Comparative empirical analysis of temporal relationships between construction investment and economic growth in the United States

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Navid Ahmadi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The majority of policymakers believe that investments in construction infrastructure would boost the economy of the United States (U.S.. They also assume that construction investment in infrastructure has similar impact on the economies of different U.S. states. In contrast, there have been studies showing the negative impact of construction activities on the economy. However, there has not been any research attempt to empirically test the temporal relationships between construction investment and economic growth in the U.S. states, to determine the longitudinal impact of construction investment on the economy of each state. The objective of this study is to investigate whether Construction Value Added (CVA is the leading (or lagging indicator of real Gross Domestic Product (real GDP for every individual state of the U.S. using empirical time series tests. The results of Granger causality tests showed that CVA is a leading indicator of state real GDP in 18 states and the District of Columbia; real GDP is a leading indicator of CVA in 10 states and the District of Columbia. There is a bidirectional relationship between CVA and real GDP in 5 states and the District of Columbia. In 8 states and the District of Columbia, not only do CVA and real GDP have leading/lagging relationships, but they are also cointegrated. These results highlight the important role of the construction industry in these states. The results also show that leading (or lagging lengths vary for different states. The results of the comparative empirical analysis reject the hypothesis that CVA is a leading indicator of real GDP in the states with the highest shares of construction in the real GDP. The findings of this research contribute to the state of knowledge by quantifying the temporal relationships between construction investment and economic growth in the U.S. states. It is expected that the results help policymakers better understand the impact of construction investment

THE DYNAMIC INTER-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: NEW EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIA.

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Nghiem, Son; Hoang, Viet-Ngu; Vu, Xuan-Binh; Wilson, Clevo

2017-12-04

This paper proposes a new empirical model for examining the relationship between obesity and school performance using the simultaneous equation modelling approach. The lagged effects of both learning and health outcomes were included to capture both the dynamic and inter-relational aspects of the relationship between obesity and school performance. The empirical application of this study used comprehensive data from the first five waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), which commenced in 2004 (wave 1) and was repeated every two years until 2018. The study sample included 10,000 children, equally divided between two cohorts (infants and children) across Australia. The empirical results show that past learning and obesity status are strongly associated with most indicators of school outcomes, including reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy national tests, and scores from the internationally standardized Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Matrix Reasoning Test. The main findings of this study are robust due to the choice of obesity indicator and estimation methods.

EMOTION REGULATION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIPS

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María Laura Andrés

2017-09-01

Full Text Available It has been proposed that emotion regulation (ER is a factor with a predictive capacity for academic performance. However, empirical studies are scarce and relatively little is still known about the specific relationship of RE strategies and abilities with different indicators of academic performance. The aim of this study was to identify the state of the art regarding the relationship of emotional regulation with academic performance. A systematic search of empirical articles was conducted in the databases Google Scholar, ERIC and PsyArticles combining the terms emotion regulation or emotion self-regulation with: (academic abilities, competency, achievement, success, performance, learning, school, literacy, classroom, education, reading, math. There were selected 17 items. The analysis allowed two groups to be formed. In the first group, articles evaluating ER strategies were considered. Among these studies, experimental designs and behavioral indicators predominated as ER measures. In the second group, studies evaluating ER skills were considered. In this group, studies with cross-sectional designs and measures of self-report or other reports to evaluate ER were predominant. It concludes with recommendations for future work.

Organisational learning capabilities as determinants of social innovation: An empirical study in South Africa

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Boris Urban

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Orientation: A critical reading of the human resource management (HRM literature finds limited contributions to understanding the organisational determinants of social enterprises and how these may contribute to higher levels of social innovativeness. Although innovation is a key theme in organisational research it has been acknowledged that the field needs more theory-based examinations of different types of innovativeness. Research purpose: To determine how different organisational capabilities are related to social innovation. Motivation for the study: Many social enterprises in developing countries do not have the requisite capabilities to efficiently manage all their programmes, which presents a major threat to organisational sustainability. Research design, approach and method: The empirical analysis is a cross-sectional study based on primary survey data. Hypotheses are tested using correlational and regression analysis. Main findings: The results show that the organisational learning capabilities of knowledge conversion, risk management, organisational dialogue and participative decision-making all have a significant and positive relationship with social innovation. Practical/managerial implications: Managers and practitioners can leverage the different organisational learning capabilities to improve social innovations in their social enterprises. Contribution/value-add: The study is one of the first in an African market context to empirically investigate social enterprises in terms of social innovation and organisational learning perspectives.

Safety climate and injuries: an examination of theoretical and empirical relationships.

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Beus, Jeremy M; Payne, Stephanie C; Bergman, Mindy E; Arthur, Winfred

2010-07-01

Our purpose in this study was to meta-analytically address several theoretical and empirical issues regarding the relationships between safety climate and injuries. First, we distinguished between extant safety climate-->injury and injury-->safety climate relationships for both organizational and psychological safety climates. Second, we examined several potential moderators of these relationships. Meta-analyses revealed that injuries were more predictive of organizational safety climate than safety climate was predictive of injuries. Additionally, the injury-->safety climate relationship was stronger for organizational climate than for psychological climate. Moderator analyses revealed that the degree of content contamination in safety climate measures inflated effects, whereas measurement deficiency attenuated effects. Additionally, moderator analyses showed that as the time period over which injuries were assessed lengthened, the safety climate-->injury relationship was attenuated. Supplemental meta-analyses of specific safety climate dimensions also revealed that perceived management commitment to safety is the most robust predictor of occupational injuries. Contrary to expectations, the operationalization of injuries did not meaningfully moderate safety climate-injury relationships. Implications and recommendations for future research and practice are discussed.

An Empirical Analysis of Economic and Socio-Demographic Determinants of Entrepreneurship Across German Regions

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Mrożewski Matthias

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Entrepreneurship is fundamental for a country's economic development through its positive effect on innovation, productivity growth, and job creation. In entrepreneurial research, one of the most important problems is to define the factors that actually determine entrepreneurial action. This study analyzes that question in the case of Germany by taking an aggregated approach that focuses on socio-demographic and economic determinants of regional entrepreneurship. Based on a literature review of German and international regional-level research, six hypotheses are developed and empirically tested using the most recent available data on 385 German regions as units of analysis. The results are surprising. In the case of household income, unemployment, education and marital status the relationship is significant but contrary to earlier research. Only regional age structure seems to be a stable predictor of regional entrepreneurship. The results indicate that in recent years there was a major shift in the determinants and characteristics of entrepreneurship in Germany.

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS AND THE ROMANIAN STOCK MARKET

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Iamandi Irina Eugenia

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Based on empirical studies and theoretical evidence, the paper investigates the relationship between mergers and acquisitions in Romania and Romanian stock market, described by the BET and BET-C indexes. By using the Granger causality test for the number of mergers and acquisitions, the research results suggest that, for the market and period considered, one way and both ways relationships are present.

EVOLUTION OF THEORIES AND EMPIRICAL MODELS OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC GROWTH, SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS (PART I

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Kaneva M. A.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article is a first chapter of an analytical review of existing theoretical models of a relationship between economic growth / GRP and indicators of scientific development and innovation activities, as well as empirical approaches to testing this relationship. Aim of the paper is a systematization of existing approaches to modeling of economic growth geared by science and innovations. The novelty of the current review lies in the authors’ criteria of interconnectedness of theoretical and empirical studies in the systematization of a wide range of publications presented in a final table-scheme. In the first part of the article the authors discuss evolution of theoretical approaches, while the second chapter presents a time gap between theories and their empirical verification caused by the level of development of quantitative instruments such as econometric models. The results of this study can be used by researchers and graduate students for familiarization with current scientific approaches that manifest progress from theory to empirical verification of a relationship «economic growth-innovations» for improvement of different types of models in spatial econometrics. To apply these models to management practices the presented review could be supplemented with new criteria for classification of knowledge production functions and other theories about effect of science on economic growth.

Developmental Relationship Programs: An Empirical Study of the Impact of Peer-Mentoring Programs

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Shojai, Siamack; Davis, William J.; Root, Patricia S.

2014-01-01

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact and effectiveness of developmental relationships provided through academic intervention programs at a medium-size master's level public university in the Northeastern United States. The programs' curriculum follows the Model of Strategic Learning's four pillars of learning and is administered…

Empirical Determination of Competence Areas to Computer Science Education

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Zendler, Andreas; Klaudt, Dieter; Seitz, Cornelia

2014-01-01

The authors discuss empirically determined competence areas to K-12 computer science education, emphasizing the cognitive level of competence. The results of a questionnaire with 120 professors of computer science serve as a database. By using multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis, four competence areas to computer science education…

Determinants of Market Share of For-Profit Hospitals: An Empirical Examination

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Seungchul Lee

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study estimates the effects of a prospective payment system on the growth of for-profit hospitals. The empirical results show that the proportion of patient care paid for by Medicare managed care has a positive, statistically significant relationship with the market share of for-profit hospitals. Medicare managed care reimburses health care providers prospectively, and a larger portion of prospective reimbursements is received by for-profit hospitals, whose market share consequently increases. In addition, the proportion of patients with Medi-Cal and third party managed care has a positive, statistically significant relationship with the market share of for-profit hospitals.

Reassessing the empirical relationship between the oil price and the dollar

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Coudert, Virginie; Mignon, Valérie

2016-01-01

This paper aims at reassessing the empirical relationship between the real price of oil and the U.S. dollar real effective exchange rate over the 1974–2015 period. We find that changes in both variables are now linked by a negative relationship, going from the dollar exchange rate to the real oil price. However, the same relationship is found positive when ending the sample in the mid-2000s, in line with the previous literature. To understand and investigate this evolution, we rely on a nonlinear, smooth transition regression model in which the oil price-dollar nexus depends on the dynamics followed by the U.S. currency. Our results show that the relationship is negative most of the times but turns positive when the dollar hits very high values, as in the early eighties. - Highlights: •We reassess the relationship between the real oil price and the dollar over the 1974–2015 period. •Changes in the two variables are linked by a negative relationship over the whole period. •The link between both variables is positive over the subsample ending in the mid-2000s. •We estimate a nonlinear model in which the oil price-dollar nexus depends on the evolution the dollar. •The relationship is negative most of the times, except when the dollar hits very high values.

The need of data harmonization to derive robust empirical relationships between soil conditions and vegetation.

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Bartholomeus, R.P.; Witte, J.P.M.; van Bodegom, P.M.; Aerts, R.

2008-01-01

Question: Is it possible to improve the general applicability and significance of empirical relationships between abiotic conditions and vegetation by harmonization of temporal data? Location: The Netherlands. Methods: Three datasets of vegetation, recorded after periods with different

An empirical investigation on relationship between social capital and organizational commitment

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Ali Alikhani

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between social capital and organizational commitment. The study considers the relationship between social capital with three components of organizational commitment; namely, affective commitment, continuous and normative commitment. The study has been applied among a sample of 292 regular employees who worked for an Iranian bank located in city of Tehran, Iran. The implementation of Pearson correlation has indicated that there were positive and meaningful relationships between social capital and affective commitment (r = 0.197, Sig. = 0.01, continuous (r = 0.308, Sig. = 0.01 and normative commitment (r = 0.423, Sig. = 0.01. In addition, the study has detected that women had more commitment on their organization than men did. The proposed study of this paper has also considered a regression model where organizational commitment is dependent variable and trust and communication are considered as independent variables. According to the results of regression analysis, an increase of one unit in trust and social capital communication will increase organizational commitment by 0.189 and 0.204, respectively.

The Determinants of Banking Performance: Empirical evidence from Tunisian Listed Banks

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Khalfaoui Hamdi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to identify the determinants of performance of the Tunisian banking sector. The results found, following an empirical study using panel data of Tunisian banks listed on the stock market over the period 2000-2013, show that credit risk, liquidity, total assets and disclosure of information relating to credit are the main determinants of banking performance.

Empirical Evidence on Relationships between Ex Ante Innovation Pursuit and Post-M&A Performance in the Vietnamese M&A Industry, 2005-2012

OpenAIRE

Vuong, Quan-Hoang; Napier, Nancy K.; Samson, Donaldine E.; Nguyen, Hong Kong

2013-01-01

This research aims to communicate new results of empirical investigations to learn about the relationship between determination of controlling an acquired firm’s capital, assets and brand versus its capability of innovation and ex post performance of the rising Vietnamese M&A industry in the 2005-2012 period. The analysis employs a categorical data sample, consisting of 212 M&A cases reported by various information sources, and performs a number of logistic regressions with significant result...

An empirical study to measure the relationship between management style and conflict management

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Saeed Moghaddas Pour

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Leadership plays an important role among five main components of management. These days, many organizations try to resolve any existing conflicts through adapting an appropriate leadership strategy. During the past few years, there are increasing interests in examining the relationship between management style and conflict management. The proposed study of this paper performs an empirical study to find the relationship between relationship-oriented leadership style and solution-oriented strategy as well as between leadership style and conflict management. The proposed study distributed a questionnaire among 43 managers who were in different industries in west part of Iran. Most of the people who participated in our survey were male and they were between 25 to 30 years old. The study considers relationship between leadership style and conflict management, which includes the relationship between relationship-oriented and task-oriented leaderships with avoiding conflict management strategy, solution and control based conflict managements. The results confirmed that there is only a meaningful relationship between relationship-oriented leadership with solution-based conflict management. In other words, our survey indicates that when there is a conflict, management can handle the problem using his/her relationship and find appropriate solution to resolve any possible conflict.

An empirical study on the relationship of purchasing a chocolate based on its packaging

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Yasaman Giyahi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Chocolate is one of popular gifts among people in many societies. Packaging of such product plays an important role on marketing this item and the primary question of this survey is to determine the impact of packaging on better introducing a product. The inference statistical tests show that packaging is an important item in selection of chocolate as a gift. Percentage of chocolate is the most important information on packaging and color of packaging is of paramount significance when customers purchase chocolate for individuals with official relationship. In this paper, we present an empirical study to measure the effects of chocolates' packaging on purchasing them. The proposed study of this paper designs a questionnaire and distributes them among different people. The results are analyzed using some non-parametric tests and they are discussed. The preliminary results indicate that the number of purchased packages within a year, cost of purchasing chocolate within a year, type of relationship of recipients of chocolate as gift, gender of recipient of chocolate as gift, age group of recipient of gift, type of store, nationality of chocolate, significance of packaging in various price ranges, type of packaging, insertion of information on package and color of packaging, are important factors influencing people to buy more.

The relationship between organizational commitment and whistleblowing tendency: An empirical research

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Çiftçi Nusret

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The ethical position of organizations is of great importance to both organizations and society in general considering people spend their considerable lifespan in organizations. It is important to sustain the determination on ethics by detecting and revealing the ethical infringements inside the organization. In this context; whistleblowing, which is a concept deriving from the field of organizational psychology is defined as the action that informing the individuals and organizations for the on-going unethical and amoral activities in the organizations, has become important. The courage of individuals to report unethical, immoral or illegal activities to the authorities can be affected by the attitude of individuals towards the organization. One of the attitudes that are considered to affect that courage, which is named as whistleblowing, is organizational commitment. Organizational commitment shows the loyalty of employees to the organization. In this study it has been examined the relationship between employees’ organizational commitment and tendency to reporting immoral behaviours. The sample of the study is composed of the employees of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Selcuk University. For this empirical study, survey method has been used, and the reached sample chosen by simply random sampling is 88 employees.

Creating a memory of causal relationships an integration of empirical and explanation-based learning methods

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Pazzani, Michael J

2014-01-01

This book presents a theory of learning new causal relationships by making use of perceived regularities in the environment, general knowledge of causality, and existing causal knowledge. Integrating ideas from the psychology of causation and machine learning, the author introduces a new learning procedure called theory-driven learning that uses abstract knowledge of causality to guide the induction process. Known as OCCAM, the system uses theory-driven learning when new experiences conform to common patterns of causal relationships, empirical learning to learn from novel experiences, and expl

The relationship among self-determination, self-concept, and academic achievement for students with learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Chunmei; Gaumer Erickson, Amy; Kingston, Neal M; Noonan, Patricia M

2014-01-01

Research suggests that self-determination skills are positively correlated with factors that have been shown to improve academic achievement, but the direct relationship among self-determination, self-concept, and academic achievement is not fully understood. This study offers an empirical explanation of how self-determination and self-concept affect academic achievement for adolescents with learning disabilities after taking into consideration the covariates of gender, income, and urbanicity. In a nationally representative sample (N = 560), the proposed model closely fit the data, with all proposed path coefficients being statistically significant. The results indicated that there were significant correlations among the three latent variables (i.e., self-determination, self-concept, and academic achievement), with self-determination being a potential predictor of academic achievement for students with learning disabilities. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2012.

AN INVESTIGATION OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLES OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER, CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING CAPACITY AND CAREER SATISFACTION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

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Hüseyin YILMAZ

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is the creative problem-solving capacity of the organization with leadership behaviors of human resources managers and employees to examine the relationship between career satisfaction and is tested empirically. Research within the scope of the required data structured questionnaire method, operating in the province of Aydin was obtained from 130 employees working in five star hotels. Democratic leadership style according to the factor analysis, easygoing, participants converter, and releasing autocratic leadership dimensions were determined. According to the analysis, the dependent variable with a significant level of research and positive leadership style has been determined that no relationships. Regression analysis revealed that the leadership of the relationship with the creative problem-solving capacity of democratic leadership in style when found to be stronger than other leadership styles, while the variable describing the career of the employee satisfaction level of the maximum it was concluded that the creative problem-solving capacity of the organization. Research in the context of human resources on the very important for organizations, leadership behavior, creative problem-solving capacity and career satisfaction studies analyzing the relationships between variables it seems to be quite limited. The discovery by analyzing the relationship between the aforementioned variables, can make significant contributions to knowledge in the literature and are expected to form the basis for future research.

DETERMINANTS OF FAST FOOD CONSUMPTION

OpenAIRE

Fanning, Jasper; Marsh, Thomas L.; Stiegert, Kyle W.

2002-01-01

Socioeconomic determinants are investigated for both the likelihood of consuming fastfood and household expenditure on fastfood using the 1994-98 USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. The logit model is used to estimate an empirical relationship between probability an individual will consume fastfood and socioeconomic variables. The Tobit model is used to estimate an empirical relationship between expenditure on fastfood and socioeconomic variables. Significant socioeconomic ...

Empirical Relationships among Technological Characteristics, Global Orientation, and Internationalisation of South Korean New Ventures

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Junghyun Yoon

2016-12-01

Full Text Available International new ventures (INVs that pursue rapid internationalisation have received a growing amount of attention worldwide. This study, therefore, examined characteristics of INVs, and hence investigated empirically the relationships among the technological characteristics of INVs, the characteristics of their chief executive officers (CEOs (i.e., global orientation, and their internationalisation such as the level of internationalisation. The findings of this study can be summarised as follows: all of the technological characteristics (e.g., technological capacity, imitation, innovation, and standardisation have significant effects on the internationalisation of INVs. Furthermore, the CEO’s global orientation mediated the relationship between the technological characteristics and internationalisation.

An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Investor Protection, Government Behavior, and Financial Development

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Chien-Chi Chu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available We studied the relationship between investor protection, government behavior, and financial development using data covering six provinces (Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, and Sichuan and two provincial-level cities (Beijing and Shanghai in China for the period 2005–2014. Using panel data estimation techniques, we found that there is a positive relationship between investor protection and financial development; by contrast, highly-intense government intervention leads to more financial impediments. Moreover, government intervention in education could promote financial development through its contribution to having a higher amount of the fund supply. Our empirical findings have important implications for policy-makers in terms of reforming the capital market regulation.

An Empirical Study to Determine The Relationship between Occupational Self-Efficacy and Organizational Silence

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Cem KAHYA

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The concept of occupational self-efficacy means the efficacy perceptions of employees in their occupational fields, and the concept of organizational silence means the employees avoid to voice their ideas and suggestions about organizational issues. The main aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the concepts of occupational self-efficacy and organizational silence by revealing employees’ perceptions of occupational self-efficacy and organizational silence level. With this aim, the survey study was conducted on total 114 academicians who work in University of Bayburt. As a result of research, while the significant relationship was found between employees’ perceptions of occupational self-efficacy and organizational silence level, there was reached a result that this relationship incurred the negatively relationship between perceptions of occupational self-efficacy and negative silence.

Experimental determination of the empirical formula and energy content of unknown organics in waste streams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shizas, I. [Univ. of Toronto, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Kosmatos, A. [Ontario Power Generation, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Bagley, D.M. [Univ. of Toronto, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

2002-06-15

Two experimental methods are described in this paper: one for determining the empirical formula, and one for determining the energy content of unknown organics in waste streams. The empirical formula method requires volatile solids (VS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) to be measured for the waste; the formula can then be calculated from these values. To determine the energy content of the organic waste, bomb calorimetry was used with benzoic acid as a combustion aid. The results for standard compounds (glucose, propionic acid, L-arginine, and benzoic acid) were relatively good. The energy content measurement for wastewater and sludges had good reproducibility (i.e. 1.0 to 3.2% relative standard deviation for triplicate samples). Trouble encountered in the measurement of the empirical formulae of the waste samples was possibly due to difficulties with the TOC test; further analysis of this is required. (author)

Experimental determination of the empirical formula and energy content of unknown organics in waste streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shizas, I.; Kosmatos, A.; Bagley, D.M.

2002-01-01

Two experimental methods are described in this paper: one for determining the empirical formula, and one for determining the energy content of unknown organics in waste streams. The empirical formula method requires volatile solids (VS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) to be measured for the waste; the formula can then be calculated from these values. To determine the energy content of the organic waste, bomb calorimetry was used with benzoic acid as a combustion aid. The results for standard compounds (glucose, propionic acid, L-arginine, and benzoic acid) were relatively good. The energy content measurement for wastewater and sludges had good reproducibility (i.e. 1.0 to 3.2% relative standard deviation for triplicate samples). Trouble encountered in the measurement of the empirical formulae of the waste samples was possibly due to difficulties with the TOC test; further analysis of this is required. (author)

Determinants of Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Russian Regions

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Svetlana Ledyaeva

2008-06-01

Full Text Available A modification of Barro and Sala-i-Martin empirical framework of growth model is specified to examine determinants of per capita growth in 74 Russian regions during period of 1996-2005. We utilize both panel and cross-sectional data. Results imply that in general regional growth in 1996-2005 is explained by the initial level of region's economic development, the 1998 financial crisis, domestic investments, and exports. Growth convergence between poor and rich regions in Russia was not found for the period studied.

Empiric determination of corrected visual acuity standards for train crews.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Steven H; Swanson, William H

2005-08-01

Probably the most common visual standard for employment in the transportation industry is best-corrected, high-contrast visual acuity. Because such standards were often established absent empiric linkage to job performance, it is possible that a job applicant or employee who has visual acuity less than the standard may be able to satisfactorily perform the required job activities. For the transportation system that we examined, the train crew is required to inspect visually the length of the train before and during the time it leaves the station. The purpose of the inspection is to determine if an individual is in a hazardous position with respect to the train. In this article, we determine the extent to which high-contrast visual acuity can predict performance on a simulated task. Performance at discriminating hazardous from safe conditions, as depicted in projected photographic slides, was determined as a function of visual acuity. For different levels of visual acuity, which was varied through the use of optical defocus, a subject was required to label scenes as hazardous or safe. Task performance was highly correlated with visual acuity as measured under conditions normally used for vision screenings (high-illumination and high-contrast): as the acuity decreases, performance at discriminating hazardous from safe scenes worsens. This empirically based methodology can be used to establish a corrected high-contrast visual acuity standard for safety-sensitive work in transportation that is linked to the performance of a job-critical task.

The relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty. Empirical evidence for the newest EU countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Viorica, Daniela; Jemna, Danut; Pintilescu, Carmen; Asandului, Mircea

2014-01-01

The objective of this paper is to verify the hypotheses presented in the literature on the causal relationship between inflation and its uncertainty, for the newest EU countries. To ensure the robustness of the results, in the study four models for inflation uncertainty are estimated in parallel: ARCH (1), GARCH (1,1), EGARCH (1,1,1) and PARCH (1,1,1). The Granger method is used to test the causality between two variables. The working hypothesis is that groups of countries with a similar political and economic background in 1990 and are likely to be characterized by the same causal relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty. Empirical results partially confirm this hypothesis. C22, E31, E37.

Inequality and economic growth: The empirical relationship reconsidered in the light of comparable data

OpenAIRE

Knowles, Stephen

2001-01-01

All of the recent empirical work on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth has used inequality data that are not consistently measured. This paper argues that this is inappropriate and shows that the significant negative correlation often found between income inequality and growth across countries is not robust when income inequality is measured in a consistent manner, using data from the World Income Inequality Database. However, evidence is found of a significant neg...

Empirical Relationships Among Magnitude and Surface Rupture Characteristics of Strike-Slip Faults: Effect of Fault (System) Geometry and Observation Location, Dervided From Numerical Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Zielke, O.; Arrowsmith, J.

2007-12-01

In order to determine the magnitude of pre-historic earthquakes, surface rupture length, average and maximum surface displacement are utilized, assuming that an earthquake of a specific size will cause surface features of correlated size. The well known Wells and Coppersmith (1994) paper and other studies defined empirical relationships between these and other parameters, based on historic events with independently known magnitude and rupture characteristics. However, these relationships show relatively large standard deviations and they are based only on a small number of events. To improve these first-order empirical relationships, the observation location relative to the rupture extent within the regional tectonic framework should be accounted for. This however cannot be done based on natural seismicity because of the limited size of datasets on large earthquakes. We have developed the numerical model FIMozFric, based on derivations by Okada (1992) to create synthetic seismic records for a given fault or fault system under the influence of either slip- or stress boundary conditions. Our model features A) the introduction of an upper and lower aseismic zone, B) a simple Coulomb friction law, C) bulk parameters simulating fault heterogeneity, and D) a fault interaction algorithm handling the large number of fault patches (typically 5,000-10,000). The joint implementation of these features produces well behaved synthetic seismic catalogs and realistic relationships among magnitude and surface rupture characteristics which are well within the error of the results by Wells and Coppersmith (1994). Furthermore, we use the synthetic seismic records to show that the relationships between magntiude and rupture characteristics are a function of the observation location within the regional tectonic framework. The model presented here can to provide paleoseismologists with a tool to improve magnitude estimates from surface rupture characteristics, by incorporating the

Accounting for Trust: A Conceptual Model for the Determinants of Trust in the Australian Public Accountant – SME Client Relationship

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Michael Cherry

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates trust as it relates to the relationship between Australia’s public accountants and their SME clients. It describes the contribution of the accountancy profession to the SME market, as well as the key challenges faced by accountants and their SME clients. Following the review of prior scholarly studies, a working definition of trust as it relates to this important relationship is also developed and presented. A further consequence of prior academic work is the development of a comprehensive conceptual model to describe the determinants of trust in the Australian public accountant – SME client relationship, which requires testing via empirical studies.

Semi-empirical Determination of Detection Efficiency for Voluminous Source by Effective Solid Angle Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, M. Y.; Kim, J. H.; Choi, H. D. [Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Sun, G. M. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

In the field of γ-ray measurements, the determination of full energy (FE) absorption peak efficiency for a voluminous sample is difficult, because the preparation of the certified radiation source with the same chemical composition and geometry for the original voluminous sample is not easy. In order to solve this inconvenience, simulation or semi-empirical methods are preferred in many cases. Effective Solid Angle (ESA) Code which includes semi-empirical approach has been developed by the Applied Nuclear Physics Group in Seoul National University. In this study, we validated ESA code by using Marinelli type voluminous KRISS (Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) CRM (Certified Reference Materials) sources and IAEA standard γ-ray point sources. And semi-empirically determined efficiency curve for voluminous source by using the ESA code is compared with the experimental value. We calculated the efficiency curve of voluminous source from the measured efficiency of standard point source by using the ESA code. We will carry out the ESA code validation by measurement of various CRM volume sources with detector of different efficiency.

Influence of Gender on the Supervisory Relationship: A Review of the Empirical Research from 1996 to 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Hindes, Yvonne L.; Andrews, Jac J. W.

2011-01-01

Twelve empirical studies published since 1996 regarding the effects of gender on the supervisory relationship are reviewed. Each study was reviewed and critiqued in relation to its methodology, research design, critical findings, and limitations. The results of these studies indicate that (a) gender influences the openness and affiliation one…

An Empirical State Error Covariance Matrix Orbit Determination Example

Science.gov (United States)

Frisbee, Joseph H., Jr.

2015-01-01

State estimation techniques serve effectively to provide mean state estimates. However, the state error covariance matrices provided as part of these techniques suffer from some degree of lack of confidence in their ability to adequately describe the uncertainty in the estimated states. A specific problem with the traditional form of state error covariance matrices is that they represent only a mapping of the assumed observation error characteristics into the state space. Any errors that arise from other sources (environment modeling, precision, etc.) are not directly represented in a traditional, theoretical state error covariance matrix. First, consider that an actual observation contains only measurement error and that an estimated observation contains all other errors, known and unknown. Then it follows that a measurement residual (the difference between expected and observed measurements) contains all errors for that measurement. Therefore, a direct and appropriate inclusion of the actual measurement residuals in the state error covariance matrix of the estimate will result in an empirical state error covariance matrix. This empirical state error covariance matrix will fully include all of the errors in the state estimate. The empirical error covariance matrix is determined from a literal reinterpretation of the equations involved in the weighted least squares estimation algorithm. It is a formally correct, empirical state error covariance matrix obtained through use of the average form of the weighted measurement residual variance performance index rather than the usual total weighted residual form. Based on its formulation, this matrix will contain the total uncertainty in the state estimate, regardless as to the source of the uncertainty and whether the source is anticipated or not. It is expected that the empirical error covariance matrix will give a better, statistical representation of the state error in poorly modeled systems or when sensor performance

Wireless and empire geopolitics radio industry and ionosphere in the British Empire 1918-1939

CERN Document Server

Anduaga, Aitor

2009-01-01

Although the product of consensus politics, the British Empire was based on communications supremacy and the knowledge of the atmosphere. Focusing on science, industry, government, the military, and education, this book studies the relationship between wireless and Empire throughout the interwar period.

