Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 1969. / Includes bibliographical references (xii-xxv).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 289-312).

Data shows that many inventors continue to expend resources on their inventions even after they have received expert advice suggesting that they cease effort. Using a sample of inventors seeking outside advice from a Canadian evaluative agency, this paper examines how overconfidence, optimism, and illusion of control explain this fact. While overconfidence did not have a significant effect on inventor's decisions, illusion of control and optimism did have an effect. An additional interesting finding is that the more time people have spent working on inventions, the more likely they are to discount this expert advice.

No description available.

What is the role of the independent inventor today? Historically, he has played an important role but circumstances have now changed. The objectives of this thesis have been: (1) to assess the value of inventions made by independent inventors; (2) to determine whether the government should provide support; and (3) if so, how? It is not appropriate to make a judgement about the value of independent inventors on qualitative data alone. Therefore, attempts must be made to obtain quantitative data on the value, in economic and social terms, of inventions of independent inventors. The unique feature of this thesis is the survey of members of the Inventors' Association of Australia to assess the personal characteristics of their members, the value of inventions made by members and the types of assistance required by their members. Some of the research results on the personal characteristics of independent inventors are interesting. - 95% are males. (This is supported by other research data). their educational qualifications are much higher than the general population. - on average, each inventor spends 8-10 hours per week on inventions. The survey showed that the economic value (in terms of value of output) of inventions made by members of the Inventors' Association of Australia is about $50m per annum and creates about 4000 man years of employment. It is not possible to assess what percentage of independent inventors are members of the Inventors' Association of Australia. Estimates place this between 20% and 50%. If this is the case, then it can be estimated that the value of output of inventions of independent inventors in Australia is between $100m-$260m which, in turn, creates 7,700 - 19,000 man years of employment. Additionally, the qualitative evidence suggests that Australian inventors are, at the least, equal to their overseas counterparts. There are grounds why governments should intervene to assist independent inventors indivisibility: this relates to access to information and to the large scale nature of some inventions. inappropriability: this refers to the externalities or social benefits of inventions which are not recouped by inventors through the normal market mechanisms. - uncertainty: independent inventors usually have a small number of inventions; therefore it is not possible for them to spread their risks. Large companies and some areas of the agriculture and mining industries have developed special mechanisms for spreading risk. Based on an assessment of overseas policies, an examination of existing Australian policies and the results of the Inventors' Association of Australia survey, the following steps should be taken in Australia to support independent inventors. (1) create an environment within the community which supports/encourages invention and innovation. (2) develop a national innovation policy. (3) develop an innovation finance facility. (Although this is not in operation, steps have been taken to provide this). (A) the establishment of innovation centres.

Data shows that many inventors continue to expend resources on their inventions even after they have received expert advice suggesting that they cease effort. Using a sample of inventors seeking outside advice from a Canadian evaluative agency, this paper examines how overconfidence, optimism, and illusion of control explain this fact. While overconfidence did not have a significant effect on inventor's decisions, illusion of control and optimism did have an effect. An additional interesting finding is that the more time people have spent working on inventions, the more likely they are to discount this expert advice.

With my thesis work I question the evidence of history and how this evidence is read. I examine the theory of fractured history and alternate history, two examples of how perception of the past is completely altered when the science of reality is merged with imagination and mystery. As a vehicle for this examination, I use my own family history, something I am familiar with on many levels but also completely foreign to. As a curator of the story of my own history, I ask, "How can we know what is real?" and "If I say it is real, does that make it so?"

This study examines the relationship between an inventor’s motives and creativity, invention commercialization, and collaboration pattern. Special emphasis is placed on the educational background of inventors when examining the effect of inventor motive on invention commercialization. The data are based in a unique survey of patent inventors in the United States, and archival data. The GT/RIETI 2007 Inventor Survey includes information on commercialization for patented inventions and measures of inventor motives. Archival data based on Lai et al. (2011) was the basis for the collection of creativity measures based on U.S. patent technology subclasses. The results indicate that inventors’ motives differentiate the outcome of innovative activities. We found a firm motive has a positive effect on creating new combinations, commercialization of patents, and collaboration with coworkers. The results also suggest that the recognition motive negatively affects the creation of new combinations, and that there is no effect on the commercialization of the patent. As for collaboration pattern, the results show that individual differences in motives are associated with different patterns in collaboration. For example, task-oriented inventors are less likely to collaborate with others outside of the firm entity, whereas inventors with recognition motives are more likely to have a larger collaborative network with other professionals in the same field. This paper suggests that policy-makers should consider individual heterogeneity in innovative performance, knowledge creation, and patterns of collaboration. Based on the findings, future research and policy implications are discussed.

Thesis (MA (App. Hist.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of History, 2000. / "August 2000" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-118) and index of inventors.

Les travailleurs hautement qualifiés - scientifiques et ingénieurs en particulier - sont un atout important pour le développement d’un pays car ils sont des facteurs majeurs dans la production de connaissances. C'est ce qui justifie les efforts compétitifs déployés par plusieurs pays afin d'attirer ces travailleurs. Les pays de destination sont en général décrits comme étant les grands gagnants des migrations des travailleurs hautement qualifiés. Ce qui n'est pas le cas des pays d'origine où ces migrations sont perçues comme une perte en capital humain. Cependant, ce phénomène serait beaucoup plus complexe qu'il n'y parait. En effet, il existe d'autres facteurs inhérents à la dynamique des migrations des travailleurs hautement qualifiés qui restent soit partiellement ou totalement inexplorés dans la littérature. Ces facteurs sont liés à des éléments résultant de ces migrations et pouvant créer des retombées positives vers les pays d'origine tout en contribuant ainsi à l'innovation dans ces pays. Afin d'explorer plus en profondeur cette question, il serait nécessaire de conduire une analyse approfondie autour de la question sur la nature des liens entre migrants hautement qualifiés résidant à l'étranger d'une part et celle des liens qui lient ces migrants à leurs pays d'origine d'autre part. A travers cette analyse, nous nous proposons de contribuer au débat sur le « brain gain » en investiguant les dynamiques de diffusion des connaissances à l'intérieur du réseau des migrants hautement qualifiés dans les pays de destination, mais également vers les pays d'origine. / Highly skilled workers – scientists and engineers in particular – are an important asset for a nation in so far that they enter in the production of knowledge as highly valuable human capital. That is why many countries have been competing for attracting. Receiving countries are in general pictured as the biggest winners from highly skilled migration. While the latter is perceived as a loss for sending countries. However, the situation might not be as simplistic as it seems. Indeed, we believe there are several unexplored factors underpinning the dynamics of highly skilled migration which contribute to some positive feedback to the sending countries in terms of knowledge and innovation while spurring innovation in the destination countries. And for a better understanding of these factors, one needs to look further into the nature of the ties linking highly skilled migrants abroad on one hand and to their home countries on the other hand. With our research we intend to contribute to the brain drain – brain gain trade-off debate by investigating the dynamics of knowledge diffusion within migrants’ networks in receiving countries and more importantly to sending countries.