R&D cooperation in collaborative consumption of research equipment: An ERGM approach

High-tech research infrastructure is essential for state-of-the-art research, but requires many resources. Relatively weak actors, such as SMEs, cannot secure enough of those. Applying the concept of collaborative consumption via digital platforms, we examine the cooperative behavior of Korean SMEs that share research equipment to overcome their lack of resources. Also, we analyze configurations of a collaborative consumption network using the Exponential Random Graph Model. Network structural factor analysis shows sufficient effects of network positive feedback through cooperative consumption with a variety of popular providers and attributes analysis shows that SMEs frequently engage in collaborative consumption with their counterparts in the same region. This new cooperative model can achieve a virtuous cycle of policies, as it increases the efficiency of research infrastructure, preventing the unnecessary building of new research equipment and enabling relocation of underutilized infrastructure and online reservation of equipment.     

Development of an evaluation framework for publicly funded R&D projects: The case of Korea's Next Generation Network

For decades, efforts have been made globally to measure the performance of large-scale public projects and to develop a framework to perform such measurements due to the complexity and dynamics of R&D and stakeholder interests. Still, limitations such as the use of a simply modified model and the lack of a comprehensive viewpoint are prevalent in existing approaches. In light of these research gaps, this study suggests a practical model to evaluate the performance of large-scale and publicly funded projects. The proposed model suggests a standard matrix framework of indices that evaluates the performance of particular elements in an industrial ecosystem in vertical categories and the economic and technological outcomes of those elements in horizontal categories. Based on the application of a balanced scorecard, this study uses mixed methodologies such as social network analysis, inter-industry analysis, and the analytic hierarchy process. Finally, the model evaluates the performance of Korea's Next Generation Network project as a case study.     

A concept for measuring network proximity of regions in R&D networks

This paper proposes a new measure for assessing the network proximity between aggregated units, based on disaggregated information on the network distance of actors. Specific focus is on R&D network structures between regions. We introduce a weighted version of the proximity measure, related to the idea that direct and indirect linkages carry different types of knowledge. First-order proximity arising from direct cross-regional linkages is distinguished from higher-order network proximity, resulting from indirect linkages in the R&D network. We use an macroeconomic application in which we analyse the productivity effects of R&D network spillovers across regions to illustrate the usefulness of a proximity measure for aggregated units.     

THE IMPACT OF R&D INVESTMENT ON PRODUCTIVITY–NEW EVIDENCE USING LINKED R&D–LRD DATA

This paper uses confidential Census longitudinal microdata to examine the association between R&D and productivity for the period 1972–1985. These data allow for significant improvements in measurement and model specification, yielding more precise estimates of the returns to R&D. Our results confirm the findings of existing studies: 1) positive returns to R&D investment 2) higher returns to company-financed research 3) a productivity "premium" on basic research These results are robust to adjustments for "influential outliers." Also, our evidence suggests that the return to company-financed R&D is an increasing function of firm size.     

INTERNATIONAL R&D SPILLOVERS AND OECD ECONOMIC GROWTH

This paper quantifies the cross-national spillover effects of government and private investment in research and development (ROD), using a panel data set of ten OECD countries. The results show that domestic private research is a significant determinant of both domestic and foreign productivity growth, and that foreign government research stimulates domestic private research. These findings are significant in that they provide empirical support for arguments in favor of international economic policy coordination, particularly in the area of international science and technology.     

Measuring particularized trust: A name generator approach

In the social sciences, trust scholars largely divide their interests between two streams of research: one on generalized trust and one on particularized trust. While recent developments in the measurement of generalized trust have pushed the literature forward, similar improvements to the measurement of particularized trust have lagged behind. In this article, I advance trust research by (1) developing an egocentric particularized trust (EPT) instrument based on a multiple name generator approach, and (2) assessing EPT’s empirical performance across numerous psychometric tests. Results from a general population quota sample (N = 2041) indicate that EPT consists of two separate latent constructs, one for personally known others (EPT-K) and one for family members (EPT-F). Using traditional measures of particularized trust as benchmarks, I find that EPT-K and EPT-F provide the most valid and reliable measures of particularized trust. I conclude by discussing implications and directions for future research.     