Uncertainty in Measurement: A Review of Monte Carlo Simulation Using Microsoft Excel for the Calculation of Uncertainties Through Functional Relationships, Including Uncertainties in Empirically Derived Constants

Science.gov (United States)

Farrance, Ian; Frenkel, Robert

2014-01-01

The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (usually referred to as the GUM) provides the basic framework for evaluating uncertainty in measurement. The GUM however does not always provide clearly identifiable procedures suitable for medical laboratory applications, particularly when internal quality control (IQC) is used to derive most of the uncertainty estimates. The GUM modelling approach requires advanced mathematical skills for many of its procedures, but Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) can be used as an alternative for many medical laboratory applications. In particular, calculations for determining how uncertainties in the input quantities to a functional relationship propagate through to the output can be accomplished using a readily available spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel. The MCS procedure uses algorithmically generated pseudo-random numbers which are then forced to follow a prescribed probability distribution. When IQC data provide the uncertainty estimates the normal (Gaussian) distribution is generally considered appropriate, but MCS is by no means restricted to this particular case. With input variations simulated by random numbers, the functional relationship then provides the corresponding variations in the output in a manner which also provides its probability distribution. The MCS procedure thus provides output uncertainty estimates without the need for the differential equations associated with GUM modelling. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the ease with which Microsoft Excel (or a similar spreadsheet) can be used to provide an uncertainty estimate for measurands derived through a functional relationship. In addition, we also consider the relatively common situation where an empirically derived formula includes one or more ‘constants’, each of which has an empirically derived numerical value. Such empirically derived ‘constants’ must also have associated uncertainties which propagate through the functional

Uncertainty in measurement: a review of monte carlo simulation using microsoft excel for the calculation of uncertainties through functional relationships, including uncertainties in empirically derived constants.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrance, Ian; Frenkel, Robert

2014-02-01

The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (usually referred to as the GUM) provides the basic framework for evaluating uncertainty in measurement. The GUM however does not always provide clearly identifiable procedures suitable for medical laboratory applications, particularly when internal quality control (IQC) is used to derive most of the uncertainty estimates. The GUM modelling approach requires advanced mathematical skills for many of its procedures, but Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) can be used as an alternative for many medical laboratory applications. In particular, calculations for determining how uncertainties in the input quantities to a functional relationship propagate through to the output can be accomplished using a readily available spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel. The MCS procedure uses algorithmically generated pseudo-random numbers which are then forced to follow a prescribed probability distribution. When IQC data provide the uncertainty estimates the normal (Gaussian) distribution is generally considered appropriate, but MCS is by no means restricted to this particular case. With input variations simulated by random numbers, the functional relationship then provides the corresponding variations in the output in a manner which also provides its probability distribution. The MCS procedure thus provides output uncertainty estimates without the need for the differential equations associated with GUM modelling. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the ease with which Microsoft Excel (or a similar spreadsheet) can be used to provide an uncertainty estimate for measurands derived through a functional relationship. In addition, we also consider the relatively common situation where an empirically derived formula includes one or more 'constants', each of which has an empirically derived numerical value. Such empirically derived 'constants' must also have associated uncertainties which propagate through the functional relationship

20 CFR 222.11 - Determination of marriage relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of marriage relationship. 222... RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Relationship as Wife, Husband, or Widow(er) § 222.11 Determination of marriage relationship. A claimant will be considered to be the husband, wife, or widow(er) of an employee...

Linear and nonlinear determinants of the performance of informal venture capitalists’ investments. An empirical analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincenzo Capizzi

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is aimed at identifying and analyzing the contribution of the major drivers of the performance of informal venture capitalists’ investments. This study analyzes data on Italian transactions and personal features of Italian Business Angels gathered during 2007 – 2011 with the support of IBAN (Italian Business Angels Network. The econometric analysis investigates the returns of business angels’ investments and their major determinants (industry, exit strategy, experience, holding period, rejection rate, and year of divestiture. The major results are the followings: 1 differently from previous literature, the relationship between Experience and IRR is quadratic and significant; 2 for the first time, is confirmed by quantitative data that short Holding period (below 3 years earn a lower IRR; 3 the Rejection rate is logarithmic and the impact on IRR is positive and significant. Finally, the outcomes of the empirical analysis performed in this study allow identifying new and concrete insights on possible policy interventions.

DETERMINANTS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY IN TIMES OF CRISIS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hatmanu (Gagea Mariana

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In the context of the present economic crisis, entrepreneurship has re-emerged as a topic of interest both for policy makers worldwide as well as for academic research. A wide range of psychological, economic and sociological factors influencing entrepreneurial activity is presented by the existing literature. The aim of this paper is to identify the economic and institutional factors that influenced entrepreneurial activity both before and during the crisis. Data for 27 countries worldwide from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, World Bank World Development Indicators and World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators international databases were collected for the years 2007, 2009 and 2012. A three stage empirical research was conducted: a comparative analysis of the distribution of the selected variables for the three years, principal components analysis in order to provide an image of the intensity and direction of the relationship between the variables and to characterize the statistical units and econometric modelling to describe the variation of entrepreneurial activity in relation with its economic and institutional determinants. Contrary to expectations, the research findings show that before the crisis, the variation of entrepreneurial activity is explained by the negative influence of the perceived confidence in the rules of society and during the crisis it is negatively influenced by the perceived government effectiveness. The limitations of the research are also presented.

An Empirical Study on Capital Structure Determinants of Selected ASEAN Countries

OpenAIRE

Ngo, Hoang Anh

2013-01-01

Capital structure has been a controversial topic for decades. Conflicting arguments in theories and mixed findings in empirical work require further studies on this subject. More importantly, most previous studies have focused on developed countries and little attention is paid to emerging economies, especially ASEAN. Therefore, this study attempts to fill the gap by examining effects of capital structure's determinants on different measures of leverage of listed manufacturing companies in se...

Energy efficiency determinants: An empirical analysis of Spanish innovative firms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa-Campi, María Teresa; García-Quevedo, José; Segarra, Agustí

2015-01-01

This paper examines the extent to which innovative Spanish firms pursue improvements in energy efficiency (EE) as an objective of innovation. The increase in energy consumption and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions justifies the greater attention being paid to energy efficiency and especially to industrial EE. The ability of manufacturing companies to innovate and improve their EE has a substantial influence on attaining objectives regarding climate change mitigation. Despite the effort to design more efficient energy policies, the EE determinants in manufacturing firms have been little studied in the empirical literature. From an exhaustive sample of Spanish manufacturing firms and using a logit model, we examine the energy efficiency determinants for those firms that have innovated. To carry out the econometric analysis, we use panel data from the Community Innovation Survey for the period 2008–2011. Our empirical results underline the role of size among the characteristics of firms that facilitate energy efficiency innovation. Regarding company behaviour, firms that consider the reduction of environmental impacts to be an important objective of innovation and that have introduced organisational innovations are more likely to innovate with the objective of increasing energy efficiency. -- Highlights: •Drivers of innovation in energy efficiency at firm-level are examined. •Tangible investments have a greater influence on energy efficiency than R&D. •Environmental and energy efficiency innovation objectives are complementary. •Organisational innovation favors energy efficiency innovation. •Public policies should be implemented to improve firms’ energy efficiency

Identifying the oil price-macroeconomy relationship. An empirical mode decomposition analysis of US data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oladosu, Gbadebo

2009-01-01

This paper employs the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method to filter cyclical components of US quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) and quarterly average oil price (West Texas Intermediate - WTI). The method is adaptive and applicable to non-linear and non-stationary data. A correlation analysis of the resulting components is performed and examined for insights into the relationship between oil and the economy. Several components of this relationship are identified. However, the principal one is that the medium-run component of the oil price has a negative relationship with the main cyclical component of the GDP. In addition, weak correlations suggesting a lagging, demand-driven component and a long-run component of the relationship were also identified. Comparisons of these findings with significant oil supply disruption and recession dates were supportive. The study identifies a number of lessons applicable to recent oil market events, including the eventuality of persistent oil price and economic decline following a long oil price run-up. In addition, it was found that oil market related exogenous events are associated with short- to medium-run price implications regardless of whether they lead to actual supply losses. (author)

An Empirical Perspective on the Culture - Corporate Social Responsibility Relationship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumitru ZAIȚ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Business competition and pressure of European directives put Romanian company in a position to find answers to issues related to long-term survival and development. In this context we believe it is necessary to analyze some of the most important components that should be taken into consideration at the strategic level: national and organizational culture. The results indicate that corporate social responsibility is supported by learning and change-oriented organizational culture, but also by a favorable cultural and national economic framework. Based on these theoretical considerations we intent to emphasize the relationships between national culture / corporate culture and corporate social responsibility (CSR, elaborating an empirical argument by analyzing the results provided by Global 100, an annual project initiated by Corporate Knights Inc. (Davos. Starting with 2005, it has the largest database in the world and an appropriate evaluation methodology that provides a ranking of the top 100 most responsible companies in the world.

Empirically determined decision levels development and use in an in vivo bioassay program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawson, B.J.; Orcutt, M.A.; Winslow, R.J.

1996-04-01

This paper discusses a method to empirically determine and a use for reporting a decision level value for 137 Cs using a Canberra Accuscan II, direct radiobioassay (in vivo) system. The decision level value is used to determine the upper 5% of in vivo measurements for the purpose of recounting individuals. The paper overviews decision level concepts, the applicability of ANSI N13.30 and ANSI N42.2 and describes the specific process employed

EVOLVING AN EMPIRICAL METHODOLOGY DOR DETERMINING ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The uniqueness of this approach, is that it can be applied to any forest or dynamic feature on the earth, and can enjoy universal application as well. KEY WORDS: Evolving empirical methodology, innovative mathematical model, appropriate interval, remote sensing, forest environment planning and management. Global Jnl ...

Do Transport Infrastructures Promote the Foreign Direct Investments Attractiveness? Empirical Investigation from Four North African Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir Saidi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The relationship among foreign direct investments and economic growth is a very controversial issue that has given rise to an abundant literature. Numerous research studies examine the bidirectional causal relationship and investigate the major determinants of these investments. In the same order of ideas, this article gives an empirical study from four North African countries to evaluate the role of transport infrastructures to improve the territorial attractiveness for the foreign direct investment. The present paper starts by a theoretical study explaining the role of transport as a major determinant of FDI. In a second section, we represent the empirical study. By using an econometric model with panel data, we found that traditional determinants of FDI have the most significant influence on the international investors’ decision. However, the same findings verify a positive impact of transport and consider it as a new important factor with strategic issues that cannot be avoided. The empirical validation from the four countries leads to verify that it is necessary to adopt development strategies that take into account the transport infrastructures and logistics function

Too Much Emphasis on Research? An Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Research and Teaching in Multitasking Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Bak, Hee-Je; Kim, Do Han

2015-01-01

While the public is concerned that emphasizing research performance among university faculty results in inadequate attention to undergraduate teaching, research on the relationship between research and teaching in higher education has failed to confirm or deny the validity of this concern. To empirically test this popular concern, we examined how…

Empirical Philosophy of Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mansnerus, Erika; Wagenknecht, Susann

2015-01-01

knowledge takes place through the integration of the empirical or historical research into the philosophical studies, as Chang, Nersessian, Thagard and Schickore argue in their work. Building upon their contributions we will develop a blueprint for an Empirical Philosophy of Science that draws upon...... qualitative methods from the social sciences in order to advance our philosophical understanding of science in practice. We will regard the relationship between philosophical conceptualization and empirical data as an iterative dialogue between theory and data, which is guided by a particular ‘feeling with......Empirical insights are proven fruitful for the advancement of Philosophy of Science, but the integration of philosophical concepts and empirical data poses considerable methodological challenges. Debates in Integrated History and Philosophy of Science suggest that the advancement of philosophical...

An Empirical Approach to Determining Advertising Spending Level.

Science.gov (United States)

Sunoo, D. H.; Lin, Lynn Y. S.

To assess the relationship between advertising and consumer promotion and to determine the optimal short-term advertising spending level for a product, a research project was undertaken by a major food manufacturer. One thousand homes subscribing to a dual-system cable television service received either no advertising exposure to the product or…

An Investigation of Justice in Supply Chain Trust and Relationship Commitment - An Empirical Study of Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziaullah Muhammad

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years supply chain integration (SCI has received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. However, our knowledge of what influences the supply chain integration practice of relationship commitment is still very limited. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship among supply chain justices (procedural, distributive and interactional, trust and inter-firms relationship commitment in mainland Pakistan. The research variables have considerable importance in the literature of supply chain management (SCM. The conceptual model comprises five hypotheses. Then hypotheses are tested via an empirical study in which data are collected from 170 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and retailers of main stream spectrum industries in Pakistan. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA to examine the validity and reliability of the measurement model, and structural equation modeling (SEM to test the hypotheses. The findings delineate that supply chain justices can develop relationship commitment (affective and continuance via establishing trust among supply chain partners. Moreover, this study reveals interesting and useful implications of supply chain justices, trust and relationship commitment for practitioners.

Critical Access Hospitals and Retail Activity: An Empirical Analysis in Oklahoma

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Lara; Whitacre, Brian E.

2011-01-01

Purpose: This paper takes an empirical approach to determining the effect that a critical access hospital (CAH) has on local retail activity. Previous research on the relationship between hospitals and economic development has primarily focused on single-case, multiplier-oriented analysis. However, as the efficacy of federal and state-level rural…

Roughness-reflectance relationship of bare desert terrain: An empirical study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoshany, M.

1993-01-01

A study of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) in relation to surface roughness properties was conducted in arid land near Fowlers Gap Research Station, New South Wales, Australia. Such empirical study is necessary for investigating the possibility of determining terrain geomorphological parameters from bidirectional reflectance data. A new apparatus was developed to take accurate hemispherical directions radiance measurements (HDRM). A digitizer for three-dimensional in situ roughness measurements was also developed. More than 70 hemispherical data sets were collected for various illumination conditions and surface types of desert stony pavements and rocky terrain slopes. In general, it was found that most of the surfaces exhibited an anisotropic reflection, combining a major component of backscattering. The BRDF of different surface types in relation to their roughness properties as determined by the field digitizer were then examined. Results showed that sites that are considered to differ significantly from a geomorphological point of view would not necessarily form a different BRDF

20 CFR 725.220 - Determination of relationship; child.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of relationship; child. 725.220... Determination of relationship; child. For purposes of determining whether an individual may qualify for benefits as the child of a deceased miner, the provisions of § 725.208 shall be applicable. As used in this...

New empirical relationship between grain size distribution and hydraulic conductivity for ephemeral streambed sediments

KAUST Repository

Rosas, Jorge

2014-07-19

Grain size distribution, porosity, and hydraulic conductivity were determined for 39 sediment samples collected from ephemeral streams (wadis) in western Saudi Arabia. The measured hydraulic conductivity values were then compared to values calculated using 20 different empirical equations commonly used to estimate hydraulic conductivity from grain size analyses. It was found that most of the hydraulic conductivity values estimated from the empirical equations correlated very poorly with the measured hydraulic conductivity values. Modifications of the empirical equations, including changes to special coefficients and statistical offsets, were made to produce modified equations that considerably improved the hydraulic conductivity estimates from grain size data for wadi sediments. The Chapuis, Hazen, Kozeny, Slichter, Terzaghi, and Barr equations produced the best correlations, but still had relatively high predictive errors. The Chapius equation was modified for wadi sediments by incorporating mud percentage and the standard deviation (in phi units) into a new equation that reduced the predicted hydraulic conductivity error to ±14.1 m/day. The equation is best applied to ephemeral stream samples that have hydraulic conductive values greater than 2 m/day.

New empirical relationship between grain size distribution and hydraulic conductivity for ephemeral streambed sediments

KAUST Repository

Rosas, Jorge; Jadoon, Khan; Missimer, Thomas M.

2014-01-01

Grain size distribution, porosity, and hydraulic conductivity were determined for 39 sediment samples collected from ephemeral streams (wadis) in western Saudi Arabia. The measured hydraulic conductivity values were then compared to values calculated using 20 different empirical equations commonly used to estimate hydraulic conductivity from grain size analyses. It was found that most of the hydraulic conductivity values estimated from the empirical equations correlated very poorly with the measured hydraulic conductivity values. Modifications of the empirical equations, including changes to special coefficients and statistical offsets, were made to produce modified equations that considerably improved the hydraulic conductivity estimates from grain size data for wadi sediments. The Chapuis, Hazen, Kozeny, Slichter, Terzaghi, and Barr equations produced the best correlations, but still had relatively high predictive errors. The Chapius equation was modified for wadi sediments by incorporating mud percentage and the standard deviation (in phi units) into a new equation that reduced the predicted hydraulic conductivity error to ±14.1 m/day. The equation is best applied to ephemeral stream samples that have hydraulic conductive values greater than 2 m/day.

A Multicenter Evaluation of Prolonged Empiric Antibiotic Therapy in Adult ICUs in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Zachariah; Bandali, Farooq; Sankaranarayanan, Jayashri; Reardon, Tom; Olsen, Keith M

2015-12-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the rate of prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy in adult ICUs in the United States. Our secondary objective is to examine the relationship between the prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy rate and certain ICU characteristics. Multicenter, prospective, observational, 72-hour snapshot study. Sixty-seven ICUs from 32 hospitals in the United States. Nine hundred ninety-eight patients admitted to the ICU between midnight on June 20, 2011, and June 21, 2011, were included in the study. None. Antibiotic orders were categorized as prophylactic, definitive, empiric, or prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy. Prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy was defined as empiric antibiotics that continued for at least 72 hours in the absence of adjudicated infection. Standard definitions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used to determine infection. Prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy rate was determined as the ratio of the total number of empiric antibiotics continued for at least 72 hours divided by the total number of empiric antibiotics. Univariate analysis of factors associated with the ICU prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy rate was conducted using Student t test. A total of 660 unique antibiotics were prescribed as empiric therapy to 364 patients. Of the empiric antibiotics, 333 of 660 (50%) were continued for at least 72 hours in instances where Centers for Disease Control and Prevention infection criteria were not met. Suspected pneumonia accounted for approximately 60% of empiric antibiotic use. The most frequently prescribed empiric antibiotics were vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam. ICUs that utilized invasive techniques for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia had lower rates of prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy than those that did not, 45.1% versus 59.5% (p = 0.03). No other institutional factor was significantly associated with prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy rate. Half of all

The money creation process: A theoretical and empirical analysis for the US

OpenAIRE

Levrero, Enrico Sergio; Deleidi, Matteo

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to assess – on both theoretical and empirical grounds – the two main views regarding the money creation process,namely the endogenous and exogenous money approaches. After analysing the main issues and the related empirical literature, we will apply a VAR and VECM methodology to the United States in the period 1959-2016 to assess the causal relationship between a number of critical variables that are supposed to determine the money supply, i.e., the monetary base, ban...

Searching for Logistics and Regulatory Determinants Affecting Overseas Direct Purchase: An Empirical Cross-National Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyuksoo Cho

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Cross-border e-commerce has been very successful in the last decade. Merchants and consumers have been encouraged to participate in e-commerce, including B2C or B2B. B2C is not limited to a domestic market anymore. Consumers across countries are interested in overseas direct purchases. They are willing to purchase products from major online shopping sites such as Amazon and eBay. We aim at gaining a better understanding of overseas direct purchases. Determinants of overseas direct purchases based on cross-national data are identified. Accordingly, we investigate logistics and regulatory determinants. Furthermore, external environments such as regulatory institutions and globalization are discussed in terms of overseas direct purchases. This study incorporates theoretical foundations into empirical findings. Specifically, the institutional theory and the resource-based view are applied to explain the internal and external determinants to increase overseas direct purchases. We conduct an empirical test using panel data for each country to identify the various determinants associated with overseas direct purchases.

On the relationship between financial measures and contractor pricing strategy: Empirical tests in the defense aerospace industry

OpenAIRE

Moses, O. Douglas

1987-01-01

This report includes two separate but related empirical studies of the relationship between financial measures for defense aerospace contractors and pricing strategies adopted by contractors. Two pricing strategies are identified: skimming and penetration. Collectively the findings indicate that the adoption of a particular pricing strategy is associated with the financial condition of the contractor as reflected in measures of risk, asset utilization and organizational slack. Keywords: Finan...

Empirical findings on socioeconomic determinants of fertility differentials in Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvajal, M J; Geithman, D T

1986-01-01

"This paper seeks to (1) identify socioeconomic variables that are expected to generate fertility differentials; (2) hypothesize the direction and magnitude of the effect of each variable by reference to a demand-for-children model; and (3) test empirically the model using evidence from Costa Rica. The estimates are obtained from a ten-percent systematic random sample of all Costa Rican individual-family households. There are 15,924 families in the sample...." The authors specifically seek "to capture the effects of changing relative prices and available income and time constraints on parental preferences for children. Least-squares estimates show statistically significant relationships between household fertility and opportunity cost of time, parental education, occurrence of an extended family, medical care, household sanitation, economic sector of employment, and household stock of nonhuman capital." excerpt

The relationship between energy and economic growth: Empirical evidence from 66 countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Susan Sunila

2010-01-01

In this study, we use dynamic panel data models to examine the impact of electricity and non-electricity variables on economic growth for a global panel consisting of 66 countries. The time component of our dataset is 1986-2005 inclusive. We also estimate this relationship for four regional panels; namely, East/South Asian and the Pacific region, Europe and Central Asian region, Latin America and Caribbean region, and Sub-Saharan, North Africa and Middle Eastern region. In total, we use six proxies for energy. The empirical analysis is based on a sound theoretical framework, in that we draw on growth theory and augment the classical growth model, which consists of inflation, capital stock, labour force and trade, with energy. Generally, the results on the impact of energy are mixed. (author)

Selection of an empirical detection method for determination of water-soluble carbohydrates in feedstuffs for application in ruminant nutrition

Science.gov (United States)

Water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) are commonly measured in ruminant feedstuffs for use in diet formulation. However, we lack information as to which empirical detection assay most correctly measures WSC. The objective of this study was to determine which commonly used empirical assay was most approp...

Some empirical evidence on the relationship between inventory management and social responsibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaled Elsayed

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Despite the crucial role that inventory plays in supply chain management (SCM, research that examines the relationship between inventory and corporate social responsibility (CSR is rare. This is surprising given the evidence that inventory represents a huge source of cost, a matter that is often reported as a major impediment in practicing social responsibility in SCM. As such, this paper fills this gape in literature by examining directly the effect of inventory management on CSR. Maximum-likelihood ordered logistic regression was performed on a sample of 38 Egyptian listed firms during the period from 2007 to 2010. The results demonstrate that inventory management exerts a positive and significant coefficient on CSR. Further analysis shows that inventory management cannot be safely dropped from model of analysis. Rather, inventory management does add something unique in explaining differences in CSR. For practitioners interested in optimizing their firms’ values, thinking in managing supply chain imperatives, and specially inventory, in terms of social responsibility may guide them to build up a stock of reputational capital that can be used, in turn, to increase the cost of their rivals. This study, to the best of knowledge, is the first one that offers empirical evidence regarding the effect of inventory management on CSR. Moreover, the paper adds to both SCM and CSR literature by providing empirical evidence from Egypt as an emerging market, where much of the existing evidence reflects experience from developed countries.

Views of health journalists, industry employees and news consumers about disclosure and regulation of industry-journalist relationships: an empirical ethical study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipworth, Wendy; Kerridge, Ian; Morrell, Bronwen; Forsyth, Rowena; Jordens, Christopher F C

2015-03-01

Bioethicists and policymakers are increasingly concerned about the effects on health journalism of relationships between journalists and private corporations. The concern is that relationships between journalists and manufacturers of medicines, medical devices, complementary medicines and food can and do distort health reporting. This is a problem because health news is known to have a major impact on the public's health-related expectations and behaviour. Commentators have proposed two related approaches to protecting the public from potential harms arising from industry-journalist interactions: greater transparency and external regulation. To date, few empirical studies have examined stakeholders' views of industry-journalist relationships and how these should be managed. We conducted interviews with 13 journalists and 12 industry employees, and 2 focus groups with consumers. Our findings, which are synthesised here, provide empirical support for the need for greater transparency and regulation of industry-journalist relationships. Our findings also highlight several likely barriers to instituting such measures, which will need to be overcome if transparency and regulation are to be accepted by stakeholders and have their intended effect on the quality of journalism and the actions of news consumers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

20 CFR 725.208 - Determination of relationship; child.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of relationship; child. 725.208... Determination of relationship; child. As used in this section, the term “beneficiary” means only a surviving... considered to be the child of a beneficiary if: (a) The courts of the State in which the beneficiary is...

An empirical study on the relationship between customers' credit rating and their financial transcripts for loan assignment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Najafi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available One of the most important issues on revenue management in banking industries is the assignment of loan to customers. In fact, a big portion of banks' revenue is from loan assignment and choosing appropriate customers for loan assignment not only reduces the financial risk but also it can increase the revenue. In this study, we perform an empirical study to find out whether customers' financial statements could provide enough information about customers for loan assignment. The other objective of this study is to find out whether banks' officials could understand about the details of customers' financial statements. Finally, we want to find out whether there is any relationship between unpaid loans and customers' credit rating. The present study is executed on an Iranian bank by distributing a questionnaire analyzing the results. The results indicate that there are some strong evidence that financial statement could help bank official determine customers' credit rating. The survey also concludes that highly education and experienced employees are the best people for devoting best credit rating for customers.

Empirical study with structural break on the relationship between financial development and economic growth of Jiangxi province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiang Xinxi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The empirical study over the period 1978-2011 found that the relationship between real per capita GDP and financial interrelation ratio structurally broke since 2004. From 1978 to 2003, economic growth and financial development had a long-term co-integration, and it showed one-way supply relationship according to the Granger causality test, which means the economic growth have a slowly leading function to the development of finance. From 2004 to 2011, the correlation between them became weaker and had no Granger causality, but there had a long-term co-integration and mutual causality relationship existed between loan and GDP during the whole period. From it we can see loan could boost output more persistently. Therefore, the enhanced economic power of Jiangxi province could promote further development of regional financial service industries, and we would propose some related policy suggestions in this paper.

Benchmarking Supplier Development: An Empirical Case Study of Validating a Framework to Improve Buyer-Supplier Relationship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahzad Khuram

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In today’s dynamic business environment, firms are required to utilize efficiently and effectively all the useful resources to gain competitive advantage. Supplier development has evolved as an important strategic instrument to improve buyer supplier relationships. For that reason, this study focuses on providing the strategic significance of supplier development approaches to improve business relationships. By using qualitative research method, an integrated framework of supplier development and buyer-supplier relationship development has been tested and validated in a Finnish case company to provide empirical evidence. It particularly investigates how supplier development approaches can develop buyer-supplier relationships. The study present a set of propositions that identify significant supplier development approaches critical for the development of buyer-supplier relationships and develop a theoretical framework that specifies how these different supplier development approaches support in order to strengthen the relationships. The results are produced from an in-depth case study by implementing the proposed research framework. The findings reveal that supplier development strategies i.e., supplier incentives and direct involvements strongly effect in developing buyer-supplier relationships. Further research may focus on considering in-depth investigation of trust and communication factors along with propositions developed in the study to find out general applicability in dynamic business environment. Proposed integrated framework along with propositions is a unique combination of useful solutions for tactical and strategic management’s decision making and also valid for academic researchers to develop supplier development theories.

Strategy, Performance Determining Factor of MSMEs: An Empirical Study in Mexico City

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Francisco Ballina Ríos

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the strategy used by the company to compete in the market and its performance, considering two different time points before the economic crisis and in times of crisis. To measure the strategy uses the typology of Miles and Snow (1978 and to measure performance using the model proposed by Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983. For this, an empirical study on a sample of 983 MSMEs Federal District of Mexico. The results show that the strategy is an important factor for the development of MSMEs, both in times of growth and economic crisis, since it significantly influences their growth and profitability. Companies that follow an exploratory strategy, which are those with a greater inclination to innovation, institutions get better performance

Determining Central Black Hole Masses in Distant Active Galaxies and Quasars. II. Improved Optical and UV Scaling Relationships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergaard, Marianne; Peterson, B. M.

2006-01-01

We present four improved empirical relationships useful for estimating the central black hole mass in nearby AGNs and distant luminous quasars alike using either optical or UV single-epoch spectroscopy. These mass-scaling relationships between line widths and luminosity are based on recently...

The relationship between intellectual capital quality and corporate performance: An empirical study of Russian and European companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shakina Elena

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to develop cost-effectiveness tools for the analysis of company’s intellectual resources, in terms of resource-based and value-based approaches. Our study focuses on the evaluation of intellectual capital methods to discover the drivers of company growth. We suppose that the potential effectiveness of intellectual capital resources varies according to different institutional factors. Several statistical methods will be used for the empirical issues in this research, including common cross-sectional and panel data analysis, and the instrumental variables method. The database collected for this purpose will consist of financial and economic indicators underlying the intellectual capital evaluation, such as strategic performance indicators (EVA© and FGV©. The dataset includes companies from different countries and industries according to the Knowledge Economy Index of the World Bank. The industries presented in the dataset are selected according to the predominance of several intellectual capital elements. The database includes financial services, wholesale and retail trade, machinery and equipment manufacture, the chemical industry, and transport and communications. As a result of the empirical research, we expect to answer the following questions: • Is there a close relationship between intellectual capital quality and company performance? • What are the external and internal factors affecting this relationship? (country, industry, company size, market dynamics, etc.

Empirical Evidence from Kenya

African Journals Online (AJOL)

FIRST LADY

2011-01-18

Jan 18, 2011 ... Empirical results reveal that consumption of sugar in. Kenya varies ... experiences in trade in different regions of the world. Some studies ... To assess the relationship between domestic sugar retail prices and sugar sales in ...

Precision comparison of the erosion rates derived from 137Cs measurements models with predictions based on empirical relationship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Mingyi; Liu Puling; Li Liqing

2004-01-01

The soil samples were collected in 6 cultivated runoff plots with grid sampling method, and the soil erosion rates derived from 137 Cs measurements were calculated. The models precision of Zhang Xinbao, Zhou Weizhi, Yang Hao and Walling were compared with predictions based on empirical relationship, data showed that the precision of 4 models is high within 50m slope length except for the slope with low slope angle and short length. Relatively, the precision of Walling's model is better than that of Zhang Xinbao, Zhou Weizhi and Yang Hao. In addition, the relationship between parameter Γ in Walling's improved model and slope angle was analyzed, the ralation is: Y=0.0109 X 1.0072 . (authors)

Development of empirical relationships for prediction of mechanical and wear properties of AA6082 aluminum matrix composites produced using friction stir processing

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I. Dinaharan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Friction Stir Processing (FSP has been established as a potential solid state production method to prepare aluminum matrix composites (AMCs. FSP was effectively applied to produce AA6082 AMCs reinforced with various ceramic particles such as SiC, Al2O3, TiC, B4C and WC in this work. Empirical relationships were estimated to predict the influence of FSP process parameters on the properties such as area of stir zone, microhardness and wear rate of AMCs. FSP experiments were executed using a central composite rotatable design consisting of four factors and five levels. The FSP parameters analyzed were tool rotational speed, traverse speed, groove width and type of ceramic particle. The effect of those parameters on the properties of AMCs was deduced using the developed empirical relationships. The predicted trends were explained with the aid of observed macro and microstructures.

