Old firms and new products: Does experience increase survival? ESRI WP584, February 2018

We examine the relationship between exporting experience and the duration of firm export product flows. We find that more experienced firms (in years of exporting) show a higher probability of failure associated with the introduction of new products. Although apparently counter-intuitive, we show that this finding is consistent with models of multiproduct firms in which firms begin exporting by launching the products closest to their core competency and gradually expand their range of products by exporting those that are further away from their core, resulting in lower survival probability for later products. Validating this interpretation, we show that the distance of the new products to the core competency of the firm plays an important role in determining the survival of new products

Corporate taxation and the location choice of foreign direct investment in EU countries. ESRI WP591, March 2018

This paper examines the impact of corporate taxation and other factors on the attractiveness of EU countries to foreign direct investment. In comparison to previous analyses on the location choice of multinational activity in the EU, we use an improved empirical methodology to account for more flexible substitution patterns among alternative locations by considering groups of countries with similar characteristics as location options. In addition, we account for the heterogeneity of investors’ behaviour by considering intra-EU investments and investments from outside the EU. Furthermore, we identify and quantify similarities and differences with respect to the effects of corporate taxation and the effects of other factors on the location choice of foreign affiliates in manufacturing and services

Instagram Issues: Why Professional Sports Leagues Need to Reconsider How Photography and Copyrights are Governed

Playing sports is not the only way professional athletes generate income. In recent years, athletes have taken a deliberate approach towards building their personal brands to increase the value of their potential marketing and endorsement opportunities. The more known, liked, and marketable an athlete is, the greater their income potential. Athletes can increase their marketability by eliciting and creating positive interactions with fans on social media. For example, when LeBron James decides to take to Instagram and post a photograph, many fans will view it and it will garner significant engagement. However, can LeBron post whatever image of himself he wants? Does he have free reign of posting as long as he is in the photograph? Where does copyright law stand on this? What are the rights for photographers? How do collective bargaining agreements in sports intersect with the rights of these individuals and this area of law? Consider an image of LeBron towering over a defender slamming a basketball with dynamic authority during a rim-bending slam-dunk. In the background, 20,000 fans cheering, booing, celebrating, or in angst. The dunk comes in the midst of leading his team during a hard-fought road game, and due in part to his play, they come out victorious. LeBron surely may want to share this with his social media following. To begin, he is likely proud, but secondly, such a post would generate great interaction. Posting such a photo may be great for James and his individual likeness, help grow his persona, and potentially lead to an increase in his net worth. However, are such posts legal? Are such posts permitted under existing collective bargaining agreements? If it is not clear by now, these questions implicate issues unique to copyright law. Consider an example from December 2019, when James posted a photo depicting the previously mentioned dunk. The photo was taken by photographer Steve Mitchell. As discussed in this note, James likely could not legally post the photo without committing copyright infringement. Moreover, the National Basketball Association’s Collective Bargain Agreement currently does not protect James. Perhaps, the Collective Bargaining Agreement should be updated to reflect the realities of the digital age and current social media trends to amply protect athletes. Because many collective bargaining agreements are outdated, professional athletes have become targets for photojournalists to sue for copyright infringement. Accordingly, the agreements governing professional sports leagues are best suited to address how photography and any accompanying copyright rights are handled. Implementing the changes recommended in this note will reduce disputes while supporting the creation of new works that can be consumed and enjoyed by the public. This note discusses the application of copyright law to this context including how copyright law impacts collective bargaining agreements. Part III discusses prior, analogous cases where similar issues have arisen, Part VI walks through a detailed analysis of the Mitchell v. James lawsuits, and finally, Part V provides recommendations to better protect athletes from liability

The Emergence of Wearable Technology and the Legal Implications for Athletes, Teams, Leagues and Other Sports Organizations Across Amateur and Professional Athletics

The year was 1998. The Chicago Bulls were playing in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. Michael Jordan was wearing his iconic, bright, red number 23 Bulls jersey. Jordan had led the Bulls to their third consecutive finals appearance, pursuing their sixth NBA Championship title of the decade. However, this was not his fight alone, as his teammates were fighting merely to get on the court. Ron Harper was playing while sick, and Toni Kukoc was battling fatigue. Another teammate and future Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen was playing through an injury. The extent of the illness, fatigue, and injury were not disclosed to the fans watching the game. Of equal importance, this was only known within the Bulls locker room, while the Utah Jazz were not fully aware. The Bulls went on to battle, keeping it a close game and eventually overcoming a three-point deficit with under a minute remaining. The Bulls won the game 87-86, becoming the NBA Champions once again. Now, decades later, one can not help but wonder, what if the Utah Jazz knew of these obstacles the Bulls players were facing? What if there was technology in place to inform the fans, and potentially the Jazz, of the individual Bulls players’ vitals and health information? What if those bright red Bulls jerseys were equipped with bio-sensing, silver fibers that could measure precisely this type of information? What if this game was catapulted 30 years into the future? What if the game took place in 2028 with the technology of the time impacting it? Would the Bulls have ever stood a chance? What information would have been private? What information would have been shared and known? Wearable technology is infiltrating its way within the sports world and is going to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. The question league commissioners, athletic board members, business decision-makers, legal scholars, lawmakers, and even fans need to ask themselves is: is wearable technology really all for the good? Or is there an awaiting detriment intertwined with this technology that is essential to realize, in order to protect not only athletes’ individual rights, but also fair competition? Plain and short, is wearable technology really something we want in the future of our sports? Is it in the best interest of professional athletes? What about the best interest of amateur athletes? Wearable technology raises issues of regulation, privacy, and ownership concerns of information stemming from the professional to the amateur sports levels. These are important issues because fundamental rights and liberties are at stake, and the technology of this nature is rapidly expanding. This note will analyze these issues, and address (1) the history and development of wearable technology and why it is important in sports; (2) the regulations, privacy, and ownership implications of wearable technology in amateur and professional sports; and (3) the issues present in current law and possible solutions, including the potential expansion of regulations impacting athletes

