Multinationals, technology networks and international takeovers

We formulate a knowlegde--based model of direct investment through mergers and acquisitions. M&As are realized to create comparative advantages by exploiting international synergies and appropriating local technology spillovers requiring geographical proximity, but can also represent a strategic response to the presence of a multinational rival. The takeover fee paid tends to increase with the strength of local spillovers which can thus work against multinationalization. Seller's bargaining power increases the takeover fee, but does not influence the investment decision. We characterize losers and winners from multinationalization, and show that foreign investment stimulates research but could result in a synergy trap reducing multinationals' profits.

Promoting Metacognitive Skills in a CSCL environment: implications for instructional and technology design

This paper aims to better understand the development of students’ learning processes when participating actively in a specific Computer Supported Collaborative Learning system called KnowCat. To this end, a longitudinal case study was designed, in which eighteen university students took part in a 12-month (two semesters) learning project. During this time period, the students followed an instructional process, using some elements of KnowCat (KnowCat key features) design to support and improve their interaction processes, especially peer learning processes. Our research involved both supervising the students’ collaborative learning processes throughout the learning project and focusing our analysis on the qualitative evolution of the students’ interaction processes and on the development of metacognitive learning processes. The results of the current research reveal that the instructional application of the CSCL-KnowCat system may favour and improve the development of the students’ metacognitive learning processes. Additionally, the implications of the design of computer supported collaborative learning networks and pedagogical issues are discussed in this paper.

Learning 2.0 : concepts and experiences with social networks and software

Peer-reviewed

Information networks and worker recruitment

This paper studies experimentally how the existence of social information networks affects the ways in which firms recruit new personnel. Through such networks firms learn about prospective employees' performance in previous jobs. Assuming individualistic preferences social networks are predicted not to affect overall labor market behavior, while with social preferences the prediction is that when bilaterally negotiated: (i) wages will be higher and (ii) that workers in jobs with incomplete contracts will respond with higher effort. Our experimental results are consistent with the social preferences view, both for the case of excess demand and excess supply of labor. In particular, the presence of information networks leads to more efficient allocations.

Umbra Filtre Web : Aplicació de filtrat de pàgines web

El projecte presentat explora les possibilitats de la tecnologia de Microsoft.NET Framework en el camp del filtratge de pàgines web. Per disseny s'ha escollit una solució relacionada amb xarxes d'ordinadors i el resultat del projecte és una aplicació que utiliza com a base un proxy http, de forma que és capaç de filtrar pàgines web abans de que aquestes arribin al navegador.

Adaptive intelligent agent approach to guide the web navigation on the PLAN-G distance learning platform

Hypermedia systems based on the Web for open distance education are becoming increasinglypopular as tools for user-driven access learning information. Adaptive hypermedia is a new direction in research within the area of user-adaptive systems, to increase its functionality by making it personalized [Eklu 961. This paper sketches a general agents architecture to include navigationaladaptability and user-friendly processes which would guide and accompany the student during hislher learning on the PLAN-G hypermedia system (New Generation Telematics Platform to Support Open and Distance Learning), with the aid of computer networks and specifically WWW technology [Marz 98-1] [Marz 98-2]. The PLAN-G actual prototype is successfully used with some informatics courses (the current version has no agents yet). The propased multi-agent system, contains two different types of adaptive autonomous software agents: Personal Digital Agents {Interface), to interacl directly with the student when necessary; and Information Agents (Intermediaries), to filtrate and discover information to learn and to adapt navigation space to a specific student

Openness and technology diffusion in payment

We study the relationship between openness and payment system development. In particular, we analyze how the existence of technology diffusion from a more developed country fosters a transformation of payment choice in a less developed country. We apply our analysis to Mexico. Economic growth in Mexico was not high enough to cause a transformation of payment choice observed in the data after 2001. We argue that the switch towards electronic payments can be attributed to openness and related payment technology spillovers from the US in the context of NAFTA.

