Undergraduate Coursework in Economics: A Survey Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Siegfried, John J.; Walstad, William B.

2014-01-01

Survey results from a large sample of economics departments describe offerings for principles courses, coursework requirements for economics majors, and program augmentations such as capstone courses, senior seminars, and honors programs. Findings are reported for all institutions, and institutions are subdivided into six different categories…

Multiple Barriers to Economic Opportunity for the “Truly” Disadvantaged and Vulnerable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy M. Smeeding

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This article answers several questions: Which subgroups of the U.S. population—designated by race, ethnicity, family structure, educational status, income, wealth, consumption, or other characteristics—appear to be particularly vulnerable to a lack of economic opportunity based on household characteristics of the family and its children? To what degree does poor access to economic advancement appear to reflect low income or wealth, or do additional barriers contribute substantially to some subgroups’ limited opportunities? Similarly, what advantages accrue to high-income and other privileged groups, such as those born into a well-established married family? What does current research tell us about the mechanisms through which barriers operate and policies that might be effective in reducing them?

Big Data and Health Economics: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Brendan

2016-02-01

'Big data' is the collective name for the increasing capacity of information systems to collect and store large volumes of data, which are often unstructured and time stamped, and to analyse these data by using regression and other statistical techniques. This is a review of the potential applications of big data and health economics, using a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) approach. In health economics, large pseudonymized databases, such as the planned care.data programme in the UK, have the potential to increase understanding of how drugs work in the real world, taking into account adherence, co-morbidities, interactions and side effects. This 'real-world evidence' has applications in individualized medicine. More routine and larger-scale cost and outcomes data collection will make health economic analyses more disease specific and population specific but may require new skill sets. There is potential for biomonitoring and lifestyle data to inform health economic analyses and public health policy.

Maternal role rewards, opportunity costs and fertility.

OpenAIRE

Oppong C

1982-01-01

ILO pub-WEP pub. Working paper comprising a literature survey of interrelations between women's social role, maternity and fertility - discusses the social theory background, opportunity cost of children, economic, political, psychic and social status, role rewards, conflicts, etc. Bibliography pp. 35 to 47 and references.

The Efficiency Opportunity Impact of Information Systems in an Organizational Economics Framework of Informatics

OpenAIRE

Kühn Pedersen, Mogens; Holm Larsen, Michael

2004-01-01

Information systems (IS) have a record of raising efficiency and effectiveness in business operations. In the modern economy, ongoing efficiency improvements through innovation play a decisive role. A new theory of distributed relations refocuses innovations comptence from core to distributed competence, raising new efficiency opportunities. The paper suggest an economic model of the efficiency op-portunities of information processing revealing the efficiency form of distributed relations, a ...

The challenges and opportunities of climate change policy under different stages of economic development.

Science.gov (United States)

Liobikienė, Genovaitė; Butkus, Mindaugas

2018-06-18

Climate change policy confronts with many challenges and opportunities. Thus the aim of this study was to analyse the impact of gross domestic product (hereinafter GDP), trade, foreign direct investment (hereinafter FDI), energy efficiency (hereinafter EF) and renewable energy (hereinafter RE) consumption on greenhouse gas (hereinafter GHG) emissions in 1990-2013 and reveal the main challenges and opportunities of climate policy for which policy makers should take the most attention under different stages of economic development. The results showed that the economic growth significantly contributed to the increase of GHG emissions and remains the main challenge in all groups of countries. Analysing the trade impact on pollution, the results revealed that the growth of export (hereinafter EX) significantly reduced GHG emissions only in high income countries. However, the export remains a challenge in low income countries. FDI insignificantly determined the changes in GHG emissions in all groups of countries. Meanwhile, energy efficiency and share of renewable energy consumption are the main opportunities of climate change policy because they reduce the GHG emissions in all groups of countries. Thus, technological processes, the increase of energy efficiency and the shift from carbon to renewable energy sources are the main tools implementing the climate change policy in all countries despite the different stage of economic development. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the South African waste sector: The economic and employment opportunities it provides

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Godfrey, Linda K

2014-10-01

Full Text Available -1 The 20th WasteCon Conference and Exhibition 6-10 October 2014 The Lord Charles Hotel, Somerset West, Cape Town Understanding the South African waste sector: The economic and employment opportunities it provides L. Godfrey, CSIR Natural Resources...

Status report on education in the economics of animal health: results from a European survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Waret-Szkuta, Agnès; Raboisson, Didier; Niemi, Jarkko; Aragrande, Maurizio; Gethmann, Jörn; Martins, Sara Babo; Hans, Lucie; Höreth-Böntgen, Detlef; Sans, Pierre; Stärk, Katharina D; Rushton, Jonathan; Häsler, Barbara

2015-01-01

Education on the use of economics applied to animal health (EAH) has been offered since the 1980s. However, it has never been institutionalized within veterinary curricula, and there is no systematic information on current teaching and education activities in Europe. Nevertheless, the need for economic skills in animal health has never been greater. Economics can add value to disease impact assessments; improve understanding of people's incentives to participate in animal health measures; and help refine resource allocation for public animal health budgets. The use of economics should improve animal health decision making. An online questionnaire was conducted in European countries to assess current and future needs and expectations of people using EAH. The main conclusion from the survey is that education in economics appears to be offered inconsistently in Europe, and information about the availability of training opportunities in this field is scarce. There is a lack of harmonization of EAH education and significant gaps exist in the veterinary curricula of many countries. Depending on whether respondents belonged to educational institutions, public bodies, or private organizations, they expressed concerns regarding the limited education on decision making and impact assessment for animal diseases or on the use of economics for general management. Both public and private organizations recognized the increasing importance of EAH in the future. This should motivate the development of teaching methods and materials that aim at developing the understanding of animal health problems for the benefit of students and professional veterinarians.

Improving children’s mobility and access to socio-economic opportunities: A synthesis of literature

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mashiri, M

2005-07-01

Full Text Available the population of many such countries consists of children and young persons. Improving mobility and access to socio-economic opportunities for this group is crucial if the Millennium Development Goals of Universal Primary Education, Promotion of Gender Equity...

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF ITALY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. Agapov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The economic crisis in Italy after 2008 fully revealed the complexity of the socio-economic model of the country, which in our time is formed not only at national level but also at European and global levels. All these factors should also be taken into account in the analysis of Russian-Italian relations. Italy has traditionally been considered one of the main partners / allies of Russia in Europe / the West, which emphasizes the active economic ties.Socio-economic diffi culties in Italy, creating both challenges and opportunities for the world, Europe and Russia. One of the major challenges for the global economy is the impact of the crisis in Italy for the EU, as one of the world's economic centers.The challenge for the EU crisis in Italy can be the stability of the EU, the challenge for Russia could be the eff ect of reducing the role of the traditional economic and political partner of the EU. Regarding the new features are: the global level – the transformation of one of the major economies of the West and building relationships with updated economic leader of the Mediterranean on a new basis, the regional level - the further development of one of the other German centre’s of the EU, which could serve as a new "stimulus" for the further integration of the Union , national - improve the socio-economic standards of living of citizens in Italy, as well as creating additional opportunities for the development of mutually benefi cial cooperation with other countries, particularly with Russia. The article discusses the causes of the Italian crisis and the challenges and opportunities that are opened at the same time for the world, the EU and Russia. Subject articles relevant due to the perception of the impact of the crisis in Italy for the world economy, the economy of the EU and Russia.The goal / task. The main purpose of the presentation material in this article is to analyze the causes of the crisis in Italy using a three-level model of

Gender Diversity and Innovation : The Role of Women’s Economic Opportunity in Developing Countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ritter-Hayashi, D.; Vermeulen, P.A.M.; Knoben, Joris

This research examines how gender diversity interacts with women’s economic opportunity, such as prevailing laws, practices and attitudes in a country allowing women to participate in the workforce under similar conditions like men, to explain innovation in developing countries. We suggest that the

Missed Opportunities for Hepatitis A Vaccination, National Immunization Survey-Child, 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Casillas, Shannon M; Bednarczyk, Robert A

2017-08-01

To quantify the number of missed opportunities for vaccination with hepatitis A vaccine in children and assess the association of missed opportunities for hepatitis A vaccination with covariates of interest. Weighted data from the 2013 National Immunization Survey of US children aged 19-35 months were used. Analysis was restricted to children with provider-verified vaccination history (n = 13 460). Missed opportunities for vaccination were quantified by determining the number of medical visits a child made when another vaccine was administered during eligibility for hepatitis A vaccine, but hepatitis A vaccine was not administered. Cross-sectional bivariate and multivariate polytomous logistic regression were used to assess the association of missed opportunities for vaccination with child and maternal demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic covariates. In 2013, 85% of children in our study population had initiated the hepatitis A vaccine series, and 60% received 2 or more doses. Children who received zero doses of hepatitis A vaccine had an average of 1.77 missed opportunities for vaccination compared with 0.43 missed opportunities for vaccination in those receiving 2 doses. Children with 2 or more missed opportunities for vaccination initiated the vaccine series 6 months later than children without missed opportunities. In the fully adjusted multivariate model, children who were younger, had ever received WIC benefits, or lived in a state with childcare entry mandates were at a reduced odds for 2 or more missed opportunities for vaccination; children living in the Northeast census region were at an increased odds. Missed opportunities for vaccination likely contribute to the poor coverage for hepatitis A vaccination in children; it is important to understand why children are not receiving the vaccine when eligible. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

AASA Survey: Impact of the Economic Downturn on School Jobs

Science.gov (United States)

AASA, The School Superintendent's Association, 2009

2009-01-01

As part of an ongoing effort to gauge how school districts across the country are responding to the current economic downturn, the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) continues to assess various measures of economic impact. Earlier AASA surveys addressed trends in districts' initial responses to the downturn, districts'…

Economic opportunities and challenges posed by China for Mexico and Central America

OpenAIRE

Dussel Peters, Enrique

2005-01-01

"This study offers a basis for understanding China's performance from a Latin American perspective, and stressing the massive economic opportunities and challenges, and particularly for Central America and Mexico. Moreover, the document assesses in detail the macroeconomic, trade and employment policy and institutional changes in China and its potential effects in Central America and Mexico. These effects are analyzed in the Chinese, Central American, Mexican and US market in general, but als...

2008 Economic Survey of Gulf State Shrimp License Holders

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This mail survey collected data on the economic performance of active commercial shrimp harvesters who primarily operated in inshore waters of western Florida,...

Market-oriented institutions and policies and economic growth : A critical survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Haan, J; Lundstrom, S; Sturm, JE

This paper surveys recent evidence suggesting that market-oriented institutions and policies are strongly related to economic growth, focusing on studies using the economic freedom (EF) indicator of the Fraser Institute. This index is critically discussed. Also various serious shortcomings of

Pod Learning: Student Groups Create Podcasts to Achieve Economics Learning Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Moryl, Rebecca L.

2016-01-01

In this article, the author describes a group project to create student-generated podcasts on economics topics. This project provides an innovative opportunity for students to demonstrate proficiency in skills required for the undergraduate economics major and valued in the professional marketplace. Results of a student self-assessment survey on…

2012 Economic Survey of Gulf State Shrimp License Holders

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This mail survey collected economic data on inshore commercial shrimp fishermen who held licenses to commercially harvest shrimp in state waters of the U.S. Gulf of...

On the need and use of models to explore the role of economic confidence:a survey.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sprigg, James A.; Paez, Paul J. (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM); Hand, Michael S. (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM)

2005-04-01

Empirical studies suggest that consumption is more sensitive to current income than suggested under the permanent income hypothesis, which raises questions regarding expectations for future income, risk aversion, and the role of economic confidence measures. This report surveys a body of fundamental economic literature as well as burgeoning computational modeling methods to support efforts to better anticipate cascading economic responses to terrorist threats and attacks. This is a three part survey to support the incorporation of models of economic confidence into agent-based microeconomic simulations. We first review broad underlying economic principles related to this topic. We then review the economic principle of confidence and related empirical studies. Finally, we provide a brief survey of efforts and publications related to agent-based economic simulation.

Opportunities for District Heating Systems in Ukraine. Market survey. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brienen, M.

2011-12-15

The market survey should identify the existing and future opportunities for Dutch companies in the district heating sector in Ukraine, facilitate better understanding of the sector specifics by providing a complete picture on the whole district heating chain at specific cities mentioned and surrounding areas, and provide practical information on the best ways to enter this market segment by Dutch companies. The points of special interest are: (a) Analysis of main types of district heating chain in terms of the key stakeholders and their interest; Identification of the cases where the whole chain is under control (if any); Identification of the main directions of change within the existing set-up; (b) Analysis of the pricing model(s) and the procedures for setting up the prices for district heating; Identification of the main influencers on the decision making; (c) Identification of the main opportunities to use renewable energy for heating systems in Ukraine; and (d) Identification of the Dutch clusters with appropriate products, services and knowledge which can be used to achieve optimal results with district heating systems in Ukraine. Another important reason to execute this market survey is the 2g at-sign thereprogramme 'Ukraine-sustainable energy'. One of the consortia supported under the 2g at-sign there programme, is called NUSEP, Netherlands Ukrainian Sustainable Energy Platform. Under this platform 15-20 Dutch companies and institutes have joined forces. All of these companies and institutes are active in the field of(sustainable) energy. In short, the district heating sector in Ukraine offers many opportunities for Dutch companies. This survey will help Dutch companies to do business in Ukraine. The market research has been executed at both national level (where relevant concerns) and is specifically focused on the following cities and surrounding area: Kiev; Poltava; Kamyanets-Podilsky; Kovel; Lviv; Zhytomyr. Since the major developments in

Wind Farms in Rural Areas: How Far Do Community Benefits from Wind Farms Represent a Local Economic Development Opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Munday, Max; Bristow, Gill; Cowell, Richard

2011-01-01

Although the large-scale deployment of renewable technologies can bring significant, localised economic and environmental changes, there has been remarkably little empirical investigation of the rural development implications. This paper seeks to redress this through an analysis of the economic development opportunities surrounding wind energy…

Limited Resources, Limited Opportunities, and the Accumulation of Disadvantage: Evidence from the Global Survey of Physicists

Science.gov (United States)

Ivie, Rachel

2012-03-01

Using the results of the Global Survey of Physicists, which we conducted in collaboration with the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Working Group on Women, we document the effect of limited resources and opportunities on women physicists' careers. We find that women respondents are less likely than men to report access to a variety of resources and opportunities that would be helpful in advancing a scientific career. These include access to funding, travel money, lab and office space, equipment, clerical support, and availability of employees or students to help with research. When asked about specific opportunities, women report fewer invited talks and overseas research opportunities. Women who responded are less likely to have been journal editors, acted as bosses or managers, advised graduate students, served on thesis or dissertation committees, and served on committees for grant agencies. We also show the disproportionate effects of children on women physicists' careers. Women who responded are more likely than men to have changed their work situations upon becoming parents. Mothers are more likely than men and women without children to report that their careers have progressed more slowly than colleagues who finished their degrees at the same time. Furthermore, women are more likely than men to report that their careers affected the decisions they made about marriage and children. The results of this survey draw attention to the need to focus on factors other than representation when discussing the situation of women in physics. 15,000 physicists in 130 countries answered this survey, and across all these countries, women have fewer resources and opportunities and are more affected by cultural expectations concerning child care. Cultural expectations about home and family are difficult to change. However, for women to have successful outcomes and advance in physics, they must have equal access to resources and opportunities.

Education Issues Raised by S.744: The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Garrett

2014-01-01

This brief report summarizes the requirements for undocumented immigrants set forth by the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S.744). Assuming that S.744 will move forward in Congress, the report also examines issues having to do with certain language, civics and government, and education/training provisions…

The development of capability measures in health economics: opportunities, challenges and progress.

Science.gov (United States)

Coast, Joanna; Kinghorn, Philip; Mitchell, Paul

2015-04-01

Recent years have seen increased engagement amongst health economists with the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen and others. This paper focuses on the capability approach in relation to the evaluative space used for analysis within health economics. It considers the opportunities that the capability approach offers in extending this space, but also the methodological challenges associated with moving from the theoretical concepts to practical empirical applications. The paper then examines three 'families' of measures, Oxford Capability instruments (OxCap), Adult Social Care Outcome Toolkit (ASCOT) and ICEpop CAPability (ICECAP), in terms of the methodological choices made in each case. The paper concludes by discussing some of the broader issues involved in making use of the capability approach in health economics. It also suggests that continued exploration of the impact of different methodological choices will be important in moving forward.

THE REFUGEES AND THE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE EU STATES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura DIACONU (MAXIM

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, one of the major concerns of the EU leaders is how to cope with the large inflows of refugees that are coming from the Arab region, because of the prolonged conflicts and civil wars. While some EU leaders consider that this is a humanitarian crisis and the member states should act accordingly, others consider that these people are migrants and not refugees. From the economic perspective, the opinions are also divided. Some analysts see this large influx of refugees as an opportunity for the economic and social environment, while others consider that the refugees can negatively influence the well-being of the host countries. In the present paper we investigate the impact of the refugees’ inflows on the economic growth and development of the EU countries. In order to reach this purpose, our arguments are based on a multidisciplinary analysis of the specialised literature and of the empirical investigations.

Young entrepreneurs pushed by necessity and pulled by opportunity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cheraghi, Maryam

2017-01-01

The vocational choice to be an entrepreneur is made in a social context of institutions in society, which channel, regulate, enable and constrain life, with pushes and pulls. The necessity to make a living may push the entrepreneur, or an opportunity for business may pull the entrepreneur to start....... The push by necessity and pull by opportunity are exerted by institutions in society such as its economy and culture. The purpose here is to account for how young entrepreneurs' experiences of opportunity-pull and necessity-push are influenced by society's economic wealth and culture, as traditional versus...... secular-rational culture and as survival versus self-expression culture. - A sample of 41,281 young entrepreneurs in 93 countries was surveyed in Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. - Analyses show that young entrepreneurs' experience of opportunity-pull rather than necessity-push is not distinctly...

Business Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Employment and Payroll Survey of Business Owners Work from Home Our statistics highlight trends in household statistics from multiple surveys. Data Tools & Apps Main American FactFinder Census Business Builder My Classification Codes (i.e., NAICS) Economic Census Economic Indicators Economic Studies Industry Statistics

Responses to climate and economic risks and opportunities across national and ecological boundaries: changing household strategies on the Mongolian plateau

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Daniel G; Agrawal, Arun; Wang, Jun; Sass, Daniel A; Hua, Jin; Xie, Yichun

2013-01-01

Climate changes on the Mongolian Plateau are creating new challenges for the households and communities of the region. Much of the existing research on household choices in response to climate variability and change focuses on environmental risks and stresses. In contrast, our analysis highlights the importance of taking into account environmental and economic opportunities in explaining household adaptation choices. We surveyed over 750 households arrayed along an ecological gradient and matched across the national border in Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, asking what changes in livelihoods strategies households made over the last ten years, and analyzed these choices in two broad categories of options: diversification and livestock management. We combined these data with remotely sensed information about vegetation growth and self-reported exposure to price fluctuations. Our statistical results showed that households experiencing lower ecological and economic variability, higher average levels of vegetation growth, and with greater levels of material wealth, were often those that undertook more actions to improve their conditions in the face of variability. The findings have implications both for how interventions aimed at supporting ongoing choices might be targeted and for theory construction related to social adaptation. (letter)

Environmental Economics And Policy: Course Evaluation Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Šauer

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to outline the educational aspects of environmental economics referring to an example of a course taught at The University of Economics, Prague. A quantitative survey among students was conducted to describe their perceptions of the environmental topics and the diverse components of the course. This learners’ perspective is compared with students’ examination results and their level of activity in seminars. One of the main questions asked in this text is: do students interested in economic policy and regional economics consider the environmental orientation of the course important? And if yes what aspects of the course do they value, what benefits do they get from the course, what are their learning strategies and what role does this play with regards to students’ concern for environmental issues? Probably the most important finding of the research is the students’ advocacy of environmental economics as a beneficial part of curriculum both by those clustered as ‘environmentalists’ and ‘non-environmentalists’ (or even ‘anti-environmentalists’. Students appreciate having a chance to participate actively in the course. A well balanced proportion of lectures and seminars with enough space for deep discussion seem to be crucial for retaining students’ interest. The data doesn’t equip us with sufficient information to construct regression models with reasonable predictive power concerning exam results. A challenge for further research is to work with a better informed analysis of students’ learning strategies.

Perspectives on Inequality and Opportunity from the Survey of Consumer Finances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet L. Yellen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available During the past several decades, the United States has experienced its most sustained rise in inequality since the nineteenth century. The U.S. distribution of income and wealth is now wider than in most other advanced countries. To provide a factual basis for further discussion, this paper reviews trends in income and wealth inequality over the past several decades, and then discusses four significant sources of economic opportunity in the United States: the resources available for children in their most formative years, affordable higher education, private business ownership, and inheritances.

Survey of economics of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valvoda, Z.

1976-01-01

Literature data are surveyed on the economic problems of reprocessing spent fuel from light-water reactors in the period 1970 to 1975 and on the capacity of some reprocessing plants, such as NFS, Windscale, Marcoule, etc. The sharp increase in capital and production costs is analyzed and the future trend is estimated. The question is discussed of the use of plutonium and the cost thereof. The economic advantageousness previously considered to be the primary factor is no longer decisive due to new circumstances. The main objective today is to safeguard uninterrupted operation of nuclear power plants and the separation of radioactive wastes from the fuel cycle and the safe disposal thereof. (Oy)

A socio-economic survey among cocoa farmers on fertilizer ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A socio-economic survey was conducted in some districts of the six cocoa growing regions of Ghana to provide information for adjustment of government's fertilizer use policy on cocoa farms. The study's objectives were to determine the proportion of farmers applying fertilizer to their farms, investigate the fertilizer application ...

Linking phytoremediated pollutant removal to biomass economic opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Licht, Louis A.; Isebrands, J.G.

2005-01-01

Phytoremediation (phyto) strategies employ trees, shrubs, and/or grasses for treating contaminated air, soil, or water. These strategies include buffers, vegetation filters, in situ phytoremediation plantings, and percolation controlling vegetative caps. The design parameter that separates phytoremediation from landscaping is purposefully placing and growing a root-zone reactor volume with predictable pollutant removal performance. This phyto reactor integrates with other engineered systems to cover landfills, treat petrochemical spills in soils, intercept a soluble subsurface plume, and capture non-point surface sediment entrained in urban or field runoff. There are many potential economic opportunities for biomass associated with phytoremediation, including bioenergy and traditional industrial products such as solid wood products and reconstituted products (i.e., paper, chip board, laminated beams, extruded trim). More intangibly, phyto creates environmental benefits such as soil erosion control, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat. Phyto also creates socio-economic benefits by diversify regional manufacturing into new products that employs local labor, thus building value-added industry. Alternative crops develop a greater diversity of products from the farmland, making the regional economy less exposed to global commodity crop price fluctuations. Thus, a strategic phyto treatment of non-point agricultural runoff would help diversify land use from annually tilled crops (corn, soybeans, wheat) into perennial, untilled tree crops. A landscape rebuilt using phyto would create diversity represented in business potential, healthier air and water, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics. Moreover, phyto provides local and current pollutant treatment. Such timely treatment of pollutants that would otherwise move to our downstream or downwind neighbors is key to the environmental justice concept. We present four case study summaries to illustrate installed commercial

Linking phytoremediated pollutant removal to biomass economic opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Licht, Louis A.; Isebrands, J.G.

2005-01-01

Phytoremediation (phyto) strategies employ trees, shrubs, and/or grasses for treating contaminated air, soil, or water. These strategies include buffers, vegetation filters, in situ phytoremediation plantings, and percolation controlling vegetative caps. The design parameter that separates phytoremediation from landscaping is purposefully placing and growing a root-zone reactor volume with predictable pollutant removal performance. This phyto reactor integrates with other engineered systems to cover landfills, treat petrochemical spills in soils, intercept a soluble subsurface plume, and capture non-point surface sediment entrained in urban or field runoff. There are many potential economic opportunities for biomass associated with phytoremediation, including bioenergy and traditional industrial products such as solid wood products and reconstituted products (i.e., paper, chip board, laminated beams, extruded trim). More intangibly, phyto creates environmental benefits such as soil erosion control, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat. Phyto also creates socio-economic benefits by diversify regional manufacturing into new products that employs local labor, thus building value-added industry. Alternative crops develop a greater diversity of products from the farmland, making the regional economy less exposed to global commodity crop price fluctuations. Thus, a strategic phyto treatment of non-point agricultural runoff would help diversify land use from annually tilled crops (corn, soybeans, wheat) into perennial, untilled tree crops. A landscape rebuilt using phyto would create diversity represented in business potential, healthier air and water, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics. Moreover, phyto provides local and current pollutant treatment. Such timely treatment of pollutants that would otherwise move to our downstream or downwind neighbors is key to the environmental justice concept. We present four case study summaries to illustrate installed commercial

A survey on the geometry of production models in economics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina-Daniela Vîlcu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this article we survey selected recent results on the geometry of production models, focussing on the main production functions that are usually analyzed in economics, namely homogeneous, homothetic, quasi-sum and quasi-product production functions.

The Precision of Category Versus Continuous Economic Data: Evidence from the Longitudinal Research on Officer Careers Survey

Science.gov (United States)

1992-08-01

Hill, D. H. (1985). An investigation of the extent and consequences of measurement error in labor-economic survey data. Journal of Labor Economics , 4...from the Seattle-Denver experiment. Journal of Labor Economics , 4, 380- 407. Griliches, G. & Intriligator, M. (Eds.). (1986). Handbook of econometrics...W., & Sider, H. (1983). Accuracy of response in labor market surveys: Evidence and implication. Journal of Labor Economics , A, 331-344. 13 APPENDIX A

Economic opportunities resulting from a global deployment of concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies-The example of German technology providers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallentin, Daniel; Viebahn, Peter

2010-01-01

Several energy scenario studies consider concentrated solar power (CSP) plants as an important technology option to reduce the world's CO 2 emissions to a level required for not letting the global average temperature exceed a threshold of 2-2.4 o C. A global ramp up of CSP technologies offers great economic opportunities for technology providers as CSP technologies include highly specialised components. This paper analyses possible value creation effects resulting from a global deployment of CSP until 2050 as projected in scenarios of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Greenpeace International. The analysis focuses on the economic opportunities of German technology providers since companies such as Schott Solar, Flabeg or Solar Millennium are among the leading suppliers of CSP technologies on the global market.

Economic effects of full corrosion surveys for aging concrete structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Polder, R.B.; Peelen, W.H.A.; Raupach, M.; Reichling, K.

2013-01-01

This paper investigates the economic effects of full corrosion surveys of concrete structures. The background is that the existing concrete infrastructure is aging, while being exposed to aggressive influences, which increases the occurrence of corrosion and related concrete damage over time. The

Behavioral Economics and Physician Board Meetings: Opportunity Cost, Regret, and Their Mitigation in Orthopaedic Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinicrope, Brent J; Roberts, Craig S; Sussman, Lyle

2018-01-01

Health care is a business. Health care providers must become familiar with terms such as opportunity costs, the potential loss or gain when one choice is made in lieu of another. The purpose of this study was to calculate the opportunity cost of two orthopaedic surgery society board meetings and discuss these in the context of behavioral economics and regret. A literature search was conducted to determine an orthopaedic surgeon's average yearly salary, hours worked per week, and weeks worked per year. The details of two orthopaedic surgery professional society meetings that one senior author (CSR) attended were used to calculate opportunity cost. Although the true benefits are multifactorial and difficult to objectively quantify, awareness of the cost-benefit ratio can help guide time and resource management to maximize the return on investment while minimizing buyer's remorse and perhaps influence the media by which medical meetings are held in the future. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 27(1):10-13, 2018).

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR MICRO-SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS IN INDONESIA FACING ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raden Aswin Rahadi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This research is a part of a continuous study to analyze the opportunities and challenges for micro-small and medium business in Indonesia when facing ASEAN Economic Community (AEC in 2016. It has its own uniqueness, as it will combine the point of view between current business owners and current literature study synthesis on business perception towards AEC. Ten business owners have been interviewed. The results suggested AEC provides challenges for the business owners, particularly in terms of capital; competitiveness; sales system; innovation; finance, bureaucracy; and government preparedness. AEC also provides opportunities, in terms of market potential; creativity; export opportunities; business owners’ resistances and sustainability; and knowledge of local market. From all of the keywords mentioned by the respondents, there are four main attributes considered as important: human resources; creativities; market share; and capital. Finally, most of the respondents suggested that AEC will bring more positive influences for the development of micro-small and medium business in Indonesia.

Opportunities for biomaterials. Economic, environmental and policy aspects along their life cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermann, B.

2010-01-01

Little was known at the start of these studies regarding the environmental impacts of bulk chemicals production from biomass and whether they could be produced economically. We have therefore analysed the entire life cycle of bio materials: the production of bio-based chemicals, the application of bio-based polymers in packaging and finally the waste treatment of biodegradable materials. Numerous bio-based chemicals offer economic opportunities, the extent of which depends on the prices of the petrochemical and bio-based feed-stocks and can be further improved by technological progress in the future. Almost all bio-based chemicals have lower carbon and energy footprints than their petrochemical counterparts, and savings can be substantially increased in the future. Bio-based materials also offer savings when used for a specific food packaging application, but these savings can become smaller when the comparison is made not per kg of material but considering the functionality and material properties. Biodegradable materials are advantageous in that they are suitable for biological waste treatment options whose carbon and energy footprints are currently at least equally good as incineration, but have the additional benefit of producing a soil conditioner which can improve soil carbon content. Finally, consistent policy measures supporting bio-based and/or biodegradable materials are necessary to ensure this market's success. The progress made in terms of quantifying the benefits, the start of major research and development programmes and the start-up of production facilities have increased the likelihood for many bio-based chemicals and plastics to enter the market. So there are clear opportunities for bio materials, but policy measures are needed to ensure that they can start competing on a larger scale.

Examining Extension's Capacity in Community Resource and Economic Development: Viewpoints of Extension Administrators on the Role of Community Resource and Economic Development in the Extension Portfolio

Science.gov (United States)

Urbanowitz, Seth C.; Wilcox, Michael D., Jr.

2013-01-01

The survey-based research reported here offers insights on community, resource, and economic development (CRED) Extension programming at the national and regional level. The results present a national picture of CRED programming, research, and potential future programming opportunities that Extension could capitalize on. The research shows that…

Social-economic and environmental sustainability of short supply chains: opportunities for development rural territories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mykola Babych

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The paper substantiates the expediency of developing short supply chains at the local level. The focus of this paper is to determine opportunities for developing rural territories in Ukraine on the basis of the development of short supply chains in terms of ensuring social, economic and environmental sustainability. It is established that such an approach provides stability of development of rural territory, in particular, it promotes: social interaction (trust, justice, solidarity and common values between consumers and producers, community development (just relationships, pride, social cohesion and community affiliation, strengthening local culture and identity, health and well-being of the population (healthy diet; access to healthy food, health improvement, which ensures social sustainability of the system; rural development and economic recovery (increase of workplaces, tourism development, increase of local incomes, development of small and medium-sized farms, achievement of economic benefits to farms (reduction of overheads, fixed margin and premium for quality, increase of competitiveness and economic viability, sustainable use resources, which ensures economic stability of the system; reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions (reducing transport and storage time; using alternative technologies; maximizing manual labor; reducing the use of plastic packaging; reducing food losses; sustainability of agro-systems (promoting agro-biodiversity; using local varieties; highlighting ecological and organic production, which ensures the ecological stability of the system.

2009 Decennial Socio-Economic Survey of the Gulf For-Hire Sector

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This survey collected data to generate a comprehensive review of the economic and policy status of the recreational for-hire sector in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico,...

76 FR 32142 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Alaska Saltwater Sportfishing Economic Survey

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-03

... marine sport species in Alaska (e.g., lingcod and rockfish). The data collected from the survey will be... a survey to collect data for conducting economic analyses of marine sport fishing in Alaska. This... management of the Pacific halibut sport fishery off Alaska, while the State of Alaska manages the salmon...

Teaching the Economics of Equal Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ownby, Arnola C.; Rhea, Jeanine N.

1990-01-01

Focuses on equal opportunities--for education, pay, and with gender bias for individuals and business organizations. Suggests that business educators can expand the implications to include ethnic-based inequalities as well. (JOW)

UK doctors and equal opportunities in the NHS: national questionnaire surveys of views on gender, ethnicity and disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Trevor; Surman, Geraldine; Goldacre, Michael

2014-10-01

To seek doctors' views about the NHS as an employer, our surveys about doctors' career intentions and progression, undertaken between 1999 and 2013, also asked whether the NHS was, in their view, a good 'equal opportunities' employer for women doctors, doctors from ethnic minority groups and doctors with disabilities. Surveys undertaken in the UK by mail and Internet. UK medical graduates in selected graduation years between 1993 and 2012. Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with three statements starting 'The NHS is a good equal opportunities employer for…' and ending 'women doctors', 'doctors from ethnic minorities' and 'doctors with disabilities'. Of first-year doctors surveyed in 2013, 3.6% (78/2158) disagreed that the NHS is a good equal opportunities employer for women doctors (1.7% of the men and 4.7% of the women); 2.2% (44/1968) disagreed for doctors from ethnic minorities (0.9% of white doctors and 5.8% of non-white doctors) and 12.6% (175/1387) disagreed for doctors with disabilities. Favourable perceptions of the NHS in these respects improved substantially between 1999 and 2013; among first-year doctors of 2000-2003, combined, the corresponding percentages of disagreement were 23.5% for women doctors, 23.1% for doctors from ethnic minorities and 50.6% for doctors with disabilities. Positive views about the NHS as an equal opportunities employer have increased in recent years, but the remaining gap in perception of this between women and men, and between ethnic minority and white doctors, is a concern. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR MICRO-SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS IN INDONESIA FACING ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

OpenAIRE

Raden Aswin Rahadi

2016-01-01

This research is a part of a continuous study to analyze the opportunities and challenges for micro-small and medium business in Indonesia when facing ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2016. It has its own uniqueness, as it will combine the point of view between current business owners and current literature study synthesis on business perception towards AEC. Ten business owners have been interviewed. The results suggested AEC provides challenges for the business owners, particularly in terms...

The economic impact of tourism on local residents in Wolong Nature Reserve

OpenAIRE

Yang Liu; Yihe Lü

2008-01-01

Theoretically, tourism can generate economic benefits for local residents, while whether the benefits can come true in reality is a crucial issue. To obtain the actual direct economic impact that tourism have on local residents, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Wolong Nature Reserve (WNR). Total income generated by tourism, employment opportunities for local participants, and income distributions were included in the questionnaire. The results showed that there’s a considerable gap bet...

Economic Assessment of Opportunities for Managed Aquifer Recharge Techniques in Spain Using an Advanced Geographic Information System (GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrique Fernández Escalante

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the economic aspects of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR techniques considered in the DINA-MAR (Depth Investigation of New Areas for Managed Aquifer Recharge in Spain project. This project firstly identified the areas with potential for MAR for the whole of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands of Spain using characteristics derived from 23 GIS layers of physiographic features, spanning geology, topography, land use, water sources and including existing MAR sites. The work involved evaluations for 24 different types (techniques of MAR projects, over this whole area accounting for the physiographic features that favor each technique. The scores for each feature for each type of technique were set based on practical considerations and scores were accumulated for each location. A weighting was assigned to each feature by “training” the integrated score for each technique across all the features with the existing MAR sites overlay, so that opportunities for each technique could be more reliably predicted. It was found that there were opportunities for MAR for 16% of the area evaluated and that the additional storage capacity of aquifers in these areas was more than 2.5 times the total storage capacity of all existing surface water dams in Spain. The second part of this work, which is considered internationally unique, was to use this GIS methodology to evaluate the economics of the various MAR techniques across the region. This involved determining an economic index related to key physiographic features and applying this as an additional GIS overlay. Again this was trained by use of economic information for each of the existing MAR sites for which economic data and supply or storage volume were available. Two simpler methods were also used for comparison. Finally, the mean costs of MAR facilities and construction projects were determined based on the origin of the water. Maps of potential sites for Managed Aquifer

Recent Economic Perspectives on Political Economy, Part II*

Science.gov (United States)

Dewan, Torun; Shepsle, Kenneth A.

2013-01-01

In recent years some of the best theoretical work on the political economy of political institutions and processes has begun surfacing outside the political science mainstream in high quality economics journals. This two-part paper surveys these contributions from a recent five-year period. In Part I, the focus is on elections, voting and information aggregation, followed by treatments of parties, candidates, and coalitions. In Part II, papers on economic performance and redistribution, constitutional design, and incentives, institutions, and the quality of political elites are discussed. Part II concludes with a discussion of the methodological bases common to economics and political science, the way economists have used political science research, and some new themes and arbitrage opportunities. PMID:23606754

Economic evaluation for protein and energy supplementation in adults: opportunities to strengthen the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Milte, R K; Ratcliffe, J; Miller, M D; Crotty, M

2013-12-01

Malnutrition is a costly problem for health care systems internationally. Malnourished individuals require longer hospital stays and more intensive nursing care than adequately nourished individuals and have been estimated to cost an additional £7.3 billion in health care expenditures in the United Kingdom alone. However, treatments for malnutrition have rarely been considered from an economic perspective. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the cost effectiveness of using protein and energy supplementation as a widely used intervention to treat adults with and at risk of malnutrition. Papers were identified that included economic evaluations of protein or energy supplementation for the treatment or prevention of malnutrition in adults. While the variety of outcome measures reported for cost-effectiveness studies made synthesis of results challenging, cost-benefit studies indicated that the savings for the health system could be substantial due to reduced lengths of hospital stay and less intensive use of health services after discharge. In summary, the available economic evidence indicates that protein and energy supplementation in treatment or prevention of malnutrition provides an opportunity to improve patient wellbeing and lower health system costs.

Tourist Industry Recovers from World Economic Crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca Gabriela Turtureanu

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Tourism has become an important economic engine onthe global point of view , but isextremely localized. Due to geographical distribution and nature of labor intensive activities intourism offers a wide range of employment opportunities for poor and vulnerable groups indeveloping countries, especially but not exclusively, in rural and remote areas. Tourism has sufferedalot during the global economic crisis, there was adecline of 4% of international tourist arrivals in2009, and revenues from international tourism fellby 6% by 2009. To a new report "Euro barometer"survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism emphasized that the tourism industry has passedthe economic crisis confirmed by the indicators. Motivations of travel for 2011 have been totraditional tourist destinations (58%, while 28% wanted to discover new destinations.

The economics of roadside bear viewing

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Leslie; Rosen, Tatjana; Gunther, Kerry; Schwartz, Chuck

2014-01-01

Viewing bears along roadside habitats is a popular recreational activity in certain national parks throughout the United States. However, safely managing visitors during traffic jams that result from this activity often requires the use of limited park resources. Using unique visitor survey data, this study quantifies economic values associated with roadside bear viewing in Yellowstone National Park, monetary values that could be used to determine whether this continued use of park resources is warranted on economic grounds. Based on visitor expenditure data and results of a contingent visitation question, it is estimated that summer Park visitation would decrease if bears were no longer allowed to stay along roadside habitats, resulting in a loss of 155 jobs in the local economy. Results from a nonmarket valuation survey question indicate that on average, visitors to Yellowstone National Park are willing to pay around $41 more in Park entrance fees to ensure that bears are allowed to remain along roads within the Park. Generalizing this value to the relevant population of visitors indicates that the economic benefits of allowing this wildlife viewing opportunity to continue could outweigh the costs of using additional resources to effectively manage these traffic jams.

The effect of economic change and elite framing on support for welfare state retrenchment: a survey experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marx, P.; Schumacher, G.

2016-01-01

How do economic downturns affect citizens’ support for welfare state retrenchment? Existing observational studies fail to isolate the effect of economic conditions and the effect of elite framing of these conditions. We therefore designed a survey experiment to evaluate how economic change in

Development economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roebuck, F.

1992-01-01

This paper discusses term development economics which refers to the economic evaluation of investment opportunities that occur after the discovery well is drilled and completed. with specific regard to the techniques used and the economic yardsticks available for investment decisions. Three potential situations are considered in this paper: the incorporation of development wells into the outcomes of the original exploration project, mutually exclusive or alternative investment opportunities, and the installation of improved or enhanced recovery projects during or at the end of the primary producing life of a property

Workforce and Salary Survey Trends: Opportunities and Challenges for the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, Michael D.

2015-01-01

The American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD) designed and directed 2 surveys of the AAMD membership. The first was in 2011 and the second in 2014. There were a number of questions common to both surveys, and this article seeks to evaluate these common questions to determine trends among the professional membership of the AAMD. It is demonstrated that the observed trends are consistent with the goals and objectives established by the leadership of the AAMD and the Medical Dosimetry Certification Board (MDCB) for the medical dosimetry community. In addition, certain challenges and opportunities involving the scope of practice for the medical dosimetry profession are discussed

Workforce and Salary Survey Trends: Opportunities and Challenges for the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mills, Michael D., E-mail: mdmill03@exchange.louisville.edu

2015-07-01

The American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD) designed and directed 2 surveys of the AAMD membership. The first was in 2011 and the second in 2014. There were a number of questions common to both surveys, and this article seeks to evaluate these common questions to determine trends among the professional membership of the AAMD. It is demonstrated that the observed trends are consistent with the goals and objectives established by the leadership of the AAMD and the Medical Dosimetry Certification Board (MDCB) for the medical dosimetry community. In addition, certain challenges and opportunities involving the scope of practice for the medical dosimetry profession are discussed.

Big data: survey, technologies, opportunities, and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Nawsher; Yaqoob, Ibrar; Hashem, Ibrahim Abaker Targio; Inayat, Zakira; Ali, Waleed Kamaleldin Mahmoud; Alam, Muhammad; Shiraz, Muhammad; Gani, Abdullah

2014-01-01

Big Data has gained much attention from the academia and the IT industry. In the digital and computing world, information is generated and collected at a rate that rapidly exceeds the boundary range. Currently, over 2 billion people worldwide are connected to the Internet, and over 5 billion individuals own mobile phones. By 2020, 50 billion devices are expected to be connected to the Internet. At this point, predicted data production will be 44 times greater than that in 2009. As information is transferred and shared at light speed on optic fiber and wireless networks, the volume of data and the speed of market growth increase. However, the fast growth rate of such large data generates numerous challenges, such as the rapid growth of data, transfer speed, diverse data, and security. Nonetheless, Big Data is still in its infancy stage, and the domain has not been reviewed in general. Hence, this study comprehensively surveys and classifies the various attributes of Big Data, including its nature, definitions, rapid growth rate, volume, management, analysis, and security. This study also proposes a data life cycle that uses the technologies and terminologies of Big Data. Future research directions in this field are determined based on opportunities and several open issues in Big Data domination. These research directions facilitate the exploration of the domain and the development of optimal techniques to address Big Data.

Big Data: Survey, Technologies, Opportunities, and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Nawsher; Yaqoob, Ibrar; Hashem, Ibrahim Abaker Targio; Inayat, Zakira; Mahmoud Ali, Waleed Kamaleldin; Alam, Muhammad; Shiraz, Muhammad; Gani, Abdullah

2014-01-01

Big Data has gained much attention from the academia and the IT industry. In the digital and computing world, information is generated and collected at a rate that rapidly exceeds the boundary range. Currently, over 2 billion people worldwide are connected to the Internet, and over 5 billion individuals own mobile phones. By 2020, 50 billion devices are expected to be connected to the Internet. At this point, predicted data production will be 44 times greater than that in 2009. As information is transferred and shared at light speed on optic fiber and wireless networks, the volume of data and the speed of market growth increase. However, the fast growth rate of such large data generates numerous challenges, such as the rapid growth of data, transfer speed, diverse data, and security. Nonetheless, Big Data is still in its infancy stage, and the domain has not been reviewed in general. Hence, this study comprehensively surveys and classifies the various attributes of Big Data, including its nature, definitions, rapid growth rate, volume, management, analysis, and security. This study also proposes a data life cycle that uses the technologies and terminologies of Big Data. Future research directions in this field are determined based on opportunities and several open issues in Big Data domination. These research directions facilitate the exploration of the domain and the development of optimal techniques to address Big Data. PMID:25136682

Spain as a market: Opportunities for business, economic development and Francoism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseba de la Torre

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This article offers a perspective of the strategies adopted by the main industrial powers during the 1950s and 1960s to penetrate the Spanish market. Under the influence of the Cold War, international cooperation between the United States of America and Western Europe and the emergence of a developing country, foreign corporate groups sought support from their governments to conquer new business opportunities in Spain. Despite the entrance barriers, the 50s bore witness to how these groups adopted positions based on the conviction that Franco’s regime would eventually end up giving way to economic liberalism, thus returning Spain to the international economy, hence multiplying expectations on investments and profit. An outward- looking vantage point helps to understand the complexity of an economy that was subject to the intervention of an authoritarian state while in a stage of accelerated growth. External relationships were forged based on market strategies.

An assessment of the economics and market opportunities for municipal solid waste fired combined heat and power applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frith, D.P.; Toothill, S.J.

1995-01-01

This study examines the issues surrounding the development of CHP applications of MSW combustion plants, and in particular the opportunities for new projects. The specific objectives of the study were as follows: (i) To assess the economics of CHP applications of MSW plant at three scales of operation, with waste throughputs of 400,000, 200,000 and 100,000 tonnes per year. (ii) To report on the market opportunities and barriers to implementation for such applications in the UK. (iii) To report on the commercial development of three such applications (case studies) in the UK and to examine the environmental benefits of such applications, with particular respect to greenhouse gas emissions. (author)

Student Study Choices in the Principles of Economics: A Case Study of Computer Usage

OpenAIRE

Grimes, Paul W.; Sanderson, Patricia L.; Ching, Geok H.

