On the convergence of the Fitness-Complexity Algorithm

We investigate the convergence properties of an algorithm which has been recently proposed to measure the competitiveness of countries and the quality of their exported products. These quantities are called respectively Fitness F and Complexity Q. The algorithm was originally based on the adjacency matrix M of the bipartite network connecting countries with the products they export, but can be applied to any bipartite network. The structure of the adjacency matrix turns to be essential to determine which countries and products converge to non zero values of F and Q. Also the speed of convergence to zero depends on the matrix structure. A major role is played by the shape of the ordered matrix and, in particular, only those matrices whose diagonal does not cross the empty part are guaranteed to have non zero values as outputs when the algorithm reaches the fixed point. We prove this result analytically for simplified structures of the matrix, and numerically for real cases. Finally, we propose some practical indications to take into account our results when the algorithm is applied.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Economic Development and Inequality: a complex system analysis

By borrowing methods from complex system analysis, in this paper we analyze the features of the complex relationship that links the development and the industrialization of a country to economic inequality. In order to do this, we identify industrialization as a combination of a monetary index, the GDP per capita, and a recently introduced measure of the complexity of an economy, the Fitness. At first we explore these relations on a global scale over the time period 1990--2008 focusing on two different dimensions of inequality: the capital share of income and a Theil measure of wage inequality. In both cases, the movement of inequality follows a pattern similar to the one theorized by Kuznets in the fifties. We then narrow down the object of study ad we concentrate on wage inequality within the United States. By employing data on wages and employment on the approximately 3100 US counties for the time interval 1990--2014, we generalize the Fitness-Complexity algorithm for counties and NAICS sectors, and we investigate wage inequality between industrial sectors within counties. At this scale, in the early nineties we recover a behavior similar to the global one. While, in more recent years, we uncover a trend reversal: wage inequality monotonically increases as industrialization levels grow. Hence at a county level, at net of the social and institutional factors that differ among countries, we not only observe an upturn in inequality but also a change in the structure of the relation between wage inequality and development

A teaching/learning path on the concept of mass and mass-energy relationship for upper secondary school

A content-oriented research on the fundamental physics concept of mass and mass-energy relationship was carried out, according to the tenets of Design-based Research and adopting the Model of Educational Reconstruction. The classical and special-relativistic meanings of mass were reconstructed through a vertical approach, by exploiting a \uabhistorical line\ubb. This brought to design two teaching/learning paths, which were iteratively tested and revised by 14 formative intervention experiments in upper secondary school. Inquiry-based Learning, visualization, WTL strategy, RTEI (POE, PEC), \uabcollective reasoning\ubb by interactive/dialogic and interactive/authoritative discourse were used, together with innovative educational materials. Students\u2019 learning process was locally and globally studied by analysing conceptual change, learning pathways and reasoning profiles.\uc8 stata condotta una ricerca specifica sul concetto fisico fondamentale di massa e sulla relazione massa-energia, secondo i principi della Design-based Research e adottando il Model of Educational Reconstruction. I significati di massa in fisica classica e relativit\ue0 ristretta sono stati ricostruiti attraverso un approccio verticale, utilizzando una \uablinea storica\ubb. Ci\uf2 ha portato a progettare due percorsi di insegnamento/apprendimento, che sono stati testati e modificati iterativamente attraverso 14 sperimentazioni didattiche nella scuola secondaria superiore. Sono stati utilizzati Inquiry-based Learning, visualizzazione, strategia WTL, RTEI (POE, PEC), ragionamento collettivo tramite conversazioni interattivo/autoritarie e interattivo/dialogiche, assieme a materiali didattici innovativi (in particolare esperimenti mentali). Il processo di apprendimento degli studenti \ue8 stato studiato globalmente e localmente analizzando il cambio concettuale, i percorsi di apprendimento e i profili di ragionamento

The Spinning Jenny and the Guillotine: Technological Diffusion at the Time of Revolutions

Why was England the cradle of the Industrial Revolution? The present work shows that scale economies and demand, combined with the conditions of the relative prices of input factors, allow to provide a purely economic answer to this question. The labor-saving innovations of the Industrial Revolution were profitable only if, after their adoption, sales expanded enough to cover the upfront cost of capital. For some time, England was the only country in which sales exceeded the minimum threshold required to make adoption profitable. This fact is illustrated here by means of a detailed case study centered on the cotton industry and on the adoption of the spinning jenny in England and in France at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. By then, the sufficiently large and relatively well-off English middle class could guarantee to cotton spinners a level of sales that was not viable in France, where income was lower and more concentrated in the hands of the upper classes.Industrial Revolution, income distribution, economies of scale, choice of technique, spinning jenny

Collaborate, compete and share

We introduce and study a model of an interacting population of agents who collaborate in groups which compete for limited resources. Groups are formed by random matching agents and their worth is determined by the sum of the efforts deployed by agents in group formation. Agents, on their side, have to share their effort between contributing to their group's chances to outcompete other groups and resource sharing among partners, when the group is successful. A simple implementation of this strategic interaction gives rise to static and evolutionary properties with a very rich phenomenology. A robust emerging feature is the coexistence in the population of agents who invest mainly in the success of their group and agents who concentrate in getting the largest share of their group's profits.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, published versio

The scientific influence of nations on global scientific and technological development

Determining how scientific achievements influence the subsequent process of knowledge creation is a fundamental step in order to build a unified ecosystem for studying the dynamics of innovation and competitiveness. Relying separately on data about scientific production on one side, through bibliometric indicators, and about technological advancements on the other side, through patents statistics, gives only a limited insight on the key interplay between science and technology which, as a matter of fact, move forward together within the innovation space. In this paper, using citation data of both research papers and patents, we quantify the direct influence of the scientific outputs of nations on further advancements in science and on the introduction of new technologies. Our analysis highlights the presence of geo-cultural clusters of nations with similar innovation system features, and unveils the heterogeneous coupled dynamics of scientific and technological advancements. This study represents a step forward in the buildup of an inclusive framework for knowledge creation and innovation

Dynamics in the Fitness-Income plane: Brazilian states vs World countries

In this paper we introduce a novel algorithm, called Exogenous Fitness, to calculate the Fitness of subnational entities and we apply it to the states of Brazil. In the last decade, several indices were introduced to measure the competitiveness of countries by looking at the complexity of their export basket. Tacchella et al (2012) developed a non-monetary metric called Fitness. In this paper, after an overview about Brazil as a whole and the comparison with the other BRIC countries, we introduce a new methodology based on the Fitness algorithm, called Exogenous Fitness. Combining the results with the Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDPp), we look at the dynamics of the Brazilian states in the Fitness-Income plane. Two regimes are distinguishable: one with high predictability and the other with low predictability, showing a deep analogy with the heterogeneous dynamics of the World countries. Furthermore, we compare the ranking of the Brazilian states according to the Exogenous Fitness with the ranking obtained through two other techniques, namely Endogenous Fitness and Economic Complexity Index