The IPL newsletter: Volume 2, Issue 16

The Brain Drain: Myth and Reality – What It Is and What Should Be Done 
R. Finnie, School of Policy Studies, Queens University 
This paper pulls together and summarizes the available evidence regarding the size and nature of the outflows, thus establishing an empirical basis from which the issue can be addressed.  This is followed by an examination and modeling of some of the major related policy solutions.   The paper concludes that the brain drain is principally a problem of relatively small numbers of specific types of high skilled workers leaving the country, pushed by various underlying problems in the sectors in question and pulled by strong labour market demand at the international level.  Increased integration of the Canadian and U.S. economies and a general increase in labour mobility at the international level have also been important in accommodating the drain. 
 

Investment and Productivity Growth: a Survey From the Neoclassical and New Growth Perspectives
 Kevin J. Stiroh, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
This paper reviews the wide literature on investment and productivity with the debate between the neoclassical and the new growth theories providing a context for discussion. Both schools of thought regard investment, broadly defined to include purchases of tangible assets, human capital expenditures, research and development efforts, etc., as the fundamental source of improved productivity and economic growth, but the two views diverge on the exact transmission mechanism. Most importantly, the neoclassical framework focuses on internal returns to investors who appropriate the benefits of new investment, while new growth models emphasize external effects as productivity gains spill over to others. This crucial dichotomy leads to differences regarding the role of investment as a source of growth, policy prescriptions, and implications for long-run gains in productivity and living standards. The paper then reviews several empirical and conceptual issues relating to investment and productivity and outlines areas for future research.

Economic Report of the President
Council of Economic Advisors
This year’s Economic Report of the President, published in January, is a farewell to the Clinton Administration’s economic agenda, providing an overview of their economic strategy, and  a comprehensive analysis of America’s economic performance and structural changes that took place during their reign.   The report is framed within the language of the ‘New Economy’, with chapters explaining in detail its creation and diffusion, its impact on living standards and the relation of the New Economy to global trends.

Sectoral Systems in Europe: Innovation, Competitiveness and Growth
Here is a collection of papers on the Sectoral Systems in Europe, a project sponsored by the European Commission, which encourages a systems perspective to analyze and compare the salient features of six key sectoral systems in different European countries in regard to innovation, competitiveness and growth.  Among the papers are: Sectoral Systems of Innovation and Production (F. Malerba) National Innovation Systems. A Critical Survey (, F. Montobbio), Geographical Boundaries of Sectoral Systems (S. Breschi, F. Lissoni) and Distributed Innovation Systems and Instituted Economic Processes (B. Andersen, J.S. Metcalfe, B.S. Tether).

Tragedy of the Public Knowledge ‘Commons’? Global Science, Intellectual Property and the Digital Technology Boomerang
Paul A. David
Radical legal innovations in intellectual property protection introduced by the European Database Directive of March 1996, may, according to David, seriously jeopardized the conduct of open, collaborative science.  “Over-fencing,” which is to say, the erection of artificial cost barriers to the production of reliable public knowledge by means of reliable public knowledge, threatens the future of “the public knowledge commons” that historically has proved critically important for rapid advance in science and technology.  Such is the concern of David’s paper which sets out the economic case for the effectiveness of open, collaborative research, and the forces behind the recent, countervailing rush to strengthen and expand the scope of intellectual property rights protection.  The discussion concludes by advancing a number of modest remedial proposals that are intended to promote greater efforts to arrive at satisfactory policy solutions for this aspect of “the digital dilemma.”

Creativity, Innovation and Business Practices in the Matter of Knowledge Management
R. Landry, Université Laval
This paper addresses one question: Do business practices in the matter of knowledge management determine creativity of manufacturing firms?  To deal with this question, the authors review the literature on innovation in order to see why creativity and knowledge came to be added to the traditional explanatory variables of innovation.  The data used for this paper come from an innovation survey administered from April to June 2000 to 440 manufacturing firms of diverse industries in Montérégie, a region in the South-West of Montréal.

Proceedings from The e-Economy in Europe: Its potential impact on EU enterprises and policies 
Among the proceedings from “The e-Economy in Europe” conference, held in March 2001, are several interesting background papers and speeches by noteworthy business leaders and economists on the potential impact of e-commerce in Europe much of which is applicable to Canada as well.  These include papers on its impact on Financial and related services, Basic and Intermediary Industries, Consumer Goods Industries and  Services.

Performance Indicators 
Rubenson et al, Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training, UBC 
Here is the final report on the use and impacts of performance models in higher education.  The project, managed by the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, is “designed to research the context in which performance indicators are evolving and explore the known and unforeseen consequences of their implementation as they affect the social sciences and the humanities.”   Along with a summary of a review of the literature and analysis of the impacts of performance indicators on the social sciences and the humanities, the report provides a set of recommendations targeted at university faculty and administrators, SSHRCC and federal officials, scholarly associations, and Ministers responsible for Higher Education in Canada.