Determinants of supplier-buyer relationship competitiveness in transnational companies

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Matevž Rašković

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Effective supplier-buyer relationship management should not be seen only in terms of cost and financial measures, as outlined by Transaction cost economics, but also in terms of other (“softer” relational benefits, like e.g. more comprehensive information sharing, higher levels of trust, better cooperation and increased relationship flexibility. This second view is grounded in both Relationship marketing and Resource-advantage theory. Surprisingly, only a few research papers on supplier-buyer relationships address both of these perspectives equally, as well as in terms of long-term competitiveness (vis-avis a traditional short-term performance. The purpose of this paper is to analyze business relationship determinants of supplier-buyer relationship competitiveness, where we study the impact of (1 relationship-based information exchange, (2 network spillover effects, (3 transaction-specific investments, (4 trust, (5 cooperation (joint actions and (6 flexibility on perceived (7 supplier-buyer relationship competitiveness. In this regard the main research question of our study is: Which relational and transactional dimensions determine supplier-buyer relationship competitiveness, as well as how strongly? To provide the answer this research question we employ an exploratory-type Partial Least Squares (PLS regression in conjunction with a novel perspective of network spillover effects, as a set of independent variables in our model. The data set consists of a sample of 130 international suppliers (approx. 30 % response rate connected to a transnational company (TNC headquartered in Slovenia, which operates in the steel construction solutions’ industry. Our results clearly identify a relational and a transactional set of determinants of supplier-buyer relationship competitiveness, with the former having a significantly higher impact on competitiveness than the latter. With regards to specific dimensions associated with this relational component

Banking Regulation and Determinants of Banks’ Profits: Empirical Evidence from Turkey

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Mahmut ERDOGAN

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The crises that are frequently observed in the banking industries of emerging markets which affect banks’ profits necessitate regulations and supervision of these markets. This paper investigates the determinants of Turkish banks’ profits and the effects of the regulations implemented in this industry on profits. In this research, 468 firm year observations for 36 Turkish banks for the period 1995-2007 were used and analyzed with Prais-Winsten regression method. The empirical findings of the study show positive and statistically significant relations between capital, size, offbalance sheet transactions, liquidity and loans and performance and negative and statistically significant relations between quality of loans, concentration and performance.

Sea Surface Height Determination In The Arctic Using Cryosat-2 SAR Data From Primary Peak Empirical Retrackers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jain, Maulik; Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Dall, Jørgen

2015-01-01

extraction. The primary peak retrackers involve the application of retracking algorithms on just the primary peak of the waveform instead of the complete reflected waveform. These primary peak empirical retrackers are developed for Cryosat-2 SAR data. This is the first time SAR data in the Arctic...... and five parameter beta retrackers. In the case of SAR-lead data, it is concluded that the proposed primary peak retrackers work better as compared with the traditional retrackers (OCOG, threshold, five parameter beta) as well as the ESA Retracker.......SAR waveforms from Cryosat-2 are processed using primary peak empirical retrackers to determine the sea surface height in the Arctic. The empirical retrackers investigated are based on the combination of the traditional OCOG (Offset Center of Gravity) and threshold methods with primary peak...

An empirical analysis of the relationship between cost of control activities and project management success

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Al-Tmeemy Samiaah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available To achieve the objectives of continuous improvement programs, construction managers must link the achievement of quality with cost. This paper aims to associate project management success (PMS with cost of control (COC activities in an empirical manner. Thus, the purpose is to determine the extent to which COC activities impact PMS. Quantitative method was adopted to collect data from Malaysian building companies using postal and email surveys. Hypothesis is tested using correlation and simple linear regression analysis. The findings of this study indicate that COC activities are positively associated with the PMS. The empirical evidences obtained from this research, provides financial justification for all quality improvement efforts. This can assist building contractors to enhance the success of project management by reducing the level of business failures due to poor quality, cost overruns, and delays.

20 CFR 222.30 - When determinations of relationship as child are made.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false When determinations of relationship as child... RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Relationship as Child § 222.30 When determinations of... determination will be made regarding a claimant's relationship as the child of the employee when the claimant...

Determination of empirical relations between geoelectrical data and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In order to establish empirical equations that relate layer resistivity values with geotechnical parameters for engineering site characterization, geotechnical tests comprising Standard Penetration Test (SPT), Atterberg limit, Triaxial Compression and Oedometer consolidation tests were conducted on soil samples collected ...

Empirical research in medical ethics: How conceptual accounts on normative-empirical collaboration may improve research practice

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background The methodology of medical ethics during the last few decades has shifted from a predominant use of normative-philosophical analyses to an increasing involvement of empirical methods. The articles which have been published in the course of this so-called 'empirical turn' can be divided into conceptual accounts of empirical-normative collaboration and studies which use socio-empirical methods to investigate ethically relevant issues in concrete social contexts. Discussion A considered reference to normative research questions can be expected from good quality empirical research in medical ethics. However, a significant proportion of empirical studies currently published in medical ethics lacks such linkage between the empirical research and the normative analysis. In the first part of this paper, we will outline two typical shortcomings of empirical studies in medical ethics with regard to a link between normative questions and empirical data: (1) The complete lack of normative analysis, and (2) cryptonormativity and a missing account with regard to the relationship between 'is' and 'ought' statements. Subsequently, two selected concepts of empirical-normative collaboration will be presented and how these concepts may contribute to improve the linkage between normative and empirical aspects of empirical research in medical ethics will be demonstrated. Based on our analysis, as well as our own practical experience with empirical research in medical ethics, we conclude with a sketch of concrete suggestions for the conduct of empirical research in medical ethics. Summary High quality empirical research in medical ethics is in need of a considered reference to normative analysis. In this paper, we demonstrate how conceptual approaches of empirical-normative collaboration can enhance empirical research in medical ethics with regard to the link between empirical research and normative analysis. PMID:22500496

The Determinants of House Prices and Construction: An Empirical Investigation of the Swiss Housing Economy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borowiecki, Karol

2009-01-01

This paper studies the Swiss housing price determinants. The Swiss housing economy is reproduced by employing a macro-series from the last seventeen years and constructing a vector-autoregressive model. Conditional on a comparatively broad set of fundamental determinants considered, i.e. wealth......, banking, demographic and real estate specific variables, the following findings are made: 1) real house price growth and construction activity dynamics are most sensitive to changes in population and construction prices, whereas real GDP, in contrary to common empirical findings in other countries, turns...

The Impact of Business Intelligence (BI Competence on Customer Relationship Management (CRM Process: An Empirical Investigation of the Banking Industry

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Ali Mortezaei

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, establishing long-term and effective relationships with customers is a key factor in understanding customers’ needs and preferences and achieving competitive advantage. In addition, companies are facing with a growing need for information and analytical knowledge about their customers, market, competitors, organizational environment, and other factors affecting their business. Business intelligence has been considered as a response to this need. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of business intelligence competence in improving customer relationship management process. Based on the literature review and the competence – capability relationship paradigm, a conceptual model was developed comprising of different dimensions of business intelligence competence and customer relationship management processes. The data were collected from the banking sector and partial least squares structural equation modelling was employed for data analysis. Empirical results showed that organizational business intelligence competence, comprising of managerial, technical, and cultural competence, has a significantly positive impact on enhancing capabilities of customer relationship management process including initiation, maintenance, and termination of the relationship.

Determinants of Leverage and Agency problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, A.; Dijk, R.

1998-01-01

In this paper we empirically investigate the determinants of leverage and agency problems and we examine the relationships between leverage and agency problems. As in Titman and Wessels (1988) we use structural equations modeling with latent variables. In contrast to Titman and Wessels (1988), who

Empirical equations for viscosity and specific heat capacity determination of paraffin PCM and fatty acid PCM

Science.gov (United States)

Barreneche, C.; Ferrer, G.; Palacios, A.; Solé, A.; Inés Fernández, A.; Cabeza, L. F.

2017-10-01

Phase change materials (PCM) used in thermal energy storage (TES) systems have been presented, over recent years, as one of the most effective options in energy storage. Paraffin and fatty acids are some of the most used PCM in TES systems, as they have high phase change enthalpy and in addition they do not present subcooling nor hysteresis and have proper cycling stability. The simulations and design of TES systems require the knowledge of the thermophysical properties of PCM. Thermal conductivity, viscosity, specific heat capacity (Cp) can be experimentally determined, but these are material and time consuming tasks. To avoid or to reduce them, and to have reliable data without the need of experimentation, thermal properties can be calculated by empirical equations. In this study, five different equations are given to calculate the viscosity and specific heat capacity of fatty acid PCM and paraffin PCM. Two of these equations concern, respectively, the empirical calculation of the viscosity and liquid Cp of the whole paraffin PCM family, while the other three equations presented are for the corresponding calculation of viscosity, solid Cp, liquid Cp of the whole fatty acid family of PCM. Therefore, this study summarize the work performed to obtain the main empirical equations to measure the above mentioned properties for whole fatty acid PCM family and whole paraffin PCM family. Moreover, empirical equations have been obtained to calculate these properties for other materials of these PCM groups and these empirical equations can be extrapolated for PCM with higher or lower phase change temperatures within a lower relative error 4%.

An Empirical Study of the Relationship Among Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intention

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Sinem Aydogdu

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This study conducted on 100 employees from production sector and 82 employees from service provider sector. The relationship among job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention are investigated to determine statistically significant relations. The results of the study support the hypotheses. Job Satisfaction has a significant and positive relationship with three dimensions of organizational commitment and turnover intention has a significant and negative relationship with job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

The Wage Determination Process in Turkey: An Empirical Analysis in Kaleckian Perspective

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Başak Gül AKTAKAS

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Orthodox economists generally think about labor market that the price stability and low unemployment cannot be achieved at the same time. In this sense, the Orthodox argument discusses that a decline in the aggregate demand will decrease the money wages and real wages proportionally, and increase the volume of employment. Michal Kalecki denies such a wage policy which is consistently determined by this idea. Wages reflect the price-money wage relation in real terms. Prices set in regard to the degree of monopoly. In this context, it is assumed real wages is determined depending upon the degree of monopoly, labor productivity and price of import goods. According to Kalecki, Orthodoxian view which relates a decrease in real wages with an increase in production based on increasing marginal cost assumption and Kalecki does not accept this perspective. Kaleckian PostKeynesian labor market will be theoretically discussed and the determination process of the real wage will be empirically analyzed for Turkish economy over the period 1989:1 to 2012:4.

Empirical relationships among oliguria, creatinine, mortality, and renal replacement therapy in the critically ill.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandelbaum, Tal; Lee, Joon; Scott, Daniel J; Mark, Roger G; Malhotra, Atul; Howell, Michael D; Talmor, Daniel

2013-03-01

The observation periods and thresholds of serum creatinine and urine output defined in the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria were not empirically derived. By continuously varying creatinine/urine output thresholds as well as the observation period, we sought to investigate the empirical relationships among creatinine, oliguria, in-hospital mortality, and receipt of renal replacement therapy (RRT). Using a high-resolution database (Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II), we extracted data from 17,227 critically ill patients with an in-hospital mortality rate of 10.9 %. The 14,526 patients had urine output measurements. Various combinations of creatinine/urine output thresholds and observation periods were investigated by building multivariate logistic regression models for in-hospital mortality and RRT predictions. For creatinine, both absolute and percentage increases were analyzed. To visualize the dependence of adjusted mortality and RRT rate on creatinine, the urine output, and the observation period, we generated contour plots. Mortality risk was high when absolute creatinine increase was high regardless of the observation period, when percentage creatinine increase was high and the observation period was long, and when oliguria was sustained for a long period of time. Similar contour patterns emerged for RRT. The variability in predictive accuracy was small across different combinations of thresholds and observation periods. The contour plots presented in this article complement the AKIN definition. A multi-center study should confirm the universal validity of the results presented in this article.

An empirical study to determine the critical success factors of export industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoud Babakhani

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Exporting goods and services play an important role on economy of developing countries. There are many countries in the world whose economy is solely based on exporting raw materials such as oil and gas. Many believe that countries cannot develop their economy as long as they rely on exporting one single group of raw materials. Therefore, there is a need to help other sectors of industries build good infrastructure for exporting diversified products. In this paper, we perform an empirical analysis to determine the critical success factors on exporting different goods. The results are analyzed using some statistical non-parametric methods and some useful guidelines are also suggested.

Relationship between TQM Elements and Organizational Performance : An Empirical Study of Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

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Masood ul Hassan

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This study empirically reveals the influence of the TQM elements comprising leadership, people management, process management, customer focus, information & analysis and strategic planning on the organizational performance in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey from the 160 managers and employees of the manufacturing firms. Results using SPSS support the hypotheses that there is a positive relationship between the TQM elements and performance of Pakistani manufacturing firms. Furthermore, it is also found that customer focus is perceived as a dominant TQM practice for enhancing quality performance. Moreover, this study also provides a valuable knowledge to the top managers. Practical implementations along with the limitations have also been discussed in this study.

Self-determination and sexual experience in dating relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunell, Amy B; Webster, Gregory D

2013-07-01

The authors propose the Model of Self-Determined Sexual Motivation to examine sexual motivation in dating relationships using a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) framework. This model predicted that sexual need satisfaction would mediate the association between self-determined sexual motives and the outcome variables of psychological well-being and relational quality. Three studies tested this model. Study 1 was a cross-sectional study that investigated sexual motivation in dating relationships. Study 2 was an event-contingent interaction record study that investigated specific sexual interactions over 2 weeks. Study 3 combined event- and interval-contingent methods using a daily diary to examine the model for both partners to enable examination of actor and partner effects. Discussion section focuses on the power of examining SDT in the sexual domain.

The Relationship Between Company Returns and Leverage Depending on the Business Sector: Empirical Evidence from the Czech Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stryckova Lenka

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to provide up-to-date empirical evidence of relationship between the key indicators of business competitiveness: leverage and corporate performance. The study is based on corporate financial data of selected companies from the Czech Republic within 14 major business sectors according to CZ-NACE which companies published for the year 2014. The results of this study show that leverage (debt ratio has a substantially negative effect on corporate performance when the return on equity (ROE is used as an indicator of corporate performance in the Czech Republic over the period covered by the study. The results of the regression analysis confirmed negative relationship between the company profitability and the use of debt in majority of business sectors (Agriculture, fishery, and forestry; Construction, Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; Professional, scientific and technical activities; Administrative and support service activities. The opposite relationship was found in one business sector only (Mining and quarrying where positive relationship between the company profitability and leverage was confirmed. Among other things, the results of this study confirm that corporate leverage varies across industries.

Bank Relationship and Firm Profitability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Degryse, H.A.; Ongena, S.

2000-01-01

This paper examines how bank relationships affect firm performance. An empirical implication of recent theoretical models is that firms maintaining multiple bank relationships are less profitable than their single-bank peers. We investigate this empirical implication using a data set containing

Essays in empirical industrial organization

OpenAIRE

Aguiar de Luque, Luis

2013-01-01

My PhD thesis consists of three chapters in Empirical Industrial Organization. The first two chapters focus on the relationship between firrm performance and specific public policies. In particular, we analyze the cases of cooperative research and development (R&D) in the European Union and the regulation of public transports in France. The third chapter focuses on copyright protection in the digital era and analyzes the relationship between legal and illegal consumption of di...

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: RESULTS OF AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Licandro

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Corporate Volunteering (CV is a phenomenon that emerged in the second half of the 20th century and began to grow and globalize at the beginning of the 21st century. There seems to be a consensus that the recent growth of Corporate Volunteering is related to the development and growing legitimacy of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR. Nevertheless, the theoretical discussion on how the two concepts (Corporate Volunteering and Corporate Social Responsibility are related is just beginning, while empirical research on how this relationship operates in corporate practice is still incipient. This paper presents preliminary results of a research on this subject carried out in Uruguay in 2016. This is a statistical study that analyses the relationship between the application of corporate volunteering activities and the incorporation of a CSR approach to the management of companies. The incorporation of both types of practices is measured by a self-assessment questionnaire that includes 81 indicators (using a Likert scale to assess them, which were designed based on ISO 26000 Guidance of Social Responsibility. The questionnaire was administered to 96 companies, using a comparative analysis between those that practice Corporate Volunteering and those which do not. The results obtained allow us to support the hypothesis that the application of Corporate Volunteering is positively associated with the incorporation of CSR when managing the relationship between the company and its employees and also with the community. Moreover, these results contribute to a better understanding on how both concepts are related.

20 CFR 410.330 - Determination of relationship; child.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of relationship; child. 410.330... relationship; child. As used in this section, the term beneficiary means only a widow entitled to benefits at... “father” only, in which case it means only a miner. An individual will be considered to be the child of a...

[Determinants of equity in financing medicines in Argentina: an empirical study].

Science.gov (United States)

Dondo, Mariana; Monsalvo, Mauricio; Garibaldi, Lucas A

2016-01-01

Medicines are an important part of household health spending. A progressive system for financing drugs is thus essential for an equitable health system. Some authors have proposed that the determinants of equity in drug financing are socioeconomic, demographic, and associated with public interventions, but little progress has been made in the empirical evaluation and quantification of their relative importance. The current study estimated quantile regressions at the provincial level in Argentina and found that old age (> 65 years), unemployment, the existence of a public pharmaceutical laboratory, treatment transfers, and a health system orientated to primary care were important predictors of progressive payment schemes. Low income, weak institutions, and insufficient infrastructure and services were associated with the most regressive social responses to health needs, thereby aggravating living conditions and limiting development opportunities.

Experimental Evidence that Social Relationships Determine Individual Foraging Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Firth, Josh A; Voelkl, Bernhard; Farine, Damien R; Sheldon, Ben C

2015-12-07

Social relationships are fundamental to animals living in complex societies. The extent to which individuals base their decisions around their key social relationships, and the consequences this has on their behavior and broader population level processes, remains unknown. Using a novel experiment that controlled where individual wild birds (great tits, Parus major) could access food, we restricted mated pairs from being allowed to forage at the same locations. This introduced a conflict for pair members between maintaining social relationships and accessing resources. We show that individuals reduce their own access to food in order to sustain their relationships and that individual foraging activity was strongly influenced by their key social counterparts. By affecting where individuals go, social relationships determined which conspecifics they encountered and consequently shaped their other social associations. Hence, while resource distribution can determine individuals' spatial and social environment, we illustrate how key social relationships themselves can govern broader social structure. Finally, social relationships also influenced the development of social foraging strategies. In response to forgoing access to resources, maintaining pair bonds led individuals to develop a flexible "scrounging" strategy, particularly by scrounging from their pair mate. This suggests that behavioral plasticity can develop to ameliorate conflicts between social relationships and other demands. Together, these results illustrate the importance of considering social relationships for explaining behavioral variation due to their significant impact on individual behavior and demonstrate the consequences of key relationships for wider processes. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

New empirical generalizations on the determinants of price elasticity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bijmolt, THA; Van Heerde, HJ; Pieters, RGM

The importance of pricing decisions for firms has fueled an extensive stream of research on price elasticities. In an influential meta-analytical study, Tellis (1988) summarized price elasticity research findings until 1986. However, empirical generalizations on price elasticity require

The determinants of domestic water demand. Empirical evidence from Emilia-Romagna municipal data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazzanti, Massimiliano; Montini, Anna

2004-01-01

This paper presents empirical evidence on the determinants of water demand for domestic use in one Italian region, the Emilia Romagna, by using municipal data. Two main stems in urban/domestic demand analysis cab be found in the empirical literature. The first deals with the estimation of price or income demand elasticities in the short and the long run. The price demand elasticities can be used for water demand managements purpose while the income price elasticities can be useful in the forecasting process of the water requirements. The second one deals with the estimate of customer willingness to pay increasing in water service quality in holistic sense or concerning single characteristics of the service: safety, flavour, continuity, appearance, pollution rate and cost. The aim of the analysis in this case the elicitation of the direct use, indirect use and non-use values associated to the water resource consumption, by means of direct or indirect techniques. In this paper we focused the analysis in the first stem of the empirical literature in which a cross section data set is required. The paper explores the topic problems of the estimating process whit the analysis of the empirical literature (with particular regard to investigations that use municipal data) and with the analysis of the econometric problems related to the demand estimate. The theoretical model for the water demand analysis is also presented and discussed. Two datasets have been implemented: one with 125 municipalities and four years, the other with 40 municipalities and eleven years. Both the databases bring together municipal water consumption and tariffs data provided by local water utilities and other municipal data (inhabitants, surface, household, income, etc.) stemming from official sources. The econometric analysis is based on both fixed effects, performing better than random effects models, and dynamic panel models. The estimated coefficient of the tariff variable arises always

Umayyad Relations with Byzantium Empire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansoor Haidari

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This research investigates the political and military relations between Umayyad caliphates with the Byzantine Empire. The aim of this research is to clarify Umayyad caliphate’s relations with the Byzantine Empire. We know that these relations were mostly about war and fight. Because there were always intense conflicts between Muslims and the Byzantine Empire, they had to have an active continuous diplomacy to call truce and settle the disputes. Thus, based on the general policy of the Umayyad caliphs, Christians were severely ignored and segregated within Islamic territories. This segregation of the Christians was highly affected by political relationships. It is worthy of mentioning that Umayyad caliphs brought the governing style of the Sassanid kings and Roman Caesar into the Islamic Caliphate system but they didn’t establish civil institutions and administrative organizations.

Competitive Success in Responsible Regional Ecosystems: An Empirical Approach in Spain Focused on the Firms’ Relationship with Stakeholders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, any business manager is concerned about sustainability issues and is wondering how to implement social and environmental practices creating economic and social value at the same time. The implementation of social responsibility programs is justified by the benefits that result from a good relationship of the firm with key stakeholders. The present research investigates the links among firms’ relationship with stakeholders, firms’ champion behavior, stakeholders’ satisfaction and firms’ competitive success in regional contexts where social responsibility is promoted. Using the resource-based theory and the concept of shared value, a conceptual model is proposed in which a strong firm relationship with stakeholders will cause the stakeholder’ satisfaction and will help the firm to become a champion in the market, contributing to improved competitiveness. This empirical analysis was based on survey data through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM from 130 Spanish firms in the Region of Extremadura. Participants were firm managers in regional clusters involved in the social responsibility journey promoted by the local government. The results suggest that a good relationship of the frim with stakeholders directly and positively influences firm competitive success, and also, it is enhanced by improvements in stakeholders’ satisfaction and firm champion behavior.

Empirical likelihood

CERN Document Server

Owen, Art B

2001-01-01

Empirical likelihood provides inferences whose validity does not depend on specifying a parametric model for the data. Because it uses a likelihood, the method has certain inherent advantages over resampling methods: it uses the data to determine the shape of the confidence regions, and it makes it easy to combined data from multiple sources. It also facilitates incorporating side information, and it simplifies accounting for censored, truncated, or biased sampling.One of the first books published on the subject, Empirical Likelihood offers an in-depth treatment of this method for constructing confidence regions and testing hypotheses. The author applies empirical likelihood to a range of problems, from those as simple as setting a confidence region for a univariate mean under IID sampling, to problems defined through smooth functions of means, regression models, generalized linear models, estimating equations, or kernel smooths, and to sampling with non-identically distributed data. Abundant figures offer vi...

Determination of knock characteristics in spark ignition engines: an approach based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Ning; Liang, Caiping; Yang, Jianguo; Zhou, Rui

2016-01-01

Knock is one of the major constraints to improve the performance and thermal efficiency of spark ignition (SI) engines. It can also result in severe permanent engine damage under certain operating conditions. Based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), this paper proposes a new approach to determine the knock characteristics in SI engines. By adding a uniformly distributed and finite white Gaussian noise, the EEMD can preserve signal continuity in different scales and therefore alleviates the mode-mixing problem occurring in the classic empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The feasibilities of applying the EEMD to detect the knock signatures of a test SI engine via the pressure signal measured from combustion chamber and the vibration signal measured from cylinder head are investigated. Experimental results show that the EEMD-based method is able to detect the knock signatures from both the pressure signal and vibration signal, even in initial stage of knock. Finally, by comparing the application results with those obtained by short-time Fourier transform (STFT), Wigner–Ville distribution (WVD) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the superiority of the EEMD method in determining knock characteristics is demonstrated. (paper)

Autobiography After Empire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Astrid

of the collective, but insufficient attention has been paid to how individuals respond to such narrative changes. This dissertation examines the relationship between individual and collective memory at the end of empire through analysis of 13 end of empire autobiographies by public intellectuals from Australia......Decolonisation was a major event of the twentieth century, redrawing maps and impacting on identity narratives around the globe. As new nations defined their place in the world, the national and imperial past was retold in new cultural memories. These developments have been studied at the level......, the Anglophone Caribbean and Zimbabwe. I conceive of memory as reconstructive and social, with individual memory striving to make sense of the past in the present in dialogue with surrounding narratives. By examining recurring tropes in the autobiographies, like colonial education, journeys to the imperial...

Empirical relationships between gas abundances and UV selective extinction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joseph, C.L.

1990-01-01

Several studies of gas-phase abundances in lines of sight through the outer edges of dense clouds are summarized. These lines of sight have 0.4 less than E(B-V) less than 1.1 and have inferred spatial densities of a few hundred cm(-3). The primary thrust of these studies has been to compare gaseous abundances in interstellar clouds that have various types of peculiar selective extinction. To date, the most notable result has been an empirical relationship between the CN/Fe I abundance ratio and the depth of the 2200 A extinction bump. It is not clear whether these two parameters are linearly correlated or the data are organized into two discrete ensembles. Based on 19 samples lines of sight that have a CN/Fe I abundance ratio greater than 0.3 (dex) appear to have a shallow 2.57 plus or minus 0.55 bump compared to 3.60 plus or minus 0.36 for other dense clouds and compared to the 3.6 Seaton (1979) average. The difference in the strength of the extinction bump between these two ensembles is 1.03 plus or minus 0.23. Although a high-resolution IUE survey of dense clouds is far from complete, the few lines of sight with shallow extinction bumps all show preferential depletion of certain elements, while those lines of sight with normal 2200 A bumps do not. Ca II, Cr II, and Mn II appear to exhibit the strongest preferential depletion. Fe II and Si II depletions also appear to be enhanced somewhat. It should be noted that Copernicus data suggest all elements, including the so-called nondepletors, deplete in diffuse clouds (Snow and Jenkins 1980, Joseph 1988). Those lines of sight through dense clouds that have normal 2200 A extinction bumps appear to be extensions of the depletions found in the diffuse interstellar medium

Economic Growth and the Environment. An empirical analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Bruyn, S.M.

1999-12-21

A number of economists have claimed that economic growth benefits environmental quality as it raises political support and financial means for environmental policy measures. Since the early 1990s this view has increasingly been supported by empirical evidence that has challenged the traditional belief held by environmentalists that economic growth degrades the environment. This study investigates the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality and elaborates the question whether economic growth can be combined with a reduced demand for natural resources. Various hypotheses on this relationship are described and empirically tested for a number of indicators of environmental pressure. The outcome of the tests advocates the use of alternative models for estimation that alter conclusions about the relationship between economic growth and the environment and give insight into the driving forces of emission reduction in developed economies. refs.

Developing Inventory Projection Models Using Empirical Net Forest Growth and Growing-Stock Density Relationships Across U.S. Regions and Species Group

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash Nepal; Peter J. Ince; Kenneth E. Skog; Sun J. Chang

2012-01-01

This paper describes a set of empirical net forest growth models based on forest growing-stock density relationships for three U.S. regions (North, South, and West) and two species groups (softwoods and hardwoods) at the regional aggregate level. The growth models accurately predict historical U.S. timber inventory trends when we incorporate historical timber harvests...

Reflective equilibrium and empirical data: third person moral experiences in empirical medical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

De Vries, Martine; Van Leeuwen, Evert

2010-11-01

In ethics, the use of empirical data has become more and more popular, leading to a distinct form of applied ethics, namely empirical ethics. This 'empirical turn' is especially visible in bioethics. There are various ways of combining empirical research and ethical reflection. In this paper we discuss the use of empirical data in a special form of Reflective Equilibrium (RE), namely the Network Model with Third Person Moral Experiences. In this model, the empirical data consist of the moral experiences of people in a practice. Although inclusion of these moral experiences in this specific model of RE can be well defended, their use in the application of the model still raises important questions. What precisely are moral experiences? How to determine relevance of experiences, in other words: should there be a selection of the moral experiences that are eventually used in the RE? How much weight should the empirical data have in the RE? And the key question: can the use of RE by empirical ethicists really produce answers to practical moral questions? In this paper we start to answer the above questions by giving examples taken from our research project on understanding the norm of informed consent in the field of pediatric oncology. We especially emphasize that incorporation of empirical data in a network model can reduce the risk of self-justification and bias and can increase the credibility of the RE reached. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Making Trade-Offs Visible: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations about the Relationship between Dimensions and Institutions of Democracy and Empirical Findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Joachim Lauth

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Whereas the measurement of the quality of democracy focused on the rough differentiation of democracies and autocracies in the beginning (e.g. Vanhanen, Polity, Freedom House, the focal point of newer instruments is the assessment of the quality of established democracies. In this context, tensions resp. trade-offs between dimensions of democracy are discussed as well (e.g. Democracy Barometer, Varieties of Democracy. However, these approaches lack a systematic discussion of trade-offs and they are not able to show trade-offs empirically. We address this research desideratum in a three-step process: Firstly, we propose a new conceptual approach, which distinguishes between two different modes of relationships between dimensions: mutual reinforcing effects and a give-and-take relationship (trade-offs between dimensions. By introducing our measurement tool, Democracy Matrix, we finally locate mutually reinforcing effects as well as trade-offs. Secondly, we provide a new methodological approach to measure trade-offs. While one measuring strategy captures the mutual reinforcing effects, the other strategy employs indicators, which serve to gauge trade-offs. Thirdly, we demonstrate empirical findings of our measurement drawing on the Varieties of Democracy dataset. Incorporating trade-offs into the measurement enables us to identify various profiles of democracy (libertarian, egalitarian and control-focused democracy via the quality of its dimensions.

20 CFR 222.44 - Other relationship determinations for lump-sum payments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Other relationship determinations for lump... THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Relationship as Parent, Grandchild, Brother or Sister... have the relationships to the employee shown below for lump-sum payment purposes: (a) Grandchildren. A...