1996-01-01

Principles of Economics students at Mississippi State University were provided the opportunity to use computer assisted instruction (CAI) as a supplemental study activity. Students were free to choose the extent of their computer work. Throughout the course, weekly surveys were conducted to monitor the time each student spent with their textbook, computerized tutorials, workbook, class notes, and study groups. The surveys indicated that only a minority of the students actively pursued CAI....

The effect of health, socio-economic position, and mode of data collection on non-response in health interview surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ekholm, Ola; Gundgaard, Jens; Rasmussen, Niels K R

2010-01-01

AIMS: To investigate the relationship between potential explanatory factors (socio-economic factors and health) and non-response in two general population health interview surveys (face-to-face and telephone), and to compare the effects of the two interview modes on non-response patterns. METHODS...... in health interview surveys, but the non-response rate is higher in lower socio-economic groups. Analyses of non-response should be performed to understand the implications of survey findings.......: Data derives from The Danish Health Interview Survey 2000 (face-to-face interview) and The Funen County Health Survey 2000/2001 (telephone interview). Data on all invited individuals were obtained from administrative registers and linked to survey data at individual level. Multiple logistic regression...

Intentional exposure to loud music: the second MTV.com survey reveals an opportunity to educate.

Science.gov (United States)

Quintanilla-Dieck, Maria de Lourdes; Artunduaga, Maria Alexandra; Eavey, Roland D

2009-10-01

Music-induced hearing loss (MIHL), an unconsciously self-inflicted public health concern, could evolve into an epidemic because of the appeal of loud music. After media attention about a previous hearing-loss survey with Music Television (MTV.com), we hypothesized that a repeat survey could compare awareness and behavior trends. We incorporated the 2002 survey into the new 73-question instrument presented to random visitors on the MTV.com website in 2007. A P music exposure. Health care providers were the least likely source of MIHL awareness despite the respondents favoring provider education for hearing protection behavior modification. Most respondents still could not recall learning about prevention of potential hearing loss, although the media has become the most informative source. Most respondents indicated that they would adopt protective ear behavior if made aware of hearing loss risk, especially if informed by health care professionals, revealing an educational opportunity.

Theories of opportunity creation and effective entrepreneurial actions in opportunity creation context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrooz Jamali

2018-09-01

Full Text Available Created opportunities are refered as the opportunities in which none of the supply and demand parties exists clearly and obviously one or both of them must be created. Therefore, several economic inventions should take place in marketing, franchising, etc. so that opportunity can be created. This perception of opportunity deals with the creation of new markets. In the meantime, identifying some entrepreneurial actions influencing on the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities can provide backgrounds for the formation and empowering the opportunity creation. In this paper, some basic ideas about the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities and the evolution of opportunity creation theories are examined. Then effective actions on the opportunity creation are identified. Finally, the structure of the investigated actions is examined using the DEMATLE Method. The results which were according to the opinions of 15 experts of entrepreneurship showed that leadership, decision making, and strategy actions influence other entrepreneurial actions.

Opportunities and insights for reducing fossil fuel consumption by households and organizations

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, Paul C.; Janda, Kathryn B.; Brown, Marilyn A.; Steg, Linda; Vine, Edward L.; Lutzenhiser, Loren

2016-05-01

Realizing the ambitious commitments of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) will require new ways of meeting human needs previously met by burning fossil fuels. Technological developments will be critical, but so will accelerated adoption of promising low-emission technologies and practices. National commitments will be more achievable if interventions take into account key psychological, social, cultural and organizational factors that influence energy choices, along with factors of an infrastructural, technical and economic nature. Broader engagement of social and behavioural science is needed to identify promising opportunities for reducing fossil fuel consumption. Here we discuss opportunities for change in households and organizations, primarily at short and intermediate timescales, and identify opportunities that have been underused in much of energy policy. Based on this survey, we suggest design principles for interventions by governments and other organizations, and identify areas of emphasis for future social science and interdisciplinary research.

A Time of Opportunity: Energy, Extension, and Economic Development

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, Nancy; Humphrey, Jordan; Roth, Greg W.; Jackson, Daney G.

2010-01-01

If adversity brings opportunity, great opportunity may now be on the doorstep. The dual forces of an economy transitioning from an industrial focus to an innovation imperative, and a global financial downturn of massive proportions are leaving families, organizations,and communities scrambling for relief, solutions, and hope. Meanwhile, a…

Big Data: Survey, Technologies, Opportunities, and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nawsher Khan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Big Data has gained much attention from the academia and the IT industry. In the digital and computing world, information is generated and collected at a rate that rapidly exceeds the boundary range. Currently, over 2 billion people worldwide are connected to the Internet, and over 5 billion individuals own mobile phones. By 2020, 50 billion devices are expected to be connected to the Internet. At this point, predicted data production will be 44 times greater than that in 2009. As information is transferred and shared at light speed on optic fiber and wireless networks, the volume of data and the speed of market growth increase. However, the fast growth rate of such large data generates numerous challenges, such as the rapid growth of data, transfer speed, diverse data, and security. Nonetheless, Big Data is still in its infancy stage, and the domain has not been reviewed in general. Hence, this study comprehensively surveys and classifies the various attributes of Big Data, including its nature, definitions, rapid growth rate, volume, management, analysis, and security. This study also proposes a data life cycle that uses the technologies and terminologies of Big Data. Future research directions in this field are determined based on opportunities and several open issues in Big Data domination. These research directions facilitate the exploration of the domain and the development of optimal techniques to address Big Data.

Economic development and conservation of biological and cultural diversity in Yunnan Province, China

Science.gov (United States)

Stendell, R.C.; Johnson, Richard L.; Mosesso, J.P.; Zhang, X.

2001-01-01

Chinese and American scientists are co-operating to develop concepts, strategies, agreements, and proposals in support of an economic development and sustainable ecosystems project in Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. Yunnan's Provincial Government has initiated a major programme to develop and further utilise its biological resources to help improve economic conditions for its citizens. They are co-operating with the US Geological Survey (USGS) on evaluation and management of biological resources so economic development will be compatible with sustainable ecological systems. Scientists from the USGS and co-operating universities will provide expertise on synthesising biological data, conducting a Gap Analysis for the Province, evaluating innovative economic opportunities, and designing an effective education, training, and outreach programme.

Petroleum investment opportunities in Manitoba - a geological, engineering and economic perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fox, J. N.; Martiniuk, C. D.

1997-01-01

Geology and reservoir characteristics of Manitoba's producing horizons were described, and recent activity in exploration and development prospects for the immediate future were reviewed. These prospects have improved considerably, thanks to recent efforts of the Manitoba Department of Energy and Mines to ensure that barriers to petroleum investment are eliminated. As a result of these and related efforts by the Manitoba government the investment climate is stable and competitive. Advantages in Manitoba include availability of Crown land at comparatively low prices, drilling and exploration incentives, low drilling and completion costs, and easy access to markets. Development drilling opportunities exist for each of Manitoba's five producing formations (the sandstones of the Jurassic Melita and Amaranth formations, and the Mississippian Bakken Formation, and the carbonates of the Mississipian Lodgepole and Mission Canyon formations). Sample economic scenarios run on three development scenarios and modelled after typical Manitoba oil play were very favorable, indicating a potential rate of return on investments of 25 to 37 per cent and pay-out in 2.6 to 3.2 years. 10 refs., 7 tabs., 5 figs

Economic evaluation of intermediate operations in oak stands

Science.gov (United States)

Henry H. Webster; John C., Jr. Meadows

1971-01-01

Economic evaluation of forest-management opportunities is a vital ingredient of effective forestry programs. Choices among management opportunities are necessary because opportunities inevitably exceed funds available, and they are important because opportunities commonly range from highly productive to decidedly unproductive. Economic evaluation in oak stands shows a...

Fair reckoning: a qualitative investigation of responses to an economic health resource allocation survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Giacomini, Mita; Hurley, Jeremiah; DeJean, Deirdre

2014-04-01

To investigate how participants in an economic resource allocation survey construct notions of fairness. Qualitative interview study guided by interpretive grounded theory methods. Qualitative interviews were conducted with volunteer university- (n=39) and community-based (n =7) economic survey participants. INTERVENTION OR MAIN VARIABLES STUDIED: We explored how participants constructed meanings to guide or explain fair survey choices, focusing on rationales, imagery and additional desired information not provided in the survey scenarios. Data were transcribed and coded into qualitative categories. Analysis iterated with data collection iterated through three waves of interviews. Participants compared the survey dilemmas to domains outside the health system. Most compared them with other micro-level, inter-personal sharing tasks. Participants raised several fairness-relevant factors beyond need or capacity to benefit. These included age, weight, poverty, access to other options and personal responsibility for illness; illness duration, curability or seriousness; life expectancy; possibilities for sharing; awareness of other's needs; and ability to explain allocations to those affected. They also articulated a fairness principle little considered by equity theories: that everybody must get something and nobody should get nothing. Lay criteria for judging fairness are myriad. Simple scenarios may be used to investigate lay commitments to abstract principles. Although principles are the focus of analysis and inference, participants may solve simplified dilemmas by imputing extraneous features to the problem or applying unanticipated principles. These possibilities should be taken into account in the design of resource allocation surveys eliciting the views of the public. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Regional Economic Development

Science.gov (United States)

; Sponsored Work Regional Economic Development Technology Opportunities User Facilities About Us Metrics In the News Publications Policies Feynman Center » Deploying Innovation » Regional Economic Development Regional Economic Development Supporting companies in every stage of development through access to

Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

The initiative to promote Equal Opportunities at CERN started in 1993. The first Equal Opportunities Officer was appointed in 1996, which was followed by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 1998. Initially the concern was mainly the fair treatment of women in the work-place. Today the emphasis has evolved to ensuring that diversity is used to increase creativity and productivity in the work-place. In order to ensure that all aspects of Equal Opportunities and Diversity are covered, CERN’s Equal Opportunities team has prepared a survey to obtain your input. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for generating statistics. The questionnaire is on-line and can be accessed via: https://espace.cern.ch/EOQ. We hope that you will take a few minutes of your time to give your input and would be grateful if you could reply before 15/10/07. For further information about Equal Opportunities at CERN see: http://cern.ch/equal-opportunities The Equa...

Equal Opportunities Questionnaire

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

The initiative to promote Equal Opportunities at CERN started in 1993. The first Equal Opportunities Officer was appointed in 1996 followed by the creation of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 1998. Initially the concern was mainly the fair treatment of women in the work-place. Today the emphasis has evolved to ensuring that diversity is used to increase creativity and productivity in the work-place. In order to ensure that all aspects of Equal Opportunities and Diversity are covered, CERN’s Equal Opportunities team has prepared a survey to obtain your input. Your answers are confidential and will only be used for generating statistics. The questionnaire is on-line and can be accessed via: https://espace.cern.ch/EOQ. We hope that you will take a few minutes of your time to give your input and would be grateful if you could reply before 15/10/07. For further information about Equal Opportunities at CERN see: http://cern.ch/equal-opportunities The Equal Opportuni...

Opportunity cost, willingness to pay and cost benefit analysis of a community forest of Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anup KC

2014-05-01

Full Text Available One of the major policies in response to global climate change is reduction of green house gases emission. Community forests of Nepal are acting as major sources and sink of green house gases, in spite of providing socio-economic benefits to the user groups. There is a lack of information on whether community forests address the socio-economic disparity of user groups, and how it affects opportunity cost and willingness to pay to the forest users groups. Focusing on how the socio-economic conditions of forest users affect forest management, opportunity cost and willingness to pay; and effect of carbon trading mechanism and discounting on the cost benefit ratio, this study was carried out in one CF in western Nepal. The data collection methods included carbon stock measurement, household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interview. Study has shown that most of the forest users are in medium and poor economic classes and female involvement in forest conservation and management was remarkable. Poor people had high dependency on forest product and are most likely affected in terms of opportunity cost. Rich people were willing to pay more to sustain forest ecosystem services. Benefit cost ratio measured directly with and without discounting was 3.91 and 2.97, respectively. The findings of the present study indicate that the community forests users groups are benefitted from the current state of management. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i2.10522 International Journal of the Environment Vol.3(2 2014: 108-124

Challenges of Opportunity Cost Analysis in Planning REDD+: A Honduran Case Study of Social and Cultural Values Associated with Indigenous Forest Uses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spencer T. Plumb

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The REDD Programme is predicated on the assumption that developed countries will provide sufficient funds to offset opportunity costs associated with avoiding deforestation. The role of non-market values in indigenous land management may challenge the efficacy of compensation schemes targeted at meeting opportunity costs as calculated in traditional opportunity cost analysis (OCA. Furthermore it is unclear how these economic incentives might affect social and cultural values linked to land-use norms, livelihoods, and local governance. This study explores the economic, social and cultural values of forest uses for a Miskito community in the Rio Plátano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras. Data were collected using household surveys, farm visits, and community workshops. OCA indicates potential for successful REDD+ payment schemes; however it is an inadequate method to account for subsistence and cultural opportunity costs associated with avoided deforestation. Compensation to change land-use practices may undermine governance institutions necessary to address deforestation in the region. Our results indicate that small-scale agriculture and other forest-based subsistence activities are important cultural practices for maintaining Miskito identity and forest management institutions. Recommendations are offered for using OCA to develop REDD+ projects that recognize the linkages between social and cultural values and forest management by focusing on approaches that consider a full range of economic, social and cultural opportunity costs.

The contention within health economics: a micro-economic foundation using a macro-economic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaxley, I L

1998-03-01

Health economists claim to use market economics combined with the micro-economic concepts of opportunity cost and the margin to advise on priority setting. However, they are advising on setting priorities through a macro-economic analysis using the costs of the supplier, thus prioritising the producer and not the consumer as the dynamic of economic activity. For health economists any contention within priority setting is due to lack of data not their confusion over fundamental concepts.

Economic resilience through "One-Water" management

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Randall T.; Schmid, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Disruption of water availability leads to food scarcity and loss of economic opportunity. Development of effective water-resource policies and management strategies could provide resiliance to local economies in the face of water disruptions such as drought, flood, and climate change. To accomplish this, a detailed understanding of human water use and natural water resource availability is needed. A hydrologic model is a computer software system that simulates the movement and use of water in a geographic area. It takes into account all components of the water cycle--“One Water”--and helps estimate water budgets for groundwater, surface water, and landscape features. The U.S. Geological Survey MODFLOW One-Water Integrated Hydrologic Model (MODFLOWOWHM) software and scientific methods can provide water managers and political leaders with hydrologic information they need to help ensure water security and economic resilience.

A survey of Opportunities for Microbial Conversion of Biomass to Hydrocarbon Compatible Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jovanovic, Iva; Jones, Susanne B.; Santosa, Daniel M.; Dai, Ziyu; Ramasamy, Karthikeyan K.; Zhu, Yunhua

2010-09-01

Biomass is uniquely able to supply renewable and sustainable liquid transportation fuels. In the near term, the Biomass program has a 2012 goal of cost competitive cellulosic ethanol. However, beyond 2012, there will be an increasing need to provide liquid transportation fuels that are more compatible with the existing infrastructure and can supply fuel into all transportation sectors, including aviation and heavy road transport. Microbial organisms are capable of producing a wide variety of fuel and fuel precursors such as higher alcohols, ethers, esters, fatty acids, alkenes and alkanes. This report surveys liquid fuels and fuel precurors that can be produced from microbial processes, but are not yet ready for commercialization using cellulosic feedstocks. Organisms, current research and commercial activities, and economics are addressed. Significant improvements to yields and process intensification are needed to make these routes economic. Specifically, high productivity, titer and efficient conversion are the key factors for success.

Nigerian stock exchange and economic development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olowe,Olusegun

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This article studies role of cooperations in creating opportunities for using rich renewable energy sources and also their potential role for entrepreneurship and employment in Iran. The presence of constant, sustainable and economical energy is an essential basis for any economical and social development while it can upgrade life qualities. Iran has a considerable amount of natural resources for modernizing its energy supply and being transited to a sustainable energy system as it has countless opportunities for using rich renewable energy sources. On the other hand, cooperation have been considered as a strategic way to create job opportunities as they are strong organizations which can encounter economical and social side affects caused by quick moderating procedures in structural programs.Results show convergence between renewable sources development and Iran's economical development through taking a frugal approach in expenses, creating new job opportunities and entrepreneurship in renewable energies.

Office of Equal Opportunity Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Jennifer L.

2004-01-01

The NASA Glenn Office of Equal Opportunity Programs works to provide quality service for all programs and/or to assist the Center in becoming a model workplace. During the summer of 2004, I worked with Deborah Cotleur along with other staff members to create and modify customer satisfaction surveys. This office aims to assist in developing a model workplace by providing functions as a change agent to the center by serving as an advisor to management to ensure equity throughout the Center. In addition, the office serves as a mediator for the Center in addressing issues and concerns. Lastly, the office provides assistance to employees to enable attainment of personal and organizational goals. The Office of Equal Opportunities is a staff office which reports and provides advice to the Center Director and Executive Leadership, implements laws, regulations, and presidential executive orders, and provides center wide leadership and assistance to NASA GRC employees. Some of the major responsibilities of the office include working with the discrimination complaints program, special emphasis programs (advisory groups), management support, monitoring and evaluation, contract compliance, and community outreach. During my internship in this office, my main objective was to create four customer satisfaction surveys based on EO retreats, EO observances, EO advisory boards, and EO mediation/counseling. I created these surveys after conducting research on past events and surveys as well as similar survey research created and conducted by other NASA centers, program for EO Advisory group members, leadership training sessions for supervisors, preventing sexual harassment training sessions, and observance events. I also conducted research on the style and format from feedback surveys from the Marshall Equal Opportunity website, the Goddard website, and the main NASA website. Using the material from the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at Glenn Research Center along with my

Combined Heat and Power Market Potential for Opportunity Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, David [Resource Dynamics Corporation, McLean, VA (United States); Lemar, Paul [Resource Dynamics Corporation, McLean, VA (United States

2015-12-01

This report estimates the potential for opportunity fuel combined heat and power (CHP) applications in the United States, and provides estimates for the technical and economic market potential compared to those included in an earlier report. An opportunity fuel is any type of fuel that is not widely used when compared to traditional fossil fuels. Opportunity fuels primarily consist of biomass fuels, industrial waste products and fossil fuel derivatives. These fuels have the potential to be an economically viable source of power generation in various CHP applications.

77 FR 6065 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Economic Survey

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-07

... Collection; Comment Request; Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Economic Survey AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric... beluga whales found in the Cook Inlet of Alaska is one of five distinct population segments in United... beluga whale, such as population increases, are primarily the result of the non- consumptive value people...

Equal Educational Opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Lorenzo

1980-01-01

Holds that the "Bakke" decision simply reaffirmed an insufficient commitment to equal opportunities for Blacks in higher education. Reviews several studies, including research conducted at the Institute for the Study of Educational Policy (ISEP) that has focused on the social and economic context of educational discrimination. (GC)

The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Belfield, Clive R.; Levin, Henry M.; Rosen, Rachel

2012-01-01

It is often said that youth are society's future; individuals need to prepare and nurture them if they desire that future to be bright and productive. Yet, with the spotlight currently on slow economic growth and high unemployment across the U.S., there has been little focus on the plight of youth as they transition from school to adult life. But…

Waste as resource: Unlocking opportunities for Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Oelofse, Suzanna HH

2018-06-01

Full Text Available -use, recycling and recovery of materials. This chapter focuses on understanding the economic and social opportunities in waste that could potentially be unlocked in Africa, and how these opportunities can be used as lever to overcome the challenges in solid waste...

Opportunities for administrators to promote disease management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kash, Bita A; Gamm, Larry D; Bolin, Jane Nelson; Peck, B Mitchell

2005-01-01

Studies of disease management (DM) have shown that patients who participate in such programs achieve better health status and make fewer emergency room visits. Private and government payers have recently increased their efforts to promote DM initiatives through financial incentives to healthcare providers. This article explores opportunities for administrators of health services organizations (HSO) to promote DM in the current political and economic environment. Our survey of professionals (DM leaders, physicians, and DM nurses) in six DM programs reveals these professionals' assessments of the key players and resources that they deem important to their respective DM programs. They view DM programs as heavily dependent on the support of physicians, nurses, and health plan leaders but relatively less so on the support of HSO administrators- a situation that may suggest opportunities for administrators to take on greater leadership in moving the HSO toward developing DM programs. Survey results also indicate a strong need for the integration of resources such as communication systems, electronic medical records, and DM reporting. Taken collectively, these needs suggest a number of strategies for the administrator to play a larger role in supporting the adoption and effective implementation of DM. In the article, we propose that DM programs can benefit substantially from an administrator who can demonstrate a thorough knowledge of DM-related government and private-payer initiatives and who has the ability to provide leadership to develop and implement viable DM programs. Valued contributions that the administrator should bring to the table include support of standardized DM processes, use of practice guidelines, and provision of pertinent information systems.

Survey of nuclear fuel cycle economics: 1970--1985

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prince, B.E.; Peerenboom, J.P.; Delene, J.G.

1977-03-01

This report is intended to provide a coherent view of the diversity of factors that may affect nuclear fuel cycle economics through about 1985. The nuclear fuel cycle was surveyed as to past trends, current problems, and future considerations. Unit costs were projected for each step in the fuel cycle. Nuclear fuel accounting procedures were reviewed; methods of calculating fuel costs were examined; and application was made to Light Water Reactors (LWR) over the next decade. A method conforming to Federal Power Commission accounting procedures and used by utilities to account for backend fuel-cycle costs was described which assigns a zero net salvage value to discharged fuel. LWR fuel cycle costs of from 4 to 6 mills/kWhr (1976 dollars) were estimated for 1985. These are expected to reach 6 to 9 mills/kWr if the effect of inflation is included

Business opportunities in the Mexican dairy industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijnands, J.H.M.; Armenta Gutierrez, B.M.; Poelarends, J.J.; Valk, van der O.M.C.

2010-01-01

This study explores the Mexican and Dutch business opportunities in the dairy industry in Mexico. The report discusses first the external environment of the Mexican dairy sector: the economic developments, the country's overall competitiveness, and the economic and agricultural policies. Next, it

Nature-based care opportunities and barriers in oncology contexts: a modified international e-Delphi survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Blaschke, Sarah; O'Callaghan, Clare C; Schofield, Penelope

2017-10-16

To develop recommendations regarding opportunities and barriers for nature-based care in oncology contexts using a structured knowledge generation process involving relevant healthcare and design experts. Four-round modified electronic Delphi study. Oncology patients' nature-based recommendations, uncovered in preceding qualitative investigation, were included in the first round for the expert participants' consideration. Key items (opportunities and barriers) were developed using data aggregation and synthesis, followed by item prioritisation and 10-point Likert scale ranking (1=not important, 10=very important). Descriptive statistics were calculated to assess items of highest importance representing expert recommendations. Online Delphi process constituting an electronic international survey. A purposive sample of 200 potential panellists (recruitment target n=40) comprising healthcare practitioners, managers, designers, architects and researchers were invited to participate; experts were identified via research networks, snowballing and systematic literature review. 38 experts across seven countries (Australia, USA, UK, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark and Sweden) returned questionnaire 1, which determined consent and acceptance for participation. Initial response rate was 19%, and subsequent response rates were 84%, 82% and 84% for rounds 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The Delphi panel developed recommendations consisting of 10 opportunities and 10 barriers. The following opportunities were rated to be of highest importance: window views from clinical areas onto nature; outdoor settings, gardens and courtyards with easy and effortless access; and nature-based physical exercise adapted to patient requirements. Highest-rated barriers for nature-based oncology care included lack of knowledge and awareness about benefits of nature engagement and inaccessibility, not considering access requirements for the very sick and frail. Experts suggested and agreed on a set of

Quality of life and pharmaco-economic aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder. A South African survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, D J; Roberts, M; Hollander, E; Rowland, C; Serebro, P

1996-12-01

The quality of life and pharmaco-economic aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have received relatively little research attention to date. We aimed to gather preliminary data on these in a South African patient sample. A survey of members of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Association of South Africa was undertaken by means of a detailed self-report questionnaire. Results of the survey suggest that OCD causes significant morbidity, leading to clear distress and Interference with academic, occupational, social and family function. Unfortunately, correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment have been delayed in many patients, and the financial costs of such incorrect management are likely to be considerable. Much further work needs to be done by the medical profession and by interested consumers to raise awareness about OCD and to provide information about its management. In South Africa, it is particularly Important to undertake such psycho-education at a primary health care level and to impact on patients of low socio-economic status.

From Ideas to Opportunities: Exploring the Construction of Technology-Based Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferran Giones

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The transformation of business ideas into market opportunities is at the core of entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the complexity of such a transformative process is seen to change depending on the variables influencing the opportunity-entrepreneur nexus. Although technology-entrepreneurship is regarded as a force of change and dynamism in socio-economic growth, it also depends upon an intricate process of opportunity development. The interest in understanding better how technology-based entrepreneurs simultaneously cope with technological uncertainty while trying to gain stakeholder support and access to resources, highlights a relevant research gap. The research described in this article uses the constructivist view to deepen our understanding of the technology-based entrepreneur’s conceptualization of the opportunity as a process of social construction. Our results show how initial consensus-building efforts and iteration with knowledgeable peers are an essential part of the emergence of the opportunity, changing both entrepreneur's and stakeholders' perceptions of the early business idea. Consequently, our results provide evidence in support of policy programs and measures that favour social-construction support mechanisms to foster technology-based entrepreneurship.

Opportunities and constraints in the subsistence production and marketing of indigenous vegetables in East and Central Africa

OpenAIRE

Schippers, Rudy; Fereday, Nicholas

1998-01-01

This report summarises the results of market and production surveys carried out in both the dry and wet seasons in Cameroon and Uganda during 1997/98 as part of the DFID fimded project "Opportunities and constraints in the subsistence production and marketing of indigenous vegetables in East and Central Africa (A0699)". The main objective of the study was to establish the socio-economic significance of indigenous vegetables compared to exotic ones. This project is a follow up to the strategy ...

Chinese M&A,Opportunities & Risks

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Tang Jintao

2009-01-01

@@ Recently, the cases of Chinese enterprises' merger and acquisition are emerging in multitude. It is believed that M&A will provide opportunities for China enterprises to go global and act in the global economic environment.

Health economics and surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease in a world perspective: results from an international survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Jourdain, Vincent A; Schechtmann, Gastón

2014-01-01

Most studies in the field of neurosurgical treatment for movement disorders have been published by a small number of leading centers in developed countries. This study aimed to investigate the clinical practice of stereotactic neurosurgery for Parkinson's disease (PD) worldwide. Neurosurgeons were contacted via e-mail to participate in a worldwide survey. The results obtained are presented in order of the countries' economic development according to the World Bank, as well as by the source of financial support. A total of 353 neurosurgeons from 51 countries who had operated on 13,200 patients in 2009 were surveyed. Surgical procedures performed in high-income countries were more commonly financed by a public health care system. In contrast, in lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income countries, patients frequently financed surgeries themselves, and ablative surgeries were most commonly performed. Unexpectedly, ablative surgery is still used by about 65% of neurosurgeons, regardless of their country's economic status. This study provides a previously unavailable picture of the surgical aspects of PD across the globe in relation to health economics and sociodemographic factors. Global educational and training programs are warranted to raise awareness of economically viable surgical options for PD that could be adopted by public health care systems in lower-income countries. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The health and economic benefits of reducing intimate partner violence: an Australian example.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadilhac, Dominique A; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby B; Thayabaranathan, Tharshanah; Pearce, Dora C; Carter, Rob; Magnus, Anne

2015-07-09

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has important impacts on the health of women in society. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of IPV in the 2008 Australian female adult population. Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 5 percentage point absolute feasible reduction target in the prevalence of IPV from current Australian levels (27%). IPV is not measured in national surveys. Levels of psychological distress were used as a proxy for exposure to IPV since psychological conditions represent three-quarters of the disease burden from IPV. Lifetime cohort health benefits for females were estimated as fewer incident cases of violence-related disease and injury; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Opportunity cost savings were estimated for the health sector, paid and unpaid production and leisure from reduced incidence of IPV-related disease and deaths. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of females with moderate psychological distress (lifetime IPV exposure) against high or very high distress (current IPV exposure), and valued using the friction cost approach (FCA). The impact of improved health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modelled from time use survey data. Potential costs associated with interventions to reduce IPV were not considered. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariable sensitivity analyses were undertaken. A 5 percentage point absolute reduction in the lifetime prevalence of IPV in the 2008 Australian female population was estimated to produce 6000 fewer incident cases of disease/injury, 74 fewer deaths, 5000 fewer DALYs lost and provide gains of 926,000 working days, 371,000 days of home-based production and 428,000 leisure days. Overall, AUD371 million in opportunity cost savings could be achievable. The greatest economic savings would be home-based production (AUD147 million

Opportunities and barriers for smaller portions in food service: lessons from marketing and behavioral economics

Science.gov (United States)

Riis, J

2014-01-01

This paper uses the frameworks and evidence from marketing and behavioral economics to highlight the opportunities and barriers for portion control in food service environments. Applying Kahneman's ‘thinking fast and slow' concepts, it describes 10 strategies that can be effective in ‘tricking' the consumer's fast cognitive system to make better decisions and in triggering the slow cognitive system to help prevent the fast system from making bad decisions. These strategies include shrinking defaults, elongating packages, increasing the visibility of small portions, offering more mixed virtue options, adding more small sizes, offering ‘right-sized' standard portions, using meaningful size labels, adopting linear pricing, using temporal landmarks to push smaller portions and facilitating pre-commitment. For each of these strategies, I discuss the specific cost and revenue barriers that a food service operator would face if the strategy were adopted. PMID:25033960

Opportunities and barriers for smaller portions in food service: lessons from marketing and behavioral economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Riis, J

2014-07-01

This paper uses the frameworks and evidence from marketing and behavioral economics to highlight the opportunities and barriers for portion control in food service environments. Applying Kahneman's 'thinking fast and slow' concepts, it describes 10 strategies that can be effective in 'tricking' the consumer's fast cognitive system to make better decisions and in triggering the slow cognitive system to help prevent the fast system from making bad decisions. These strategies include shrinking defaults, elongating packages, increasing the visibility of small portions, offering more mixed virtue options, adding more small sizes, offering 'right-sized' standard portions, using meaningful size labels, adopting linear pricing, using temporal landmarks to push smaller portions and facilitating pre-commitment. For each of these strategies, I discuss the specific cost and revenue barriers that a food service operator would face if the strategy were adopted.

Thrive or Survive? Explaining Variation in Economic Outcomes for Refugees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Betts

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In the context of protracted refugee situations, there has been a revival in concern among policymakers to transcend the so-called humanitarian-development divide and create greater opportunities for self-reliance. Yet, these discussions too often neglect an analytical focus on refugees’ own economic lives, and their own interactions with markets.Despite a growing literature on the economic lives of refugees, much of that work has lacked theory or data. The work that has been quantitative has generally focused on the economic impact of refugees on host countries rather than explaining variation in economic outcomes for refugees.  In order to explain variation in economic outcomes for refugees, this paper asks three questions about the economic lives of refugees: 1 what makes the economic lives of refugees distinctive from other populations; 2 what explains variation in refugees’ income levels; and 3 what role does entrepreneurship play in shaping refugees’ economic outcomes?In order to answer these questions, the paper draws upon extensive qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Uganda by the Humanitarian Innovation Project at Oxford University. The quantitative data set is based on a survey of 2,213 refugees in three types of contexts: urban (Kampala, protracted camps (Nakivale and Kyangwali settlements, and emergency camps (Rwamwanja. It supplements this with qualitative research from other parts of Africa and the Middle East. The economic lives of refugees are argued to be distinctive not because refugees are any different qua human beings but because they often occupy a distinctive institutional space. Following new institutional economics, the paper argues that “refugee economies” represent a distinctive analytical space insofar as refugees face different formal and informal institutional barriers and distortions in their economic lives compared to nationals or other migrants. Even within the same country, refugees

Accessibility and socio-economic development of human settlements.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasan, Samiul; Wang, Xiaoming; Khoo, Yong Bing; Foliente, Greg

2017-01-01

Access to facilities, services and socio-economic opportunities plays a critical role in the growth and decline of cities and human settlements. Previous attempts to explain changes in socio-economic indicators by differences in accessibility have not been convincing as countries with highly developed transport infrastructure have only seen marginal benefits of infrastructure improvements. Australia offers an ideal case for investigating the effects of accessibility on development since it is seen as home to some of the most liveable cities in the world while, at the same time, it also has some of the most isolated settlements. We investigate herein the connectivity and accessibility of all 1814 human settlements (population centers exceeding 200 persons) in Australia, and how they relate to the socio-economic characteristics of, and opportunities in, each population center. Assuming population as a proxy indicator of available opportunities, we present a simple ranking metric for a settlement using the number of population and the distance required to access all other settlements (and the corresponding opportunities therein). We find a strikingly unequal distribution of access to opportunities in Australia, with a marked prominence of opportunities in capital cities in four of the eight states. The two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne have a dominant position across all socio-economic indicators, compared to all the other cities. In general, we observe across all the settlements that a decrease in access to opportunities is associated with relatively greater socio-economic disadvantage including increased median age and unemployment rate and decreased median household income. Our methodology can be used to better understand the potential benefits of improved accessibility based on infrastructure development, especially for remote areas and for cities and towns with many socio-economically disadvantaged population.

Cloud computing for energy management in smart grid - an application survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naveen, P; Ing, Wong Kiing; Danquah, Michael Kobina; Sidhu, Amandeep S; Abu-Siada, Ahmed

2016-01-01

The smart grid is the emerging energy system wherein the application of information technology, tools and techniques that make the grid run more efficiently. It possesses demand response capacity to help balance electrical consumption with supply. The challenges and opportunities of emerging and future smart grids can be addressed by cloud computing. To focus on these requirements, we provide an in-depth survey on different cloud computing applications for energy management in the smart grid architecture. In this survey, we present an outline of the current state of research on smart grid development. We also propose a model of cloud based economic power dispatch for smart grid. (paper)

Behavioral economics survey of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emoto N

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Naoya Emoto,1 Fumitaka Okajima,1 Hitoshi Sugihara,2 Rei Goto3,4 1Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Chiba, 2Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, 3Hakubi Center of Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 4Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Background: Adherence to treatment and the metabolic control of diabetes are challenging in many patients with diabetes. The theory of neuroeconomics can provide important clues for understanding unreasonable human behavior concerning decisions between outcomes occurring at different time points.  Objective: We investigated patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to determine whether patients who are at a risk of developing complications are less risk averse. We also examined whether patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different behavioral traits in decision making under risk.  Methods: We conducted a behavioral economics survey of 219 outpatients, 66 with type 1 diabetes and 153 with type 2 diabetes. All patients had been referred by general practitioners or other departments in the hospital. At the time of the survey, levels of hemoglobin A1c were not significantly different between patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  Results: Patients with type 2 diabetes showed a lower response rate to the survey compared with patients with type 1 diabetes (71.9% vs 87.9%, P<0.01. Logistic regression analysis indicated that diabetic retinopathy was negatively associated with risk averse in pricing of hypothetical lotteries, myopic time preference, willingness to pay for preventive medicine, and levels of satisfaction with life. Diabetic nephropathy was also negatively associated with risk averse in pricing of hypothetical lotteries. Detailed analysis revealed that a lower proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes (22.7% were categorized

Carbon mitigation with biomass: An engineering, economic and policy assessment of opportunities and implications

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, James S., III

2007-12-01

Industrial bio-energy systems provide diverse opportunities for abating anthropogenic greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions and for advancing other important policy objectives. The confluence of potential contributions to important social, economic, and environmental policy objectives with very real challenges to deployment creates rich opportunities for study. In particular, the analyses developed in this thesis aim to increase understanding of how industrial bio-energy may be applied to abate GHG emissions in prospective energy markets, the relative merits of alternate bio-energy systems, the extent to which public support for developing such systems is justified, and the public policy instruments that may be capable of providing such support. This objective is advanced through analysis of specific industrial bio-energy technologies, in the form of bottom-up engineering-economic analyses, to determine their economic performance relative to other mitigation options. These bottom-up analyses are used to inform parameter definitions in two higher-level stochastic models that explicitly account for uncertainty in key model parameters, including capital costs, operating and maintenance costs, and fuel costs. One of these models is used to develop supply curves for electricity generation and carbon mitigation from biomass-coal cofire in the U.S. The other is used to characterize the performance of multiple bio-energy systems in the context of a competitive market for low-carbon energy products. The results indicate that industrial bio-energy systems are capable of making a variety of potentially important contributions under scenarios that value anthropogenic GHG emissions. In the near term, cofire of available biomass in existing coal fired power plants has the potential to provide substantial emissions reductions at reasonable costs. Carbon prices between 30 and 70 per ton carbon could induce reductions in U.S. carbon emissions by 100 to 225 megatons carbon ("Mt

Our Surveys & Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Employment and Payroll Survey of Business Owners Work from Home Our statistics highlight trends in household statistics from multiple surveys. Data Tools & Apps Main American FactFinder Census Business Builder My Classification Codes (i.e., NAICS) Economic Census Economic Indicators Economic Studies Industry Statistics

Assessing the Economics of Dengue: Results from a Systematic Review of the Literature and Expert Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Constenla, Dagna; Garcia, Cristina; Lefcourt, Noah

2015-11-01

The economics of dengue is complex and multifaceted. We performed a systematic review of the literature to provide a critical overview of the issues related to dengue economics research and to form a background with which to address the question of cost. Three literature databases were searched [PubMed, Embase and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS)], covering a period from 1980 to 2013, to identify papers meeting preset inclusion criteria. Studies were reviewed for methodological quality on the basis of a quality checklist developed for this purpose. An expert survey was designed to identify priority areas in dengue economics research and to identify gaps between the methodology and actual practice. Survey responses were combined with the literature review findings to determine stakeholder priorities in dengue economics research. The review identified over 700 papers. Forty-two of these papers met the selection criteria. The studies that were reviewed presented results from 32 dengue-endemic countries, underscoring the importance of dengue as a global public health problem. Cost analyses were the most common, with 21 papers, followed by nine cost-effectiveness analyses and seven cost-of-illness studies, indicating a relatively strong mix of methodologies. Dengue annual overall costs (in 2010 values) ranged from US$13.5 million (in Nicaragua) to $56 million (in Malaysia), showing cost variations across countries. Little consistency exists in the way costs were estimated and dengue interventions evaluated, making generalizations around costs difficult. The current evidence suggests that dengue costs are substantial because of the cost of hospital care and lost earnings. Further research in this area will broaden our understanding of the true economic impact of dengue.

Barriers and Opportunities to Advancing Women in Leadership Roles in Vector Control: Perspectives from a Stakeholder Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayden, Mary H; Barrett, Erika; Bernard, Guyah; Toko, Eunice N; Agawo, Maurice; Okello, Amanda M; Gunn, Jayleen K L; Ernst, Kacey C

2018-05-01

Increasing the active participation of professional women in vector control (VC) activities may help promote greater gender equity in the workplace and reduce the burden of vector-borne diseases. This stakeholder survey examined the current roles and perspective of professionals employed in the VC sector in Kenya, Indonesia, India, and other countries. The largest barriers that women face in pursuing leadership roles in the VC sector include lack of awareness of career opportunities, limitations based on cultural norms, and the belief that VC is men's work. These barriers could be addressed through improving education and recruitment campaigns, as well as supporting higher education and mentoring programs. Females were almost six times more likely to be encouraged to pursue leadership positions in their organization compared with male respondents (odds ratio = 5.9, P > 0.03, 95% confidence interval: 1.19, 29.42). These findings suggest that once women are recruited into the VC workforce, they face minimal discrimination and have increased leadership opportunities.

Opportunities for First Nations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moura, Rodrigo [Anaia Global (Canada)

2011-07-01

The recent development of wind energy project creates opportunities for First Nations. Although they are interested by such projects, First Nations nevertheless have questions such about how they can be a part of the wind industry, what are their rights, what investment would they need to make, and how to judge if they are getting a favourable deal. This presentation aimed at answering those questions an maintained that wind energy would bring social and economic development to First Nations communities as well as diversifying their sources of revenue. Several companies offer their services to First Nations and Anaia Global is a company which helps aboriginal people identify to promote their investment opportunities in renewable energy projects and benefit from the technology transferred to them. This presentation showed that there are significant opportunities for First Nations in the wind energy sector and that Anaia Global is focusing on helping them seize these opportunities.

ICT reuse in socio-economic enterprises

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ongondo, F.O.; Williams, I.D.; Dietrich, J.; Carroll, C.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • We analyse ICT equipment reuse operations of socio-economic enterprises. • Most common ICT products dealt with are computers and related equipment. • In the UK in 2010, ∼143,750 appliances were reused. • Marketing and legislative difficulties are the common hurdles to reuse activities. • Socio-economic enterprises can significantly contribute to resource efficiency. - Abstract: In Europe, socio-economic enterprises such as charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profit companies are involved in the repair, refurbishment and reuse of various products. This paper characterises and analyses the operations of socio-economic enterprises that are involved in the reuse of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment. Using findings from a survey, the paper specifically analyses the reuse activities of socio-economic enterprises in the UK from which Europe-wide conclusions are drawn. The amount of ICT products handled by the reuse organisations is quantified and potential barriers and opportunities to their operations are analysed. By-products from reuse activities are discussed and recommendations to improve reuse activities are provided. The most common ICT products dealt with by socio-economic enterprises are computers and related equipment. In the UK in 2010, an estimated 143,750 appliances were reused. However, due to limitations in data, it is difficult to compare this number to the amount of new appliances that entered the UK market or the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment generated in the same period. Difficulties in marketing products and numerous legislative requirements are the most common barriers to reuse operations. Despite various constraints, it is clear that organisations involved in reuse of ICT could contribute significantly to resource efficiency and a circular economy. It is suggested that clustering of their operations into “reuse parks” would enhance both their profile and their

ICT reuse in socio-economic enterprises

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ongondo, F.O., E-mail: f.ongondo@soton.ac.uk [Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Lanchester Building, University of Southampton, University Rd., Highfield, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Williams, I.D. [Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Lanchester Building, University of Southampton, University Rd., Highfield, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Dietrich, J. [Technische Universität Berlin, Centre for Scientific Continuing Education and Cooperation, Cooperation and Consulting for Environmental Questions (kubus) FH10-1, Fraunhoferstraße 33-36, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Carroll, C. [Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Lanchester Building, University of Southampton, University Rd., Highfield, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)

2013-12-15

Highlights: • We analyse ICT equipment reuse operations of socio-economic enterprises. • Most common ICT products dealt with are computers and related equipment. • In the UK in 2010, ∼143,750 appliances were reused. • Marketing and legislative difficulties are the common hurdles to reuse activities. • Socio-economic enterprises can significantly contribute to resource efficiency. - Abstract: In Europe, socio-economic enterprises such as charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profit companies are involved in the repair, refurbishment and reuse of various products. This paper characterises and analyses the operations of socio-economic enterprises that are involved in the reuse of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment. Using findings from a survey, the paper specifically analyses the reuse activities of socio-economic enterprises in the UK from which Europe-wide conclusions are drawn. The amount of ICT products handled by the reuse organisations is quantified and potential barriers and opportunities to their operations are analysed. By-products from reuse activities are discussed and recommendations to improve reuse activities are provided. The most common ICT products dealt with by socio-economic enterprises are computers and related equipment. In the UK in 2010, an estimated 143,750 appliances were reused. However, due to limitations in data, it is difficult to compare this number to the amount of new appliances that entered the UK market or the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment generated in the same period. Difficulties in marketing products and numerous legislative requirements are the most common barriers to reuse operations. Despite various constraints, it is clear that organisations involved in reuse of ICT could contribute significantly to resource efficiency and a circular economy. It is suggested that clustering of their operations into “reuse parks” would enhance both their profile and their

Surveying wearable human assistive technology for life and safety critical applications: standards, challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, Muhammad Mahtab; Ben Hamida, Elyes

2014-05-23

In this survey a new application paradigm life and safety for critical operations and missions using wearable Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) technology is introduced. This paradigm has a vast scope of applications, including disaster management, worker safety in harsh environments such as roadside and building workers, mobile health monitoring, ambient assisted living and many more. It is often the case that during the critical operations and the target conditions, the existing infrastructure is either absent, damaged or overcrowded. In this context, it is envisioned that WBANs will enable the quick deployment of ad-hoc/on-the-fly communication networks to help save many lives and ensuring people's safety. However, to understand the applications more deeply and their specific characteristics and requirements, this survey presents a comprehensive study on the applications scenarios, their context and specific requirements. It explores details of the key enabling standards, existing state-of-the-art research studies, and projects to understand their limitations before realizing aforementioned applications. Application-specific challenges and issues are discussed comprehensively from various perspectives and future research and development directions are highlighted as an inspiration for new innovative solutions. To conclude, this survey opens up a good opportunity for companies and research centers to investigate old but still new problems, in the realm of wearable technologies, which are increasingly evolving and getting more and more attention recently.

ICT reuse in socio-economic enterprises.

