752 research outputs found
Intangible Capital and Productivity at the Firm Level: a Panel Data Assessment
The econometric literature on measuring returns on intangible capital is vast, but we still know little about the effects on productivity of different types of intellectual capital (R&D and patents) and customer capital (trademarks and advertising).
The aim of this paper is to estimate the marginal productivity of different types of intangibles by relying on the theoretical framework of the production function, which we apply to a large panel of Italian companies. To this end, the European accounting system makes it possible to compare the impact on productivity of intangibles measured from expenditures (as usual in Anglo-American studies) with the impact of intangible assets reported by companies in their balance sheets (a measure which is available in the Italian context, for example, but less common in the literature).
Our results contribute two main findings to the literature. First, among the intangible components, the highest marginal productivity is that of intellectual capital, customer capital and intangible assets. Second, the use of accounting information on intangible investments is crucial to find high effects of intangible assets on productivity, while intangibles measured from expenses seem to play a more limited role. Preliminary results obtained from sub-samples mimicking the presence of spillovers deliver higher effects of intellectual capital on productivity, suggesting that intangibles\u2019 social value is larger than the part we can estimate with individual firm data
Physical properties of the nuclear region in Seyfert galaxies derived from observations with the European VLBI Network
We report on sensitive dual-frequency (1.7 and 5 GHz) European VLBI Network
observations of the central region of nine Seyfert galaxies. These sources are
among the faintest and least luminous members of a complete sample of nearby
(d<22 Mpc) low luminosity AGNs. We detect radio emission on milliarcsecond
scale in the nuclei of 4 galaxies, while for the other five sources we set an
upper limit of <~100 microJy. In three sources, namely NGC 3227, NGC 3982, and
NGC 4138, radio emission is detected at both 1.7 and 5 GHz and it is resolved
in two or more components. We describe the structural and spectral properties
of these features; we find that in each of these three nuclei there is one
component with high brightness temperature (typically T_B >10^7.5 K) and
flat/intermediate spectral index (0.3\leq alpha \leq 0.6, S(nu) \sim
nu^(-alpha), accompanied by secondary steep spectrum extended components. In
these cases, non-thermal emission from jets or outflows is thus the most
natural explanation. A faint feature is detected in NGC 4477 at 5 GHz; keeping
in mind the modest significance of this detection (~5sigma), we propose the hot
corona as the origin of non-thermal emission, on the basis of the unrealistic
magnetic field values required by synchrotron self-absorption. Finally, the
five non-detected nuclei remain elusive and further observations on
intermediate scales will be necessary to investigate their nature.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
A goal programming methodology for multiobjective optimization of distributed energy hubs operation
This paper addresses the problem of optimal energy flow management in multicarrier energy networks
in the presence of interconnected energy hubs. The overall problem is here formalized by a nonlinear
constrained multiobjective optimization problem and solved by a goal attainment based methodology.
The application of this solution approach allows the analyst to identify the optimal operation state of the
distributed energy hubs which ensures an effective and reliable operation of the multicarrier energy
network in spite of large variations of load demands and energy prices. Simulation results obtained on
the 30 bus IEEE test network are presented and discussed in order to demonstrate the significance and
the validity of the proposed method
Cellular automata approach to durability analysis of concrete structures in aggressive environments
This paper presents a novel approach to the problem of durability analysis and lifetime assessment of concrete structures under the diffusive attack from external aggressive agents. The proposed formulation mainly refers to beams and frames, but it can be easily extended also to other types of structures. The diffusion process is modeled by using cellular automata. The mechanical damage coupled to diffusion is evaluated by introducing suitable material degradation laws. Since the rate of mass diffusion usually depends on the stress state, the interaction between the diffusion process and the mechanical behavior of the damaged structure is also taken into account by a proper modeling of the stochastic effects in the mass transfer. To this aim, the nonlinear structural analyses during time are performed within the framework of the finite element method by means of a deteriorating reinforced concrete beam element. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology in handling complex geometrical and mechanical boundary conditions is demonstrated through some applications. Firstly, a reinforced concrete box girder cross section is considered and the damaging process is described by the corresponding evolution of both bending moment-curvature diagrams and axial force-bending moment resistance domains. Secondly, the durability analysis of a reinforced concrete continuous T-beam is developed. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to the analysis of an existing arch bridge and to the identification of its critical members
Rubbing effects on the structural and optical properties of poly(3hexylthiophene) films
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