Organizational Unit:

School of Public Policy

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https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70716

Parent Organization

Organizational Unit

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Includes Organization(s)

Organizational Unit

Technology Policy and Assessment Center

ArchiveSpace Name Record

https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/agents/corporate_entities/1033

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 493

International research collaboration, research team performance, and scientific and; technological capabilities in colombia -a bottom-up perspective

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-12-16) Ordonez-Matamoros, Gonzalo

This dissertation examines the ways international research collaboration affects the ability of Colombian research teams to produce bibliographic outputs, and to contribute to local knowledge. Research hypotheses are tested using Zero Inflated Negative Binomial Regression models to account for the effects of international research collaboration on team output while controlling for team characteristics, partner characteristics, scientific discipline, sector, the characteristics of the teams' home institution, and team location. The study uses control groups and the Propensity Score Matching approach to assess the overall impact of international research collaboration on research team performance while controlling for the effects of endogeneity and selection bias. Results show that international research collaboration is positively associated with both team output and teams' ability to contribute to local knowledge. The study shows that such effects depend on the type of collaboration chosen and the type of partner involved. Particularly, it shows that while co-authoring with colleagues located overseas or receiving foreign funding positively affects team performance, hosting foreign researchers does not seem to affect a team's productivity or its ability to contribute to local knowledge once all other variables are held constant. It also finds that collaborating with partners from the South yields greater productivity counts than collaborating with partners from the North, but that collaboration with partners from northern countries is strongly associated with a team's ability to contribute to local knowledge, while collaboration with partners from southern countries is not. Theoretical and policy implications of these and other counterintuitive findings are discussed.
Reflective Argumentation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-12) Hoffmann, Michael H. G.

Theories of argumentation usually focus on arguments as means of persuasion, finding consensus, or justifying knowledge claims. However, the construction and visualization of arguments can also be used to clarify one's own thinking and to stimulate change of this thinking if gaps, unjustified assumptions, contradictions, or open questions can be identified. This is what I call "reflective argumentation." The objective of this paper is, first, to clarify the conditions of reflective argumentation and, second, to discuss the possibilities of argument visualization methods in supporting reflection and cognitive change. After a discussion of the cognitive problems we are facing in conflicts--obviously the area where cognitive change is hardest--the second part will, based on this, determine a set of requirements argument visualization tools should fulfill if their main purpose is stimulating reflection and cognitive change. In the third part, I will evaluate available argument visualization methods with regard to these requirements and talk about their limitations. The fourth part, then, introduces a new method of argument visualization which I call Logical Argument Mapping (LAM). LAM has specifically been designed to support reflective argumentation. Since it uses primarily deductively valid argument schemes, this design decision has to be justified with regard to goals of reflective argumentation. The fifth part, finally, provides an example of how Logical Argument Mapping could be used as a method of reflective argumentation in a political controversy.
Making space for environmental problem solving: a study of the role of "place" in boundary choices using Georgia's statewide planning process as a case

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-11-17) Hirsch, Paul Devin

In this dissertation, the concept of "problem bounding," argued by Bryan Norton and colleagues to be an important but understudied aspect of environmental problem solving, is operationalized and empirically investigated. The empirical part of the work involves participant observation and survey research on how diverse individuals – all of whom were invited by a state agency to advise the development of an institutional framework for statewide water planning – engaged in problem bounding both conceptually and in their choice of a spatial structure for ongoing water management. My particular focus is on the multiple ways in which the "place" an individual views the problem from shapes the way they engage in problem bounding. Although more research is needed and there are significant limitations to the data, my findings indicate that place – particularly in terms of location on an upstream/downstream continuum and rural/urban self-identification – does play a role in problem bounding. The dissertation concludes with a review and discussion of the major findings, and implications for the development of institutional frameworks that are both responsive to ecological dynamics and representative of the relevant public(s).
Uncompensated care provision and the economic behavior of hospitals: the influence of the regulatory environment