Science.gov (United States)

Ongondo, F O; Williams, I D; Dietrich, J; Carroll, C

2013-12-01

In Europe, socio-economic enterprises such as charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profit companies are involved in the repair, refurbishment and reuse of various products. This paper characterises and analyses the operations of socio-economic enterprises that are involved in the reuse of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment. Using findings from a survey, the paper specifically analyses the reuse activities of socio-economic enterprises in the U.K. from which Europe-wide conclusions are drawn. The amount of ICT products handled by the reuse organisations is quantified and potential barriers and opportunities to their operations are analysed. By-products from reuse activities are discussed and recommendations to improve reuse activities are provided. The most common ICT products dealt with by socio-economic enterprises are computers and related equipment. In the U.K. in 2010, an estimated 143,750 appliances were reused. However, due to limitations in data, it is difficult to compare this number to the amount of new appliances that entered the U.K. market or the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment generated in the same period. Difficulties in marketing products and numerous legislative requirements are the most common barriers to reuse operations. Despite various constraints, it is clear that organisations involved in reuse of ICT could contribute significantly to resource efficiency and a circular economy. It is suggested that clustering of their operations into "reuse parks" would enhance both their profile and their products. Reuse parks would also improve consumer confidence in and subsequently sales of the products. Further, it is advocated that industrial networking opportunities for the exchange of by-products resulting from the organisations' activities should be investigated. The findings make two significant contributions to the current literature. One, they provide a detailed insight into the reuse operations

Equality of Opportunity for Well-Being

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahler, Daniel Gerszon; Ramos, Xavier

2017-01-01

A growing literature has tried to measure the extent to which individuals have equal opportunities to acquire income. At the same time, policy makers have doubled down on efforts to go beyond income when measuring well- being. We attempt to bridge these two areas by measuring the extent to which...... individuals have equal opportunities to achieve a high level of well-being. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel to measure well-being in four different ways including incomes. This makes it possible to determine if the way well-being is measured matters for identifying who the opportunity......-deprived are and for tracking inequality of opportunity over time. We find that, regardless of how well-being is measured, the same people are opportunity-deprived and equality of opportunity has improved over the past 20 years. This suggests that going beyond income has little relevance if the objective is to provide equal...

Can Early Childhood Interventions Decrease Inequality of Economic Opportunity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine Magnuson

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This paper considers whether expanding access to center-based early childhood education (ECE will reduce economic inequality later in life. A strong evidence base indicates that ECE is effective at improving young children's academic skills and human capital development. We review evidence that children from low-income families have lower rates of preschool enrollment than their more affluent peers. Our analysis indicates that increasing enrollments for preschoolers in the year before school entry is likely to be a worthy investment that will yield economic payoffs in the form of increased adult earnings. The benefits of even a moderately effective ECE program are likely to be sufficient to offset the costs of program expansion, and increased enrollment among low-income children may reduce later economic inequality.

Leadership training for radiologists: a survey of opportunities and participants in MBA and MPH programs by medical students, residents, and current chairpersons.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Stephen; Daginawala, Naznin

2011-08-01

The aim of this study was to determine opportunities for students and trainees to obtain an MPH or MBA degree during either medical school or radiology residency and to determine the prevalence of such degree possession by chairpersons in radiology. All allopathic medical schools in the United States were surveyed to chart the number of MD/MPH and MD/MBA degree programs available to students. Program directors were contacted to assess the number of MPH or MBA courses of study administratively related to their residencies. Also, an e-mail survey was sent to all members of the Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments inquiring whether each chairperson had earned an additional degree. Currently, 81 allopathic medical schools in the United States offer MD/MPH degrees, and 52 offer MD/MBA degrees. Six residencies provide access to MPH programs, and 3 residencies provide the opportunity to pursue an MBA in conjunction with residency. Of these, only 1 MPH program and no MBA programs had trainees enrolled at present. Twenty-six percent of the chairpersons surveyed possessed advanced degrees other than MDs. There has been rapid growth in the number of MD/MPH and MD/MBA programs available to medical students. However, there is a scarcity of similar programs accessible to trainees during or just after residency training. To assist motivated radiologists interested in leading our profession, opportunities should expand both in formal degree-granting programs and through certificate-sanctioned course series to address relevant issues of leadership and management pertinent to our specialty. Copyright © 2011 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Equal opportunities in the public and private sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca Monica Ardeleanu

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Equal opportunities are a goal to achieve in Romania at the legislative and institutional/ organizational level.In terms of legislation Romania has made progress, but the institutional mechanisms of the government dealing with gender equality issues are not functioning properly, are not generating a concreate impact on the equal opportunities for women and men.For this reason there is no specific and significant political commitmentto these issue of gender equality in Romania. Gender discrimination is addressed both by anti-discrimination and equal opportunities laws.Equality,fairness and non-discrimination in the workplace environment are present as objective requirements of economic, social and ethical behavior that goes beyond the labor market. Theoretically, on the labor market , both public and private sectors do not accept direct or indirect discrimination at the workplace, espeially during the process of recruitment , training , development, promotion, establishment, payment of the salary and benefits. In practice , the legislation regarding the equal opportunities and equal treatment it is not respected by the employers all the time.Promotion of the policies at the national and organizational level, focused on ensuring equal opportunities , will enhance the social cohesion of the population that will generate economic growrh overall.

Recruiting and retaining youth and young adults: challenges and opportunities in survey research for tobacco control.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantrell, Jennifer; Hair, Elizabeth C; Smith, Alexandria; Bennett, Morgane; Rath, Jessica Miller; Thomas, Randall K; Fahimi, Mansour; Dennis, J Michael; Vallone, Donna

2018-03-01

Evaluation studies of population-based tobacco control interventions often rely on large-scale survey data from numerous respondents across many geographic areas to provide evidence of their effectiveness. Significant challenges for survey research have emerged with the evolving communications landscape, particularly for surveying hard-to-reach populations such as youth and young adults. This study combines the comprehensive coverage of an address-based sampling (ABS) frame with the timeliness of online data collection to develop a nationally representative longitudinal cohort of young people aged 15-21. We constructed an ABS frame, partially supplemented with auxiliary data, to recruit this hard-to-reach sample. Branded and tested mail-based recruitment materials were designed to bring respondents online for screening, consent and surveying. Once enrolled, respondents completed online surveys every 6 months via computer, tablet or smartphone. Numerous strategies were utilized to enhance retention and representativeness RESULTS: Results detail sample performance, representativeness and retention rates as well as device utilization trends for survey completion among youth and young adult respondents. Panel development efforts resulted in a large, nationally representative sample with high retention rates. This study is among the first to employ this hybrid ABS-to-online methodology to recruit and retain youth and young adults in a probability-based online cohort panel. The approach is particularly valuable for conducting research among younger populations as it capitalizes on their increasing access to and comfort with digital communication. We discuss challenges and opportunities of panel recruitment and retention methods in an effort to provide valuable information for tobacco control researchers seeking to obtain representative, population-based samples of youth and young adults in the U.S. as well as across the globe. © Article author(s) (or their employer

Petroleum investment opportunities in Manitoba: A geological, engineering and economic perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fox, J.N.; Martinuk, C.D.

1994-01-01

The geology and reservoir characteristics of Manitoba's oil producing horizons are described, and exploration and development prospects are reviewed. Southwestern Manitoba occupies part of the northeastern flank of the Williston Basin. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic rocks form a basinward thickening wedge of sedimentary strata that reach a total thickness of 2,300 m in the southwest corner of the province. To date, oil production in Manitoba is restricted to the sandstones of the Middle Jurassic, the Jurassic Amaranth Formation, the Mississippian Bakken Formation, and the carbonates of the Mississippian Lodgepole and Mission Canyon Formations. The deeper Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian formations offer oil and gas potential but remain largely undrilled. Total recoverable reserves are ca 36 million m 3 and remaining proved reserves are ca 6 million m 3 . Manitoba had a resurgence in petroleum activity in 1993; 102 wells were licensed, compared to an annual average of 61 over the past five years. More Crown land was disposed at the two lease sales in 1993 than had been leased in the previous five years. Low Crown land price is one competitive advantage available to Manitoba oil producers. Other advantages include low drilling and completion costs, low drilling density, a competitive and stable fiscal regime, drilling and exploration incentives, and unrestricted access to markets. Sample economics are included to illustrate the attractiveness of vertical and horizontal drilling opportunities in Manitoba. 8 refs., 6 figs., 7 tabs

Soviet theories of economic demography: a survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, P

1983-06-01

At this time Soviet demographic scientists maintain the position that population problems may in fact exist temporarily under socialism but that the planning principle will allow society to resolve population problems, through the use of the administrative, moral, and economic levers (subsidies, government policies, propaganda, education) emphasized by Urlanis (1974) and others. For planners to deal effectively with population management, the determinants of fertility and labor force participation must be established. The foundations of Soviet theories of human capital and fertility were laid by several writers. For the sake of simplicity, these are referred to as the Urlanis-Strumilin model, named after 2 pioneer researchers in Soviet demography and manpower economics. The formulations are based upon the writings of Strumlin (1964) and Urlanis (1974), supplemented by writings of numerous other Soviet researchers. Although their models avoid neoclassical terms such as marginal utility and income and price elasticities, they clearly employ these concepts. The Urlanis-Strumilin model, reduced to its basic elements, is a direct household utility maximizing model. The husband and wife, the household decision makers, must select optimal levels of child "quantity," child "quality," leisure, their own human capital (further education and training), and other goods. The Soviet theory recognizes that an increase in household income will increase relatively the demands for income elastic goods. The model postulates that the demand for child quality is inversely related to the price of children. The price of children is the opportunity cost of children, the major element of which is the income foregone by the mother in the course of childbearing and childrearing. The child quantity demand schedule has elastic and inelastic portions. The marginal utility of the 1st child is great. The marginal utilities of higher order children decline substantially. Families with at least 1

Supporting natural resource management—The role of economics at the Department of the Interior—A workshop report

Science.gov (United States)

Pindilli, Emily J.; Crowley, Christian S.L.; Cline, Sarah A.; Good, Anthony J.; Shapiro, Carl D.; Simon, Benjamin M.

2018-04-19

The first U.S. Department of the Interior Economics Workshop was held April 5–7, 2017 in Washington, D.C., to identify, highlight, and better understand needs and opportunities for economic analysis to support the Department of the Interior’s mission. The Economics Workshop, jointly convened by the Department of the Interior Office of Policy Analysis and the U.S. Geological Survey Science and Decisions Center, provided an opportunity for Department of the Interior’s economists to share expertise and experiences and to build collaboration and communication channels across the Department of the Interior.Natural and cultural resource managers face complex questions and often have to balance competing stakeholder interests. Per the mission statement, the Department of the Interior “protects and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities.” Economic analysis is relevant to issues integral to nearly all the land and water management decisions made by the Department of the Interior. More than 80 Department of the Interior economists gathered at the Economics Workshop to share their work, discuss common challenges, and identify approaches to advance the use and contribution of economics at the Department of the Interior.

Exposure to rising inequality shapes Americans' opportunity beliefs and policy support.

Science.gov (United States)

McCall, Leslie; Burk, Derek; Laperrière, Marie; Richeson, Jennifer A

2017-09-05

Economic inequality has been on the rise in the United States since the 1980s and by some measures stands at levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Although the strikingly high and rising level of economic inequality in the nation has alarmed scholars, pundits, and elected officials alike, research across the social sciences repeatedly concludes that Americans are largely unconcerned about it. Considerable research has documented, for instance, the important role of psychological processes, such as system justification and American Dream ideology, in engendering Americans' relative insensitivity to economic inequality. The present work offers, and reports experimental tests of, a different perspective-the opportunity model of beliefs about economic inequality. Specifically, two convenience samples (study 1, n = 480; and study 2, n = 1,305) and one representative sample (study 3, n = 1,501) of American adults were exposed to information about rising economic inequality in the United States (or control information) and then asked about their beliefs regarding the roles of structural (e.g., being born wealthy) and individual (e.g., hard work) factors in getting ahead in society (i.e., opportunity beliefs). They then responded to policy questions regarding the roles of business and government actors in reducing economic inequality. Rather than revealing insensitivity to rising inequality, the results suggest that rising economic inequality in contemporary society can spark skepticism about the existence of economic opportunity in society that, in turn, may motivate support for policies designed to redress economic inequality.

Exposure to rising inequality shapes Americans’ opportunity beliefs and policy support

Science.gov (United States)

McCall, Leslie; Burk, Derek; Laperrière, Marie; Richeson, Jennifer A.

2017-01-01

Economic inequality has been on the rise in the United States since the 1980s and by some measures stands at levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Although the strikingly high and rising level of economic inequality in the nation has alarmed scholars, pundits, and elected officials alike, research across the social sciences repeatedly concludes that Americans are largely unconcerned about it. Considerable research has documented, for instance, the important role of psychological processes, such as system justification and American Dream ideology, in engendering Americans’ relative insensitivity to economic inequality. The present work offers, and reports experimental tests of, a different perspective—the opportunity model of beliefs about economic inequality. Specifically, two convenience samples (study 1, n = 480; and study 2, n = 1,305) and one representative sample (study 3, n = 1,501) of American adults were exposed to information about rising economic inequality in the United States (or control information) and then asked about their beliefs regarding the roles of structural (e.g., being born wealthy) and individual (e.g., hard work) factors in getting ahead in society (i.e., opportunity beliefs). They then responded to policy questions regarding the roles of business and government actors in reducing economic inequality. Rather than revealing insensitivity to rising inequality, the results suggest that rising economic inequality in contemporary society can spark skepticism about the existence of economic opportunity in society that, in turn, may motivate support for policies designed to redress economic inequality. PMID:28831007

To Do or Not to Do: Dopamine, Affordability and the Economics of Opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Beeler, Jeff A; Mourra, Devry

2018-01-01

Five years ago, we introduced the thrift hypothesis of dopamine (DA), suggesting that the primary role of DA in adaptive behavior is regulating behavioral energy expenditure to match the prevailing economic conditions of the environment. Here we elaborate that hypothesis with several new ideas. First, we introduce the concept of affordability, suggesting that costs must necessarily be evaluated with respect to the availability of resources to the organism, which computes a value not only for the potential reward opportunity, but also the value of resources expended. Placing both costs and benefits within the context of the larger economy in which the animal is functioning requires consideration of the different timescales against which to compute resource availability, or average reward rate. Appropriate windows of computation for tracking resources requires corresponding neural substrates that operate on these different timescales. In discussing temporal patterns of DA signaling, we focus on a neglected form of DA plasticity and adaptation, changes in the physical substrate of the DA system itself, such as up- and down-regulation of receptors or release probability. We argue that changes in the DA substrate itself fundamentally alter its computational function, which we propose mediates adaptations to longer temporal horizons and economic conditions. In developing our hypothesis, we focus on DA D2 receptors (D2R), arguing that D2R implements a form of "cost control" in response to the environmental economy, serving as the "brain's comptroller". We propose that the balance between the direct and indirect pathway, regulated by relative expression of D1 and D2 DA receptors, implements affordability. Finally, as we review data, we discuss limitations in current approaches that impede fully investigating the proposed hypothesis and highlight alternative, more semi-naturalistic strategies more conducive to neuroeconomic investigations on the role of DA in adaptive

To Do or Not to Do: Dopamine, Affordability and the Economics of Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Beeler, Jeff A.; Mourra, Devry

2018-01-01

Five years ago, we introduced the thrift hypothesis of dopamine (DA), suggesting that the primary role of DA in adaptive behavior is regulating behavioral energy expenditure to match the prevailing economic conditions of the environment. Here we elaborate that hypothesis with several new ideas. First, we introduce the concept of affordability, suggesting that costs must necessarily be evaluated with respect to the availability of resources to the organism, which computes a value not only for the potential reward opportunity, but also the value of resources expended. Placing both costs and benefits within the context of the larger economy in which the animal is functioning requires consideration of the different timescales against which to compute resource availability, or average reward rate. Appropriate windows of computation for tracking resources requires corresponding neural substrates that operate on these different timescales. In discussing temporal patterns of DA signaling, we focus on a neglected form of DA plasticity and adaptation, changes in the physical substrate of the DA system itself, such as up- and down-regulation of receptors or release probability. We argue that changes in the DA substrate itself fundamentally alter its computational function, which we propose mediates adaptations to longer temporal horizons and economic conditions. In developing our hypothesis, we focus on DA D2 receptors (D2R), arguing that D2R implements a form of “cost control” in response to the environmental economy, serving as the “brain’s comptroller”. We propose that the balance between the direct and indirect pathway, regulated by relative expression of D1 and D2 DA receptors, implements affordability. Finally, as we review data, we discuss limitations in current approaches that impede fully investigating the proposed hypothesis and highlight alternative, more semi-naturalistic strategies more conducive to neuroeconomic investigations on the role of DA in

To Do or Not to Do: Dopamine, Affordability and the Economics of Opportunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeff A. Beeler

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Five years ago, we introduced the thrift hypothesis of dopamine (DA, suggesting that the primary role of DA in adaptive behavior is regulating behavioral energy expenditure to match the prevailing economic conditions of the environment. Here we elaborate that hypothesis with several new ideas. First, we introduce the concept of affordability, suggesting that costs must necessarily be evaluated with respect to the availability of resources to the organism, which computes a value not only for the potential reward opportunity, but also the value of resources expended. Placing both costs and benefits within the context of the larger economy in which the animal is functioning requires consideration of the different timescales against which to compute resource availability, or average reward rate. Appropriate windows of computation for tracking resources requires corresponding neural substrates that operate on these different timescales. In discussing temporal patterns of DA signaling, we focus on a neglected form of DA plasticity and adaptation, changes in the physical substrate of the DA system itself, such as up- and down-regulation of receptors or release probability. We argue that changes in the DA substrate itself fundamentally alter its computational function, which we propose mediates adaptations to longer temporal horizons and economic conditions. In developing our hypothesis, we focus on DA D2 receptors (D2R, arguing that D2R implements a form of “cost control” in response to the environmental economy, serving as the “brain’s comptroller”. We propose that the balance between the direct and indirect pathway, regulated by relative expression of D1 and D2 DA receptors, implements affordability. Finally, as we review data, we discuss limitations in current approaches that impede fully investigating the proposed hypothesis and highlight alternative, more semi-naturalistic strategies more conducive to neuroeconomic investigations on the

Economic instruments for obesity prevention: results of a scoping review and modified delphi survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LaFrance Jeffrey

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Comprehensive, multi-level approaches are required to address obesity. One important target for intervention is the economic domain. The purpose of this study was to synthesize existing evidence regarding the impact of economic policies targeting obesity and its causal behaviours (diet, physical activity, and to make specific recommendations for the Canadian context. Methods Arksey and O'Malley's (2005 methodological framework for conducting scoping reviews was adopted for this study and this consisted of two phases: 1 a structured literature search and review, and 2 consultation with experts in the research field through a Delphi survey and an in-person expert panel meeting in April 2010. Results Two key findings from the scoping review included 1 consistent evidence that weight outcomes are responsive to food and beverage prices. The debate on the use of food taxes and subsidies to address obesity should now shift to how best to address practical issues in designing such policies; and 2 very few studies have examined the impact of economic instruments to promote physical activity and clear policy recommendations cannot be made at this time. Delphi survey findings emphasised the relatively modest impact any specific economic instrument would have on obesity independently. Based on empirical evidence and expert opinion, three recommendations were supported. First, to create and implement an effective health filter to review new and current agricultural polices to reduce the possibility that such policies have a deleterious impact on population rates of obesity. Second, to implement a caloric sweetened beverage tax. Third, to examine how to implement fruit and vegetable subsidies targeted at children and low income households. Conclusions In terms of economic interventions, shifting from empirical evidence to policy recommendation remains challenging. Overall, the evidence is not sufficiently strong to provide clear policy

Summaries of important areas for mineral investment and production opportunities of nonfuel minerals in Afghanistan

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Stephen G.; King, Trude V.V.; Mack, Thomas J.; Chornack, Michael P.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) entered into an agreement with the Afghanistan Geological Survey to study and assess the fuel and nonfuel mineral resources of Afghanistan from October 2009 to September 2011 so that these resources could be economically extracted to expand the economy of Afghanistan. This report summarizes the results of joint studies on 24 important areas of interest (AOIs) of nonfuel mineral resources that were identified for mineral investment and production opportunities in Afghanistan. This report is supported by digital data and archival and non-USGS reports on each AOI, and these data are available from the Afghanistan Geological Survey Data Center in Kabul (http://mom.gov.af/en/ and http://www.bgs.ac.uk/afghanminerals/) and for viewing and download on the USGS public Web site and in a separate viewer at http://mapdss2.er.usgs.gov/.

Economic and social sustainability performance of jatropha projects: results from field surveys in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Romijn, H.A.; Heijnen, S.; Rom Colthoff, J.; Jong, de B.; Eijck, van J.A.J.

2014-01-01

This paper presents results from comprehensive field surveys of jatropha projects in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali in 2012. The article singles out the salient economic and social impact results and derives lessons. The results clearly demonstrate the weak business case for jatropha biofuel

Economic and Social Sustainability Performance of Jatropha Projects: Results from Field Surveys in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Romijn, Henny; Heijnen, Sanne; Rom Colthoff, Jouke; de Jong, Boris; van Eijck, Janske

2014-01-01

This paper presents results from comprehensive field surveys of jatropha projects in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali in 2012. The article singles out the salient economic and social impact results and derives lessons. The results clearly demonstrate the weak business case for jatropha biofuel

Estimating the opportunity costs of bed-days.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandmann, Frank G; Robotham, Julie V; Deeny, Sarah R; Edmunds, W John; Jit, Mark

2018-03-01

Opportunity costs of bed-days are fundamental to understanding the value of healthcare systems. They greatly influence burden of disease estimations and economic evaluations involving stays in healthcare facilities. However, different estimation techniques employ assumptions that differ crucially in whether to consider the value of the second-best alternative use forgone, of any available alternative use, or the value of the actually chosen alternative. Informed by economic theory, this paper provides a taxonomic framework of methodologies for estimating the opportunity costs of resources. This taxonomy is then applied to bed-days by classifying existing approaches accordingly. We highlight differences in valuation between approaches and the perspective adopted, and we use our framework to appraise the assumptions and biases underlying the standard approaches that have been widely adopted mostly unquestioned in the past, such as the conventional use of reference costs and administrative accounting data. Drawing on these findings, we present a novel approach for estimating the opportunity costs of bed-days in terms of health forgone for the second-best patient, but expressed monetarily. This alternative approach effectively re-connects to the concept of choice and explicitly considers net benefits. It is broadly applicable across settings and for other resources besides bed-days. © 2017 The Authors Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

From diversity to conviviality: intra-EU mobility and international migration to Denmark in times of economic recession

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duru, Deniz Neriman; Trenz, Hans-Jörg

2017-01-01

This article explores differences among EU and non-EU migrants in accommodating to the Danish flexicurity labour and welfare regime during times of economic crisis. We build our findings on a quantitative survey followed by semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with EU and non-EU migra......This article explores differences among EU and non-EU migrants in accommodating to the Danish flexicurity labour and welfare regime during times of economic crisis. We build our findings on a quantitative survey followed by semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with EU and non...... to conviviality that is initiated by this group remains however incomplete in light of the unequal opportunities and the differentiated scheme of rights that apply to EU and non-EU immigrants. Danish flexicurity has thus not had the desired inclusive effects but discriminates in terms of facilitating easy access...

A Review of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's International Education Surveys: Governance, Human Capital Discourses, and Policy Debates

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Clara; Volante, Louis

2016-01-01

Given the influential role that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) plays in educational governance, we believe it is timely to provide an in-depth review of its education surveys and their associated human capital discourses. By reviewing and summarizing the OECD's suite of education surveys, this paper identifies the…

The socio-economic base line survey; first chapter of the handbook under preparation: "Managing farmers: a handbook for working with farmers in irrigation and drainage projects"

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schrevel, A.

2002-01-01

The text The socio-economic base line survey is the first chapter of a book under preparation meant to instruct senior staff of irrigation and drainage projects on techniques to work with farmers. It informs the reader of best practices to set up and execute a socio-economic baseline survey. The

Urbanization, economic development and health: evidence from China's labor-force dynamic survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hongsheng; Liu, Ye; Li, Zhigang; Xue, Desheng

2017-11-29

The frequent outbreak of environmental threats in China has resulted in increased criticism regarding the health effects of China's urbanization. Urbanization is a double-edged sword with regard to health in China. Although great efforts have been made to investigate the mechanisms through which urbanization influences health, the effect of both economic development and urbanization on health in China is still unclear, and how urbanization-health (or development-health) relationships vary among different income groups remain poorly understood. To bridge these gaps, the present study investigates the impact of both urbanization and economic development on individuals' self-rated health and its underlying mechanisms in China. We use data from the national scale of the 2014 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to analyze the impact of China's urbanization and economic development on health. A total of 14,791 individuals were sampled from 401 neighborhoods within 124 prefecture-level cities. Multilevel ordered logistic models were applied. Model results showed an inverted U-shaped relationship between individuals' self-rated health and urbanization rates (with a turning point of urbanization rate at 42.0%) and a positive linear relationship between their self-rated health and economic development. Model results also suggested that the urbanization-health relationship was inverted U-shaped for high- and middle-income people (with a turning point of urbanization rate at 0.0% and 49.2%, respectively), and the development-health relationship was inverted U-shaped for high- and low-income people (with turning points of GDP per capita at 93,462 yuan and 71,333 yuan, respectively) and linear for middle-income people. The impact of urbanization and economic development on health in China is complicated. Careful assessments are needed to understand the health impact of China's rapid urbanization. Social and environmental problems arising from rapid urbanization and economic growth

Economic, Social and Public Policy Opportunities enabled by Automation

OpenAIRE

Miailhe, Nicolas

2018-01-01

The rise of artificial intelligence & robotics is expected to create a wealth of opportunities to sustain growth and development over the next decades. It could trigger a wave of productivity gains and fuel revolutions in healthcare, transportation, education, security, justice, agriculture, retail, commerce, finance, insurance, banking and more.

Exploration economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mcgill, R.E.

1992-01-01

This paper deals with determining the economic viability of the play or prospect. At the outset, one point is important. Preexploration economists are important because they enable geologists to see if their assumptions will prove profitable. Their assumptions must consider the full range of possible outcomes, even if only some portion of that range may contain prospects or plays that are estimated to be profitable. Play economics are preferable to prospect economics because, being the sum of several prospects, they give a broader view of the investment opportunity. Finally, remember that play and prospect economics are always slightly optimistic. They seldom include all of the exploration and overhead changes that must ultimately be borne by the successful prospects

“The Effects of Limited Resources and Opportunities on Women’s Careers in Physics: Results from the Global Survey of Physicists

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

The results of the Global Survey of Physicists draw attention to the need to focus on factors other than representation when discussing the situation of women in physics. Previous studies of women in physics have mostly focused on the lack of women in the field. This study goes beyond the obvious shortage of women and shows that there are much deeper issues. For the first time, a multinational study was conducted with 15000 respondents from 130 countries, showing that problems for women in physics transcend national borders. Across all countries, women have fewer resources and opportunities and are more affected by cultural expectations concerning child care. We show that limited resources and opportunities hurt career progress, and because women have fewer opportunities and resources, their careers progress more slowly. We also show the disproportionate effects of children on women physicists' careers. Cultural expectations about home and family are difficult to change. However, for women to have successful ...

The economic benefits of reducing physical inactivity: an Australian example.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadilhac, Dominique A; Cumming, Toby B; Sheppard, Lauren; Pearce, Dora C; Carter, Rob; Magnus, Anne

2011-09-24

Physical inactivity has major impacts on health and productivity. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity in the 2008 Australian adult population. The economic benefits were estimated as 'opportunity cost savings', which represent resources utilized in the treatment of preventable disease that are potentially available for re-direction to another purpose from fewer incident cases of disease occurring in communities. Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 10% feasible, reduction target for physical inactivity from current Australian levels (70%). Lifetime cohort health benefits were estimated as fewer incident cases of inactivity-related diseases; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) by age and sex. Opportunity costs were estimated as health sector cost impacts, as well as paid and unpaid production gains and leisure impacts from fewer disease events associated with reduced physical inactivity. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of physically active and inactive adults, and valued using the friction cost approach. The impact of an improvement in health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modeled from time use survey data, as applied to the exposed and non-exposed population subgroups and valued by suitable proxy. Potential costs associated with interventions to increase physical activity were not included. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariate sensitivity analyses were undertaken to provide information on the strength of the conclusions. A 10% reduction in physical inactivity would result in 6,000 fewer incident cases of disease, 2,000 fewer deaths, 25,000 fewer DALYs and provide gains in working days (114,000), days of home-based production (180,000) while conferring a AUD96 million reduction in health sector costs. Lifetime potential opportunity cost savings in

Implementing economic evaluation in simulation-based medical education: challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yiqun; Cheng, Adam; Hecker, Kent; Grant, Vincent; Currie, Gillian R

2018-02-01

Simulation-based medical education (SBME) is now ubiquitous at all levels of medical training. Given the substantial resources needed for SBME, economic evaluation of simulation-based programmes or curricula is required to demonstrate whether improvement in trainee performance (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and health outcomes justifies the cost of investment. Current literature evaluating SBME fails to provide consistent and interpretable information on the relative costs and benefits of alternatives. Economic evaluation is widely applied in health care, but is relatively scarce in medical education. Therefore, in this paper, using a focus on SBME, we define economic evaluation, describe the key components, and discuss the challenges associated with conducting an economic evaluation of medical education interventions. As a way forward to the rigorous and state of the art application of economic evaluation in medical education, we outline the steps to gather the necessary information to conduct an economic evaluation of simulation-based education programmes and curricula, and describe the main approaches to conducting an economic evaluation. A properly conducted economic evaluation can help stakeholders (i.e., programme directors, policy makers and curriculum designers) to determine the optimal use of resources in selecting the modality or method of assessment in simulation. It also helps inform broader decision making about allocation of scarce resources within an educational programme, as well as between education and clinical care. Economic evaluation in medical education research is still in its infancy, and there is significant potential for state-of-the-art application of these methods in this area. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Women at Work: The Myth of Equal Opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Piercy, Day; Krieter, Nancy

The advances women have made in the past decade have created the myth that women have achieved equal opportunity in the job market. In reality, the opposite is true. The current economic status of women demonstrates the need for strict enforcement of equal opportunity laws. Department of Labor data indicate that the wage gap between men and women…

Opportunity Cost and the Intelligence of Economists: A Comment

Science.gov (United States)

Arce, Daniel G.

2016-01-01

In "Opportunity Cost: A Reexamination," Professor Parkin contrasts forgone physical quantities with forgone values as measures of the opportunity cost of basic economic decisions. The impetus for his study stems from an experiment conducted by Ferraro and Taylor (2005), in which professional economists could not reach a consensus over…

American Housing Survey (AHS)

Science.gov (United States)

Employment and Payroll Survey of Business Owners Work from Home Our statistics highlight trends in household statistics from multiple surveys. Data Tools & Apps Main American FactFinder Census Business Builder My Classification Codes (i.e., NAICS) Economic Census Economic Indicators Economic Studies Industry Statistics

River recreation experience opportunities in two recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) classes

Science.gov (United States)

Duane C. Wollmuth; John H. Schomaker; Lawrence C. Merriam

1985-01-01

The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) system is used by the USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management for inventorying, classifying, and managing wildlands for recreation. Different ROS classes from the Colorado and Arkansas Rivers in Colorado were compared, using visitor survey data collected in 1979 and 1981, to see if the different classes offered...

Migrant entrepreneurship and new urban economic opportunities

OpenAIRE

Nijkamp, P.; Sahin, M.; Baycan, T.

2009-01-01

Nowadays, migrants form a significant share of the urban population, and their business is critical for urban economic growth. This paper addresses the key factors determining the position of migrant entrepreneurs in the urban economy in the Netherlands. In order to develop a solid assessment of CSFs for migrant entrepreneurs, and to understand business performance in a competitive urban environment, this study will investigate the entrepreneurial behaviour of migrants in Dutch cities from a ...

Continuing to Confront COPD International Patient Survey: Economic Impact of COPD in 12 Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Foo, Jason; Landis, Sarah H; Maskell, Joe; Oh, Yeon-Mok; van der Molen, Thys; Han, MeiLan K; Mannino, David M; Ichinose, Masakazu; Punekar, Yogesh

2016-01-01

The Continuing to Confront COPD International Patient Survey estimated the prevalence and burden of COPD across 12 countries. Using data from this survey we evaluated the economic impact of COPD. This cross-sectional, population-based survey questioned 4,343 subjects aged 40 years and older, fulfilling a case definition of COPD based on self-reported physician diagnosis or symptomatology. Direct cost measures were based on exacerbations of COPD (treated and those requiring emergency department visits and/or hospitalisation), contacts with healthcare professionals, and COPD medications. Indirect costs were calculated from work loss values using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment scale. Combined direct and indirect costs estimated the total societal costs per patient. The annual direct costs of COPD ranged from $504 (South Korea) to $9,981 (USA), with inpatient hospitalisations (5 countries) and home oxygen therapy (3 countries) being the key drivers of direct costs. The proportion of patients completely prevented from working due to their COPD ranged from 6% (Italy) to 52% (USA and UK) with 8 countries reporting this to be ≥20%. Total societal costs per patient varied widely from $1,721 (Russia) to $30,826 (USA) but a consistent pattern across countries showed greater costs among those with increased burden of COPD (symptoms, health status and more severe disease) and a greater number of comorbidities. The economic burden of COPD is considerable across countries, and requires targeted resources to optimise COPD management encompassing the control of symptoms, prevention of exacerbations and effective treatment of comorbidities. Strategies to allow COPD patients to remain in work are important for addressing the substantial wider societal costs.

Continuing to Confront COPD International Patient Survey: Economic Impact of COPD in 12 Countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason Foo

Full Text Available The Continuing to Confront COPD International Patient Survey estimated the prevalence and burden of COPD across 12 countries. Using data from this survey we evaluated the economic impact of COPD.This cross-sectional, population-based survey questioned 4,343 subjects aged 40 years and older, fulfilling a case definition of COPD based on self-reported physician diagnosis or symptomatology. Direct cost measures were based on exacerbations of COPD (treated and those requiring emergency department visits and/or hospitalisation, contacts with healthcare professionals, and COPD medications. Indirect costs were calculated from work loss values using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment scale. Combined direct and indirect costs estimated the total societal costs per patient.The annual direct costs of COPD ranged from $504 (South Korea to $9,981 (USA, with inpatient hospitalisations (5 countries and home oxygen therapy (3 countries being the key drivers of direct costs. The proportion of patients completely prevented from working due to their COPD ranged from 6% (Italy to 52% (USA and UK with 8 countries reporting this to be ≥20%. Total societal costs per patient varied widely from $1,721 (Russia to $30,826 (USA but a consistent pattern across countries showed greater costs among those with increased burden of COPD (symptoms, health status and more severe disease and a greater number of comorbidities.The economic burden of COPD is considerable across countries, and requires targeted resources to optimise COPD management encompassing the control of symptoms, prevention of exacerbations and effective treatment of comorbidities. Strategies to allow COPD patients to remain in work are important for addressing the substantial wider societal costs.

Editorial: Global Opportunities and Local Businesses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Wach

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The theme of the first issue is very multi‐disciplinary. It links economics with management by exploring global opportunities through particular local businesses. The European Union, as all of Europe, is now facing grand global challenges that primarily relate to economic issues. As stipulated by H. Sirkin, J. Hemerling and A. Bhattacharya in their world‐famous book: Globality: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything, in the resent future the European, American and Japanese firms will compete not only with each, other but increasingly with very competitive Chinese, Indian, South American, and even African firms, which currently may seem farfetched (Kotler & Caslione, 2009, p. 29. We believe it is extremely important to recognise global opportunities, which have resulted from globalisation, internationalisation and Europeanisation processes (Wach, 2012, pp. 137‐150 and 298‐299.

Opportunities for Biorenewables in Oil Refineries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marker, T.L.

2005-12-19

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential for using biorenewable feedstocks in oil refineries. Economic analyses were conducted, with support from process modeling and proof of principle experiments, to assess a variety of potential processes and configurations. The study considered two primary alternatives: the production of biodiesel and green diesel from vegetable oils and greases and opportunities for utilization of pyrolysis oil. The study identified a number of promising opportunities for biorenewables in existing or new refining operations.

The Opportunity Gap in Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Wolter, Deborah

2016-01-01

"It's not the circumstances students bring to school that limit students' growth but their lack of opportunity at school," writes teacher consultant Deborah Wolter. In this article, she argues that a deficit mindset in education--particularly about students who are seen as struggling for linguistic, economic, physical, or academic…

Treating Globalization in History Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Stearns, Peter N.

2003-01-01

Globalization provides history teachers with an opportunity to link past to present in new ways and to test historical thinking. This is particularly true in world history surveys, but has relevance to Western civilization or United States history surveys as well. For globalization in turn, the historical perspective offers opportunities for more…

Reshoring: implementation issues and research opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ocicka Barbara

2016-12-01

Full Text Available At the beginning of the 21st century, we continuously observe shifts in supply chains configurations caused by differentiate trends in turbulent environment. The remarkable number of companies restructure supply chains in search for competitiveness and innovation on global market. On the one hand, some labour-intensive industries are moving out of China to the next low-cost countries, on the other hand, some high-tech and innovative manufacturing companies are returning to the developed countries. The scientific purpose of the article is to set out the potential impact of reshoring on value creation in supply chains and to outline research opportunities in this field. Literature review and results of the questionnaire-survey on the Total Cost of Acquisition analysis are guidelines for considerations. Based on the analysis of reshoring drivers and benefits, it is clear that this strategy might have positive influence on the value creation in international and global supply chains management considering three dimensions of the value: economic, social and environmental from perspective of different stakeholders.

Economic Developments on Perceived Safety, Violence, and Economic Benefits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Fabio

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Emerging research highlights the promise of community- and policy-level strategies in preventing youth violence. Large-scale economic developments, such as sports and entertainment arenas and casinos, may improve the living conditions, economics, public health, and overall wellbeing of area residents and may influence rates of violence within communities. Objective. To assess the effect of community economic development efforts on neighborhood residents’ perceptions on violence, safety, and economic benefits. Methods. Telephone survey in 2011 using a listed sample of randomly selected numbers in six Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Descriptive analyses examined measures of perceived violence and safety and economic benefit. Responses were compared across neighborhoods using chi-square tests for multiple comparisons. Survey results were compared to census and police data. Results. Residents in neighborhoods with the large-scale economic developments reported more casino-specific and arena-specific economic benefits. However, 42% of participants in the neighborhood with the entertainment arena felt there was an increase in crime, and 29% of respondents from the neighborhood with the casino felt there was an increase. In contrast, crime decreased in both neighborhoods. Conclusions. Large-scale economic developments have a direct influence on the perception of violence, despite actual violence rates.

A survey of energy policy priorities in the United States: Energy supply security, economics, and the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manley, Dawn K.; Hines, Valerie A.; Jordan, Matthew W.; Stoltz, Ronald E.

2013-01-01

Security, environment, and economic concerns are commonly identified as three major objectives of energy policy. State and federal governments have set aggressive targets for carbon emissions reductions and for alternative fuel use and increased vehicle efficiency to reduce petroleum consumption. Moreover, jobs creation and GDP growth are often cited as key drivers for energy policies. Previous studies on energy policy decision-making have examined the process for developing and evaluating options using multi-criteria decision analysis tools. In addition, energy opinion polls have either elicited preferences between two goals or whether the public supports a specific policy action. In this article, we report results from a survey of 884 members of professional membership organizations on how the U.S. should prioritize energy policy across the goals of energy supply security, environment and climate, and economics and job creation. The majority favor policymaking that is balanced across all three. Security and economic concerns increase with age for male respondents, whereas environment is the highest priority for females regardless of age. Unlike previous surveys that target the general public and focus on a particular objective or technology, these results provide an example of eliciting a portfolio allocation across multiple energy policy goals from targeted constituents. - Highlights: • We surveyed 884 members of professional membership organizations on how the U.S. should prioritize energy policy. • The paper addresses direct elicitation of energy policy goal portfolio allocation for a large set of energy stakeholders. • The majority of respondents favor policymaking balanced across multiple goals. • We observed differences in priorities based on age and gender. • Respondents expressed a tension in allocating across goals that are interrelated

Energy market opportunities post-Maui

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, G.

1995-01-01

As supply from the Maui and other existing producing fields decline, petroleum explorers and developers need to address the question who will be the indigenous oil and gas customers post Maui? This paper discusses major macro- and micro-environmental trends which will influence likely market opportunities. Two sub-markets are examined. First, what trends impact on current oil and gas customers. Second, what other new customers might arise. The macro-environment trends cover important economic, political, legislation, socio-economic and technical parameters. The micro-environment trends cover energy market structures and pricing parameters. (Author)

Economic hardships in adulthood and mental health in Sweden. The Swedish National Public Health Survey 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahnquist, Johanna; Wamala, Sarah P

2011-10-11

Possible accumulative effects of a combined economic hardship's measure, including both income and non-income related economic hardships measures, on mental health has not been well investigated. The aim of this paper was to investigate; (i) independent associations between multiple measures of economic hardships and mental health problems, and (ii) associations between a combined economic hardships measure and mental health problems. We analysed data from the 2009 Swedish National Survey of Public Health comprising a randomly selected representative national sample combined with a randomly selected supplementary sample from four county councils and three municipalities consisting of 23,153 men and 28,261 women aged 16-84 years. Mental health problems included; psychological distress (GHQ-12), severe anxiety and use of antidepressant medication. Economic hardship was measured by a combined economic hardships measure including low household income, inability to meet expenses and lacking cash reserves. The results from multivariate adjusted (age, country of birth, educational level, occupational status, employment status, family status and long term illness) logistic regression analysis indicate that self-reported current economic difficulties (inability to pay for ordinary bills and lack of cash reserves), were significantly associated with both women's and men's mental health problems (all indicators), while low income was not. In addition, we found a statistically significant graded association between mental health problems and levels of economic hardships. The findings indicate that indicators of self-reported current economic difficulties seem to be more strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes than the more conventional measure low income. Furthermore, the likelihood of mental health problems differed significantly in a graded fashion in relation to levels of economic hardships.

Economic hardships in adulthood and mental health in Sweden. the Swedish National Public Health Survey 2009

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahnquist Johanna

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Possible accumulative effects of a combined economic hardship's measure, including both income and non-income related economic hardships measures, on mental health has not been well investigated. The aim of this paper was to investigate; (i independent associations between multiple measures of economic hardships and mental health problems, and (ii associations between a combined economic hardships measure and mental health problems. Methods We analysed data from the 2009 Swedish National Survey of Public Health comprising a randomly selected representative national sample combined with a randomly selected supplementary sample from four county councils and three municipalities consisting of 23,153 men and 28,261 women aged 16-84 years. Mental health problems included; psychological distress (GHQ-12, severe anxiety and use of antidepressant medication. Economic hardship was measured by a combined economic hardships measure including low household income, inability to meet expenses and lacking cash reserves. Results The results from multivariate adjusted (age, country of birth, educational level, occupational status, employment status, family status and long term illness logistic regression analysis indicate that self-reported current economic difficulties (inability to pay for ordinary bills and lack of cash reserves, were significantly associated with both women's and men's mental health problems (all indicators, while low income was not. In addition, we found a statistically significant graded association between mental health problems and levels of economic hardships. Conclusions The findings indicate that indicators of self-reported current economic difficulties seem to be more strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes than the more conventional measure low income. Furthermore, the likelihood of mental health problems differed significantly in a graded fashion in relation to levels of economic hardships.

Economic burden of schizophrenia: empirical analyses from a survey in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Phanthunane, Pudtan; Whiteford, Harvey; Vos, Theo; Bertram, Melanie

2012-03-01

Evidence consistently indicates that schizophrenia is a costly disease although it is not a high prevalence disorder. There are a few studies in developing countries but no study in Thailand reporting the cost of schizophrenia from a societal perspective. Health policy makers need to be aware of the cost of health care for people with schizophrenia as well as the economic burden on patients and families. This study aims to provide a detailed breakdown of the costs attributed to schizophrenia including the consumption of public health care resources by people with schizophrenia and the negative consequences on patients and families due to productivity losses. Data from a survey conducted in 2008 among people in treatment for schizophrenia were used to estimate annual medical costs for treatment including outpatient services, hospitalization and patient travel. Indirect costs were estimated for reported productivity losses of patients and families. Uncertainty analysis was performed using Monte Carlo simulation methods. We tested the sensitivity of varying assumptions about market wages to estimate productivity losses. All cost estimates are adjusted to 2008 using the Consumer Price Index and reported in Thai baht (THB). The average annual exchange rate of Thai baths to one US dollar was 33.5 in 2008. The annual overall cost of schizophrenia was estimated to be THB 87 000 (USD 2600) (95% CI: 83 000, 92 000) per person or THB 31 000 million (USD 925 million) (95% CI: 26 000, 37 000) for the entire population with schizophrenia in Thailand. Indirect costs due to high unemployment, absenteeism and presenteeism of patients and families accounted for 61% of the total economic burden of schizophrenia. The largest component of direct medical cost was for hospitalizations (50%), followed by outpatient services and drug costs. Sensitivity analyses suggest that using labor force survey and socioeconomic status survey provided similar results, while lost productivity when the

Effort-Based Career Opportunities and Working Time

OpenAIRE

Bratti, M.; Staffolani, S.

