The three studies in this dissertation examine the relationship between the decision of market participants to compete or collaborate on their innovation strategies and outcomes as well as the broader industry structure and technological progress. The first study analyzes the impact of modern patent pools on the innovative performance of firms outside the pool. Theories generally predict that modern patent pools have a positive impact on innovation by reducing the cost of access to the pool’s technology, but recent empirical research suggests that patent pools may actually decrease the innovation rate of firms outside the pool. Using a difference-in-difference-with-matching methodology, I find a substantial decline in outsiders’ patenting rate after the pool formation. However I find that the observed reduction is mainly due to a shift in firms’ investment from additional patentable technological exploration toward implementing the pool technology in their products. The results shed light on how the interaction between cooperation, in the form of patent pooling, and competition shapes firms’ innovative strategies by enabling opportunities for application development based on the pooled technologies. In the second study, I examine the impact of restrictive stem cell policies introduced by George W. Bush in 2001 on the U.S. scientists’ productivity and collaboration patterns. Employing a difference-in-differences methodology, I find that the 2001 Bush policy led to a decline in the research productivity of U.S. scientists. However, the effect was short-lived as U.S. scientists accessed non-federal funds within the United States and sought funds outside the United States through their international ties. The results suggest that scientists may use international collaborations as a strategic means to deal with uncertainties in their national policy environment. In the third study, I examine the effects of the fragmentation of patent rights on subsequent investment in new inventions. Using a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of the semiconductor industry, I seek to shed light on the contingency factors that shape the role of technological fragmentation in explaining the investment decisions and appropriation strategies of firms. The results provide a dynamic explanation of the interplay between firms’ R&D investment, their patenting strategies, and technological fragmentation.

The three studies in this dissertation examine the relationship between the decision of market participants to compete or collaborate on their innovation strategies and outcomes as well as the broader industry structure and technological progress. The first study analyzes the impact of modern patent pools on the innovative performance of firms outside the pool. Theories generally predict that modern patent pools have a positive impact on innovation by reducing the cost of access to the pool’s technology, but recent empirical research suggests that patent pools may actually decrease the innovation rate of firms outside the pool. Using a difference-in-difference-with-matching methodology, I find a substantial decline in outsiders’ patenting rate after the pool formation. However I find that the observed reduction is mainly due to a shift in firms’ investment from additional patentable technological exploration toward implementing the pool technology in their products. The results shed light on how the interaction between cooperation, in the form of patent pooling, and competition shapes firms’ innovative strategies by enabling opportunities for application development based on the pooled technologies. In the second study, I examine the impact of restrictive stem cell policies introduced by George W. Bush in 2001 on the U.S. scientists’ productivity and collaboration patterns. Employing a difference-in-differences methodology, I find that the 2001 Bush policy led to a decline in the research productivity of U.S. scientists. However, the effect was short-lived as U.S. scientists accessed non-federal funds within the United States and sought funds outside the United States through their international ties. The results suggest that scientists may use international collaborations as a strategic means to deal with uncertainties in their national policy environment. In the third study, I examine the effects of the fragmentation of patent rights on subsequent investment in new inventions. Using a theoretical model and an empirical analysis of the semiconductor industry, I seek to shed light on the contingency factors that shape the role of technological fragmentation in explaining the investment decisions and appropriation strategies of firms. The results provide a dynamic explanation of the interplay between firms’ R&D investment, their patenting strategies, and technological fragmentation.

