Does gender matter in computer ethics?

Computer ethics is a relatively young discipline,hence it needs time both for reflection and forexploring alternative ethical standpoints in buildingup its own theoretical framework. Feminist ethics isoffered as one such alternative particularly to informissues of equality and power. We argue that feministethics is not narrowly confined to women's issues but is an approach with wider egalitarianapplications. The rise of feminist ethics in relationto feminist theory in general is described and withinthat the work of Gilligan and others on an ethic of care. We argue for the need to connect theory toempirical evidence. Empirical studies of gender andbusiness and computer ethics are reviewed. We noteconcerns with surveying a student audience, the issueof how far questionnaires and interviews can get tothe heart of ethical beliefs and problems ofperforming statistical analyses of quantitative data.Although we recognize them, our own small surveycannot avoid all these problems. Nevertheless byrefining our scenarios we are able to offer analternative reading of a hacking problem in terms ofan ethic of care thereby pointing a way forward forfuture research in computer ethics inspired byfeminist theory.     

Are new technology-based firms located on science parks really more innovative?: Evidence from Taiwan

The establishment of science parks is employed as a vital strategy for developing high-tech industries in many countries. Whether new technology-based firms (NTBFs) located within science parks are, in comparison to their counterparts located outside of science parks, more efficient in terms of R&D investment remains less explored. The purpose of this paper is to compare the R&D productivity of NTBFs located within and outside of science parks by measuring the elasticity of R&D with respect to output. Using panel data for NTBFs located within and outside the Hsinchu Science Industrial Park (HSIP) in Taiwan, our empirical findings show that the elasticity of R&D with respect to outputs of NTBFs located within HSIP is significantly higher than that of other firms. These findings further reveal that NTBFs located in the science park invest more efficiently. Our results also indicate a slight advantage in R&D for firms in the science park, arising from the fact that the science park offers a clustering effect and establishes links among firms and research institutions.     

Do subsidiaries of foreign MNEs invest more in R&D than domestic firms?

Despite the growing involvement of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in foreign-based research and development (R&D), there has been little research comparing R&D investments of subsidiaries of foreign MNEs to domestic firms. Subsidiaries of foreign MNEs enjoy advantages that help them compete against domestic firms. However, when deciding on R&D investments, these advantages exert competing influences on their R&D investment decision. On the one hand, better access to and transfer of knowledge and technologies from the MNE and other subsidiaries and centers of excellence may encourage the subsidiary of a foreign MNE to invest less in R&D relative to a domestic firm. On the other hand, better access to sources of capital through the MNE and other subsidiaries may induce the subsidiary to invest more in R&D in comparison to domestic firms. We find that subsidiaries of foreign MNEs invest less in total R&D than domestic firms. The reason is that they invest less in external R&D than domestic firms; however, they have similar internal R&D investments compared to domestic firms. These findings support the notion that the transfer of technology and knowledge from other parts of the MNE acts as a substitute for the purchase of external R&D while internal R&D acts as a complement to the technology and knowledge transferred from other parts of the MNE.     

Gender diversity in the management field: Does it matter for research outcomes?

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity and research outcomes. Existing research on the topic primarily focuses on how team gender diversity influences scholarly productivity in terms of citations and publication rates. Far less attention has been devoted to the question of how the intellectual contents of research disciplines change as they become more gender diverse. Drawing on a global sample of more than 25,000 management papers, we use natural language processing techniques, correspondence analysis and regression models to illuminate impact-, content- and status-related dimensions of gender diversity in management research. In regression models adjusting for geographical setting, institutional prestige and collaboration patterns, we find no discernable effects of team gender diversity on per-paper scientific impact. In contrast, our analyses converge to yield a broadly consistent pattern of gender-related variations in research focus: women are well-represented in social- and human-centered areas of management, while men comprise the vast majority in areas addressing more technical and operational aspects. Our findings corroborate recent sociological research suggesting that cultural norms and expectations are channeling women and men towards different areas of work and study. We argue that the broadened repertoire of perspectives, values and questions resulting from gender diversity may render management research more responsive to the full gamut of societal needs and expectations.     

How do foreign firms patent in emerging economies with weak appropriability regimes? Archetypes and motives

Foreign firms patent in emerging economies with weak appropriability regimes at an increasing rate. This phenomenon constitutes a paradox since in such a setting foreign firms should have weak incentives to patent. In an attempt to resolve this paradox, we conducted an inductive analysis of 11 foreign firms that patent in such a setting, using the case of China as our empirical context. We identify four archetypes of foreign firms and three key antecedents the interaction of which determines which archetype a firm can be subsumed under.Our study complements the developed-economy focus of the extant appropriation literature by adding an international perspective. We extend previous econometric studies by identifying salient factors on the firm level that determine the extent to which a foreign firm patents in emerging economies with a weak appropriability regime, highlighting that the extent of a firm's motivation to maintain its freedom to operate can supersede imitability concerns. We also comment on the practical implications of these contributions for managers of foreign firms. Highlighting a structural conflict of interest between foreign firms from developed economies and the development goals of an emerging economy, we point to the generalizability of our results to a wide range of other emerging economies worldwide.     