Derivation of an empirical formula for determining water content of mixed uranyl nitrate-thorium nitrate solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Duck Kee; Choi, Byung Il; Ro, Seung Gy; Eom, Tae Yoon; Kim, Zong Goo

1986-01-01

Densities of a large number of mixed uranyl nitrate-thorium nitrate solutions were measured with pycnometer. By the least squares analysis of the experimental result, an empirical formula for determining water content of mixed uranyl nitrate-thorium nitrate solutions as functions of uranium concentration, thorium concentration and nitric acid normality is derived; W=1.0-0.3580 C u -0.4538 C Th -0.0307H + where W, C u , C Th , and H + stand for water content(g/cc), uranium concentration (g/cc), thorium concentration(g/cc), and nitric acid normality, respectively. Water contents of the mixed uranyl nitrate-thorium nitrate solutions are calculated by using the empirical formular, and compared with the values calculated by Bouly's equation in which an additional data, solution density, is required. The two results show good agreements within 2.7%. (Author)

Gun Laws and Crime: An Empirical Assessment

OpenAIRE

Matti Viren

2012-01-01

This paper deals with the effect of gun laws on crime. Several empirical analyses are carried to investigate the relationship between five different crime rates and alternative law variables. The tests are based on cross-section data from US sates. Three different law variables are used in the analysis, together with a set of control variables for income, poverty, unemployment and ethnic background of the population. Empirical analysis does not lend support to the notion that crime laws would...

Determinants of informal coordination in networked supply chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ashayeri, J.; Ogulin, R.; Selen, W.

2012-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine capability connectivity, relationship alignment and the ability to informally network in the supply chain as determinants for better utilizing capabilities amongst supply chain partners. In particular, the paper focuses on how the above

AN INVESTIGATION OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLES OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER, CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING CAPACITY AND CAREER SATISFACTION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

OpenAIRE

Hüseyin YILMAZ

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is the creative problem-solving capacity of the organization with leadership behaviors of human resources managers and employees to examine the relationship between career satisfaction and is tested empirically. Research within the scope of the required data structured questionnaire method, operating in the province of Aydin was obtained from 130 employees working in five star hotels. Democratic leadership style according to the factor analysis, easygoing, participants c...

Intercultural challenges in offshore software development outsourcing relationship: an empirical study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, S.U.; Azeem, M.I.

2016-01-01

The importance of intercultural challenges is recognized by both the practitioners and researchers in offshore software development outsourcing (OSDO) relationships. These challenges affect almost all the activities involved in offshore software development outsourcing relationships especially communication, mutual understanding, interpretation and decision making processes etc. which in turn leads to project failure. In our previous published study we identified, through systematic literature review (SLR), various intercultural challenges faced by vendors in OSDO relationship. The aim of this study was to validate these findings through industry practitioners and to identify its intensity as well as to identify any other intercultural challenges, faced by vendor organizations in OSDO relationships. We performed questionnaire surveys with 41 experts from different software companies. A seven point likert scale was used to determine the significance of each intercultural challenge. Our findings indicate that all the intercultural challenges are critical for OSDO vendors. We further analyzed these challenges based on different variables, such as company size, company type, expert's job/position etc. We have identified that there is no significant difference in the intercultural challenges based on company type and expert's experience level. We identified that language and language proficiency is the most commonly agreed and difference in social behavior is the most commonly disagreed intercultural challenge in the category of both sizes of company. Similarly language and language proficiency is the most commonly agreed challenge based on experts job positions. (author)

Exploring the Best HRM Practices-Performance Relationship: An Empirical Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Theriou, George N.; Chatzoglou, Prodromos D.

2009-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to empirically examine the linkages between best human resource (HRM) practices, knowledge management, organisational learning, organisational capabilities and organisational performance. The proposed framework and findings intend to add to the understanding of the specific processes that mediate between best HRM practices…

An empirical determination of the heating of the earth by the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoyt, D V

1979-11-22

Models that were developed to describe global warming trends caused by increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are reviewed. Described is a new model that permits empirical determination of temperature increases caused by the greenhouse effect. The model is used to evaluate atmospheric CO2 data for 1880-1970. According to the new technique, the global temperature increase caused by the greenhouse effect was /sup 1/m gr /sup 1/x0.40..cap alpha..C during that period. (3 graphs, 33 references)

The Empirical Analysis of the Dynamic Prices Relationship between Cotton Spot Market and Futures Market in Xinjiang

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2011-01-01

The thesis analyzes the causal relationship between the cotton spot,and the tendency and impact of prices of futures markets in Xinjiang by using ADF test,co-integration analysis,Granger causality test and other econometric methods in order to discuss the interacted relationship between futures market prices of cotton and spot market prices since the futures of cotton in Xinjiang go public.The results of empirical analysis show that the spot market prices of cotton and the futures market prices in Xinjiang fluctuate prominently in the short run and tend to counterpoise in the long run;the futures market of cotton plays the role of leading the spot market prices of cotton in Xinjiang,while the spot market prices of cotton in Xinjiang impacts little on the futures market prices.The corresponding countermeasures are put forward.The government should continuously perfect the construction of the futures market of cotton in Xinjiang,so as to exert the function of price discovery and the function of hedging,and promote the development of cotton industry in Xinjiang.

An empirical study on the impact of stress on the relationship between locus of control and job satisfaction and job performance

OpenAIRE

Mahbobeh Khorshidifar; Ali Abedi

2011-01-01

Stress plays an important role on job satisfaction in many industries such as accounting. We present an empirical study to examine the impact of job stress on the relationship between the locus of control and accountants' job satisfaction. The study selects a sample of 65 senior and regular accountants who work for thirteen different regional municipalities of city of Mashad located in east part of Iran. The study uses different well-known questionnaire methods such as stress diagnostic surve...

Empirical Relationships Between Optical Properties and Equivalent Diameters of Fractal Soot Aggregates at 550 Nm Wavelength.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Apoorva; Chakrabarty, Rajan K.; Liu, Li; Mishchenko, Michael I.

2015-01-01

Soot aggregates (SAs)-fractal clusters of small, spherical carbonaceous monomers-modulate the incoming visible solar radiation and contribute significantly to climate forcing. Experimentalists and climate modelers typically assume a spherical morphology for SAs when computing their optical properties, causing significant errors. Here, we calculate the optical properties of freshly-generated (fractal dimension Df = 1.8) and aged (Df = 2.6) SAs at 550 nm wavelength using the numericallyexact superposition T-Matrix method. These properties were expressed as functions of equivalent aerosol diameters as measured by contemporary aerosol instruments. This work improves upon previous efforts wherein SA optical properties were computed as a function of monomer number, rendering them unusable in practical applications. Future research will address the sensitivity of variation in refractive index, fractal prefactor, and monomer overlap of SAs on the reported empirical relationships.

Empirical Evidence for the Relation between Customer Satisfaction and Business Performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. van der Wiele (Ton); J.P.P.E.F. Boselie (Paul); M. Hesselink

2001-01-01

textabstractThis paper focuses on the analysis of empirical data on customer satisfaction and the relationship with hard organisational performance data. The organisation is a Flexcompany with its headquarters in The Netherlands, but also operating in other countries in Europe. The empirical data on

Empirically Determined Response Matrices for On-Line Orbit and Energy Correction at Jefferson Lab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leigh Harwood; Alicia Hofler; Michele Joyce; Valeri Lebedev; David Bryan

2001-01-01

Jefferson Lab uses feedback loops (less than 1 hertz update rate) to correct drifts in CEBAF's electron beam orbit and energy. Previous incarnations of these loops used response matrices that were computed by a numerical model of the machine. Jefferson Lab is transitioning this feedback system to use empirically determined response matrices whereby the software introduces small orbit or energy deviations using the loop's actuators and measures the system response with the loop's sensors. This method is in routine use for orbit correction. This paper will describe the orbit correction system and future plans to extend this method to energy correction

The Role of the Institutional Environment in the Relationship between CSR and Operational Performance: An Empirical Study in Korean Manufacturing Industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio K. W. Lau

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Few studies have been conducted to explore the role of the institutional environment on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR and operational performance in Korea’s manufacturing industry. Therefore, this study investigates the moderating effects of four institutional uncertainties—law enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, market turbulence and competition intensity—on the relationship between CSR and operational performance. Empirical survey data from 209 Korean manufacturers was collected online and then analyzed through moderated multiple regression analyses. The results show that CSR can significantly affect operational performance, positively moderated by law enforcement and competition intensity, but not by regulatory uncertainty and market turbulence. These results advise that the different institutional environments in which CSR is implemented are particularly important to consider for optimal business operations.

Spitsbergen - Imperialists beyond the British Empire

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kruse, Frigga; Hacquebord, Louwrens

2012-01-01

This paper looks at the relationship between Spitsbergen in the European High Arctic and the global British Empire in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Spitsbergen was an uninhabited no man's land and comprised an unknown quantity of natural resources. The concepts of geopolitics and New

Board diversity in the perspective of financial distress: Empirical evidence from the Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernard Santen

2009-07-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the relationship between board diversity (in gender and in nationality and financial distress. A summary of the theory behind board diversity precedes an overview of the empirical evidence on the relationship between diversity and company performance. The paper presents empirical research on the relationship between a negative performance measure, financial distress, and diversity on the board. The results show a positive relationship between the presence of foreign non-executive directors and financial distress. It is suggested that this is caused by negative communication and misunderstandings. No relationship is found between the gender of a director and financial distress. On a micro-level, the data do not show evidence for the glass cliff hypothesis.

20 CFR 222.41 - Determination of relationship and support for parent.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Determination of relationship and support for parent. 222.41 Section 222.41 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Relationship as Parent, Grandchild, Brother or Sister § 222.41...

Modelling community, family, and individual determinants of childhood dental caries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duijster, D.; Loveren, C. van; Dusseldorp, E.; Verrips, G.H.W.

2014-01-01

This cross-sectional study empirically tested a theoretical model of pathways and inter-relationships among community, family, and individual determinants of childhood dental caries in a sample of 630, 6-year-old children from the Netherlands. Children's decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft)

Empirical Model Building Data, Models, and Reality

CERN Document Server

Thompson, James R

2011-01-01

Praise for the First Edition "This...novel and highly stimulating book, which emphasizes solving real problems...should be widely read. It will have a positive and lasting effect on the teaching of modeling and statistics in general." - Short Book Reviews This new edition features developments and real-world examples that showcase essential empirical modeling techniques Successful empirical model building is founded on the relationship between data and approximate representations of the real systems that generated that data. As a result, it is essential for researchers who construct these m

The impact of organizational factors on-business adoption: An empirical analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta García-Moreno

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Provide empirical validation of the model developed by García Moreno et al. (2016 on the factors influencing the adoption of e-business in firms. Design/methodology/approach: Consideration is given to the method for measuring each one of the variables included in the model. Use has been made of the e-Business Watch database, which contains measures for the theoretical model’s three categories: firm, technology, and environment. Multinomial logistic regression models have been provided. Findings: The variables included have revealed significant statistical relationships for the model in question, although the intensity of the relationships differs. the variables related to the environment also reveal statistically significant relationships, whereby the attitude of trading partners appears to have a relevant and growing impact on e-business adoption. Research limitations/implications: Data come from just one database: the e-Business Watch database/enriched data from alternative databases could be included. Practical implications: The infrastructure of information and communications technologies (ICTs is confirmed to be a determining factor in e-business development. Nevertheless, the effect of competitor rivalry has a more erratic influence that is encapsulated in a significant relationship in intermediate models, with a sharper increase in the likelihood of being in the category of customer-focused firms, and less internally focused. Social implications: The human capital linked to ICTs is a driving force behind the adoption of these practices. Albeit with a more moderate effect, note should also be taken of the capacity for entering into relationships with third parties within the scope of ICTs, with significant effects that become more robust as they are tested in models that seek to explain the probability of recording higher levels of e-business adoption. Originality/value: The article presents a first empirical analysis to

20 CFR 725.227 - Time of determination of relationship and dependency of survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Time of determination of relationship and dependency of survivors. 725.227 Section 725.227 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ADMINISTRATION... Benefits) § 725.227 Time of determination of relationship and dependency of survivors. The determination as...

MtB versus VAIC in measuring intellectual capital: Empirical evidence from Italian listed companies

OpenAIRE

Forte, W.; Matonti, G.; Tucker, J.; Nicolo, G.

2017-01-01

Purpose – Grounded in the extant theoretical and empirical literature, the purpose of this paper is to compare two of the most employed methods measuring IC value in order to find the most suitable in the context of Italian listed firms. Moreover, this paper also investigates the relationship between Intellectual Capital (IC), measured in terms of the Market to Book (MTB) ratio, and the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC), and potential key determinants of IC value including intangibl...

Empirical Hamiltonians

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peggs, S.; Talman, R.

1987-01-01

As proton accelerators get larger, and include more magnets, the conventional tracking programs which simulate them run slower. The purpose of this paper is to describe a method, still under development, in which element-by-element tracking around one turn is replaced by a single man, which can be processed far faster. It is assumed for this method that a conventional program exists which can perform faithful tracking in the lattice under study for some hundreds of turns, with all lattice parameters held constant. An empirical map is then generated by comparison with the tracking program. A procedure has been outlined for determining an empirical Hamiltonian, which can represent motion through many nonlinear kicks, by taking data from a conventional tracking program. Though derived by an approximate method this Hamiltonian is analytic in form and can be subjected to further analysis of varying degrees of mathematical rigor. Even though the empirical procedure has only been described in one transverse dimension, there is good reason to hope that it can be extended to include two transverse dimensions, so that it can become a more practical tool in realistic cases

A causal relationship between stock indices and exchange rates in india

OpenAIRE

Amalendu Bhunia

2011-01-01

This paper examines the causal relationship between stock prices and exchange rates, using data from 2 April 2001 to 31 March 2011 about India. Macroeconomic variables are of crucial importance for determining the effects on stock prices and investment decisions. There are many empirical studies to disclose the relationship between macroeconomic variables such as interest rate, inflation, exchange rates, money supply etc. and stock indexes. However, the direction of causality still remains un...

The Effect of Mentor Intervention Style in Novice Entrepreneur Mentoring Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

St-Jean, Etienne; Audet, Josee

2013-01-01

In this study, we aimed to determine whether mentor intervention styles influence benefits gained by novice entrepreneurs through their mentoring relationship. An empirical study conducted with 360 mentees who had received mentoring services shows that an intervention style which combines a maieutic approach with mentor involvement produced the…

On the Empirical Importance of the Conditional Skewness Assumption in Modelling the Relationship between Risk and Return

Science.gov (United States)

Pipień, M.

2008-09-01

We present the results of an application of Bayesian inference in testing the relation between risk and return on the financial instruments. On the basis of the Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model, proposed by Merton we built a general sampling distribution suitable in analysing this relationship. The most important feature of our assumptions is that the skewness of the conditional distribution of returns is used as an alternative source of relation between risk and return. This general specification relates to Skewed Generalized Autoregressive Conditionally Heteroscedastic-in-Mean model. In order to make conditional distribution of financial returns skewed we considered the unified approach based on the inverse probability integral transformation. In particular, we applied hidden truncation mechanism, inverse scale factors, order statistics concept, Beta and Bernstein distribution transformations and also a constructive method. Based on the daily excess returns on the Warsaw Stock Exchange Index we checked the empirical importance of the conditional skewness assumption on the relation between risk and return on the Warsaw Stock Market. We present posterior probabilities of all competing specifications as well as the posterior analysis of the positive sign of the tested relationship.

Relationship between innovativeness and strategic planning: Empirical research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mamula Tatjana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the relationship between innovativeness and strategic planning in SMEs. In introduction part, the authors attempt to consider relevant findings about this specific relationship in the literature. The paper presents how the EU policy approaches the innovation management system within SMEs and where Serbia stands in catching up the process towards the EU in terms of innovativeness and competitiveness. The main research approach is to examine the relationship between innovativeness and strategic orientation, beginning with the existence of the four key strategic business documents: strategic, marketing, business plan and procedures, and innovation strategy documents. The last part is a discussion on the findings and considerations of the intensity of the relations among strategic orientations of the company expressed through the key strategic documents and innovativeness, and the relations among the three most practiced types of innovation in representative sample of 150 Serbian small and medium enterprises (SMEs.The research has shown that there is positive correlation between strategic planning approach in marketing and firm's innovativeness but the intensity of the relationship depends on the type of the innovativeness considered.

Empirical Investigation into the Determinants of Compliance with IFRS 7 Disclosure Requirements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atanasko Atanasovski

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to assess the quality of disclosures related to financial instruments provided in annual financial statements of Macedonian listed companies and empirically investigate factors that have the potential to influence the quality of these disclosures in accordance with IFRS 7 requirements. Based on the postulates and the results of the empirical investigations of prior IAS compliance studies I have constructed a disclosure index for each listed company and performed regression analysis with independent variables representing some characteristics of listed companies investigated, such as their size, industry, type of auditor engaged, ownership concentration, profitability and leverage. My regression analysis results supported the conclusion that the level of compliance with IFRS 7 requirements is related to the type of auditor engaged and ownership concentration in investigated companies. The results of my research will contribute the large body of empirical studies on IFRS disclosure and compliance, providing evidence from South- East European Transitional Economy that adopted IFRS as national financial reporting framework.

A continuous GRASP to determine the relationship between drugs and adverse reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirsch, Michael J.; Meneses, Claudio N.; Pardalos, Panos M.; Ragle, Michelle; Resende, Mauricio G. C.

2007-01-01

Adverse drag reactions (ADRs) are estimated to be one of the leading causes of death. Many national and international agencies have set up databases of ADR reports for the express purpose of determining the relationship between drugs and adverse reactions that they cause. We formulate the drug-reaction relationship problem as a continuous optimization problem and utilize C-GRASP, a new continuous global optimization heuristic, to approximately determine the relationship between drugs and adverse reactions. Our approach is compared against others in the literature and is shown to find better solutions

Sea surface height determination in the arctic ocean from Cryosat2 SAR data, the impact of using different empirical retrackers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jain, Maulik; Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Stenseng, Lars

2012-01-01

Cryosat2 Level 1B SAR data can be processed using different empirical retrackers to determine the sea surface height and its variations in the Arctic Ocean. Two improved retrackers based on the combination of OCOG (Offset Centre of Gravity), Threshold methods and Leading Edge Retrieval is used...

AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ETIWISTIC

2013-05-06

May 6, 2013 ... Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo bile.ruth@yahoo.com ... relationship between teachers‟ leadership roles, and students‟ attitudes ... experiences and ethical orientations towards all vibrant aspects of good life ... students‟ academic performance are expected to perform their roles ... Other methods of.

Using empirical Bayes predictors from generalized linear mixed models to test and visualize associations among longitudinal outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulich-Gilbertson, Susan K; Wagner, Brandie D; Grunwald, Gary K; Riggs, Paula D; Zerbe, Gary O

2018-01-01

Medical research is often designed to investigate changes in a collection of response variables that are measured repeatedly on the same subjects. The multivariate generalized linear mixed model (MGLMM) can be used to evaluate random coefficient associations (e.g. simple correlations, partial regression coefficients) among outcomes that may be non-normal and differently distributed by specifying a multivariate normal distribution for their random effects and then evaluating the latent relationship between them. Empirical Bayes predictors are readily available for each subject from any mixed model and are observable and hence, plotable. Here, we evaluate whether second-stage association analyses of empirical Bayes predictors from a MGLMM, provide a good approximation and visual representation of these latent association analyses using medical examples and simulations. Additionally, we compare these results with association analyses of empirical Bayes predictors generated from separate mixed models for each outcome, a procedure that could circumvent computational problems that arise when the dimension of the joint covariance matrix of random effects is large and prohibits estimation of latent associations. As has been shown in other analytic contexts, the p-values for all second-stage coefficients that were determined by naively assuming normality of empirical Bayes predictors provide a good approximation to p-values determined via permutation analysis. Analyzing outcomes that are interrelated with separate models in the first stage and then associating the resulting empirical Bayes predictors in a second stage results in different mean and covariance parameter estimates from the maximum likelihood estimates generated by a MGLMM. The potential for erroneous inference from using results from these separate models increases as the magnitude of the association among the outcomes increases. Thus if computable, scatterplots of the conditionally independent empirical Bayes

Determining the Relationship Between Physical Fitness, Gender, and Life Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyle Busing

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Previous research has suggested a positive effect of physical activity on life satisfaction. Little research exists that has investigated the relationship between physical fitness and life satisfaction. For this purpose, this research was done to determine the relationship between physical fitness and life satisfaction in a sample of university men and women. Participants (N = 28, Mage = 22.18 completed multiple indicators of physical fitness including cardiovascular fitness, muscular fitness, body composition and flexibility, and life satisfaction (SWLS. Descriptive and one-way between-groups ANOVAs were performed to determine gender differences on measures of life satisfaction and measures of fitness. In addition, the relationship between the five health-related components of fitness and life satisfaction were investigated using Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient. Analyses indicated there were no significant correlations between any of the health-related components of fitness and scores on the SWLS. There were significant gender differences on all physical fitness measures, except partial curl-ups, but no significant gender differences on life satisfaction. Our findings suggest that improved physical fitness does not have a relationship with higher life satisfaction measures. Further tests, utilizing larger sample sizes, are recommended.

An empirical study on the relationship between effective organizational communication and the performance of central office staff

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Abbas Monavvarian

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Inter-organizational communication plays an important role in promoting strategic collaboration among firms. It can improve productivity and increases collaboration among employees. In this paper, we present an empirical study to measure the role of inter-organizational communication on efficiency among administration employees who work for one the oldest banks in Iran, Bank Melli Iran. The study uses 380 full time employees who work for 28 different administration divisions of this bank. The survey uses a questionnaire consists of 19 questions about inter-organizational communication and 25 questions about efficiency of employees. The reliability of the survey has been approved using an initial survey and Cronbach alpha was calculated as 0.87, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. The result of our survey confirms there is a meaningful relationship between inter-organizational communication and efficiency of all administration employees who work for this bank. There is also a meaningful relationship between age and efficiency and the maximum efficiency belongs to people aged 31 to 40. According to our survey, men have more inter-organizational efficiency than women do. The result of our survey also confirms that positivism impacts more than other factors on efficiency. Among five effective factors, empathy has the most impact and responsiveness 6 efficiency dimensions.

An empirical investigation on the relationship between parenting styles and employees' career adaptability

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Najmeh Sedrpoushan

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between parenting styles and employees' career adaptability. The statistical population includes all employees in Polyacrid's Factory of Isfahan in 2012. The proposed study selects a sample of 321 employees using cluster sampling. The study has used a based on Baumrind's theorem, which maintains three groups of permissive, authoritarian and authoritative in Likert scale. The results of our study have indicated that there is definitely a difference in parenting style among various members in terms of career concern, career curiosity and career confidence but such relationship does not exists in terms of career control. In addition, the study explains that people with permissive parenting style have less career concern, career curiosity and career confidence than those with permissive parenting style do.

Empirical methods for estimating future climatic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

Applying the empirical approach permits the derivation of estimates of the future climate that are nearly independent of conclusions based on theoretical (model) estimates. This creates an opportunity to compare these results with those derived from the model simulations of the forthcoming changes in climate, thus increasing confidence in areas of agreement and focusing research attention on areas of disagreements. The premise underlying this approach for predicting anthropogenic climate change is based on associating the conditions of the climatic optimums of the Holocene, Eemian, and Pliocene with corresponding stages of the projected increase of mean global surface air temperature. Provided that certain assumptions are fulfilled in matching the value of the increased mean temperature for a certain epoch with the model-projected change in global mean temperature in the future, the empirical approach suggests that relationships leading to the regional variations in air temperature and other meteorological elements could be deduced and interpreted based on use of empirical data describing climatic conditions for past warm epochs. Considerable care must be taken, of course, in making use of these spatial relationships, especially in accounting for possible large-scale differences that might, in some cases, result from different factors contributing to past climate changes than future changes and, in other cases, might result from the possible influences of changes in orography and geography on regional climatic conditions over time

DETERMINANT OF HOUSING RENTS IN URBAN ALBANIA: AN EMPIRICAL HEDONIC PRICE APPLICATION WITH NSA SURVEY DATA

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Mustafa Kahveci

2017-06-01

Full Text Available As an immobile, durable and heterogonous good, each housing unit has a bundle of different characteristics. Hedonic price method, which depends on the consumer theory of the classical economics, implies that each characteristic of heterogeneous goods provides a different level of satisfaction or utility to the consumer, being widely accepted as a toolkit for estimating effects of these characteristics on prices and rents. HPM expresses housing prices as the function of structural characteristics, location characteristics, and neighborhood characteristics. Theory and empirical applications of the HPM, which have been used for more than 40 years in developed countries, due to the lack of suitable data related literature is limited in Albania. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between housing rents and housing characteristics in urban Albania with micro database of Living Conditions and Income Survey 2012.

Essays in empirical microeconomics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Péter, A.N.

2016-01-01

The empirical studies in this thesis investigate various factors that could affect individuals' labor market, family formation and educational outcomes. Chapter 2 focuses on scheduling as a potential determinant of individuals' productivity. Chapter 3 looks at the role of a family factor on

The effects of performance measurement and compensation on motivation : an empirical study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Herpen, M.; van Praag, M.; Cools, K.

2005-01-01

This paper analyzes empirically the relationship between pay and performance. Economic and psychological theories predict that the design and implementation of a performance measurement and compensation system affect the motivation of employees. Our survey results demonstrate a positive relationship

The effects of performance measurement and compensation on motivation : An empirical study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Herpen, M; Van Praag, M; Cools, K

This paper analyzes empirically the relationship between pay and performance. Economic and psychological theories predict that the design and implementation of a performance measurement and compensation system affect the motivation of employees. Our survey results demonstrate a positive relationship

Is there a relationship between public expenditures in energy R and D and carbon emissions per GDP? An empirical investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrone, Paola; Grilli, Luca

2010-01-01

Energy innovation plays a crucial role in the reduction of carbon emissions. In order to design climate and energy policies that promote the development, deployment and diffusion of new energy technologies, policy makers not only require a theoretical understanding of the energy innovation system, but also empirical evidence of the effects that policy actions have had. This paper focuses on public energy R and D, a traditional and controversial option among the various climate technology policies, and empirically analyses its relationship with carbon emissions per GDP (i.e. carbon intensity) and its two components: energy intensity and the carbon factor. Evidence of the causality links that have prevailed in 13 advanced economies over the 1980-2004 period has been obtained through dynamic panel models. Our findings confirm that government R and D spending is not sufficient by itself to boost the energy innovation process. Public energy R and D has been successful in improving energy efficiency at country level, but it has failed to have a significant impact on the carbon factor and carbon intensity. At the same time the formation of energy R and D budgets is found to be significantly affected by carbon trends. (author)

Relationship between nurses' leadership styles and power bases

OpenAIRE

García García,Inmaculada; Santa-Bárbara,Emilio Sánchez

2009-01-01

This quantitative study aimed to empirically evidence the relationship between the power bases of the leader and the leadership styles of nurses. The random sample consisted of 204 nursing professionals from a public hospital. The following measurement instruments were used: the SBDQ (Supervisory Behavior Description Questionnaire) to identify leadership styles and the Power Perception Profile to determine the types of power used by leaders. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses we...

A Large-Scale Investigation into the Relationship between Attendance and Attainment: A Study Using an Innovative, Electronic Attendance Monitoring System

Science.gov (United States)

Newman-Ford, Loretta; Fitzgibbon, Karen; Lloyd, Stephen; Thomas, Stephen

2008-01-01

The literature available on the relationship between student attendance and attainment is inconsistent. Nevertheless, there is some empirical evidence to suggest that attendance is a determinant of academic performance and progression. Colby published results of a study which examined the relationship within a single year 1 undergraduate module,…

A Comparative Study of the Empirical Relationship in Student Performance between Physics and Other STEM Subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Guerra, Maricela

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) advocated by the National Research Council emphasize the connections among Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. By design, NGSS is expected to replace the previous science education standards to enhance the quality of STEM education across the nation. To support this initiative, this investigation was conducted to fill a void in the research literature by developing an empirical indicator for the relationship of student performance across STEM subjects using a large-scale database from the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In particular, an innovative approach has been taken in this study to support the canonical correlation analysis of student plausible scores between physics and other STEM subjects at different grade levels and in a cross-country context. Results from this doctoral research revealed the need to strengthen the alignment between the intended, implemented, and attained curricula to support the integration of STEM disciplines in the United States.

Motives and chances of firm diversification: theory and empirical evidence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briglauer, W.

2001-11-01

It is beyond controversy that the majority of the largest companies in the industrialized countries perform to a certain extent product diversification strategies. Tying up to this finding the underlying work firstly deals with alternative theoretical and empirical definitions of corporate diversification. Subsequently the theoretical part mainly elaborates an industrial economic framework for categorizing motives of firm diversification. Despite of some inevitable degree of arbitrariness, a relatively widespread and sufficient categorization can be presented. With regards to the relevant economic literature most explanations of product diversification can be classified appropriately. Observing diversification activities one would prima facie infer a positive relationship between product diversification and firm performance, but both, theory and empirical evidence, yield ambiguous results. The empirical part provides a list of existing studies, classified according to the theoretical categorization. In an overview some stylised facts are filtered and discussed consecutively. Most notably, it was found that related diversification strategies significantly outperform strategies of unrelated diversification. At the end of the empirical section econometric methods are applied to agricultural and industrial economic (relating to telecommunication markets) data sets. For the agricultural studies a significantly positive relationship between product diversification and firm performance was found. In contrast no significant results were obtained for the telecommunication markets. (author)

When a Thousand Words Are (Not Enough: An Empirical Study of the Relationship between Firm Performance and Attention to Shareholders

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Luciana Carvalho de Mesquita Ferreira

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to concurrently test the explanatory power of the attention-based view (ABV of the firm and of the resource dependence theory (RDT. We propose a conceptual model of attention to shareholders based on assumptions of both ABV and RDT. We test these hypotheses using a unique dataset, consisting of contentanalyzed data on attention allocation for 313 firms from 24 different countries. Our research findings highlight the complementary nature of the RDT and ABV and add to the literature about attention, providing empirical evidence and theoretical explanation for the scarcely explored relationship between firm performance and organizational attention.