Establishing the R&D agenda for twenty-first century learning

An infusion of twenty-first century skills into American public education necessitates a plan for research and development to further such reform. While the nation agrees that students must obtain critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills to succeed in the current global marketplace, this chapter puts forth a long-term, proactive agenda to invest in targeted research to propel and sustain this shift in education. The authors examine the impact such an R&D agenda would have on pedagogy and assessment and the implications for institutions of higher education. As the United States struggles to maintain dominance in the international economy, it faces a great challenge in keeping up with European and Asian competitors' strategies for preparing youth for the global marketplace. The authors hope the global reality will help contextualize the debate around American education--the current trend toward basics and accountability needs to be broadened. Building on frameworks created by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, this chapter proposes questions to guide research around teaching, professional development, and assessment significant to twenty-first century skills. Knowing that educational change depends on providing teachers with the tools, support, and training to make fundamental changes in their practice, the authors argue for extensive research around best practices. In addition, if assessments are created to measure the desired outcomes, such measuring tools can drive reform. Furthermore, large-scale changes in teacher preparation programs must take place to allow teachers to adequately employ twenty-first century teaching and assessment strategies.     

A use-and-transformation model for evaluating public R&D: illustrations from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) research

Evaluating federally funded research and development (R&D) presents unique challenges to both federal science agencies and evaluators. Often focusing only on outcome evaluative measures (such as productivity or economic value) can shortchange the true value of the federal investment. For example, program directors at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) talk about the "value added" of the new interdisciplinary science centers that they have funded-and they hope to be able to capture how funding can generate increased capacity for new cutting-edge research in the future. The purpose of this paper is to present a use-and-transformation model for evaluating public R&D, which explicitly focuses on measuring capacity-based metrics for evaluation instead of outcome-based metrics. The theory for the model presented here explicitly uses the concept of a Knowledge Value Collective that was introduced by Bozeman and Rogers [Bozeman, B., & Rogers, J. D. (2002). A churn model of scientific knowledge value: Internet researchers as a knowledge value collective. Research Policy, 31(5), 769-794; Rogers, J. D., & Bozeman, B. (2001). "Knowledge value alliances": An alternative to the R&D project focus in evaluation. Science Technology & Human Values, 26(1), 23-55].     

The monopolistic polluter under environmental liability law: incentives for abatement and R&D

This article analyzes the output, abatement, and investment decisions made by a monopolistic polluter under environmental liability law. The model applied considers both integrated and end-of-pipe abatement technologies. We find that in the case of fixed technology, in many instances negligence produces more favorable results than strict liability in terms of social welfare. The reason is that output under strict liability is always less than first-best output, whereas output under negligence is not similarly limited. However, this ranking of liability rules may be reversed when technology is endogenous. Under such conditions investment in both integrated and end-of-pipe abatement technologies under negligence is guided by motives foreign to the social planner, whereas the polluter’s calculus under strict liability is similar to that of the social planner.     

Evaluating knowledge benefits of automotive lightweighting materials R&D projects

This paper presents a set of metrics used to evaluate short-run knowledge benefits that accrued from research and development (R&D) projects funded in fiscal years 2000–2004 by automotive lightweighting materials (ALM) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Although DOE presents to Congress energy, environmental, and security benefits and costs of its R&D efforts under the Government Performance and Results Act, DOE has yet to include knowledge benefits in that report [U.S. Department of Energy. (2007). Projected benefits of federal energy efficiency and renewable energy programs: FY2008 budget request. NREL/TP-640-41347 (March). Washington, DC: National Renewable Energy Laboratory for DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Retrieved February 12, 2007 from http://www1.eere.energy.gov/ba/pba/2008_benefits.html].ALM focuses on development and validation of advanced technologies that significantly reduce automotive vehicle body and chassis weight without compromising other attributes such as safety, performance, recyclability, and cost [U.S. Department of Energy. (2005a). Automotive lightweighting materials 2004 annual progress report. Washington, DC: DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Retrieved March 30, 2005 from http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/resources/fcvt_alm_fy04.shtml]. The ultimate goal of ALM to have lightweighter materials in vehicles hinges on many issues, including the (1) collaborative nature of ALMs R&D with the automobile industry and (2) manufacturing knowledge gained through the R&D effort.The ALM projects evaluated in this paper yielded numerous knowledge benefits in the short run. While these knowledge benefits are impressive, there remains uncertainty about whether the research will lead to incorporation of lightweight materials by the Big Three automakers into their manufacturing process and introduction of lightweight vehicles into the marketplace. The uncertainty illustrates a difference between (1) knowledge benefits and (2) energy, environmental, and security benefits emanating from R&D.     

