nep-sog New Economics Papers
on Sociology of Economics
Issue of 2006‒12‒16
three papers chosen by
Jonas Holmstrom
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration

  1. Do academic laboratories correspond to scientific communities? Evidence from a large European university. By Rachel Levy; Paul Muller
  2. Science-Technology-Industry Links and the ”European Paradox”: Some Notes on the Dynamics of Scientific and Technological Research in Europe. By Giovanni Dosi; Patrick Llerena; Mauro Sylos Labin
  3. The effects of higher education programme characteristics on allocation and performance of the graduates: a European view By Heijke Hans; Meng Christoph

  1. By: Rachel Levy; Paul Muller
    Abstract: Although acknowledged as central in the economic literature, the issue of intra academic collaboration has been, insofar, relatively overlooked. This paper fills this gap by stressing the importance of communities in academic research. By analysing the publication behavior of researchers from a large European scientific university, we argue that in certain cases, the community level constitutes a relevant level for analysing the collaborative nature of scientific investigation. Indeed, the reality of research collaborations doesn’t always fit the institutional division of academic work provided by laboratories.
    Keywords: Economics of Science, Knowledge Intensive Communities, Academic Collaborations, Social Network Analysis.
    JEL: L31 O31 O32
    Date: 2006
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2006-15&r=sog
  2. By: Giovanni Dosi; Patrick Llerena; Mauro Sylos Labin
    Abstract: This paper discusses, first, the properties of scientific and technological knowledge and the institutions supporting its generation and its economic applications. The evidence continues to support the broad interpretation which we call the ”Stanford-Yale-Sussex” synthesis. Second, such patterns bear important implications with respect to the so-called ”European Paradox”, i.e. the conjecture that EU countries play a leading global role in terms of top-level scientific output, but lag behind in the ability of converting this strength into wealth-generating innovations. Some descriptive evidence shows that, contrary to the ”paradox” conjecture, European weaknesses reside both in its system of scientific research and in a relatively weak industry. The final part of the work suggests a few normative implications: much less emphasis should be put on various types of ”networking” and much more on policy measures aimed to both strengthen ”frontier” research and strengthen European corporate actors.
    Keywords: Open Science, European Paradox, Science and Technology Policy.
    JEL: D80 O33 O38
    Date: 2005
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2005-11&r=sog
  3. By: Heijke Hans; Meng Christoph (ROA rm)
    Abstract: This paper provides new insight into the role of higher educational programmes in allocation and performance during the transition from education to the labour market. Using a unique data set on the labour market situation of graduates in nine European countries, we investigate the significance of five characteristics of the higher education programmes: (1) The academic versus discipline-specific character of the competencies generated by the curriculum; (2) the level of standardization of the generated competencies; (3) the extent by which working and learning activities are combined, (4) the level of internationalization of the educational programme and (5) the extent to which a programme provides exclusive entrance to particular occupations.First, our results reveal in particular the importance of the competence orientation of the education programme. Allocation of graduates to occupations takes place in a manner that yields a situation wherein the competence orientation of the education is in congruence with the competence orientation of the occupation. Second, we show that the standardization of the education programme with respect to the competencies students acquire plays an important role in both informing the employer, and reducing the adjustment costs. By that, it allows for a higher remuneration of the graduates.
    Keywords: education, training and the labour market;
    Date: 2006
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umaror:2006005&r=sog

This nep-sog issue is ©2006 by Jonas Holmstrom. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.