Revisiting Okun's Relationship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dixon, R.; Lim, G.C.; van Ours, Jan

2016-01-01

Our paper revisits Okun's relationship between observed unemployment rates and output gaps. We include in the relationship the effect of labour market institutions as well as age and gender effects. Our empirical analysis is based on 20 OECD countries over the period 1985-2013. We find that the

Examining client perceptions of partnership quality and the relationships between its dimensions in an IT outsourcing relationship

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Michael Steven Lane

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on an empirical study of the multidimensionality of partnership quality and the relationships between these dimensions. A two-phase survey was conducted for a range of organisations from different industry sectors to collect empirical data to test the validity and reliability of the measurement model for the multidimensionality of partnership quality. The measurement model for partnership quality was confirmed by the results of the data analyses. This research also aimed to identify the significant relationships between these dimensions using a second generation multivariate analysis technique—partial least squares(PLS. The findings from results of the data analyses show that inter-organisational trust, shared business understanding and to a lesser extent, functional and dysfunctional conflict between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor in an IT outsourcing relationship are the key determinants of partnership quality. The key outcome of high partnership quality between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor in an IT outsourcing relationship is mutual beneficial sharing of risks and benefits. Commitment is confirmed as a multidimensional construct of behaviour and temporal/continuance commitment but is not is influenced by the other dimensions of partnership quality. Trust and shared business understanding are the key drivers in the IT outsourcing relationship ensuring that the sharing of risks and benefits are realised and conflict is minimised leading to a high quality and ultimately successful partnership between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor. Furthermore behavioural commitment to the contractual obligations of an IT outsourcing relationship sustains an ongoing temporal commitment to the partnership between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor.

The Relationship Among Socioeconomic Status, Home Environment, Parent Involvement, Child Self Concept and Child Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Revicki, Dennis A.

The relationship among socio-economic status, sibling variables, social-psychological home environment, parent involvement in intervention programs, and child self-concept and achievement were empirically investigated to determine the importance and kind of parent participation most closely related to childrens' cognitive and affective…

Economic openness and trade linkages of China : An empirical study of the determinants of Chinese trade intensities from 1993 to 1999

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, JH; van Witteloostuijn, A

2004-01-01

In the 1980s, the Chinese regime took a number of piecemeal steps toward economic liberalization. This process accelerated impressively in the 1990s. This paper reports an empirical study into the determinants of the emerging pattern of Chinese trade (export and import) intensities in the

Marketing-oriented strategy concept and its empirical testing with large sawmills.

OpenAIRE

Niemelä, Juha S.

1993-01-01

The objectives of this study are both theoretical and empirical. On the theoretical level strategy concept, its operationalization and measurement are analyzed and clarified. On the empirical level marketing strategies and competitive strategies are described by country, and the study also identifies the strategic marketing decisions characterizing different countries or competitive strategies. Furthermore, the relationships between strategies and marketing structures and functions are analyz...

Theoretical study to determine the heat transfer by forced convection coefficient in an empirical correlation in single phase, for annular channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrera A, E.

1994-01-01

In the heat transfer studies by forced convection, we have few data about behavior of the fluids in an annular channel heated by a concentric pipe, such date is necessary to know the heat transfer coefficient that establish the interchange of energy and the thermic properties of the fluid with the geometry of the flow. In this work the objective, was to compare some empirical correlations that we needed for determinate the heat transfer coefficient for annular channels, where we obtained similar at the theoretical results of an experiment made by Miller and Benforado. It is important to know such coefficients because we can determinate the heat quantity transmitted to a probe zone, in which we simulate a nuclear fuel element that developed huge heat quantity that must be dispersed in short time. We give theoretical data of the heat forced transfer convection and we analyzed the phenomena in annular channels given some empirical correlations employed by some investigators and we analyzed each one. (Author)

An empirical analysis of Diaspora bonds

OpenAIRE

AKKOYUNLU, Şule; STERN, Max

2018-01-01

Abstract. This study is the first to investigate theoretically and empirically the determinants of Diaspora Bonds for eight developing countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri-Lanka) and one developed country - Israel for the period 1951 and 2008. Empirical results are consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model. The most robust variables are the closeness indicator and the sovereign rating, both on the demand-side. The spread is ...

Semi-empirical spectrophotometric (SESp) method for the indirect determination of the ratio of cationic micellar binding constants of counterions X⁻ and Br⁻(K(X)/K(Br)).

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Mohammad Niyaz; Yusof, Nor Saadah Mohd; Razak, Norazizah Abdul

2013-01-01

The semi-empirical spectrophotometric (SESp) method, for the indirect determination of ion exchange constants (K(X)(Br)) of ion exchange processes occurring between counterions (X⁻ and Br⁻) at the cationic micellar surface, is described in this article. The method uses an anionic spectrophotometric probe molecule, N-(2-methoxyphenyl)phthalamate ion (1⁻), which measures the effects of varying concentrations of inert inorganic or organic salt (Na(v)X, v = 1, 2) on absorbance, (A(ob)) at 310 nm, of samples containing constant concentrations of 1⁻, NaOH and cationic micelles. The observed data fit satisfactorily to an empirical equation which gives the values of two empirical constants. These empirical constants lead to the determination of K(X)(Br) (= K(X)/K(Br) with K(X) and K(Br) representing cationic micellar binding constants of counterions X and Br⁻). This method gives values of K(X)(Br) for both moderately hydrophobic and hydrophilic X⁻. The values of K(X)(Br), obtained by using this method, are comparable with the corresponding values of K(X)(Br), obtained by the use of semi-empirical kinetic (SEK) method, for different moderately hydrophobic X. The values of K(X)(Br) for X = Cl⁻ and 2,6-Cl₂C6H₃CO₂⁻, obtained by the use of SESp and SEK methods, are similar to those obtained by the use of other different conventional methods.

The Determinants of Government Expenditure: Analysis of the Empirical Literature from 1995 to 2016

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Glenda Maluleke

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study reviewed literature studies on the determinants of government expenditure for the period 1995 to 2016. The research for the studies was conducted on the internet by combining government expenditure and determinants such as economic growth, government revenue, trade openness, poverty, public debt, dependency ratio, population, and urbanisation on the search engine. The finding of the literature provides conflicting results concerning the determinants of government expenditure. The results indicate that the government expenditure relationship with its determinants is significantly positive but in some instances it was found to be negative. The study recommends that future studies use the newly developed econometric techniques on previous studies to see whether they can provide different results.

20 CFR 222.40 - When determinations of relationship are made for parent, grandchild, brother or sister.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false When determinations of relationship are made... RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Relationship as Parent..., brother or sister. (a) Parent. The claimant's relationship as a parent of the employee is determined when...

A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OIL PRICES CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS FROM FRAGILE FIVE COUNTRIES

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Yuksel BAYRAKTAR

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study is to determine the impact of oil prices in the Fragile-Five countries (Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, India, and Turkey on current account deficit and growth. In this study, the method of panel data analysis was used and the period of 1980-2014 was examined. The Levin, Lin, & Chu panel; Im, Pesaran, and Shin W-stat; ADF-Fisher Chi-square; and PP-Fisher Chi-square unit root tests were used to determine the stability of data before panel data analysis. The results of the study can be expressed as follows. i There was a statistically meaningful relationship in oil prices with both GDP and the current account deficit. While there was a positive correlation between oil prices and GDP, there was a negative relationship between oil prices and current account deficit. ii No long-term relationship was found between GDP and oil prices; there was a long-term relationship between current account deficit and oil prices as determined by the cointegration tests. iii Causality test also showed the presence of a bidirectional relationship between GDP and oil prices.  Causality between oil prices and the current account deficit was one-way from the variable of oil price to the variable of current account deficit.

Global Analysis of Empirical Relationships Between Annual Climate and Seasonality of NDVI

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, C. S.

1997-01-01

This study describes the use of satellite data to calibrate a new climate-vegetation greenness function for global change studies. We examined statistical relationships between annual climate indexes (temperature, precipitation, and surface radiation) and seasonal attributes of the AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series for the mid-1980s in order to refine our empirical understanding of intraannual patterns and global abiotic controls on natural vegetation dynamics. Multiple linear regression results using global l(sup o) gridded data sets suggest that three climate indexes: growing degree days, annual precipitation total, and an annual moisture index together can account to 70-80 percent of the variation in the NDVI seasonal extremes (maximum and minimum values) for the calibration year 1984. Inclusion of the same climate index values from the previous year explained no significant additional portion of the global scale variation in NDVI seasonal extremes. The monthly timing of NDVI extremes was closely associated with seasonal patterns in maximum and minimum temperature and rainfall, with lag times of 1 to 2 months. We separated well-drained areas from l(sup o) grid cells mapped as greater than 25 percent inundated coverage for estimation of both the magnitude and timing of seasonal NDVI maximum values. Predicted monthly NDVI, derived from our climate-based regression equations and Fourier smoothing algorithms, shows good agreement with observed NDVI at a series of ecosystem test locations from around the globe. Regions in which NDVI seasonal extremes were not accurately predicted are mainly high latitude ecosystems and other remote locations where climate station data are sparse.

Determinants of Sustainable Relationships in the Albanian Apple Production Sector

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Blendi Gërdoçi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the behaviour of Albanian apple growers and their relations with buyers based on a structured survey. We develop a model of relational governance that highlights the importance of sustainable (lasting relationships and draws upon different theoretical frameworks such as transaction cost economics and social network theory and focuses on determinants of relational exchange. The findings support the social network argument that the presence of verbal agreements between business partners strongly and positively affects exchange relationships. Asset specificity and competition among buyers also affects such relationships. The results and their implications at the management and policy-making level are discussed in detail

Determination of the semi-empiric relationship among the physical density, the concentration and rate between hydrogen and manganese atoms, and a manganese sulfate solution; Determinacao da relacao semi-empirica entre a densidade fisica, concentracao e razao entre atomos de hidrogenio e manganes em uma solucao de sulfato de manganes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bittencourt, Guilherme Rodrigues [Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). PIBIC; Castro, Leonardo Curvello de; Pereira, Walsan W.; Patrao, Karla C. de Souza; Fonseca, Evaldo S. da; Dantas, Maria Leticia [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Lab. Nacional de Metrologia das Radiacoes Ionizantes (LNMRI). Lab. de Neutrons

2009-07-01

The bath of a manganese sulfate (BMS) is a system for absolute standardization of the neutron sources. This work establishes a functional relationship based on semi-empirical methods for the theoretical prediction of physical density values, concentration and rate between the hydrogen and manganese atoms presents in the solution of the BMS

The Use of Asymptotic Functions for Determining Empirical Values of CN Parameter in Selected Catchments of Variable Land Cover

Science.gov (United States)

Wałęga, Andrzej; Młyński, Dariusz; Wachulec, Katarzyna

2017-12-01

The aim of the study was to assess the applicability of asymptotic functions for determining the value of CN parameter as a function of precipitation depth in mountain and upland catchments. The analyses were carried out in two catchments: the Rudawa, left tributary of the Vistula, and the Kamienica, right tributary of the Dunajec. The input material included data on precipitation and flows for a multi-year period 1980-2012, obtained from IMGW PIB in Warsaw. Two models were used to determine empirical values of CNobs parameter as a function of precipitation depth: standard Hawkins model and 2-CN model allowing for a heterogeneous nature of a catchment area. The study analyses confirmed that asymptotic functions properly described P-CNobs relationship for the entire range of precipitation variability. In the case of high rainfalls, CNobs remained above or below the commonly accepted average antecedent moisture conditions AMCII. The study calculations indicated that the runoff amount calculated according to the original SCS-CN method might be underestimated, and this could adversely affect the values of design flows required for the design of hydraulic engineering projects. In catchments with heterogeneous land cover, the results of CNobs were more accurate when 2-CN model was used instead of the standard Hawkins model. 2-CN model is more precise in accounting for differences in runoff formation depending on retention capacity of the substrate. It was also demonstrated that the commonly accepted initial abstraction coefficient λ = 0.20 yielded too big initial loss of precipitation in the analyzed catchments and, therefore, the computed direct runoff was underestimated. The best results were obtained for λ = 0.05.

Relationship Quality and Domestic Violence in Women's Same-Sex Relationships: The Role of Minority Stress

Science.gov (United States)

Balsam, Kimberly F.; Szymanski, Dawn M.

2005-01-01

Despite a large body of literature addressing relationship quality and domestic violence in women's same-sex relationships, few studies have empirically examined how stress specific to living as a lesbian or bisexual woman might correlate with these relationship variables. Degree of outness, internalized homophobia, lifetime and recent experiences…

A practical method for in-situ thickness determination using energy distribution of beta particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yalcin, S.; Gurler, O.; Gundogdu, O.; Bradley, D.A.

2012-01-01

This paper discusses a method to determine the thickness of an absorber using the energy distribution of beta particles. An empirical relationship was obtained between the absorber thickness and the energy distribution of beta particles transmitted through. The thickness of a polyethylene radioactive source cover was determined by exploiting this relationship, which has largely been left unexploited allowing us to determine the in-situ cover thickness of beta sources in a fast, cheap and non-destructive way. - Highlights: ► A practical and in-situ unknown cover thickness determination ► Cheap and readily available compared to other techniques. ► Beta energy spectrum.

A practical method for in-situ thickness determination using energy distribution of beta particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yalcin, S., E-mail: syalcin@kastamonu.edu.tr [Kastamonu University, Education Faculty, 37200 Kastamonu (Turkey); Gurler, O. [Physics Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Uludag University, Gorukle Campus, 16059 Bursa (Turkey); Gundogdu, O. [Kocaeli University, Umuttepe Campus, 41380 Kocaeli (Turkey); Bradley, D.A. [CNRP, Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH (United Kingdom)

2012-01-15

This paper discusses a method to determine the thickness of an absorber using the energy distribution of beta particles. An empirical relationship was obtained between the absorber thickness and the energy distribution of beta particles transmitted through. The thickness of a polyethylene radioactive source cover was determined by exploiting this relationship, which has largely been left unexploited allowing us to determine the in-situ cover thickness of beta sources in a fast, cheap and non-destructive way. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A practical and in-situ unknown cover thickness determination Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Cheap and readily available compared to other techniques. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Beta energy spectrum.

Trust in the context of management relationships: an empirical study.

OpenAIRE

Atkinson, Sally; Butcher, David

2003-01-01

This paper responds to calls for exploration of the dynamics of trust in the embedded context of interpersonal managerial relationships. Building on theoretical distinctions between different types of interpersonal relationships established in social psychology, the paper proposes a generic typology of interpersonal managerial relationships, along with associated hypotheses and implications for trust. The later part of the paper then reports the results from an initial explorat...

THE MARKET ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP: THE EMPIRICAL LINK IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

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Sefnedi Sefnedi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study examines the empirical link between three dimensions of market orientation, namely, stu­dent orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination, and overall private uni­ver­sity per­formance in Kopertis X. It was based on an empirical investigation of private universities located in In­do­nesia’s provinces of West Sumatera, Riau, Jambi, and Kepulauan Riau. The primary data for the study were collected from a self-administered mail survey of 237 questionnaires from the private university re­sul­­ting in a sample of 114 usable responses being returned. From the application of the multiple re­gres­sion ana­lysis it was concluded that all three dimensions of market orientation had a significant impact on private un­iversity performance. Student orientation as a predictor variable is the strongest predictor of pri­vate uni­ver­­sity performance and followed by competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination.

Causality Relationship Between Stock Liquidity and Financial Performance: An Example of Borsa İstanbul

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Şükriye Gül REİS

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to present the relationship between financial performance and stock liquidity. The relationship has been examined for industry firms which operate in BIST 100 index for the period of 2005Q1-2012Q1. The stock liquidity proxies are Amihud illiquidity ratio and turnover ratio; financial performance proxy is Market Value/Book Value(MV/BV. Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test is used for determining the relationship. Empirical results show that there is a two-way causality between financial performance and stock liquidity in Borsa Istanbul

Lean Manufacturing, Mass Customization and their relationships - empirical findings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Thomas Bøhm

2004-01-01

manufacturing companies in 2001-02. This study fills a void in existing research by exploring relationships between bundles of lean manufacturing practices and bundles of mass customization practices. This study is based on a questionnaire that is developed from two existing questionnaires each investigating...... bundles of lean manufacturing practices and bundles of mass customization practices separately. Here, these bundles of practices are related. The results indicate that there are no direct relationships between the lean manufacturing and the mass customization practices, but that the combination of some...... sets of practices can explain differences in performance on important dimensions. The general conclusion, however, is that there are only weak relationships between the two concepts, hence this study suggests that the concepts of lean manufacturing and mass customization at present are more mutually...

Promoting Supportive Relationships in Youth Programs: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

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Mat D. Duerden

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Although research suggests that positive contact with non-parental adults is developmentally beneficial for youth; many adolescents do not have access to such relationships. It is important that adults structure existing relationships to optimize positive youth development. Relationships with adults, who support youth’s needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence, provide youth with scaffolding as they navigate their way through adolescence. Self-Determination Theory offers a straight-forward approach to understanding the elements of contexts that best promote the development of supportive relationships. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature concerning youth-adult relationships, including their associated prevalence and developmental benefits across multiple contexts. These findings are then integrated into a framework of best practices for developing and supporting positive youth relationships with adults within youth program settings. Several theory-based recommendations are offered for youth program administrators and staff who wish to improve youth-adult relationships in their programs.

DETERMINANTS OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN STIMULATING PRODUCT AND PROCESS INNOVATIONS

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Boris Urban

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Research highlights Quality Management System (QMS has now become a recognizable guarantee of trust in certified business systems. A critical review of the literature reveals that empirical studies conducted to date have yielded conflicting findings on the relationship between quality management practices and innovation. This study empirically investigates how quality management principles may act as determinants of product and process innovations. The results show that customer focus and leadership explain a significant amount of product innovation, but not process innovation. Empirical support also finds that people management explains a significant amount of variance in both product innovation and process innovation. The findings highlight the importance of developing formal organisational mechanisms to measure levels of such quality determinants as they are easily overlooked or taken for granted. Moreover, firms need to recognise that innovation is a multi-faceted concept that can be controlled from a process or a product perspective, a distinction which is sometimes blurred.

An Empirical Investigation of External Debt - Military Expenditure Nexus in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khalid ZAMAN

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate a two-way statistical relationship between the real external debt and real military expenditure in the context of Bangladesh. A time series co-integration and Granger causality tests have been employed from 1980 - 2009 for analysis. The empirical results support the bi-directional causality between the external debt and economic growth, while unidirectional causality runs from military spending to external debt.

Combining Empirical Relationships with Data Based Mechanistic Modeling to Inform Solute Tracer Investigations across Stream Orders

Science.gov (United States)

Herrington, C.; Gonzalez-Pinzon, R.; Covino, T. P.; Mortensen, J.

2015-12-01

Solute transport studies in streams and rivers often begin with the introduction of conservative and reactive tracers into the water column. Information on the transport of these substances is then captured within tracer breakthrough curves (BTCs) and used to estimate, for instance, travel times and dissolved nutrient and carbon dynamics. Traditionally, these investigations have been limited to systems with small discharges (turbidity (e.g., nitrate signals with SUNA instruments or fluorescence measures) and/or high total dissolved solids (e.g., making prohibitively expensive the use of salt tracers such as NaCl) in larger systems. Additionally, a successful time-of-travel study is valuable for only a single discharge and river stage. We have developed a method to predict tracer BTCs to inform sampling frequencies at small and large stream orders using empirical relationships developed from multiple tracer injections spanning several orders of magnitude in discharge and reach length. This method was successfully tested in 1st to 8th order systems along the Middle Rio Grande River Basin in New Mexico, USA.

An Empirical Fitting Method to Type Ia Supernova Light Curves. III. A Three-parameter Relationship: Peak Magnitude, Rise Time, and Photospheric Velocity

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, WeiKang; Kelly, Patrick L.; Filippenko, Alexei V.

2018-05-01

We examine the relationship between three parameters of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia): peak magnitude, rise time, and photospheric velocity at the time of peak brightness. The peak magnitude is corrected for extinction using an estimate determined from MLCS2k2 fitting. The rise time is measured from the well-observed B-band light curve with the first detection at least 1 mag fainter than the peak magnitude, and the photospheric velocity is measured from the strong absorption feature of Si II λ6355 at the time of peak brightness. We model the relationship among these three parameters using an expanding fireball with two assumptions: (a) the optical emission is approximately that of a blackbody, and (b) the photospheric temperatures of all SNe Ia are the same at the time of peak brightness. We compare the precision of the distance residuals inferred using this physically motivated model against those from the empirical Phillips relation and the MLCS2k2 method for 47 low-redshift SNe Ia (0.005 Ia in our sample with higher velocities are inferred to be intrinsically fainter. Eliminating the high-velocity SNe and applying a more stringent extinction cut to obtain a “low-v golden sample” of 22 SNe, we obtain significantly reduced scatter of 0.108 ± 0.018 mag in the new relation, better than those of the Phillips relation and the MLCS2k2 method. For 250 km s‑1 of residual peculiar motions, we find 68% and 95% upper limits on the intrinsic scatter of 0.07 and 0.10 mag, respectively.

Evidências empirícas sobre a relação entre EVA e Retorno Acionário nas empresas brasileiras - Empirical evidence on the relationship beween EVA and Stock Returns in brazilian firms

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Otavio Ribeiro de Medeiros

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Este artigo fornece evidências empíricas sobre a relação entre Valor Econômico Adicionado (EVA e retornos acionários de empresas brasileiras. A relação entre essas variáveis têm sido motivo de controvérsia nos últimos anos, com alguns autores encontrando associações significativas entre elas, enquanto outros não encontrando nenhuma. A hipótese de que o EVA afeta os retornos acionários é testada através de regressão linear, utilizando-se modelos alternativos. A amostra é composta de empresas negociadas na mais importante bolsa de valores brasileira. Uma comparação entre os resultados deste estudo com os de estudos anteriores mostram que resultados significativos dependem da determinação das variáveis apropriadas (retornos acionários versus preços das ações, bem como da correta relação dinâmica entre a variável dependente e a independente. This paper provides empirical evidence on the relationship between Economic Value Added (EVA and stock returns in Brazilian firms. This relationship between these variables has been subject to controversy in recent years, with some authors finding significant associations between them while others find none. The hypothesis that EVA affects stock returns is tested through linear regression, using alternative models. The sample is comprised of companies that are traded on the most important Brazilian stock exchange. A comparison of the outcomes of our study with those of previous studies shows that significant results depend on determination of the appropriate variables (stock returns versus stock prices, as well as of the correct dynamic structure between the dependent and the explanatory variable.

A study on relationship between social capital and sustainable development

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Shabnam Fotovvat

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between social capital components, social trust, social cohesion, social participation and social security, and sustainable development in city of Salmas, Iran. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale, distributes it among 384 randomly selected people who live in this city. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.92, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. Using regression technique, the study has determined a positive and meaningful relationship between three components of social capital and sustainable development including social cohesion, social participation and social security. However, the study does not confirm the relationship between social trust and sustainable development.

Revisiting the Okun relationship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dixon, R. (Robert); Lim, G.C.; J.C. van Ours (Jan)

2017-01-01

textabstractOur article revisits the Okun relationship between observed unemployment rates and output gaps. We include in the relationship the effect of labour market institutions as well as age and gender effects. Our empirical analysis is based on 20 OECD countries over the period 1985–2013. We

Empirical Assessment on Financial Regulations and Banking Sector Performance

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Igbinosa S.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study examines financial regulation and banking sector performance in Nigeria. Specifically, the study determines the impact of reforms on banking sector performance and also assesses the nexus between capital adequacy and banking sector performance. Time series data for the period 1993 to 2014 was used. As an analytical tool, the study uses unit root test to determine the stationary state of the variables. We also employed the Johansson co-integration and error correction model (ECM statistical techniques to establish both short-run and long-run dynamic relationships between the endogenous and exogenous variables. The empirical findings indicate that financial regulation significantly impacts the banking sector performance while financial regulation has both short-run and long-run dynamic relationships with the banking sector performance in Nigeria. It was found that the four-period lag of capital adequacy negatively affects banking sector performance and is not statistically significant. The paper suggests that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN should continually make public the impacts that the various financial regulations and reforms have on the performance of Nigerian banks. Majority of the policies on financial regulation by the apex bank (CBN need to be long-run which can enable confidence of stakeholders, shareholders and the general public in the Nigerian banking industry when critically evaluated.

Intermediation by Banks and Economic Growth: A Review of Empirical Evidence

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Marijana Bađun

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a review of empirical research on the link between financial intermediation by banks and economic growth. Special attention is paid to the issues of causality, non-linearity, time perspective, financial intermediation proxies, and interaction terms. The review shows that there are still quite a few unresolved issues in empirical research, which causes scepticism towards prioritizing financial sector policies in order to cause economic growth. Progress in the finance and growth literature is slow and researchers seem to go round in circles. A possibly fruitful direction for future empirical research is the relationship between government and banks, especially from the standpoint of political economy.

20 CFR 222.20 - When determination of relationship as divorced spouse, surviving divorced spouse, or remarried...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false When determination of relationship as...' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS...) Divorced spouse. The claimant's relationship as the divorced spouse of an employee is determined when the...

A Developmental Study of the Relationship Among Irrational Beliefs, Behavior Problems, and Neuroticism in Adolescent Boys.

Science.gov (United States)

Spirito, Anthony; Erickson, Marilyn T.

Rational-Emotive Therapy states that maladaptive behaviors and emotional problems are the result of certain irrational beliefs that people hold and a number of empirical investigations with adult subjects have supported this claim. To determine whether the relationship between irrationality and psychological adjustment holds for adolescents, one…

Like grandparents, like parents: Empirical evidence and psychoanalytic thinking on the transmission of parenting styles.

Science.gov (United States)

De Carli, Pietro; Tagini, Angela; Sarracino, Diego; Santona, Alessandra; Bonalda, Valentina; Cesari, Paola Elena; Parolin, Laura

2018-01-01

The authors discuss the issue of intergenerational transmission of parenting from an empirical and psychoanalytic perspective. After presenting a framework to explain their conception of parenting, they describe intergenerational transmission of parenting as a key to interpreting and eventually changing parenting behaviors. Then they present (1) the empirical approach aimed at determining if there is actually a stability across generations that contributes to harsh parenting and eventually maltreatment and (2) the psyphoanalytic thinking that seeks to explain the continuity in terms of representations and clinical phenomena. The authors also discuss the relationship between the attachment and the caregiving systems and hypothesize a common base for the two systems in childhood experience. Finally, they propose the psychoanalytic perspective as a fruitful theoretical framework to integrate the evidence for the neurophysiological mediators and moderators of intergenerational transmission. Psychoanalytically informed research can provide clinically relevant insights and hypotheses to be tested.

The relationship between intelligence and creativity: New support for the threshold hypothesis by means of empirical breakpoint detection

Science.gov (United States)

Jauk, Emanuel; Benedek, Mathias; Dunst, Beate; Neubauer, Aljoscha C.

2013-01-01

The relationship between intelligence and creativity has been subject to empirical research for decades. Nevertheless, there is yet no consensus on how these constructs are related. One of the most prominent notions concerning the interplay between intelligence and creativity is the threshold hypothesis, which assumes that above-average intelligence represents a necessary condition for high-level creativity. While earlier research mostly supported the threshold hypothesis, it has come under fire in recent investigations. The threshold hypothesis is commonly investigated by splitting a sample at a given threshold (e.g., at 120 IQ points) and estimating separate correlations for lower and upper IQ ranges. However, there is no compelling reason why the threshold should be fixed at an IQ of 120, and to date, no attempts have been made to detect the threshold empirically. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between intelligence and different indicators of creative potential and of creative achievement by means of segmented regression analysis in a sample of 297 participants. Segmented regression allows for the detection of a threshold in continuous data by means of iterative computational algorithms. We found thresholds only for measures of creative potential but not for creative achievement. For the former the thresholds varied as a function of criteria: When investigating a liberal criterion of ideational originality (i.e., two original ideas), a threshold was detected at around 100 IQ points. In contrast, a threshold of 120 IQ points emerged when the criterion was more demanding (i.e., many original ideas). Moreover, an IQ of around 85 IQ points was found to form the threshold for a purely quantitative measure of creative potential (i.e., ideational fluency). These results confirm the threshold hypothesis for qualitative indicators of creative potential and may explain some of the observed discrepancies in previous research. In addition, we obtained

Relationships between self-determination theory and theory of planned behavior applied to physical activity and exercise behavior in chronic pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Jessica M; Iwanaga, Kanako; Chiu, Chung-Yi; Cotton, Brandi Parker; Deiches, Jon; Morrison, Blaise; Moser, Erin; Chan, Fong

2017-08-01

This study examined the relationships between self-determination theory (SDT) and theory of planned behavior (TpB) applied to physical activity and exercise behavior (PA&E) in people with chronic pain. Two hundred and eleven adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain (28 males and 183 females, age range 18 to 82 years, mean age 43 years) were recruited from online support groups and clinic networks in the United States. Participants completed SDT measures relevant to PA&E on perceived autonomy support, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as well as TpB measures relevant to PA&E on intention, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Correlational techniques and canonical correlation analysis were performed to examine the relationships and variance within and between theoretical dimensions. Overall, the SDT set accounted for 37% of the TpB variance and the TpB set accounted for 32% of the SDT set variance. The results indicate there are statistical similarities and differences between concepts in SDT and TpB models for PA&E. Using both empirical guidance and clinical expertise, researchers and practitioners should attempt to select and integrate non-redundant and complementary components from SDT, TpB, and other related health behavior theories.

CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GRAIN, MEAT PRICES AND EXCHANGE RATES

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Naveen Musunuru

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Understanding agricultural commodity price relationships are important as they help producers improve their awareness regarding production costs and ultimately aid in income determination. The present paper empirically examines the dynamic interrelationships among grain, meat prices and the U.S. dollar exchange rate. Johansen cointegration tests reveal no cointegrating relationships among the study variables. Majority of the commodities studied in the paper exhibited unidirectional causality except for corn and lean hogs. The vector autoregression (VAR model results indicate that the grain and meat prices are influenced by their own past prices. The role of exchange rates is found to be limited in linking the agricultural commodities.

Innovation Forms and Firm Export Performance: Empirical Evidence from ECA Countries

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Andrzej Cieślik

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: The main objective of this paper is to verify empirically the relationship between various forms of innovation and export performance of firms from European and Central Asian (ECA countries. Research Design & Methods: In our empirical approach we refer to the self-selection hypothesis derived from the Melitz (2003 model which proposed the existence of a positive relationship between firm productivity and the probability of exporting. We argue that innovation activities should be regarded as a key element that can increase the level of firm productivity. We focus our analysis on four forms of innovation activities: product, process, marketing, organizational and managerial innovation. The empirical implementation of our analytical framework is based on the probit model, applied to the fifth edition of the BEEPS firm level dataset covering 2011-2014. Findings: Our empirical results indicate that the probability of exporting is positively related to both product and process innovations. The marketing and managerial innovations do not seem to affect positively export performance of firms from ECA countries. Implications & Recommendations: It is recommended to develop innovation supporting mechanisms that would target both product and process innovations rather than other forms of innovation in the ECA countries. Contribution & Value Added: The originality of this work lies in the use of the multi-country firm level dataset that allows distinguishing between various forms of innovations in the ECA countries.