International and Intersectoral R&D Spillovers in the OECD and East Asian Economies

This study empirically explores international and intersectoral R&D spillover effects on the total factor productivity growth of manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors based on a pooled time-series data set of 14 OECD economies and 3 East Asian economies—Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. The study finds that foreign manufacturing R&D has strong influence on domestic productivity growths of both sectors and that domestic manufacturing R&D has a substantial intersectoral R&D spillover effect on domestic nonmanufacturing productivity growth. The social rates of return to manufacturing R&D are estimated to be two to six times greater than the private rates of return.     

Network dynamics and its impact on innovation outcomes: R&D consortia in the Dutch water sector

In this study, we explore the relationship between inter-organizational network dynamics and innovation outcomes. We focus on node turnover and argue that both cluster and broker dynamics can range from low (stable) to high (volatile), resulting in differentiated outcomes. The data comprises 318 consortium members participating in 104 R&D consortia forged in a 23-year period in the Dutch water sector. Our analysis reveals two equifinal combinations (stable brokers – volatile clusters and volatile brokers – stable clusters) that both generate significantly higher innovation outcomes compared to networks with low, moderate, or high dynamics across the entire network.     

Measuring societal effects of transdisciplinary research projects: design and application of an evaluation method

Most Transdisciplinary Research (TdR) projects combine scientific research with the building of decision making capacity for the involved stakeholders. These projects usually deal with complex, societally relevant, real-world problems. This paper focuses on TdR projects, which integrate the knowledge of researchers and stakeholders in a collaborative transdisciplinary process through structured methods of mutual learning. Previous research on the evaluation of TdR has insufficiently explored the intended effects of transdisciplinary processes on the real world (societal effects). We developed an evaluation framework for assessing the societal effects of transdisciplinary processes. Outputs (measured as procedural and product-related involvement of the stakeholders), impacts (intermediate effects connecting outputs and outcomes) and outcomes (enhanced decision making capacity) are distinguished as three types of societal effects. Our model links outputs and outcomes of transdisciplinary processes via the impacts using a mediating variables approach. We applied this model in an ex post evaluation of a transdisciplinary process. 84 out of 188 agents participated in a survey. The results show significant mediation effects of the two impacts "network building" and "transformation knowledge". These results indicate an influence of a transdisciplinary process on the decision making capacity of stakeholders, especially through social network building and the generation of knowledge relevant for action.     

Measuring the determinants of relative economic performance of rural areas

This paper examines the determinants of economic performance of 149 English rural Local Authority Districts (LADs). A Three Stage Least Square (3SLS) estimation procedure was employed to jointly determine the influence of a wide range of indicators representing economic, human, cultural and environmental capital, as well as less tangible or ‘soft’ factors on three distinct components of economic performance: productivity, employment and labor market participation. The results reveal that a range of facets of economic and human capital, including the three key drivers of productivity (skills, investment and enterprise), spatial factors (peripherality and accessibility), and other key factors (economic structure, government infrastructure, road infrastructure, and occupational health), are significant determinants of economic performance in rural areas. This study is of value since it proposes a method for modelling the determinants of economic performance which is transferable to other environments in the UK and beyond. In addition, it proposes a set of benchmarks of economic performance using readily available data, and highlights some implications for rural policy and several avenues for future research.     

