A note on collusion sustainability with optimal punishments and detection lags

In this note we characterize optimal punishments with detection lags when the market consists of n oligopolistic firms. We extend a previous note by Colombo and Labrecciosa (2006) [Colombo, L., and Labrecciosa, P., 2006. Optimal punishments with detection lags. Economic Letters 92, 198-201] to show how in the presence of detection lags optimal punish- ments fail to restore cooperation also in markets with a low number of firms.

Keys to success in an example of inter-competitor cooperation: The case of the "Big Seven" basque chefs

The case of the top chefs relates the two areas that are apparently most distant, nutrition and health technology. It is the element that binds[3] the four, making them into a single whole. The results achieved by our chefs, in terms of their individual and collective success and their international projection of the image of the Basque Country comprise a goal to which other industries in the region should aspire. It is therefore our plan to apply the keys to this successful inter-competitor cooperation to development of the health technology industry. At the same time, we want to fulfil one of the aims that have been established for the food area: to make use of the country’s gastronomy-related assets.

Evolution of Cooperation in the Snowdrift Game with Incomplete Information and Heterogeneous Population

Differently from previous studies of tag-based cooperation, we assume that individuals fail to recognize their own tag. Due to such incomplete information, the action taken against the opponent cannot be based on similarity, although it is still motivated by the tag displayed by the opponent. We present stability conditions for the case when individuals play unconditional cooperation, unconditional defection or conditional cooperation. We then consider the removal of one or two strategies. Results show that conditional cooperators are the most resilient agents against extinction and that the removal of unconditional cooperators may lead to the extinction of unconditional defectors.

Emergence of Cooperation in Heterogeneous Population: A Discrete-Time Replicator Dynamics Analysis

The emergence of cooperation is analyzed in heterogeneous populations where individuals can be classified in two groups according to their phenotypic appearance. Phenotype recognition is assumed for all individuals: individuals are able to identify the type of every other individual, but fail to recognize their own type, and thus behave under partial information conditions. The interactions between individuals are described by 2 × 2 symmetric games where individuals can either cooperate or defect. The evolution of such populations is studied in the framework of evolutionary game by means of the replicator dynamics. Overlapping generations are considered, so the replicator equations are formulated in discrete-time form. The well-posedness conditions of the system are derived. Depending on the parameters of the game, a restriction may exist for the generation length. The stability analysis of the dynamical system is carried out and a detailed description of the behavior of trajectories starting from the interior of the state-space is given. We find that, provided the conditions of well-posedness are verified, the linear stability of monomorphic states in the discrete-time replicator coincides with the one of the continuous case. Specific from the discrete-time case, a relaxed restriction for the generation length is derived, for which larger time-steps can be used without compromising the well-posedness of the replicator system.

Using the system dynamics paradigm in teaching and learning technological university subjets

2nd International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies

Segregation: theoretical approach. an empirical analysis of gender segregation in undergraduate studies at the University of the Basque Country.

The aim of this study is to analyze the gender segregation in undergraduate studies in the University from Basque Country (UPV/EHU). We use data from UPV/EHU for the period 2003-2013. We focus on the period from 2003 to 2013 to analyze the changes in the segregation over ten years. We analyze the tendencies of the men and the women inside undergraduate studies. Undergraduate studies are decomposed into five fields: Legal and social sciences, experimental sciences, engineering, arts and humanities, and health sciences. We draw segregation curves and compute the Gini segregation index within the Lorenz approach. Our results show that the gender segregation in undergraduate studies in the UPV/EHU has decreased from 2003 to 2013.

Gender segregation in technological undergraduate studies in the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

In this work we study the gender segregation in technological undergraduate studies in the University of The Basque Country (UPV/EHU). For this study we use the data of new admissions at the UPV/EHU. They are from the time period of the years 2003-2013. We focus on the first and last year to check if the segregation has changed over these ten years. We build segregation curves within the Lorenz approach. Our results show that the gender segregation in technological undergraduate studies in the University of the Basque Country has increased over the last ten years. We also show that the distribution between men and women has changed.  