Implementing a Trauma-sensitive School Approach

With the rise in awareness of adverse childhood experiences, how to handle students who have experienced trauma is a growing concern. Trauma is not only inclusive of child abuse, but the result of any event such as natural disaster, death, or accident that overwhelms a child’s ability to cope. The outcome is a change in the developmental structure of the brain leading to changes in student’s behavior, academics, and/or emotions. Schools are beginning to implement a new approach that assumes all students have experienced trauma and therefore alters the school’s policies, procedures, discipline, community collaboration, and teaching methods. Implementation of trauma-sensitive schools are helping provide students with a safer school environment and cope in more supportive ways to traumatic reactions of students with trauma. Trauma-sensitive schools include collaboration within the community, training to all staff members coming in contact with students, implementing new discipline and teaching strategies, and morphing policies and procedures to better support these students

Wiedza weterynaryjna i metody leczenia zwierząt – w świetle dziewiętnastowieczna dokumentów z Archiwum Potockich i Ostrowskich z Maluszyna

Veterinary formulas were probably collected and written down by the Ostrowski family of Maluszyn. Written in four scripts on several sheets of paper, they are a valuable source of information on the treatment of animals, including, in particular, horse diseases (coughing, heaves (broken wind), strangles, glanders, etc.), as well as diseases of horned cattle (Equine infectious anemia (EIA – swamp fever), spleen gangrene, carbuncle and plague) and finally, domestic pig diseases (pharyngitis, palatitis, buttocks gangrene, dizziness, smallpox, leprosy, etc.). A valuable source of knowledge for the author of the article turned out to be also the first script entitled „Veterinary medicine of 7 October 1825”. It contains a range of guidelines on how to raise and care for animals. On the other pages of the scripts one can find additional notes on veterinary medicine, medicinal formulas for medicineseye problems, a list of plants for the first aid kit as well as advice on how to behave during the treatment of convulsions. The Ostrowski family of Maluszyn was an example to follow during the capitalist transformation in Polish agriculture. It was not without significance to collect information and write it down precisely in scripts, stored in Maluszyn library carefully. Their methods of animal breeding and care stood for were a model to follow for other landed estates.Przepisy weterynaryjne zostały prawdopodobnie zebrane i spisane przez rodzinę Ostrowskich z Maluszyna. Przepisy weterynaryjne – zapisane w czterech skryptach na kilkunastu kartkach – stanowią cenne źródło informacji dotyczące leczenia zwierząt, a w tym w szczególności opisane są choroby koni (o kaszlu, dychawicy, zołzach, nosaciźnie itd.), a także o chorobach bydła rogatego (o gorączkach z bagnisk, gangrenie śledziony, karbunkule i zarazach) i w końcu trzody chlewnej (o zapaleniu gardła, chorobie podniebieniowej, gangrenie pośladków, zawrotach, ospie, trądzie itp.). Cennym źródłem wiedzy dla Autorki artykułu okazał się również skrypt pierwszy pt. Weterynaria z 7 października 1825 r. Zawiera on szereg porad dotyczących wychowania i opieki nad zwierzętami. Na pozostałych kartkach skryptów można odnaleźć dodatkowe notatki z zakresu weterynarii, przepisy dla oczów, spis roślin do apteczki domowej, jak również porady dotyczące zachowania w czasie kuracji na konwulsje. Domena Ostrowskich z Maluszyna stanowiła wzór przemian kapitalistycznych w polskim rolnictwie. Nie bez znaczenia było zbieranie informacji i dokładne spisywanie ich w skryptach, pieczołowicie przechowywanych w bibliotece maluszyńskiej. Hodowla zwierząt i dbałość o nie stanowiła wzór do naśladowania dla innych majątków ziemskich

Presenting the WYRED project at EduDays 2017 Conference

Presentation of WYRED (netWorked Youth Research for Empowerment in the Digital society) a H2020 project in EDU|days 2017 event, held in Donau-Universität Krems on April 5-6, 2017. On 5 and 6 April the EduDays took place in Krems, a conference for teachers of all subjects with a view to critically reflecting teaching and learning with digital media at the schools and giving impulses for an optimal use. MOVES was represented with a Pecha-Kucha presentation on WYRED. This is a very interesting lecture format in which you can focus on the essentials in exactly 400 seconds and then discuss them personally with interested people in a World Café