Knowledge Diffusion

Résumé Cet article présente un modèle de croissance schumpetérien, qui géné-ralise la théorie existante : nous utilisons la différenciation circulaire du modèle de Salop [1979] pour prendre en compte le fait que la connaissance se diffuse, avec plus ou moins d'ampleur, entre les ...

257 pp. Bardwell Press – Why did linear perspective rise in Trecento-Quattrocento Central Italy rather than in any other cultural context? This book provides new insight into the question of the early Italian pioneership in perspective, building on the fact that many references to optics are found in Renaissance perspective treatises. The fact that most of the medieval optical manuscripts were written by masters suggests a closer look at the functioning of medieval universities (studia generalia). An in-depth study of recruitment highlights the exceptional mobility of master and lectors throughout Europe.It is shown that, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the nearer a university was to Central Italy, the more cosmopolitan it was. Through the masters' mobility, knowledge circulating in the network preferentially flowed into Central Italy.
This study combines a broad spectrum of methods, ranging from the biography of university staff to textual parallels inquiry, from cross-cultural comparisons to advanced network analysis and modelling.

Prior studies have shown how knowledge diffusion occurs in classrooms and structured small groups around assigned tasks yet have not begun to account for widespread knowledge sharing in more native, unstructured group settings found in online games and virtual worlds. In this paper, we describe and analyze how an insider gaming practice spread across a group of tween players ages 9–12 years in an after-school gaming club that simultaneously participated in a virtual world called Whyville.net. In order to understand how this practice proliferated, we followed the club members as they interacted with each other and members of the virtual world at large. Employing connective ethnography to trace the movements in learning and teaching this practice, we coordinated data records from videos, tracking data, field notes, and interviews. We found that club members took advantage of the different spaces, people, and times available to them across Whyville, the club, and even home and classroom spaces. By using an insider gaming practice, namely teleporting, rather than the more traditional individual person as our analytical lens, we were able to examine knowledge sharing and diffusion across the gaming spaces, including events in local small groups as well as encounters in the virtual world. In the discussion, we address methodological issues and design implications of our findings.

The aim of this research is to put forward the intellectual structure of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education concept in educational research. STEM education has emerged as a highly accepted paradigm in education especially in the USA and European countries in recent years. The theoretical substructure of STEM education that is seen as an important factor in attaining the expected qualities in human profile for the changing conditions of the 21st century has started to be formed. STEM education prioritizes team study and interdisciplinary approach. It is of great importance to put forward the intellectual structure of STEM education, that will play an important role in training people for the conditions of the present day, for better comprehension by the researchers, curriculum developers and practitioners. Moreover, when the literature on this concept is investigated, lack of comprehension of the concept and vision is seen. For this reason, the investigation of the development and current status of STEM education will contribute to literature in terms of understanding the intellectual structure of the concept. The dataset of the study is composed of all types of studies in at least one of the categories of Education & Educational Research and “Education, Scientific Disciplines” published in Web of Science (WoS). Basing on WoS categories the relationship of the concept with other disciplines have been examined and visualized with web graphics on the accessed publications. It has been possible to refer to which focus the scientific data has been developed nourishing via the journals by mapping the journals in the dataset as citation giving and citation attaining. In addition to these, contribution of disciplines and countries to STEM education has been compared.

Recent research on the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the economic impacts of this concept and especially the knowledge diffusion effects from trained to non-trained farmers. Based on a study in Senegal this paper hypothesizes that the question of the project placement strategy is vital when analyzing knowledge diffusion effects of FFS in Africa. Results show that the share of trained farmers in a community is a decisive factor for adoption behavior and knowledge diffusion. It is concluded that when introducing an FFS, a critical mass of trained farmers is important to attain effective dissemination of information and to generate positive stimuli for adoption and learning among non-participants. --

In this paper, we consider a model of on-the-job learning where workers learn informally by watching and imitating colleagues. We estimate the rate of knowledge diffusion inside the firm using two matched worker-firm data sets from Morocco and Senegal. We rely on non-linear least squares to estimate the structural parameters of the informal learning model and account for firm heterogeneity using firm factors derived from a principal component analysis. We find that the rate of knowledge diffusion is around 7 percent in Morocco and Senegal, but part of the learning-by-watching returns stems from firm heterogeneity. Informal training significantly affects the shape of returns to tenure in these two countries. Finally, we estimate an extended model with both learning-by-watching and learning-by-doing and find significant benefits from imitating colleagues in Morocco.

