How do firms respond to cheaper computers? Microeconometric evidence for France based on a production function approach

The continuous innovation process experienced by the information technology industries over the last decades has caused the price of computer power to decrease dramatically. This has led many firms to invest massively in increasingly efficient computers. This paper is an attempt to assess the impact of the fall of the cost of this particular input, on the performances of firms in terms of marginal cost, aggregate labor demand and employment by skill. Unlike most studies dealing with the technological bias issue, most of which rely on the estimation of factor demand equations, our evaluation of the complementarities between computers, skilled and unskilled labor rests on the sole estimation of a production function. We define a set of parameters of interest, depending on the observations and on the structural parameters of the production function, enabling us to examine the impact of the computer price decrease on marginal cost, labor demand and the relative demand for skills. Using a panel of more than 5000 continuing French firms followed between 1994 and 1997, we estimate a translog production function and find that the effects of the decrease in the price of computers have been large, both in terms of marginal cost reduction and in terms of skill structure. A 15% fall of the computer price should lead to a decrease of around 0.7% in the marginal cost of production and to a rise of about 3.5% of the skilled to unskilled ratio, other input prices being held fixed.Computers, production function, marginal cost, factor demands, technological bias

\u3ci\u3eMarkman\u3c/i\u3e Twenty Years Later: Twenty Years of Unintended Consequences

The Federal Circuit’s Markman decision removed juries from the claim interpretation process, thereby revolutionizing patent law. Designed to provide greater certainty and predictability, Markman nevertheless produced unintended consequences, increasing ambiguity and complexity. By declaring claim interpretation an entirely legal issue, the Federal Circuit imposed intricate and even contradictory rules, many resulting from the Federal Circuit’s long insistence that no issues of fact existed, so that claim construction was entirely subject to de novo review. The uncertainty was compounded by rules focused on semantic quibbles unrelated to what was invented. Increased burdens and continuing uncertainty followed

Corrosion behavior of zircaloy

Zirconium base alloys are widely used in water cooled nuclear reactors where their high cost is offset by their low neutron cross section and relatively good resistance to corrosion in water. Although the amount of corrosion is quite small, an accurate estimate of the amount to be expected is required for good reactor design. \u27This estimate is made by extrapolating available data to the expected life of the reactor. For valid approximations it is necessary to know the form of this corrosion rate curve

IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AS LEARNERS OF SCIENCE AT AN INFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION CAMP

Education researchers and practitioners are increasingly recognizing the need for learning in informal settings to complement formal science learning (Bybee, 2001; Falk, 2001). Informal science education may be critical in meeting the goals of reform and in keeping students and the public informed of advances in science. As such, greater attention has been given to learning in informal science settings. A growing body of research examines how groups engage in learning conversations to make meaning from content and exhibits in these settings. The National Research Council (2009) speculated that individual and group identity might be shaped and reinforced during such learning conversations. The central research question guiding the study was: What is the role of conversation in influencing science learner identity development during an informal science education camp? Identity in this study was defined as becoming and being recognized as a certain type of person (Gee, 2001). This study focused particularly on discursive identity, defined as individual traits recognized through discourse with other individuals (Gee, 2005; 2011). The study used an exploratory case study. Data collection included videotaped observations, researcher field notes, interviews and participants' reflective journal entries. Each source of data was examined for the conversation that it generated. I used qualitative methods to analyze the data including discourse analysis and the constant comparison method for emergent themes. From the findings of this study, I theorized that the learning conversations played a role in developing participants' identities as learners of science. Participants used language in the following ways: to make sense of science content, to position themselves, to align their discourse and practices with science, to communicate with others which resulted in engagement, to re-negotiate power, and to see others in new ways. The findings of this research support and extend the research literature on identity, learning conversations in informal science education environments and science camp programs. Implications from this study include recommendations for the design of science camps to support identity development as learners of science for participants