Does the involvement of charities matter? Exploring the impact of charities’ reputation and social capital on medical crowdfunding performance

In recent years, charities have become involved in many online medical crowdfunding projects as fundraising agents. To reveal whether and why the involvement of charities influences medical crowdfunding performance, this study conducts a sequential exploratory-explanatory research design with two main studies. By collecting 22,805 projects from the Chinese Tencent GongYi platform, the first study utilizes propensity score matching (PSM) to investigate which type of initiators (individuals vs. charities) have better crowdfunding performance. The results show that the initiator type is an essential predictor of medical crowdfunding, and projects launched by charities keep better performance than those by individuals. Upon the findings of the first study, the second study is performed to inspect why charities make more contributions than individual fundraisers. The impacts of charities’ reputations and social capital on medical crowdfunding performance are examined based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and social capital theory. The results suggest that charities’ reputations and multidimensional social capital play essential roles in endorsing crowdfunding fundraising (fundraising performance) and appealing to donors’ attention (participation performance). In addition, the disease type moderates the relationship between charities’ reputation or social capital and crowdfunding performance. Our research provides in-depth insight into the impact of charities’ involvement on medical crowdfunding and generates important implications for medical crowdfunding practices.     

Does combining different types of collaboration always benefit firms? Collaboration,complementarity and product innovation in Norway

Product innovation is widely thought to benefit from collaboration with both scientific and supply-chain partners. The combination of exploration and exploitation capacity, and of scientific and experience-based knowledge, are expected to yield multiplicative effects. However, the assumption that scientific and supply-chain collaboration are complementary and reinforce firm-level innovation has not been examined empirically. This paper tests this assumption on an unbalanced panel sample of 8337 firm observations in Norway, covering the period 2006–2010. The results of the econometric analysis go against the orthodoxy. They show that Norwegian firms do not benefit from doing “more of all” on their road to innovation. While individually both scientific and supply-chain collaboration improve the chances of firm-level innovation, there is a significant negative interaction between them. This implies that scientific and supply-chain collaboration, in contrast to what has been often highlighted, are substitutes rather than complements. The results are robust to the introduction of different controls and hold for all tested innovation outcomes: product innovation, new-to-market product innovation, and share of turnover from new products.     

Drivers of spin-off performance in industry clusters: Embodied knowledge or embedded firms?

Numerous studies attest to the distinctive performance of intra-industry spin-offs located in agglomerated regions. Besides entrepreneurs’ pre-entry experience, both superior hires and regional embeddedness have been suggested as factors contributing to this pattern. We employ linked employer-employee data to assess their relevance in the empirical context of the Portuguese plastic injection molds industry. We find that the longevity of entrants is associated with the number and quality of early employees hired from within the industry, consistent with the importance of embodied knowledge flows. Our findings do not suggest that entrants’ centrality in the regional industry network enhances their longevity.     

Does it matter where patent citations come from? Inventor vs. examiner citations in European patents

This paper addresses the question of whether patent citations are useful indicators of technology flows. We exploit the distinction between citations added by inventors and patent examiners. We use information from the search reports of European Patent Office patent examiners to construct our dataset of patenting activity in Europe and the US, and apply various econometric models to investigate what determines the probability that a citation is added by the inventor rather than the examiner. Contrary to previous work which uses US Patent and Trademark Office data, we find that geographical distance is a factor that strongly diminishes the probability of knowledge flows. We find other significant effects of such factors as cognitive distance, time and strategic factors on citing behaviour.     

Spatial differences in the quality of university patenting: Do regions matter?

This paper uses patent citation data to analyze the quality of university technology across European regions. The empirical analysis draws on a panel dataset of 4580 European university-owned patents classified by 202 European regions over the period 1998-2004. The methodology involves a multilevel framework to identify the effects of factors at three hierarchical levels (individual, university, and regional) on the quality of university patenting. The results suggest that regional factors, such as the level of development, industrial potential, and regional higher education R&D expenditure, do not play any significant role in determining the quality of European university patents. We instead find that the factors affecting patent quality stem from their specific characteristics. We also find that university size does not explain the quality of patents. However, there is significant unobserved heterogeneity at the university level in all models, suggesting that differences in other university characteristics explain a substantial part of the variance in patent quality.     

Intellectual capital and organizational organic structure in knowledge society: How are these concepts related?