2005-01-01

The authors evaluate the economic effects of the hypothesis of effort-based career opportunities, described as a situation in which a firm creates incentives for employees to work longer hours than bargained (or desired), by making career prospects depend on relative working hours. Firms' personnel management policies may tend to increase working time (or workers' effort) in order to maximize profits. Effort-based career opportunities raise working time, production and output per worker, and ...

Eurasian Economic Union: Opportunities and Barriers to Regional and Global Leadership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

In Andronova

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU is a new integration grouping in the post-Soviet space that is generating heightened interest as a global economy with the potential to become a new regional and global actor. This article analyzes the effectiveness of the Eurasian integration processes and proposes several actions to strengthen economic relations among EEU members through detecting and building common economic interests. Russia accounts for as much as 87% of the EEU’s geo-economic potential, which stresses the country’s role as anintegrative hub. The EEU benefits are thus unevenly distributed among its participants. Moreover, these benefits lack consistency and long-term orientation, which may threaten the EEU’s existence if markets and international economic relations change.This article analyses the interrelation and interdependency of national economies in terms of the mutual trade in goods and services and investment cooperation. It finds that the level of economic integration does not meet the interests of strengthening Eurasian integration. Despite the huge benefits of the Customs Union, trade volumes have not increased and the structure of manufacturing and cooperation ties remain unchanged. This article recommends that developing and implementing a common industrial and agricultural policy would strengthen the EEU, and proposes an approach to estimate the results of such a policy.

Federal outdoor recreation trends: effects on economic opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Eric White; J.M. Bowker; Ashley E. Askew; Linda L. Langner; J. Ross Arnold; Donald B.K. English

2016-01-01

Outdoor recreation is a central way that people interact with the natural environment. Federal land agencies are key providers of settings, facilities, and landscapes for recreation. Outdoor recreation is also an important driver of economic activity in rural communities near recreation destinations and across the United States. Future participation in outdoor...

Forecast of contracting and subcontracting opportunities: Fiscal year 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-01-01

This report describes procurement procedures and opportunities for small businesses with the Department of Energy (DOE). It describes both prime and subcontracting opportunities of $100,000 and above which are being set aside for 8(a) and other small business concerns. The report contains sections on: SIC codes; procurement opportunities with headquarters offices; procurement opportunities with field offices; subcontracting opportunities with major contractors; 8(a) contracts expiring in FY 1998; other opportunities to do business with DOE; management and operating contractors--expiration dates; Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) staff directory; and small business survey. This document will be updated quarterly on the home page.

Market Survey Turkey. Electricity Market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-12-01

The present market survey presents the Turkish power market and derives business opportunities and prospects for Dutch trade and industry. This market survey has been carried out for the following four, from time to time overlapping, sectors that have been identified by EVD as potential opportunities for Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises (SME): renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity generation, electricity distribution

Economic growth and gender equality | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

And conversely, does gender equality impact economic growth? ... change and growth in the economy on women's employment opportunities and the type ... sectors and their overall effect on development outcomes, such as economic growth ...

High economic inequality leads higher-income individuals to be less generous

Science.gov (United States)

Côté, Stéphane; House, Julian; Willer, Robb

2015-01-01

Research on social class and generosity suggests that higher-income individuals are less generous than poorer individuals. We propose that this pattern emerges only under conditions of high economic inequality, contexts that can foster a sense of entitlement among higher-income individuals that, in turn, reduces their generosity. Analyzing results of a unique nationally representative survey that included a real-stakes giving opportunity (n = 1,498), we found that in the most unequal US states, higher-income respondents were less generous than lower-income respondents. In the least unequal states, however, higher-income individuals were more generous. To better establish causality, we next conducted an experiment (n = 704) in which apparent levels of economic inequality in participants’ home states were portrayed as either relatively high or low. Participants were then presented with a giving opportunity. Higher-income participants were less generous than lower-income participants when inequality was portrayed as relatively high, but there was no association between income and generosity when inequality was portrayed as relatively low. This research finds that the tendency for higher-income individuals to be less generous pertains only when inequality is high, challenging the view that higher-income individuals are necessarily more selfish, and suggesting a previously undocumented way in which inequitable resource distributions undermine collective welfare. PMID:26598668

High economic inequality leads higher-income individuals to be less generous.

Science.gov (United States)

Côté, Stéphane; House, Julian; Willer, Robb

2015-12-29

Research on social class and generosity suggests that higher-income individuals are less generous than poorer individuals. We propose that this pattern emerges only under conditions of high economic inequality, contexts that can foster a sense of entitlement among higher-income individuals that, in turn, reduces their generosity. Analyzing results of a unique nationally representative survey that included a real-stakes giving opportunity (n = 1,498), we found that in the most unequal US states, higher-income respondents were less generous than lower-income respondents. In the least unequal states, however, higher-income individuals were more generous. To better establish causality, we next conducted an experiment (n = 704) in which apparent levels of economic inequality in participants' home states were portrayed as either relatively high or low. Participants were then presented with a giving opportunity. Higher-income participants were less generous than lower-income participants when inequality was portrayed as relatively high, but there was no association between income and generosity when inequality was portrayed as relatively low. This research finds that the tendency for higher-income individuals to be less generous pertains only when inequality is high, challenging the view that higher-income individuals are necessarily more selfish, and suggesting a previously undocumented way in which inequitable resource distributions undermine collective welfare.

Are You in a Survey?

Science.gov (United States)

Employment and Payroll Survey of Business Owners Work from Home Our statistics highlight trends in household statistics from multiple surveys. Data Tools & Apps Main American FactFinder Census Business Builder My Classification Codes (i.e., NAICS) Economic Census Economic Indicators Economic Studies Industry Statistics

Finding the economics in economic entomology.

Science.gov (United States)

Onstad, David W; Knolhoff, Lisa M

2009-02-01

To recommend new pest management tactics and strategies to farmers and policy makers, economic entomologists must evaluate the economics of biologically reasonable approaches. We collected data to determine how frequently these economic evaluations occur. We discovered from our survey of entomological journals representing the discipline of economic entomology that papers published since 1972 include economic evaluations of pest management tactics. At least 85% of these analyses were performed by entomologists and not economists. Much of the research on economic evaluations is performed without special funds granted by agencies separate from the authors' institutions. In the United States, USDA competitive grants supported 20% of the economic evaluations published since 2000. However, only approximately 12% of the projects funded since 2000 by three sections of the USDA (Crops at Risk, Risk Avoidance and Mitigation Program, and Pest Management Alternatives Program) resulted in publications concerning economic evaluations. If the purpose of economic entomology is to ultimately determine the value of different kinds of tactics, the discipline may need to take steps to enhance the research that supports these evaluations.

Internships, employment opportunities, and research grants

Science.gov (United States)

,

2015-01-01

As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that threaten us. Opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and faculty to participate in USGS science are available in the selected programs described below. Please note: U.S. citizenship is required for all government positions.This publication has been superseded by USGS General Information Product 165 Grant Opportunities for Academic Research and Training and USGS General Information Product 166 Student and Recent Graduate Employment Opportunities.This publication is proceeded by USGS General Information Product 80 Internships, Employment Opportunities, and Research Grants published in 2008.

Economic analysis of biomass crop production in Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahmani, M.; Hodges, A.W.; Stricker, J.A.; Kiker, C.F. [University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

1997-07-01

Favorable soil and climate conditions for production of biomass crops in Florida, and a market for their use, provide the essentials for developing a biomass energy system in the State. Recent surveys showed that there is low opportunity cost land available and several high yield herbaceous and woody crops have potential as biomass crops. Comparison of biomass crop yields, farmgate costs, and costs of final products in Florida and other states show that Florida can be considered as one of the best areas for development of biomass energy systems in the United States. This paper presents facts and figures on biomass production and conversion in Florida and addresses issues of concern to the economics of biomass energy in the State. (author)

Economic analysis of biomass crop production in Florida

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahmani, M.; Hodges, A.W.; Stricker, J.A.; Kiker, C.F.

1997-01-01

Favorable soil and climate conditions for production of biomass crops in Florida, and a market for their use, provide the essentials for developing a biomass energy system in the State. Recent surveys showed that there is low opportunity cost land available and several high yield herbaceous and woody crops have potential as biomass crops. Comparison of biomass crop yields, farmgate costs, and costs of final products in Florida and other states show that Florida can be considered as one of the best areas for development of biomass energy systems in the United States. This paper presents facts and figures on biomass production and conversion in Florida and addresses issues of concern to the economics of biomass energy in the State. (author)

Research Opportunities for Fischer-Tropsch Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, Nancy B.

1999-01-01

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was discovered in Germany in the 1920's and has been studied by every generation since that time. As technology and chemistry, in general, improved through the decades, new insights, catalysts, and technologies were added to the Fischer-Tropsch process, improving it and making it more economical with each advancement. Opportunities for improving the Fischer-Tropsch process and making it more economical still exist. This paper gives an overview of the present Fischer-Tropsch processes and offers suggestions for areas where a research investment could improve those processes. Gas-to-liquid technology, which utilizes the Fischer Tropsch process, consists of three principal steps: Production of synthesis gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) from natural gas, the production of liquid fuels from syngas using a Fischer-Tropsch process, and upgrading of Fischer-Tropsch fuels. Each step will be studied for opportunities for improvement and areas that are not likely to reap significant benefits without significant investment

Analysing impacts of the economic crisis on the pre–start ups process of business students in Germany.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter Ruda

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article is part of the empirical research project “Starting up Businesses and Entrepreneurship by Students” (GESt–study and analyzes potential impacts of the economic crisis on the pre–start–up process of business students surveyed before and during the downturn at four German universities (of applied sciences, what supports the advancement of entrepreneurship education and support within two different macroeconomic contexts. Though in Germany recessions typically animate more persons to self–employment, these business start–ups are mostly based on necessity–driven entrepreneurship. But particularly opportunity entrepreneurship has positive effects on economic growth and employment. Whereas no significant differences can be detected regarding their start–up propensities, the economic crisis indeed has heightened the intended start–up time as well as the necessity–driven start–up motivation of the surveyed business students, but not their start–up motivation from economic self–realization. Therefore, self–employment as vocational alternative has to be highlighted stronger and entrepreneurial basic knowledge has to be taught adequately to the students so that they are able to mature as potential entrepreneurs at their universities – the location where specialized knowledge about their subsequent professionalism is imparted – what facilitates them to generate future innovations accompanied by enduring and high–skilled employment.

The economic value of an improved malaria treatment programme in Zambia: results from a contingent valuation survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rehnberg Clas

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Zambia is facing a double crisis of increasing malaria burden and dwindling capacity to deal with the endemic malaria burden. The pursuit of sustainable but equity mechanisms for financing malaria programmes is a subject of crucial policy discussion. This requires that comprehensive accounting of the economic impact of the various malaria programmes. Information on the economic value of programmes is essential in soliciting appropriate funding allocations for malaria control. Aims and objectives This paper specifically seeks to elicit a measure of the economic benefits of an improved malaria treatment programme in Zambia. The paper also studies the equity implications in malaria treatment given that demand or malaria treatment is determined by household socio-economic status. Methods A contingent valuation survey of about 300 Zambian households was conducted in four districts. Willingness-to-pay (WTP was elicited for an improved treatment programme for malaria in order to generate a measure of the economic benefits of the programme. The payment card method was used in eliciting WTP bids. Findings The study reports that malaria treatment has significant economic benefits to society. The total economic benefits of an improved treatment programme were estimated at an equivalent of US$ 77 million per annum, representing about 1.8% of Zambia's GDP. The study also reports the theoretically anticipated association between WTP and several socio-economic factors. Our income elasticity of demand is positive and similar in magnitude to estimates reported in similar studies. Finally, from an equity standpoint, the constraints imposed by income and socio-economic status are discussed.

The Economic Emergence of China

OpenAIRE

Kui, Ng Beoy

2008-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyze strategic policy implications arising from possible threats and opportunities in the face of the emergence of China as an economic powerhouse. The focus of the paper is not on the regional approach through mainly regional co-operations but more on policy strategies and responses at the national level. Depending on their degree of national economic development, economic structure and comparative advantage, eight strategic positionings have been identifie...

Capital Flight and Economic Performance

OpenAIRE

Beja, Edsel Jr.

2007-01-01

Capital flight aggravates resource constraints and contributes to undermine long-term economic growth. Counterfactual calculations on the Philippines suggest that capital flight contributed to lower the quality of long-term economic growth. Sustained capital flight over three decades means that capital flight had a role for the Philippines to lose the opportunities to achieve economic takeoff. Unless decisive policy actions are taken up to address enduring capital flight and manage the macroe...

Economic evaluation of integrated care: an introduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hindrik Vondeling

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Integrated care has emerged in a variety of forms in industrialised countries during the past decade. It is generally assumed that these new arrangements result in increased effectiveness and quality of care, while being cost-effective or even cost-saving at the same time. However, systematic evaluation, including an evaluation of the relative costs and benefits of these arrangements, has largely been lacking. Objectives: To stimulate fruitful dialogue and debate about the need for economic evaluation in integrated care, and to outline possibilities for undertaking economic appraisal studies in this relatively new field. Theory: Key concepts, including e.g. scarcity and opportunity costs, are introduced, followed by a brief overview of the most common methods used in economic evaluation of health care programmes. Then a number of issues that seem particularly relevant for economic evaluation of integrated care arrangements are addressed in more detail, illustrated with examples from the literature. Conclusion and discussion: There is a need for well-designed economic evaluation studies of integrated care arrangements, in particular in order to support decision making on the long-term financing of these programmes. Although relatively few studies have been done to date, the field is challenging from a methodological point of view, offering analysts a wealth of opportunities. Guidance to realise these opportunities is provided by the general principles for economic evaluation, which can be tailored to the requirements of this particular field.

The economic benefits of reducing physical inactivity: an Australian example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cumming Toby B

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Physical inactivity has major impacts on health and productivity. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity in the 2008 Australian adult population. The economic benefits were estimated as 'opportunity cost savings', which represent resources utilized in the treatment of preventable disease that are potentially available for re-direction to another purpose from fewer incident cases of disease occurring in communities. Methods Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 10% feasible, reduction target for physical inactivity from current Australian levels (70%. Lifetime cohort health benefits were estimated as fewer incident cases of inactivity-related diseases; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs by age and sex. Opportunity costs were estimated as health sector cost impacts, as well as paid and unpaid production gains and leisure impacts from fewer disease events associated with reduced physical inactivity. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of physically active and inactive adults, and valued using the friction cost approach. The impact of an improvement in health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modeled from time use survey data, as applied to the exposed and non-exposed population subgroups and valued by suitable proxy. Potential costs associated with interventions to increase physical activity were not included. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariate sensitivity analyses were undertaken to provide information on the strength of the conclusions. Results A 10% reduction in physical inactivity would result in 6,000 fewer incident cases of disease, 2,000 fewer deaths, 25,000 fewer DALYs and provide gains in working days (114,000, days of home-based production (180,000 while conferring a AUD96 million reduction in health sector costs

Expanding economic opportunities for women and youth in Africa ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The celebration of “rising Africa” — strong economic growth and progress in health ... will be guided by careful consideration of geographic diversity, data availability, ... IWRA/IDRC webinar on climate change and adaptive water management.

Perceptions of Local Communities on the Economic Impacts of Tourism Development in Langkawi, Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Bakri Norjanah

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Langkawi Island is a popular tourist destination in Malaysia, which development started in the 1990s. To date, it is among the ten islands most visited by local and foreign tourists. The development of Langkawi Island has influenced the economic structure of local community, of which, envisaged as a symbol to help the community especially in the changing economic environment due to its ability to generate income, employment and raise living standards. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the local community’s involvement and perceptions on changes in employment pattern and incomes stimulated by the tourism development in Langkawi. This study conducted a self-administered household survey and had successfully retrieved 398 respondents. From the findings, results showed that local community experienced employment opportunities which in return contributed to an increase in household income. It is therefore, notable investment on tourism development should be of interests to the government as this helps in ensuring the local community’s economic benefits.

ICTs and Urban Micro Enterprises : Maximizing Opportunities for ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

ICTs and Urban Micro Enterprises : Maximizing Opportunities for Economic Development ... the use of ICTs in micro enterprises and their role in reducing poverty. ... in its approach to technological connectivity but bottom-up in relation to.

Cloud service performance evaluation: status, challenges, and opportunities – a survey from the system modeling perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiang Duan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available With rapid advancement of Cloud computing and networking technologies, a wide spectrum of Cloud services have been developed by various providers and utilized by numerous organizations as indispensable ingredients of their information systems. Cloud service performance has a significant impact on performance of the future information infrastructure. Thorough evaluation on Cloud service performance is crucial and beneficial to both service providers and consumers; thus forming an active research area. Some key technologies for Cloud computing, such as virtualization and the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA, bring in special challenges to service performance evaluation. A tremendous amount of effort has been put by the research community to address these challenges and exciting progress has been made. Among the work on Cloud performance analysis, evaluation approaches developed with a system modeling perspective play an important role. However, related works have been reported in different sections of the literature; thus lacking a big picture that shows the latest status of this area. The objectives of this article is to present a survey that reflects the state of the art of Cloud service performance evaluation from the system modeling perspective. This articles also examines open issues and challenges to the surveyed evaluation approaches and identifies possible opportunities for future research in this important field.

Colleges Must Face Reality and Recognize Opportunity in the Economic Downturn

Science.gov (United States)

Knecht, Ron

2009-01-01

Because of the worst economic downturn since World War II, many state governments now expect revenues to fall in coming years--resulting in less public spending on higher education. Certain state-revenue reforms could moderate the effects of economic slumps on colleges. In this article, the author examines the growth of public spending on…

A state geological survey commitment to environmental geology - the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wermund, E.G.

1990-01-01

In several Texas environmental laws, the Bureau of Economic Geology is designated as a planning participant and review agency in the process of fulfilling environmental laws. Two examples are legislation on reclamation of surface mines and regulation of processing low level radioactive wastes. Also, the Bureau is the principal geological reviewer of all Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements which the Office of the Governor circulates for state review on all major developmental activities in Texas. The BEG continues its strong interest in environmental geology. In February 1988, it recommitted its Land Resources Laboratory, initiated in 1974, toward fulfilling needs of state, county, and city governments for consultation and research on environmental geologic problems. An editorial from another state geological survey would resemble the about description of texas work in environmental geology. State geological surveys have led federal agencies into many developments of environmental geology, complemented federal efforts in their evolution, and continued a strong commitment to the maintenance of a quality environment through innovative geologic studies

Business Opportunities for Small Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minato, Akio; Nishimura, Satoshi; Brown, Neil W.

2007-01-01

This report assesses the market potential and identifies a number of potential paths for developing the small nuclear reactor business. There are several potential opportunities identified and evaluated. Selecting a specific approach for the business development requires additional information related to a specific market and sources of capital to support the investment. If and how a market for small nuclear plants may develop is difficult to predict because of the complexity of the economic and institutional factors that will influence such development. Key factors are; economics, safety, proliferation resistance and investment risk. The economic and political interest of any of the identified markets is also dependent on successful demonstration of the safety and reliability of small nuclear reactor. Obtaining a US-NRC Standard Design approval would be an important development step toward establishing a market for small reactors. (authors)

Measuring Access to Learning Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawley, Willis D., Ed.; Ready, Timothy, Ed.

This study examined the continued relevance and adequacy of the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Report (E&S Survey) as a tool for enforcing civil rights laws in education, monitoring quality of access to learning opportunities, and research on other current issues of educational policy and practice. The Committee on…

International ROR: risk, opportunity, reward

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krentz, D.; Gair, J.

1996-01-01

Norcen Energy Resources Limited's pursuit of international oil and gas opportunities since the late 1980s were outlined. By 1994 Norcen had exploration and production concessions in 12 countries stretching from Algeria, Russia, Argentina, Indonesia to offshore Australia. The company had seen its share of risks, opportunities and rewards. Since 1994 international efforts of the Company have been focused on lower risk opportunities with exploration upside in defined core areas of South America, particularly in Venezuela, a country with conventional, heavy and ultra-heavy oil resources exceeding that of Saudi Arabia. These, and other similar foreign investments in the formerly closed national oil industries of South America have been greatly facilitated by the political liberalization, economic reforms and stabilization that have taken place there over the past ten years. The story of Norcen's successful bidding on the Oritupano-Leona production block in 1993 and Delta Centro exploration block in 1996 was the subject of this presentation

Challenges and Opportunities in Scaling-Up Nutrition in Healthcare

OpenAIRE

Darnton-Hill, Ian; Samman, Samir

2015-01-01

Healthcare continues to be in a state of flux; conventionally, this provides opportunities and challenges. The opportunities include technological breakthroughs, improved economies and increasing availability of healthcare. On the other hand, economic disparities are increasing and leading to differing accessibility to healthcare, including within affluent countries. Nutrition has received an increase in attention and resources in recent decades, a lot of it stimulated by the rise in obesity,...

The socio-economic patterning of survey participation and non-response error in a multilevel study of food purchasing behaviour: area- and individual-level characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Turrell, Gavin; Patterson, Carla; Oldenburg, Brian; Gould, Trish; Roy, Marie-Andree

2003-04-01

To undertake an assessment of survey participation and non-response error in a population-based study that examined the relationship between socio-economic position and food purchasing behaviour. The study was conducted in Brisbane City (Australia) in 2000. The sample was selected using a stratified two-stage cluster design. Respondents were recruited using a range of strategies that attempted to maximise the involvement of persons from disadvantaged backgrounds: respondents were contacted by personal visit and data were collected using home-based face-to-face interviews; multiple call-backs on different days and at different times were used; and a financial gratuity was provided. Non-institutionalised residents of private dwellings located in 50 small areas that differed in their socio-economic characteristics. Rates of survey participation - measured by non-contacts, exclusions, dropped cases, response rates and completions - were similar across areas, suggesting that residents of socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged areas were equally likely to be recruited. Individual-level analysis, however, showed that respondents and non-respondents differed significantly in their sociodemographic and food purchasing characteristics: non-respondents were older, less educated and exhibited different purchasing behaviours. Misclassification bias probably accounted for the inconsistent pattern of association between the area- and individual-level results. Estimates of bias due to non-response indicated that although respondents and non-respondents were qualitatively different, the magnitude of error associated with this differential was minimal. Socio-economic position measured at the individual level is a strong and consistent predictor of survey non-participation. Future studies that set out to examine the relationship between socio-economic position and diet need to adopt sampling strategies and data collection methods that maximise the likelihood of recruiting

Accounting for Peace and Economic Development in Nigeria, the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Accounting for Peace and Economic Development in Nigeria, the Niger-Delta Case. ... roads, efficient communication systems, portable water, employment opportunities, ... Keywords: Accounting for peace; cost of peace keeping; Economic ...

Economics | Page 4 | IDRC - International Development Research ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Economics. Économie. Colour. #2C81B5. Read more about Improving childcare options to create better economic opportunities for women in Nairobi slums. Language English. Read more about Expanding the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Program to Advanced Scholars. Language English.

Impact of Economic Crisis on Business to the Franchise System in Romania

OpenAIRE

Parpandel Denisa Elena; Gãnescu Cristina; Codreanu Diana Elena

2011-01-01

Given the national context, but also international economic crisis, businesses are seeking the highest returns. Why would a business franchise win a bet? Because franchising is the most dynamic and powerful method practiced for business development and economic opportunity and the franchisee has the opportunity to become its own franchise architect of the scheme and detailed plan of procedures. Franchising remains a good recipe for business and crisis. What have changed because of economic di...

A Survey of Economic Models of Criminal Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

1987-10-01

Economic Research, 1-54. Bentham , Jeremy (1931). Theory of Legislation. New York: Harcourt Brace. Block, Michael K. and J. M. Heineke (1975). A Labor...criminology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Beccaria and Bentham , explicitly applied an economic framework. Becker sees his work as re

Decentralised bioenergy systems: A review of opportunities and threats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mangoyana, Robert B.; Smith, Timothy F.

2011-01-01

Decentralised bioenergy systems are receiving increasing attention due to the potential ability to support local development, create local employment, and contribute to climate change mitigation. These issues, along with other bioenergy sustainability issues, are reviewed through eighteen international case studies with the objective of identifying opportunities and threats to decentralised bioenergy systems. The case studies were selected based on feedstock type, bioenergy type, production capacity, synergistic alliances, ownership structure and physical locations. This variation was used to provide a basis for evaluating opportunities and threats from different contexts. Commercial viability remains the primary concern for the sustainability of decentralised bioenergy systems. There are, however, opportunities for compounding benefits through integrating small scale decentralised bioenergy systems with other production systems. Integrated production, including closed loop models, allow waste materials from one process to be used as inputs in other production processes, and thereby increasing economic, social and environmental outcomes. Synergistic opportunities along the bioenergy production chain, which include feedstock production, bioenergy marketing and distribution could also be exploited by communities and other investors to minimise decentralised production risk. - Research Highlights: → Small scale decentralised bioenergy production is a potentially sustainable energy system. →Economic viability limits small scale decentralised bioenergy production. → Synergistic alliances along the bioenergy production chain could enhance viability.

Identifying Post-War Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

After suffering through the 30-year civil war that ended in 2009, women ... programs available to women - Analyze the post-war development programs in the north ... addressing barriers to women's economic empowerment and gender gaps in ... Call for new OWSD Fellowships for Early Career Women Scientists now open.

The Effects of Discrimination on Job Satisfaction in the Military: Comparing Evidence from the Armed Forces Equal Opportunity Survey and the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Stewart, James

2001-01-01

... related to job security, opportunity to acquire skills, and overall job satisfaction. Conversely, experiencing discrimination attributable to military sources is associated with lower satisfaction levels...

Exploring opportunities to support mental health care using social media: A survey of social media users with mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Naslund, John A; Aschbrenner, Kelly A; McHugo, Gregory J; Unützer, Jürgen; Marsch, Lisa A; Bartels, Stephen J

2017-10-20

Social media holds promise for expanding the reach of mental health services, especially for young people who frequently use these popular platforms. We surveyed social media users who self-identified as having a mental illness to learn about their use of social media for mental health and to identify opportunities to augment existing mental health services. We asked 240 Twitter users who self-identified in their profile as having a mental illness to participate in an online survey. The survey was in English and inquired about participants' mental health condition, use of social media for mental health and interest in accessing mental health programs delivered through social media. Respondents from 10 countries completed 135 surveys. Most respondents were from the United States (54%), Canada (22%) and the United Kingdom (17%) and reported a psychiatric diagnosis of either schizophrenia spectrum disorder (27%), bipolar disorder (25%), major depressive disorder (16%) or depression (20%). Young adults age ≤35 (46%) were more likely to use Instagram (P = .002), Snapchat (P social media (P social media, especially to promote overall health and wellbeing (72%) and for coping with mental health symptoms (90%). This exploratory study demonstrates the feasibility of reaching social media users with mental illness and can inform efforts to leverage social media to make evidence-based mental health services more widely available to those in need. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Analysis of Risks Generated by Suppliers During the Period of Economic Fluctuations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karla Jurásková

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to examine one group of supply chain risks, namely the current risks generated by the suppliers and their relations to the position of companies in the supply chain and the current economic fluctuations, as well as to gain the knowledge on how to mitigate these risks, including the cooperation between the partners. The research was conducted in two stages by means of a questionnaire analysis and follow-up of multiple case studies. The surveys used have registered certain signals showing increasing dependence on the suppliers, deepening imbalances in the supply chains and decreasing opportunities of reducing the presence of risks. The surveys have also detected tendencies leading to structural measures strengthening resilience of the supply chain. The areas for further research of supply chains risks and risks management are formulated based on the acquired findings.

Market realities: new challenges and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The market outlook for the natural gas industry was the focus of discussion at this conference. Presentations included papers on energy and supply forecasting, natural gas supply and demand and market opportunities, growth, economics, and issues in natural gas transportation. Pricing dynamics of these energy resources and the complexities of the energy market were also addressed. tabs., figs

Economics of Privacy: Users'€™ Attitudes and Economic Impact of Information Privacy Protection

OpenAIRE

Frik, Alisa

2017-01-01

This doctoral thesis consists of three essays within the field of economics of information privacy examined through the lens of behavioral and experimental economics. Rapid development and expansion of Internet, mobile and network technologies in the last decades has provided multitudinous opportunities and benefits to both business and society proposing the customized services and personalized offers at a relatively low price and high speed. However, such innovations and progress have al...

Career Issues and Laboratory Climates: Different Challenges and Opportunities for Women Engineers and Scientists (survey of Fiscal Year 1997 Powre Awardees)

Science.gov (United States)

Rosser, Sue V.; Zieseniss, Mireille

A survey of fiscal year 1997 POWRE (Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education) awardees from the National Science Foundation revealed that women engineers and scientists face similar issues, challenges, and opportunities and think that the laboratory climate has similar impacts on their careers. Separating responses of women scientists from those of women engineers revealed that 70% of both groups listed balancing work with family responsibilities as the most difficult issue. Discrepancies in percentages of women, coupled with differences among disciplinary and subdisciplinary cultures within science, engineering, mathematics, and technology fields, complicate work climates and their impact on women's careers. More frequently than women scientists, women engineers listed issues such as (a) low numbers of women leading to isolation, (b) lack of camaraderie and mentoring, (c) gaining credibility/respect from peers and administrators, (d) time management, (e) prioritizing responsibilities due to disproportionate demands, and (f) learning the rules of the game to survive in a male-dominated environment. Women engineers also listed two positive issues more frequently than women scientists: active recruitment/more opportunities for women and impact of successful women in the profession. The small number of women engineers may explain these results and suggests that it may be inappropriate to group them with other women scientists for analysis, programs, and policies.

Invited Reaction: Black and White Women Managers--Access to Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Higginbotham, Elizabeth

2004-01-01

In a survey of Black and White women managers, Linda M. Hite identifies differences in the managers' perceptions of opportunities available to different race and gender groups. Her findings reveal divergent beliefs about the opportunities for people of color; there is more similarity in Black and White women's views when comparing opportunities…

Survey of International Trade/Economics Textbooks.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucier, Richard L.

1992-01-01

Reviews 14 international economics textbooks to help instructors with selection. Includes organization and structure, topics covered, and characteristics of the texts. Suggests considerations such as course length, level of abstraction desired, opinion of numerically based graphical analysis, extensiveness of examples and applications, and whether…

Fostering Women's Economic Empowerment through Special Economic Zones : Comparative Analysis of Eight Countries and Implications for Governments, Zone Authorities and Businesses

OpenAIRE

World Bank; International Finance Corporation

2011-01-01

This global report examines the opportunity for special economic zones to promote women's economic empowerment and boost zone and enterprise competitiveness in developing countries. The research covers Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Jordan, Kenya, and the Philippines. The study focuses on women's economic empowerment in the context of zones at three levels: (i) fair emp...

Generic modelling framework for economic analysis of battery systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Shi; Rasmussen, Claus Nygaard

2011-01-01

opportunities, a generic modelling framework is proposed to handle this task. This framework outlines a set of building blocks which are necessary for carrying out the economic analysis of various BS applications. Further, special focus is given on describing how to use the rainflow cycle counting algorithm...... for battery cycle life estimation, since the cycle life plays a central role in the economic analysis of BS. To illustrate the modelling framework, a case study using a Sodium Sulfur Battery (NAS) system with 5-minute regulating service is performed. The economic performances of two dispatch scenarios, a so......Deregulated electricity markets provide opportunities for Battery Systems (BS) to participate in energy arbitrage and ancillary services (regulation, operating reserves, contingency reserves, voltage regulation, power quality etc.). To evaluate the economic viability of BS with different business...

French PME/PMI’s Market Opportunities in China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴卉

2014-01-01

This article aimed to analyze a practical issue. In considering the current world economic environment and international business development, the focus of the paper has been put on helping French smal and medium sized companies to find their business opportunities in China.

Opportunities and new business models : transaction cost and property rights perspectives on entrepreneurship

OpenAIRE

Stieglitz, Nils; Foss, Nicolai Juul

2009-01-01

Entrepreneurs in a competitive economy face three fundamental problems. They need to search for and discover a business opportunity (Kirzner, 1973), evaluate it (Knight, 1921), and then seize the opportunity to reap entrepreneurial profits (Schumpeter, 1911) (Langlois, 2007). The problem that we address is how the ability to exploit business opportunities is influenced by entrepreneurial search and the economic organization of entrepreneurship (Arrow, 1962; Lippman & Rumelt, 2003;...

Annual Omnibus Survey: A survey of life in Qatar 2014

OpenAIRE

Diop, Abdoulaye; Gengler, Justin John; Khan, Mohammad N.; Traugott, Michael; Elawad, Elmogiera Fadlallh; Al Ansari, Majed; Le, Kien T.; El-Maghraby, Engi; Elkassem, Rima Charbaji; Qutteina, Yara; Al Khulaifi, Buthaina; Nasrallah, Catherine; Al Subaey, Mohammed; Mustafa, Semsia Al-Ali; Alqassass, Haneen

2015-01-01

This Executive Summary presents the highlights of the 2014 Omnibus survey, the fourth in a series of Omnibus surveys since 2010. The surveys were carried out by the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) of Qatar University. Each Omnibus survey interviews a large and representative sample of Qatari citizens, resident expatriates and laborers. In these surveys, we asked a number of questions covering several topics of importance to Qatari society, including their ...

Job Opportunities, Economic Resources, and the Postsecondary Destinations of American Youth

Science.gov (United States)

BOZICK, ROBERT

2009-01-01

Using a nationally representative sample of graduates from the high school class of 2003–2004, I test the warehouse hypothesis, which contends that youth are more likely to leave school and enter the labor force when there are available job opportunities (and vice versa). Using two measures of job opportunities—local unemployment rates and the percentage of local workers employed in jobs that require a bachelor’s degree—I find support for the warehouse hypothesis. In areas where unemployment is low, with ample jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree, youth have higher odds of entering the labor force. In areas where unemployment is high, with few jobs that require only a high school diploma, youth have higher odds of entering college. The effect of unemployment on enrollment is more pronounced for low-income youth than for high-income youth, with both low- and high-income youth turning to four-year schools rather than two-year schools when job opportunities are limited. PMID:19771941

World market survey: Emerging industrial countries provide the sales opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeffs, E.; Greenhalgh, G.

1981-01-01

The prospects for nuclear power around the world are reviewed. The sharp contrast in attitudes between the Western industrialised countries and developing countries is highlighted. In the West, political uncertainty and economic conditions have retarded implementation of nuclear programmes. The underdeveloped countries, with a desperate need to cut oil consumption and stimulate economic and social development, are persuing nuclear power energetically. Nuclear power programmes from selected countries are described to illustrate these themes. (U.K.)

The Effects of Discrimination on Job Satisfaction in the Military: Comparing Evidence from the Armed Forces Equal Opportunity Survey and the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Stewart, James

2001-01-01

...) are analyzed separately. Comparison of the two analyses confirms positive relations among racial/ethnic groups or, more generally, a healthy climate for equal opportunity is associated with higher levels of satisfaction...

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CARINA-ELENA STEGĂROIU

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This premise of this paper is based on the concept of hedonistic culture, which contributes to financial fragility, damages assessment of future capacity (generating investment myopia and short-termism and enhances current opportunism. The paper aims to analyze economic culture as a factor of influence on the global economic crisis, considering the culture of modern capitalism that should be defined as a hedonistic culture, and this culture can contribute to global economic crises. According to the hypothesis of this article, the economic culture and not the individuals underlie economic decisions. Accordingly, the decisions that are taken in the economy, influenced by the dominant culture can have both a positive impact on the economy or a destructive one by generating or maintaining economic crises. The current economic culture authorizes extensive use of loans, including those for consumption, thus generating financial fragility and consequently economic crisis. Hedonistic culture leads operators to focus almost entirely on short-term consequences of his actions to the detriment of long-term outcomes. It is this connection plays an important role in explaining current global crisis resistance. Opportunism emphasized as part of the hedonistic culture also affects the generation and maintenance of the global crisis and unethical behavior by refusing to invest in strategic areas for the economy. This is particularly the widespread use of credit, including the consumer, in preference to short-term investments at the expense of long-term, low appreciation of the future and also a high and growing opportunism. The global crisis is the result of interdependence agents, burdened by debt, especially short-term constantly growing which is a high financial fragility, directed almost exclusively at short-term gains and tend to cheat in their mutual relations.

Technical and economic feasibility study for the creation of a tissue bank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loncomilla Sandoval, Andrea Rosi; Mendez Guerra, Karina Angelica

2006-01-01

The risk of getting contagious illnesses through applying biological tissues has been one of the paramount worries to be solved since infectious illnesses might be provoked by virus, fungi or bacteria coming from donors or whether they have been introduced by means of intermediate stages before the use of these tissues. Therefore it has been concluded that the tissue allograft must be sterilized. The work presented is a Technical and economic Feasibility Study for the creation of a Tissue Bank in Chile, considering the fact of lacking of such institutions in our country and the need to satisfy the population that requires tissues. It is shown the processes involved and the characteristics of a tissue bank, and also a market survey in order to meet the demand, supply, technical requirements, competitors, opportunities and legal aspects of the process. Finally, it was examined the economic feasibility at which defines the investment, financing and business projections to determine the profitability of the project

Survey of industrial radioisotope savings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1965-01-01

Only three decades after the discovery of artificial radioactivity and two after radioisotopes became available in quantity, methods employing these as sources or tracers have found widespread use, not only in scientific research, but also in industrial process and product control. The sums spent by industry on these new techniques amount to millions of dollars a year. Realizing the overall attitude of industry to scientific progress - to accept only methods that pay relatively quickly - one can assume that the economic benefits must be of a still larger order of magnitude. In order to determine the extent to which radioisotopes are in daily use and to evaluate the economic benefits derived from such use, IAEA decided to make an 'International Survey on the Use of Radioisotopes in Industry'. In 1962, the Agency invited a number of its highly industrialized Member States to participate in this Survey. Similar surveys had been performed in various countries in the 1950's. However, the approaches and also the definition of the economic benefits differed greatly from one survey to another. Hence, the Agency's approach was to try to persuade all countries to conduct surveys at the same time, concerning the same categories of industries and using the same terms of costs, savings, etc. In total, 24 Member States of the Agency agreed to participate in the survey and in due course they submitted contributions. The national reports were discussed at a 'Study Group Meeting on Radioisotope Economics', convened in Vienna in March 1964. Based upon these discussions, the national reports have been edited and summarized. A publication showing the administration of the Survey and providing all details is now published by the Agency. From the publication it is evident that in general the return of technical information was quite high, of the order of 90%, but, unfortunately the economic response was much lower. However, most of the reports had some bearing on the economic aspects

Community College Economics Instruction: Results from a National Science Foundation Project

Science.gov (United States)

Maier, Mark; Chi, W. Edward

2016-01-01

The principal investigator of a National Science Foundation project, "Economics at Community Colleges," surveyed community college economics faculty and organized workshops, webinars, and regional meetings to address community college faculty isolation from new ideas in economics and economics instruction. Survey results, combined with…

ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE - THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VIRGIL - ION POPOVICI

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Economic Intelligence (EI may be a solution in knowledge management as involves collecting, evaluating, processing, analysis and dissemination of economic data within organizations. The ultimate goal of economic intelligence (EI is to take advantage of this opportunity to develop and improve methods for identifying relevant information sources, analysis of information collected and manipulation, to give the user all the necessary decisions. Scope of the Economic Intelligence focused on information available outside the organization, covering wide areas from technology to market or legal issues. Economic Intelligence (EI is closely related to other approaches to information management, and knowledge management and business intelligence, excelling in the use of software tools.

ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS VS ECONOMIC(AL ECOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Kharlamova

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Currently world faces the dilemma – ecological economy or economic(al ecology. The researchers produce hundreds of surveys on the topic. However the analyses of recent most cited simulations had shown the diversity of results. Thus, for some states the Kuznets environmental curve has place, for others – no. Same could be said about different years for the same state. It provokes the necessity of drawing new group analyses to reveal the tendencies and relationships between economic and environmental factors. Most flexible and mirror factor of environmental sustainability is the volume of CO2 emissions. The econometric analysis was used for detecting the economic impact on this indicator at the global level and in the spectra of group of states depending on their income. The hypothesis of the existence of environmental Kuznets curve for the analysed data is rejected. Real GDP per capita impact on carbon dioxide emissions is considered only at the global level. The impact of openness of the economy is weak. Rejection happened also to the hypothesis that for the developed countries there is a reverse dependence between the environmental pollution and economic openness. Indicator “energy consumption per capita” impacts on greenhouse gas emissions only in countries with high income. Whereby it should be noted that the more developed a country is, the more elastic is this influence. These results have a potential usage for environmental policy regulation and climate strategy.

The Relationship between Perceived Training Opportunities, Work Motivation and Employee Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Dysvik, Anders; Kuvaas, Bard

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore alternative relationships between training opportunities and employee outcomes. A cross-sectional survey of 343 trainees from a broad range of Norwegian service organizations showed that the relationship between perceived training opportunities, and both task performance and citizenship behaviors were fully…

Opportunities and constraints facing informal street traders ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A small income and the limited ability of the government and the formal business sector to provide sufficient employment opportunities to people in the economically active age categories are two of the main reasons for informal trading in South African cities. As a result, the informal street trading sector plays an important ...

Information exposure, opportunity evaluation and entrepreneurial action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Autio, E.; Dahlander, L.; Frederiksen, Lars

2013-01-01

We study how an individual's exposure to external information regulates the evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurial action. Combining data from interviews, a survey, and a comprehensive web log of an online user community spanning eight years, we find that technical inform...

Rural Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities

OpenAIRE

Imedashvili, Sopiko; Kekua, Ani; Ivchenko, Polina

2013-01-01

According to World Bank Report published in 2012, the rural population in Sweden is 15.3 %. Rural population is calculated as difference between total populations minus urban population. 15.3 % clearly shows how important rural areas are for Sweden’s future development. Entrepreneurship plays the integral role in rural area development. However, earlier research has shown only economic perspective of rural development. On the other hand, the new ways to discover the challenges and opportuniti...

Medical Tourism and Its Implication on Malaysia's Economic Growth

OpenAIRE

Tang, Chor Foon

2015-01-01

Policymakers in the developed and developing countries already heading toward medical tourism to stimulate economic growth. Nonetheless, the actual impact of medical tourism on economic growth remains ambiguous. Although medical tourism may spur economic growth via its impact on foreign currency earnings, investments, tax revenue, and employment opportunities, it may also leave numerous negative externalities that either direct or indirectly harmful the process of economic growth. Undeniably,...

Tabulations of Responses from the 1999 Survey of Spouses of Active Duty Personnel. Volume 2. Programs and Services, Employment, Family, Economic Issues, and Background

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Deak, Mary

2001-01-01

The 1999 Active Duty Surveys (ADS) gather information on current location, spouse's military assignment, military life, programs and services, spouse employment, family information, economic issues, and background...

Energy transition: constraint or opportunity for growth and employment?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vona, Francesco

2017-01-01

This note aims at examining whether environmental policies associated with energy transition are either a brake on, or an opportunity for economic growth. In order to so, the authors compare France's situation with that of its economic partners (Germany, Spain, Italy) in terms of energy price, and of share of employment in polluting industries. They also examine the influence of an increase of energy prices on employment and competitiveness of French manufacturing companies. They finally show that energy transition implies a structural change which may result in an actual creation of green jobs. They finally propose three recommendations regarding economic policy

Early recognition of technological opportunities. Realization and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stegelmann, H.U.; Peters, H.P.; Stein, G.; Muench, E.

1988-03-01

In cooperation with the American consulting company Arthur D. Little, a number of procedures, including evaluation of literature data banks, expert interviews and expert workshops, were tried. A three-step concept was finally developed involving identification of candidate technologies (identification), collection of information on these candidates (exploration), ultimately leading to an assessment of the candidate technologies (evaluation). Such a procedure basically enables long-term observation of the scientific policy decisions. This information may serve to identify the deficits and strength of the German scientific system in comparison to that of other countries. Such a system permits the survey and documentation of scientists' subjective expectations on the trends of technology developments and the associated economic and other social consequences. It became apparent that this concept should not raise expectations too high and that it is not essentially different from the advisory instruments already employed today (advisory councils, expert consultants), but rather that these established procedures are merely systematized and supplemented by further information sources (e.g. data banks). In implementing this study two central sets of problems were identified which must be overcome: The early recognition of opportunities is in the long run based on analysts infiltrating the existing network of specialist scientists and examining the information in circulation there with respect to the aims of early recognition so that access to this network is a decisive requirement for an institutionalization of early recognition; incentive systems must be created motivating scientists to become actively involved in the early recognition of technological opportunities. (orig./HP) [de

Similarities and Differences in Barriers and Opportunities Affecting Climate Change Adaptation Action in Four North American Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Lonsdale, Whitney R.; Kretser, Heidi E.; Chetkiewicz, Cheryl-Lesley B.; Cross, Molly S.

2017-12-01

Climate change presents a complex set of challenges for natural resource managers across North America. Despite recognition that climate change poses serious threats to species, ecosystems, and human communities, implementation of adaptation measures is not yet happening on a broad scale. Among different regions, a range of climate change trajectories, varying political contexts, and diverse social and ecological systems generate a myriad of factors that can affect progress on climate change adaptation implementation. In order to understand the general versus site-specific nature of barriers and opportunities influencing implementation, we surveyed and interviewed practitioners, decision-makers, and scientists involved in natural resource management in four different North American regions, northern Ontario (Canada), the Adirondack State Park (US), Arctic Alaska (US), and the Transboundary Rocky Mountains (US and Canada). Common barriers among regions related to a lack of political support and financial resources, as well as challenges related to translating complex and interacting effects of climate change into management actions. Opportunities shared among regions related to collaboration, funding, and the presence of strong leadership. These commonalities indicate the importance of cross-site learning about ways to leverage opportunities and address adaptation barriers; however, regional variations also suggest that adaptation efforts will need to be tailored to fit specific ecological, political, social and economic contexts. Comparative findings on the similarities and differences in barriers and opportunities, as well as rankings of barriers and opportunities by region, offers important contextual insights into how to further refine efforts to advance adaptation actions in those regions.

