Analyzing the Spillover Mechanism on the Semiconductor Industry in the Silicon Valley and Route 128

To understand the impact of science and engineering innovations on economic growth requires relating discoveries to products, and identifying the scientists and engineers who are responsible for the knowledge transfer. Studies reliant on geographic proximity alone can show only that economic activity varies positively with the amount of research being done at a university [David (1992), Nelson and Romer (1996), Jaffe (1989,93)]. These "geographically localized knowledge spillovers" have proved unable to explain what it is about research universities that is crucial for their local economic impact (training, the research findings?) and, therefore, are unconvincing both to policy makers and the public. This paper analyses the spillover mechanism identifying its main components by analyzing the effect of university-based star scientists through explicit and implicit ties, and the effect of other neighbor firms, on the performance of semiconductor enterprises measured with patents. Explicit ties are modeled by the full and part-time job mobility of scientists located in universities; and implicit ties, by the presence of positive externalities or spillover effects to the firms of untied scientists at Universities in the same economic area. Specifically, this study examines the Silicon Valley and Route 128 cases in detail identifying the differences and similarities between these two major semiconductor regions in their spillover mechanisms. Previous research on high-technology industries has demonstrated the importance of geographically localized "knowledge spillovers" by building specific links between university scientists and firms and estimating the local effects of different types of links. This research goes an step forward, by not only measuring the effect of University research through the direct ties to firms (Zucker, Darby, Armstrong; 1998); but also measuring the importance of the inside industry R&D spillovers in the growth of the region.

The access and welfare impacts of telecommunications technology in Peru

This paper attempts to assess three main issues on Peruvian telecommunications technology: what are the main variables that explain the demand for access to telephone services; how important is access to telephone services in explaining the transition out of poverty, and what are the consumption and welfare impacts of the significant increase in the supply of telephone lines since the divestiture in 1994 of the Peruvian telephone services. To accomplish our goal we will use two methodologies. Firstly, we will concentrate on residential telephony based on a countrywide representative consumer expenditure survey (The World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Survey). With this household survey the demand for access to telephone services was modeled and the effects of access to a telephone on poverty was analyzed. The main result showed that access to a telephone is important in explaining why low income households do not drop into poverty, but that it is not significant in explaining the transition between poor and non-poor status. Additionally, the presence of these surveys for 1985, 91, 94 and 1997, allowed us to estimate the welfare impacts at different socioeconomic levels of the various institutional changes in telephone services before and after privatization. The second methodology takes advantage of a panel of households for Metropolitan Lima allowing us to estimate partial demand equations of access to telephone services in order to evaluate consumers' welfare pre and post divestiture showing the presence of an important positive consumer surplus of access to a residential telephone. Both methodologies measured how welfare gains coming from more people having access to telephone lines might have compensated for higher usage rates as the result of privatization. The main objective of these methodologies is therefore to assess which types of households, classified according to their observable characteristics, bear a greater portion of the burden or enjoy most of the benefits of the changes brought about by privatization.Die vorliegende Studie beschäftigt sich mit drei Problemen, die im Zusammenhang mit Veränderungen auf dem Gebiet der peruanischen Telekommunikationsdienste stehen. Diese Probleme sind: erstens die Frage nach den wichtigsten Variablen, die die Nachfrage nach Telefondiensten bestimmen; zweitens, die Rolle des Zugangs zu Telekommunikationsdiensten in Abhängigkeit verschiedener Stadien materieller Armut; drittens stellt sich die Frage, inwieweit sich die – seit der Teilprivatisierung des Telekommunikationsmarktes im Jahre 1994 andauernde – stetige steigende Anzahl an Telefonanschlüssen auf Konsum- und Wohlfahrtskriterien auswirkt. Zur Untersuchung dieser Fragen werden zwei verschiedene Methoden angewendet. Zum einen werden Daten herangezogen, die im Rahmen einer repräsentativen und landesweiten Konsumentenbefragung erhoben wurden. Diese Daten erlauben auf der Haushaltsebene eine Modellierung der Nachfrage nach Telekommunikationsdiensten sowie des potentiellen Einflusses der Telefonnutzung auf materielle Armut. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Zugang zu Telefonen, insbesondere für Haushalte mit niedrigem Einkommen, wichtig ist, um ihren ökonomischen Status zu erhalten bzw. zu verbessern. Andererseits ergab sich aber kein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen der Nutzung der Dienste und der Überwindung von Armut. Datensätze aus den Jahren 1985, 1991, 1994 sowie 1997 wurden genutzt, um die Wohlfahrtseffekte, die die institutionellen Veränderungen auf dem Telekommunikationssektor mit sich brachten, auf verschiedenen sozioökonomischen Niveaus für den Zeitraum vor bzw. nach der Privatisierung des Sektors zu untersuchen. Schließlich konnten mit Hilfe von Erhebungen in Lima partielle Nachfragefunktionen vom Zugang zu Telekommunikationsdiensten vor und nach der Privatisierung geschätzt werden. Die so gewonnenen Erkenntnisse bezüglich der Konsumentenrenten lassen den Schluss zu, dass insbesondere die Nutzer von privaten Hausanschlüssen von den Veränderungen profitieren

