Do linkages between farmers and academic researchers influence researcher productivity? The Mexican case

A growing body of literature is focusing on how the collaborations researchers engage in affect their productivity. Most authors have focused on linkages among academic researchers, measuring productivity by the number of papers published in ISI journals. In contrast, the impact of interactions between academic researchers and the business sector on research productivity has been less analyzed. The aim of this paper is to analyze how broadly defined research productivity (papers, new recommendations and new techniques) in agriculture-related fields is affected by the nature of academy-farmers interactions. This latter was approached through two dimensions: the breadth of linkages and their intensity, measured by the duration, in two different modalities (R&D activities and consultancy). Based on original micro data obtained through a survey of researchers working in universities and PRCs in agriculture-related fields, we built three models, one per output, to identify the effect of the nature of interactions on research productivity. The models were estimated with a negative binomial distribution using Maximum Likelihood estimators. We found a positive relationship between interaction with farmers and publishing of papers when interactions are carried out through the R&D modality. We also found that the impact of the nature of interactions on research productivity differs according to the type of research output. The impact is broader in the case of new recommendations than in the other outputs. The production of new recommendations is positively influenced by both the breadth of linkages and their duration through both modalities of interaction (R&D and consultancy).     

Squat Jump Performance During Growth in Both Sexes

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate leg muscle power and compare two activities (jumping and cycling) in 383 girls and 407 boys ages 9–19 years. Results in anthropometric characteristics and jumping performance were comparable until midadolescence, and sex differences were observed. Lean leg volume (LLV) was the reason for most of the variance (76% in girls and 88% in boys) in jumping performance. However, the LLV exponent was higher than expected in boys but not girls. Therefore, unidentified qualitative changes of muscle function during growth in boys must be considered. The squat jump index (SJI) was highly correlated to cycling peak power (CPP; N = 790, r = .94, p < .001). Although prediction error of CPP from SJI was less than 5% when considering each sex-and-age group, individual errors mounted to 40%. Due to its practicability, SJI is recommended in large-scale developmental prospective studies. However, cycling and jumping protocols are not interchangeable when measuring peak power values.     

Under what conditions do firms benefit from the research efforts of other organizations?

Although R&D spillovers play a key role in the battle for technological leadership, it is unclear under what conditions firms build on and benefit from the discoveries of others. The study described here empirically examines this issue. The findings indicate that, depending on technological opportunities, firm size and competitive pressure, the net impact of R&D spillovers on productivity can be either positive or negative. Specifically, we find that although spillover effects are positively associated with the technological opportunities that a firm faces, this relationship is reversed when firm size is considered. Whilst external R&D affects large self-reliant firms negatively, its impact on the productivity of smaller firms (who usually introduce incremental innovations that are characterized by a strong reliance on external technologies) is positive, and even higher than that of their own R&D. We also demonstrate that the economic payoff for firms’ own R&D is lower when they face intense competition. In cases of low-appropriability, however, spillover effects are more positive, allowing firms to increase their performance using the inventions of others.     

无线:未来互联网\"冲击波\"

上期,栏目刊载了NSF无线移动计划编制组WMPG发布的研究报告中“无线网络在下一代互联网中的应用”内容,本期将刊载“无线对网络体系结构的挑战;未来无线网络的部署策略;无线网络研究的实验基础架构”等内容。下期,栏目将刊载“小组的主要发现和建议”内容。     

Education and countering violent extremism: Western logics from south to north?

Abstract

This paper explores the way education and conflict have become entangled during the post-9/11 ‘war on terror’ response to ‘radical Islam’ at home and abroad. The paper charts the complex ways that education has been deployed to serve Western military and security objectives in multiple locations in the global south and how these strategies have now returned to the ‘ West’ in the form of ‘countering violent extremism’ interventions. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of the ‘boomerang effect’ I will explore whether and how education techniques and strategies deployed abroad in pursuit of imperial interests return to the West and are deployed to monitor, control and suppress marginalised communities in a form of ‘internal colonialism’. Finally, the paper brings the two sections together in the Findings to explore commonalities and divergences.