Defining and Measuring the Institutional Context of National Intellectual Property Systems in a post-TRIPS world

Indices that approximate for the quality and strength of intellectual property (IP) systems are commonly used as variables in empirical international management studies. However, while international IP systems have radically transformed after the implementation of the TRIPS agreement, these contextual changes have not been accounted for in existing international management research approaches. This study examines the institutional context of IP systems in the post TRIPS implementation years by conceptualizing how IP Law on the books (regulations) and IP Law in practice (enforcement) combine. This enables the identification of two new contextual categories of IP systems that have not been conceptually, theoretically, or empirically captured in existing international management research. A review of the existing literature on indices measuring different aspects of national IP systems provides insights into how to improve future theoretical and empirical international management work that aims to study the effects of the context of IP systems in the post TRIPS era.     

IMMIGRANT NETWORKS AND THE TAKE‐UP OF DISABILITY PROGRAMS: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES

We examine the role of ethnic networks in disability program take‐up among working‐age immigrants in the United States. Controlling for country of origin and area of residence fixed effects, immigrants residing amid a large number of co‐ethnics are more likely to receive disability payments when their ethnic groups have higher take‐up rates. Differences in satisfying the work history or income and asset requirements of the disability programs explain part of this relationship, but social norms also play an important role. Information sharing appears influential for Supplemental Security Income take‐up but not for Social Security Disability Income. (JEL J61, H55, I18)     

The Impact of Economic Crises on NGOs: The Case of Greece

The paper analyzes the impact of economic crises on organized civil society. A number of empirical studies have shown that a financial crisis can inflict a serious damage on the nonprofit sector—mainly through a sharp decline in revenues. However, the Greek case shows that a crisis can also have some positive effects on NGOs: many nonprofits introduced reforms that increased efficiency, the number of volunteers reached record levels, and there was a spectacular rise in funding by private philanthropic foundations. However, Greek NGOs continue to be dependent on external funding, unable to raise large sums from their members and the wider public. Organized Greek civil society continues to be turned upside down: dependency on EU and state funds is being replaced by dependency on private foundations.     

A survey of homework use, experience of barriers to homework, and attitudes about the barriers to homework among couples and family therapists

Homework is a therapeutic process that has strong theoretical and empirical basis, but existing research has focused on "compliance" rather than considering the broader and more clinically meaningful construct of "engagement." Absent in the literature is empirical study of the barriers to engagement or study of homework use among couple and family therapists (CFTs). The current study investigates the frequency and type of homework, as well as the influence of homework compliance, quality of compliance, and experience of barriers to compliance on CFTs' attitudes and beliefs toward barriers to homework completion for couples and families. Results indicated CFTs (N=226 AAMFT Clinical members) use homework more often with couples than with families, and CFTs report greater homework compliance and quality of compliance for couples when compared to families. A path analysis examining compliance, quality of compliance, and barriers to compliance as predictors of attitudes/beliefs toward barriers revealed no significant findings. A discussion presents implications for future research and practice for homework in couple and family therapy.     

Computation of final outcome probabilities for the generalised stochastic epidemic

This paper is concerned with methods for the numerical calculation of the final outcome distribution for a well-known stochastic epidemic model in a closed population. The model is of the SIR (Susceptible→Infected→ Removed) type, and the infectious period can have any specified distribution. The final outcome distribution is specified by the solution of a triangular system of linear equations, but the form of the distribution leads to inherent numerical problems in the solution. Here we employ multiple precision arithmetic to surmount these problems. As applications of our methodology, we assess the accuracy of two approximations that are frequently used in practice, namely an approximation for the probability of an epidemic occurring, and a Gaussian approximation to the final number infected in the event of an outbreak. We also present an example of Bayesian inference for the epidemic threshold parameter.     

The Banking Network as a Transmission Channel of Migrant Remittances: The Case of Greek and Italian Banks in Albania

The paper examines the role of the banking network of foreign banks, namely Greek and Italian banks, on the transfer of remittances of Albanian immigrants. Remittances through the official network that is formed mainly by the banking network, grew much higher in comparison to non-official network during the period 1994–2006. The paper finds that the growth of the amount of remittances conveyed through the official network as part of the total amount of remittances is related to the evolution of branches of Greek and Italian banks in Albania.

Nonparametric estimation of some important indicators in reliability for semi-Markov processes

In this article we present nonparametric estimators of the mean time to failure (MTTF), the mean up time (MUT), and the mean down time (MDT) of an arbitrary finite semi-Markov process. Strong consistency and weak convergence is proved for the estimators of MTTF, MUT, and MDT, as the time interval of observation becomes large.     

Catalog competition: Theory and experimental evidence

This paper compares the standard location-then-pricing Hotelling duopoly with a catalog competition game in which firms simultaneously decide locations and prices. We consider a three-location space and continuous pricing and fully characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium. In both games, firms employ mixed strategies, producing a mainstream product more often than a specialized one. In the catalog game, prices are always above the marginal cost of production, whereas in the sequential model, prices converge to the marginal cost when firms produce the same variety. We experimentally test our theoretical predictions in the laboratory, finding strong evidence in favor of most of them.     

Innovation as a cause of highly skilled migration: Evidence from Greece

This study investigates innovation as a cause of highly skilled migration. Drawing on a totally new database that includes all the Greek PhD holders, combined with panel data from the Global Innovation Index covering 57 countries over the 2009–2020 period, we find that innovation constitutes a strong determinant for highly skilled migration. That is, a rise in innovative performance is positively associated with an increase in the number of highly skilled Greek migrants. We further find a two-way causality between innovation and highly skilled migration. Namely an increase in the number of highly skilled Greek migrants positively affects innovative performance. While most of the recent studies have comprehensively addressed the positive effects of skilled migration on innovation, they have not looked at innovation as a determinant of highly skilled migration. We further discuss the potential implications of our findings on countries displaying low innovative performance coupled with brain drain.