Orígenes, elementos determinantes y resultados de un exitoso proceso de colaboración entre competidores y otros agentes: el cluster de la Alta Cocina Vasca

[ES] El País Vasco es internacionalmente reconocido por su gastronomía y sus grandes cocineros; de hecho, es el territorio del mundo con más estrellas Michelin por kilómetro cuadrado. Esta notoriedad e imagen repercuten muy positivamente en todo el sector gastronómico y en la imagen y proyección turística del País Vasco y se ha logrado gracias a la labor sostenida de un grupo inicial de cocineros, a los que siguieron otros, que realizan importantes esfuerzos de colaboración, sin dejar de competir entre ellos (tratándose de un claro ejemplo de coopetition). El análisis de la relación entre estos grandes cocineros vascos y su entorno, permite identificar un cluster que actualmente se encuentra en fase de madurez con un futuro esperanzador y que ha arrojado importantes beneficios al sector, a cada uno de sus integrantes y a la región en su conjunto muy especialmente en términos de innovación, notoriedad y reputación. Para la realización de este trabajo se ha utilizado, además de la revisión bibliográfica y documental pertinente, una metodología cualitativa, consistente en la realización de entrevistas en profundidad a los siete cocineros fundadores y patronos del Basque Culinary Center (primera Facultad Universitaria de Estudios Gastronómicos de Europa, dependiente de la Universidad de Mondragón). El trabajo es uno de los frutos extraídos de un contrato de colaboración entre el Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la empresa de la UPV/EHU e Innobasque (Agencia Vasca para la Innovación), en el que esta última fijó tanto los objetivos de la investigación como la metodología a utilizar.

We can work it out: an enactive look at cooperation

The past years have seen an increasing debate on cooperation and its unique human character. Philosophers and psychologists have proposed that cooperative activities are characterized by shared goals to which participants are committed through the ability to understand each other’s intentions. Despite its popularity, some serious issues arise with this approach to cooperation. First, one may challenge the assumption that high-level mental processes are necessary for engaging in acting cooperatively. If they are, then how do agents that do not possess such ability (preverbal children, or children with autism who are often claimed to be mind-blind) engage in cooperative exchanges, as the evidence suggests? Secondly, to define cooperation as the result of two de-contextualized minds reading each other’s intentions may fail to fully acknowledge the complexity of situated, interactional dynamics and the interplay of variables such as the participants’ relational and personal history and experience. In this paper we challenge such accounts of cooperation, calling for an embodied approach that sees cooperation not only as an individual attitude toward the other, but also as a property of interaction processes. Taking an enactive perspective, we argue that cooperation is an intrinsic part of any interaction, and that there can be cooperative interaction before complex communicative abilities are achieved. The issue then is not whether one is able or not to read the other’s intentions, but what it takes to participate in joint action. From this basic account, it should be possible to build up more complex forms of cooperation as needed. Addressing the study of cooperation in these terms may enhance our understanding of human social development, and foster our knowledge of different ways of engaging with others, as in the case of autism.

Entrepreneurship in the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

Currently entrepreneurship is a basic pillar in the socioeconomic area of any country since it contributes to attain the government objectives of job creation and boost of dynamism and competitiveness of the business network. These aspects are even more crucial nowadays due to the global economic crisis. This paper attempts to provide some new insights about the scientific field entrepreneurship in the Basque Country analyzing some aspects related to the entrepreneurial activity, the profile of the entrepreneur and the characteristics of the entrepreneurial businesses. It also aims to provide empirical evidence that proves the good features of the spin-offs and TBF groups as job creators, technology transferors to the society and important actors in the growth and development of the economies for both the business network and its surrounding society. To this aim, a descriptive study has been performed of the firms belonging to the Zitek Program of Bizkaia Campus of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

The labour market in the Basque Country: University Employment Centers

This project is a study of the Labour Market in the Basque Country. First of all, we have analysed the position of the Basque Country in the European Union employment situation by gender and age. Secondly, we have studied the educational level of the Basque Country from the European Union perspective. Thirdly, we have showed the importance of labour orientation in educational level, especially in higher education. Finally, the design of new employment policies to promote the creation of jobs and stability of the labour market depends on: new industries and university employment policies.