This study examines four months of online discourse of 22 Grade 4 students engaged in efforts to advance their understanding of optics. Their work is part of a school-wide knowledge building initiative, the essence of which is giving students collective responsibility for idea improvement. This goal is supported by software—Knowledge Forum—designed to provide a public and collaborative space for continual improvement of ideas. A new analytic tool—inquiry threads—was developed to analyze the discourse used by these students as they worked in this environment. Data analyses focus on four knowledge building principles: idea improvement; real ideas, authentic problems (involving concrete/empirical and abstract/conceptual artifacts); community knowledge (knowledge constructed for the benefit of the community as a whole); and constructive use of authoritative sources. Results indicate that these young students generated theories and explanation-seeking questions, designed experiments to produce real-world empirical data to support their theories, located and introduced expert resources, revised ideas, and responded to problems and ideas that emerged as community knowledge evolved. Advances were reflected in progress in refining ideas and evidence of growth of knowledge for the community as a whole. Design strategies and challenges for collective idea improvement are discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of post-exit knowledge diffusion created by departed firms on recipienfirms.

Design/methodology/approach – This is an inductive and exploratory study which tries to understand questions of how and why. The research used a qualitative interview methodology and data analysis using within and cross-case analysis.

Findings – Analysis of the data revealed that recipient firms' strategic directions and organizational design are fundamentally shaped by the career imprint of the former managers of the departed firm.

Research limitations/implications – Practical and policy implications are identified and discussed. The study suggests that organizational failure should be viewed as having wider externalities, on both markets and society as a whole. The demise of an industry incumbent should not be viewed as necessarily having a negative impact, rather as a strategic opportunity for new firms to enter and for existing ones to expand by drawing on the expertise released by its departure.

Originality/value – This paper makes an original contribution to the literature by integrating learning-from-failure, knowledge spillover and career imprinting theories to examine the post-exit effect of firm departure. The paper also counters prior emphasis of the extant literature on the relationship between work experience and job performance which has focused mainly on experience within the current firm, overlooking the importance of work experience acquired in prior firms.

This paper analyses different factors which characterize a geographical cluster, such as rivalry intensity between local firms, spillovers effect in knowledge diffusion, and firms¿ level of interactions with regional associations. These external factors, we argue, are an important source of firms¿ heterogeneity in the development of strategic capabilities, such as innovation and environmental strategy proactivity. By analyzing a sample of 153 firms covered by two agricultural clusters in the South of Spain characterized by an intensive production, we highlight the differential effects of this factors on the development of both capabilities and the relationships between them and economic performance. Este trabajo analiza cómo diferentes mecanismos típicamente presentes en los clusters geográficos, como la intensidad de la competencia, los efectos spillover de difusión del conocimiento y la interacción con asociaciones regionales, constituyen una importante fuente de variación en el d...

Apart from this direct growth contribution, the sector also contributed in an indirect way to economic growth by generating knowledge and productivity spill-overs for other industries. The knowledge role of business services is reflected in its employment characteristics. The business-...

This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. We explore the role of business services in knowledge accumulation and growth and the determinants of knowledge diffusion including the role of distance. A continuous-time model is estimated on several European countries, Japan, and the United States. Policy simulations illustrate the benefits for EU growth of the deepening of the single market, the reduction of regulatory barriers, and the accumulation of technology and human capital. Our results support the basic insights of the Lisbon Agenda. Economic growth in Europe is enhanced to the extent that: trade in services increases, technology accumulation and diffusion increase, regulation becomes both l...