Identifying support functions in developmental relationships: A self-determination perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, Suzanne; van Vuuren, Hubrecht A.; de Jong, Menno D.T.

2013-01-01

This study examines the content of developmental networks from the perspective of self-determination theory. We qualitatively examine 18 protégés' constellations of developmental relationships to identify specific types of developmental support functions. Our study shows that the adoption of

Older Couple Relationships and Loneliness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong Gierveld, J.; Broese van Groenou, M.; Bookwala, Jamila

2016-01-01

The couple relationship is a major factor in alleviating loneliness. Midlife and older adults without a couple relationship, especially after widowhood or divorce, are at serious risk of loneliness. Outcomes of empirical research, both dating back to the former century (Lopata, 1980, 1996), as well

A Research for Determining the Relationship between Destination Image and Destination Personality

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Savaş Artuğer

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between destination image and destination personality. The sample group of the study consisted of tourists visiting Alanya district of Antalya province between June and August 2013. A brand personality scale developed by Aaker (1997 and a survey used for grading the destination image were used as tools for collecting data which were obtained from a total of 395 tourists for the application. Descriptive analyses such percentage, frequency, factor analysis (confirmatory and explanatory as well as statistical tests such as the reliability analysis were used for analyzing the obtained data. In addition the relationship between destination image and destination personality was analyzed with the Structural Equation Modeling (SEMAt the conclusion of the study there appeared to be negative and very weak relationship between affective image and destination personality while the relationship between cognitive image and destination personality appeared to be positive and strong. In addition Aaker’s (1997 5 dimensional brand personality grading turned out to be 4 dimensions. These dimensions were determined as excitement, ruggedness, competence and sincerity

Empirical Investigation of External Debt-Growth Nexus in Sub ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Empirical Investigation of External Debt-Growth Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa. ... distributed lag (PARDL) model and panel non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (PNARDL) model to examine the relationship between external debt and economic growth using a panel dataset of 22 countries from 1985 to 2015. Its results ...

The Use of Asymptotic Functions for Determining Empirical Values of CN Parameter in Selected Catchments of Variable Land Cover

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Wałęga Andrzej

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to assess the applicability of asymptotic functions for determining the value of CN parameter as a function of precipitation depth in mountain and upland catchments. The analyses were carried out in two catchments: the Rudawa, left tributary of the Vistula, and the Kamienica, right tributary of the Dunajec. The input material included data on precipitation and flows for a multi-year period 1980–2012, obtained from IMGW PIB in Warsaw. Two models were used to determine empirical values of CNobs parameter as a function of precipitation depth: standard Hawkins model and 2-CN model allowing for a heterogeneous nature of a catchment area.

Trust in automation: integrating empirical evidence on factors that influence trust.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoff, Kevin Anthony; Bashir, Masooda

2015-05-01

We systematically review recent empirical research on factors that influence trust in automation to present a three-layered trust model that synthesizes existing knowledge. Much of the existing research on factors that guide human-automation interaction is centered around trust, a variable that often determines the willingness of human operators to rely on automation. Studies have utilized a variety of different automated systems in diverse experimental paradigms to identify factors that impact operators' trust. We performed a systematic review of empirical research on trust in automation from January 2002 to June 2013. Papers were deemed eligible only if they reported the results of a human-subjects experiment in which humans interacted with an automated system in order to achieve a goal. Additionally, a relationship between trust (or a trust-related behavior) and another variable had to be measured. All together, 101 total papers, containing 127 eligible studies, were included in the review. Our analysis revealed three layers of variability in human-automation trust (dispositional trust, situational trust, and learned trust), which we organize into a model. We propose design recommendations for creating trustworthy automation and identify environmental conditions that can affect the strength of the relationship between trust and reliance. Future research directions are also discussed for each layer of trust. Our three-layered trust model provides a new lens for conceptualizing the variability of trust in automation. Its structure can be applied to help guide future research and develop training interventions and design procedures that encourage appropriate trust. © 2014, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Credit reporting, relationship banking, and loan repayment

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Tahereh Shirzad Kebria

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to determine factors influencing on loan repayment in one of Iranian banks named Sepah Bank over the period 2012-2013. The study selects a sample of 290 bank’s customers who received loans and, using logistic regression technique, tries to find whether or not qualitative as well as quantitative characteristics of loan receivers influence on repayment of loans. The results indicate that history of outstanding debt as well as customers’ past experiences with banks had meaningful relationships with having bad credit and non-payment of loans. In our survey, having a bad credit in the past had positive relationship with non-payment of loans but long-term customers had negative relationship with non-payment of loans. In addition, working capital turnover ratio, cash ratio, total liabilities, current assets and loan value had significant impact on non-repayment of the loan facilities.

Governance mechanisms in transnational business relationships

OpenAIRE

Homburg, Christian; Kiedaisch, Ingo; Cannon, Joseph P.

1999-01-01

Empirical research on buyer-supplier relationships has almost exclusively examined domestic (both firms from the same country) exchange. The growing importance of international marketing and global sourcing suggest a need to understand relationships across national boundaries -- transnational business relationships. Drawing on theories of governance, the authors hypothesize differences in governance between domestic and transnational business relationships. They examine the use...

The Environmental Kuznets Curve. An empirical analysis for OECD countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Georgiev, E.

2008-09-15

This paper tests the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for four local (SOx, NOx, CO, VOC) and two global (CO2, GHG) air pollutants. Using a new panel data set of thirty OECD countries, the paper finds that the postulated inverted U-shaped relationship between income and pollution does not hold for all gases. A meaningful Environmental Kuznets Curve exists only for CO, VOC and NOx, where for CO2 the curve is monotonically increasing. For GHG there is indication of an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and pollution, but still most countries are on the increasing path of the curve and hence the future development of the curve is uncertain. For SOx it was found that emissions follow an U-shaped curve. Based on the empirical results, the paper concludes that the Environmental Kuznets Curve does not hold for all gases, it is rather an empirical artefact than a regularity.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve. An empirical analysis for OECD countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Georgiev, E.

2008-09-01

This paper tests the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for four local (SOx, NOx, CO, VOC) and two global (CO2, GHG) air pollutants. Using a new panel data set of thirty OECD countries, the paper finds that the postulated inverted U-shaped relationship between income and pollution does not hold for all gases. A meaningful Environmental Kuznets Curve exists only for CO, VOC and NOx, where for CO2 the curve is monotonically increasing. For GHG there is indication of an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and pollution, but still most countries are on the increasing path of the curve and hence the future development of the curve is uncertain. For SOx it was found that emissions follow an U-shaped curve. Based on the empirical results, the paper concludes that the Environmental Kuznets Curve does not hold for all gases, it is rather an empirical artefact than a regularity.

Income Distribution Determinants and Inequality – International Comparison

OpenAIRE

Škare, Marinko; Stjepanovic, Saša

2014-01-01

This study shows the relationship between income distribution and other relevant economic variables and their impact on income distribution. Panel data analysis is used to study 200 world economies and identify main income determinants. Using such a large panel to study income distribution and inequality of household income make empirical results of this study significant. Paper results show there is a large discrepancy of income distribution measured by household consumption for different cl...

An empirical relationship for homogenization in single-phase binary alloy systems

Science.gov (United States)

Unnam, J.; Tenney, D. R.; Stein, B. A.

1979-01-01

A semiempirical formula is developed for describing the extent of interaction between constituents in single-phase binary alloy systems with planar, cylindrical, or spherical interfaces. The formula contains two parameters that are functions of mean concentration and interface geometry of the couple. The empirical solution is simple, easy to use, and does not involve sequential calculations, thereby allowing quick estimation of the extent of interactions without lengthy calculations. Results obtained with this formula are in good agreement with those from a finite-difference analysis.

An empirical determination of the production efficiency for auroral 6300 AA emmission by energetic electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winningham, J.D.; Bunn, F.E.; Thirkettle, F.W.; Shepherd, G.G.

1979-06-01

Auroral data from the Soft Particle Spectrometer and the Red Line Photometer on the ISIS-2 spacecraft have been selected to form an electron energy flux and optical auroral emission data base. The energy fluxes are stored as integrated fluxes over four energy bands, and the corresponding stored optical emission rates are corrected for airglow and for albedo. Because of the variety of electron energy spectra represented in the data base it was possible to perform a regression analysis that yielded the production efficiency for the production of emission for each of the four bands. While the results of this analysis are interesting to compare with theoretical predictions of 6300 AA excitation processes, these statistical results are not as precise as the comparisons of individual experiments where all parameters, such as the atmospheric composition and temperature profiles are measured. The significance of this approach is that it permits a multiparameter description of an electron energy spectrum, and its relationship to a specific optical emission, by purely empirical means. This is particularly useful in the interpretation of ISIS-2 data from the instruments which provided the results, but should find further application in optical-particle auroral studies. (author)

An empirical analysis on influencing factors on organizational silence and its relationship with employee’s organizational commitment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belal Panahi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Today, there is no doubt that in many organizations, many employees refuse to provide their opinions and comments about the organizational problems. In fact, in many organizations there is a created climate, which often makes employees feel their opinion is not valued. This phenomenon is examined as an organizational silence that by identifying the factors affecting on it we can effectively take steps to eliminate barriers to commenting staff in organizations. In this regard, this paper presents an empirical work conducted on data obtained from 260 employees Payame Noor University of East Azerbaijan Province. These data are analyzed by SPSS software and regression and path analysis tests. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between silence climate dimensions and employee organizational commitment with silence behavior employee. In addition, there is a positive correlation between higher management attitudes and supervisor’s attitudes with workers silent behavior. We have also observed that there is a negative correlation between communication opportunities and organizational commitment with employee silence behavior of employees.

A three-model comparison of the relationship between quality, satisfaction and loyalty: an empirical study of the Chinese healthcare system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Ping

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous research has addressed the relationship between customer satisfaction, perceived quality and customer loyalty intentions in consumer markets. In this study, we test and compare three theoretical models of the quality–satisfaction–loyalty relationship in the Chinese healthcare system. Methods This research focuses on hospital patients as participants in the process of healthcare procurement. Empirical data were obtained from six Chinese public hospitals in Shanghai. A total of 630 questionnaires were collected in two studies. Study 1 tested the research instruments, and Study 2 tested the three models. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the scales’ construct validity by testing convergent and discriminant validity. A structural equation model (SEM specified the distinctions between each construct. A comparison of the three theoretical models was conducted via AMOS analysis. Results The results of the SEM demonstrate that quality and satisfaction are distinct concepts and that the first model (satisfaction mediates quality and loyalty is the most appropriate one in the context of the Chinese healthcare environment. Conclusions In this study, we test and compare three theoretical models of the quality–satisfaction–loyalty relationship in the Chinese healthcare system. Findings show that perceived quality improvement does not lead directly to customer loyalty. The strategy of using quality improvement to maintain patient loyalty depends on the level of patient satisfaction. This implies that the measurement of patient experiences should include topics of importance for patients’ satisfaction with health care services.

A three-model comparison of the relationship between quality, satisfaction and loyalty: an empirical study of the Chinese healthcare system.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Ping; Jolibert, Alain

2012-11-30

Previous research has addressed the relationship between customer satisfaction, perceived quality and customer loyalty intentions in consumer markets. In this study, we test and compare three theoretical models of the quality-satisfaction-loyalty relationship in the Chinese healthcare system. This research focuses on hospital patients as participants in the process of healthcare procurement. Empirical data were obtained from six Chinese public hospitals in Shanghai. A total of 630 questionnaires were collected in two studies. Study 1 tested the research instruments, and Study 2 tested the three models. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the scales' construct validity by testing convergent and discriminant validity. A structural equation model (SEM) specified the distinctions between each construct. A comparison of the three theoretical models was conducted via AMOS analysis. The results of the SEM demonstrate that quality and satisfaction are distinct concepts and that the first model (satisfaction mediates quality and loyalty) is the most appropriate one in the context of the Chinese healthcare environment. In this study, we test and compare three theoretical models of the quality-satisfaction-loyalty relationship in the Chinese healthcare system. Findings show that perceived quality improvement does not lead directly to customer loyalty. The strategy of using quality improvement to maintain patient loyalty depends on the level of patient satisfaction. This implies that the measurement of patient experiences should include topics of importance for patients' satisfaction with health care services.

A three-model comparison of the relationship between quality, satisfaction and loyalty: an empirical study of the Chinese healthcare system

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Previous research has addressed the relationship between customer satisfaction, perceived quality and customer loyalty intentions in consumer markets. In this study, we test and compare three theoretical models of the quality–satisfaction–loyalty relationship in the Chinese healthcare system. Methods This research focuses on hospital patients as participants in the process of healthcare procurement. Empirical data were obtained from six Chinese public hospitals in Shanghai. A total of 630 questionnaires were collected in two studies. Study 1 tested the research instruments, and Study 2 tested the three models. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the scales’ construct validity by testing convergent and discriminant validity. A structural equation model (SEM) specified the distinctions between each construct. A comparison of the three theoretical models was conducted via AMOS analysis. Results The results of the SEM demonstrate that quality and satisfaction are distinct concepts and that the first model (satisfaction mediates quality and loyalty) is the most appropriate one in the context of the Chinese healthcare environment. Conclusions In this study, we test and compare three theoretical models of the quality–satisfaction–loyalty relationship in the Chinese healthcare system. Findings show that perceived quality improvement does not lead directly to customer loyalty. The strategy of using quality improvement to maintain patient loyalty depends on the level of patient satisfaction. This implies that the measurement of patient experiences should include topics of importance for patients’ satisfaction with health care services. PMID:23198824

Educational mismatches and skills: New empirical tests of old hypotheses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Levels, M.; van der Velden, R.K.W.; Allen, J.P.

2013-01-01

In this paper, we empirically explore how the often reported relationship between overeducation and wages can best be understood. Exploiting the newly published Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data (OECD 2013), we are able to achieve a better estimation of the

A critical review of theories to explain violent relationship termination: implications for research and intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhatigan, Deborah L; Street, Amy E; Axsom, Danny K

2006-05-01

The following review represents an update and extension to an influential article (see [Strube, M.J. (1988). The decision to leave an abusive relationship: Empirical evidence and theoretical issues. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 236-250.]), which evaluated empirical research and suggested potential theories to explain victimized women's decisions to terminate violent relationships. In contrast to the original review, this paper provides information on the importance of and means by which theory should be evaluated and critically determines which theoretical approach(es) might be most productive based on theoretical and atheoretical evidence. In addition, this paper discusses strengths and weaknesses of each approach, in light of certain criteria deemed to be important for the evaluation of theory (e.g., comprehensiveness, parsimony, etc.). Furthermore, this paper discusses current controversies regarding these issues, ramifications of differing theoretical approaches, and their potential impact on the field. Based on this analysis, it is determined that general approaches (e.g., reasoned action/planned behavior, investment model) may be better for understanding this complex and multifaceted decision. Suggestions for future theoretical and intervention research are discussed.

Antecedents of Customer Relationship Termination

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geersbro, Jens; Ritter, Thomas

To end business relationships, or to more actively terminate relationships, has long been acknowledged as part of customer relationship management. However, compared to other elements such as initiation and maintenance of relationships, little is known about the termination of business...... relationships as a managerial task. This paper contributes by (1) developing a conceptualization of relationship termination competence and (2) analyzing its antecedents. The empirical results identify termination acceptance, definition non-customers, organizational relationship termination routines......, and motivation as significant antecedents. Because of this, managers need to develop their organizations in order to use relationship termination as a vital strategy....

Empirical data and moral theory. A plea for integrated empirical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Molewijk, Bert; Stiggelbout, Anne M; Otten, Wilma; Dupuis, Heleen M; Kievit, Job

2004-01-01

Ethicists differ considerably in their reasons for using empirical data. This paper presents a brief overview of four traditional approaches to the use of empirical data: "the prescriptive applied ethicists," "the theorists," "the critical applied ethicists," and "the particularists." The main aim of this paper is to introduce a fifth approach of more recent date (i.e. "integrated empirical ethics") and to offer some methodological directives for research in integrated empirical ethics. All five approaches are presented in a table for heuristic purposes. The table consists of eight columns: "view on distinction descriptive-prescriptive sciences," "location of moral authority," "central goal(s)," "types of normativity," "use of empirical data," "method," "interaction empirical data and moral theory," and "cooperation with descriptive sciences." Ethicists can use the table in order to identify their own approach. Reflection on these issues prior to starting research in empirical ethics should lead to harmonization of the different scientific disciplines and effective planning of the final research design. Integrated empirical ethics (IEE) refers to studies in which ethicists and descriptive scientists cooperate together continuously and intensively. Both disciplines try to integrate moral theory and empirical data in order to reach a normative conclusion with respect to a specific social practice. IEE is not wholly prescriptive or wholly descriptive since IEE assumes an interdepence between facts and values and between the empirical and the normative. The paper ends with three suggestions for consideration on some of the future challenges of integrated empirical ethics.

20 CFR 222.10 - When determinations of relationship as wife, husband, widow or widower of employee are made.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false When determinations of relationship as wife... RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Relationship as Wife... employee are made. (a) The claimant's relationship as the wife or husband of an employee is determined when...

Culture and Social Relationship as Factors of Affecting Communicative Non-verbal Behaviors

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Akhter Lipi, Afia; Nakano, Yukiko; Rehm, Mathias

The goal of this paper is to link a bridge between social relationship and cultural variation to predict conversants' non-verbal behaviors. This idea serves as a basis of establishing a parameter based socio-cultural model, which determines non-verbal expressive parameters that specify the shapes of agent's nonverbal behaviors in HAI. As the first step, a comparative corpus analysis is done for two cultures in two specific social relationships. Next, by integrating the cultural and social parameters factors with the empirical data from corpus analysis, we establish a model that predicts posture. The predictions from our model successfully demonstrate that both cultural background and social relationship moderate communicative non-verbal behaviors.

Income Distribution Determinants and Inequality – International Comparison

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Marinko Škare

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study shows the relationship between income distribution and other relevant economic variables and their impact on income distribution. Panel data analysis is used to study 200 world economies and identify main income determinants. Using such a large panel to study income distribution and inequality of household income make empirical results of this study significant. Paper results show there is a large discrepancy of income distribution measured by household consumption for different classes (income deciles. Inflation, unemployment, export, labour force, population and unemployment however are the main determinants between income distribution dynamics according to the result of this study.

Empirical isotropic chemical shift surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czinki, Eszter; Csaszar, Attila G.

2007-01-01

A list of proteins is given for which spatial structures, with a resolution better than 2.5 A, are known from entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and isotropic chemical shift (ICS) values are known from the RefDB database related to the Biological Magnetic Resonance Bank (BMRB) database. The structures chosen provide, with unknown uncertainties, dihedral angles φ and ψ characterizing the backbone structure of the residues. The joint use of experimental ICSs of the same residues within the proteins, again with mostly unknown uncertainties, and ab initio ICS(φ,ψ) surfaces obtained for the model peptides For-(l-Ala) n -NH 2 , with n = 1, 3, and 5, resulted in so-called empirical ICS(φ,ψ) surfaces for all major nuclei of the 20 naturally occurring α-amino acids. Out of the many empirical surfaces determined, it is the 13C α ICS(φ,ψ) surface which seems to be most promising for identifying major secondary structure types, α-helix, β-strand, left-handed helix (α D ), and polyproline-II. Detailed tests suggest that Ala is a good model for many naturally occurring α-amino acids. Two-dimensional empirical 13C α - 1 H α ICS(φ,ψ) correlation plots, obtained so far only from computations on small peptide models, suggest the utility of the experimental information contained therein and thus they should provide useful constraints for structure determinations of proteins

Educational Inequality and Income Inequality: An Empirical Study on China

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Yang, Jun; Huang, Xiao; Li, Xiaoyu

2009-01-01

Based on the endogenous growth theory, this paper uses the Gini coefficient to measure educational inequality and studies the empirical relationship between educational inequality and income inequality through a simultaneous equation model. The results show that: (1) Income inequality leads to educational inequality while the reduction of…

A study on relationship between internal auditing and quality of financial statement

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Maryam Abulghasemi Komeleh

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The primary objective of most financial statements is to provide a concentrated as well as categorized reports on financial performance and flexibility to help decision makers reach suitable financial decisions. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between internal auditing and quality of financial statements on selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. The proposed study selects 140 firms over the period 2008-2012. Using some regression technique, the study has determined that there was a positive and meaningful relationship between firms with internal auditing in their activities and quality of financial statements.

Establishing empirical relationships to predict porosity level and corrosion rate of atmospheric plasma-sprayed alumina coatings on AZ31B magnesium alloy

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D. Thirumalaikumarasamy

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Plasma sprayed ceramic coatings are successfully used in many industrial applications, where high wear and corrosion resistance with thermal insulation are required. In this work, empirical relationships were developed to predict the porosity and corrosion rate of alumina coatings by incorporating independently controllable atmospheric plasma spray operational parameters (input power, stand-off distance and powder feed rate using response surface methodology (RSM. A central composite rotatable design with three factors and five levels was chosen to minimize the number of experimental conditions. Within the scope of the design space, the input power and the stand-off distance appeared to be the most significant two parameters affecting the responses among the three investigated process parameters. A linear regression relationship was also established between porosity and corrosion rate of the alumina coatings. Further, sensitivity analysis was carried out and compared with the relative impact of three process parameters on porosity level and corrosion rate to verify the measurement errors on the values of the uncertainty in estimated parameters.

Mentoring Relationships and Adolescent Self-Esteem

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Schwartz, Sarah E. O.; Lowe, Sarah R.; Rhodes, Jean E.

2012-01-01

An estimated three million American youth are in formal, one-to-one mentoring relationships, and countless more have meaningful, natural mentoring relationships with extended family members, teachers, neighbors, coaches and other caring, non-parental adults. The empirical literature generally indicates that close and enduring mentoring…

20 CFR 410.340 - Determination of relationship; parent, brother, or sister.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... domiciled (see § 410.392) at the time of his death would find, under the law they would apply in determining..., brother, or sister. Where, under such law, the individual does not bear the relationship to the miner of...

EMPIRICAL STUDY REGARDING THE DETERMINING FACTORS OF THE ROMANIAN COMPANIES COMPETITIVENESS

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MOLDOVAN Nicoleta-Claudia

2013-07-01

This study is focused on the concept of company competitiveness, on the relevant factors in order to analyze and explain the advantage of competitiveness for a company in regard to another, as well as the dimension and intensity which it uses the sponsors’ capital, the organizational capital, the human capital, the innovational capital and the capital represented by the customers portfolio. Secondly, using the questionnaire method as a research method, the objective of this paper is to provide some empirical evidences designed to assess the factors determining the Romanian company competitiveness on the competitive market. By using an initial dataset of 300 companies, which are part of the 14 fields of activity provided in the activity classification of the national economy, Reviewed NACE 2, we have made their classification on size classes, taking into account as classification criteria the number of employees, the annual net turnover and the value of the total assets held, then testing the opinions of the managers from the selected sample concerning the factors determining the competitiveness of the companies they manage. According to the results, the analysis of the sample structure reflects the control of microenterprises followed by the small and medium sized enterprises. The manner of administration and organization and the quality of the employed human factor are influenced by the company dimension and position held on the market. We consider that the managers of the small size companies, as well as the ones from the provided sample, rely on a preponderant intuitive management, they deal the administered businesses based on the spur of the moment inspiration, make decisions subjectively not starting from objective economic criteria, being concerned only with the management of the current problems. Since they aren’t the beneficiaries of a managerial education, they don’t possess the necessary competences to focus on the elaboration of certain strategies

Linking Supply Chain Network Complexity to Interdependence and Risk-Assessment: Scale Development and Empirical Investigation

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Samyadip Chakraborty

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Concepts like supply chain network complexity, interdependence and risk assessment have been prominently discussed directly and indirectly in management literature over past decades and plenty of frameworks and conceptual prescriptive research works have been published contributing towards building the body of knowledge. However previous studies often lacked quantification of the findings. Consequently, the need for suitable scales becomes prominent for measuring those constructs to empirically support the conceptualized relationships. This paper expands the understanding of supply chain network complexity (SCNC and also highlights its implications on interdependence (ID between the actors and risk assessment (RAS in transaction relationships. In doing so, SCNC and RAS are operationalized to understand how SCNC affects interdependence and risk assessment between the actors in the supply chain network. The contribution of this study lies in developing and validating multi-item scales for these constructs and empirically establishing the hypothesized relationships in the Indian context based on firm data collected using survey–based questionnaire. The methodology followed included structural equation modeling. The study findings indicate that SCNC had significant relationship with interdependence, which in turn significantly affected risk assessment. This study carries both academic and managerial implications and provides an empirically supported framework linking network complexity with the two key variables (ID and RAS, playing crucial roles in managerial decision making. This study contributes to the body of knowledge and aims at guiding managers in better understanding transaction relationships.

Empirical modelling to predict the refractive index of human blood

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Yahya, M.; Saghir, M. Z.

2016-02-01

Optical techniques used for the measurement of the optical properties of blood are of great interest in clinical diagnostics. Blood analysis is a routine procedure used in medical diagnostics to confirm a patient’s condition. Measuring the optical properties of blood is difficult due to the non-homogenous nature of the blood itself. In addition, there is a lot of variation in the refractive indices reported in the literature. These are the reasons that motivated the researchers to develop a mathematical model that can be used to predict the refractive index of human blood as a function of concentration, temperature and wavelength. The experimental measurements were conducted on mimicking phantom hemoglobin samples using the Abbemat Refractometer. The results analysis revealed a linear relationship between the refractive index and concentration as well as temperature, and a non-linear relationship between refractive index and wavelength. These results are in agreement with those found in the literature. In addition, a new formula was developed based on empirical modelling which suggests that temperature and wavelength coefficients be added to the Barer formula. The verification of this correlation confirmed its ability to determine refractive index and/or blood hematocrit values with appropriate clinical accuracy.

An Empirical Investigation of Students' Motivational Impact upon University Service Quality Perception: A Self-Determination Perspective

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Chong, Yit Sean; Ahmed, Pervaiz K.

2012-01-01

Based on Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory, this study examines the impact of an individual's motivation in pursuing higher education towards university service quality perception, with the individual's learning style posited as the moderator of the proposed relationship. The consequent effects upon satisfaction and behavioural intentions…

Empirical psychology, common sense, and Kant's empirical markers for moral responsibility.

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Frierson, Patrick

2008-12-01

This paper explains the empirical markers by which Kant thinks that one can identify moral responsibility. After explaining the problem of discerning such markers within a Kantian framework I briefly explain Kant's empirical psychology. I then argue that Kant's empirical markers for moral responsibility--linked to higher faculties of cognition--are not sufficient conditions for moral responsibility, primarily because they are empirical characteristics subject to natural laws. Next. I argue that these markers are not necessary conditions of moral responsibility. Given Kant's transcendental idealism, even an entity that lacks these markers could be free and morally responsible, although as a matter of fact Kant thinks that none are. Given that they are neither necessary nor sufficient conditions, I discuss the status of Kant's claim that higher faculties are empirical markers of moral responsibility. Drawing on connections between Kant's ethical theory and 'common rational cognition' (4:393), I suggest that Kant's theory of empirical markers can be traced to ordinary common sense beliefs about responsibility. This suggestion helps explain both why empirical markers are important and what the limits of empirical psychology are within Kant's account of moral responsibility.

Symbiotic empirical ethics: a practical methodology.

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Frith, Lucy

2012-05-01

Like any discipline, bioethics is a developing field of academic inquiry; and recent trends in scholarship have been towards more engagement with empirical research. This 'empirical turn' has provoked extensive debate over how such 'descriptive' research carried out in the social sciences contributes to the distinctively normative aspect of bioethics. This paper will address this issue by developing a practical research methodology for the inclusion of data from social science studies into ethical deliberation. This methodology will be based on a naturalistic conception of ethical theory that sees practice as informing theory just as theory informs practice - the two are symbiotically related. From this engagement with practice, the ways that such theories need to be extended and developed can be determined. This is a practical methodology for integrating theory and practice that can be used in empirical studies, one that uses ethical theory both to explore the data and to draw normative conclusions. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

EXAMINATION OF EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY OUTPUTS IN NIGERIA (1970-2012

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Sunday Brownson Akpan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The study investigated relationships between agricultural policy output (proxy by the agricultural productivity index, agricultural GDP/total GDP and crop productivity index and output of industrial sector (proxy by the industrial capacity utilization rate from 1970 to 2012 period in Nigeria. The study employed time series variables obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN, National Bureau of Statistics and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO. Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test was conducted on the specified time series, and the result showed that all non-growth rate series were integrated of order one, while growth rate series were stationary at level. The two-step Engle Granger method was employed to test for the presence of cointegration among specified variables. The result revealed that variables were not co-integrated. To avoid spurious regression, the specified models for non-growth rate series were estimated at first difference of the log variables. The empirical result revealed that, the industrial activities Granger cause crop activities in Nigeria. Also, the industrial activity has insignificant relationship with agricultural productivity indices in Nigeria. The same result was also obtained for industrial activities and agricultural GDP/total GDP. However, the result further revealed that, the industrial activity has significant negative correlation with the crop productivity index in Nigeria. These imply that, agricultural production had not played significant role in industrial development in Nigeria. This result suggests that, there is no significant impact of the backward integration policy of the agricultural sector on industrial sector in Nigeria. In addition, the result revealed that, agricultural policies during liberalization era (1986 - 2012 shifted the coefficient of the industrial activities positively. Therefore, it is recommended that the agricultural production in Nigeria should be boosted so as to

Determinants of Financing Decisions in Innovative Firms: A Review on Theoretical Backgrounds and Empirical Evidence

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Mihaela Diaconu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We review some of the main aspects highlighted in the literature on financing innovation. Thetheoretical background related to the distinctive features of innovative firms impacting theirfinancing decisions and the empirical evidence is reviewed. The growing literature on the financingof innovation shows that the theoretical and empirical work are not always constant across thevarious samples and situations faced by firms as a result of generating new findings. We highlightthe interaction between financing choices for innovation and changing internal and externalcondition firms operate.

Developments in the throughput-income relationship. Theoretical and empirical observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bruyn, S.M.; Opschoor, J.B.