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-11-12) Zhang, Lei

This dissertation project examines the effect of various state regulations such as Certificate-of-Need (CON) regulation, uncompensated care pools and community benefit requirement laws on hospital provision of uncompensated care and analyzes both for-profit and non-profit hospitals' responsiveness to the regulatory environment. The analysis of these regulations uses panel data econometric methods for a sample of hospitals in 17 states from 2002 to 2004. This study overcomes the limits of previous research that focused primarily on the effect of a single regulation in a given state. It uses three estimation methods: pooled Ordinary Least Squares (pooled OLS), random effects generalized least squares (GLS) and Hausman Taylor instrumental variable (HTIV) to obtain the parameter estimates. Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each method, we interpret results based on the cross-validation of the GLS and HTIV estimates. Findings suggest that nonprofit and for-profit hospitals respond to some policy instruments similarly and others differently. For example, both nonprofit and for-profit hospitals respond to CON laws by increasing their uncompensated care provision. However, they respond to policy incentives such as community benefit requirement laws differently. Furthermore, regulatory interactions are found to significantly influence the uncompensated care provision by both nonprofit and for-profit hospitals. The dissertation helps policy makers formulate strategies to create incentives to enhance access to care for the economically disadvantaged. For example, implementing CON and providing public subsidies at the same time may offer better access to care for the uninsured than implementing either regulation alone. However, community benefit requirement laws do not appear to expand the amount of uncompensated care provided by nonprofit hospitals.
Three essays on serial innovator firms and geographical clustering

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-11-10) Libaers, Dirk

This study aims to elucidate firm and performance attributes of a population of small, elite firms that assume prominent positions in their respective technological spaces and product markets. More specifically, this study addresses the role and impact of industrial agglomeration on the location and performance characteristics of serial innovator firms. The dissertation was conceived as a collection of three distinct but related essays. The first essay on the geographical location of firms with high levels of innovative prowess i.e. serial innovator firms vis-à-vis technology clusters and research universities indicates that these firms are not necessarily located in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) with higher average levels of industry clustering than non-serial innovator firms of similar size. Serial innovator firms and their less innovative counterparts appear to have the same need and capacity to absorb knowledge spillovers in technology clusters. Further analysis, however, revealed that serial innovator firms in the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology and IT hardware industries are located in MSA's with significantly higher levels of regional specialization than non-serial innovator firms in that industry which suggests an asymmetric need for knowledge spillovers by these firms. Furthermore, serial innovator firms seem to be located in MSA's with a significantly higher number of research universities than a non-serial innovator firm although differences across industries can be noted. This again indicates an asymmetric use and need for academic knowledge spillovers and pecuniary advantages offered by these institutions. The analysis in the second essay reveals that serial innovator firms located in MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) with elevated levels of industrial clustering announce significantly more new products than their counterparts located in MSA areas with low levels of industrial clustering. However, no differences in the pace of technological progress of the technologies developed by serial innovator firms located in technology clusters and those outside of clusters was found. Finally, the research reported in the third essay indicates that the level of industrial agglomeration has a positive impact on the export performance of serial innovator firms and that these firms benefit proportionately more from technology clusters than non-serial innovator firms.
Technology transfer through Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Nakandala, Dilupa Jeewanie
Structural Change of Production and Consumption: A Micro to Macro Approach to Economic Growth and Income Distribution

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Ciarli, Tommaso ; Lorentz, Andre ; Savona, Maria ; Valente, Marco

We propose a theoretical model/framework for the analysis of the concomitant effects of structural changes in both production and consumption, on long run economic growth and income distribution. To accomplish with such a broad aim, we develop an evolutionary model with agent–based micro–foundations. At the core of the model we take into account: (i) firm–level organisational structure and technological changes; (ii) the impact of technology and organisation on the structure of earnings and income of workers/consumers; and (iii) the consequent changes in consumption patterns. The model thus articulates the links between production and organisation structures on the supply side, and the endogenous evolution of income distribution and consumption patterns on the demand side. We first analyse the model’s properties, via numerical simulations, for a given setting of the structural conditions; we graphically show that the main determinants of endogenous economic growth and take–off are the structural variables. We then analyse the space of the parameters that determine the structural conditions; simplified scenarios are identified via numerical simulations, in which patterns of aggregate growth are obtained as an emerging property of different structures of firms’ organisation and production, functional composition of employment, income distribution and patterns of consumption.
Knowledge-intensive university spin-off firms in South Africa: Fragile network alignment

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Kruss, Glenda
Understanding innovations in traditional agriculture of Northeast India - The case for sustainable development

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Pulamte, Lalsiemlien

This paper is designed with the following objectives, viz., (i) to call attention to the ecological damages caused by a package of technical innovations (in this case, the Green Revolution) that are over-characterised with economic gains; (ii) to present the indigenous agriculture of Northeast India so as to highlight the unique sustainability elements embedded in them; and (iii) to stress the need for exploring the ways and means of incorporating and scaling up these traditional technologies/innovations in view of their salient sustainable features and in response to today’s intense need for addressing the sustainability question.
Building inclusive innovation systems in developing countries - why it is necessary to rethink the policy agenda

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Altenburg, Tilman