The Role of External Knowledge in the Innovative Activities of Agricultural Biotechnology Multinationals

Objective: To evaluate the influence of external knowledge absorbed on the potential to innovate of multinational companies (MNCs), in the genetically modified (GM) seed sector from 2000 to 2018. Method: A quantitative approach was applied. Data was composed of the main patents filed by MNCs in the GM seed sector, collected from the Espacenet database, the MNCs’ annual reports, and the INPI database. Variables were analyzed using panel regression model. Main results: Results showed that the MNCs’ own resources, as well as the external knowledge absorbed were individually significant. The Interactive variable was not significant in the model. Relevance/ Originality: In addition to addressing literature gaps related for instance to the need to investigate the factors that influence the generation of innovation in multinationals, the present study focused on the agricultural biotechnology sector, which is of paramount importance for the innovations generated in agriculture. Theoretical contributions: This study contributes by filling literature gaps related to the need to understand how important is the influence of the external knowledge and resources to the innovative capabilities of MNCs. Social contributions: This paper helps managers be conscious of the fact that innovation is not only developed internally, involving the MNC’s own network, but in fact, innovation requires relationships with other companies, allowing the access of external knowledge and resources.

Financial liberalization and economic growth

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether countries benefit from capital account liberalization in more democratic contexts. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used the follow methodologies in this paper: Pooled OLS, panel data with fixed effects and generalized method of moments. The empirical exercises were conducted for both a large sample and a smaller group of developing countries. Given the characteristics of the variables used in the standard model, the main conclusions were obtained from an estimation that took into account the presence of fixed effects and endogeneity. Findings – Considering a sample of 77 countries, the authors were able to ascertain that capital account openness has a positive effect on economic growth only in highly democratic countries. When the same estimates are carried out with a more restricted sample, composed of 50 developing countries, the results are more pessimistic. In this case, capital account openness has a negative and significant effect, although being more democratic is not sufficient in itself to reap the benefits of financial integration. Research limitations/implications – The results obtained in this paper are limited to the number of observations and the period analysed. Furthermore, the conclusions need to be confirmed by a test of robustness, which should be conducted in future works; such works could make use of other democracy indicators and other instruments. Originality/value – The innovation of the work, in comparison to those the authors consulted, resides in its testing, through an interactive variable, whether the effect of capital openness on economic growth depends on level of democracy.

Interpretation of porosity and fluid constituents from well logs using an interactive neutron-density matrix scale

Neutron and density logs are important borehole measurements for estimating reservoir capacity and inferring saturating fluids. The neutron log, measuring the hydrogen index, is commonly expressed in apparent water-filled porosity units assuming a constant matrix lithology whereby it is not always representative of actual pore fluid. By contrast, a lithology-independent porosity calculation from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and/or core measurements provides reliable evaluations of reservoir capacity. In practice, not all wells include core or NMR measurements. We discovered an interpretation workflow wherein formation porosity and hydrocarbon constituents can be estimated from density and neutron logs using an interactive, variable matrix scale specifically suited for the precalculated matrix density. First, we estimated matrix components from combinations of nuclear logs (photoelectric factor, spontaneous gamma ray, neutron, and density) using Schlumberger’s nuclear parameter calculator (SNUPAR) as a matrix compositional solver while assuming freshwater-filled formations. The combined effects of grain density, volumetric concentration of shale, matrix hydrogen, and neutron lithology units define an interactive matrix scale for correction of neutron porosity. Under updated matrix conditions, the resulting neutron-density crossover can only be attributed to pore volume and saturating fluid effects. Second, porosity, connate-water saturation, and hydrocarbon density are calculated from the discrepancy between corrected neutron and density logs using SNUPAR and Archie’s water saturation equation, thereby eliminating the assumption of freshwater saturation. With matrix effects eliminated from the neutron-density overlay, gas- or light-oil-saturated formations exhibiting the characteristic gas neutron-density crossover become representative of saturating hydrocarbons. This behavior gives a clear qualitative distinction between hydrocarbon-saturated and nonviable depth zones.