Gendered networks and Mexican migration

In this paper, we investigate how the gendered origin of migrant networks (i.e. matrilineal vs. patrilineal) is associated with aspirations to migrate and subsequent migration behavior. Using longitudinal data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we follow 3,923 married couples across 139 municipalities over the 2002-2005 period. We find that the networks of both the individual and her/his spouse are associated with aspiring to migrate to the United States. However, one’s own network matters most (i.e. matrilineal networks for women and patrilineal networks for men). On the other hand, in terms of behavior, only matrilineal networks predict a subsequent move to the U.S. for men and women/couples, who are assessed jointly. These findings suggest that our understanding of the role of migrant networks in perpetuating male-centered, labor migration does not necessarily translate once a union has formed. We make the case that future work would do well to account for not only the presence and composition of networks, but also their origin, which in certain circumstances may be the most relevant factor.

Trade liberalization, exports and technology upgrading: Evidence on the impact of MERCOSUR on Argentinean firms

This paper studies the impact of a regional free trade agreement, MERCOSUR, on technologyupgrading by Argentinean firms. To guide empirical work, I introduce technology choice inMelitz s (2003) model of trade with heterogeneous firms. The joint treatment of the technologyadoption and exporting choices shows that the increase in revenues produced by trade integrationcan induce exporters to upgrade technology. An empirical test of the model reveals that firms inindustries facing higher reductions in Brazil s tariffs increase their investment in technologyfaster. The effect of tariffs on entry in the export market and technology adoption is highest inthe upper-middle range of the firm size distribution, as predicted by the model.

Self-similarity of complex networks and hidden metric spaces

We demonstrate that the self-similarity of some scale-free networks with respect to a simple degree-thresholding renormalization scheme finds a natural interpretation in the assumption that network nodes exist in hidden metric spaces. Clustering, i.e., cycles of length three, plays a crucial role in this framework as a topological reflection of the triangle inequality in the hidden geometry. We prove that a class of hidden variable models with underlying metric spaces are able to accurately reproduce the self-similarity properties that we measured in the real networks. Our findings indicate that hidden geometries underlying these real networks are a plausible explanation for their observed topologies and, in particular, for their self-similarity with respect to the degree-based renormalization.

Interoperability and Technology for a Language Resources Factory

This document describes some of the technological aspects of a project devoted to the creation of a factory for language resources. The project’s objectives are explained, as well as the idea to create a distributed infrastructure of web services. This document focuses on two main topics of the factory: (1) the technological approaches chosen to develop the factory, i.e. software, protocols, servers, etc. (2) and Interoperability as the main challenge is to permit different NLP tools work together in the factory. This document explains why XCES and GrAF are chosen as the main formats used for the linguistic data exchange.

Technology educational affordance: Bridging the gap between patterns of interaction and technology usage

Peer-reviewed

Research networks and scientific production in Economics: the recent Spanish experience

This paper studies Spanish scientific production in Economics from 1994 to 2004. It focuses on aspects that have received little attention in other bibliometric studies, such as the impact of research and the role of scientific collaborations in the publications produced by Spanish universities. Our results show that national research networks have played a fundamental role in the increase in Spanish scientific production in this discipline.

CLARIN: common language resources and technology infrastructure

Presentamos el proyecto CLARIN, un proyecto cuyo objetivo es potenciar el uso de instrumentos tecnológicos en la investigación en las Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales

Research networks and inventors’ mobility as drivers of innovation evidence from Europe

We investigate the importance of the labour mobility of inventors, as well as the scale, extent and density of their collaborative research networks, for regional innovation outcomes. To do so, we apply a knowledge production function framework at the regional level and include inventors’ networks and their labour mobility as regressors. Our empirical approach takes full account of spatial interactions by estimating a spatial lag model together, where necessary, with a spatial error model. In addition, standard errors are calculated using spatial heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent estimators to ensure their robustness in the presence of spatial error autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity of unknown form. Our results point to the existence of a robust positive correlation between intraregional labour mobility and regional innovation, whilst the relationship with networks is less clear. However, networking across regions positively correlates with a region’s innovation intensity.