This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between organizational organic structure and intellectual capital improvement. Researches show that the organic structure and intellectual capital have a strong relationship but this relationship has not been examined systematically. This paper reviews the important theoretical work in both streams of research, highlighting the fundamental similarities and differences. Models of intellectual capital are compared, and the distinction between social, human and organizational capital is examined. The nature of organizational organic structure is presented. We examine the relationship between organic structure and intellectual capital improvement. Then the impact of organic structure on information management and information processing capability is examined.The results support the view that organic structure has a positive impact on intellectual capital. Therefore, the organic structure can improve intellectual capital in the organization.This study helps managers to design flexible and dynamic organizational structures to enhance the intellectual capital in the organization and increase the ability to compete.     

Disentangling international research collaboration in the Spanish academic context: Is there a desirable researcher human capital profile?

A number of studies has focused on examining those academic researchers attributes-demographics or not- that condition international research collaboration (IRC) and its results. However, it is not possible to speak about an ‘ideal’ type of researcher so far. Should we assume that just only those ‘star researchers’ collaborate internationally?. The literature is not clear enough on this topic, offering interesting but insufficient support to know the set of individual characteristics that ensures fruitful IRC. To deepen the analysis of academic researchers attributes, in particular, the human capital characteristics, this study proposes in-depth research on exploring different combinations on human capital dimensions and testing potential differences in IRC levels. To do so, from an exploratory perspective, a cluster analysis was conducted in a sample of 937 Spanish academics, obtaining three researcher profiles: (1) consolidated international research collaborators, (2) effective international research collaborators, and (3) skilled international research collaborators. Far from the recurrent analysis of single or disconnected researchers' attributes, this paper contributes to the extant literature with a new typology based on the variables of academic human capital, providing an useful starting point to better understand who really can develop international networks to collaborate and, therefore, how to foster IRC in Universities.     

Unravelling the drivers of technological innovations in the Czech Republic: Do international technological linkages matter?

This study aims to investigate the main factors driving technological innovation within firms in the manufacturing and service sectors of the Czech Republic. We apply a binary logistic regression model to cross-sectional data from 502 firms, obtained from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. The results of our empirical investigation show that certain elements of the business environment, such as the tax rate, serve as significant obstacles to firms’ product innovations. The results also confirm that international technological linkages—measured by international quality certificates and foreign technology licenses—affect technological innovations. Moreover, we found that internal R&D activities positively impact technological innovation across all sectors; contrarily, we found that process innovation in the manufacturing sector is positively influenced by foreign technology licenses and business association membership. Process innovations in the service sector are positively correlated with external R&D and financing from banking institutions. Finally, business association membership does not positively influence technological innovation in the service sector. Our findings have salient implications for firm managers, policymakers, and scholars aiming to explore and improve innovation outcomes in transitional economies.     

Does government information release really matter in regulating contagion-evolution of negative emotion during public emergencies? From the perspective of cognitive big data analytics

The breeding and spreading of negative emotion in public emergencies posed severe challenges to social governance. The traditional government information release strategies ignored the negative emotion evolution mechanism. Focusing on the information release policies from the perspectives of the government during public emergency events, by using cognitive big data analytics, our research applies deep learning method into news framing framework construction process, and tries to explore the influencing mechanism of government information release strategy on contagion-evolution of negative emotion. In particular, this paper first uses Word2Vec, cosine word vector similarity calculation and SO-PMI algorithms to build a public emergencies-oriented emotional lexicon; then, it proposes a emotion computing method based on dependency parsing, designs an emotion binary tree and dependency-based emotion calculation rules; and at last, through an experiment, it shows that the emotional lexicon proposed in this paper has a wider coverage and higher accuracy than the existing ones, and it also performs a emotion evolution analysis on an actual public event based on the emotional lexicon, using the emotion computing method proposed. And the empirical results show that the algorithm is feasible and effective. The experimental results showed that this model could effectively conduct fine-grained emotion computing, improve the accuracy and computational efficiency of sentiment classification. The final empirical analysis found that due to such defects as slow speed, non transparent content, poor penitence and weak department coordination, the existing government information release strategies had a significant negative impact on the contagion-evolution of anxiety and disgust emotion, could not regulate negative emotions effectively. These research results will provide theoretical implications and technical supports for the social governance. And it could also help to establish negative emotion management mode, and construct a new pattern of the public opinion guidance.     

Does spatial proximity to customers matter for innovative performance?: Evidence from the Dutch software sector

User-producer interactions are often assumed to be an important source of innovation. Spatial proximity between organisations would contribute to such interactive learning processes, because it facilitates face-to-face interactions required to exchange knowledge. However, both assumptions are increasingly debated. Therefore, we have empirically examined this using firm-level data on user-producer interactions of Dutch software firms. Indeed spatial proximity facilitates face-to-face interactions, but it does not strengthen the effect of face-to-face interactions on innovative performance. Moreover, regular interactions and collaboration with customers increase the likelihood that software firms bring new products to the market, but do not improve the firm's innovation output.