How Opportunity Costs Decrease the Probability of War in an Incomplete Information Game

OpenAIRE

Polachek, Solomon; Xiang, Jun

2008-01-01

This paper shows that the opportunity costs resulting from economic interdependence decrease the equilibrium probability of war in an incomplete information game. This result is strongly consistent with existing empirical analyses of the inverse trade-conflict relationship, but is the opposite of the conclusion reached by Gartzke et al. (2001), who reject the opportunity cost argument in a game-theoretic framework. As a result of this paper's findings, one cannot dismiss the opportunity cost ...

To what extent do fiscal regimes equalize opportunities for income acquisition among citizens?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roemer, John E; Aaberge, Rolf; Colombino, Ugo

2003-01-01

This paper employs the theory of equality of opportunity, described in Roemer’s book (Equality of Opportunity, Harvard University Press, 1998), to compute the extent to which tax-and-transfer regimes in 11 countries equalize opportunities among citizens for income acquisition. Roughly speaking......, equality of opportunity for incomes has been achieved in a country when it is the case that the distributions of post-fisc income are the same for different types of citizen, where a citizen’s type is defined by the socio-economic status of his parents. Intuitively, a country will have equalized...

Opportunities for low-cost CO2 storage demonstration projects in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng, Kyle C.; Williams, Robert H.; Celia, Michael A.

2007-01-01

Several CO 2 storage demonstration projects are needed in a variety of geological formations worldwide to prove the viability of CO 2 capture and storage as a major option for climate change mitigation. China has several low-cost CO 2 sources at sites that produce NH 3 from coal via gasification. At these plants, CO 2 generated in excess of the amount needed for other purposes (e.g., urea synthesis) is vented as a relatively pure stream. These CO 2 sources would potentially be economically interesting candidates for storage demonstration projects if there are suitable storage sites nearby. In this study a survey was conducted to estimate CO 2 availability at modern Chinese coal-fed ammonia plants. Results indicate that annual quantities of available, relatively pure CO 2 per site range from 0.6 to 1.1 million tonnes. The CO 2 source assessment was complemented by analysis of possible nearby opportunities for CO 2 storage. CO 2 sources were mapped in relation to China's petroliferous sedimentary basins where prospective CO 2 storage reservoirs possibly exist. Four promising pairs of sources and sinks were identified. Project costs for storage in deep saline aquifers were estimated for each pairing ranging from $15-21/t of CO 2 . Potential enhanced oil recovery and enhanced coal bed methane recovery opportunities near each prospective source were also considered

Applications of Generative Learning for the Survey of International Economics Course

Science.gov (United States)

Sharp, David C.; Knowlton, Dave S.; Weiss, Renee E.

2005-01-01

Generative learning provides students with opportunities to organize course content, integrate new content with students' current knowledge, and elaborate on course content by making connections to real-world events. These opportunities promote less reliance on professors' lectures and simultaneously create more self-reliance among students. The…

An economic and neuroscientific comparison of strategic decision making

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michl, T.; Taing, S.; Day, M.; Stanton, A.; Welpe, I.M.

2010-01-01

Economic decision- making is traditionally based on the assumptions of the predominant existence of Homo economicus (Latin: economic human being). The framework of this theory is known as the Rational Choice Theory (RC Theory). It includes assumptions such as utility maximization, opportunism,

Role of the anesthesiologist in the wider governance of healthcare and health economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Janet; Cheng, Davy

2013-09-01

Healthcare resources will always be limited, and as a result, difficult decisions must be made about how to allocate limited resources across unlimited demands in order to maximize health gains per resource expended. Governments and hospitals now in severe financial deficits recognize that reengagement of physicians is central to their ability to contain the runaway healthcare costs. Health economic analysis provides tools and techniques to assess which investments in healthcare provide good value for money vs which options should be forgone. Robust decision-making in healthcare requires objective consideration of evidence in order to balance clinical and economic benefits vs risks. Surveys of the literature reveal very few economic analyses related to anesthesia and perioperative medicine despite increasing recognition of the need. Now is an opportune time for anesthesiologists to become familiar with the tools and methodologies of health economics in order to facilitate and lead robust decision-making in quality-based procedures. For most technologies used in anesthesia and perioperative medicine, the responsibility to determine cost-effectiveness falls to those tasked with the governance and stewardship of limited resources for unlimited demands using best evidence plus economics at the local, regional, and national levels. Applicable cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, and cost-benefits in health economics are reviewed in this article with clinical examples in anesthesia. Anesthesiologists can make a difference in the wider governance of healthcare and health economics if we advance our knowledge and skills beyond the technical to address the "other" dimensions of decision-making--most notably, the economic aspects in a value-based healthcare system.

The influence of social capital and socio-economic conditions on self-rated health among residents of an economically and health-deprived South African township

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cramm Jane M

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Surprisingly few studies have investigated the interplay of multiple factors affecting self-rated health outcomes and the role of social capital on health in developing countries, a prerequisite to strengthening our understanding of the influence of social and economic conditions on health and the most effective aid. Our study aimed to identify social and economic conditions for health among residents of an economically and health-deprived community. Methods Data were gathered through a survey administered to respondents from 1,020 households in Grahamstown a suburb in the Eastern Cape, South Africa (response rate 97.9%. We investigated the influence of social and economic conditions (education, employment, income, social capital, housing quality and neighborhood quality on self-rated health. We used ordinal logistic regression analyses to identify the relationship of these conditions and self-rated health. Results Our study found that education and social capital positively correlated with health; unemployment, poor educational level and advanced age negatively correlated. We found no significant correlations between self-rated health and housing quality, neighbourhood quality, income, gender, or marital status. Conclusion We highlight the possible impacts of social capital, employment, and education on health, and suggest that health outcomes may be improved through interventions beyond the health system: creating job opportunities, strengthening social capital, bettering educational systems, and promoting educational access. Policymakers should consider the benefits of such programmes when addressing health outcomes in financially distressed districts.

Bringing the patient back in: behavioral decision-making and choice in medical economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Roger Lee

2018-04-01

We explore the behavioral methodology and "revolution" in economics through the lens of medical economics. We address two questions: (1) Are mainstream economic assumptions of utility-maximization realistic approximations of people's actual behavior? (2) Do people maximize subjective expected utility, particularly in choosing from among the available options? In doing so, we illustrate-in terms of a hypothetical experimental sample of patients with dry eye diagnosis-why and how utility in pharmacoeconomic assessments might be valued differently by patients when subjective psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional factors are considered. While experimentally-observed or surveyed behavior yields stated (rather than revealed) preferences, behaviorism offers a robust toolset in understanding drug, medical device, and treatment-related decisions compared to the optimizing calculus assumed by mainstream economists. It might also do so more perilously than economists have previously understood, in light of the intractable uncertainties, information asymmetries, insulated third-party agents, entry barriers, and externalities that characterize healthcare. Behavioral work has been carried out in many sub-fields of economics. Only recently has it been extended to healthcare. This offers medical economists both the challenge and opportunity of balancing efficiency presumptions with relatively autonomous patient choices, notwithstanding their predictable, yet seemingly consistent, irrationality. Despite its comparative youth and limitations, the scientific contributions of behaviorism are secure and its future in medical economics appears to be promising.

Estimating the economic impact of a repository from scenario-based surveys: Models of the relation of stated intent to actual behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Easterling, D.; Morwitz, V.; Kunreuther, H.

1990-12-01

The task of estimating the economic impact of a facility as novel and long-lived as a high-level nuclear waste (HLNW) repository is fraught with uncertainty. One approach to the forecasting problems is to survey economic agents as to how they would respond when confronted with hypothetical repository scenarios. A series of such studies conducted for the state of Nevada have examined the potential impact of a Yucca Mountain repository on behavior such as planning conventions, attending conventions, vacationing, outmigration, immigration, and business location. In each case, respondents drawn from a target population report on whether a particular repository event (either some form of an accident, or simply the presence of the facility) would cause them to act any differently than they otherwise would. The responses to such a survey provide an indication of whether or not economic behavior would be altered. However, the analysis is inevitably plagued with the question of how much credence to place in the reports of intended behavior; can we believe what people report they would do in a hypothetical situation? The present study examines a more precise version of this question regarding the validity of stated intent data. After reviewing a variety of literature in the area of intent versus actual behavior, we provide an answer to the question, ''What levels of actual behavior are consistent with the intent data that have been observed in the repository surveys?'' More formally, we assume that we are generally interested in predicting the proportion of a sample who will actually perform a target behavior. 86 refs., 6 figs., 9 tabs

Training, Research, and Working Conditions for Urology Residents in Germany: A Contemporary Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Borgmann, Hendrik; Arnold, Hannah K; Meyer, Christian P; Bründl, Johannes; König, Justus; Nestler, Tim; Ruf, Christian; Struck, Julian; Salem, Johannes

2016-12-16

Excellent uniform training of urology residents is crucial to secure both high-quality patient care and the future of our specialty. Residency training has come under scrutiny following the demands of subspecialized care, economical aspects, and working hour regulations. To comprehensively assess the surgical training, research opportunities, and working conditions among urology residents in Germany. We sent a 29-item online survey via email to 721 members of the German Society of Residents in Urology. Descriptive analyses were conducted to describe the surveys' four domains: (1) baseline characteristics, (2) surgical training (cumulative completed case volume for all minor-, medium-, and major-complexity surgeries), (3) research opportunities, and (4) working conditions. Four hundred and seventy-two residents completed the online survey (response rate 65%). Surgical training: the median number of cumulative completed cases for postgraduate yr (PGY)-5 residents was 113 (interquartile range: 76-178). Minor surgeries comprised 57% of all surgeries and were performed by residents in all PGYs. Medium-complexity surgeries comprised 39% of all surgeries and were mostly performed by residents in PGYs 2-5. Major surgeries comprised 4% of all surgeries and were occasionally performed by residents in PGYs 3-5. Research opportunities: some 44% have attained a medical thesis (Dr. med.), and 39% are currently pursuing research. Working conditions: psychosocial work-related stress was high and for 82% of residents their effort exceeded their rewards. Some 44% were satisfied, 32% were undecided, and 24% were dissatisfied with their current working situation. Limitations include self-reported survey answers and a lack of validated assessment tools. Surgical exposure among German urology residents is low and comprises minor and medium-complex surgeries. Psychosocial work-related stress is high for the vast majority of residents indicating the need for structural improvements in

Big Data and Health Economics: Opportunities, Challenges and Risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Bodas-Sagi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Big Data offers opportunities in many fields. Healthcare is not an exception. In this paper we summarize the possibilities of Big Data and Big Data technologies to offer useful information to policy makers. In a world with tight public budgets and ageing populations we feel necessary to save costs in any production process. The use of outcomes from Big Data could be in the future a way to improve decisions at a lower cost than today. In addition to list the advantages of properly using data and technologies from Big Data, we also show some challenges and risks that analysts could face. We also present an hypothetical example of the use of administrative records with health information both for diagnoses and patients.

The changing economic role of women in the urbanization process: a preliminary report from Zimbabwe.

Science.gov (United States)

Drakakis-smith, D W

1984-01-01

This article reports the findings of a survey, conducted to collect information on the present economic situation of women and the constraints they face in the choice of work in Zimbabwe, which has recently witnessed a steady growth in its urbanization. Questionnaires were administered to women in 3 district areas of the city of Harare--a middle class suburb within easy commuting distance to the main white collar employment in the city, a low income area of site-and-service housing in the semiperiphery of the city, and a densely populated, lower income, inner city district. There are clear contrasts among the economic activities of women in the 3 areas studied, but the factors which influence the activities seem to vary between and within the social groups, relating somewhat uneasily to the generalized concepts on the female labor market. The occupational analysis of Harare reveals not only the inadequacy of conventional dualistic theories on the labor market, but the somewhat limited utility of westernized concepts on the domestic role of women. The survey also showed strong spatial and geographic influence on women's work and the different opportunities that arise from particular residential locations in Harare. However, this was clearly tempered by social contacts and migrational histories, especially in the inner city areas, where proximity to potential employment was not exploited by many recent migrants. Political factors too were found to play an important role, in the particular circumstance of Zimbabwe, in affecting the residential and economic opportunities for households. In the middle class suburb and low income area studied, the allocation of site and service plots or mortgages was strongly influenced by one's previous combatant status during the struggle for independence. For instance, families with such a status which could be earned by men as well as women), and who are also members of the ruling ZANU-PF party have been favored since 1980.

Statistical Physics of Economic Systems: a Survey for Open Economies

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Yong; Chen, Xun

2012-05-01

We extend the theoretical framework of an independent economy developed by Tao [Phys. Rev. E 82 (2010) 036118] so as to include multiple economies. Since the starting point of our framework is on the basis of the theory of the competitive markets of traditional economics, this framework shall be suitable for any free market. Our study shows that integration of world economies can decrease trade friction among economic systems, but may also cause a global economic crisis whenever economy disequilibrium occurs in any one of these economic systems.

Economic conversion: The US experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, R.C.

1994-01-01

At the end of the Second World War, our country experienced what economists have called open-quotes The Great Conversionclose quotes or open-quotes The Great Disarmament.close quotes Following that period and until the beginning of the Viet-Nam War was a time marked by economic expansion and boom. Since those years, there have been several periods during which bases were closed and defense spending was slowed. For the communities going through these transitions, again there was economic expansion. A recent survey reports that, within the last 25 years, over 100 communities redeveloped their economic base and experienced, not catastrophy as they expected, but a period of economic growth. Jobs were not lost but nearly doubled. Small businesses and educational institutions multiplied. Building starts accelerated. The survey attributed this economic growth to proper planning, increased awareness of the need for job training and education, diversification of economic activity, and an ownership on the part of the citizens in their collective economic future. The lesson for us should be that realigning our community economic priorities away from such a strong emphasis on military spending and toward a diverse and productive civilian economy brings economic health. We are relearning this lesson in the redevelopment of Lowry Air Force Base and the transition of Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant from a weapons manufacturing mission to one of cleanup

Improving SFR Economics through Innovations from Thermal Design and Analysis Aspects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haihua Zhao; Hongbin Zhang; Vincent Mousseau; Per F. Peterson

2008-06-01

Achieving economic competitiveness as compared to LWRs and other Generation IV (Gen-IV) reactors is one of the major requirements for large-scale investment in commercial sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) power plants. Advances in R&D for advanced SFR fuel and structural materials provide key long-term opportunities to improve SFR economics. In addition, other new opportunities are emerging to further improve SFR economics. This paper provides an overview on potential ideas from the perspective of thermal hydraulics to improve SFR economics. These include a new hybrid loop-pool reactor design to further optimize economics, safety, and reliability of SFRs with more flexibility, a multiple reheat and intercooling helium Brayton cycle to improve plant thermal efficiency and reduce safety related overnight and operation costs, and modern multi-physics thermal analysis methods to reduce analysis uncertainties and associated requirements for over-conservatism in reactor design. This paper reviews advances in all three of these areas and their potential beneficial impacts on SFR economics.

The composition of precarity: 'emerging' composers' experiences of opportunity culture in contemporary classical music.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Neil Thomas; Thwaites, Rachel

2018-02-28

This paper examines the precarious working lives of 'emerging' composers attempting to build a career in the world of new classical music in the UK. This topic is approached by considering the 'composition opportunity', success in which is seen as an important element in 'making it' in this sphere. We argue that such schemes in fact manifest a crucial tension in the nature of artistic labour, and are, at the very least, problematic in their function as conduits towards full professional identity. They may instead act to maintain the precarious working situation of composers in a neoliberal age. The working lives of artists are all too rarely illuminated, and new music composers are no exception; this survey of 47 emerging composers is the largest study of such individuals in the UK. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2018.

The opportunity cost of family labor in the economy of the dairy production in Michoacan, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Randy Alexis Jiménez Jiménez

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to analyze associated factors with the variation of the profit margin and the influence of the opportunity cost of family labor in the economic profit of the family dairy in the municipality of Maravatio, Michoacan. Productive economic information was obtained through the use of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and direct observation, using the methodology of Participatory Action Research. The opportunity cost of workforce was established on the basis of the work options for the family members involved in the activity; the options were classified into three types: local, regional, and foreign, according to the location of the job opportunities. In order to determine the influence of family labor in earning, it was used a multiple regression model with inclusion of step-by-step variables. The livestock feed represented the highest index of determination of the profit margin variation with the 68 %. Family labor is one of the variables that have an adverse impact on the profitability of the production units, it represented 26% of the variation of economic gain, with a negative linear relation of -1.05 (P ≤0.001. The best labor alternatives for producers, when emigrating, show that family labor is not the productive factor allowing them to have earnings; however, the dairy activity provides productive and economic sustenance for people with a local and regional opportunity cost.

[Economics] Introductory Lesson (Begin Day One). Lesson Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewin, Roland

This introductory lesson on teaching economics concepts contains sections on the following: purpose; objectives; time; materials needed; and step-by-step classroom procedures. The focus is on the economic problem of scarcity and opportunity costs. Attached is an original skit, "There's no such thing as a free lunch," and a chart that…

Exploring economic structure and drivers of economic growth in Botswana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Lindelwa Makoni

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article set out to analyse the economic structure and main economic drivers in Botswana. Botswana, a country in sub-Saharan Africa, is a relatively small economy, hugely dependent on its diamond mineral wealth. Concerns have arisen in recent years that the diamond deposits will soon be depleted and the country therefore needs to embark on a diversification programme to broaden its economic base. In order to understand the Botswana economy, its economic structure and current domestic sectorial performance were evaluated, as well as its trends in imports and exports. An analysis of the data shows that, regardless of the awareness of the sensitivity to external shocks of commodity prices, as well as the obvious future depletion of diamond reserves, the Botswana economy continues to rely on diamonds, at the expense of attracting international capital flows to enhance and maintain sustainable economic growth, through investments in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism. It is therefore recommended that the Government of Botswana becomes proactive and implements recommended policies to diversify its economy, so that it can sustain or improve its economic growth by becoming a prime destination of international capital and domestic private sector investment, thereby increasing employment and trade opportunities.

Solar Photovoltaic Economic Development: Building and Growing a Local PV Industry, August 2011 (Book)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-08-01

The U.S. photovoltaic (PV) industry is forecast to grow, and it represents an opportunity for economic development and job creation in communities throughout the United States. This report helps U.S. cities evaluate economic opportunities in the PV industry. It serves as a guide for local economic development offices in evaluating their community?s competitiveness in the solar PV industry, assessing the viability of solar PV development goals, and developing strategies for recruiting and retaining PV companies to their areas.

Mathematical modelling in economic processes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.V. Kravtsova

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In article are considered a number of methods of mathematical modelling of economic processes and opportunities of use of spreadsheets Excel for reception of the optimum decision of tasks or calculation of financial operations with the help of the built-in functions.

Annual Survey of Significant Developments in General Economic Theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Tinbergen (Jan)

1934-01-01

textabstractThis survey may be opened with some apologetic remarks. The first is that to write a complete survey would mean to write a book. This has not been the intention of the editor, nor does it lie within the power of the present writer. Therefore, this survey is, in principle, incomplete, as

Determinants of healthy eating: motivation, abilities and environmental opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Brug, Johannes

2008-12-01

In order to promote healthful nutrition, insight is needed in the behavioural determinants of nutrition behaviours. Most research on behavioural determinants has been restricted to individual-level motivational factors. However, health behaviour is influenced by individual motivation and abilities, as well as environmental opportunities. To provide an overview of motivation, ability and opportunity-related potential determinants of nutrition behaviours and of the evidence for associations of potential environmental determinants with nutrition behaviour. A narrative review informed by a series of six systematic reviews including more than 400 original studies and recent original studies on associations of environmental factors with nutrition behaviours. Although the number of studies on potential environmental determinants of nutrition as well as physical activity behaviour has increased steeply over the last decades, these include only few well-designed studies with validated measures. Preliminary evidence from the available systematic reviews indicates that social support and modelling, availability and accessibility of healthy and less healthy foods as well as socio-economic status are important for nutrition behaviours; schools and worksites offer good settings for improving healthful nutrition opportunities. Although the evidence to date is inconclusive due to lack of well-designed studies, specific social-cultural, physical and economical environmental factors appear of importance for healthful nutrition.

Economic principles motivating social attention in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayden, Benjamin Y; Parikh, Purak C; Deaner, Robert O; Platt, Michael L

2007-07-22

We know little about the processes by which we evaluate the opportunity to look at another person. We propose that behavioural economics provides a powerful approach to understanding this basic aspect of social attention. We hypothesized that the decision process culminating in attention to another person follows the same economic principles that govern choices about rewards such as food, drinks and money. Specifically, such rewards are discounted as a function of time, are tradable for other rewards, and reinforce work. Behavioural and neurobiological evidence suggests that looking at other people can also be described as rewarding, but to what extent these economic principles apply to social orienting remains unknown. Here, we show that the opportunity to view pictures of the opposite sex is discounted by delay to viewing, substitutes for money and reinforces work. The reward value of photos of the opposite sex varied with physical attractiveness and was greater in men, suggesting differential utility of acquiring visual information about the opposite sex in men and women. Together, these results demonstrate that choosing whom to look at follows a general set of economic principles, implicating shared neural mechanisms in both social and non-social decision making.

Socio-economic differences in self-reported insomnia and stress in Finland from 1979 to 2002: a population-based repeated cross-sectional survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Talala Kirsi M

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the decades, global public health efforts have sought to reduce socio-economic health differences, including differences in mental health. Only a few studies have examined changes in socio-economic differences in psychological symptoms over time. The aim of this study was to assess trends in socio-economic differences in self-reported insomnia and stress over a 24-year time period in Finland. Methods The data source is a repeated cross-sectional survey “Health Behaviour and Health among the Finnish Adult Population” (AVTK, from the years 1979 to 2002, divided into five study periods. Indicators for socio-economic status included employment status from the survey, and educational level and household income from the Statistics Finland register data. We studied the age group of 25–64 years (N = 70115; average annual response rate 75%. Outcome measures were single questions of self-reported insomnia and stress. Results The overall prevalence of insomnia was 18-19% and that of stress 16-19%. Compared to the first study period, 1979–1982, the prevalence of stress increased until study period 1993–1997. The prevalence of insomnia increased during the last study period, 1998–2002. Respondents who were unemployed or had retired early reported more insomnia and stress over time among both men and women. Lower education was associated with more insomnia especially among men; and conversely, with less stress among both sexes. Compared to the highest household income level, those in the intermediate levels of income had less stress whereas those in the lowest income levels had more stress among both sexes. Income level differences in insomnia were less consistent. In general, socio-economic differences in self-reported insomnia and stress fluctuated some, but did not change substantially over the study period 1979–2002. Conclusions Self-reported insomnia and stress were more common during later study periods. The

75 FR 35289 - International Services Surveys: BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-22

...-AA73 International Services Surveys: BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis... Survey of Financial Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons...

A Subaru galaxy redshift survey: WFMOS survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takada, M

2008-01-01

A planned galaxy redshift survey with the Subaru 8.2m telescope, the WFMOS survey, offers a unique opportunity for probing detailed properties of large-scale structure formation in the expanding universe by measuring clustering strength of galaxy distribution as a function of distance scale and redshift. In particular, the precise measurement of the galaxy power spectrum, combined with the cosmic microwave background experiments, allows us to obtain stringent constraints on or even determine absolute mass scales of the Big-Bang relic neutrinos as the neutrinos imprint characteristic scale- and redshift-dependent modifications onto the galaxy power spectrum shape. Here we describe the basic concept of how the galaxy clustering measurement can be used to explore the neutrino masses, with particular emphasis on advantages of the WFMOS survey over the existing low-redshift surveys such as SDSS

An Evaluation of the Servicemen's Opportunity College.

Science.gov (United States)

Nolan, David M.; Casserly, Patricia Lund

This study presents a preliminary evaluation of the Servicemen's Opportunity College (SOC) program. Data were obtained from the site visits and a mailed survey. Results indicated: (1) The college personnel accepted the military students as a natural part of their constituency and often commented about them as being superior to the civilian…

Outside opportunities and costs incurred by others.

Science.gov (United States)

Roes, Frans L

2007-07-21

Descriptions of interactions between ants and their 'guests' serve to illustrate the thesis that Ewald's theory of the 'evolution of virulence' not only applies to interactions between micro-organisms causing infectious diseases and their hosts, but also to interactions between individuals belonging to differing species. For instance, the prediction is put forward and discussed that guests of army ants are, relative to guests of other species of ants, more often parasitic. A key variable in Ewald's theory is 'transmissibility'. It shows some resemblance to similar variables used in micro-economic theory and in Emerson's sociological Power-Dependence Relations theory. In this article, this variable is called 'outside opportunities'. In an A-B relation, an outside opportunity for A is anything which constitutes an alternative to what B can provide. It is concluded that in A-B interactions, the more outside opportunities are available to A, the more costs are incurred by B. Differences and similarities between this idea and Game Theory are discussed.

Results from a Faculty Development Program in Teaching Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Walstad, William B.; Salemi, Michael K.

2011-01-01

The Teaching Innovations Program (TIP) was a six-year project funded by the National Science Foundation that gave economics instructors the opportunity to learn interactive teaching strategies for use in undergraduate economics courses. TIP participants first attended a teaching workshop that presented various teaching strategies. They then could…

Clinical laboratory as an economic model for business performance analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Buljanović, Vikica; Patajac, Hrvoje; Petrovecki, Mladen

2011-08-15

To perform SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of a clinical laboratory as an economic model that may be used to improve business performance of laboratories by removing weaknesses, minimizing threats, and using external opportunities and internal strengths. Impact of possible threats to and weaknesses of the Clinical Laboratory at Našice General County Hospital business performance and use of strengths and opportunities to improve operating profit were simulated using models created on the basis of SWOT analysis results. The operating profit as a measure of profitability of the clinical laboratory was defined as total revenue minus total expenses and presented using a profit and loss account. Changes in the input parameters in the profit and loss account for 2008 were determined using opportunities and potential threats, and economic sensitivity analysis was made by using changes in the key parameters. The profit and loss account and economic sensitivity analysis were tools for quantifying the impact of changes in the revenues and expenses on the business operations of clinical laboratory. Results of simulation models showed that operational profit of €470 723 in 2008 could be reduced to only €21 542 if all possible threats became a reality and current weaknesses remained the same. Also, operational gain could be increased to €535 804 if laboratory strengths and opportunities were utilized. If both the opportunities and threats became a reality, the operational profit would decrease by €384 465. The operational profit of the clinical laboratory could be significantly reduced if all threats became a reality and the current weaknesses remained the same. The operational profit could be increased by utilizing strengths and opportunities as much as possible. This type of modeling may be used to monitor business operations of any clinical laboratory and improve its financial situation by implementing changes in the next fiscal

ECONOMIC NATIONALISM’S VIABILITY UNDER GLOBALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Mihaela ILIESCU

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The path undertaken by the world economy is irreversible - the world economic system is a system based on interdependencies, cooperation and multilateralism but economic openness is not full. Each country, in order to protect their national interest call, in different proportion, depending on the circumstances and of the economic-social and political interests, for different forms of the economic nationalism, forms that have adapted continuously to the demands required for integrating on the foreign markets. The recent global economic crisis intensified the rhetoric and the economic nationalism’s practices but it is not about rebirth, but of renewal, of remodeling the nationalist policies, globalization being a premise of the new economic nationalism. The scope of this paper is to emphasize using empirical data the fact that nationalism and globalization, from an economical point of view, are not antagonistic policies, they coexist and influence each other, both generating contradictory effects, in terms of provided opportunities and risks.

Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons (SBO)

Science.gov (United States)

Employment and Payroll Survey of Business Owners Work from Home Our statistics highlight trends in household statistics from multiple surveys. Data Tools & Apps Main American FactFinder Census Business Builder My Classification Codes (i.e., NAICS) Economic Census Economic Indicators Economic Studies Industry Statistics

Non-use Economic Values for Little-Known Aquatic Species at Risk: Comparing Choice Experiment Results from Surveys Focused on Species, Guilds, and Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Rudd, Murray A.; Andres, Sheri; Kilfoil, Mary

2016-09-01

Accounting for non-market economic values of biological diversity is important to fully assess the benefits of environmental policies and regulations. This study used three choice experiments (species-, guild-, and ecosystem-based surveys) in parallel to quantify non-use values for little-known aquatic species at risk in southern Ontario. Mean willingness-to-pay (WTP) ranged from 9.45 to 21.41 per listing status increment under Canada's Species at Risk Act for both named and unnamed little-known species. Given the broad range of valuable ecosystem services likely to accrue to residents from substantial increases in water quality and the rehabilitation of coastal wetlands, the difference in WTP between species- and ecosystem-based surveys seemed implausibly small. It appeared that naming species—the `iconization' of species in two of the three surveys—had an important effect on WTP. The results suggest that reasonable annual household-level WTP values for little-known aquatic species may be 10 to 25 per species or 10 to 20 per listing status increment. The results highlighted the utility of using parallel surveys to triangulate on non-use economic values for little-known species at risk.

Economic conditions, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease: analysis of the Icelandic economic collapse.

Science.gov (United States)

Birgisdóttir, Kristín Helga; Jónsson, Stefán Hrafn; Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey

2017-12-01

Previous research has found a positive short-term relationship between the 2008 collapse and hypertension in Icelandic males. With Iceland's economy experiencing a phase of economic recovery, an opportunity to pursue a longer-term analysis of the collapse has emerged. Using data from a nationally representative sample, fixed-effect estimations and mediation analyses were performed to explore the relationship between the Icelandic economic collapse in 2008 and the longer-term impact on hypertension and cardiovascular health. A sensitivity analysis was carried out with pooled logit models estimated as well as an alternative dependent variable. Our attrition analysis revealed that results for cardiovascular diseases were affected by attrition, but not results from estimations on the relationship between the economic crisis and hypertension. When compared to the boom year 2007, our results point to an increased probability of Icelandic women having hypertension in the year 2012, when the Icelandic economy had recovered substantially from the economic collapse in 2008. This represents a deviation from pre-crisis trends, thus suggesting a true economic-recovery impact on hypertension.

Economic Globalization and Workers: introduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E-J. Visser (Evert-Jan); M.P. van Dijk (Meine Pieter)

2006-01-01

textabstractThis dossier deals with the impact of economic globalisation on workers, especially in developing nations: their employment opportunities, wage income, job security and other aspects of decent work (ILO 1999, 2002). This is a highly relevant theme. Not only do workers in the EU, the

Mind the Gap: What explains the education-related inequality in missed opportunities for vaccination in sub-Saharan Africa? Compositional and structural characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Sambala, Evanson Z; Uthman, Olalekan A; Adamu, Abdu; Ndwandwe, Duduzile; Wiyeh, Alison B; Olukade, Tawa; Bishwajit, Ghose; Yaya, Sanni; Okwo-Bele, Jean-Marie; Wiysonge, Charles S

2018-04-09

Missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV) is an important barrier hindering full immunisation coverage among eligible children. Though factors responsible for MOV are well documented in literature, little attention has been paid to the role of inequalities. The aim of this study is to examine the association between structural or compositional factors and education inequalities in MOV. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique was used to explain the factors contributing to the average gap in missed opportunities for vaccination between uneducated and educated mothers in sub-Saharan Africa using DHS survey data from 35 sub Saharan African countries collected between 2007 and 2016. The sample contained 69,657 children aged 12 to 23 months. We observed a wide variation and inter-country differences in the prevalence of missed opportunity for vaccination across populations and geographical locations. Our results show that the prevalence of MOV in Zimbabwe among uneducated and educated mothers was 9% and 21% respectively while in Gabon corresponding numbers were 85% and 89% respectively. In 15 countries, MOV was significantly prevalent among children born to uneducated mothers (pro-illiterate inequality) while in 5 countries MOV was significantly prevalent among educated mothers (pro-educated inequality). Our results suggest that education-related inequalities in missed opportunities for vaccination are explained by compositional and structural characteristics; and that neighbourhood socio-economic status was the most important contributor to education-related inequalities across countries followed by either the presence of under-five children, media access or household wealth index. The results showed that differential effects such as neighbourhood socio-economic status, presence of under-five children, media access and household wealth index, primarily explained education-related inequality in MOV. Interventions to reduce gaps in education-related inequality in MOV

75 FR 10704 - International Services Surveys: BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-09

...] RIN 0691-AA73 International Services Surveys: BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis... BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services Providers...

Partner Market Opportunities and Relationship Stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingmar Rapp

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Although partner market opportunities are generally considered to be important for relationship stability, they have never been measured accurately. In order to be able to test the anticipated effects of partner market opportunities, this study conceptualises them as individual opportunities for contact and interaction in concrete social contexts, like the neighbourhood, the workplace, leisure activities, etc. Using data from the German Marriage Market Survey, we first examine the impact of individual partner market opportunities on the risk of separation. Second, we examine to what extend the most frequently studied determinants of divorce and separation depend on partner market opportunities. Our results show that the number of opposite sex contacts increases the probability of separation. Sharing the same contacts with one’s partner decreases the risk of separation. Our results indicate further that reducing opposite sex contacts in the course of the relationship is partly responsible for the higher stability of longer-lasting relationships. Having a migration background is associated with fewer opposite sex contacts. This means that having a migration background would be more destabilising if these individuals did not have less opposite sex contacts than individuals without a migration background. In contrast, joint home ownership, church attendance, higher education and residing in western Germany would generally be more stabilising if these factors were not connected with more opposite sex contacts.

The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS): the scientific goals of a shallow and wide submillimeter imaging survey with SPIRE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cooray, Asantha; Eales, Steve; Chapman, Scott; Clements, David L.; Dore, Olivier; Farrah, Duncan; Jarvis, Matt J.; Kaplinghat, Manoj; Negrello, Mattia; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Peiris, Hiranya; Pope, Alexandra; Santos, Mario G.; Serjeant, Stephen; Thompson, Mark; White, Glenn; Amblard, Alexandre; Banerji, Manda; Corasaniti, Pier-Stefano; Das, Sudeep; de Bernardis, Francesco; de Zotti, Gianfranco; Giannantonio, Tommaso; Gonzalez-Nuevo Gonzalez, Joaquin; Khostovan, Ali Ahmad; Mitchell-Wynne, Ketron; Serra, Paolo; Song, Yong-Seon; Vieira, Joaquin; Wang, Lingyu; Zemcov, Michael; Abdalla, Filipe; Afonso, Jose; Aghanim, Nabila; Andreani, Paola; Aretxaga, Itziar; Auld, Robbie; Baes, Maarten; Baker, Andrew; Barkats, Denis; Belen Barreiro, R.; Bartolo, Nicola; Barton, Elizabeth; Barway, Sudhanshu; Stefano Battistelli, Elia; Baugh, Carlton; Holwerda, Benne W.; Koopmans, Leon; Pohlen, Michael; Vegetti, Simona

2010-01-01

A large sub-mm survey with Herschel will enable many exciting science opportunities, especially in an era of wide-field optical and radio surveys and high resolution cosmic microwave background experiments. The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS), will lead to imaging data over 4000 sq. degrees at

Improving Childcare Options to Create Better Economic ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Historically, women have relied on family, particularly grandmothers and ... how the lack of affordable childcare options can undermine women's ability to ... supported under the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) program.

Tourism Development: An Economic Recovery Opportunity for Câmpulung Muscel Depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurel Gheorghilas

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Developing tourism in an area represents the continuous process of planning and building tourist facilities, refurbishing and modernizing the existing ones, resizing them according to the types and sizes of tourist fluxes, shaping demand and offer, rendering a sustainable tourist activity. Perspective studies on the evolution of the phenomenon are necessary to design the tourist activity, following the insertion of the future area parameters into the decision models allowing them to be monitored and changed during the modelling process. Given the geographic really of space, the present study focuses on highlighting several indicators concerning tourism development in an area severely affected by economic cut backs, suggesting and also trying to monitor the social and economic effects tourism development could have upon. Besides determining the function of the territory, authors have conducted a diagnostic analysis which underlines the favourable factors of tourism, indicating, at the same time, the necessary measures to insure the best development. Thus, given the conditions of massive cut backs in the major economic sectors, the local development of tourism is of a crucial importance. As a key element of the sustainable development, tourism could provide new business and work places in the same time; it could determine the increase of incomes for the rural area habitants through the capitalization of local resources.

Mobility as Progressivity: Ranking Income Processes According to Equality of Opportunity

OpenAIRE

Roland Benabou; Efe A. Ok

2001-01-01

Interest in economic mobility stems largely from its perceived role as an equalizer of opportunities, though not necessarily of outcomes. In this paper we show that this view leads very naturally to a methodology for the measurement of social mobility which has strong parallels with the theory of progressive taxation. We characterize opportunity--equalizing mobility processes, and provide simple criteria to determine when one process is more equalizing than another. We then explain how this m...

Value of Uncertainty: The Lost Opportunities in Large Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnar Johansen

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The uncertainty management theory has become well established over the last 20–30 years. However, the authors suggest that it does not fully address why opportunities often remain unexploited. Empirical studies show a stronger focus on mitigating risks than exploiting opportunities. This paper therefore addresses why so few opportunities are explored in large projects. The theory claims that risks and opportunities should be equally managed in the same process. In two surveys, conducted in six (private and public companies over a four-year period, project managers stated that uncertainty management is about managing risk and opportunities. However, two case studies from 12 projects from the same companies revealed that all of them had their main focus on risks, and most of the opportunities were left unexploited. We have developed a theoretical explanation model to shed light on this phenomena. The concept is a reflection based on findings from our empirical data up against current project management, uncertainty, risk and stakeholder literature. Our model shows that the threshold for pursuing a potential opportunity is high. If a potential opportunity should be considered, it must be extremely interesting, since it may require contract changes, and the project must abandon an earlier-accepted best solution.

ECONOMIC DENIAL OF SUSTAINABILITY (EDOS ATTACK ON CLOUD – A SURVEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Somasundaram

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Cloud computing is a promising technology aims to provide reliable, customized and quality of service computation environments for cloud users in terms of Software as a Service-SaaS , Plat- form as a Service-PaaS and Infrastructure as Service-IaaS, which is provided on the pay per use basis. Cloud computing enables services to be deployed and accessed globally on demand with little maintenance by providing QoS as per service level agreement (SLA of customer. However, due to elasticity of resources, cloud systems are facing severe security problems. One of the most serious threats to cloud computing is EDoS (economic Distributed Denial of Service aims to consume the cloud resource by attacker and impose financial burden to the legitimate user, where integrity, availability and confidentiality of the cloud services are never compromised but affects the accountability which leads to inaccurate billing. Since the billing models of cloud services may not be mature enough to properly account for an EDoS attack. These paper surveys, the different techniques that generate, detect and mitigate the EDoS Attack on Cloud.

Electric power infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific: economics and investment opportunity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudarsono, B.S.; Saha, P.C.

1995-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the status and potential of the Asia Pacific electric power infrastructure, including the transmission and distribution system, to highlight some of the most relevant issues in the sector and to look at the prospect of investment opportunity for the private sector in the power industry

Economic/climate recovery scorecards. How climate friendly are the economic recovery packages?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoehne, N.; Eisbrenner, K.; Phylipsen, D.; Burck, J.; Van der Straeten, L.

2009-04-01

As global leaders head to the G20 summit to consider solutions to the current global economic crisis, a new report prepared by Ecofys and Germanwatch for WWF and E3G reveals that many of the economic recovery packages being discussed are a missed opportunity in terms of stimulating a green recovery, and actually run the risk of locking the world into a high-carbon future. The report provides the most detailed and comprehensive analysis to date of the proposed 'stimulus' packages of five key countries - France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US - as well as the package agreed by the European Union as a whole.

Fiscal 1999 survey report. Survey of effect of energy efficiency improvement on global environment; 1999 nendo energy shohi koritsuka chikyu kankyo eikyo chosa hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

Analyses are conducted into consideration given to global warming measures in the 3rd assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and into technology transfer from developed nations to developing nations in the Asia-Pacific region etc. to contribute to their energy efficiency improvement. The aim is to present data for deliberation as to how future energy efficiency improvement measures should be in the Asia-Pacific region. The chapters (Chapter 0 through Chapter 10) of the report to be worked out by Working Group III deeply involved in energy problems are 0) Introduction, 1) Scope of the report; 2) Socio-economic and emissions scenarios; 3) Technical and economic potential of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction; 4) Technical and economic potential of biological CO2 mitigation options; 5) Barriers, opportunities and market potential of technologies and practices; 6) Policies, measures and instruments; 7) Costing methodologies; 8) Global, regional and national costs and ancillary benefits of mitigation; 9) Sector costs and ancillary benefits of mitigation; and 10) Decision making frameworks. As the result of the survey, some actual technology transfer implementations are introduced covering branches closely related to energy efficiency improvement, which are branches of construction, traffic, industry, energy supply, and wastes. (NEDO)

The Value-for-Money Discourse: Risks and Opportunities for R4D

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

shanks@idrc.ca

challenge and an opportunity for research- focused organizations ... that stifle social, economic and political ... actual results, using both qualitative and quantitative measures to ... approach to interpreting the VfM discourse by ... methodology.

Opportunities in Canada's growing wind energy industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lovshin Moss, S.; Bailey, M.

2006-01-01

Investment in Canada's wind sector is projected to reach $8 billion by 2012, and growth of the sector is expected to create over 16,000 jobs. Canada's wind energy capacity grew by 54 per cent in 2005 alone, aided in part by supportive national policies and programs such as the Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI); the Canadian Renewable Conservation Expense (CRCE) and Class 43.1 Capital Cost Allowance; and support for research and development. Major long-term commitments for clean power purchases, standard offer contracts and renewable portfolio standards in several provinces are encouraging further development of the wind energy sector. This paper argued that the development of a robust Canadian wind turbine manufacturing industry will enhance economic development, create opportunities for export; and mitigate the effects of international wind turbine supply shortages. However, it is not known whether Canadian wind turbine firms are positioned to capitalize on the sector's recent growth. While Canada imports nearly all its large wind turbine generators and components, the country has technology and manufacturing strengths in advanced power electronics and small wind systems, as well as in wind resource mapping. Wind-diesel and wind-hydrogen systems are being developed in Canada, and many of the hybrid systems will offer significant opportunities for remote communities and off-grid applications. Company partnerships for technology transfer, licensing and joint ventures will accelerate Canada's progress. A recent survey conducted by Industry Canada and the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) indicated that the total impact of wind energy related expenditures on economic output is nearly $1.38 billion for the entire sector. Annual payroll for jobs in Canada was estimated at $50 million, and substantial employment growth in the next 5 years is expected. Canada offers a strong industrial supply base capable of manufacturing wind turbine generators and

The impact of macro-economic circumstances and social protection expenditure on economic deprivation in 25 European countries, 2007-2011

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visser, Mark; Gesthuizen, M.J.W.; Scheepers, P.L.H.

2014-01-01

In this study, we investigate to what extent macro-economic circumstances and social protection expenditure affect economic deprivation. We use three items from round five of the European Social Survey (2010-2011) to construct our latent outcome variable, which we label economic deprivation in the 3

Adaptive learning by genetic algorithms analytical results and applications to economic models

CERN Document Server

Dawid, Herbert

1999-01-01

The fact that I have the opportunity to present a second edition of this monograph is an indicator for the growing size of the community concerned with agent-based computational economics. The rapid developments in this field make it very difficult to keep a volume like this, which is partly devoted to surveying the literature, up to date. I have done my best to incorporate the relevant new developments in this revised edition but it is in the nature of such a work that the selection of material covered is biased by the authors personal interest and his informational constraints. My apologies go to all researchers in this field whose work is not or not adequately represented in this book. Besides the correction of some errors and typos several additions have been made. In the literature survey sections 2.4 (which was also reorganized) and 3.5 new material was added. I have also added a new section in chapter 3 which deals with the question how well empirically observed phenomena can be explained by GA simulat...

The Music Industry as a Vehicle for Economic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Christopher C.

2015-01-01

Issues arising in the music industry in response to the availability of digital music files provide an opportunity for exposing undergraduate students to economic analyses rarely covered in the undergraduate economics curriculum. Three of these analyses are covered here: the optimal copyright term, the effect of piracy or illegal file sharing, and…

Integrated Advanced Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine System for Increased Utilization of Gaseous Opportunity Fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pratapas, John [Gas Technology Inst., Des Plaines, IL (United States); Zelepouga, Serguei [Gas Technology Inst., Des Plaines, IL (United States); Gnatenko, Vitaliy [Gas Technology Inst., Des Plaines, IL (United States); Saveliev, Alexei [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Jangale, Vilas [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Li, Hailin [West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States); Getz, Timothy [West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States); Mather, Daniel [Digital Engines, New York, NY (United States)

2013-08-31

The project is addressing barriers to or opportunities for increasing distributed generation (DG)/combined heat and power (CHP) use in industrial applications using renewable/opportunity fuels. This project brings together novel gas quality sensor (GQS) technology with engine management for opportunity fuels such as landfill gas, digester gas and coal bed methane. By providing the capability for near real-time monitoring of the composition of these opportunity fuels, the GQS output can be used to improve the performance, increase efficiency, raise system reliability, and provide improved project economics and reduced emissions for engines used in distributed generation and combined heat and power.

