Examiner trust in applicants to the European Patent Office: country specificities

Indicators based on the probability of applicant citations in patents have been used to emphasize the importance of distinguishing applicant and examiner citations. However, the interpretation of these indicators and of the presence of applicant citations in European Patent Office (EPO) examiner reports is still uncertain. Based on interviews with patent examiners and patent applicants, we develop the idea that applicant citations in EPO examiner reports indicate examiner trust in applicants, and that this trust varies according to national patterns. Using EPO data for over 3,500,000 citations during 1997–2007, we verify that examiner trust in applicants is higher in granted patents. Examiners trust applicants from scientifically or economically strong countries, from member states of the European Patent Organization, and from the same country of the examiners

The coevolution of endogenous knowledge networks and knowledge creation

Knowledge creation is increasingly a collaborative process, but empirical studies provide conflicting evidence on whether the relation between knowledge creation and number of collaborators is positive, negative, or nonexistent. The simulation model developed in this paper offers a deeper formal theoretical understanding and analyzes the feedback between the processes of knowledge creation and network collaboration. The model is formed by two functions, one for the formation of the network and another for the creation of knowledge, that suffice to reproduce the three coevolution scenarios described in the empirical literature. Due to the feedback mechanisms between the two functions, changes in one of the parameters deeply affect the outcome of the model, both in the amount of knowledge produced and the structure of the resulting network, as well as in the relation between them. Analyses of collaborative knowledge creation would benefit from taking into account this feedback

Cultural transmission and persistence of entrepreneurship

\u3cp\u3eThis paper contributes to explain the persistence of differences in levels of entrepreneurship within and across countries. We provide an explanation based on the dynamic interplay between purposeful intergenerational transmission of preferences for entrepreneurship and public administration efficiency. Individuals vote on taxes, and the collected taxes fund the civil servants’ wages. The performance of the administration generating an efficient normative and regulatory environment, affects the success of entrepreneurship. We show that an economy can reach two different long-run equilibria: a traditional equilibrium, with a low proportion of entrepreneurs, high taxes and an inefficient administration and, an entrepreneurial equilibrium with a high proportion of entrepreneurs and, lower taxes but enough to implement an efficient administration. The equilibrium achieved depends on the tax policy followed by the different generations. If decisions are made by majority voting in a myopic way, then the initial conditions of the society become crucial. This result explains persistence: an economy evolves around similar levels of entrepreneurship unless some reforms are implemented.\u3c/p\u3

Theories for computing prosocial behavior

\u3cp\u3eMost relevant theories of prosocial behavior aim at exploring and understanding helping motivations from an evolutionary perspective. This article summarizes findings from research on prosocial behavior from both a socio-economic and psychological perspective. Building on literature exploring the basic processes and determinant variables of helping, we propose a stochastic and dynamic model to simulate prosocial behaviors over time and recreate evolutionary processes of helping behaviors. Such a mathematical model formalizes a procedure for dynamic simulations, including agent-based modeling, which implies non-linear dynamics of prosocial processes underlying helping motivations. Practical implications for organizations and societies are addressed.\u3c/p\u3

Dynamic interactions between university-industry knowledge transfer channels: A case study of the most highly cited academic patent

This paper examines the succession of formal and informal channels of university-industry knowledge transfer, and the local economic impact of their dynamic interaction. To do so, we investigate a highly cited university patent over an extended period of time through a case study methodology. Our work provides three fundamental insights. First, local economic impact can be achieved only after a complex, temporally unfolding sequence of interactions between formal and informal channels of knowledge transfer. Second, in the course of this dynamic interaction, knowledge generated during formal transfer activities may be transferred via informal channels. Third, the method developed can provide information on the variety of knowledge transfer channels related to highly cited patents