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This thesis shows that despite the rhetoric of universalism and internationalism used by the Royal Society, especially after the onset of Cold War, its policies and actions in the period 1945-75 remained closely allied to the interests of the British state. More specifically, in its foreign relations the Society mainly operated within a network of Western intergovernmental organisations that were a response to, and operated in similar ways, to Eastern Bloc organisations. While financially dependent on a Parliamentary grant-in-aid, they effectively carved out a role in the sphere of international scientific relations which was built upon an image of independence from the state. Thus, Society Officers and staff were able to mobilise a double-sided discourse of utility to, and independence from, the state. The association between the government of the day and the Society was at its most effective when a consensus existed between like-minded government administrators and Officers of the Society. A culture of collaboration and informal networks allowed them to build relationships and share ideas. The Society was perfectly designed to facilitate this culture, as its Fellows permeated government networks as individuals as much as they did as direct representatives of the Society. The status of Fellows conferred on them eligibility for a variety of positions, both formal and informal, within the elite infrastructure of national life. The thesis also shows that party political and ideological motivations often prefaced associations between Fellows and like-minded politicians or civil servants, but these associations were principally between economic liberals to the exclusion of far left scientists. However, the Society’s connections with the government were also motivated by reasons beyond party politics. The Society had an overarching aim to preserve the United Kingdom’s position as a scientific ‘Mecca’. In the shifting post-war landscape, in which the country became more dependent on outside help and conscious of its relative decline in economic and political power, the Society looked beyond national borders to stay in the competition. The thesis shows that Officers of the Society responded creatively to the changing geopolitical landscape as old spheres of influence waned, such as the Empire-Commonwealth, and new ones opened up, such as the European Community and the special relationship with America. The Society pursued these new opportunities with patriotic ambition, often prioritising relations that promised scientific rather than political gains, but always within a Western framework.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Maintenance of water resources protection practice for water availability, uninterrupted water utilization, and for ecosystem integrity is critical for sustainable achievement of resource security for all. Therefore, operationalization of water resource protection strategies such as resource directed measures, especially at catchment level where water resources utilization takes place is critical. The main aim of the current study was to develop a citizen science framework for operationalization of resource directed measures at catchment level. Such a framework used a nexus approach, and its development was guided by the principles of socio-ecological model from a systems thinking perspective. This demonstrated importance of resource directed measures which are accepted as relevant policy implementation strategies towards improved and integrated water resources management practice at catchment level, where local citizens become part of such practice. Local operationalization of resource directed measures provides a basis for practical policy implementation at catchment level, thereby informing decisions taken on water resources protection and sustainable water use for several purposes. It provides an understanding of how policies which are formulated for water resources protection purposes influence land use activities and other non-land use activities to ensure water availability for current and future generations. Furthermore, localized operationalization of resource directed measures facilitates ecological ecosystems protection such that goods and services derived from such ecosystems are sustained. The research problem of the current study was a lack of available and feasible plan for resource directed measures practice at catchment level which has a direct influence on the continued water quality deterioration and unsustainable utilization of water resources. This study argued that a citizen science framework needed to be developed and such a plan must be informed by science-policy interface that is practical, reflective and must consider the nexus approach using the concept of citizen science in order to improve the practice of resource directed measures at local level in an acceptable manner by practitioners.

abstract: Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interact with the hormone system to negative effect. They ‘disrupt’ normal processes to cause diseases like vaginal cancer and obesity, reproductive issues like t-shaped uteri and infertility, and developmental abnormalities like spina bifida and cleft palate. These chemicals are ubiquitous in our daily lives, components in everything from toothpaste to microwave popcorn to plastic water bottles. My dissertation looks at the history, science, and regulation of these impactful substances in order to answer the question of how endocrine disruptors appeared, got interpreted by different groups, and what role science played in the process. My analysis reveals that endocrine disruptors followed a unique science policy trajectory in the US, rapidly going from their proposal in 1991 to their federal regulation in 1996, even amid intense and majority scientific disagreement over whether the substances existed at all. That trajectory resulted from the work of a small number of scientist-activists who constructed a concept and category as scientific, social, and regulatory. By playing actors from each sphere against each other and advancing a very specific scientific narrative that fit into a regulatory and social window of opportunity in the 1990s, those scientist-activists made endocrine disruptors a national issue that few could ignore. Those actions resulted in the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, a heavily-criticized and ineffective regulatory program. My dissertation tells a story of the past that informs the present. In 2018, the work of researchers, public media, and policymakers in the 1990s continues to play out, evident in the deep scientific division over endocrine disrupting effects and the inability of the European Union to settle on even a definition of endocrine disruptors for regulation purposes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2018

The Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption was released to ensure the quality of the drinking water within the European Union (EU). Since the directive got introduced the amount of chemicals has significantly increased. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to study how the chemicals are managed within the management of the drinking water in Stockholm to get an insight into different interactions within the science-policy sphere and how it creates obstacles in the improvements of the drinking water quality. A case study with qualitative interviews was made with people active in different levels of the drinking water management, including the research field. The result of the study identifies three areas where obstacles occurred. Through the theoretical framework for science-policy that include eight delay mechanisms an analyze of the existing obstacles in the management was made to identify if any of these eight occurs. The first obstacle is within communication where it shows that knowledge can be communicated more effectively between the concerned authorities. The delay mechanisms within the category that can be identified is science denial, scientific controversy, scientific uncertainty, science-based advice, decision thresholds, unclear goals and norms and implementation deficits. The second obstacle is within uncertainties in who bear the responsibility and where the delay mechanisms that can be identified is science denial, scientific uncertainty, policy formulation, decision thresholds, unclear goals and norms and implementation deficits. The third obstacle is the distribution of the financial resources where there are difficulties and an uneven distribution between municipalities of different sizes. The occurring delay mechanism that can be identified in this obstacle is scientific uncertainty, unclear goals and norms, decision thresholds and implementation deficits. / För att säkerställa dricksvattenkvaliteten inom Europeiska Unionen (EU) uppkom Europaparlamentets och rådets direktiv 98/83/EG av den 3 november 1998 om kvaliteten på dricksvatten. Sedan direktivet infördes har antalet kemikalier ökat markant. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka hanteringen av kemikalier i Stockholms dricksvattenförvaltning för att få en insyn i hur olika interaktioner inom sciencepolicysfärerna skapar hinder i förbättring av dricksvattenkvaliteten. En fallstudie har genomförts med kvalitativa intervjuer där personer från olika nivåer inom förvaltningen har intervjuats vilket även innefattar forskningsområdet. Utifrån resultatet har tre områden identifierats där hinder förekommer. Genom det teoretiska ramverket för science-policy som innefattar åtta stycken fördröjningsmekanismer utfördes en analys av de förekommande hindren i förvaltningen för att identifiera om några av dessa åtta förekommer. Det första hindret är inom kommunikation där det framkommer att kunskap kan förmedlas mer effektivt mellan de berörda instanserna. Fördröjningsmekanismerna som förekommer inom hindret är vetenskapsförnekelse, vetenskapliga kontroverser, vetenskaplig osäkerhet, vetenskapsbaserad rådgivning, beslutströsklar, otydliga mål och normer och implementeringssvårigheter. Nästa identifierade hinder är inom ansvar. De fördröjningsmekanismer som förekommer inom hindret är vetenskapsförnekelse, vetenskaplig osäkerhet, policyformulering, beslutströsklar, otydliga mål och normer och implementeringssvårigheter. Det sista hindret är inom resurser där det finns svårigheter med att få finansiering till förbättring och att de är ojämnt fördelade mellan kommuner med olika storlek. Fördröjningsmekanismerna som förekommer inom hindret är vetenskaplig osäkerhet, otydligt formulerade mål och normer, beslutströsklar och implementeringssvårigheter.

Social-ecological systems research is interventionist by nature. As a subset of sustainability science, social-ecological systems research aims to generate knowledge and introduce concepts that will bring about transformation. Yet scientific concepts diverge in innumerable ways when they are put to work in the world. Why are concepts used in quite different ways to the intended purpose? Why do some appear to fail and others succeed? What do the answers to these questions tell us about the nature of science-society engagement, and what implications do they have for social-ecological systems research and sustainability science? This thesis addresses these questions from an interpretive perspective, focusing on the meanings that shape human actions. In particular, the thesis examines how meaning, interpretation and experience shape the enactment of four action-oriented sustainability concepts: adaptive management, biosphere reserves, biodiversity corridors and planetary boundaries/reconnecting to the biosphere. In so doing, the thesis provides in-depth empirical applications of three interpretive traditions – hermeneutic, discursive and dialogical – that together articulate a broadly interpretive approach to studying social-ecological complexity. In the hermeneutic tradition, Paper I presents a ‘rich narrative’ case study of a single practitioner tasked with enacting adaptive management in an Australian land management agency, and Paper II provides a qualitative multi-case study of learning among 177 participants in 11 UNESCO biosphere reserves. In the discursive tradition, Paper III uses Q-method to explore interpretations of ‘successful’ biodiversity corridors among 20 practitioners, scientists and community representatives in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. In the dialogical tradition, Paper IV reworks conventional understandings of knowledge-action relationships by using three concepts from contemporary practice theory – ‘actionable understanding,’ ‘ongoing business’ and the ‘eternally unfolding present’ – to explore the enactment of adaptive management in an Australian national park. Paper V explores ideas of human-environment connection in the concepts planetary boundaries and reconnecting to the biosphere, and develops an ‘embodied connection’ where human-environment relations emerge through interactivity between mind, body and environment over time. Overall, the thesis extends the frontiers of social-ecological systems research by highlighting the meanings that shape social-ecological complexity; by contributing theories and methods that treat social-ecological change as a relational and holistic process; and by providing entry points to address knowledge, politics and power. The thesis contributes to sustainability science more broadly by introducing novel understandings of knowledge-action relationships; by providing advice on how to make sustainability interventions more useful and effective; by introducing tools that can improve co-production and outcome assessment in the global research platform Future Earth; and by helping to generate robust forms of justification for transdisciplinary knowledge production. The interventionist, actionable nature of social-ecological systems research means that interpretive approaches are an essential complement to existing structural, institutional and behavioural perspectives. Interpretive research can help build a scientifically robust, normatively committed and critically reflexive sustainability science. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