Disparities in Development, Status of Women and Social Opportunities: Indian Experience

OpenAIRE

Deepti Gupta

2009-01-01

The focus of this article is the comparative analysis of theseventeen major states of India, which have an intrinsic bearing on social, economic and human development. Inter-state comparison in the areas of economic well-being, health, education, human development index, status of women and social opportunities have been done. For comparing these dimensions of development, different variables like Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) per capita, poverty estimate (head count ratio), Infant mort...

The Fourth Wave of Digitalization and Public Transport: Opportunities and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Davidsson

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We investigate the opportunities and challenges of the forth wave of digitalization, also referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT, with respect to public transport and how it can support sustainable development of society. Environmental, economical, and social perspectives are considered through analysis of the existing literature and explorative studies. We conclude that there are great opportunities for both transport operators and planners, as well as for the travelers. We describe and analyze a number of concrete opportunities for each of these actors. However, in order to realize these opportunities, there are also a number of challenges that needs to be addressed. There are both technical challenges, such as data collection issues, interoperability, scalability and information security, and non-technical challenges such as business models, usability, privacy issues, and deployment.

Entrepreneurship: A Unique Opportunity for Higher Education. NCRCRD Policy Briefs

Science.gov (United States)

Hamerlinck, John; Emery, Mary

2006-01-01

Entrepreneurship, both in commercial and social enterprise development, has become an essential component in sustaining thriving communities in the region. An expanded dedication to entrepreneurship can open up economic opportunities while simultaneously furthering the educational missions of colleges and universities by promoting a scholarship of…

Nuclear investment: performance and opportunity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacy, B.

2007-01-01

Nuclear power plant ownership in the United States has continued its steady trend toward ownership consolidation and removal of assets from rate regulated environments that began in 1998. This is paralleled by changes in companies providing nuclear services and growing talk of building new units. World wide, new nuclear plant construction and related supplier investment is proceeding around the world. The nuclear fuel supply part of the business is seeing interest and excitement that would have been almost inconceivable a decade ago. Nuclear is now increasingly being recognized for its energy, economic and environmental benefits. For investors, this is a time of opportunity. And the opportunity is strongly supported by excellent performance trends and fundamental change sin the US electricity business. But in order to benefit from these changes, investors must remain cautious and be committed to comprehensively and thoroughly understanding the individual and interrelated technical, regulatory and political issues that surround this useful and powerful technology. (orig.)

Arctic resources : a mechatronics opportunity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McKean, M.; Baiden, G. [Penguin Automated Systems Inc., Naughton, ON (Canada)

2008-07-01

This paper discussed the telerobotic mechatronics opportunities that exist to access mineral resources in the Arctic. The Mining Automation Project (MAP) determined that telerobotics could contribute to productivity gains while providing increased worker safety. The socio-economic benefits of advanced mechatronics for Arctic resource development are particularly attractive due to reduced infrastructure needs; operating costs; and environmental impacts. A preliminary analysis of mining transportation options by the authors revealed that there is a case for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) for oil and gas processing to address resource development. The ISRU options build on concepts developed to support space exploration and were proposed to reduce or modify transportation loads to allow more sustainable and efficient Arctic resource development. Many benefits in terms of efficiency could be achieved by combining demonstrated mechatronics with ISRU because of the constrained transportation infrastructure in the Arctic. In the context of harsh environment operations, mechatronics may provide an opportunity for undersea resource facilities. 15 refs., 6 figs.

The Heritage Business Industry: Mexico’s Opportunity for Economic Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra L. López Varela

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The following discussion addresses the potential of developing a heritage business industry in Mexico for the purposes of economic growth. The discussion challenges Mexico’s reliance on tourism as a revenue stream in the context of high rates of violence and criminal activity, and examines its failure to promote its rich culture and history. Here, an alternative scenario is offered to create value from Mexico’s rich culture and history by introducing cultural resource management (CRM, an industry developed by private firms around the world, for the protection and management of cultural heritage in compliance with environmental and historical laws. In a context of international initiatives, mainly by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, this contribution identifies those key factors pressuring the Mexican government to introduce CRM in Mexico as well as alternative routes for financing heritage preservation. Mexico’s dependency on international institutions for economic growth will eventually introduce a definition of heritage beyond notions of old and pretty objects. If Mexico wants to bring significant revenue to its economy, the Mexican government is compelled to embrace a heritage definition involving the significance of place.

REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND THE INFLUENCES ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANGHELUȚĂ PETRICĂ SORIN

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the recent years, there has been observed a degradation of the environment. This has negative effects on human activities. Besides the influence of the environment on people, also the economic crisis had a negative contribution. The imbalances manifested in the environment influence the economic systems. This article presents an analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions. Also, there is a link between the greenhouse gas emissions and the economic development. In the situation in which the environmental pollution is increasingly affecting humanity, the transition to an economy with reduced greenhouse gas emissions appears to be a viable solution. This transition provides a number of opportunities, as well. Therefore, one of these opportunities is the one related to the employment. In this regard, retraining people working in polluting industries is very important

Teaching Economic Forecasting to Undergraduates.

Science.gov (United States)

Donihue, Michael R.

1995-01-01

Contends that academic departments have come under increasing scrutiny in terms of the scope of curriculum and teaching methods. Describes a senior undergraduate economics course in which the primary objective was to give students opportunities to combine theoretical training with quantitative skills and apply them to real-world problems. (CFR)

Opportunities for high wind energy penetration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tande, J.O.; Hansen, J.C.

1997-01-01

Wind power is today a mature technology, which at windy locations, is economically competitive to conventional power generation technologies. This and growing global environmental concerns have led governments to encourage and plan for wind energy development, a typical aim being 10% of electricity...... consumption. The successful operation of the three major power systems of Cape Verde, with a total wind energy penetration of about 15% since December 1994, demonstrates that power systems can be operated with high penetration of wind energy by adding simple control and monitoring systems only. Thorough...... analyses conclude that expanding to even above 15% wind energy penetration in the Cape Verde power systems is economical. Worldwide, numerous locations with favorable wind conditions and power systems similar to the Capeverdean provide good opportunities for installing wind farms and achieving high wind...

The economic burden of influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalizations in China: a retrospective survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Juan; Jit, Mark; Leung, Kathy S; Zheng, Ya-Ming; Feng, Lu-Zhao; Wang, Li-Ping; Lau, Eric H Y; Wu, Joseph T; Yu, Hong-Jie

2015-10-06

The seasonal influenza vaccine coverage rate in China is only 1.9 %. There is no information available on the economic burden of influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalizations at the national level, even though this kind of information is important for informing national-level immunization policy decision-making. A retrospective telephone survey was conducted in 2013/14 to estimate the direct and indirect costs of seasonal influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalizations from a societal perspective. Study participants were laboratory-confirmed cases registered in the National Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections Sentinel Surveillance Network in China in 2013. Patient-reported costs from the survey were validated by a review of hospital accounts for a small sample of the inpatients. The study enrolled 529 outpatients (median age: eight years; interquartile range [IQR]: five to 20 years) and 254 inpatients (median age: four years; IQR: two to seven years). Among the outpatients, 22.1 % (117/529) had underlying diseases and among the inpatients, 52.8 % (134/254) had underlying diseases. The average total costs related to influenza-associated outpatient visits and inpatient visits were US$ 155 (standard deviation, SD US$ 122) and US$ 1,511 (SD US$ 1,465), respectively. Direct medical costs accounted for 45 and 69 % of the total costs related to influenza-associated outpatient and inpatient visits, respectively. For influenza outpatients, the mean cost per episode in children aged below five years (US$ 196) was higher than that in other age groups (US$ 129-153). For influenza inpatients, the mean cost per episode in adults aged over 60 years (US$ 2,735) was much higher than that in those aged below 60 years (US$ 1,417-1,621). Patients with underlying medical conditions had higher costs per episode than patients without underlying medical conditions (outpatients: US$ 186 vs. US$ 146; inpatients: US$ 1

Substance misuse prevention and economic analysis: challenges and opportunities regarding international utility.

Science.gov (United States)

Guyll, Max; Spoth, Richard; Cornish, Marilyn A

2012-01-01

Economic analyses of substance misuse prevention assess the intervention cost necessary to achieve a particular outcome, and thereby provide an additional dimension for evaluating prevention programming. This article reviews several types of economic analysis, considers how they can be applied to substance misuse prevention, and discusses challenges to enhancing their international relevance, particularly their usefulness for informing policy decisions. Important first steps taken to address these challenges are presented, including the disease burden concept and the development of generalized cost-effectiveness, advances that facilitate international policy discussions by providing a common framework for evaluating health care needs and program effects.

Socio-economic Inequalities and Healthcare Utilization in Ghana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bashiru I.I. Saeed

2013-07-01

Full Text Available A socio-economic inequality in the use of healthcare services in Ghana is investigated in this paper. The data employed in the study were drawn from Global Ageing and Adult Health survey conducted in Ghana by SAGE and was based on the design for the World Health Survey (WHS, 2003. The survey was conducted in 2007 and collected data on socio-economic characteristics and other variables of the individuals interviewed. Using generalized logit model, the study found that health status is a very strong determinant of the type of healthcare services Ghanaians look for. In Ghana, there are still important socio-economic gradients in the use of some healthcare services. These differences may be due to socio-economic inequities but could also indicate that the existing health facilities are not always used in an optimal way. Patient factors may be more important than supply factors in explaining the differential use of health services.

The Economic Case for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Woessmann, Ludger

2016-01-01

The case for education can be made from many perspectives. This paper makes the case for education based on economic outcomes. Surveying the most recent empirical evidence, it shows the crucial role of education for individual and societal prosperity. Education is a leading determinant of economic growth, employment, and earnings in modern…

Coal-fueled high-speed diesel engine development: Task 2, Market assessment and economic analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kakwani, R. M.; Wilson, Jr., R. P.; Winsor, R. E.

1991-12-01

Based on the preliminary coal engine design developed, this task was conducted to identify the best opportunity(s) to enter the market with the future coal-fueled, high-speed diesel engine. The results of this market and economic feasibility assessment will be used to determine what specific heavy duty engine application(s) are most attractive for coal fuel, and also define basic economic targets for the engine to be competitive.

Financial hardship, socio-economic position and depression: results from the PATH Through Life Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Butterworth, Peter; Rodgers, Bryan; Windsor, Tim D

2009-07-01

There is a strong association between financial hardship and the experience of depression. Previous longitudinal research differs in whether this association is viewed as a contemporaneous relationship between depression and hardship or whether hardship has a role in the maintenance of existing depression. In this study we investigate the association between depression and hardship over time and seek to resolve these contradictory perspectives. We also investigate the consistency of the association across the lifecourse. This study reports analysis of two waves of data from a large community survey conducted in the city of Canberra and the surrounding region in south-east Australia. The PATH Through Life Study used a narrow-cohort design, with 6715 respondents representing three birth cohorts (1975-1979; 1956-1960; and 1937-1941) assessed on the two measurement occasions (4 years apart). Depression was measured using the Goldberg Depression Scale and hardship assessed by items measuring aspects of deprivation due to lack of resources. A range of measures of socio-economic circumstance and demographic characteristics were included in logistic regression models to predict wave 2 depression. The results showed that current financial hardship was strongly and independently associated with depression, above the effects of other measures of socio-economic position and demographic characteristics. In contrast, the effect of prior financial difficulty was explained by baseline depression symptoms. There were no reliable cohort differences in the association between hardship and depression having controlled for socio-demographic characteristics. There was some evidence that current hardship was more strongly associated with depression for those who were not classified as depressed at baseline than for those identified with depression at baseline. The evidence of the contemporaneous association between hardship and depression suggests that addressing deprivation may be an

Egalitarian norms, economic development, and ethnic polarization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haagsma, R.; Mouche, van P.H.M.

2013-01-01

Economic development generally implies that traditional egalitarian norms and beliefs are replaced by modern individualistic values. Particularly when opportunities for advancement are unequally presented to people, this transformation may be accompanied by polarization and violent conflict. We

Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy future.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Steven; Majumdar, Arun

2012-08-16

Access to clean, affordable and reliable energy has been a cornerstone of the world's increasing prosperity and economic growth since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Our use of energy in the twenty-first century must also be sustainable. Solar and water-based energy generation, and engineering of microbes to produce biofuels are a few examples of the alternatives. This Perspective puts these opportunities into a larger context by relating them to a number of aspects in the transportation and electricity generation sectors. It also provides a snapshot of the current energy landscape and discusses several research and development opportunities and pathways that could lead to a prosperous, sustainable and secure energy future for the world.

The Economic Cost of Corruption: A Survey and New Evidence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dreher, A.; Herzfeld, T.

2008-01-01

This paper reviews the empirical literature on the economic costs of corruption. Corruption affects economic growth, the level of GDP per capita, investment activity, international trade and price stability negatively. Additionally, it biases the composition of government expenditures. The second

Gender Roles against Opportunities for Entrepreneurship

OpenAIRE

Umam, Khoirul

2017-01-01

Micro, Small and Medium Business activities have a very important role in promoting the economy because this sector has been tested to have resistance to the economic crisis. Micro, Small and Medium Business has wide employment opportunities that can improve people's welfare. But the facts above are not as easy as Micro, Small and Medium Also has some problems, where small businesses Often face natural exa interest of ions with various Difficulties, such as capital constra...

China’s Economic Relations with Indonesia: Threats and Opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Booth

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper examines the development of China’s economic ties with Southeast Asia over the last two decades, culminating in the inauguration of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA in 2010. Particular reference is made to China’s trade ties with Indonesia. Although two-way trade between China and Indonesia has grown rapidly since 2000, Indonesian exports to China are dominated by primary products, while imports from China are dominated by manufactures. While this pattern might reflect short-term comparative advantage in both economies, it is causing some concern in Indonesia. The paper assesses these concerns, and possible political reactions.

ECONOMIC IDENTITY OF THE SOUTH-RUSSIAN REGIONS: RESULTS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Bazhenov

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of the interdisciplinary expert survey «Bottom-up: how the economic identity of the region is manifested in the socio-economic behavior of the individual.» His goal was to detect and record the effects of an economic identity of the region in socio-economic behavior of individuals in various regions of six Federal districts of the Russian Federation. The article focuses on the results of the survey obtained in the regions of the South of Russia, such as the regions of the North Caucasus. The article presents the methodology, describes the technology survey and analysis of obtained results. The authors also draw conclusions about cross-cultural differences in models of economic behavior of the studied ethnic and cultural groups in the South-Russian regions. They show the relationship of economic phenomena of identity and models of economic behavior with social and cultural factors. The nature of these linkages varies among the representatives of different groups, and when we define economic identity, then the factor of religious affiliation less important than the factor of ethnicity.

Inequality of Opportunity and Income Inequality in Nine Chinese Provinces, 1989-2006

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Tor Viking; Zhang, Yingqiang

2010-01-01

's own choices (''effort''). What is the relationship between income inequality and inequality of opportunity? For this purpose we use data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey collected from nine provinces during the period 1989 to 2006. The CHNS has detailed information about incomes and other...... factors enabling us to construct a host of circumstance and effort variables for the offspring. We find that China has a substantial degree of inequality of opportunity. Parental income and parents' type of employer explain about two thirds of the total inequality of opportunity. Notably, parental...

The strategic economic plan and the role of independent power in economic development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

House, D.

1993-01-01

Independent power production (IPP) in Newfoundland was examined within the context of the province's Strategic Economic Plan. Provisions of the Plan were summarized, with special reference to the promotion of alternative energy technologies and government efforts to amend regulations to facilitate development of alternative energy sources by independent producers. IPP was considered to be an ideal tool for regional economic development and diversification, assuming that environmental concerns were carefully considered and addressed. Some of the benefits ascribed to IPP included strengthening the private sector, creating new small business opportunities, improving competitiveness, promoting regional development, contributing to import substitution and enhance the province's technology and knowledge base

Social embeddedness and economic opportunism: a game situation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakalaki, Maria; Fousiani, Kyriaki

2012-06-01

According to Evolutionary Game Theory, multiple exchanges with partners are necessary to foster cooperation. Multiple exchanges with partners tend to enhance the good experience of the partners and the predictability of their behaviour and should therefore increase cooperativeness. This study explored whether social embeddedness, or the preference for close and stable social relationships, a variable which tends to increase multiple exchanges, is associated with more cooperative attitudes; and whether social embeddedness increases cooperative behavior towards unknown partners in a game situation. The first study, with 169 undergraduates, indicated that social embeddedness (preference for close and durable social relations) was negatively associated with opportunistic attitudes. The second study had a sample of 60 undergraduates playing a Trust Game with unknown partners and showed that self-reported social embeddedness was positively correlated with scores for cooperative economic behavior towards the partners. These results highlight the relationships of social embeddedness with cooperative attitudes and behaviour.

78 FR 41031 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Direct Investment Surveys: BE-11, Annual Survey...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-09

... owning foreign business enterprises in the 2009 benchmark survey of U.S. direct investment abroad, along... Request; Direct Investment Surveys: BE-11, Annual Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad AGENCY: Bureau... to Sarahelen Thompson, Acting Chief, Direct Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis...

An exploration of socio-economic and food characteristics of high trans fatty acid consumers in the Dutch and UK national surveys after voluntary product reformulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rippin, H L; Hutchinson, J; Ocke, M; Jewell, J; Breda, J J; Cade, J E

2017-01-01

Trans fatty acids (TFA) increase the risk of mortality and chronic diseases. TFA intakes have fallen since reformulation, but may still be high in certain, vulnerable, groups. This paper investigates socio-economic and food consumption characteristics of high TFA consumers after voluntary reformulation in the Netherlands and UK. Post-reformulation data of adults aged 19-64 was analysed in two national surveys: the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS) collected 2007-2010 using 2*24hr recalls (N = 1933) and the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) years 3&4 collected 2010/11 and 2011/12 using 4-day food diaries (N = 848). The socio-economic and food consumption characteristics of the top 10% and remaining 90% TFA consumers were compared. Means of continuous data were compared using t-tests and categorical data means using chi-squared tests. Multivariate logistic regression models indicated which socio-demographic variables were associated with high TFA consumption. In the Dutch analyses, women and those born outside the Netherlands were more likely to be top 10% TFA consumers than men and Dutch-born. In the UK unadjusted analyses there was no significant trend in socio-economic characteristics between high and lower TFA consumers, but there were regional differences in the multivariate logistic regression analyses. In the Netherlands, high TFA consumers were more likely to be consumers of cakes, buns & pastries; cream; and fried potato than the remaining 90%. Whereas in the UK, high TFA consumers were more likely to be consumers of lamb; cheese; and dairy desserts and lower crisps and savoury snack consumers. Some socio-demographic differences between high and lower TFA consumers were evident post-reformulation. High TFA consumers in the Dutch 2007-10 survey appeared more likely to obtain TFA from artificial sources than those in the UK survey. Further analyses using more up-to-date food composition databases may be needed.

[Use of a Delphi survey to assess the hospital economic impact of innovative products: The example of idarucizumab a dabigatran-specific reversal agent].

Science.gov (United States)

Jamet, N; Thivilliers, A P; Paubel, P; Chevalier, D; Bourguignon, S; Bézie, Y

2017-11-01

The economic impact of therapeutic innovations on the hospital patient management cannot be easily estimated. The objective of this study is to illustrate the use of a Delphi survey as a support tool to identify the changes following the use of idarucizumab in dabigatran-treated patients with uncontrolled/life-threatening bleeding or who required emergency surgery/urgent procedures. The Delphi questionnaires have been administrated to 8 emergency physicians or anesthetists from 6 different hospital centers. Following the answers, an economic valorization has been carried out on every parameter on which a consensus was reached (at least 4 answers showing an identical trend). A mean management cost for each etiology with and without the use of idarucizumab has thus been identified. For gastro-intestinal and other life-threatening bleedings (excepted intracranial bleedings), the total management cost of the hospital stay was respectively 6058 € (-35%) and 6219 € (-34%) following the use of the reversal agent. The hospital management cost for intracranial bleeding is slightly increasing to 9790 € (+3%). The cost of a stay for emergency surgery decreases to 6962€ (-2%). This study shows a positive economic impact following the use of the dabigatran-specific reversal agent for patients with uncontrolled/life-threatening bleeding excepted in the case of intracranial bleeding. Moreover, it points out that a Delphi survey is an easy way to predict the hospital economic impact of a therapeutic innovation when no other evaluation is possible. Copyright © 2017 Académie Nationale de Pharmacie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Evaluating opportunities for text message communication: a survey of parents and teens.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Jones, Jordan T; Chesser, Amy; Weeks, Kerri

2013-09-01

Text messaging is a widespread, cost-effective method for communicating. It is widely used by both parents and teens. The study objective was to survey teens and their parents to assess the capability and willingness of teens to receive healthcare-related text messages from their physician. Parents and teens (12-17 years old) at an adolescent clinic were asked to complete surveys. Surveys were available in hard copy or electronically (via Survey Monkey) using computer kiosks in the waiting room. Approval was received from two local Institutional Review Boards. Of the 93 pairs who began the survey, 47 pairs (51%) qualified and completed both the teen and parent surveys. Over 85% of teens were willing to receive texts from their doctor. Teens were most interested in appointment reminders (81%), immunization reminders (53%), and general test results (for example, strep [53%]). Parents' willingness to allow teens to receive text messages directly varied by content. Many parents preferred to also receive a copy of any text message sent to their teen. Both parents and teens endorse using text messages for appointment reminders. Parents appear willing for their teens to receive some health information directly. Future research should evaluate the efficacy of using text messages for communication with teens to improve care and utilization of services for adolescents.

Business analysis of generation considering environmental opportunities; Analise de negocios de geracao considerando oportunidades ambientais

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cyrillo, Ivo Ordonha [Universidade de Sao Paulo (ENERQ/USP), SP (Brazil). Centro de Estudos em Regulacao e Qualidade de Energia; Pelegrini, Marcelo A.; Gemignani, Matheus M.F.

2008-07-01

The project 'Business's Power Generation Evaluation Considering Environmental Opportunities' is about developing a methodology to analyze feasibility of new power generation factory from the point of view of the investor, examining the technical, economic-financial, risk, regulatory, social and environmental aspects. The opportunities arising from Kyoto Protocol were added in feasibility's analysis. (author)

Clinical laboratory as an economic model for business performance analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Buljanović, Vikica; Patajac, Hrvoje; Petrovečki, Mladen

2011-01-01

Aim To perform SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of a clinical laboratory as an economic model that may be used to improve business performance of laboratories by removing weaknesses, minimizing threats, and using external opportunities and internal strengths. Methods Impact of possible threats to and weaknesses of the Clinical Laboratory at Našice General County Hospital business performance and use of strengths and opportunities to improve operating profit were simulated using models created on the basis of SWOT analysis results. The operating profit as a measure of profitability of the clinical laboratory was defined as total revenue minus total expenses and presented using a profit and loss account. Changes in the input parameters in the profit and loss account for 2008 were determined using opportunities and potential threats, and economic sensitivity analysis was made by using changes in the key parameters. The profit and loss account and economic sensitivity analysis were tools for quantifying the impact of changes in the revenues and expenses on the business operations of clinical laboratory. Results Results of simulation models showed that operational profit of €470 723 in 2008 could be reduced to only €21 542 if all possible threats became a reality and current weaknesses remained the same. Also, operational gain could be increased to €535 804 if laboratory strengths and opportunities were utilized. If both the opportunities and threats became a reality, the operational profit would decrease by €384 465. Conclusion The operational profit of the clinical laboratory could be significantly reduced if all threats became a reality and the current weaknesses remained the same. The operational profit could be increased by utilizing strengths and opportunities as much as possible. This type of modeling may be used to monitor business operations of any clinical laboratory and improve its financial situation by

Trends in adult cardiovascular disease risk factors and their socio-economic patterning in the Scottish population 1995–2008: cross-sectional surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Carolyn; Gray, Linsay; Bromley, Catherine; Capewell, Simon; Leyland, Alastair H

2011-01-01

Objectives To examine secular and socio-economic changes in cardiovascular disease risk factor prevalences in the Scottish population. This could contribute to a better understanding of why the decline in coronary heart disease mortality in Scotland has recently stalled along with a widening of socio-economic inequalities. Design Four Scottish Health Surveys 1995, 1998, 2003 and 2008 (6190, 6656, 5497 and 4202 respondents, respectively, aged 25–64 years) were used to examine gender-stratified, age-standardised prevalences of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, discretionary salt use and self-reported diabetes or hypertension. Prevalences were determined according to education and social class. Inequalities were assessed using the slope index of inequality, and time trends were determined using linear regression. Results There were moderate secular declines in the prevalence of smoking, excess alcohol consumption and physical inactivity. Smoking prevalence declined between 1995 and 2008 from 33.4% (95% CI 31.8% to 35.0%) to 29.9% (27.9% to 31.8%) for men and from 36.1% (34.5% to 37.8%) to 27.4% (25.5% to 29.3%) for women. Adverse trends in prevalence were noted for self-reported diabetes and hypertension. Over the four surveys, the diabetes prevalence increased from 1.9% (1.4% to 2.4%) to 3.6% (2.8% to 4.4%) for men and from 1.7% (1.2% to 2.1%) to 3.0% (2.3% to 3.7%) for women. Socio-economic inequalities were evident for almost all risk factors, irrespective of the measure used. These social gradients appeared to be maintained over the four surveys. An exception was self-reported diabetes where, although inequalities were small, the gradient increased over time. Alcohol consumption was unique in consistently showing an inverse gradient, especially for women. Conclusions There has been only a moderate decline in behavioural cardiovascular risk factor prevalences since 1995, with increases in self-reported diabetes

City Population Growth and Economic Growth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Freire-Gibb, L. Carlos

2008-01-01

This article looks at the relationship between city population growth (intimately related to population proximity), and economic development. The hypothesis is that wherever dynamic and inclusive networks exist, there are more opportunities for economic development in this place. When these types...... of networks choose a tool (project, policy) to implement in the city, success will be more likely. Furthermore, virtuous circles will arise. The author gives an overview of two historical cases in urban growth, in Europe (1200-1800) and the U.S.A. (1800 to today)....

Network Neutrality : A Survey of the Economic Literature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuett, F.

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the small but growing economic literature on network neutrality. It considers a number of possible departures from network neutrality, in particular termination fees, second-degree price discrimination, and vertical foreclosure.

Continuing Professional Development in the quantity surveying ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1991-01-01

Jan 1, 1991 ... The research established that quantity surveyors regarded handing in their CPD ... Surveying, Walter Sisulu University, PO Box 1421, East London, 5200, South Africa. ... Keywords: Continuing professional development, quantity surveying, perception .... In spite of this opportunity enshrined in the Act, the.

The effect of an affordable daycare program on health and economic well-being in Rajasthan, India: protocol for a cluster-randomized impact evaluation study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arijit Nandi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The provision of affordable and reliable daycare services is a potentially important policy lever for empowering Indian women. Access to daycare might reduce barriers to labor force entry and generate economic opportunities for women, improve education for girls caring for younger siblings, and promote nutrition and learning among children. However, empirical evidence concerning the effects of daycare programs in low-and-middle-income countries is scarce. This cluster-randomized trial will estimate the effect of a community-based daycare program on health and economic well-being over the life-course among women and children living in rural Rajasthan, India. Methods This three-year study takes place in rural communities from five blocks in the Udaipur District of rural Rajasthan. The intervention is the introduction of a full-time, affordable, community-based daycare program. At baseline, 3177 mothers with age eligible children living in 160 village hamlets were surveyed. After the baseline, these hamlets were randomized to the intervention or control groups and respondents will be interviewed on two more occasions. Primary social and economic outcomes include women’s economic status and economic opportunity, women’s empowerment, and children’s educational attainment. Primary health outcomes include women’s mental health, as well as children’s nutritional status. Discussion This interdisciplinary research initiative will provide rigorous evidence concerning the effects of daycare in lower-income settings. In doing so it will address an important research gap and has the potential to inform policies for improving the daycare system in India in ways that promote health and economic well-being. Trial registration (1 The ISRCTN clinical trial registry (ISRCTN45369145, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN45369145 , registered on May 16, 2016 and (2 The American Economic Association’s registry for randomized controlled trials

Sex-Role Stereotyping and Work: Opportunities for the Home Economics Teacher

Science.gov (United States)

McClelland, Jerry

1977-01-01

A discussion of two problems: (1) That career choices of men and women are limited by sex role stereotypes and (2) that occupations related to home economics and other traditionally female occupations tend to be low-pay, dead-end jobs. Some solutions and teaching strategies are offered. (HD)

75 FR 53611 - Direct Investment Surveys: BE-577, Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad-Direct...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

...] RIN 0691-AA75 Direct Investment Surveys: BE-577, Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad--Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce...-577 quarterly survey of U.S. direct investment abroad. The survey is conducted quarterly and obtains...

Circular economy opportunity in the wind industry. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellini, Robert

2015-05-01

The objective of this study is to identify how the circular economy can be an opportunity for the French wind industry. A broad review of circular economy issues for the wind industry value chain has been conducted in order to be used as a decision making tool for ADEME and the wind industry stakeholders. First of all, a 'flow analysis' (including material, logistic and services related to wind power) has been carried out in order to highlight the specific challenges of circular economy for the wind sector. The strategic opportunities that meet these issues have then been identified. A selection of six opportunities has been further investigated to assess the benefits, to analyze the barriers and to identify actions that ADEME could initiate to foster these opportunities. These investigated opportunities are the following: - To structure a recycling chain for wind blades; - To promote the business model of the extension of wind turbine's lifetime; - To promote skills improvement of local providers for reconditioning and maintenance services; - To adapt the offshore hubs to integrate dismantling activity of onshore equipments; - To increase the manufacturing capacity of wind towers in France to increase local sourcing; - To encourage the creation of a leading French manufacturer to optimize the supply chain. In the light of this analysis, it can be concluded that circular economy represents a strategic opportunity for the French wind energy sector. The opportunities we focused on make up a consistent set of initiatives that improve the environmental, economic and social performance of the wind energy sector by strengthening industrial activities and services throughout all the life cycle: manufacturing stage (optimization of logistics flows and local manufacturing), use phase (maintenance, repair) and end-of-life phase of wind turbine (dismantling, recycling). While the sector has so far been focused on better solving technological challenges and

A Cross-Cultural Multi-agent Model of Opportunism in Trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofstede, G.J.; Jonker, C.M.; Verwaart, D.

2010-01-01

According to transaction cost economics, contracts are always incomplete and offer opportunities to defect. Some level of trust is a sine qua non for trade. If the seller is better informed about product quality than the buyer, the buyer has to rely on information the seller provides or has to check

Sustainable energy. Economic growth for the Netherlands with green potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sijbesma, F.; Oudeman, M.

2010-02-01

Research of the economic potential and options for enhancing renewable energy in the Netherlands. The following research questions were addressed: What is the current and future economic value of renewable energy in the Netherlands?; What are the areas in which the Netherlands has a unique point of departure with respect to knowledge and activities?; How can the economic potential be optimally deployed? Can the opportunities be increased by making it a key area?; What are other ways are there to enhance the economic development?. [nl

The Nature of Introductory Economics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Koscielniak, James

1975-01-01

A questionnaire was developed to determine the content, mode of instruction, approach, and textbook selection of instructors of introductory economics courses. The survey was distributed in 1974 to 143 economics instructors at two- and four-year colleges in Illinois. Results are presented here, and recommendations are made. (Author/NHM)

Organizational and leadership perceptions assessment: opportunities and challenges using the Baldrige companion surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Colombo, Lisa M; Perla, Rocco J; Carifio, James; Bernhardt, Jean M; Slayton, Val W

2011-01-01

Combining the use of employee perception surveys with sound analytical techniques and models is critical to capturing high quality data from which effective decisions can be made in complex healthcare settings. This study used the Baldrige Award companion surveys with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) framework to identify discordant perceptions of hospital staff and leadership in the areas of customer focus, knowledge management, and results that were significant at the 0.05 and 0.01 levels. Senior leaders in the organization found the ANOVA framework helpful as they interpreted results from the Baldrige companion surveys and planned future improvement activities. During the execution of our study a number of difficulties and challenges arose that are not uncommon to survey administration in smaller settings, such as community hospitals, or in larger hospital settings with no research staff or research staff with relevant psychometric expertise. Our experience suggests that the Baldrige companion survey process would be enhanced by providing organizations with general guidance and protocols for optimal survey administration and data analysis. The purpose of this article is to outline the ANOVA model we used with the Baldrige companion surveys and to provide guidance related to the administration and analysis of these companion surveys for those that use them. © 2010 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

76 FR 66872 - International Services Surveys: Amendments to the BE-150, Quarterly Survey of Cross-Border Credit...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-28

... Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, would conduct the survey under the International... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Economic Analysis 15 CFR Part 801 [Docket No. 110817508-1529-01...-Border Credit, Debit, and Charge Card Transactions AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce. ACTION...

Performance Agent Groups in the Promotion of Smart Economic Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krūzmētra Maiga

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Any country is interested in economic growth regardless of its development level in any period; yet an increasingly important role in defining growth is played by the term ‘smart growth’. The EU development strategy until 2020 defines smart growth as a strategic objective. Smart growth does not take place automatically. It is affected both by the condition of the economic, social and natural environments and by subjective factors - the competence of performance agents. The present research distinguished three groups of rural space and regional performance agents: national institutions, local governments and communities of residents of the territories examined by the research. The research summarised the opinions of experts (Latvia n=171; Lithuania n=163 from the south-eastern part of Latvia and the north-eastern part of Lithuania with the purpose of assessing the contribution of the performance agent groups to the promotion of smart economic growth. The research aimed to identify the positive indications of the contribution made by each performance agent group as well as the largest problems affecting the promotion of smart economic growth in each country. Despite the fact that the sample groups were not representative (did not reflect the views of the entire population, the obtained survey data and the results of this analysis provided insight into the performance agents’ action ratings from the bottom-up position and allowed comparing the situations in Latvia and Lithuania. The research has become an urgent task in project No. 5.2.3 “Rural and Regional Development Processes and Opportunities in Latvia in the Context of Knowledge Economy” in National Research Programme 5.2. "Economic Transformation, Smart Growth, Governance and Legal Framework for the State and Society for Sustainable Development - a New Approach to the Creation of a Sustainable Learning Community: EKOSOC-LV”.

Complex surveys analysis of categorical data

CERN Document Server

Mukhopadhyay, Parimal

2016-01-01

The primary objective of this book is to study some of the research topics in the area of analysis of complex surveys which have not been covered in any book yet. It discusses the analysis of categorical data using three models: a full model, a log-linear model and a logistic regression model. It is a valuable resource for survey statisticians and practitioners in the field of sociology, biology, economics, psychology and other areas who have to use these procedures in their day-to-day work. It is also useful for courses on sampling and complex surveys at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. The importance of sample surveys today cannot be overstated. From voters’ behaviour to fields such as industry, agriculture, economics, sociology, psychology, investigators generally resort to survey sampling to obtain an assessment of the behaviour of the population they are interested in. Many large-scale sample surveys collect data using complex survey designs like multistage stratified cluster designs. The o...

The Status of Econometrics in the Economics Major: A Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Bruce K.; Perry, John J.; Petkus, Marie

2012-01-01

In this article, the authors describe the place of econometrics in undergraduate economics curricula in all American colleges and universities that offer economics majors as listed in the "U.S. News & World Report" "Best Colleges 2010" guide ("U.S. News & World Report" 2009). Data come from online catalogs, departmental Web sites, and online…

Melanoma survivorship: research opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveria, Susan A; Hay, Jennifer L; Geller, Alan C; Heneghan, Maureen K; McCabe, Mary S; Halpern, Allan C

2007-03-01

The rising incidence and mortality rates of melanoma, the most fatal form of skin cancer, are among the greatest increases of all preventable cancers over the past decade. However, because of recent advances in early detection, secondary prevention efforts, and treatment, the number of melanoma survivors is increasing. Little research has been conducted on melanoma survivors and important opportunities exist for research in this understudied population. Here, we outline the important research opportunities related to the study of melanoma survivorship and summarize the paucity of literature currently available. A computerized literature search was performed of the MEDLINE database of the National Library of Medicine from 1966-2005. The scope of the search was limited to those studies published in English. The search was conducted using the following MeSH headings: melanoma, neoplasms, skin neoplasms, survival, and survival rate. The reference lists of relevant book chapters and review articles were further reviewed, and printed materials from recent scientific meetings addressing this topic were obtained. Several factors that affect melanoma survivors warrant further study, including: physiologic long-term effects; psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive factors; demographic characteristics; surveillance practices; recurrences, secondary primaries, and other cancers; family members of survivors; and economic issues, access to health care/life insurance. Understanding recurrence and second primary cancer risk, psychosocial and cognitive characteristics, behaviors, surveillance patterns, economic sequelae, and family issues of melanoma survivors is important from a public health standpoint to promote the health and well-being of this cohort. Melanoma is an understudied cancer, and the incidence and mortality of this disease are increasing. Describing the long term burden of this cancer and identifying factors that contribute to them will facilitate efforts to develop

Through economics to Noble goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pantelić Svetlana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Angus Deaton, is the economist most famous for his work related to health, welfare and economic development. In its press release the Nobel Prize Committee highlighted: 'To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices. More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding. By linking detailed individual choices and aggregate outcomes, his research has helped transform the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and development economics. Deaton's focus on household surveys has helped transform development economics from a theoretical field based on aggregate data to an empirical field based on detailed individual data.'.

Gender Differentials in Inequality of Educational Opportunities: New Evidence from an Indian Youth Study

OpenAIRE

Ashish Singh; Abhishek Singh; Saseendran Pallikadavath; Faujdar Ram

2014-01-01

Using data from the ‘Youth in India: Situation and Needs’ survey, this article provides perhaps the first estimates of inequality of opportunity in schooling outcomes for males and females separately for six Indian states. The inequality of educational opportunity in completion of primary (and secondary) schooling among females is more than twice (and nearly twice) that among males. Further, among females, only 20 per cent of total schooling opportunities needed for universal completion of se...

Comparative Economics Systems in the Undergraduate Curriculum: An Update

Science.gov (United States)

Kovzik, Alexander; Johnson, Marianne

2016-01-01

In this study, the authors report on the status of comparative economics systems in the U.S. undergraduate economics curriculum. The treatment of comparative economics systems topics in introductory courses is examined through a survey of standard textbooks. To evaluate comparative economics systems at the advanced undergraduate level, they rely…

77 FR 10958 - International Services Surveys: BE-150, Quarterly Survey of Cross-Border Credit, Debit, and...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-24

... Emond, Chief, Special Surveys Branch, Balance of Payments Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis... the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, 22 U.S.C. 3101- [[Page 10959

Targeting Employment Expansion, Economic Growth and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Outlines of an Alternative Economic Programme for the Region

OpenAIRE

James Heintz; Robert Pollin

2008-01-01

This paper outlines the elements of a development-targeted economic framework aimed at creating decent employment opportunities as a strategy for realizing core human development goals in Africa. Four policy areas form the core of the paper: monetary policy and inflation, exchange rate policy, development finance and financial sector reforms, and public investment and fiscal policy. This paper draws heavily on three large UNDP-sponsored studies of employment-oriented economic policies in Keny...

Opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology in the green economy.

Science.gov (United States)

Iavicoli, Ivo; Leso, Veruscka; Ricciardi, Walter; Hodson, Laura L; Hoover, Mark D

2014-10-07

In a world of finite resources and ecosystem capacity, the prevailing model of economic growth, founded on ever-increasing consumption of resources and emission pollutants, cannot be sustained any longer. In this context, the "green economy" concept has offered the opportunity to change the way that society manages the interaction of the environmental and economic domains. To enable society to build and sustain a green economy, the associated concept of "green nanotechnology" aims to exploit nano-innovations in materials science and engineering to generate products and processes that are energy efficient as well as economically and environmentally sustainable. These applications are expected to impact a large range of economic sectors, such as energy production and storage, clean up-technologies, as well as construction and related infrastructure industries. These solutions may offer the opportunities to reduce pressure on raw materials trading on renewable energy, to improve power delivery systems to be more reliable, efficient and safe as well as to use unconventional water sources or nano-enabled construction products therefore providing better ecosystem and livelihood conditions.However, the benefits of incorporating nanomaterials in green products and processes may bring challenges with them for environmental, health and safety risks, ethical and social issues, as well as uncertainty concerning market and consumer acceptance. Therefore, our aim is to examine the relationships among guiding principles for a green economy and opportunities for introducing nano-applications in this field as well as to critically analyze their practical challenges, especially related to the impact that they may have on the health and safety of workers involved in this innovative sector. These are principally due to the not fully known nanomaterial hazardous properties, as well as to the difficulties in characterizing exposure and defining emerging risks for the workforce

A social work study on different entrepreneurship opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Zakeri Nasrabadi

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Entrepreneurs are big potentials for developing economy in any countries. They provide new job opportunities and help economy boost. There are literally many industries, which rely on new these people and they are considered as the primary source of generating new jobs. In this paper, we discuss three entrepreneurship opportunities including universities, technical and vocational centers and women. Universities are able to educate highly skilled people and send them to business and they are able to create new ideas. Technical and vocational centers are, in fact, the best place for training basic or recent advances in technological skills through short term or long term planning. The survey also indicates that women can be considered as a good source of job creation. In this paper, we review the recent related literature on entrepreneurship opportunities in the world and discuss some of the related issues more specifically in Iran.

Blended Learning Opportunities in Ukrainian IT Public Education

Science.gov (United States)

Szimkovics, Tamás

2017-01-01

Based on previous surveys the usage of ICT and blended learning is at a low level in Ukraine. To catch up with the European average, it is important to familiarize the students and teachers with blended learning in the secondary school. The information technology classes provide the best opportunity to introduce the blended learning, because they…

Gender and socio-economic inequalities in health and living conditions among co-resident informal caregivers: a nationwide survey in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Abajo, María; Rodríguez-Sanz, Maica; Malmusi, Davide; Salvador, María; Borrell, Carme

2017-03-01

To explore the associations between social determinants, caregiver's network support, burden of care and their consequences in health and living conditions of informal caregivers. The socio-demographic trends regarding population ageing and changes in family models trigger an increased demand for care. Cross-sectional study based on the 2008 edition of the National Disability, Independence and Dependency Situations Survey (DIDSS-2008) conducted by the National Statistics Institute in Spain. Analyses focused on persons identified as primary caregivers who co-reside with the dependent person. The associations between social determinants of caregivers, burden of care, support network and problems attributed to informal care (impaired health, depression, professional, economic and personal issues) were estimated by fitting robust Poisson regression models. Analyses were conducted separately for women and men. The study sample included 6923 caregivers, 73% of women and 27% of men. Gender and socio-economic inequalities were found in assumption of responsibilities and burden of caring for dependents, which tend to fall more on women and persons of lower socio-economic level, who in turn have less access to formal support. These aspects translate into a higher prevalence of health, professional, economic and personal problems. The study highlights gender and socio-economic inequalities in informal caregiving and its negative consequences. These findings may be useful in the design of policies and support programmes targeting the most affected groups of informal caregivers. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Blue Growth and Economics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phoebe eKoundouri

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Oceans and seas represent over 70% of the earth's surface. Furthermore, living aquatic resources can provide a significant contribution to food, energy and bio-based products. However, marine ecosystems are subject to increasing pressures and competing usages, resulting from resources over-exploitation and pollution. In order to produce efficient marine management plans, it is essential to consider the total economic value provided by the marine ecosystems. In this review, we are focusing on the Marine Framework Strategy Directive and the European Marine Spatial Planning that are established for the protection and efficient use of the marine area. We present the ecosystem services approach with regards to the marine ecosystem and propose economic methods that capture the marine ecosystem’s total economic value in relation to the opportunity cost of marine space. Values should be used to guide policy makers following the European directives and initiatives.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HORAŢIU ŞOIM

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The problems of wealth and economic performance are old but despite their importance we have not a final answer on them. Besides the standard production factors usually stresed when we analyze economic performance and growth, land, labor and capital, we approach institutions in general and entrepreneurial culture in particular. In this paper we analyze the relationship between entreprenurship, defined by many dimensions derived from the study „Entrepreneurship in the EU and beyond.” requested by European Comission to the Gallup Internaitional, and economic performance measured by GDP/capita. The results show that countries where there is a strong entrepreneurial culture that promote initiative, opportunity seeking, risk taking aare doing better in terms of development level and wealth. At the same time the countries where the entrepreneurs have a good image in society, and thus promote entrepreneurship, are doing beter than the other countries.

Immigrant Capital and Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malavika Sundararajan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: The main objective of this study is to define and operationalize the concept of immigrant capital, a key factor that differentiates immigrant from host country entrepreneurs in how they recognize and start new ventures. Research Design & Methods: A detailed analysis of contemporary immigrant entrepreneurship and opportunity recognition literature was carried out. Using grounded theory, we synthesized the outcomes from the analysis of eight Canadian and U.S. case studies of successful immigrant entrepreneurs with the key findings from the literature to define and develop a model of immigrant capital. Findings: Based on our grounded theory development process we show that the concept of immigrant capital as a distillate of human, cultural, economic and social capital that goes beyond expected opportunity recognition (OR drivers like prior knowledge and prior experience to differentiate and enhance the immigrant entrepreneur’s ability to recognize business opportunities compared to host country entrepreneurs. We found immigrant capital to be a consequence of being boundary spanners in host and home country networks. Implications & Recommendations: Understanding a unique resource like immigrant capital, will help immigrant as well as host country entrepreneurs further develop their opportunity recognition ability by bridging gaps and fulfilling the needs for both, immigrant and host country consumers. Contribution & Value Added: The main contribution is the theoretical development, identification and definition of the immigrant capital model and propositions that will articulate the factors that lead to the conceptualization and operationalization of immigrant capital. Furthermore, the immigrant capital model can serve host country entrepreneurs to develop cross-cultural networks and jump-start entrepreneurial activities in their home countries as well as learn how to expand their operations into global markets.

