Capabilities and Governance the Rebirth of Production in the Theory of Economic Organization

We argue that since Coase’s seminal 1937 paper on “The Nature of the Firm,” there has been an odd and unjustified separation between price theory and the economics of organization. For example, matters of production has been the domain of the former exclusively. However, a new approach to economic organization, here called “the capabilities approach,” that places production center-stage in the explanation of economic organization, is now emerging. We discuss the sources of this approach and its relation to the mainstream economics of organization.Capability, Theory of the Firm, Price Theory

The Relational Antecedents of Interpersonal Helping: ‘Quantity’, ‘Quality’ or Both?

Having a large network of colleagues means having several opportunities to help those colleagues, as well as a higher chance of receiving requests for help from them. Employees with large networks are therefore expected to help more in the workplace than those with small networks. However, large networks are also associated with cognitive costs, which may reduce the focal employee's ability to both recognize the need for help and engage in helping behaviours. For these reasons, the authors assert an inverted U-shaped relation between the size of an ego's social network and engagement in helping behaviour. However, high-quality relationships imply higher mutual understanding between the actors, and hence lower cognitive costs. In turn, the position (and threshold) of the curve between network size and interpersonal helping should be influenced by the quality of the relationship between the provider and the beneficiaries of help. Analysis of employee-level, single-firm data supports these ideas, providing preliminary evidence that quality of relationship compensates for the difficulties that may arise from having large social networks

Langevin approach to synchronization of hyperchaotic time-delay dynamics

In this paper, we characterize the synchronization phenomenon of hyperchaotic scalar non-linear delay dynamics in a fully-developed chaos regime. Our results rely on the observation that, in that regime, the stationary statistical properties of a class of hyperchaotic attractors can be reproduced with a linear Langevin equation, defined by replacing the non-linear delay force by a delta-correlated noise. Therefore, the synchronization phenomenon can be analytically characterized by a set of coupled Langevin equations. We apply this formalism to study anticipated synchronization dynamics subject to external noise fluctuations as well as for characterizing the effects of parameter mismatch in a hyperchaotic communication scheme. The same procedure is applied to second order differential delay equations associated to synchronization in electro-optical devices. In all cases, the departure with respect to perfect synchronization is measured through a similarity function. Numerical simulations in discrete maps associated to the hyperchaotic dynamics support the formalism.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Time-dependent fields and anisotropy dominated magnetic media

We use a single dipole approximation to analyze the behavior of anisotropy-dominated magnetic nanoparticles subjected to an external r.f. field. We identify the steady state oscillations and analyze their stability. We also analyze the case when the external r.f. field has a time-dependent frequency which insures the most effective switching of the magnetization

The Rebirth of Production in the Theory of Economic Organization

We argue that since Coase’s seminal 1937 paper on “The Nature of the Firm,” there has been an odd and unjustified separation between price theory and the economics of organization. For example, matters of production has been the domain of the former exclusively. However, a new approach to economic organization, here called “the capabilities approach,” that places production center-stage in the explanation of economic organization, is now emerging. We discuss the sources of this approach and its relation to the mainstream economics of organization

From paradox to pattern shift: Conceptualising liminal hotspots and their affective dynamics

This article introduces the concept of liminal hotspots as a specifically psychosocial and sociopsychological type of wicked problem, best addressed in a process-theoretical framework. A liminal hotspot is defined as an occasion characterised by the experience of being trapped in the interstitial dimension between different forms-of-process. The paper has two main aims. First, to articulate a nexus of concepts associated with liminal hotspots that together provide general analytic purchase on a wide range of problems concerning “troubled” becoming. Second, to provide concrete illustrations through examples drawn from the health domain. In the conclusion, we briefly indicate the sense in which liminal hotspots are part of broader and deeper historical processes associated with changing modes for the management and navigation of liminality