Technology spillover and regional convergence process: a statistical analysis of the Italian case

Recent literature broadly highlight the importance of modelling technological innovation effects on economic growth. This paper develops a methodology that allows to measure technology contribution to economic convergence; the choice of a regional framework also allows to underline interregional knowledge transmission as a the major channel of technological progress. Moreover, the specification of a dynamic growth model enables to evaluate both the regional convergence and the effect of innovation on long-run labour productivity without resorting to any technology index measurement. We contribute to the methodological literature also by comparing different dynamic panel data estimation procedures and by detecting both the presence of small sample bias and the existence of a nearly unit root autoregressive process in labour productivity series. The results of an empirical analysis on Italian regions show how most of innovation resources derives from relevant spillover mechanisms. Furthermore, technology spillover intensity seems to be strongly affected by geography and productive structure of regions.Financial support by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Rimini and Uniturim S.p.A. is gratefully acknowledged.     

Framing in Legislation: The Case of Population Policy in the Philippines

This paper investigates the political framing of population in policy discourse through an analysis of legislative documents. Semantic network analysis was conducted and results were interpreted through discourse analysis of the typical arguments identified. Policy texts were classified into three sets: population management, reproductive health and family planning, and anti-abortion and anti-FP. While the “population management” frame focuses on social and economic consequences of population growth, the “reproductive health” frame defines the problem from a health perspective. Both policies propose aggressive FP programs but each frame uses distinct political rhetoric and semantic approach in its arguments. The “anti-abortion and anti-FP” frame identifies two problems: rise in incidence of abortion and existing policy that prohibit health professionals from refusing patients information on contraception. By invoking a moral argument and anchoring on rights, these policies challenge the problem and solutions identified by the first two frames.     

A comparison of classification models to identify the Fragile X Syndrome

The main models of machine learning are briefly reviewed and considered for building a classifier to identify the Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). We have analyzed 172 patients potentially affected by FXS in Andalusia (Spain) and, by means of a DNA test, each member of the data set is known to belong to one of two classes: affected, not affected. The whole predictor set, formed by 40 variables, and a reduced set with only nine predictors significantly associated with the response are considered. Four alternative base classification models have been investigated: logistic regression, classification trees, multilayer perceptron and support vector machines. For both predictor sets, the best accuracy, considering both the mean and the standard deviation of the test error rate, is achieved by the support vector machines, confirming the increasing importance of this learning algorithm. Three ensemble methods - bagging, random forests and boosting - were also considered, amongst which the bagged versions of support vector machines stand out, especially when they are constructed with the reduced set of predictor variables. The analysis of the sensitivity, the specificity and the area under the ROC curve agrees with the main conclusions extracted from the accuracy results. All of these models can be fitted by free R programs.     

Realistic Major Previews in the School‐to‐College Transition of Italian High School Students

Industrial/organizational researchers have reported that realistic job previews diminish prospective workers' expectations but promote the satisfaction and persistence of those who ultimately accept a job assignment. The authors applied this strategy to the context of school‐to‐college transition; 354 Italian high school students were provided with a 2‐hour lecture designed to simulate exposure to a college major of their choice. Students showed moderate pre‐post increases in subject matter knowledge but reported small decreases in interests and outcome expectations (but not self‐efficacy) related to the academic major to which they were exposed.     

`Sex-Equal' Stable Matchings

The paper defines a measure on the set of stable matchings in the marriage problem. This measure is based on the minimization of the envy difference between the sets of men and women, while preserving stability and selects stable matchings with the least conflict of interest between both groups of agents. The solution concept proposed is called Sex-equal Matching (SEM) and the paper also provides an algorithm to compute the set of SEM.     

On cumulative entropies

In analogy with the cumulative residual entropy recently proposed by Wang et al. [2003a. A new and robust information theoretic measure and its application to image alignment. In: Information Processing in Medical Imaging. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2732, Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 388–400; 2003b. Cumulative residual entropy, a new measure of information and its application to image alignment. In: Proceedings on the Ninth IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV’03), vol. 1, IEEE Computer Society Press, Silver Spring, MD, pp. 548–553], we introduce and study the cumulative entropy, which is a new measure of information alternative to the classical differential entropy. We show that the cumulative entropy of a random lifetime X can be expressed as the expectation of its mean inactivity time evaluated at X. Hence, our measure is particularly suitable to describe the information in problems related to ageing properties of reliability theory based on the past and on the inactivity times. Our results include various bounds to the cumulative entropy, its connection to the proportional reversed hazards model, and the study of its dynamic version that is shown to be increasing if the mean inactivity time is increasing. The empirical cumulative entropy is finally proposed to estimate the new information measure.     

The Utility of Allport's Conditions of Intergroup Contact for Predicting Perceptions of Improved Racial Attitudes and Beliefs

We test the predictive power of perception as it relates to Allport's (1954/1979) classic articulation of the conditions of contact conducive to reducing intergroup prejudice and increasing tolerance. After summarizing theories of prejudice and models of prejudice reduction, as well as recently published reviews of evidence relating to the Contact Hypothesis, we present results of an evaluation of a prejudice reduction program that trains and places college student facilitators in middle and high school classrooms to lead discussions about race. We show that a composite of five classroom climate conditions that the Contact Hypothesis suggests are conducive to prejudice reduction predicts teachers' and college student facilitators' perceptions of change in three aspects of middle and high school student racial attitudes. Students' perceptions of the school interracial climate are modestly predictive of their changes in these three aspects of racial attitudes. However, teacher and facilitator estimates of student outcomes are uncorrelated with actual student outcomes. Implications of these results for prejudice reduction theory and practice are discussed.     

A Social Psychology of National and International Group Relations

This concluding article provides a framework for a social psychological analysis of intergroup conflict and conflict resolution. The framework highlights the individual and intergroup factors that shape the nature of perceptions of intergroup relations and group representations, and describes how these perceptions lead to cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses toward groups. Included in the framework are the metatheoretical, theoretical, and practical contributions of the articles in this issue toward understanding intergroup relations. The potential and responsibility of social psychologists to move beyond the laboratory to applied national and international issues is also discussed.     

Educational responses to immigrant students in Madrid

During the last few years, changes in the Spanish educational system have had a far reaching impact. Several factors have been critical: (1) the progressive decentralization of education by the government, now a responsibility of regional governments; (2) the extension of compulsory education to the age of 16; and finally (3) the increase in the number of immigrant students, which has significantly added to the existing cultural diversity. The enrolment of immigrant students in Spanish schools is a relatively recent phenomenon (starting 15 years ago) when compared with other European countries. Madrid is the region in Spain with the largest number of students. As most of these students were born outside of Spain, we cannot yet speak of a second generation. The research described here investigated how the educational system in Madrid confronted the challenge of an increasing number of immigrant students. The institutional response was the Madrid Regional Government’s Compensatory Education Regional Plan. This encompasses several measures, which are described here. After a critical analysis of educational policies pertaining to immigrant pupils, the paper suggests ways of overcoming a purely compensatory approach. Intercultural education plays a key role is such considerations.