Economic impact

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Technology Transfer Department

2001-06-01

In federal fiscal year 2000 (FY00), Berkeley Lab had 4,347 full- and part-time employees. In addition, at any given time of the year, there were more than 1,000 Laboratory guests. These guests, who also reside locally, have an important economic impact on the nine-county Bay Area. However, Berkeley Lab's total economic impact transcends the direct effects of payroll and purchasing. The direct dollars paid to the Lab's employees in the form of wages, salaries, and benefits, and payments made to contractors for goods and services, are respent by employees and contractors again and again in the local and greater economy. Further, while Berkeley Lab has a strong reputation for basic scientific research, many of the Lab's scientific discoveries and inventions have had direct application in industry, spawning new businesses and creating new opportunities for existing firms. This analysis updates the Economic Impact Analysis done in 1996, and its purpose is to describe the economic and geographic impact of Laboratory expenditures and to provide a qualitative understanding of how Berkeley Lab impacts and supports the local community. It is intended as a guide for state, local, and national policy makers as well as local community members. Unless otherwise noted, this analysis uses data from FY00, the most recent year for which full data are available.

Livestock farming in coconut plantations in Sri Lanka: Constraints and opportunities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Samarajeewa, A.D.; Schiere, J.B.; Ibrahim, M.N.M.; Viets, T.C.

2003-01-01

A study was carried out to identify biological and socio-economic constraints and opportunities for livestock development in coconut plantations in Sri Lanka. One part of the study focussed on the use of participatory rural appraisal to establish felt needs of different farmer categories in terms of

Are MS in Economics Programs in Departments That Also Have a PhD Program in Economics Different from Their Counterparts?

Science.gov (United States)

Milkman, Martin I.; Marjadi, Riza; McCoy, James P.

2016-01-01

This is the first article that compares terminal master's degree programs in economics from universities that have a PhD program in economics with those that do not offer PhD programs in economics. The authors compare these differences based on surveys in 2002 and 2012. They examine differences in general program characteristics, department…

Residential construction cost: An Italian survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Canesi, Rubina; Marella, Giuliano

2017-04-01

This paper reports data describing development projects for new buildings according to construction costs in North-East Italy. A survey was carried out on local companies undertaking new residential development projects in two Italian regions (Veneto and Lombardy). The aim of this survey was to record new real estate construction projects, collecting both technical and socio-economic cost features. It is extremely difficult to collect such data for the Italian real estate construction sector, due to its lack of transparency, so that the novelty for the Italian scenario is the dataset itself. Another interest perspective of this survey is that socio-economic characteristics were also recorded; they are often studied in urban economics, but are usually related to property purchase prices and values, not to construction costs. The data come from an analysis of Canesi and Marella regarding the relationship between the trend of construction costs and the socio-economic conditions of the reference setting, such as the mean years of schooling of the workforce, housing market trends, and average per capita income.

Residential construction cost: An Italian survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rubina Canesi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper reports data describing development projects for new buildings according to construction costs in North-East Italy. A survey was carried out on local companies undertaking new residential development projects in two Italian regions (Veneto and Lombardy. The aim of this survey was to record new real estate construction projects, collecting both technical and socio-economic cost features. It is extremely difficult to collect such data for the Italian real estate construction sector, due to its lack of transparency, so that the novelty for the Italian scenario is the dataset itself. Another interest perspective of this survey is that socio-economic characteristics were also recorded; they are often studied in urban economics, but are usually related to property purchase prices and values, not to construction costs. The data come from an analysis of Canesi and Marella regarding the relationship between the trend of construction costs and the socio-economic conditions of the reference setting, such as the mean years of schooling of the workforce, housing market trends, and average per capita income.

Opportunities for renewable biomass in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Background information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Buck, A.; Croezen, H.

2009-04-01

The Dutch province of Zeeland is organizing three bio-debates to map economically attractive and renewable biomass opportunities. Participants included industrial businesses, ZLTO, ZMF, Zeeland Seaports, Impuls Zeeland, Hogeschool Zeeland and the University of Ghent. CE Delft is organizing the debates and provides the expertise in this field. In the first debate (Goes, 22 January 2009) the main lines for deployment of biomass in Zeeland were established. One of the conclusions was that there are opportunities for existing industry to implement new technology for large-scale use of (imported) biomass. As for agriculture, there may be opportunities for high-quality chemicals from agricultural crops. Agriculture and industry have opportunities in the short term for better and more high-quality utilization of existing residual flows of biomass. The second and third debate should address concrete opportunities for the industry and agriculture in Zeeland. This report is background information to support the debates. [nl

Challenges and opportunities for REDD+

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pasgaard, Maya; Sun, Zhanli; Müller, Daniel

2016-01-01

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a promising mechanism of payments for ecosystem services with the aim to effectively reduce emissions in an efficient and equitable manner. REDD+ is part of the Paris-agreement reached at the UNFCCC COP21 in December 2015...... the opportunities and challenges of REDD+ for achieving effective, efficient and equitable outcomes and co-benefits (3E+). We substantiate our survey results with a literature review. Results suggest that the challenges in achieving the 3E+ relate to the disproportionality between deforestation drivers...

The macro-economic significance of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brookes, L.G.

1983-01-01

The role of energy in economic systems and interpretation of energy statistics are discussed together with energy conservation and the two-way interaction between energy and economic activity. Misconceptions about the relative roles of energy conservation and new energy supply, and about the link between energy investment and jobs are described. It is concluded that price-induced energy saving measures are appropriate but not sufficient when energy prices rise; they should be accompanied by measures to increase the supply of low-cost/low-priced energy. The role of nuclear energy is two-fold: first, as a contribution to new energy supply and, secondly, in offering new economic opportunities. (UK)

Plant molecular farming: Opportunities and challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valkova Rumyana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The modern human life is impossible without products derived from the classical, contemporary biotechnology. However, large scale production of biotechnology wares opens a discussion about the economic impact, waste management, biosafety, and bioethical issues. Plant molecular farming offers a relatively inexpensive option for yielding of many valuable products and demonstrates number of advantages over the classical technologies, but also brings the question of further development perspectives, hazard identification and risk assessment. This review is focused on those two questions: opportunities offered and challenges faced by modern plant molecular farming systems.

Women and Economic Development in Cameroon.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryson, Judy C.

Based on a survey of written sources and perspectives of knowledgeable individuals, the report provides information on women's economic roles in Cameroon, and on aspects of social life which effect their economic performance. A description of the importance of traditional social systems and their evolution over the last 30 years follows a brief…

Techno-economic analysis of corn stover fungal fermentation to ethanol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyer, Pimphan A.; Tews, Iva J.; Magnuson, Jon K.; Karagiosis, Sue A.; Jones, Susanne B.

2013-11-01

This techno-economic analysis assesses the process economics of ethanol production from lignocellulosic feedstock by fungi to identify promising opportunities, and the research needed to achieve them. Based on literature derived data, four different ethanologen strains are considered in this study: native and recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the natural pentose-fermenting yeast, Pichia stipitis and the filamentous fungus Fusarium oxysporum. In addition, filamentous fungi are applied in multi-organism and consolidated process configurations. Organism performance and technology readiness are categorized as near-term (<5 years), mid-term (5-10 years), and long-term (>10 years) process deployment. The results of the analysis suggest that the opportunity for fungal fermentation exists for lignocellulosic ethanol production.

Economic School Integration: An Update. The Century Foundation Issue Brief Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahlenberg, Richard D.

In 2000, an Idea Brief asserted that the best way to improve education would be to give every schoolchild the opportunity to attend a middle class public school (economic school integration). This brief reviews recent research and policy developments regarding economic school integration, noting that school segregation based on socioeconomic…

Benchmarking of nuclear economics tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, Megan; Korinny, Andriy; Shropshire, David; Sadhankar, Ramesh

2017-01-01

Highlights: • INPRO and GIF economic tools exhibited good alignment in total capital cost estimation. • Subtle discrepancies in the cost result from differences in financing and the fuel cycle assumptions. • A common set of assumptions was found to reduce the discrepancies to 1% or less. • Opportunities for harmonisation of economic tools exists. - Abstract: Benchmarking of the economics methodologies developed by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO), was performed for three Generation IV nuclear energy systems. The Economic Modeling Working Group of GIF developed an Excel based spreadsheet package, G4ECONS (Generation 4 Excel-based Calculation Of Nuclear Systems), to calculate the total capital investment cost (TCIC) and the levelised unit energy cost (LUEC). G4ECONS is sufficiently generic in the sense that it can accept the types of projected input, performance and cost data that are expected to become available for Generation IV systems through various development phases and that it can model both open and closed fuel cycles. The Nuclear Energy System Assessment (NESA) Economic Support Tool (NEST) was developed to enable an economic analysis using the INPRO methodology to easily calculate outputs including the TCIC, LUEC and other financial figures of merit including internal rate of return, return of investment and net present value. NEST is also Excel based and can be used to evaluate nuclear reactor systems using the open fuel cycle, MOX (mixed oxide) fuel recycling and closed cycles. A Super Critical Water-cooled Reactor system with an open fuel cycle and two Fast Reactor systems, one with a break-even fuel cycle and another with a burner fuel cycle, were selected for the benchmarking exercise. Published data on capital and operating costs were used for economics analyses using G4ECONS and NEST tools. Both G4ECONS and

The economic lot size and relevant costs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Corbeij, M.H.; Jansen, R.A.; Grübström, R.W.; Hinterhuber, H.H.; Lundquist, J.

1993-01-01

In many accounting textbooks it is strongly argued that decisions should always be evaluated on relevant costs; that is variable costs and opportunity costs. Surprisingly, when it comes to Economic Order Quantities or Lot Sizes, some textbooks appear to be less straightforward. The question whether

Big data in economics: evolution or revolution?

OpenAIRE

Reichlin, L; De Mol, C; Gautier, E; Giannnone, D; Mullainathan, S; van Dijk, H; Wooldridge, J

2017-01-01

The Big Data Era creates a lot of exciting opportunities for new developments in economics and econometrics. At the same time, however, the analysis of large datasets poses difficult methodological problems that should be addressed\\ud appropriately and are the subject of the present chapter.

Economic Analysis of Nuclear Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Man Ki; Moon, K. H.; Kim, S. S.; Lim, C. Y.; Oh, K. B.

2006-12-01

It has been well recognized that securing economic viabilities along with technologies are very important elements in the successful implementation of nuclear R and D projects. The objective of the Project is to help nuclear energy to be utilized in an efficient way by analyzing major issues related with nuclear economics. The study covers following subjects: the role of nuclear in the future electric supply system, economic analysis of nuclear R and D project, contribution to the regional economy from nuclear power. In addition, the study introduces the international cooperation in the methodological area of efficient use of nuclear energy by surveying the international activities related with nuclear economics

Economic Analysis of Nuclear Energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Man Ki; Moon, K. H.; Kim, S. S.; Lim, C. Y.; Oh, K. B

2006-12-15

It has been well recognized that securing economic viabilities along with technologies are very important elements in the successful implementation of nuclear R and D projects. The objective of the Project is to help nuclear energy to be utilized in an efficient way by analyzing major issues related with nuclear economics. The study covers following subjects: the role of nuclear in the future electric supply system, economic analysis of nuclear R and D project, contribution to the regional economy from nuclear power. In addition, the study introduces the international cooperation in the methodological area of efficient use of nuclear energy by surveying the international activities related with nuclear economics.

Opportunity Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Louise Møller; Lassen, Astrid Heidemann; Tollestrup, Christian

2012-01-01

Creating and growing new businesses is basically about turning an entrepreneurial opportunity into future business. In literature the emergence of opportunities is often described as opportunity recognition or opportunity discovery, which points to the understanding that opportunities are out the...

Estimation of economic losses due to Peste de Petits Ruminants in small ruminants in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Singh

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Aim: To develop a simple mathematical model to assess the losses due to peste des petits ruminants (PPR in small ruminants in India. Materials and Methods: The study was based on cases and deaths in goats and sheep due to PPR from the average combined data on ovine/caprine as published by Government of India for the last 5 years (2008-2012. All possible direct and indirect losses due to the disease, viz. mortality losses, losses due to direct reduction in milk/wool yield, losses due to reproduction failure, body weight losses, treatment costs and opportunity costs, were considered to provide estimate of annual economic losses due to PPR in sheep and goats in India. Based on cases and deaths as reported in sample survey studies, the annual economic loss was also estimated. Results: On the basis of data reported by Government of India, the study has shown average annual economic loss of Rs. 167.83 lacs, of which Rs. 125.67 lacs and Rs. 42.16 lacs respectively are due to the incidence of the disease in goats and sheep. Morbidity losses constituted the greater share of the total loss in both goats and sheep (56.99% and 61.34%, respectively. Among different components of morbidity loss, direct body weight loss was the most significant in both goats and sheep. Based on cases and deaths as reported in sample survey studies, the estimated annual economic loss due to PPR in goats and sheep is Rs. 8895.12 crores, of which Rs. 5477.48 and Rs. 3417.64 crores respectively are due to the disease in goats and sheep. Conclusion: The low economic losses as reported based on Government of India data points towards underreporting of cases and deaths due to the disease. The study thus revealed a significant loss due to PPR in small ruminants on a large scale.

Effect of Socio-Economic Status of Parents on Educational ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effect of Socio-Economic Status of Parents on Educational Attainment of Female ... of educational infrastructure like textbooks and well-equipped laboratories. ... homes the opportunity to acquire basic primary education to university level.

Reforms, environmental concerns spurring growth opportunities for gas, electricity in U.S., Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carson, M.

1998-01-01

As the 21st century approaches, deregulation of developed economies, economic liberalization, and an emphasis on cleaner fuels are creating significant growth opportunities for electricity, natural gas, and other forms of energy on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The paper discusses the US status, European vs. US fuel use, dominant fuels vs. strategies, fuel use trends, opportunities for electricity growth, and trends and observations. An additional section describes the slowing of the trillion dollar international independent power market

Chinese traders in Serbia: Gender opportunities, translocal family strategies, and transnational mobility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maja Korać-Sanderson

2013-12-01

In this paper I focus on Chinese trading migration to Serbia. I argue that in choosing destinations for their businesses Chinese traders increasingly opt for underdeveloped regions and transition societies not because they provide good business opportunities measured by economic indicators alone. Rather, these destinations are chosen because they provide better opportunities for an entrepreneurial life embedded in self-reliance and self-management. Some of these opportunities, as my discussion will demonstrate, are importantly gendered, opening up new gender space for young families and for women in particular. My discussion will further point out that because business opportunities in Serbia do not necessarily imply desirable living conditions, Chinese traders diversify their family strategies, which are translocally and transnationally negotiated. In doing so, I argue, they become protagonists, actively involved in establishing their livelihoods and flexible ways of incorporation.

Areva T and D market opportunities after the US and EU Blackouts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hakansson, K

2004-02-01

This document presents the events on the transmission systems during August 2003 in Usa and in September 2003 in Italy. The author analyzes the causes of the blackouts (small margins in transmission system, not adequate control, weaknesses in interconnections between regions), the market opportunity arising out of the blackouts, the economic regulatory and environmental structure/issues today and developments, the scenario for Areva after the blackout (the market size today and in the future) and Areva strength in relation to blackout. (A.L.B.) opportunities.

Areva T and D market opportunities after the US and EU Blackouts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakansson, K.

2004-02-01

This document presents the events on the transmission systems during August 2003 in Usa and in September 2003 in Italy. The author analyzes the causes of the blackouts (small margins in transmission system, not adequate control, weaknesses in interconnections between regions), the market opportunity arising out of the blackouts, the economic regulatory and environmental structure/issues today and developments, the scenario for Areva after the blackout (the market size today and in the future) and Areva strength in relation to blackout. (A.L.B.) opportunities

Perceptions of Scholars in the Field of Economics on Co-Authorship Associations: Evidence from an International Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sameer; Ratnavelu, Kuru

2016-01-01

Scholars (n = 580) from 69 countries who had contributed articles in the field of Economics during the year 2015 participated in a survey that gauged their perceptions of various aspects of co-authorship, including its benefits, motivations, working relationships, order of authorship and association preferences. Among the main findings, significant differences emerged in the proportion of co-authored papers based on age, gender and number of years the researchers had spent in their present institution. Female scholars had a greater proportion of co-authored papers than male scholars. Respondents considered improved quality of paper, contribution of mutual expertise, and division of labor as the biggest benefits of and motivation for co-authorship. Contrary to common perceptions that Economics researchers used a predominantly alphabetical order of authorship, our study found that a considerable percentage of respondents (34.5%) had practiced an order of authorship based on the significance of the authors' contribution to the work. The relative importance of tasks differed significantly according to whether researchers co-authored as mentors or co-authored as colleagues. Lastly, researchers were found to associate, to varying degrees, with other researchers based on socio-academic parameters, such as nationality, ethnicity, gender, professional position and friendship. The study indicates that Economics authors perceive co-authorship as a rewarding endeavor. Nonetheless, the level of contribution and even the choice of association itself as a co-author depends to a great extent on the type of working relationship and socio-academic factors.

Perceptions of Scholars in the Field of Economics on Co-Authorship Associations: Evidence from an International Survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sameer Kumar

Full Text Available Scholars (n = 580 from 69 countries who had contributed articles in the field of Economics during the year 2015 participated in a survey that gauged their perceptions of various aspects of co-authorship, including its benefits, motivations, working relationships, order of authorship and association preferences. Among the main findings, significant differences emerged in the proportion of co-authored papers based on age, gender and number of years the researchers had spent in their present institution. Female scholars had a greater proportion of co-authored papers than male scholars. Respondents considered improved quality of paper, contribution of mutual expertise, and division of labor as the biggest benefits of and motivation for co-authorship. Contrary to common perceptions that Economics researchers used a predominantly alphabetical order of authorship, our study found that a considerable percentage of respondents (34.5% had practiced an order of authorship based on the significance of the authors' contribution to the work. The relative importance of tasks differed significantly according to whether researchers co-authored as mentors or co-authored as colleagues. Lastly, researchers were found to associate, to varying degrees, with other researchers based on socio-academic parameters, such as nationality, ethnicity, gender, professional position and friendship. The study indicates that Economics authors perceive co-authorship as a rewarding endeavor. Nonetheless, the level of contribution and even the choice of association itself as a co-author depends to a great extent on the type of working relationship and socio-academic factors.

Economic and Social Sustainability Performance of Jatropha Projects: Results from Field Surveys in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henny Romijn

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents results from comprehensive field surveys of jatropha projects in Mozambique, Tanzania and Mali in 2012. The article singles out the salient economic and social impact results and derives lessons. The results clearly demonstrate the weak business case for jatropha biofuel production at this time. Plantations were found to be unviable because of insurmountable up-front capital requirements in combination with slow and unreliable crop maturation, inefficient oil pressing owing to a lack of scale and experience, inadequate utilization of by-products, and competitively-priced fossil diesel and palm oil. For smallholders, jatropha only has limited value as a hedge crop in environmentally and economically disadvantaged areas. Better prospects have to wait for the advent of improved jatropha varieties. Social impacts from the perspective of project managers were rather mixed: overall, food security perceptions were positive and no massive forced human displacements were noted so far, though some disputes over land access and compensation were reported. Labor legislation was apparently respected on plantations, and positive gender effects, regional income/employment effects and better public facilities were also reported. The projects generated considerable employment, albeit mostly of a temporary nature, as lack of economic viability had caused many projects to close down again. When introducing next-generation biofuel projects, better monitoring by various actor groups is recommended, as well as long-term investment plans that include integral exit strategies.

Optimal design of microalgae-based biorefinery: Economics, opportunities and challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rizwan, Muhammad; Lee, Jay H.; Gani, Rafiqul

2015-01-01

Microalgae have great potential as a feedstock for the production of a wide range of end-products under the broad concept of biorefinery. In an earlier work, we proposed a superstructure based optimization model to find the optimal processing pathway for the production of biodiesel from microalgal...... biomass, and identified several challenges with the focus being on utilizing lipids extracted microalgal biomass for economic and environmentally friendly production of useful energy products. In this paper, we expand the previous optimization framework by considering the processing of microalgae residue...

Cultural Tourism – a Model for Economic Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela-Carmen MUNTEAN

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Tourism is a complex activity whose development is manifested in a fast pace, which in the last period determined it to become one of the most spectacular phenomena of recent decades, with important economic effects and particularly, social and human effects. This form of cultural tourism is identified as an engine for development and promotion of local cultural identities, offering neighboring communities an opportunity to preservation of cultural heritage as a resource for socio-economic local development. Thus, cultural tourism is the boundary between culture and tourism industry, its development influencing each other. Cultural tourism is a form of economic development based on cultural resources, contributing to national economic development.

The Effect of Banking Personnel's Access to E-Learning Opportunities on Their Professional Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Karaaslan, Ilknur Aydogdu

2013-01-01

Developments in information and communication technology create the spread of education and economic opportunities. E-learning is one of them. For companies in the banking sector, web-based training is a new

Classroom Composition and Racial Differences in Opportunities to Learn

Science.gov (United States)

Minor, Elizabeth Covay

2015-01-01

Black and White advanced math students leave high school with disparate math skills. One possible explanation is that minority students are exposed to different learning opportunities, even when they are taking classes with the same title. Using a convenience sample of the Mathematics Survey of the Enacted Curriculum (SEC), this study found that…

THE PRESENCE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HR MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Farkas

2014-07-01

opportunities, (2 the majority of these firms have a higher rate of disadvantaged employees and operate in economically undeveloped areas.

The Role of Trees on Farms: Challenges and Opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyamai, D.O

2007-01-01

The challenges facing Kenyan forestry are deforestation and degradation due to increased demand for wood and additional agricultural land, inadequate resources to strengthen capacities in specific research areas including resource accounting, modelling the beneficial effects of carbon sequestration, policy analysis and products development for market dominance, great variations in institutional development and capacity for trees on farm and agroforestry research and development and inadequate research resources to mention but a few. The opportunities for improved forestry research include, economic growth, social welfare, promoting technologies and innovations for value-added processing agroforestry products for local and external effects, emerging private sector and existing regional market such as Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community for opportunities for trade in agroforestry products and formulation of policies in favour of privatisation of services and management particularly the privatisation of industrial forest plantations that would offer opportunities for the development of smallholder tree crop enterprise

A. Philip Randolph's Attempt at Equal Economic Opportunity: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Joel

2013-01-01

A. Philip Randolph, the national president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was one of the driving forces behind the March on Washington Movement in 1941. In frustration over the federal government's lack of support for opportunities in the booming war industries and equality in the military, Randolph had begun to organize the March…

Putin's and Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union: A hybrid half-economics and half-political “Janus Bifrons”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno S. Sergi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Eurasian Economic Union is an institution formalized in January 2015 for the purpose of regional economic integration; it includes five countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, and may include Mongolia and Tajikistan in the future. With a GDP of $1.59 trillion in 2015, an industrial production of $1.3 trillion in 2014, and population of almost 200 million as of 2016, the EEAU could represent a geopolitical success that supports both Putin's ambitious political agenda and the Union's economic prospects. Although the efforts of this Union are ongoing and long-term success is not certain, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union can be considered a hybrid half-economics and half-political “Janus Bifrons” that serves as a powerful illustration of what Putin envisions for the post-Soviet space. Despite promising steps so far, more should be done toward the achievement of economic development and balanced opportunity for all Eurasian countries. Russia's longstanding role within the Union, as well as its power and political motivations, are all considerations that must be accounted for.

Survey of Attitudes towards Curriculum Reforms among Medical Teachersin Different Socio-economic and Cultural Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Mads Ronald

2007-01-01

Curriculum reforms in medical schools require cultural and conceptual changes from the faculty. We assessed attitudes towards curriculum reforms in different academic, economic, and social environments among 776 teachers from 2 Western European medical schools (Belgium and Denmark) and 7 medical...... schools in 3 countries in post-communist transition (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The survey included a 5-point Likert-type scale on attitudes towards reforms in general and towards reforms of medical curriculum (10 items each). Teaching staff from medical schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina...... had more positive attitude towards reforms of medical curriculum (mean score 36.8 out of maximum 50 [95% CI 36.1 to 37.3]) than those from medical schools in Croatia or Slovenia (30.7 [29.8 to 31.6]) or Western Europe (27.7 [27.1 to 28.3]) (Pattitudes...

OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS OF GLOBALIZATION IN RURAL AREAS. CASE STUDY: BOTOSANI COUNTY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria-Simona Cuciureanu

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The global economy plays an important role in the development of a region or a county/district as it promotes the exploitation of resources and space in a logical and rational manner. The trend of global economic uniformity allows opportunities and risks to Botoșani County since globalization involves economic development and rising living standards, but loss of cultural values, traditions and customs. The area of study currently confronts with socio-economic and demographic changes that may be addressed by globalization, but at the same time spatial development according to global standards will cause the loss of Botoșani County’s authenticity.

School Leavers' Survey Report 2007

OpenAIRE

Byrne, Delma; McCoy, Selina; Watson, Dorothy

2008-01-01

Since the late 1970s the Economic and Social Research Institute has conduced research on recent school leavers in the Republic of Ireland on behalf of various government departments. The School Leavers’ Survey has been in existence since it first surveyed young people who left the second-level education system in the academic year 1978/1979. Since its inception, 24 surveys in all have been carried out either on a yearly or bi-yearly basis, until the most recent survey which survey...

A multicriteria approach to identify investment opportunities for the exploitation of the clean development mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diakoulaki, D.; Georgiou, P.; Tourkolias, C.; Georgopoulou, E.; Lalas, D.; Mirasgedis, S.; Sarafidis, Y.

2007-01-01

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the prospects for the exploitation of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Greece. The paper is addressing 3 questions: in which country, what kind of investment, with which economic and environmental return? The proposed approach is based on a multicriteria analysis for identifying priority countries and interesting investment opportunities in each priority country. These opportunities are then evaluated through a conventional financial analysis in order to assess their economic and environmental attractiveness. To this purpose, the IRR of a typical project in each investment category is calculated by taking into account country-specific parameters, such as baseline emission factors, load factors, costs, energy prices etc. The results reveal substantial differences in the economic and environmental return of different types of projects in different host-countries and show that for the full exploitation of the CDM a multifaceted approach to decision-making is necessary

Topographic and Hydrographic GIS Datasets for the Afghanistan Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey 2014 Mineral Areas of Interest

Science.gov (United States)

DeWitt, Jessica D.; Chirico, Peter G.; Malpeli, Katherine C.

2015-11-18

Mineral extraction and associated industries play an important role in the Afghan economy, particularly in the “transitional era” of declining foreign aid and withdrawal of foreign troops post 2014. In addition to providing a substantial source of government revenue, other potential benefits of natural resource development include boosted exports, employment opportunities, and strengthened industrialization (Joya, 2012). Continued exploration and investment in these industries has resulted in large economic improvements since 2007, when this series of studies was initiated. At that time, the “Preliminary Non-Fuel Mineral Resource Assessment of Afghanistan” was completed by members of the U.S. Geological Survey and Afghanistan Geological Survey (Peters and others, 2007). The assessment published a series of country-wide datasets, including a digital elevation model (DEM), elevation contours, hydrography, transportation routes, geophysics, and cultural datasets (Peters and others, 2007). It also delineated 20 mineralized areas for further study using a geologic-based methodology. A second data product, “Summaries of Important Areas for Mineral Investment and Production Opportunities of Nonfuel Minerals in Afghanistan,” was released by Peters and others in 2011. This work highlighted geologic, geohydrologic, and hyperspectral studies that were carried out in specific Areas of Interest (AOIs) to assess the location and characteristics of mineral resources. Also included in the 2011 publication is a collection of appendixes and inventories of Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets for each of the 24 identified AOIs. A third data product was released in 2013 (Casey and Chirico, 2013), publishing datasets for five different AOIs, two subareas, and one AOI extension. Each dataset contains vector shapefiles of the AOI boundary, streams, roads, and contours at 25-, 50-, and 100-meter (m) intervals, as well as raster files of the AOI’s DEM and hillshade.

Equal Educational Opportunity. The Status of Black Americans in Higher Education, 1975-1977. ISEP Third Status Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard Univ., Washington, DC. Inst. for the Study of Educational Policy.

This report analyzes the status of black Americans in higher education from 1975-1977. The book opens with a review of basic concepts of equal educational opportunity and the Federal role in guaranteeing equal opportunity. The social and economic context for higher education is then examined with a focus on the national commitment to higher…

Valuation issues in lesser developed countries: Investment opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clements, P.J.

1992-01-01

Privatization has become the buzzword of the early 1990s, as all over the world governments are selling off their assets. Monopolistic utilities such as gas, water and waste disposal - but particularly electric - are prime assets for sale because their cash flows and competitive environment are reasonably predictable. Utility privatization in lesser developed countries (LDC) is giving rise to many new investment opportunities where predictions of high growth rates lead to anticipation of lucrative returns. Potential investors, however, should fully exercise the concept of caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. Coupled with these lucrative returns are risks arising from less stable political and economic conditions. possible market inefficiencies, and potentially high transaction costs. This article explores the central issues involved in valuing privatization investment opportunities in LDCs and performing requisite due diligence reviews

The economic impact of poor sample quality in clinical chemistry laboratories: results from a global survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Erdal, Erik P; Mitra, Debanjali; Khangulov, Victor S; Church, Stephen; Plokhoy, Elizabeth

2017-03-01

Background Despite advances in clinical chemistry testing, poor blood sample quality continues to impact laboratory operations and the quality of results. While previous studies have identified the preanalytical causes of lower sample quality, few studies have examined the economic impact of poor sample quality on the laboratory. Specifically, the costs associated with workarounds related to fibrin and gel contaminants remain largely unexplored. Methods A quantitative survey of clinical chemistry laboratory stakeholders across 10 international regions, including countries in North America, Europe and Oceania, was conducted to examine current blood sample testing practices, sample quality issues and practices to remediate poor sample quality. Survey data were used to estimate costs incurred by laboratories to mitigate sample quality issues. Results Responses from 164 participants were included in the analysis, which was focused on three specific issues: fibrin strands, fibrin masses and gel globules. Fibrin strands were the most commonly reported issue, with an overall incidence rate of ∼3%. Further, 65% of respondents indicated that these issues contribute to analyzer probe clogging, and the majority of laboratories had visual inspection and manual remediation practices in place to address fibrin- and gel-related quality problems (55% and 70%, respectively). Probe maintenance/replacement, visual inspection and manual remediation were estimated to carry significant costs for the laboratories surveyed. Annual cost associated with lower sample quality and remediation related to fibrin and/or gel globules for an average US laboratory was estimated to be $100,247. Conclusions Measures to improve blood sample quality present an important step towards improved laboratory operations.

Getting Ahead: A Survey of Low-Wage Workers on Opportunities for Advancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Lake Snell Perry & Associates, Inc., Washington, DC.

A nationwide sample of low-wage workers was conducted to ascertain their attitudes and experience regarding opportunities for advancement. Professional interviewers conducted telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,002 adults who work outside the home at least 30 hours per week and earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level. The…

Colocation opportunities for large solar infrastructures and agriculture in drylands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ravi, Sujith; Macknick, Jordan; Lobell, David; Field, Christopher; Ganesan, Karthik; Jain, Rishabh; Elchinger, Michael; Stoltenberg, Blaise

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We explored the potential to colocate solar installations and agriculture. • Water use at solar installations are similar to amounts required for desert plants. • Co-located systems are economically viable in some areas. • Colocation can maximize land and water use efficiency in drylands. - Abstract: Solar energy installations in arid and semi-arid regions are rapidly increasing due to technological advances and policy support. Although solar energy provides several benefits such as reduction of greenhouse gases, reclamation of degraded land, and improved quality of life in developing countries, the deployment of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure may negatively impact land and water resources. Meeting the ever-expanding energy demand with limited land and water resources in the context of increasing demand for alternative uses such as agricultural and domestic consumption is a major challenge. The goal of this study was to explore opportunities to colocate solar infrastructures and agricultural crops to maximize the efficiency of land and water use. We investigated the energy inputs/outputs, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and economics of solar installations in northwestern India in comparison to aloe vera cultivation, another widely promoted and economically important land use in these systems. The life cycle analyses show that the colocated systems are economically viable in some rural areas and may provide opportunities for rural electrification and stimulate economic growth. The water inputs for cleaning solar panels are similar to amounts required for annual aloe productivity, suggesting the possibility of integrating the two systems to maximize land and water use efficiency. A life cycle analysis of a hypothetical colocation indicated higher returns per m"3 of water used than either system alone. The northwestern region of India has experienced high population growth in the past decade, creating additional demand for land

The adoption of new smart-grid technologies incentives, outcomes, and opportunities

CERN Document Server

Guo, Christopher; Narayanan, Anu

2015-01-01

RAND Corporation researchers review the current technical, regulatory, and economic context of the electricity market and theoretical benefits of developing a smart grid; discuss some entrepreneurial opportunities associated with smart-grid data; examine empirical evidence related to smart-grid adoption and implementation; and offer policy suggestions for overcoming identified barriers.

Economic and social survey of Asia and the Pacific, 1982

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1983-01-01

A general economic slowdown in the Asia-Pacific countries since 1981 has slowed development and increased unemployment and fiscal deficits. In preparation for the United Nations review of international development strategy, Part one of this volume examines economic, energy, and social developments under the current recession. Part two examines the role of fiscal policies as they relate to growth, employment, equity, stability, and development planning. 235 references, 23 figures, 64 tables. (DCK)

The future of hydrogen - opportunities and challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, Michael; Wietschel, Martin

2009-01-01

The following article is reproduced from 'The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities and Challenges', edited by Michael Ball and Martin Wietschel, to be published by Cambridge University Press in June 2009. In the light of ever-increasing global energy use, the increasing cost of energy services, concerns over energy supply security, climate change and local air pollution, this book centres around the question of how growing energy demand for transport can be met in the long term. Given the sustained interest in and controversial discussion of the prospects of hydrogen, the authors highlight the opportunities and the challenges of introducing hydrogen as alternative fuel in the transport sector from an economic, technical and environmental point of view. Through its multi-disciplinary approach the book provides a broad range of researchers, decision makers and policy makers with a solid and wide-ranging knowledge base concerning the hydrogen economy. (author)

ROMANIAN YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS FEATURES: AN EMPIRICAL SURVEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ceptureanu Sebastian Ion

2015-07-01

Full Text Available There are many studies linking entrepreneurship and economic development. For specialists and public decision makers, developing entrepreneurship seems to be an easy policy action, even though actions and results are rather debatable. Unfortunately the relevant literature is not so generous concerning youth entrepreneurship. Youth is one of the most vulnerable groups in society, especially in the current economic and demographic situation in European Union and worldwide. At the same time, youth is the period when most people engage in their first job, are gaining financial independence and are assuming new responsibilities and roles shaping their identity. With respect to this, starting their own business is a natural choice for many young people. When considering entrepreneurial potential of young Romanians, there is almost not any data available. This paper aims to disseminate the results of a survey focused on young entrepreneurs, designed to fill the gap in the literature about Romanian young entrepreneurs’ features. The empirical study was divided in five parts: A. Personality of young entrepreneurs, highlighting the main features of behaviour and personality of young entrepreneurs. B. Professional background, focusing on young entrepreneurs’ background and how it influences their interest and performance improvement. C. Risk and crisis acceptance, highlighting the ability of young entrepreneurs to deal with critical situations. D. Business and business environment, focusing on internal and environmental aspects of the business. E. Social - cultural attitude, highlighting the attitude of society (incentives and disincentives to entrepreneurial initiatives of young people. This are excerpts of results from the first part, regarding personality of Romanian young entrepreneurs, concerning issues like level of independence, capacity for innovation, self-confidence, decision making process, level of persistence flexibility of young

Measuring fertility through mobile‒phone based household surveys: Methods, data quality, and lessons learned from PMA2020 surveys

OpenAIRE

Yoonjoung Choi; Qingfeng Li; Blake Zachary

2018-01-01

Background: PMA2020 is a survey platform with resident enumerators using mobile phones. Instead of collecting full birth history, total fertility rates (TFR) have been measured with a limited number of questions on recent births. Employing new approaches provides opportunities to test and advance survey methods. Objective: This study aims to assess the quality of fertility data in PMA2020 surveys, focusing on bias introduced from the questionnaire and completeness and distribution of birth...

Impact on Junior Faculty of Teaching Opportunities During Predoctoral Education: A Survey-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hum, Lauren; Park, Sang E

2016-04-01

Dental schools have addressed full-time faculty shortages by utilizing part-time faculty and postdoctoral students as teachers. Studies have also shown that peer tutors in dental schools can be used effectively in addition to or in place of faculty, but there has been little research on whether the peer tutoring experience influences tutors to pursue academic careers. This study surveyed junior faculty at 60 U.S. dental schools about their predoctoral tutoring and teaching experiences. Data from 122 respondents were analyzed. The results indicated that more recent graduates had more peer tutoring opportunities available than those who graduated prior to the 1980s and that the teaching experiences influenced the respondents' decisions to pursue academic careers. Additionally, those peer tutoring programs that placed more responsibility on the peer tutors, signifying trust from the institution, were the most successful in influencing respondents' decisions to pursue academia. Finally, when comparing their predoctoral teaching experiences to faculty development of teaching skills at their current institutions, the majority of the respondents reported that the faculty development was better. However, the peer tutoring programs considered equal to or better than faculty development were more influential in stimulating participants' academic career interest. These results suggest that dental schools can look to peer tutoring and teaching programs to stimulate students' interest in academia that can help reduce faculty shortages in the long term, but only if programs are developed that place greater responsibility and trust in students and that equal the quality of faculty development programs.

Opportunities for Enhanced Strategic Use of Surveys, Medical Records, and Program Data for HIV Surveillance of Key Populations: Scoping Review

Science.gov (United States)

Baral, Stefan D; Edwards, Jessie K; Zadrozny, Sabrina; Hargreaves, James; Zhao, Jinkou; Sabin, Keith

2018-01-01

Background Normative guidelines from the World Health Organization recommend tracking strategic information indicators among key populations. Monitoring progress in the global response to the HIV epidemic uses indicators put forward by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. These include the 90-90-90 targets that require a realignment of surveillance data, routinely collected program data, and medical record data, which historically have developed separately. Objective The aim of this study was to describe current challenges for monitoring HIV-related strategic information indicators among key populations ((men who have sex with men [MSM], people in prisons and other closed settings, people who inject drugs, sex workers, and transgender people) and identify future opportunities to enhance the use of surveillance data, programmatic data, and medical record data to describe the HIV epidemic among key populations and measure the coverage of HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs. Methods To provide a historical perspective, we completed a scoping review of the expansion of HIV surveillance among key populations over the past three decades. To describe current efforts, we conducted a review of the literature to identify published examples of SI indicator estimates among key populations. To describe anticipated challenges and future opportunities to improve measurement of strategic information indicators, particularly from routine program and health data, we consulted participants of the Third Global HIV Surveillance Meeting in Bangkok, where the 2015 World Health Organization strategic information guidelines were launched. Results There remains suboptimal alignment of surveillance and programmatic data, as well as routinely collected medical records to facilitate the reporting of the 90-90-90 indicators for HIV among key populations. Studies (n=3) with estimates of all three 90-90-90 indicators rely on cross-sectional survey data. Programmatic data and

Change the World by Changing Economics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karl Wagner

2014-05-01

Full Text Available We live in a world of opportunity – the opportunity to use the insight generated through the multiple crises humanity finds itself in to transit into a much more liveable, sustainable and equitable society. A paradigm change seems to be taking place, a movement for change seems to be in the making, but at the same time there is a widespread feeling that things are getting worse instead of better and there is no guarantee that change will lead us into a better future in the next few decades. To effectively guide the direction of change we need to address the root causes of today’s global challenges and take a close look at what drives human society and human beings. In doing so we realize that we are looking at a holographic picture which contains different layers, which are interdependent: Human biology; values and belief systems; the changing narrative underlying the development of human society; economics and governance and the many tools as well as special interests, support and uphold the outdated paradigms. The one element which influences all people nearly every day and is behind just about each and every crisis is the theory and practice of current economics. The article explores the debate on current economics and proposes mechanisms of change.

Opportunity recognition: delineating the process and motivators for serial entrepreneurs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boris Urban

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Opportunity recognition is a fundamental research issue in entrepreneurship which this paper empirically investigates for serial entrepreneurs. Initially key definitions and boundary conditions of opportunity recognition are explored to elucidate the relevant motivators driving serial entrepreneurs. After operationalising the various concepts, data is collected by surveying serial entrepreneurs (n= 77 based on pre-determined selection criteria. Since the study’s objective is to build solid theory on these new phenomena, descriptive analysis on the empirical results is provided. To test the hypotheses inferential statistics employing parametric and non-parametric tests are used. The findings reveal that the opportunity recognition behaviours are manifest among serial entrepreneurs, with few significant differences on how many new, major businesses have been pursued, or whether they can be said to be successes.

Economic Justice: Necessary Condition for Human Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Cloud, Fred

1993-01-01

Economic justice means taking the personhood of poor people into account; respecting their needs, personal ambitions, rights, and dignity; and affording equal opportunity and equal access to education, health care, housing, and jobs. Examples of injustice to minority groups are provided, citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (SLD)

Aerial radiation survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradeep Kumar, K.S.

1998-01-01

Aerial gamma spectrometry surveys are the most effective, comprehensive and preferred tool to delimit the large area surface contamination in a radiological emergency either due to a nuclear accident or following a nuclear strike. The airborne survey apart from providing rapid and economical evaluation of ground contamination over large areas due to larger ground clearance and higher speed, is the only technique to overcome difficulties posed by ground surveys of inaccessible region. The aerial survey technique can also be used for searching of lost radioactive sources, tracking of radioactive plume and generation of background data on the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) of nuclear installations

An economic evaluation of forest improvement opportunities and impacts from the emergence of a biomass fuel market in southwestern Nova Scotia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manley, A.L.; Savage, G.D.

1993-01-01

In 1991, Nova Scotia's public power utility initiated a process to purchase privately produced electrical power. A proposal was received to produce 20--25 megawatts from the burning of 350 to 400,000 tonnes annually of wood residue and forest biomass in a co-generation facility in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. This proposal has been proceeding and is nearing the construction phase. As a result of this potential market, there is an opportunity for increasing the scope and extent of forest improvement operations. Options for a closer integration of planning, harvesting, and silviculture activities will emerge. Optimum end use allocation could occur and enhance overall economic efficiency. The objective of this project is to assess the effect that this emerging market for forest biomass could have on forest management in the supply area. This project has two phases. Phase 1, presented here, develops the framework and methodology. Phase 2 will apply a linear programming-based analytical model for evaluation. Phase 1 accumulated the required data and information for both the current management and marketing situation and that including the emerging biomass market. Growth and yield of the natural stand types were calculated for a mixture of conventional roundwood products and chip equivalents. Management regimes, based on current forest type, site class, and appropriate silviculture treatments, were established. Expected multiproduct yields, by regime were estimated. Silviculture and harvest costs along with product revenues were used to calculate standing timber and soil expectation values. In Phase 2, a stand-based optimization model will be developed to explore and evaluate the long term opportunities and differences between the present and emerging management and market situations

Economic mobility in a colonial and post-colonial economy: the case of Indonesia.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Leeuwen, Bas; Földvári, Peter

2016-01-01

Despite a consensus about the main factors influencing economic mobility in Indonesia, such as labor-market opportunities and childhood circumstances, virtually nothing is known about how these factors increased economic standing in the colonial and postcolonial periods. The use of height data as a

Electric utility deregulation - A nuclear opportunity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeMella, J.R.