1997-01-01

It has been suggested that the relationship between income and the associated environmental pressure in terms of derived materials inputs and pollution levels may take an inverted-U shape, indicating a 'delinking' of environmental pressure from economic growth in relation to rising per capita incomes. The likelihood of such a relationship being persistent is discussed in the context of a simple macro model of industrial metabolism, and the possibility of 'relinking' clearly emerges. Data on specific indicators of environmental pressure (i.e., the throughput of materials, energy and the volume of transport) in 19 countries have been used to investigate patterns of delinking. The results suggest that delinking may not be persistent; already some advanced economies may be entering a new period of relinking. The relationships between environmental pressure and welfare in the medium long term may be N-shaped rather than inverted-U-shaped

Determination of the acidification state of Canadian Pacific coastal waters using empirical relationships with hydrographic data

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Lara Espinosa, Alejandra

Despite recent interest in understanding long-term trends in ocean acidity, natural variations of carbon chemistry on short timescales are still poorly understood. Unfortunately, historical observations of the oceanic CO2 system are relatively few in number. Such data are particularly scarce along the highly productive Canadian Pacific coast. However, hydrographic data such as temperature, salinity, oxygen and nutrients have been collected regularly in this region. I developed a fully cross-validated statistical model to predict the aragonite saturation state (O arag), a biologically relevant measure of the carbonate system. Different sensitivity tests were performed to assess the robustness of the statistical modelling skill to different model structures. In particular, this study found that in situ temperature and O2 used together were strong predictors of Oarag. The carbon data used to build this statistical model came from five hydrographic surveys along the Pacific coast of Canada (in July 1998, August 2004, late May 2007, February 2010 and early August 2010) that contain direct measurements of CO2 system parameters. Only data from a depth range of 0-750 m were used, as data from below 750 m showed biases due to calcium carbonate dissolution. Although processes such as solar warming and gas exchange occur in the surface and could possibly introduce biases in the model, I show that these surface data can be included. The ability of the statistical models to compute robust estimates of Oarag was assessed by exploring the generalizability of the model through cross-validation procedures using different partitions of the data. By predicting lnOarag rather than O arag directly, I obtained a strong and robust predictive. relationship. This MLR model form yielded a high value in the squared correlation coefficient between predicted and observed values (0.96) and a low percentage in erroneous prediction of undersaturated conditions (3.1%). This relationship was found

Moral Reasoning among HEC Members: An Empirical Evaluation of the Relationship of Theory and Practice in Clinical Ethics Consultation.

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Wasserman, Jason Adam; Stevenson, Shannon Lindsey; Claxton, Cassandra; Krug, Ernest F

2015-01-01

In light of the ongoing development and implementation of core competencies in bioethics, it is important to proceed with a clear sense of how bioethics knowledge is utilized in the functioning of hospital ethics committees (HECs). Without such an understanding, we risk building a costly edifice on a foundation that is ambiguous at best. This article examines the empirical relationship between traditional paradigms of bioethics theory and actual decision making by HEC members using survey data from HEC members. The assumption underlying the standardization of qualifications and corresponding call for increased education of HEC members is that they will base imminent case decisions on inculcated knowledge. Our data suggest, however, that HEC members first decide intuitively and then look for justification, thereby highlighting the need to re-examine the pedagogical processes of ethics education in the process of standardizing and improving competencies. Copyright 2015 The Journal of Clinical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Relationship Between Supply Chain Risks: An Empirical Work

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Mustafa UNGAN

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Supply chain risk management is turned out to be a critical function for organization around the globe as a consequence of change in technology, economic, environment of organizations. Most companies or organizations view supply chain risk as a disruption of the flow of products or services that meet their requirements and consequently reduce their performance. A literature review for this study indicates that relationship between supply chain risks and developing appropriate mitigation strategies is drawing the attention of practitioners and academics in recent years. However, there is a lack of studies in this field. This paper aims to contribute to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the relationships between supply chain risks in Nigeria. To this end, data were collected 82 companies operating in different industries. Correlation matrices and item to total correlations were used for the analysis. The results indicated that terrorist activity risk is the most perceived supply chain risk in Nigeria. It was also found that many companies can reduce the level of many supply chain risks with an optimum level of capacity and good planning. It is expected that the findings help supply chain managers and policy makers in their decisions.

Uncovering curvilinear relationships between conscientiousness and job performance: how theoretically appropriate measurement makes an empirical difference.

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Carter, Nathan T; Dalal, Dev K; Boyce, Anthony S; O'Connell, Matthew S; Kung, Mei-Chuan; Delgado, Kristin M

2014-07-01

The personality trait of conscientiousness has seen considerable attention from applied psychologists due to its efficacy for predicting job performance across performance dimensions and occupations. However, recent theoretical and empirical developments have questioned the assumption that more conscientiousness always results in better job performance, suggesting a curvilinear link between the 2. Despite these developments, the results of studies directly testing the idea have been mixed. Here, we propose this link has been obscured by another pervasive assumption known as the dominance model of measurement: that higher scores on traditional personality measures always indicate higher levels of conscientiousness. Recent research suggests dominance models show inferior fit to personality test scores as compared to ideal point models that allow for curvilinear relationships between traits and scores. Using data from 2 different samples of job incumbents, we show the rank-order changes that result from using an ideal point model expose a curvilinear link between conscientiousness and job performance 100% of the time, whereas results using dominance models show mixed results, similar to the current state of the literature. Finally, with an independent cross-validation sample, we show that selection based on predicted performance using ideal point scores results in more favorable objective hiring outcomes. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Political determinants of social expenditures in Greece: an empirical analysis

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Ebru Canikalp

2017-09-01

Full Text Available A view prominently expounded is that the interaction between the composition and the volume of public expenditures is directly affected by political, institutional, psephological and ideological indicators. A crucial component of public expenditures, social expenditures play an important role in the economy as they directly and indirectly affect the distribution of income and wealth. Social expenditures aim at reallocating income and wealth unequal distribution. These expenditures comprise cash benefits, direct in-kind provision of goods and services, and tax breaks with social purposes.The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between political structure, i.e. government fragmentation, ideological composition, elections and so on, and the social expenditures in Greece. Employing data from the Comparative Political Dataset (CPDS and the OECD Social Expenditure Database (SOCX, a time series analysis was conducted for Greece for the 1980-2014 period. The findings of the study indicate that voter turnout, spending on the elderly population and the number of government changes have positive and statistically significant effects on social expenditures in Greece while debt stock and cabinet composition have negative effects.

An Empirical Exploration of the Antecedents and Outcomes of NPD Portfolio Success

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kester, L.; Hultink, H.J.; Griffin, A.

2013-01-01

The manuscript first combines theory and previous empirical findings to build a model of new product development portfolio success. Because relationships between product development portfolio decision-making effectiveness, portfolio success and firm-level success have not previously been

Determinants of SME Finance: Evidence from Three Central European Countries

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Rahman Ashiqur

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the determinants of access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs in the context of three Central European countries: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Hungary. The data set of the research is obtained from the BEEPS survey, which is conducted by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This paper empirically analyses firms not only from the SMEs point of view, but also shows results for micro, small and medium enterprises separately. Additionally, we have analysed the determinants of access to finance for SMEs at each country level for an in-depth understanding of country-level variations in SME financing. The results indicate that micro firms and firms owned and operated by women are experiencing a shortage of credits from banks. On the other hand, we found a positive relationship between the pledge of collateral and access to finance. With respect to the medium firms, we found evidence that innovative firms have a larger amount of credit from banks. The empirical results also suggest that the loan size increases as the interest rates increase in particular for SMEs on the whole and for micro-firms, although the interest rate is in a negative relationship with the loan size in Czech Republic.

Job-Related Circular Mobility and the Quality of Intimate Relationships

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Michael Feldhaus

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the influence of different types of spatial mobility on relationship quality. Although some studies have been carried out on this question, the existing empirical results remain contradictory. The paper tries to overcome some of these limitations by analysing to what extent mobility demands show direct as well as indirect effects. Spatial mobility could have impacts on crucial aspects of relationship dynamics, which are theoretically and empirically identified as significant for relationship satisfaction. The mediating variables used therefore include relatedness, autonomy, conflict and the perceived fairness with regard to the division of labour. The data support the stress hypothesis which assumes that job-related mobility has a negative effect on the relationship quality, but only for women and mothers. There are actually positive effects for men. In terms of indirect effects, the results show that spatial mobility does neither reduce relatedness in relationships nor increase conflict behaviour significantly. In fact, the opposite effect seems to come to play: There is empirical evidence, especially for women, that more demanding mobility increases the feeling of autonomy within a relationship. It also increases relatedness and reduces perceived conflicts, this in turn having a positive effect on relationship quality.

A New Statistical Method to Determine the Degree of Validity of Health Economic Model Outcomes against Empirical Data.

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Corro Ramos, Isaac; van Voorn, George A K; Vemer, Pepijn; Feenstra, Talitha L; Al, Maiwenn J

2017-09-01

The validation of health economic (HE) model outcomes against empirical data is of key importance. Although statistical testing seems applicable, guidelines for the validation of HE models lack guidance on statistical validation, and actual validation efforts often present subjective judgment of graphs and point estimates. To discuss the applicability of existing validation techniques and to present a new method for quantifying the degrees of validity statistically, which is useful for decision makers. A new Bayesian method is proposed to determine how well HE model outcomes compare with empirical data. Validity is based on a pre-established accuracy interval in which the model outcomes should fall. The method uses the outcomes of a probabilistic sensitivity analysis and results in a posterior distribution around the probability that HE model outcomes can be regarded as valid. We use a published diabetes model (Modelling Integrated Care for Diabetes based on Observational data) to validate the outcome "number of patients who are on dialysis or with end-stage renal disease." Results indicate that a high probability of a valid outcome is associated with relatively wide accuracy intervals. In particular, 25% deviation from the observed outcome implied approximately 60% expected validity. Current practice in HE model validation can be improved by using an alternative method based on assessing whether the model outcomes fit to empirical data at a predefined level of accuracy. This method has the advantage of assessing both model bias and parameter uncertainty and resulting in a quantitative measure of the degree of validity that penalizes models predicting the mean of an outcome correctly but with overly wide credible intervals. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EMPIRICAL STUDY REGARDING SUSTAINABILITY OF ROMANIAN PENSION SYSTEM

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Oprean Delia

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper is part of a broad, applied scientific research, based on popular empirical procedures (such as natural observation. Positivistic and constructive research methodology used was based on the consensual-inductive system (Locke, which is why we studied the different views of specialists on sustainability of pensions in Romania, necessary to formulate the problem of generating relevant information. Research strategies used were the comparative and longitudinal ones, as we analyzed the time evolution of qualitative indicators VUAN (unitary value of net asset specific to pension funds Pillar II and Pillar III of Romania, concomitant with the number of participants in these funds, as to determine their direct relationship with the need for sustainability in this area. The hypotheses regarding causal relationship efficiency – participants - sustainability and needed measures for pension reform were built in this paper inductively (by analyzing the sustainability issues of pensions in time, causally (by explaining the cause and effect phenomenon studied, deductively, logically and subjectively (due to the existence and perpetuation of conflict premise between generations and social inequality between employees and pensioners. The qualitative approach of the phenomenon studied by collecting information (using mediated data collection technique has allowed the relevant findings and practical solutions necessary for all those involved in this concerted action of pensions, which affects us all.

Trait-fitness relationships determine how trade-off shapes affect species coexistence.

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Ehrlich, Elias; Becks, Lutz; Gaedke, Ursula

2017-12-01

Trade-offs between functional traits are ubiquitous in nature and can promote species coexistence depending on their shape. Classic theory predicts that convex trade-offs facilitate coexistence of specialized species with extreme trait values (extreme species) while concave trade-offs promote species with intermediate trait values (intermediate species). We show here that this prediction becomes insufficient when the traits translate non-linearly into fitness which frequently occurs in nature, e.g., an increasing length of spines reduces grazing losses only up to a certain threshold resulting in a saturating or sigmoid trait-fitness function. We present a novel, general approach to evaluate the effect of different trade-off shapes on species coexistence. We compare the trade-off curve to the invasion boundary of an intermediate species invading the two extreme species. At this boundary, the invasion fitness is zero. Thus, it separates trait combinations where invasion is or is not possible. The invasion boundary is calculated based on measurable trait-fitness relationships. If at least one of these relationships is not linear, the invasion boundary becomes non-linear, implying that convex and concave trade-offs not necessarily lead to different coexistence patterns. Therefore, we suggest a new ecological classification of trade-offs into extreme-favoring and intermediate-favoring which differs from a purely mathematical description of their shape. We apply our approach to a well-established model of an empirical predator-prey system with competing prey types facing a trade-off between edibility and half-saturation constant for nutrient uptake. We show that the survival of the intermediate prey depends on the convexity of the trade-off. Overall, our approach provides a general tool to make a priori predictions on the outcome of competition among species facing a common trade-off in dependence of the shape of the trade-off and the shape of the trait

Determinants of employees’ psychological ownership on budgetary slack

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Kamisah Ismail

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The existence of budgetary slack permeates every level of private sector organisations. Employees (i.e., budget makers usually request excessive budgetary resources in the budgeting process. Due to its dysfunctional nature, existing researchers had extensively examined the relationship between budgetary slack and employees’ performance. This study adopted a survey questionnaire approach to examine the relationship between determinants of psychological ownership and employees’ intention to create slack in budgeting. There were 475 budget makers from private sector organisations in the Klang Valley, Malaysia who participated in this study through a questionnaire survey. Preliminary data analysis was performed using normality, multi-collinearity, variance inflation index (VIF, common method variance, and reliability analysis. Multiple regression analysis was also applied to investigate the relationships of each dimension of employees’ psychological ownership on budgetary slack. This paper is considered a pioneer empirical study that investigates the determinants of psychological ownership on budgetary slack among budget makers from the psychological perspective in the context of private sector organisations in Malaysia, where slack activities in budgeting existed.

A framework for studying relationship marketing dyads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindgreen, A.

2001-01-01

Although coined more than 15 years ago, relationship marketing remains an ambiguous concept with plenty of rhetoric but few publications on empirical evidence in support of a relationship marketing paradigm shift. A research project is currently studying marketing dyads in the international food

The close relationships of Lesbians and gay men.

Science.gov (United States)

Peplau, Letitia Anne; Fingerhut, Adam W

2007-01-01

This article reviews empirical studies of same-sex couples in the United States, highlighting consistent findings, drawing comparisons to heterosexual couples, and noting gaps in available research. U.S. Census data indicate that there were more than 600,000 same-sex couples living together in 2000. Research about relationship formation, the division of household labor, power, satisfaction, sexuality, conflict, commitment, and relationship stability is presented. Next, we highlight three recent research topics: the legalization of same-sex relationships through civil unions and same-sex marriage, the experiences of same-sex couples raising children, and the impact of societal prejudice and discrimination on same-sex partners. We conclude with comments about the contributions of empirical research to debunking negative stereotypes of same-sex couples, testing the generalizability of theories about close relationships, informing our understanding of gender and close relationships, and providing a scientific basis for public policy.

Relationship between nurses' leadership styles and power bases.

Science.gov (United States)

García García, Inmaculada; Santa-Bárbara, Emilio Sánchez

2009-01-01

This quantitative study aimed to empirically evidence the relationship between the power bases of the leader and the leadership styles of nurses. The random sample consisted of 204 nursing professionals from a public hospital. The following measurement instruments were used: the SBDQ (Supervisory Behavior Description Questionnaire) to identify leadership styles and the Power Perception Profile to determine the types of power used by leaders. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were used. Based on the results, two relationships proposed by the SLT (Situational Leadership Theory) were verified: between coercive power and S1 leadership style (telling), and between referent power and S3 leadership style (participating). In other cases, results have been opposite to expectations: the use of power proposed by the model decreases the probability of performing the prescribed leadership style.

Buyer-Supplier Relationships and Power Position: Interchaining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hebatollah Morsy

2017-02-01

Full Text Available According to several studies, power and interdependence play a considerable role in understanding the buyer–supplier relationships, yet, empirical research is still limited. Also, the nature of the buyer-supplier relationship and managing them might vary based on the power position of buyers and suppliers. Few studies focused on the reason behind this interrelation and strong influence of power on the buyer-supplier relationships. Thus, the purpose of this study is to gain better understanding and try to identify how power position and buyer-supplier relationships are interrelated, and whether there are common determinants and/or characteristics behind this strong bond between the two concepts. Both transaction cost analysis theory and social exchange theory were integrated in building the argument. Regarding the methodology, qualitative exploratory research design was employed by using multiple-case study as the main research method, where three multinational Egyptian organizations were selected. Moreover, data was collected using individual in-depth interviews, and analyzed through coding and cross case analysis techniques. The results showed that there are common factors that influence both buyer-supplier relationship characteristics and power position attributes. And according, the findings helped in pointing out a new lens of discussing and investigating the bond between buyer-supplier relationships ad power in research.

The existential function of close relationships: introducing death into the science of love.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulincer, Mario; Florian, Victor; Hirschberger, Gilad

2003-01-01

Originally, terror management theory proposed two psychological mechanisms in dealing with the terror of death awareness-cultural worldview validation and self-esteem enhancement. In this article, we would like to promote the idea of close relationships as an additional death-anxiety buffering mechanism and review a growing body of empirical data that support this contention. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the sociocultural and personal functions of close relationships, we formulate two basic hypotheses that have received empirical support in a series of experimental studies. First, death reminders heighten the motivation to form and maintain close relationships. Second, the maintenance of close relationships provides a symbolic shield against the terror of death, whereas the breaking of close relationships results in an upsurge of death awareness. In addition, we present empirical evidence supporting the possibility that close relationships function as a related yet separate mechanism from the self-esteem and cultural worldview defenses.

Joint determinants of fiscal policy, income inequality and economic growth

OpenAIRE

Leonel Muinelo-Gallo; Oriol Roca-Sagalés

2012-01-01

This paper analyses the relationship between income inequality and economic growth through fiscal policy. To this end, we present and estimate two systems of structural equiation with error components through which gross income inequality determines different fiscal policy outcomes, which subsequently affects the evolution of economic growth and net income inequality. The empirical results, obtained using an unbalanced panel data of 21 high-income OCDE countries during the period 1972-2006, s...

Empirical Study Regarding the Trust Relationships Established in a Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florina-Valentina NICOLAE

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper that we present aims to address the issue of relationships naturally established in a community through some items that we consider relevant to the proposed topic. In this purpose, we have initiated a quantitative research, developed through a survey, based on questionnaire, self-managed and on line. The recorded answers are statistically interpreted, using IBM SPSS application. The results suggests that the perception of the subjects participating in the study on the relationships established with their communities, on the date of the study, is not clearly contoured.

Empirical microeconomics action functionals

Science.gov (United States)

Baaquie, Belal E.; Du, Xin; Tanputraman, Winson

2015-06-01

A statistical generalization of microeconomics has been made in Baaquie (2013), where the market price of every traded commodity, at each instant of time, is considered to be an independent random variable. The dynamics of commodity market prices is modeled by an action functional-and the focus of this paper is to empirically determine the action functionals for different commodities. The correlation functions of the model are defined using a Feynman path integral. The model is calibrated using the unequal time correlation of the market commodity prices as well as their cubic and quartic moments using a perturbation expansion. The consistency of the perturbation expansion is verified by a numerical evaluation of the path integral. Nine commodities drawn from the energy, metal and grain sectors are studied and their market behavior is described by the model to an accuracy of over 90% using only six parameters. The paper empirically establishes the existence of the action functional for commodity prices that was postulated to exist in Baaquie (2013).

An investigation on the determinants of carbon emissions for OECD countries: empirical evidence from panel models robust to heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence.

Science.gov (United States)

Dogan, Eyup; Seker, Fahri

2016-07-01

This empirical study analyzes the impacts of real income, energy consumption, financial development and trade openness on CO2 emissions for the OECD countries in the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model by using panel econometric approaches that consider issues of heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. Results from the Pesaran CD test, the Pesaran-Yamagata's homogeneity test, the CADF and the CIPS unit root tests, the LM bootstrap cointegration test, the DSUR estimator, and the Emirmahmutoglu-Kose Granger causality test indicate that (i) the panel time-series data are heterogeneous and cross-sectionally dependent; (ii) CO2 emissions, real income, the quadratic income, energy consumption, financial development and openness are integrated of order one; (iii) the analyzed data are cointegrated; (iv) the EKC hypothesis is validated for the OECD countries; (v) increases in openness and financial development mitigate the level of emissions whereas energy consumption contributes to carbon emissions; (vi) a variety of Granger causal relationship is detected among the analyzed variables; and (vii) empirical results and policy recommendations are accurate and efficient since panel econometric models used in this study account for heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence in their estimation procedures.

Organizational dimensions of relationship-centered care. Theory, evidence, and practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Safran, Dana Gelb; Miller, William; Beckman, Howard

2006-01-01

Four domains of relationship have been highlighted as the cornerstones of relationship-centered health care. Of these, clinician-patient relationships have been most thoroughly studied, with a rich empirical literature illuminating significant linkages between clinician-patient relationship quality and a wide range of outcomes. This paper explores the realm of clinician-colleague relationships, which we define to include the full array of relationships among clinicians, staff, and administrators in health care organizations. Building on a stream of relevant theories and empirical literature that have emerged over the past decade, we synthesize available evidence on the role of organizational culture and relationships in shaping outcomes, and posit a model of relationship-centered organizations. We conclude that turning attention to relationship-centered theory and practice in health care holds promise for advancing care to a new level, with breakthroughs in quality of care, quality of life for those who provide it, and organizational performance.

Unveiling the checkered fortunes of the Ottoman Empire

OpenAIRE

Dimitrova-Grajzl, Valentina

2013-01-01

The Ottoman Empire has been predominantly viewed as the ćSick Man of Europe.ć The question arises, however, how this perceived inefficiency can be reconciled with the long existence and prosperity of the Empire. I argue that the Ottoman system could have been efficient subject to constraints. More specifically, I explore the role of the technology of predation and the adherence to the law in determining relative changes in the social order and the power of the Sultan, which in turn led to the...

Dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Falconier, Mariana K; Jackson, Jeffrey B; Hilpert, Peter; Bodenmann, Guy

2015-12-01

Meta-analytic methods were used to empirically determine the association between dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction. Dyadic coping is a systemic conceptualization of the processes partners use to cope with stressors, such as stress communication, individual strategies to assist the other partner cope with stress, and partners' strategies to cope together. A total of 72 independent samples from 57 reports with a combined sum of 17,856 participants were included. The aggregated standardized zero-order correlation (r) for total dyadic coping with relationship satisfaction was .45 (p=.000). Total dyadic coping strongly predicted relationship satisfaction regardless of gender, age, relationship length, education level, and nationality. Perceptions of overall dyadic coping by partner and by both partners together were stronger predictors of relationship satisfaction than perceptions of overall dyadic coping by self. Aggregated positive forms of dyadic coping were a stronger predictor of relationship satisfaction than aggregated negative forms of dyadic coping. Comparisons among dyadic coping dimensions indicated that collaborative common coping, supportive coping, and hostile/ambivalent coping were stronger predictors of relationship satisfaction than stress communication, delegated coping, protective buffering coping, and overprotection coping. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are provided. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An empirical method for determination of elemental components of radiated powers and impurity concentrations from VUV and XUV spectral features in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawson, K.; Peacock, N.; Gianella, R.

1998-12-01

The derivation of elemental components of radiated powers and impurity concentrations in bulk tokamak plasmas is complex, often requiring a full description of the impurity transport. A novel, empirical method, the Line Intensity Normalization Technique (LINT) has been developed on the JET (Joint European Torus) tokamak to provide routine information about the impurity content of the plasma and elemental components of radiated power (P rad ). The technique employs a few VUV and XUV resonance line intensities to represent the intrinsic impurity elements in the plasma. From a data base comprising these spectral features, the total bolometric measurement of the radiated power and the Z eff measured by visible spectroscopy, separate elemental components of P rad and Z eff are derived. The method, which converts local spectroscopic signals into global plasma parameters, has the advantage of simplicity, allowing large numbers of pulses to be processed, and, in many operational modes of JET, is found to be both reliable and accurate. It relies on normalizing the line intensities to the absolute calibration of the bolometers and visible spectrometers, using coefficients independent of density and temperature. Accuracies of the order of ± 15% can be achieved for the elemental P rad components of the most significant impurities and the impurity concentrations can be determined to within ±30%. Trace elements can be monitored, although with reduced accuracy. The present paper deals with limiter discharges, which have been the main application to date. As a check on the technique and to demonstrate the value of the LINT results, they have been applied to the transport modelling of intrinsic impurities carried out with the SANCO transport code, which uses atomic data from ADAS. The simulations provide independent confirmation of the concentrations empirically derived using the LINT technique. For this analysis, the simple case of the L-mode regime is considered, the chosen

Do Specialized MBA Programs Cultivate Alumni Relationships and Donations?

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Jennifer Wiggins; Thomas, Veronica; Peck, Joann

2010-01-01

A recent trend among universities shifts from traditional MBA programs to specialized MBA offerings. Specialized programs are believed to cultivate stronger relationships with students, which lead to stronger alumni relationships and increased donations. This research tests this empirically by examining relationship perceptions and donation…

The role of confidence in the evolution of the Spanish economy: empirical evidence from an ARDL model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Castellanos García

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to verify the existence and to determine the nature of long-term relationships between economic agents’ confidence, measured by the Economic Sentiment Index (ESI, with some of the "fundamentals" of the Spanish economy. In particular, by modeling this type of relations, we try to determine whether confidence is a dependent (explained or independent (explanatory variable. Along with confidence, in our model we incorporate variables such as risk premium of sovereign debt, financial market volatility, unemployment, inflation, public and private debt and the net lending/net borrowing of the economy. For the purpose of obtaining some empirical evidence on the exogenous or endogenous character of the above mentioned variables an ARDL (Autoregressive-Distributed Lag model is formulated. The model is estimated with quarterly data of the Spanish economy for the period 1990-2012. Our findings suggest that: (a unemployment is the dependent variable, (b there is an inverse relationship between ESI in Spain and unemployment; and (c the Granger causality goes from confidence to unemployment.

Diagram-based Analysis of Causal Systems (DACS): elucidating inter-relationships between determinants of acute lower respiratory infections among children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehfuess, Eva A; Best, Nicky; Briggs, David J; Joffe, Mike

2013-12-06

Effective interventions require evidence on how individual causal pathways jointly determine disease. Based on the concept of systems epidemiology, this paper develops Diagram-based Analysis of Causal Systems (DACS) as an approach to analyze complex systems, and applies it by examining the contributions of proximal and distal determinants of childhood acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in sub-Saharan Africa. Diagram-based Analysis of Causal Systems combines the use of causal diagrams with multiple routinely available data sources, using a variety of statistical techniques. In a step-by-step process, the causal diagram evolves from conceptual based on a priori knowledge and assumptions, through operational informed by data availability which then undergoes empirical testing, to integrated which synthesizes information from multiple datasets. In our application, we apply different regression techniques to Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) datasets for Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya and Namibia and a pooled World Health Survey (WHS) dataset for sixteen African countries. Explicit strategies are employed to make decisions transparent about the inclusion/omission of arrows, the sign and strength of the relationships and homogeneity/heterogeneity across settings.Findings about the current state of evidence on the complex web of socio-economic, environmental, behavioral and healthcare factors influencing childhood ALRI, based on DHS and WHS data, are summarized in an integrated causal diagram. Notably, solid fuel use is structured by socio-economic factors and increases the risk of childhood ALRI mortality. Diagram-based Analysis of Causal Systems is a means of organizing the current state of knowledge about a specific area of research, and a framework for integrating statistical analyses across a whole system. This partly a priori approach is explicit about causal assumptions guiding the analysis and about researcher judgment, and wrong assumptions can be reversed

Inglorious Empire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khair, Tabish

2017-01-01

Review of 'Inglorious Empire: What the British did to India' by Shashi Tharoor, London, Hurst Publishers, 2017, 296 pp., £20.00......Review of 'Inglorious Empire: What the British did to India' by Shashi Tharoor, London, Hurst Publishers, 2017, 296 pp., £20.00...

An Efficiency Assessment among Empirically Defined Labor Markets for Determining Pay for Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Henry; Young, I. Phillip

2013-01-01

Fundamental to updating a fixed-rate salary schedule for teachers is the reliance on a relevant labor market containing comparisons to other school districts--that is, object school districts, which can be chosen from a policy or empirical/efficiency perspective. As such, four relevant markets having roots in neoclassical economic…

Obtention of an empirical equation for annular channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz H, C.; Salinas R, G.A.

1996-01-01

Using a trial circuit, the experimental heat transfer coefficient is determined, in forced convection at one phase only within an annular channel in which water flows ascendantly and for this reason an empirical equation is determined. This work tries to contribute to the understanding of the forced convection phenomena in non tubular geometries like the annular channels. (Author)

Determinants of Condom use in Botswana: An empirical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SIPHAMBE, H.K. (PROF.)

There was a negative relationship between condom use and age differences with partner ... to investigate the role of gender imbalance in the use of condoms as a preventive ... use force and women are not treated as equals at work, in the household .... Violence is both a cause and a consequence of HIV/AIDS and 10 to 69 ...

The influence of the sustainability agenda on buyer-supplier relationships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørsfeldt, Liliyana Makarowa; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum

2013-01-01

The positive effect of supplier-buyer relationships on supply chain performance has al-ready been supported by previous studies. Yet, little empirical research has explored how the sustainability agenda influences these relationships. Thus, this study investi-gates how supplier-buyer relationships...