L’objectif de ce travail est de contribuer à l’évaluation d’une politique publique : celle de l’Algérie en matière de recherche scientifique et technique. Nous nous limitons à l’espace de la recherche universitaire et à la période (troublée) de 1990-1999. La thèse s’inscrit dans le domaine de la sociologie des sciences. Le chapitre 1 souligne ce que nous devons aux études Mertoniennes (communautés scientifiques), à la révélation de "lois" de la production, et aux études sur les réseaux scientifiques. Nous empruntons aussi à la politique des sciences et de l’innovation. Le chapitre 2 spécifie le contexte Algérien, et les questions et procédures qu’il suggère. Au chapitre 3 nous exposons nos parti-pris méthodologiques (enquête directe : par questionnaire, et enquête indirecte : bibliométrique). Nous détaillons les outils utilisés. La 2° partie du travail (chapitres 4 à 7) expose les résultats. Le questionnaire aux chercheurs (chapitre 4), même décevant, a permis d’approcher leurs origines sociales et leurs pratiques professionnelles. La bibliométrie (chapitre 5) livre une vue d’ensemble de la production algérienne, de son évolution, de ses spécialités (bien particulières) et de son impact Nous entrons ensuite dans le détail de la répartition des capacités, par villes et par institutions. Le chapitre 6 est consacré à l’analyse des réseaux associant villes, institutions et co-auteurs nationaux ou internationaux. Il révèle quelques résultats des plus originaux. Le chapitre 7 enfin traite de la coopération scientifique internationale. L’ensemble de ces données nous permet d’ouvrir en conclusion une discussion sur la politique scientifique, passée et envisageable pour l’avenir. Le débat est ouvert : il n’est pas de solution universelle. / The objective of this work is to contribute to the assessment of a public policy: the one concerning Algerian scientific and technical research. We limit our study to the space of the academic research and to the troubled period of 1990-1999. The thesis is rooted in the field of the sociology of the sciences. The chapter 1 outlines what we owe to the Mertonian studies (scientific communities), the revelation of "laws" of the production (scientific productivity), and studies on the scientific networks. We also borrow from the literature dealing with science policies and with innovation. The Chapter 2 specifies the Algerian context, and which issues and procedures it suggests. In chapter 3 we present our methodological approach (direct survey through a questionnaire, and indirect approach through bibliometrics. We give a detailed description of the tools and software we have used. The 2nd part of the work (Chapters 4-7) present the results. The questionnaire to the researchers (chapter 4), even disappointing, allowed us to get a glimpse of their social origins and professional practices. The bibliometrics (chapter 5) allows us to get an overview of the Algerian production, its evolution, its specialties (very distinctive) and its impact. We then enter into the details of the distribution of capacities among cities and institutions. The chapter 6 is devoted to the analysis of the networks linking cities, institutions and national or international co-authors. It reveals some of the most original results. Finally, the chapter 7 deals with the international scientific cooperation. The set of these data allows us to open in conclusion a discussion on the scientific policies, past present and advisable for the future. The debate is open: for there is no universal solution.

<p>Environmental non-governmental organizations are now major players in environmental science and conservation. The largest now produce applied conservation science and work on local, national, and international scales and across scales to conserve marine and terrestrial ecosystems and connect local level environmental issues to international economic and political processes. However, despite the growing role of these organizations, there is still a lack of comprehensive examinations of their programs with a full analysis of programmatic design, structure, processes, and outcomes. </p><p>To fill this gap in both conservation practice and academic theory, I conducted a multi-scalar examination of Conservation International's Marine Management Area Science initiative. This $12.5 million initiative, lasting from 2005 until 2010 and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, had four main nodes of research and conservation work: Fiji, Belize, Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape, and Brazil. Using non-governmental organization and science and technology studies literature as a theoretical framework, I endeavored to determine what factors affect how environmental non-governmental organizations manage the boundaries across multiple scales and between science and policy in international marine management area science initiatives. Drawing upon methodological approaches in multi-sited ethnography and participant action research, I conducted qualitative field research at each of the initiative's four main node sites and at Conservation International's headquarters, while simultaneously engaging with Conservation International so to return results back to the organization for adaptive management and learning.</p><p>My results are consistent with theoretical predictions and lend lessons learned to conservation practice. My research shows that managing the boundaries across scales and between science and policy in international marine management area science initiatives depends on how the program was initiated, the use of networks, partnerships, and coalitions, the level of programmatic participation, the degree of accountability and the ability to learn, the translation of scientific knowledge, and the assessment context. Future research on other environmental non-governmental organization programs has the potential to extend these findings.</p> / Dissertation