Potential collusion and trust: Evidence from a field experiment in Vietnam

We conduct framed trust games using contract dairy farmers in Vietnam as first movers to assess the impact of potential collusion on trust. Disaggregated analysis suggests that female farmers are more likely to trust overall, but are also more responsive to the addition of a third party and potential collusion. A third party induces them to trust at higher levels, but potential collusion between the trustee and the third party also induces them to trust at lower levels. Our findings corroborate well with existing studies on gender differences in decision making, which suggest that women's social preferences are more context-specific than men's.collusion, field experiment, Gender, trust game,

Access to dynamic markets for small commercial farmers: the case of potato production in the Peruvian Andes

"The purpose of this study is twofold. On one hand, the objective is to assess the impact of new and more complex contracting schemes, as opposed to traditional marketing channels, on small farmers' welfare. On the other hand, the study explores which may be the critical factors that determine the small farmers' participation in these institutional arrangements. In this context, two critical factors are stressed. The first one has to do with access to credit and the second one is the size of the agricultural plot. In order to examine the decision of farmers to access the dynamic markets, the paper follows the study of Lapar et al (2003). The paper also follows impact evaluation techniques to identify the differences in the performance of farmers with access to dynamic markets and those without access. As it can be seen, in all cases, the difference between farmers with access and those without access is positive. This implies that having access to dynamic markets has positive impacts on the welfare of farmers. The results show that the farmers linked to the dynamic markets gain two cents of a dollar more per kilogram of potato. ...Our simulations showed that increase of their plot size to a minimum of five hectares (optimal size according to the industry) increases their sales to dynamic markets in 16%. However, the impact of new and more complex contracting schemes, as opposed to traditional marketing channels, could reduce significantly the access gap to dynamic markets by reducing transaction costs, increasing productivity, and increasing scale production through coordination of smallholders." Authors' AbstractPotato production, Market access, Small farmers, Contract farming, Access to credit, Dynamic markets, Impact evaluation, income growth, Transaction costs,

Randomizing the "Last Mile": A methodological note on using a voucher-based approach to assess the impact of infrastructure projects

This methodological note discusses the potential and limits of using voucher-based experiments to randomly evaluate the micro-level impact of infrastructures on households' well-being. We argue that such methods are policy relevant, statistically robust, and ethically correct. A number of conditions regarding the vouchers' design and level, as well as allocation methods and household sampling, must be taken into account, however. We illustrate the discussion with an ongoing voucher-based impact evaluation of a rural electrification program in Ethiopia.Impact, infrastructure, vouchers,

