäverotuksen osalta liittyy maahantuonnin arvonlisäveroon, jolloin tarkastelu kohdentuu erityisesti verotuksen neutraliteetin toteutumiseen. Toimituslausekkeiden määrittäessä kuljetusvastuullisen osapuolen on toimituslausekkeilla heikko välillinen yhteys ketjuliiketoimien verotuskohteluun yhteisökuljetuksen luonnehdinnan kautta. Toimituslausekkeiden osoittamalla myyjän velvollisuuksien täyttymisellä ei ole vahvaa yhteyttä arvonlisäverotuksellisen toimituksen tapahtumiseen eikä tavaran omistusoikeuden siirtoon pohjautuvaan myynnin tulouttamiseen, sillä toimituslausekkeet eivät ota kantaa määräysvallan siirtymiseen. Toimituslausekkeiden osoittamat asiakirjasidonnaiset vastuut eivät määritä riittävän kattavasti lainsäädäntöön pohjautuvan tulli- ja veroliitännäisen dokumentaation toimittamisesta toiselle osapuolelle. Sopimusosapuolten onkin syytä sopia liikesopimuksessa erikseen ja erityisesti veropohjaisten maksujen suoritusvelvollisuudesta, tavaran määräysvallan siirron toteutumishetkestä sekä tarvittavan dokumentaation toimittamisesta toiselle sopimusosapuolelle tulkintaerimielisyyksien välttämiseksi.Incoterms delivery clauses, developed by the International Chamber of Commerce, are non-legislative but globally established. They are used in sales contracts to allocate delivery-related responsibilities between the contracting parties, for example in connection with customs formalities. However, when freedom of contract exists, the division of responsibility under private law may vary compared to the legal norms. The division of responsibilities indicated by delivery clauses can also have indirect effects on value added taxation or customs operations. The goal of the thesis was to examine the connection between Incoterms 2020 delivery clauses and value-added taxation legislation as well as customs legislation, using a legal method called systematization. Companies operating in international trade should understand the connection to avoid unnecessary conflicts and burdens. The importance of the customs-related division of responsibility in delivery clauses is emphasized in transactions extending beyond the customs border of the Union. However, the legislation-based establishment requirement of the customs declarant can cause challenges for operators not established in the Union in terms of mandatory customs declaration. The delivery clauses assign responsibility to contracting parties for customs duties, taxes, and other payments, which, regarding the legislation, could be considered to include not only import duties but also, e.g., additional duties and import value added tax. Operators engaged in international trade should therefore carefully consider the use of delivery clauses deviating from the main rule, Ex Works (EXW) and Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), as these delivery clauses allocate the burden of customs formalities entirely to the other party. Delivery clauses also have an indirect impact on the calculation of the customs value. In value added taxation, the direct division of responsibility indicated by the delivery clauses is related to the import value added tax, with the attention in that case focusing especially on the neutrality. The delivery clauses have a weak indirect connection with the targeting of intra-Community transport of the goods in chain transactions. The fulfillment of the seller's obligations indicated by the delivery clauses does not have a strong connection to the occurrence of the value added tax-related delivery nor to the sales revenue recognition based on the transfer of ownership of the goods, because the delivery clauses do not take a stand on the transfer of control. The document-related responsibilities indicated by the delivery clauses do not determine the delivery of the necessary customs and tax related documentation to the other party in a sufficiently comprehensive manner compared to the needs determined by the legislation. Thus, the contracting parties should agree separately and in particular on the obligation to make tax-based payments, the moment of the transfer of control of the goods, and the delivery of documentation to the other contracting party in the sales contract in order to avoid interpretation difficulties