A three-stage process of reactions to change: Maternal employment and day care

This article delineates a three-stage process of reactions to social and economic changes that threaten traditional values. In the first stage, public and professional reactions are predominantly negative; in the second stage, predominantly ambivalent; and in the third stage, predominantly accepting. This three-stage process is used to analyze the reactions to increases in maternal employment and day care. A key issue for future investigation is whether the same process represents a predictable sequence of reactions to other social and economic changes that threaten traditional values.Thanks are extended to Judy Sidden and Chris Ivanick for their contributions to this article.His research interests include family policy and comparative family issues. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University.     

Measuring ‘neighborhood’: Constructing network neighborhoods

This study attempts to measure neighborhood boundaries in a novel way by creating network neighborhoods based on the density of social ties among adolescents. We create valued matrices based on social ties and physical distance between adolescents in the county. We then perform factor analyses on these valued matrices to detect these network neighborhoods. The resulting network neighborhoods show considerable spatial contiguity. We assess the quality of these aggregations by comparing the degree of agreement among residents assigned to the same network neighborhood when assessing various characteristics of their “neighborhood”, along with traditional definitions of neighborhoods from Census aggregations. Our findings suggest that these network neighborhoods are a valuable approach for “neighborhood” aggregation.     

Measuring Social “Informatization”: A Factor Analytic Approach*

Some scholars have argued that we are witnessing a new social revolution—social “informatization”—that is comparable in scope and impact to that of the Industrial Revolu‐tion of the eighteenth century. Others have argued that it is a much more modest phase in the ongoing development of communication and information‐processing technology. While there are a number of reasons for disagreement about what exactly “informatization” is, and what its impact will be, two are paramount: (1) conceptual imprecision, and (2) issues of measurement. Using factor analysis, this study aims to clarify its conceptualization, and, then, rather than focusing on a single dimension (e.g., technological or economic), it will develop a comprehensive multiple‐indicator measure that captures the economic, technological, and size (stock) dimensions of social informatization. We find that this measure of social informatization strongly correlates with the general level of socioeconomic development. This result implies that social informatization may be a more continuous and cumulative process than a disjunctive or discontinuous “revolution.”     

Structural equation model for the evaluation of national funding on R&D project of SMEs in consideration with MBNQA criteria

Financial support on the R&D in Science & Technology for SMEs at the governmental level plays a crucial role on the improvement of the national competitiveness. Korea Science & Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) has supported the R&D projects of SMEs with the competitive technology ability by way of the Science and Technology Promotion Fund. In this paper, we propose a structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate the performance of such a funding program in terms of three aspects: output, outcome and impact under given funding inputs, R&D environment of a recipient company, and external evaluation programs of funding organization. We adopt Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria to assess the R&D environmental factors of recipient companies. In addition, we test the effect of interim evaluation of the funded project. The proposed model is applied to the real case and is used to identify the best practices as well as to provide feedback information for the improvement of the government funding programs of the R&D projects of SMEs.     

Listening for historical truth: A relative discussion

The nature of historical truth is elusive, and how we listen to the client's personal account rests in large part with what we expect to hear. Objective truth, it is suggested, may be one effort to consensually reclaim the veridical efficacy of an originally subjective experience of transformation, and in this light an aspect of the work of Christopher Bollas is discussed. This paper explores the effects upon the understanding of a clinical process excerpt of selected theoretical frameworks and argues that, ultimately, biographical truth rests neither with the client nor the therapist, but rather, is created in the intersubjective space between them.     

Measuring program needs: A strategic design

Strategic planning is a key element in organizational effectiveness and growth. A fundamental step in the planning process is the strategic needs assessment: a systematic procedure for accessing information about constituents' needs which impact and shape organizational objectives and planning decisions. Reported here is the development and field test of a strategic needs assessment for the U.S. Navy Division of Recreational Services. The assessment established systematic procedures for gathering objective, reliable information about Navy members' and families' needs for recreational services. The final product was a strategic needs assessment package that included: a brief but comprehensive OPSCAN questionnaire, procedures for conducting the survey, and software for analyzing the data and generating summary reports for local managers.