Adverse Geography and Differences in Welfare in Peru

regional economics, spatial distribution, welfare, poverty, Peru

The access and welfare impacts of telecommunications technology in Peru

This paper attempts to assess three main issues on Peruvian telecommunications technology: what are the main variables that explain the demand for access to telephone services; how important is access to telephone services in explaining the transition out of poverty, and what are the consumption and welfare impacts of the significant increase in the supply of telephone lines since the divestiture in 1994 of the Peruvian telephone services. To accomplish our goal we will use two methodologies. Firstly, we will concentrate on residential telephony based on a countrywide representative consumer expenditure survey (The World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Survey). With this household survey the demand for access to telephone services was modeled and the effects of access to a telephone on poverty was analyzed. The main result showed that access to a telephone is important in explaining why low income households do not drop into poverty, but that it is not significant in explaining the transition between poor and non-poor status. Additionally, the presence of these surveys for 1985, 91, 94 and 1997, allowed us to estimate the welfare impacts at different socioeconomic levels of the various institutional changes in telephone services before and after privatization. The second methodology takes advantage of a panel of households for Metropolitan Lima allowing us to estimate partial demand equations of access to telephone services in order to evaluate consumers' welfare pre and post divestiture showing the presence of an important positive consumer surplus of access to a residential telephone. Both methodologies measured how welfare gains coming from more people having access to telephone lines might have compensated for higher usage rates as the result of privatization. The main objective of these methodologies is therefore to assess which types of households, classified according to their observable characteristics, bear a greater portion of the burden or enjoy most of the benefits of the changes brought about by privatization

Exploring the Price Spike

Agribusiness, I30, O12, Q18,

Physical and virtual global food reserves to protect the poor and prevent market failure:

"The current food crisis has several causes—rising demand for food and feed, biofuels, high oil prices, climate change, stagnant agricultural productivity growth—but there is increasing evidence that the crisis is being made worse by the malfunctioning of world grain markets. Given the thinness of major markets for cereals, the restrictions on grain exports imposed by dozens of countries have resulted in additional price increases. A number of countries have adopted retail price controls, creating perverse incentives for producers. Speculative bubbles have built up, and the gap between cash and futures prices has risen, stimulating overregulation in some countries and causing some commodity exchanges in Africa and Asia to halt grain futures trading. Some food aid donors have defaulted on food aid contracts. The World Food Programme (WFP) has had difficulty getting quick access to grain for its humanitarian operations. Developing countries are urgently rebuilding their national stocks and re-examining the “merits” of self-sufficiency policies for food security despite high costs. These reactions began as consequences, not causes, of the price crisis, but they exacerbate the crisis and increase the risks posed by high prices. By creating a feedback loop with high food prices, they further increase price levels and volatility, with adverse consequences for the poor and for long-term incentives for agricultural production. Because they impede the free flow of food to where it is most needed and undermine the flow of price signals to farmers, these market failures impose enormous efficiency losses on the global food system, hitting the poorest countries and people hardest." from Author's textFood prices, Food policy, Markets,

Information and communication technologies for the poor:

This brief is based on Information and Communication Technologies for Development and Poverty Reduction: The Potential of Telecommunications, ed. Maximo Torero and Joachim von Braun (Johns Hopkins University Press and IFPRI, 2006) "The variety of views about ICTs reveals that their role in development is unclear, especially without convincing evidence of their impact—and little research has been conducted on the direct and indirect links between ICTs and poverty reduction. A new book, Information and Communication Technologies for Development and Poverty Reduction: The Potential of Telecommunications, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press for IFPRI, addresses several pressing questions surrounding ICTs. How do ICTs affect economic development in low-income countries? How do they affect poor people in these countries and in rural areas in particular? What policies and programs facilitate their potential to enhance development and the inclusion of poor constituents? The book presents researchers' findings related to five critical questions. (1) What link exists between ICT growth and economic growth? (2) Do weak institutions block effective use of ICTs? (3) Have ICTs been adapted to low-income countries, and have they had an impact on SMEs? (4) Does household access to ICTs remain constrained? (5) Can ICTs play a role in providing pro-poor public goods and services?" from TextICT, Information technology, Poverty reduction, Development, Telecommunications, Economic development Developing countries, rural areas, Institutions,