Academic Intellectual Property Rights in a Knowledge-Based Economy 
Washington, DC, April 17 2001 
This workshop, organized by the Board on Science, Technology and Economics Policy, focuses on “The Effects of University Patenting and Licensing on Commercialization and Research” and will bring together corporate and academic representatives to address the following topics: 

– The Implications of State Universities’ Claims to Immunity from Current Patent Law;
– Comparing Academic and Industrial Perspectives on University Patenting and Licensing;
– Effects of Patenting and Technology Transfer on Commercialization; and
– Effects of Patenting and Licensing on Research.

CITO/OCRI Techtalk Workshop: On Enhanced Services for Voice-over-IP
Ottawa, April 17, 2001
This TechTalk offers a selection of experts from industry and academia who will explore how to get the most out of Voice-over-IP by examining the issues surrounding the creation and deployment of enhanced services.  Shifting to Voice-over-IP (VoIP) holds the promise of enhanced services that combine voice, data and even video in ways that we have never been able to build easily. The potential of “all IP, all the time” simplifies the management of media, but not necessarily applications. The range of issues to consider runs the gamut from signaling the VoIP network, to managing application features, user configurations, and the impact on people and privacy.

Regionalism in the European Union
Atlanta, April 20, 2001
The Regionalism Policy Network of the European Union Center of Georgia invites proposals for papers to be given at a multidisciplinary conference in Atlanta.  The conference will examine the impact of EU integration on regional patterns of political, economic, and cultural development.  Organizers especially welcome papers addressing one or more of the following themes: promotion and defense of regional political and cultural identities, EU regional policy to combat economic and social disparities and cross-border, inter-regional cooperation (development, commerce, environment).

Half A Century High! IT @2001
Toronto, April 23-24, 2001
Building on the premise that Canadian society is only now beginning to reap the productivity improvements made possible by advances in computer/communications, this conference will focus on developing technologies and the alternative futures they may enable. Internationally known industry leaders, technologists and analysts will be invited to speculate on the further development of information technology and its potential role in the solution of current social problems of concern to Canadians. 

CITO InnoTalk – E-Commerce Executive Tutorial: Internet Business in a Post Dot-Com World 
Toronto, April 26, 2001
This CITO InnoTalk offers an intensive one-day review of the theory and practice of electronic commerce, covering Web and wireless technology, process and market forces. This workshop, aimed at business and technical managers who need a hype-free overview of the field, will include case studies and demonstrations of state-of-the-art Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce systems.

Partners 2001 : Linking Education and the Local Economy
Winnipeg, April 26 – 28, 2001 
Join over 400 leaders and executives from education, business and government at the 12th Annual Partners 2001: Linking Education and the Local Economy Symposium and showcase.  Learn and share how to develop links and partnerships among business, education and communities to ensure economic competitiveness, prosperity and community development. 

CITO/ToRCHI InnoTalk: Universal Principles of Humane Interface Design
Toronto, May 14
Jef Raskin, father of Apple’s Macintosh computer, and more recently, author of the best selling book, “The Humane Interface” will be exposing the flaws of computer-human interfaces in a day long seminar.  “While we have been mucking about with questions of tailoring interfaces for this or that group and making ever more exotic hardware and software widgets, ” remarks Raskin ” the ugly fact remains that almost every computer-human interface is fundamentally flawed. We are trying to repair cracks in the foundation by painting over them. It is time to do things right from the ground up.” 

21st century policies for sustainable technological innovation: The role of STS higher education
Oslo, Norway, May 20-21, 2001 
Organised by the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (T.I.K.), University of Oslo, this will be the fourth and final international conference organised as part of the European POSTI project: “Policies for Sustainable Technological Innovation in the 21st Century”. The conference will deal with two different concepts of innovation: sustainability-related objectives and measures incorporated in innovation processes or outputs and, innovation processes or outputs which aim directly at improving the present or future quality of the environment, in a broad sense. 

Strategic Alliances 2001 Conference: Strategy and Partnering Tools 
Ottawa, May 30-31, 2001
This conference will give business leaders the unique opportunity to hear how to form alliances that stimulate growth and, find out the value of having a clear view of what kinds of alliances should be pursued to leverage specific  strengths, execute growth strategies or fill capability gaps.  Also, case studies are discussed that explore the pitfalls and benefits of alliances

Nelson and Winter Conference
Aalborg, Denmark,  June 12-15, 2001
To commemorate the 20 years since Dick Nelson and Sid Winter published their seminal book An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change DRUID (Danish Research Unit of Industrial Dynamics), in collaboration with the journals Research Policy and Industrial and Corporate has organized this conference to address six main themes.  These include, 
‘Growth, Development and Structural Change’, ‘National Systems of Innovation, Institutions and Public Policies’ and, the ‘Production and Use of Knowledge.’

The 5th International Conference on Technology, Policy and Innovation
The Hague, Netherlands Congress Centre, June 26-29, 2001
Theme: Critical Infrastructures
The conference focuses on infrastructures such as those enabling transportation of goods and people, telecommunications, and the supply and distribution of energy and water have become vital to the daily functioning and security of society.  Proposals are invited for workshops or presentations dealing with vulnerability, institutional management, historical lessons, innovation, and methodologies for interdisciplinary analysis and design, all related to critical infrastructures.