Bs Physics at LEP, SLD, and CDF: Delta m_s and Delta Gamma_s

The current status of the experimental knowledge of \Bs meson physics is reviewed. Results from LEP and CDF on the width difference \dgs are presented, the corresponding average is found to be in good agreement with the present theoretical estimation. The \Bs oscillations have not yet been resolved, despite the progress recently achieved by SLD and ALEPH. The world combination, including results from the LEP experiments, SLD and CDF, is presented, together with the expected and observed lower limit on the \Bs oscillation frequency. A tantalizing hint of an oscillation is observed around \dms\sim17 \psin, near future results could increase the significance of this hint.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to BCP4 conferenc

The Bs oscillation amplitude analysis

The properties of the amplitude method for \Bs oscillation analyses are studied in detail. The world combination of measured amplitudes is converted into a likelihood profile as a function of oscillation frequency. A procedure is proposed to estimate the probability that the minimum observed is due to a statistical fluctuation. This method, applied to the data available at the time of 1999 Winter Conferences, gives $1 - CL \approx 0.03$ .Comment: 27 pages, 16 figur

Industrial districts, innovation and I-district effect: territory or industrial specialization?

The I-district effect hypothesis establishes the existence of highly intense innovation in Marshallian industrial districts due to the presence of external localization economies. However, industrial districts are characterized by specific manufacturing specializations in such a way that this effect could be due to these dominant specializations. The objective of this research is to test whether the effect is explained by the conditions of the territory or by the industrial specialization and to provide additional evidence of the existence and causes of the highly intense innovation in industrial districts (I-district effect). The estimates for Spain of a fixed effects model interacting territory and industry suggest that the high innovative performance of industrial districts is maintained across sectors whereas the industrial specialization behaves differently depending on the type of local production system in which it is placed. The I-district effect is related to the conditions of the territory more than to the industrial specialization. The territory is a key variable in explaining the processes of innovation and should be considered a basic dimension in the design of innovation and industrial policies.industrial districts, innovation, external economies, district effect

Sources of Competitiveness in Tourist Local Systems

At the end of the XIX Century, Marshall described the existence of some concentrations of small and medium enterprises specialised in a specific production activity in certain districts of some industrial English cities. Starting from his contribute, Italian scholars have paid particular attention to this local system of production coined by Marshall under the term “industrial district”. In other countries, different but related territorial models have played a central role as the “milieu” or the “geographical industrial clusters”. Recently, these models have been extended to non-industrial fields like culture, rural activities and tourism. In this text, we explore the extension of these territorial models to the study of tourist activities in Italy, using a framework that can be easily applied to other countries or regions. The paper is divided in five sections. In the first one, we propose a review of the territorial models applied to tourism industry. In the second part, we construct a tourist filiere and we apply a methodology for the identification of local systems through GIS tools. Thus, taxonomy of the Italian Tourist Local Systems is presented. In the third part, we discuss about the sources of competitiveness of these Tourist Local Systems. In the forth section, we test a spatial econometrics model regarding different kinds of Italian Tourist Local Systems (rural systems, arts cities, tourist districts) in order to measure external economies and territorial networks. Finally, conclusions and policy implications are exposed.

Knowledge, networks of cities and growth in regional urban systems

The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of different kinds of knowledge and external economies on urban growth in an intraregional context. The main hypothesis is that knowledge leads to growth, and that this knowledge is related to the existence of agglomeration and network externalities in cities. We develop a three-stage methodology: first, we measure the amount and growth of knowledge in cities using the OCDE (2003) classification and employment data; second, we identify the spatial structure of the area of analysis (networks of cities); third, we combine the Glaeser - Henderson - De Lucio models with spatial econometric specifications in order to contrast the existence of spatially static (agglomeration) and spatially dynamic (network) external economies in an urban growth model. Results suggest that higher growth rates are associated to higher levels of technology and knowledge. The growth of the different kinds of knowledge is related to local and spatial factors (agglomeration and network externalities) and each knowledge intensity shows a particular response to these factors. These results have implications for policy design, since we can forecast and intervene on local knowledge development paths.Knowledge city, networks of cities, urban growth, external economies, spatial econometrics.

Knowledge, networks of cities and growth in regional urban systems: theory, measurement and policy implications

The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of different kinds of knowledge and external economies on the urban growth in an intraregional network of cities. The paper is divided in five sections. First section (theoretical framework) exposes the relation between the knowledge-based city, networks of cities, external economies and urban growth. Second section exposes a methodology for the measurement of knowledge in cities and the identification of knowledge-based networks of cities. Third section exposes a model to measure the effects of knowledge and external economies (static and dynamic) on the urban growth. Fourth section applies this model to a case study (Catalonia). Finally, conclusions and policy implications are exposed. Keywords: knowledge-based city, networks of cities, urban growth, external economies, spatial econometrics. JEL: R11, R12, O3