2002-01-01

influenced and ultimately determined the price or tariffs for electricity to customers, were generally the same. Utilities revenue requirements were founded upon complex 'cost of service' formulas which emphasized and allowed the recovery of all 'reasonable' costs including operating expenses, taxes, depreciation of investments and additionally assured a reasonable rate or return on all outstanding investments. The consequence was that, through regulation of electric rate design, the ultimate price of electricity was determined by the aggregate of costs to produce it, independent of the forces of supply and demand. Through the examination of the major principles and features of regulated compared to unregulated electric markets such as the 'obligation to serve' and the 'cost of service', this presentation will address and discuss the economic opportunities and risks associated with nuclear power plants operating in deregulated, competitive electric generation markets. In transitioning to competitive markets, a number of key economic questions will be raised that will emphasize nuclear plant economic requirements for a profitable enterprise, addressing factors such as, plant operating performance, market conditions, energy price, key economic measures, investment opportunities, nuclear asset valuation and plant life extension. An economic analysis of a recent nuclear power plant valuation study will be presented including a discussion of key input variables, financial assumptions, economic results and a brief demonstration of an interactive, PC based computer model used for the analysis. A similar model, is currently being considered by the IAEA to evaluate the economics of nuclear power plant life extension along with alternative generation approaches. In closing, a number of short and long term prospects for the future of nuclear power will be discussed including plant life extension and the prognostication of a new electric generation business model concept

The impact of the neighborhood on the economic mobility, examining the social networks of inhabitants of three segregated neighborhoods from Salvador de Bahia (Brazil, from the social concept isolation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Treuke

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This qualitative study examines the neighborhood effects on the economic mobility of the inhabitants of three segregated neighborhoods in Salvador (Brazil, in other words the socio-economic advantages and disadvantages affecting the lifes of poor people due to their embeddedness in specific socio-residential contexts. According to the hypothesis of social isolation, the missing articulation with social networks and institutions representing mainstream society and the insufficient exposition to middle class role models foster the reproduction of poverty. However, major disagreement remains whether the contiguity between residents of poor neighborhoods and higherclass condominio-dwellers provides structures of opportunities. Based on a survey analyzing the inhabitants’ egocentric networks, the study confirms that the proximity of Nordeste de Amaralina to middle-/upper-class communities improves the access to labour opportunities. Nevertheless, mechanisms of social segmentation annihilate these potentials. The residents´ networks reveal a high degree of homophily and localism. Segregational structures and the scarcity of economic opportunities in Plataforma foster the networks’ fragmentation whereas the social heterogeneity of Fazenda Grande II interviewees and the socialising effects of public institutions mitigate the impact of segregation. The networks’ composition admits a greater proportion of bridging ties. The study concludes emphasizing the relevance of the social isolation hypothesis in Urban Sociology whenever the process of social network building operates in contexts of segregation where social space appears to be highly congruent with the geographical environment. Whereas Nordeste de Amaralina and Plataforma risk to become socially isolated, the Fazenda Grande II case demonstrates that public investments in social infrastructure stimulate interclass interactions.

Interaction in agent-based economics: A survey on the network approach

Science.gov (United States)

Bargigli, Leonardo; Tedeschi, Gabriele

2014-04-01

In this paper we aim to introduce the reader to some basic concepts and instruments used in a wide range of economic networks models. In particular, we adopt the theory of random networks as the main tool to describe the relationship between the organization of interaction among individuals within different components of the economy and overall aggregate behavior. The focus is on the ways in which economic agents interact and the possible consequences of their interaction on the system. We show that network models are able to introduce complex phenomena in economic systems by allowing for the endogenous evolution of networks.

Conversion economics of forest biomaterials: risk and financial analysis of CNC manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Camilla Abbati de Assis; Carl Houtman; Richard Phillips; E.M. Ted Bilek; Orlando J. Rojas; Lokendra Pal; Maria Soledad Peresin; Hasan Jameel; Ronalds Gonzalez

2017-01-01

Commercialization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) presents opportunities for a wide range of new products. Techno-economic assessments can provide insightful information for the effi cient design of conversion processes, drive cost-saving efforts, and reduce fi nancial risks. In this study, we conducted techno-economic assessments for CNC production using information...

Methane Recovery from Animal Manures The Current Opportunities Casebook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lusk, P.

1998-09-22

Growth and concentration of the livestock industry create opportunities for the proper disposal of the large quantities of manures generated at dairy, swine, and poultry farms. Pollutants from unmanaged livestock wastes can degrade the environment, and methane emitted from decomposing manure may contribute to global climate change. One management system not only helps prevent pollution but can also convert a manure problem into a new profit center. Economic evaluations and case studies of operating systems indicate that the anaerobic digestion of livestock manures is a commercially viable conversion technology with considerable potential for providing profitable coproducts, including a cost-effective renewable fuel for livestock production operations. This casebook examines some of the current opportunities for recovering methane from anaerobic digestion animal manures.

Opportunities for biomaterials : economic, environmental and policy aspects along their life cycle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hermann, B.G.

2010-01-01

Little was known at the start of these studies regarding the environmental impacts of bulk chemicals production from biomass and whether they could be produced economically. We have therefore analysed the entire life cycle of biomaterials: the production of bio-based chemicals, the application of

Student and recent graduate employment opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

,

2016-08-30

As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that affect our lives. Opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates, to participate in USGS science are available in the selected programs described in this publication. Please note: U.S. citizenship is required for all government positions.

RVUs, SGR, RUC, and Alphabet Soup: Utility of an iPad App to Teach Healthcare Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lourenco, Ana P; Baird, Grayson L; Ashkan, Mark; Slanetz, Priscilla J

2016-07-01

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an iPad app for teaching healthcare economics milestones. Institutional review board-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant survey assessment of radiology residents' knowledge of healthcare economics before and following review of the Healthcare Economics iPad app was undertaken at two residencies. Residents received an electronic link to the pre survey, answered 13 general knowledge questions, rated their knowledge of healthcare economics milestones, and reported any prior economics/business background. During the conference, residents reviewed the app on their iPads. They then received a link to the post survey. Responses were entered using REDCap and a unique yet anonymous code was used to link each resident's pre and post results. A follow-up survey was completed at 3 months using REDCap. Sixty-two of 69 (90%) residents completed the pre survey. Mean and median age was 30 years. Thirty-two of 62 (52%) were men and 30/62 (48%) were women. Twenty-nine percent (18/62) were postgraduate year (PGY) 2, 24% (15/62) PGY 3, 19% (12/62) PGY 4, 26% (16/62) PGY 5, and 1.6% (1/62) PGY 6. Thirty-four percent (21/62) reported some economics/business background. Residents' mean self-assessment of their knowledge of healthcare economics milestones was fair on the pre survey, significantly improved on the post survey, and plateaued at 3 months. Fifty-nine residents completed the post survey; 60 completed the 3-month follow-up. Residents demonstrated a significant increase in healthcare economics knowledge on post survey. At 3-month follow-up, significant decreases in gained knowledge were observed only in residents for whom the material was not integrated into the curriculum. Teaching with iPad apps offers an alternative, effective way to teach basics of healthcare economics milestones. Copyright © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Losing ground, losing sleep: Local economic conditions, economic vulnerability, and sleep.

Science.gov (United States)

Perales, Francisco; Plage, Stefanie

2017-02-01

Medical research shows that healthy sleep has benefits for human wellbeing. We contribute to the emerging social-epidemiological literature on the social determinants of sleep by considering how living in an area with poor economic circumstances can result in sleep loss through financial worry, uncertainty and stress. We use multilevel regression models and nationally-representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (n = 9181) and find that individuals who live in areas with high unemployment rates or experience individual-level economic vulnerability sleep less than comparable individuals in areas with low unemployment rates, or who do not experience financial hardships. The negative association between local economic conditions and sleep duration is substantially stronger amongst economically vulnerable individuals. This highlights the importance of considering multiple levels in the analysis of health inequalities, as status and location can intersect to produce and reproduce disadvantage systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The economic and environmental cost of delayed GM crop adoption: The case of Australia's GM canola moratorium.

Science.gov (United States)

Biden, Scott; Smyth, Stuart J; Hudson, David

2018-01-02

Incorporating socio-economic considerations (SECs) into national biosafety regulations regarding genetically modified (GM) crops have opportunity costs. Australia approved the cultivation of GM canola through a science-based risk assessment in 2003, but allowed state moratoria to be instituted based on potential trade impacts over the period 2004 to 2008 and 2010 in the main canola growing states. This analysis constructs a counterfactual assessment using Canadian GM canola adoption data to create an S-Curve of adoption in Australia to measure the environmental and economic opportunity costs of Australia's SEC-based moratoria between 2004 and 2014. The environmental impacts are measured through the amount of chemical active ingredients applied during pest management, the Environmental Impact Quotient indicator, and greenhouse gas emissions. The economic impacts are measured through the variable costs of the weed control programs, yield and the contribution margin. The environmental opportunity costs from delaying the adoption of GM canola in Australia include an additional 6.5 million kilograms of active ingredients applied to canola land; a 14.3% increase in environmental impact to farmers, consumers and the ecology; 8.7 million litres of diesel fuel burned; and an additional 24.2 million kilograms of greenhouse gas (GHG) and compound emissions released. The economic opportunity costs of the SEC-based moratoria resulted in foregone output of 1.1 million metric tonnes of canola and a net economic loss to canola farmers' of AU$485.6 million. The paper provides some of the first quantified, post-adoption evidence on the opportunity cost and environmental impacts of incorporating SECs into GM crop regulation.

Energy efficiency improvement and cost saving opportunities forpetroleum refineries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Worrell, Ernst; Galitsky, Christina

2005-02-15

The petroleum refining industry in the United States is the largest in the world, providing inputs to virtually any economic sector,including the transport sector and the chemical industry. The industry operates 146 refineries (as of January 2004) around the country,employing over 65,000 employees. The refining industry produces a mix of products with a total value exceeding $151 billion. Refineries spend typically 50 percent of cash operating costs (i.e., excluding capital costs and depreciation) on energy, making energy a major cost factor and also an important opportunity for cost reduction. Energy use is also a major source of emissions in the refinery industry making energy efficiency improvement an attractive opportunity to reduce emissions and operating costs. Voluntary government programs aim to assist industry to improve competitiveness through increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. ENERGY STAR (R), a voluntary program managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stresses the need for strong and strategic corporate energy management programs. ENERGY STAR provides energy management tools and strategies for successful corporate energy management programs. This Energy Guide describes research conducted to support ENERGY STAR and its work with the petroleum refining industry.This research provides information on potential energy efficiency opportunities for petroleum refineries. This Energy Guide introduces energy efficiency opportunities available for petroleum refineries. It begins with descriptions of the trends, structure, and production of the refining industry and the energy used in the refining and conversion processes. Specific energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies of plants and references to technical literature are provided. If available, typical payback periods are also listed. The Energy Guide draws upon the experiences with energy efficiency measures of petroleum refineries worldwide

Finding value in waste: Identifying opportunities for growth in a secondary resources economy

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Godfrey, Linda K

2015-10-01

Full Text Available manufacturing economy (strengthening the local economy) o Create new jobs in an emerging secondary resources economy o Create job opportunities for low skilled, unemployed citizens o Through low barriers to entry, establish new enterprises, including co... in waste • Waste provides not only economic but also social opportunities • The 2015 Q1 unemployment rate for South Africa was 26.4% (12 year high) (StatsSA, 2015) • With an expanded unemployment rate (1) of 36.1% • ~60% of the unemployed have less...

Bovine lumpy skin disease: epidemiology, economic impact and control opportunities in Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abebe, Wassie Molla

2018-01-01

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a serious pox disease of cattle caused by LSD virus of the genus Capripoxvirus, subfamily Chordopoxvirinae and family Poxviridae. It is economically an important disease due to its effect on productivity, fertility, animal survival, hide

The German energy policy. Future prospects and new economic opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persem, Melanie

2013-01-01

This document presents some key information and figures about the German energy policy: share of renewable energy sources in the German energy mix by 2050, societal commitments of citizens, towns and regions as pillars of the energy transition, research and innovation: the keys of a successful energy transition in Germany, the coalition contract and the 2014-2017 government priorities, a safe, affordable and ecological energy transition, renewable energies guidance towards market economy, grids as central and vital elements of the energy transition, the electricity market and the new framework for renewable energies, new economic models to be exploited for smart grids, a change of paradigm with 'smart markets'

What's in a Grade? Grading Policies and Practices in Principles of Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Walstad, William B.; Miller, Laurie A.

2016-01-01

Survey results from a national sample of economics instructors describe the grading policies and practices in principles of economics courses. The survey results provide insights about absolute and relative grading systems used by instructors, the course components and their weights that determine grades, and the type of assessment items used for…

The Carnegie Dietary Survey of Interwar Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Shave, Samantha A

2015-01-01

This research note describes an under-used collection of papers which document interwar income, nutrition and health in Britain which were created in the administration of the Carnegie Dietary Survey by John Boyd-Orr in the Rowett Institute with funding from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. The survey was conducted in 16 rural and urban places across England and Scotland between 1937-9, and are now held at the Specialist Collections Centre at the University of Aberdeen. While the importance of the survey in informing knowledge about nutrition and the development of rationing has been acknowledged in the field of social medicine, the survey data has primarily been used by epidemiological scientists and economic historians. After outlining the survey's past influences and uses, this item details the possible ways the data could be used by social, economic and local population historians.

Stochastic Modeling and Optimization in a Microgrid: A Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Liang

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The future smart grid is expected to be an interconnected network of small-scale and self-contained microgrids, in addition to a large-scale electric power backbone. By utilizing microsources, such as renewable energy sources and combined heat and power plants, microgrids can supply electrical and heat loads in local areas in an economic and environment friendly way. To better adopt the intermittent and weather-dependent renewable power generation, energy storage devices, such as batteries, heat buffers and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs with vehicle-to-grid systems can be integrated in microgrids. However, significant technical challenges arise in the planning, operation and control of microgrids, due to the randomness in renewable power generation, the buffering effect of energy storage devices and the high mobility of PEVs. The two-way communication functionalities of the future smart grid provide an opportunity to address these challenges, by offering the communication links for microgrid status information collection. However, how to utilize stochastic modeling and optimization tools for efficient, reliable and economic planning, operation and control of microgrids remains an open issue. In this paper, we investigate the key features of microgrids and provide a comprehensive literature survey on the stochastic modeling and optimization tools for a microgrid. Future research directions are also identified.

Health economic choices in old age: interdisciplinary perspectives on economic decisions and the aging mind.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Lisbeth; Phillips, John W R

2008-01-01

This chapter offers an integrative review of psychological and neurobiological differences between younger and older adults that might impact economic behavior. Focusing on key health economic challenges facing the elderly, it offers perspectives on how these psychological and neurobiological factors may influence decision-making over the life course and considers future interdisciplinary research directions. We review relevant literature from three domains that are essential for developing a comprehensive science of decision-making and economic behavior in aging (psychology, neuroscience, and economics), consider implications for prescription drug coverage and long-term care (LTC) insurance, and highlight future research directions. Older adults face many complex economic decisions that directly affect their health and well-being, including LTC insurance, prescription drug plans, and end of life care. Economic research suggests that many older Americans are not making cost-effective and economically rational decisions. While economic models provide insight into some of the financial incentives associated with these decisions, they typically do not consider the roles of cognition and affect in decision-making. Research has established that older age is associated with predictable declines in many cognitive functions and evidence is accumulating that distinct social motives and affect-processing profiles emerge in older age. It is unknown how these age differences impact the economic behaviors of older people and implies opportunities for path-breaking interdisciplinary research. Our chapter looks to develop interdisciplinary research to better understand the causes and consequences of age-related changes in economic decision-making and guide interventions to improve public programs and overall social welfare.

Mastery of risks and operational safety, risks and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Creating socially useful richness is certainly the prime reason for companies to exist. Reaching this always moving target leads to seize opportunities and to take risks at the same time. For companies, risks and opportunities are two indissociable factors. Any decision making has to deal with an uncertain environment with random events of technological, economical, biological, human, environmental or natural origin. Because of the fear of uncertainty, risk acts as a brake to initiatives. In front of this problem, companies have to adopt a prevention policy based on a global and systemic approach, by identifying, evaluating, quantifying, sorting, mastering and managing unwanted events and by communicating about the way to treat them. In front of uncertainties, the operational safety, thanks to its methods and tools, supplies an incomparable contribution in the form of an help to any decision made with uncertainties. Operational safety contributes to the evaluation of costs and makes more realistic the economical estimations by taking into account the foreseeable and unforeseeable risks. The mastery of unwanted events, of their stakes and uncertainties, allows companies to carry out their projects in non-determined contexts and in a competitive environment. This colloquium concerns all socio-economical actors: industrialists, investors, decision makers, university and laboratory staffs, etc., who need a better evaluation of risks for a better mastery of their decisions in all sectors of activity. Seventeen papers of this conference, dealing with safety analysis and risk assessment at nuclear facilities and at other energy-related facilities, have been selected for Inis. (J.S.)

Economic Sanctions Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marian Dent

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Sanctions Seminar held on November 19 was organized by LexisNexis Russia in cooperation with ANO Pericles.The Seminar theme was ‘Economic Sanctions Overview: Due Diligence and AML Procedures.’ In the course of the seminar, practicing lawyers, compliance and AML professionals had the opportunity to interact on the scope of US A and EU Sanctions and their impact on global business transaction, as well as get a better understanding of the due diligence procedures necessary in order to comply with a such complex environment.

Enhancing Field Research Methods with Mobile Survey Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Glass, Michael R.

2015-01-01

This paper assesses the experience of undergraduate students using mobile devices and a commercial application, iSurvey, to conduct a neighborhood survey. Mobile devices offer benefits for enhancing student learning and engagement. This field exercise created the opportunity for classroom discussions on the practicalities of urban research, the…

Economic Inequality, Educational Inequity, and Reduced Career Opportunity: A Self-Perpetuating Cycle?

Science.gov (United States)

Torraco, Richard

2018-01-01

Economic inequality--the income gap between the wealthy and the poor--is increasing. Educational inequity has also increased with low-income students less likely to complete college than their wealthier counterparts. As the gap widens between the education "haves" and "have-nots," those with inadequate education are faced with…

Images of a place and vacation preferences: Implications of the 1989 surveys for assessing the economic impacts of a nuclear waste repository in Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slovic, P.; Layman, M.; Flynn, J.H.

1990-11-01

In July, 1989 the authors produced a report titled Perceived Risk, Stigma, and Potential Economic Impacts of a High-Level Nuclear-Waste Repository in Nevada (Slovic et al., 1989). That report described a program of research designed to assess the potential impacts of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada upon tourism, retirement and job-related migration, and business development in Las Vegas and the state. It was concluded that adverse economic impacts potentially may result from two related social processes. Specifically, the study by Slovic et al. employed analyses of imagery in order to overcome concerns about the validity of direct questions regarding the influence of a nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain upon a person's future behaviors. During the latter months of 1989, data were collected in three major telephone surveys, designed to achieve the following objectives: (1) to replicate the results from the Phoenix, Arizona, surveys using samples from other populations that contribute to tourism, migration, and development in Nevada; (2) to retest the original Phoenix respondents to determine the stability of their images across an 18-month time period and to determine whether their vacation choices subsequent to the first survey were predictable from the images they produced in that original survey; (3) to elicit additional word-association images for the stimulus underground nuclear waste repository in order to determine whether the extreme negative images generated by the Phoenix respondents would occur with other samples of respondents; and (4) to develop and test a new method for imagery elicitation, based upon a rating technique rather than on word associations. 2 refs., 8 figs., 13 tabs

Market survey South Africa. The energy sector, the state of development and best opportunities for both countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van der Velde, F.

2008-07-01

The aim of this report is to shine a light on the latest developments in the South African energy sector and to show that the energy sector is a favourable sector in South Africa for Dutch commercial involvement. Above all, an answer is given to the question why there is almost no Dutch export or investment in South Africa's energy sector and how we can boost more Dutch commercial involvement. The country has abundant coal reserves and this is one of the reasons why it can supply the cheapest electricity in the world. This also makes it very difficult for other primary energy products to compete with coal. But things are starting to change due to important external and internal facts. The current electricity crisis contributes the most to the changing energy landscape in South Africa and will therefore be discussed in detail. The first chapter will give an overview of the fossil and sustainable energy sector in South Africa. It will describe how the different energy sources contribute to the energy mix of the country. In the second chapter, the most important developments in the energy field will be introduced and discussed. There will be a focus on internal and external factors which influence developments in South Africa. A SWOT analyses will be presented to give an overview of what is important to keep in mind when one looks at the South African energy sector. Chapter three will give an answer to the question where the best opportunities are for Dutch companies to invest in, export to or cooperate within the South African energy sector. This report should be read in cooperation with the two market surveys that were conducted for the Netherlands Foreign Trade Agency (EVD) and the Dutch Embassy in Pretoria. Both for fossil as for the sustainable energy opportunities are abundant, this does not mean that market entry is very easy. Furthermore, some recommendations are given on how more Dutch involvement in the South African energy sector could be achieved

Electricity exports: Discussion of provincial economic benefits and costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

A review was conducted by the British Columbia Energy Council to assess the economic and social impacts of the export of long-term firm electricity to the USA and the distribution of these impacts. The objectives of, and the differences between, benefit-cost and socio-economic impact analysis are discussed as they apply to potential electricity export projects. Provincial export project review requirements (project justification, environmental impacts, socio-economic impact assessment) and proposed legislative changes are first reviewed. The concepts and objectives of value added, economic rent, opportunity costs, economic (benefit-cost) analysis, and socio-economic impact analysis are explained. Employment issues including unemployed labor, employment benefits, and regional and occupational considerations are then discussed, as well as transfers to various levels of government in the form of taxes, subsidies, resource royalties, and depletion costs. 8 refs., 4 tabs

Financial and Transactional Bylaw of Universities and Faculties of Medical Sciences: Opportunities and Threats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoud Abolhallaje

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: According to developments related to the relative autonomy of universities and acquired extensive powers by the board of trustees of universities of medical sciences and healthcare services in a twenty-year perspective of country and in the context of the fourth and fifth socio-economic cultural development of country, necessity of developing financial and transactional bylaw of universities of medical sciences has become increasingly clear throughout country. Materials and Methods: Grounded theory is the qualitative methodology used for this study in order to identify the threats and opportunities of new financial tax bylaw of universities and faculties of medical sciences and through the study of documents, surveys of experts and beneficiaries and elites by Delphi method. Results: Releasing potential of public administration in order to control sources and uses, increasing management confidence in documented decision making, establishing organizational concentration on controlling costs, providing conditions of decision-making according to financial reports, independency in firing and hiring manpower by adopting specific provisions and creating independency in method of keeping accounts are among the most important opportunities. While poor organizational structure, lack of knowledge and skills in the existing structure, mental processes caused by reactions and incompatibility of staff, lack of criteria and rules in selection appointment and dismissal of managers and employees, lack of discipline and proper mechanisms in order to pursue the purposes, calculating financial burden and human resources required and finally, passing through traditional thinking and management system are among the most threats. Conclusion: Considering the mentioned threats and opportunities, financial and transactional bylaw of universities and faculties of medical sciences was basically revised and modified in January 2006, and then after

Expansion of the Gaming Industry: Opportunities for Cooperative Extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Borden, George W.; And Others

1997-01-01

All but two states have some form of legalized gaming. However, survey responses from 28 of 50 extension agents indicated that only 2 have extension programming on the economic, social, and moral issues involved in gambling. (SK)

Nonlinear and Complex Dynamics in Economics

OpenAIRE

William Barnett; Apostolos Serletis; Demitre Serletis

2012-01-01

This paper is an up-to-date survey of the state-of-the-art in dynamical systems theory relevant to high levels of dynamical complexity, characterizing chaos and near chaos, as commonly found in the physical sciences. The paper also surveys applications in economics and �finance. This survey does not include bifurcation analyses at lower levels of dynamical complexity, such as Hopf and transcritical bifurcations, which arise closer to the stable region of the parameter space. We discuss the...

Managing the water-energy-food nexus: Opportunities in Central Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Jalilov, Shokhrukh-Mirzo; Amer, Saud A.; Ward, Frank A.

2018-02-01

This article examines impacts of infrastructure development and climate variability on economic outcomes for the Amu Darya Basin in Central Asia. It aims to identify the most economically productive mix of expanded reservoir storage for economic benefit sharing to occur, in which economic welfare of all riparians is improved. Policies examined include four combinations of storage infrastructure for each of two climate futures. An empirical optimization model is developed and applied to identify opportunities for improving the welfare of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. The analysis 1) characterizes politically constrained and economically optimized water-use patterns for these combinations of expanded reservoir storage capacity, 2) describes Pareto-Improving packages of expanded storage capacity that could raise economic welfare for all four riparians, and accounts for impacts for each of two climate scenarios. Results indicate that a combination of targeted water storage infrastructure and efficient water allocation could produce outcomes for which the discounted net present value of benefits are favorable for each riparian. Results identify a framework to provide economic motivation for all riparians to cooperate through development of water storage infrastructure. Our findings illustrate the principle that development of water infrastructure can expand the negotiation space by which all communities can gain economic benefits in the face of limited water supply. Still, despite our optimistic findings, patient and deliberate negotiation will be required to transform potential improvements into actual gains.

Management Values Survey Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, Barbara; Payne, Ron

1988-01-01

Describes results of a survey conducted to compare values of members of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) with managers in business and industry. Issues discussed include job satisfaction, opportunities for advancement, attitudes toward management, and salary; a summary of each value system is provided. (LRW)

Recent high precision surveys at PEP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sah, R.C.

1980-12-01

The task of surveying and aligning the components of PEP has provided an opportunity to develop new instruments and techniques for the purpose of high precision surveys. The new instruments are quick and easy to use, and they automatically encode survey data and read them into the memory of an on-line computer. When measurements of several beam elements have been taken, the on-line computer analyzes the measured data, compares them with desired parameters, and calculates the required adjustments to beam element support stands

Industrial radioisotope economics. Findings of the study group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1965-01-01

Within twenty years of the availability of radioisotopes in quantity the use of these as tracers has been widely applied in scientific research and in industrial process and product control. Industry spends millions of dollars on these new techniques. Since the overall attitude of industry is to favour methods that involve rapid financial returns the economic benefits must be considerable. In promoting the peaceful uses of atomic energy, the IAEA is actively interested in the international exchange of experience in all applications of radioisotopes. This has been demonstrated by a number of scientific conferences where new results of direct importance to the industrial use of radioisotopes have been presented. In 1963 the IAEA also published literature survey on radioisotope applications described in the scientific literature up to 1960, classified according to industry. However, the available scientific literature was found insufficient to determine the extent of the use of radioisotopes and the economic benefits derived from it. Therefore, further fact-finding efforts were necessary. The IAEA thus decided to carry out an International Survey on the Use of Radioisotopes in Industry. In 1962 the IAEA's highly industrialized Member States Were invited to participate in the Survey; 25 declared their willingness to do so and in due course submitted their national reports. These included information on how radioisotopes were used by industry in each country and indicated the size and form of the economic advantages, primarily in terms of savings made by industry. The findings from the Survey were discussed at a Study Group Meeting on Radioisotope Economics, held in Vienna in March 1964. Forty participants from 22 countries were nominated for this Study Group. The program of the meeting was divided in three parts: (1) experience of the International Survey on the use of radioisotopes in industry; (2) present use of radioisotopes, technical and economic aspects; (3

Energy efficiency opportunities in the brewery industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Worrell, Ernst; Galitsky, Christina; Martin, Nathan

2002-06-28

Breweries in the United States spend annually over $200 Million on energy. Energy consumption is equal to 3-8% of the production costs of beer, making energy efficiency improvement an important way to reduce costs, especially in times of high energy price volatility. After a summary of the beer making process and energy use, we examine energy efficiency opportunities available for breweries. We provide specific primary energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies that have implemented the measures, as well as references to technical literature. If available, we have also listed typical payback periods. Our findings suggest that there may still be opportunities to reduce energy consumption cost-effectively for breweries. Major brewing companies have and will continue to spend capital on cost effective measures that do not impact the quality of the beer. Further research on the economics of the measures, as well as their applicability to different brewing practices, is needed to assess implementation of selected technologies at individual breweries.

Portfolio Analysis of Renewable Energy Opportunities: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richards, Allison; Deprizio, Jodi; Anderson, Kate; DiOrio, Nick; Elgqvist, Emma; Simpkins, Travis

2016-11-01

Time Warner Cable (TWC), now Charter Communications (CC), partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to assess the technical and economic potential for solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and ground-source heat-pump systems at 696 TWC facilities. NREL identified 306 sites where adding a renewable energy system would provide cost savings over the project life-cycle. In general, the top sites have some combination of high electricity rates ($0.16-$0.29/kWh), significant state incentives, and favorable net-metering policies. If all projects were implemented via third-party power purchase agreements, TWC/CC would save $37 million over 25 years and meet 10.5% of their energy consumption with renewable energy. This paper describes the portfolio screening methodology used to identify and prioritize renewable energy opportunities across the TWC sites, as well as a summary of the potential cost savings that may be realized by implementing these projects. This may provide a template for other companies interested in identifying and prioritizing renewable energy opportunities across a large number of geographically dispersed sites. Following this initial portfolio analysis, NREL will be conducting in-depth analysis of project development opportunities at ten sites and evaluating off-grid solutions that may enable carbon emission reduction and grid independence at select facilities.

Small and Medium Enterprises and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taiwo Adewale Muritala

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper seeks to investigate Small and Medium Enterprises as a veritable tool in Economic Growth and Development. A survey method was used to gather data from 200 SME/Entrepreneurial officers and Managers from five selected local government in Nigeria namely; Ijebu North, Yewa South, Sagamu, Odeda and Ogun Waterside Local government. Data was collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed with several descriptive statistics to identify the perception of the roles of SMEs in Nigeria. The results of the study therefore reveals that the most common constraints hindering small and medium scale business growth in Nigeria are lack of financial support, poor management, corruption, lack of training and experience, poor infrastructure, insufficient profits, and low demand for product and services. Hence, it therefore recommends that Government should as matter of urgency assist prospective entrepreneurs to have access to finance and necessary information relating to business opportunities, modern technology, raw materials, market, plant and machinery which would enable them to reduce their operating cost and be more efficient to meet the market competitions.

Rising Opportunities in the Field of Engineering: Implications for Counselors

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Gloria S.; And Others

1973-01-01

In the Endicott Report a survey of businesses and industries indicated a lack of Black engineers, accountants, and graduates in business administration. The report indicated that competition is keen for Blacks talented in these fields. With the rising opportunities for Black talent, a clarification of needs and services must be projected to those…

Mexico: new president pledges economic liberalisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grayson, G.

1994-01-01

This article focuses on the commitment of the new Mexican president to economic reforms, and the state petroleum industry Fremex. The influence of the government and the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) on the development of Fremex, the four subsidiary companies, options for the future, privatisation, the benefits of modernisation, and upstream opportunities for private companies are discussed. (UK)

The Role of External Knowledge Sources and Organizational Design in the Process of Opportunity Exploitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul; Lyngsie, Jacob; A. Zahra, Shaker

involving 536 Danish firms shows that the use of external knowledge sources is positively associated with opportunity exploitation, but the strength of this association is significantly influenced by organizational designs that enable the firm to access external knowledge during the process of exploiting......Research highlights the role of external knowledge sources in the recognition of strategic opportunities, but is less forthcoming with respect to the role of such sources during the process of exploiting or realizing opportunities. We build on the knowledge-based view to propose that realizing...... opportunities often involves significant interactions with external knowledge sources. Organizational design can facilitate a firm’s interactions with these sources, while achieving coordination among organizational members engaged in opportunity exploitation. Our analysis of a double-respondent survey...

The Role of External Knowledge Sources and Organizational Design in the Process of Opportunity Exploitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Nicolai Juul; Lyngsie, Jacob; Zahra, Shaker A.

2013-01-01

involving 536 Danish firms shows that the use of external knowledge sources is positively associated with opportunity exploitation, but the strength of this association is significantly influenced by organizational designs that enable the firm to access external knowledge during the process of exploiting......Research highlights the role of external knowledge sources in the recognition of strategic opportunities but is less forthcoming with respect to the role of such sources during the process of exploiting or realizing opportunities. We build on the knowledge-based view to propose that realizing...... opportunities often involves significant interactions with external knowledge sources. Organizational design can facilitate a firm's interactions with these sources, while achieving coordination among organizational members engaged in opportunity exploitation. Our analysis of a double-respondent survey...

An outline of economic impacts of management options for Šumava National Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Dickie

2014-06-01

activities around an expanded non-intervention zone, while not undermining the ecological integrity of the NP. The Šumava NP is a unique area which supports a wide variety of habitats and species and has the potential to form one of the largest areas of natural forest and wetland habitat in Central Europe. This tourism offer is in keeping with visitor ’ s preferences (identified in a 2010 survey, and can exploit global growth in ecotourism activity. The best access points to the Šumava NP ’ s wilderness are currently regarded as being “full” in that further increases in visitors would damage the wilderness experience which draws visitors. Therefore, there is perceived to be demand for a larger number of carefully managed access points to a larger wilderness area. To maximise the local economic benefits of this tourism development around the park, appropriate training for the local workforce is required. Local benefits could be enhanced through nature-based tourism development that is spread throughout the communities in and around the park. This would not conflict with the park ’ s wild image that attracts visitors, and this visitor market could grow with support from expanded marketing activity. The potential local economic benefits from the pro-wilderness development option include: maintaining and expanding employment in management of the National Park ’ s habitats, visitor facilities and access points; increased nature-based tourism trade in the villages within and surrounding the Park; increased opportunities to attract financing for local economic development (e.g. training and SME support for nature-based tourism, and for the Park ’ s management, both internationally (e.g. from EU funding sources, and locally (e.g. through fees for visitors using specific facilities; a greater proportion of value-added in the tourism offer being generated within the local community, meaning more income can be retained locally and support greater indirect economic

New Nuclear Fuel Disposition Opportunities in a Changed World

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrett, L.H.

2006-01-01

The world's economic, security, environmental, and technological situation has changed significantly in the last several years and these changes bring new opportunities for substantial policy improvements and redirections in the used nuclear fuel management arena. The passage of new energy legislation; the need for more US nuclear energy; growing state, national and international momentum for carbon emission and other air pollutant reductions; post September 11. Homeland Security threat reduction improvements; desires to improve global nuclear security; rapidly emerging needs for clean electricity supplies in developing countries; and the technological advancements in advanced fuel cycle technologies provide a substantial foundation for future enhancements and improvements in current used nuclear fuel management programs. Past progress, lessons learned, and new used fuel/waste management technological innovations coupled with current and future economic, security, and environmental issues can create new approaches that can help the Federal government meet its obligations while simultaneously addressing many of the difficult regional/state issues that have historically hindered progress. This paper will examine and integrate the synergy of these issues to explore options and discuss possible new opportunities in the vitally important area of spent fuel management and the entire back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. (authors)

Youth Entrepreneurship as a Way of Boosting Indian Economic Competitiveness: A Study of Orissa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manjusmita Dash

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, interest in youth entrepreneurship has been fuelled due to high levels of unemployment amongst young people and as a way to foster employment opportunities or to address social exclusion. Youth entrepreneurship has gained more importance in recent years in many countries, with increased interest in entrepreneurship as a way of boosting economic competitiveness and promoting regional development. Based on survey and interview of the young entrepreneurs through a structured questionnaire in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the twin cities of Orissa, the researchers have made an attempt to study the factors contributing to the promotion of young entrepreneurs to start up their own enterprise, to find out the constraints that impedes and prospects that motivates the young people in starting and running a business and to assess the performance of the young entrepreneurs in Orissa.

Economic sentiment indicator and its information capability in the Czech Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radka Martináková

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the indicators of economic agents’ perceptions in the Czech Republic. We assume that these information are provided by economic sentiment indicator surveys based on the Joint Harmonised EU Programme. The aim of this paper is to offer the alternate methodology of qualitative data transformation (balance statistic data in relation with the macroeconomic quantitative indicators. In the empirical analysis we distinguished between the indicators of confidence in industry, construction, retail and consumer confidence indicator. We found link between the aggregate economic sentiment indicator and economic activity. Especially, aggregate economic sentiment indicator copies the development of the GDP. However, partial indicators does not follow changes in the specific sectors of the economy. We also found that economic agents underestimate the intensity of the economic recession after the year 2007.Finally, we cannot recommend the economic sentiment indicator as the leading indicator of the future economic activity in the Czech Republic. Our methodological contribution is in quantifying of the consumer survey results by standardization.

IDRC contributes to UN Report on fostering women's economic ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2017-05-12

May 12, 2017 ... an african woman at her food stand ... IDRC's Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) ... An in-depth look at youth violence points to a variety of solutions to prevent crime, including mental health support, ...

[Public health in major socio-economic crisis].

Science.gov (United States)

Cosmacini, G

2014-01-01

The term "crisis" in different cultures (such as ancient Greece or China) can have a positive meaning, since it indicates a time of growth, change and opportunity. Over the centuries there have been times of severe economic and social crisis that led to the implementation of major reforms and improved population health. Nowadays, despite the new economic crisis which has also affected health care for its rising costs, health economics does not hesitate to affirm the importance of key objectives such as prevention and medical assistance. Prevention is not prediction. Prevention means "going upstream" and fixing a problem at the source; the goal is to reduce diseases' effects, causes and risk factors, thereby reducing the prevalence of costly medical conditions.

Southeast Economic Add-on 1997

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — To collect data on an angler's last trip for revealed preference models and economic valuation purposes. Typically done as an add-on to the MRIP intercept survey and...

Southeast Economic Add-on 2004

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — To collect data on an angler's last trip for revealed preference models and economic valuation purposes. Typically done as an add-on to the MRIP intercept survey and...

Microbial community-based polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) production from wastewater : Techno-economic analysis and ex-ante environmental assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fernandez Dacosta, Cora; Posada, John A.; Kleerebezem, Robbert; Cuellar, Maria C.; Ramirez, Andrea

2015-01-01

This work investigates the potential for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production from wastewater, from a techno-economic and an environmental perspective, examining scale-up opportunities and bottlenecks prior to commercialisation. Conceptual process design, economic, environmental impacts and

The Impact of Socio-Economic Status on Self-Rated Health: Study of 29 Countries Using European Social Surveys (2002–2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Garcia-Alonso

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Studies show that the association between socio-economic status (SES and self-rated health (SRH varies in different countries, however there are not many country-comparisons that examine this relationship over time. The objective of the present study is to determine the effect of three SES measures on SRH in 29 countries according to findings in European Social Surveys (2002–2008, in order to study how socio-economic inequalities can vary our subjective state of health. In line with previous studies, income inequalities seem to be greater not only in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries, but especially in Eastern European countries. The impact of education is greater in Southern countries, and this effect is similar in Eastern and Scandinavian countries, although occupational status does not produce significant differences in southern countries. This study shows the general relevance of socio-educational factors on SRH. Individual economic conditions are obviously a basic factor contributing to a good state of health, but education could be even more relevant to preserve it. In this sense, policies should not only aim at reducing income inequalities, but should also further the education of people who are in risk of social exclusion.

Electrolysis: Information and Opportunities for Electric Power Utilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kroposki, B.; Levene, J.; Harrison, K.; Sen, P.K.; Novachek, F.

2006-09-01

Recent advancements in hydrogen technologies and renewable energy applications show promise for economical near- to mid-term conversion to a hydrogen-based economy. As the use of hydrogen for the electric utility and transportation sectors of the U.S. economy unfolds, electric power utilities need to understand the potential benefits and impacts. This report provides a historical perspective of hydrogen, discusses the process of electrolysis for hydrogen production (especially from solar and wind technologies), and describes the opportunities for electric power utilities.

Remittances in the Republic of Moldova:Lost opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcel CHISTRUGA

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The article covers the problem of the relationship between remittances and economic growth as well as the use of remittances for productive investment in order to contribute to long-run development. Also, there are given some stylized facts of remittances in the Republic of Moldova and their impact over the national economy. Because of its business and investment climate, because of its financial system and macroeconomic policies that were conducted, Moldova has lost almost all opportunities to benefit from remittances.

ECONOMIC REVIVAL OF THE RURAL AREA THROUGH TOURISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe Pribeanu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Romania’s entry on the european coordonates imposes a continue economical development. The achievement of this target implies the use of the existing methods and the capitalization of all opportunities at best parameters. In this way, optimizing the economical results which appeared as a result of the practice of a bio agriculture (the attainment of natural products in enviroments untouched by the destructive effects of pollution and also the profesionalistic capitalization of the turistic potential, in all its forms, will lead to a certain economical efficiency.Turistic services extent and diversify according to the socio-economical changes and their favourable area of development. The the appearance of the „rural tourism” and „agrotourism” terms enriches the whole notion of „tourism” by diversifying it’s forms of expression.

Stimulating the clinical academics of tomorrow: a survey of research opportunities for medical students in New Zealand.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Busaidi, Ibrahim S; Wells, Cameron I

2017-09-22

Developing the clinical academic workforce of the future is a priority of international relevance. Despite a number of measures implemented to address this challenge, a small proportion of medical students engage in research. Lack of knowledge of available research opportunities, and difficulty finding projects and suitable mentors are key barriers to undergraduate medical research. To date, there is no consolidated source of information on undergraduate research training opportunities and their outcomes available to medical students in New Zealand. Based on a comprehensive review of the published and grey literature and the authors' personal experiences of research training activities as medical students, this article presents an overview of the research training opportunities available to medical students in New Zealand. Challenges facing medical student research involvement are discussed and current knowledge gaps in the literature are highlighted. The article concludes with suggested strategies to help promote research training opportunities and support students through their research experience.

Using Linked Electronic Health Records to Estimate Healthcare Costs: Key Challenges and Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Asaria, Miqdad; Grasic, Katja; Walker, Simon

2016-02-01

This paper discusses key challenges and opportunities that arise when using linked electronic health records (EHR) in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), with a particular focus on estimating healthcare costs. These challenges and opportunities are framed in the context of a case study modelling the costs of stable coronary artery disease in England. The challenges and opportunities discussed fall broadly into the categories of (1) handling and organising data of this size and sensitivity; (2) extracting clinical endpoints from datasets that have not been designed and collected with such endpoints in mind; and (3) the principles and practice of costing resource use from routinely collected data. We find that there are a number of new challenges and opportunities that arise when working with EHR compared with more traditional sources of data for HEOR. These call for greater clinician involvement and intelligent use of sensitivity analysis.

Getting Norway to eat healthier: what are the opportunities?

Science.gov (United States)

Oostindjer, Marije; Amdam, Gro V; Egelandsdal, Bjørg

2015-02-01

Increased food consumption and the related problem of obesity have spurred initiatives to motivate consumers to eat healthier. Some strategies have shown positive but only short-term effects, as consumers or other stakeholders do not accept them sufficiently in the long term. The aim of this study was to investigate opportunities for healthier eating in Norway according to both consumers and other stakeholders. Five focus-group sessions were conducted with individuals working in the food industry, retail, public health, research and various non-governmental organisations related to food consumption. Topics that were discussed in the focus groups were transformed into a consumer survey, which was conducted with 1178 respondents. The focus groups often indicated a specific responsibility for the food industry to get people to eat healthier. Survey respondents indicated that all actors in the food chain had responsibility for healthier eating in the population, but agreed that the food industry, as well as the health authority, have major responsibilities. Food education was regarded as a favourable strategy in the focus groups and by survey respondents to help people to eat healthier, as were less advertising of unhealthy food and developing new healthy food products. Such strategies should be focused on parents, families, schools and children according to both focus group and survey participants. Implementation challenges include consumers wanting freedom to choose what they eat and consumers wanting food information that is easier to understand. this study showed that consumers and other stakeholders see opportunities for healthier eating in Norway by providing more food education and clearer food information, targeted towards children, families and parents. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Economics In Optical Design, Analysis, And Production

Science.gov (United States)

Willey, Ronald R.

1983-10-01

There are indications that we are entering an era wherein economics will play an increasing role in the optical design and production process. Economics has always been a factor in the competition between commercial ventures in the product arena. Now, we may begin to see competition between different technologies for the scarce resources of the society, including money. A proper design approach begins with a thorough examination and refinement of the requirements from the top down. The interrelationships of the various components must be properly understood and balanced. The specifications must be clear, complete, and realistic. Improper or incomplete system design can cause an extensive waste of resources. The detail optical design to meet the performance requirements has sometimes been the only part of the process that the designer has considered his own responsibility. The final optimization should also consider economic related factors: the cost of tolerances, the available tools test plates, materials, and test equipment. In the preliminary design stage, he should have decided which alignment and test methods are most appropriate to the system. The distribution of tolerances in an optical/mechanical system is a frequently neglected opportunity to reduce cost. We have reported previously on our work in this area, and expand further on it in the context of this paper. The designer now has an opportunity to generate better designs at a lower cost that are more economical to produce. The watchword for the 1980's may become the one found in the assembly automation industry: "more, better, for less".

A within-sample investigation of test–retest reliability in choice experiment surveys with real economic incentives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørkbak, Morten Raun; Olsen, Søren Bøye

2015-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the level of agreement between respondents' choices in identical choice sets in a test-retest choice experiment for a market good with real economic incentives, thus investigating whether the incentivised CE method can be reliable and stable over time. Besides...... comparing choices, we also test for differences in preferences and error variance when a sample of respondents is given the exact same questionnaire twice, with a time lag of 2 weeks in between. Finally, we examine potential reasons and covariates explaining the level of agreement in choices across the 2...... weeks. Across four different tests, we find very good agreement between the two choice experiments - both with respect to overall choices and with respect to preferences. Furthermore, error variances do not differ significantly between the two surveys. The results also show that the larger the utility...

CERN Colloquium: The Effects of Limited Resources and Opportunities on Women’s Careers in Physics

CERN Multimedia

2012-01-01

The Effects of Limited Resources and Opportunities on Women’s Careers in Physics: Results from the Global Survey of Physicists, by Rachel Ivie (American Institute of Physics).   Thursday, May 3, 2012 from 16:30 to 17:30 (Europe/Zurich) at CERN ( 503-1-001 - Council Chamber ) The results of the Global Survey of Physicists draw attention to the need to focus on factors other than representation when discussing the situation of women in physics. Previous studies of women in physics have mostly focused on the lack of women in the field. This study goes beyond the obvious shortage of women and shows that there are much deeper issues. For the first time, a multinational study was conducted with 15000 respondents from 130 countries, showing that problems for women in physics transcend national borders. Across all countries, women have fewer resources and opportunities and are more affected by cultural expectations concerning child care. We show that limited resources and opportunities hurt ca...

Opportunities for a bio-based economy in the Netherlands