Knowledge diffusion from FDI and Intellectual Property Rights

We study the extent to which a country's strength of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection mediates knowledge spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Following the opposing views in the IPR debate, we propose a negative effect of IPR strength on unintentional horizontal (intra-industry) knowledge diffusion. Using a unique firm-level dataset of large, publicly traded firms in 22 (mostly) developed countries, we find partial support for these expectations. Strong IPR indeed reduces horizontal knowledge diffusion, while it stimulates backward (to suppliers) knowledge diffusion. Somewhat unexpectedly however, we also find that forward (to customers) knowledge diffusion decreases with IPR strength. In general, and in line with earlier literature, the results regarding backward knowledge diffusion are most robust to changes in model specification. Our results contribute to the debate regarding the desirability of strengthening national IPR systems, and suggest that local firms might indeed benefit from this through their (backward) linkages with multinationals. Additionally, our results suggest that the moderating effect of IPR strength might partly explain the inconclusive results in the FDI knowledge diffusion literature.

Proceedings of the Conference on Globalization and Its Discontents

This paper addresses the discussion about the desirability of international trade. It starts out from the stylized observation that trade economists and ‘anti-globalists’ not only reject each others conclusions, but also the validity of the reference frame in which the other side makes its arguments. We mend for this problem, constructing a rational dialogue between the various parties by making differences in criteria and modes of analysis explicit. Instead of seeking to develop a comprehensive common framework, we adopt a ‘pluralist’ position, in which we only create a common structure in so far as necessary for meaningful dialogue. We judge the effects of trade as they follow from both the analytical models used by proponents and opponents and from the perspectives of both the criteria used by proponents and opponents. Applying different criteria to both standard and poverty-sensitive trade models, we find that both camps have valid cases, but also that diagonally opposite positions do not necessarily lead to different judgements regarding the desirability of trade. Once differences in preconceptions and criteria are cleared, a fruitful debate is therefore possible. We conclude that the debate about free trade cannot be settled by economics and should in the end take place in the moral and political arena.international trade, globalization,

Explaining the wage gap: Heckscher-Ohlin, economic geography and services availability

In the debate on globalisation and wage inequality Heckscher-Ohlin, economic geography and services availability theory has featured prominently. However, a neglected mechanism by which globalisation affects labour market outcomes is through the in-creased tradability of producer services. By integrating elements of Heck-scher- Ohlin theory, the economic geography literature and the literature on producer services linkages, we show that the impact of globalisation on the relative wages is a sophisticated combination of the effects that play a key-role in these models. The most important result we find is that the fall in transportation costs of producer services might indeed have caused the sharp increase in wage inequality. (JEL F1, R1)

Graphic design in the United States targeting Hispanic consumers.

One in six United States citizens (almost seventeen percent of the population) identifies themselves as Hispanic.1 As this demographic continues to grow in numbers and expand its influence on the country, it is worth exploring how to better target this audience. Many advertising and design agencies are already reaching out to U.S. Latinos, but are they doing so effectively? Although more companies are attempting to reach out to this demographic, their attempts may be unsuccessful. Understanding what makes these advertisements successful or unsuccessful can be extremely effective in determining how to better target the Hispanic market. An analysis of Hispanic culture and design reveals that designers and advertisers can more effectively target the Latino audience by achieving a deeper understanding of the group. This paper examines how to effectively target the Hispanic audience based on insight into their culture, culminating in a design project that puts this information into practice

Multilayers for high-Tc superconducting electric field effect devices

Epitaxial multilayers, consisting of a PrBa2Cu3O7-x buffer layer, ultrathin YBa2Cu3O7-x and SrTiO3, have been grown for application in electric field effect devices. Different analytical techniques indicate a sharp interface between the layers and good dielectric properties of the SrTiO3-layer. First measurements show clear modification of the superconductor's current-voltage characteristics upon applying electric fields of 0.1-1 MV/cm

Knowledge diffusion from FDI and intellectual property rights

We study the extent to which a country's strength of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection mediates knowledge spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Following the opposing views in the IPR debate, we propose a negative effect of IPR strength on unintentional horizontal (intra-industry) knowledge diffusion. Using a unique firm-level dataset of large, publicly traded firms in 22 (mostly) developed countries, we find partial support for these expectations. Strong IPR indeed reduces horizontal knowledge diffusion, while it stimulates backward (to suppliers) knowledge diffusion. Somewhat unexpectedly however, we also find that forward (to customers) knowledge diffusion decreases with IPR strength. In general, and in line with earlier literature, the results regarding backward knowledge diffusion are most robust to changes in model specification. Our results contribute to the debate regarding the desirability of strengthening national IPR systems, and suggest that local firms might indeed benefit from this through their (backward) linkages with multinationals. Additionally, our results suggest that the moderating effect of IPR strength might partly explain the inconclusive results in the FDI knowledge diffusion literature

A Category-Theoretic Compositional Framework of Perceptron-Based Neural Networks plus an Architecture for Modeling Sequences Conditioned to Time-Structured Context: An Implementation of a Generative Model of Jazz Solo Improvisations

This work introduces an algebraic graphical language of perceptrons, multilayer perceptrons, recurrent neural networks, and long short-term memory neural networks, via string diagrams of a suitable hypergraph category equipped with a concatenation diagram operation by means of a monoidal endofunctor. Using this language, we introduce a neural network architecture for modeling sequential data in which each sequence is subject to a specific context with a temporal structure, that is, each data point of a sequence is conditioned to a different past, present, and future context than the other points. As proof of concept, this architecture is implemented as a generative model of jazz solo improvisations