On the Relationship between Fourier and Response Spectra: Implications for the Adjustment of Empirical Ground-Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs)

Science.gov (United States)

Bora, Sanjay; Scherbaum, Frank; Kuehn, Nicolas; Stafford, Peter

2016-04-01

Often, scaling of response spectral amplitudes, (e.g., spectral acceleration) obtained from empirical ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs), with respect to commonly used seismological parameters such as magnitude, distance and site condition is assumed/referred to be representing a similar scaling of Fourier spectral amplitudes. For instance, the distance scaling of response spectral amplitudes is related with the geometrical spreading of seismic waves. Such comparison of scaling of response spectral amplitudes with that of corresponding Fourier spectral amplitudes is motivated by that, the functional forms of response spectral GMPEs are often derived using the concepts borrowed from Fourier spectral modeling of ground motion. As these GMPEs are subsequently calibrated with empirical observations, this may not appear to pose any major problems in the prediction of ground motion for a particular earthquake scenario. However, the assumption that the Fourier spectral concepts persist for response spectra can lead to undesirable consequences when it comes to the adjustment of response spectral GMPEs to represent conditions not covered in the original empirical data set. In this context, a couple of important questions arise, e.g., what are the distinctions and/or similarities between Fourier and response spectra of ground-motions? And, if they are different, then what is the mechanism responsible for such differences and how do adjustments that are made to FAS manifest in response spectra? We explore the relationship between the Fourier and response spectrum of ground motion by using random vibration theory (RVT). With a simple Brune (1970, 1971) source model, RVT-generated acceleration spectra for a fixed magnitude and distance scenario are used. The RVT analyses reveal that the scaling of low oscillator-frequency response spectral ordinates can be treated as being equivalent to the scaling of the corresponding Fourier spectral ordinates. However, the high

Empirical modelling to predict the refractive index of human blood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yahya, M; Saghir, M Z

2016-01-01

Optical techniques used for the measurement of the optical properties of blood are of great interest in clinical diagnostics. Blood analysis is a routine procedure used in medical diagnostics to confirm a patient’s condition. Measuring the optical properties of blood is difficult due to the non-homogenous nature of the blood itself. In addition, there is a lot of variation in the refractive indices reported in the literature. These are the reasons that motivated the researchers to develop a mathematical model that can be used to predict the refractive index of human blood as a function of concentration, temperature and wavelength. The experimental measurements were conducted on mimicking phantom hemoglobin samples using the Abbemat Refractometer. The results analysis revealed a linear relationship between the refractive index and concentration as well as temperature, and a non-linear relationship between refractive index and wavelength. These results are in agreement with those found in the literature. In addition, a new formula was developed based on empirical modelling which suggests that temperature and wavelength coefficients be added to the Barer formula. The verification of this correlation confirmed its ability to determine refractive index and/or blood hematocrit values with appropriate clinical accuracy. (paper)

Discussing empirical research on the language and culture relationship to inform English as an additional/foreign language pedagogy and teacher education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gloria Gil

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract In spite of the existence of a substantial body of theoretical literature that deals with the intersection of language and culture in the field of English as a foreign/additional (EA/FL language teaching and learning, there are very few empirical studies that investigate this issue with real teachers and learners. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review some of those empirical studies with a view to informing additional/foreign language pedagogy and teacher education.  For that, the paper, first, summarizes some of the main theoretical issues by discussing the different ways in which the relationship of language and culture has been subjacent to EA/FL pedagogies. Then, the paper shows that there are three different types of language-and-culture-related empirical studies: on coursebooks, on teacher cognition, and on classroom interaction and teacher cognition. A review of these types of studies is made by discussing their main findings. Finally, the paper brings about some implications for the field from the findings of the empirical studies and proposes some topics for further research. Key-words: Culture and language relation. English as an additional/foreign language. Empirical studies.   Resumo Apesar da existência de uma vasta literatura teórica que lida com a interseção entre língua e cultura na área de ensino e aprendizagem do inglês como língua adicional/estrangeira (LA/E, existem poucos estudos empíricos que investigam essa questão com professores e alunos reais. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho é revisar alguns desses estudos empíricos com o intuito de contribuir com a pedagogia e a formação de professores de inglês como LA/E. Para isso este trabalho, em primeiro lugar, resume algumas das principais questões teóricas, discutindo as diferentes maneiras em que a relação entre língua e cultura tem subjazido às pedagogias do Inglês como LA/E.  Em seguida, o trabalho mostra que há três tipos

Analysis of consumption behaviour concerning current income and lags consumption: Empirical evidence from Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Qayyum Khan

2014-10-01

Full Text Available As in other economies, consumption expenditure is the largest component of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP of Pakistan economy. The figure has been estimated around 80 percent of the GDP and demonstrates that historically, Pakistan’s economic growth is characterized as consumption-led growth. The present paper aims to explore the relationship between income and consumption using annual time series data for the period: 1975 to 2012 in Pakistan. For empirical investigation the linear regression model and the method of Least Squares is used as analytical techniques. Empirical results support the existence of a significant positive relationship between income and consumption. The finding suggests that long term committed planning is indispensable to enhance the productive capacity of the economy, employment opportunities and reduce poverty levels more effectively.

Determination of deformation and strength characteristics of artificial geomaterial having step-shaped discontinuities under uniaxial compression

Science.gov (United States)

Tsoy, PA

2018-03-01

In order to determine the empirical relationship between the linear dimensions of step-shaped macrocracks in geomaterials as well as deformation and strength characteristics of geomaterials (ultimate strength, modulus of deformation) under uniaxial compression, the artificial flat alabaster specimens with the through discontinuities have been manufactured and subjected to a series of the related physical tests.

The Market Orientation and Performance Relationship: An Empirical Study in Private Universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sefnedi Sefnedi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study examines the empirical link between three dimensions of market orientation, namely, student orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination, and private university performance in Kopertis X. The study was based on an empirical investigation of private universities located in Indonesia’s provinces of West Sumatera, Riau, Jambi, and Riau Islands. The primary data for the study were collected from a self-administered mail survey of 237 questionnaires from the private university resulting in a sample of 114 usable responses being returned. From the application of the multiple regression analysis it was concluded that all three dimensions of market orientation had a significant impact on private university performance. Student orientation as a predictor variable is the strongest predictor of private university performance then followed by competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination. Bahasa Indonesia Abstrak: Penelitian ini menguji hubungan empiris antara tiga dimensi orientasi pasar, yaitu, orientasi mahasiswa, orientasi pesaing dan koordinasi antar-fungsional dan kinerja perguruan tinggi swasta di Kopertis X. Penelitian ini didasarkan pada penyelidikan empiris pada universitas swasta yang berada di provinsi Sumatera Barat, Riau, Jambi, dan Kepulaian Riau. Data primer dikumpulkan dari survei dimana dari 237 kuesioner yang disebarkan pada universitas swasta, diperoleh 114 kuesioner yang dikembalikan dan dapat digunakan sebagai sampel. Berdasarkan hasil analisis regresi berganda dapat disimpulkan bahwa ketiga dimensi orientasi pasar memiliki dampak yang signifikan terhadap kinerja perguruan tinggi swasta. Orientasi mahasiswa sebagai variabel prediktor terkuat terhadap kinerja perguruan tinggi swasta kemudian diikuti oleh orientasi pesaing, dan koordinasi antar-fungsional.

The determinants of relational governance and performance: how to manage business relationships?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claro, D.P.; Hagelaar, J.L.F.; Omta, S.W.F.

2003-01-01

It is the aim of this study to assess the influence of the determinants of the transaction, dyadic, and business environment level on relational governance and ultimately performance. We build an integrated framework for relationship management drawing from literature of transaction cost economics,

Explaining foreign ownership by comparative and competitive advantage. Empirical evidence.

OpenAIRE

Bellak, Christian

1999-01-01

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of foreign ownership in manufacturing industries. Foreign ownership, according to the theory of international production, is the result of the combination of comparative and competitive advantage. An adequate examination of the ownership structure of an industry requires the ability to establish empirically the extent to which international competitiveness of firms rests on comparative and competitive advantage. Analysis is based on a...

Tax morale : theory and empirical analysis of tax compliance

OpenAIRE

Torgler, Benno

2003-01-01

Tax morale is puzzling in our society. Observations show that tax compliance cannot be satisfactorily explained by the level of enforcement. Other factors may well be relevant. This paper contains a short survey of important theoretical and empirical findings in the tax morale literature, focussing on personal income tax morale. The following three key topics are discussed: moral sentiments, fairness and the relationship between taxpayer and government. The survey stresses the ...

Negative density-distribution relationship in butterflies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kotiaho Janne S

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Because "laws of nature" do not exist in ecology, much of the foundations of community ecology rely on broad statistical generalisations. One of the strongest generalisations is the positive relationship between density and distribution within a given taxonomic assemblage; that is, locally abundant species are more widespread than locally sparse species. Several mechanisms have been proposed to create this positive relationship, and the testing of these mechanisms is attracting increasing attention. Results We report a strong, but counterintuitive, negative relationship between density and distribution in the butterfly fauna of Finland. With an exceptionally comprehensive data set (data includes all 95 resident species in Finland and over 1.5 million individuals, we have been able to submit several of the mechanisms to powerful direct empirical testing. Without exception, we failed to find evidence for the proposed mechanisms creating a positive density-distribution relationship. On the contrary, we found that many of the mechanisms are equally able to generate a negative relationship. Conclusion We suggest that one important determinant of density-distribution relationships is the geographical location of the study: on the edge of a distribution range, suitable habitat patches are likely to be more isolated than in the core of the range. In such a situation, only the largest and best quality patches are likely to be occupied, and these by definition can support a relatively dense population leading to a negative density-distribution relationship. Finally, we conclude that generalizations about the positive density-distribution relationship should be made more cautiously.

Negative density-distribution relationship in butterflies.

Science.gov (United States)

Päivinen, Jussi; Grapputo, Alessandro; Kaitala, Veijo; Komonen, Atte; Kotiaho, Janne S; Saarinen, Kimmo; Wahlberg, Niklas

2005-03-01

Because "laws of nature" do not exist in ecology, much of the foundations of community ecology rely on broad statistical generalisations. One of the strongest generalisations is the positive relationship between density and distribution within a given taxonomic assemblage; that is, locally abundant species are more widespread than locally sparse species. Several mechanisms have been proposed to create this positive relationship, and the testing of these mechanisms is attracting increasing attention. We report a strong, but counterintuitive, negative relationship between density and distribution in the butterfly fauna of Finland. With an exceptionally comprehensive data set (data includes all 95 resident species in Finland and over 1.5 million individuals), we have been able to submit several of the mechanisms to powerful direct empirical testing. Without exception, we failed to find evidence for the proposed mechanisms creating a positive density-distribution relationship. On the contrary, we found that many of the mechanisms are equally able to generate a negative relationship. We suggest that one important determinant of density-distribution relationships is the geographical location of the study: on the edge of a distribution range, suitable habitat patches are likely to be more isolated than in the core of the range. In such a situation, only the largest and best quality patches are likely to be occupied, and these by definition can support a relatively dense population leading to a negative density-distribution relationship. Finally, we conclude that generalizations about the positive density-distribution relationship should be made more cautiously.

Some Empirical Aspects regarding the Relationship between Inflation and Economic Growth in Romania – the Speed Limit Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrei BIRMAN

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This study briefly presents theoretical aspects related to the relationship between inflation and economic growth and provides an empirical study for the Romanian economy, for the period 2000 – 2011. The econometric methodology used is that of vector auto-regressions.The results showed that a sudden increase in the change of the output gap (i.e. a shock to the growth rate of the output gap does not determine an increase in CPI. Hence, the hypothesis of the existence of a speed limit effect in Romania is rejected. In concrete terms, this means that the monetary authorities should not fear for eventual inflationary pressures when sudden increases of demand arise, if the output gap is negative (the potential output is higher that the effective output. The National Bank of Romania may avoid, therefore, taking some monetary policy decisions meant to temper the rise in inflation (as would have been the case if a speed limit effect was present but which would have induced unnecessary volatility into the output. However, the study indicates that National Bank of Romania should communicate to the public the state of the economy in order to timely anchor the inflation expectations. This is a very important aspect, since the inflation expectations firmly react to a shock into the growth rate of the output gap, i.e. to a strong increase in the effective output.The study also showed a positive response of the growth rate of the output gap to a positive shock in inflation, with a maximum effect after three quarters. This shows that the inflation was mainly driven by demand factors in the analysed period, with the consumers increasing current consumption in order to avoid the future higher prices and with the economic agents increasing the supply such as to maximise the unitary profits. Also, this result shows a rather inelastic demand or a possible captivity of consumers in the face of producers.

How e-business influences on time customer delivery: An empirical investigation on insurance industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naser Azad

2013-11-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, e-business has revolutionized insurance industry and it has become as one of the most important techniques to reach global market. This paper presents an empirical investigation to find important factors influencing on time delivery to customers. The proposed study of this paper designs a questionnaire consists of 28 items in Likert scale, which was reduced to 24 and using principle component analysis, the study finds different important factors. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.94. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Approx. Chi-Square are 0.882 and 2462, respectively. The study determines four important factors including dynamic organization, environment opportunities, flexible structure and customer relationship management.

Testing self-determined motivation as a mediator of the relationship between psychological needs and affective and behavioral outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonough, Meghan H; Crocker, Peter R E

2007-10-01

Self-determination theory suggests that when psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met, participants experience more self-determined types of motivation and more positive outcomes. Limited research has examined this mediational role of self-determined motivation in adult physical activity participants, and very few studies have included assessments of relatedness. This study tested the hypothesis that self-determined motivation would mediate the relationship between psychological need fulfillment and affective and behavioral outcomes. Adult dragon boaters (N = 558) between the ages of 19 and 83 completed a questionnaire on motivational aspects of dragon boating. Competence, relatedness, and autonomy all significantly predicted self-determined motivation, but self-determined motivation only partially mediated their relationship with positive and negative affect. These findings demonstrate the importance of all three needs in adult activity motivation and suggest that the relationships between needs, self-determination, and outcomes may be complex.

An Empirical Study of Relationships between Student Self-Concept and Science Achievement in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jianjun; Oliver, Steve; Garcia, Augustine

2004-01-01

Positive self-concept and good understanding of science are important indicators of scientific literacy endorsed by professional organizations. The existing research literature suggests that these two indicators are reciprocally related and mutually reinforcing. Generalization of the reciprocal model demands empirical studies in different…

Service quality in peacekeeping mission as a determinant of customer’s perceived value: Empirical evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azman Bin Ismail

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Previous studies have been employing SERVQUAL by Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988 to measure service quality in various service sectors due to its generic nature. Understanding the relationship between service quality and customer’s perceived value in non-business organizational settings is equally important with business setting as positive perception leads to favorable outcome. Hence, the aim of this study is to examine the relationship between service quality and perceived value. Design/methodology/approach: The self-administered survey questionnaires were employed to gather data from Malaysian soldiers who involved in peacekeeping mission at a Middle Eastern country. The hypothesized model was analyzed using the SmartPLS 2.0. Findings: The outcomes of SmartPLS path model confirmed that that all service quality dimensions namely tangible, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, empathy did act as important determinants of customer’s perceived value in the organizational sample. Practical implications: The findings of this study may be used as guidelines by practitioners to formulate relevant and appropriate strategies in order to enhance quality of service delivery in agile organizations. Originality/value: The work deals with service quality in non-business setting. Although the scale has been widely used, some modifications are generally needed in order to reflect specific characteristics of service sectors under study. The findings confirmed that in general SERVQUAL five dimensions are important determinants to the various service sectors.

[Normative-empirical determination of personnel requirements in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Heuft, Gereon; Hochlehnert, Achim; Barufka, Steffi; Nikendei, Christoph; Kruse, Johannes; Zipfel, Stephan; Hofmann, Tobias; Hildenbrand, Gerhard; Cuntz, Ulrich; Herzog, Wolfgang; Heller, Michael

2015-01-01

There is a high degree of misallocated medical care for patients with somatoform disorders and patients with concomitant mental diseases. This complex of problems could be reduced remarkably by integrating psychosomatic departments into hospitals with maximum medical care. Admitting a few big psychosomatic specialist clinics into the calculation basis decreased the Day-Mix Index (DMI). The massive reduction of the calculated costs per day leads to a gap in funding resulting in a loss of the necessary personnel requirements - at least in university psychosomatic departments. The objective of this article is therefore to empirically verify the reference numbers of personnel resources calculated on the basis of the new German lump-sum reimbursement system in psychiatry and psychosomatics (PEPP). The minute values of the reference numbers of Heuft (1999) are contrasted with the minute values of the PEPP reimbursement system in the years 2013 and 2014, as calculated by the Institute for Payment Systems in Hospitals (InEK). The minute values derived from the PEPP data show a remarkable convergence with the minute values of Heuft's reference numbers (1999). A pure pricing system like the PEPP reimbursement system as designed so far threatens empirically verifiable and qualified personnel requirements of psychosomatic departments. In order to ensure the necessary therapy dosage and display it in minute values according to the valid OPS procedure codes, the minimum limit of the reference numbers is mandatory to maintain the substance of psychosomatic care. Based on the present calculation, a base rate of at least 285 e has to be politically demanded. Future developments in personnel costs have to be refinanced at 100 %.

International Financial Integration and Economic Growth in India: An Empirical Investigation

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Nayia MAHAJAN

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This study endeavors to estimate relationship between international financial integration and economic growth in India during 1981-2011. Apart from direct impact of international financial integration on growth, indirect impact (via financial development has also been studied empirically. Models of co-integration and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM have been applied to examine the relationships. The study observes that international financial integration affects the growth of the economy positively; and change in economic growth due to it through financial development is approximately 8.63 percent. The study also suggests that the structural reforms that took place in India in early nineties did not affect the existing relationship of global financial integration and economic growth significantly.

Junge relationships in measurement data for cyclic siloxanes in air.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, Matthew; Kierkegaard, Amelie; Genualdi, Susie; Harner, Tom; Scheringer, Martin

2013-10-01

In 1974, Junge postulated a relationship between variability of concentrations of gases in air at remote locations and their atmospheric residence time, and this Junge relationship has subsequently been observed empirically for a range of trace gases. Here, we analyze two previously-published datasets of concentrations of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS) in air and find Junge relationships in both. The first dataset is a time series of concentrations of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) measured between January and June, 2009 at a rural site in southern Sweden that shows a Junge relationship in the temporal variability of the measurements. The second dataset consists of measurements of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and D5 made simultaneously at 12 sites in the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) network that shows a Junge relationship in the spatial variability of the three cVMS congeners. We use the Junge relationship for the GAPS dataset to estimate atmospheric lifetimes of dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), 8:2-fluorotelomer alcohol and trichlorinated biphenyls that are within a factor of 3 of estimates based on degradation rate constants for reaction with hydroxyl radical determined in laboratory studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anomalies and Investor Sentiment: Empirical Evidences in the Brazilian Market

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Gustavo Correia Xavier

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study examined the relationship between investor sentiment and value anomalies in Brazil. In addition, it analyzed if pricing deviations caused by investors with optimistic views are different from those caused by pessimistic investors. The sample included all non-financial firms listed on the B3 (Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão stock exchange from July 1999 to June 2014. We used the Principal Component Analysis multivariate technique to capture the component common to four different proxies for investor sentiment. The study empirically tested the index series and its variation on the return series of Long-Short portfolios of 12 anomaly-based strategies. The study found that the measure of the sentiment index had a partial explanatory power for the anomalies only when included in the CAPM. Yet, when using the index sentiment changes as an explanatory variable, the study found a relationship with future returns, robust to all risk factors. Thus, it is possible to relate investor sentiment index to anomaly-based portfolio returns. When analyzing average returns after optimistic and pessimistic periods, the values we found in our empirical test were not statistically significant enough to infer the possible existence of short-sale constraints.

Semi-empirical relationship between the hardness, grain size and mean free path of WC-Co

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Makhele-Lekala, L

2001-01-01

Full Text Available , grain size of WC and mean free path in Co was obtained. It was found that the empirical formula fitted our measured hardness well. However, when used against results of other researchers, it did not reproduce them satisfactorily at values higher than...

Determinants of the Sympatric Host-Pathogen Relationship in Tuberculosis

Science.gov (United States)

David, Susana; Mateus, A. R. A.; Duarte, Elsa L.; Albuquerque, José; Portugal, Clara; Sancho, Luísa; Lavinha, João; Gonçalves, Guilherme

2015-01-01

Major contributions from pathogen genome analysis and host genetics have equated the possibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-evolution with its human host leading to more stable sympatric host–pathogen relationships. However, the attribution to either sympatric or allopatric categories depends on the resolution or grain of genotypic characterization. We explored the influence on the sympatric host-pathogen relationship of clinical (HIV infection and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis [MDRTB]) and demographic (gender and age) factors in regards to the genotypic grain by using spacer oligonucleotide typing (spoligotyping) for classification of M. tuberculosis strains within the Euro-American lineage. We analyzed a total of 547 tuberculosis (TB) cases, from six year consecutive sampling in a setting with high TB-HIV coinfection (32.0%). Of these, 62.0% were caused by major circulating pathogen genotypes. The sympatric relationship was defined according to spoligotype in comparison to the international spoligotype database SpolDB4. While no significant association with Euro-American lineage was observed with any of the factors analyzed, increasing the resolution with spoligotyping evidenced a significant association of MDRTB with sympatric strains, regardless of the HIV status. Furthermore, distribution curves of the prevalence of sympatric and allopatric TB in relation to patients’ age showed an accentuation of the relevance of the age of onset in the allopatric relationship, as reflected in the trimodal distribution. On the contrary, sympatric TB was characterized by the tendency towards a typical (standard) distribution curve. Our results suggest that within the Euro-American lineage a greater degree of genotyping fine-tuning is necessary in modeling the biological processes behind the host-pathogen interplay. Furthermore, prevalence distribution of sympatric TB to age was suggestive of host genetic determinisms driven by more common variants. PMID:26529092

DETERMINANTS OF HEALTHCARE EXPENDITURE ON HUMAN CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN BANGLADESH: A LONGITUDINAL DATA ANALYSIS FROM 1995-2010

OpenAIRE

SHONGKOUR ROY

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the determinants of healthcare expenditure in Bangladesh between 1995 and 2010 byapplying the World development indicator data. First, I developed an empirical model for longitudinal data analysis to determinant thehealthcare expenditure under the human capital and economic growth. Next, I explored the dynamic relationships among healthcareexpenditure, human capital and economic growth usingOLSmodel. The expenditure in private healthcare was 2.3% and...

The dynamic conditional relationship between stock market returns and implied volatility

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sung Y.; Ryu, Doojin; Song, Jeongseok

2017-09-01

Using the dynamic conditional correlation multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (DCC-MGARCH) model, we empirically examine the dynamic relationship between stock market returns (KOSPI200 returns) and implied volatility (VKOSPI), as well as their statistical mechanics, in the Korean market, a representative and leading emerging market. We consider four macroeconomic variables (exchange rates, risk-free rates, term spreads, and credit spreads) as potential determinants of the dynamic conditional correlation between returns and volatility. Of these macroeconomic variables, the change in exchange rates has a significant impact on the dynamic correlation between KOSPI200 returns and the VKOSPI, especially during the recent financial crisis. We also find that the risk-free rate has a marginal effect on this dynamic conditional relationship.

Intrapreneur organizational culture and gender manager: an empirical study on SMES

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Monica García Solarte

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to empirically identify the relationship between the gender manager of the SMEs and the characteristics of the intrapreneurculture. The empirical study was conducted using a sample of 600 SMEs in the region of Murcia (Spain. The intrapreneur culture is analyzed considering theclassification of Galvez and Garcia (2011. The results show that companies The results show that companies directed by women promoted greater extentthan men intrapreneur characteristics of culture such as: autonomy and risk taking, teamwork, compensation and support to management. The implicationsof our research are relevant and can help public authorities and managers to the analysis and development of policies that promote gender equity withinorganizations.

Are CEOs incentivized to avoid Corporate Taxes? - Empirical Evidence on Managerial Bonus Contracts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Schmittdiel (Heiner)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ In this paper, we test empirically whether there is a relationship between corporate income taxes and CEO bonus payments. Using Compustat and ExecuComp data from 1992 to 2010, we find mixed results. Looking at the whole sample, the average bonus contract rewards

DETERMINANTS OF ECONOMIC EXPOSURE: AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE MISCELLANEOUS COMPANIES IN INDONESIA

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M. Shabri Abd. Majid

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This research empirically measures the economic exposure of 11 selected miscellaneous companies in Indonesia. It also attempts to empirically explore the influence of firm size, export, liquidity, and leverage on the economic exposure of those companies. Annual data from 2007 to 2010, which was collected from the www.idx.co.id and www.bi.go.id were used and analyzed by the multiple linear regression to measure the economic exposure and examine the influences of the firm size, export, liquidity, and leverage on the economic exposure. Both partial (t-test and simultaneous (F-test hypotheses were constructed and tested using the software of SPSS for Windows. The research documented that, with the exception of the liquidity, which has a negative and significant effect partially on the economic exposure, all other variables, i.e., the firm size, export, and leverage were found to have insignificant effects. Meanwhile, based on the F-test, the research found that the firm size, export, liquidity, and leverage affected simultaneously and significantly the economic exposure of the companies. These findings imply that in order to manage their economic exposure, the companies should control these variables, especially the liquidity.

Management of Customer Relationship Management (CRM Technological Attributes in Brazil: A B2B Relationship in the Software-Media Development Sector

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Flávio Régio Brambilla

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Customer Relationship Management (CRM represents a technological application based on the philosophy of Relationship Marketing and it recommends the interaction with high value consumers. Relating CRM to new social technologies, CRM 2.0 or social CRM deals with the relationship between companies and customers using online platforms such as blogs, RSS, forums and social network sites, among other facilities. Through a comparative study based on qualitative indicators, this article draws a relationship between CRM theory and practice. In two high technology organizations it was identified that, although the indicators are appropriate to the business practices, their usage and understanding are oriented by the nature of businesses and by the company characteristics. Empirical results show that technology structure, data collection and analysis tools and interactive sales tools favor CRM. In this paper, four variables are treated theoretically and empirically: Information Technology; Information tools, where the Database and the Storage of Debugged Data are included; Data Mining; and, the Sales Force Automation Facilities.

The Risk Return Relationship: Evidence from Index Return and Realised Variance Series

OpenAIRE

Minxian Yang

2014-01-01

The risk return relationship is analysed in bivariate models for return and realised variance(RV) series. Based on daily time series from 21 international market indices for more than 13 years (January 2000 to February 2013), the empirical findings support the arguments of risk return tradeoff, volatility feedback and statistical balance. It is reasoned that the empirical risk return relationship is primarily shaped by two important data features: the negative contemporaneous correlation betw...

Determination of semi-empirical relationship between the manganese and hydrogen atoms ratio, physical density and concentration in an aqueous solution of manganese sulphate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodrigues Bittencourt, Guilherme, E-mail: bittencourt@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria LNMRI/IRD/CNEN, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n Recreio dos Bandeirantes, CEP 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Souza Patrao, Karla Cristina de, E-mail: karla@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria LNMRI/IRD/CNEN, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n Recreio dos Bandeirantes, CEP 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Passos Leite, Sandro, E-mail: sandro@ird.gov.b [Programa de Engenharia Nuclear/COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundao, Caixa Postal 68509, 21945-970, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Wagner Pereira, Walsan, E-mail: walsan@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria LNMRI/IRD/CNEN, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n Recreio dos Bandeirantes, CEP 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Simoes da Fonseca, Evaldo, E-mail: evaldo@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria LNMRI/IRD/CNEN, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n Recreio dos Bandeirantes, CEP 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2010-12-15

The Manganese sulphate solution has been used for neutron metrology through the method of Manganese Bath. This method uses physical parameters of manganese sulphate solution to obtain its corrections. This work established a functional relationship, using the gravimetric method, between those physical parameters: density, concentration and hydrogen to manganese ratio. Comparisons were done between manganese sulphate solution concentration from the Manganese Bath system of Laboratory of Metrology of Ionising Radiation and estimated values from the functional relationship obtained, showing percentage difference of less than 0.1%. This result demonstrates the usefulness in the correlation of the physical values of the solution to the MB.

Precision and accuracy of mechanistic-empirical pavement design

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Theyse, HL

2006-09-01

Full Text Available are discussed in general. The effects of variability and error on the design accuracy and design risk are lastly illustrated at the hand of a simple mechanistic-empirical design problem, showing that the engineering models alone determine the accuracy...

Romantic Relationships and Criminal Desistance: Pathways and Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Wyse, Jessica JB; Harding, David J.; Morenoff, Jeffrey D.

2014-01-01

In dominant theories of criminal desistance, marital relationship formation is understood to be a key “turning point” away from deviant behavior. Empirical studies supporting this claim have largely focused on the positive role of marriage in men's desistance from crime, and relatively few studies have examined the role that non-marital relationships may play in desistance. Drawing on 138 longitudinal in-depth interviews with 22 men and women reentering society from prison, this paper extends the scope of desistance research by additionally considering the significance of more fleeting and fluid relationships, and the diverse processes through which romantic relationships of all sorts are linked with criminal behaviors. We present an empirically-based typology detailing six processes, grouped within three conceptual categories, through which romantic relationships had their effects. These pathways include material circumstances, social bonds and interactions, and emotional supports and stressors. We also consider gender differences in these processes. While more tenuous bonds to marginally conventional partners would seem to exert little effect, as one of the few relationships and social roles available to many former prisoners, we found that they wielded important influence, if not always in a positive direction. PMID:25484489

Family Relationships and Perfectionism in Middle-School Students

Science.gov (United States)

DiPrima, Amy J.; Ashby, Jeffrey S.; Gnilka, Philip B.; Noble, Christina L.

2011-01-01

Several authors have suggested that perfectionism develops in the context of a person's family of origin. However, there are few empirical studies that address the relationship between family variables and perfectionism. This study examined the relationship between family variables and multidimensional perfectionism among a sample of 253…

Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

McHale, Susan M.; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Whiteman, Shawn D.

2012-01-01

The authors review the literature on sibling relationships in childhood and adolescence, starting by tracing themes from foundational research and theory and then focusing on empirical research during the past 2 decades. This literature documents siblings' centrality in family life, sources of variation in sibling relationship qualities, and the…

An empirical study on the impact of stress on the relationship between locus of control and job satisfaction and job performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahbobeh Khorshidifar

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Stress plays an important role on job satisfaction in many industries such as accounting. We present an empirical study to examine the impact of job stress on the relationship between the locus of control and accountants' job satisfaction. The study selects a sample of 65 senior and regular accountants who work for thirteen different regional municipalities of city of Mashad located in east part of Iran. The study uses different well-known questionnaire methods such as stress diagnostic survey, locus of control, job satisfaction and employees' performance to perform the study. The results indicate that the stress is on average level for the dominant locos of control factors and job satisfaction and employee performance are in relatively high level. The study also reveals that there are four important factors of role of ambiguity, quantitative overload, career development and handling other workers' responsibilities play important role on job satisfaction and managing career development has important impact on the performance of accountants.

A review and integration of socio-political processes in marketing channel relationships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Nils Bøgelund; Skytte, Hans

, and all issues from 1980 until the summer of 1996 were systematically examined for empirical contributions to understanding marketing channel relationships. This, and some further articles, which turned up by reviewing references in the articles, resulted in a total of 92 papers on the subject. This paper......, influence strategies, adaptation, trust and commitment are seen as important aspects of marketing channel relationships. 3. The review is split into two sections. One, which focuses on the behavioural processes and one which focuses on the sentiment processes. For each category the relevant empirical papers......1. The objective of the paper is to review the empirical contributions to understanding socio-political processes in marketing channels. The results of the study will be used as a starting point for our own studies. Nine leading international journals were used to review the empirical evidence...

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN TOURISM ENTERPRISES IN TERMS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

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Gülsel ÇİFTÇİ

2017-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, it is aimed to empirically analyze the crisis management practices of tourism enterprises in terms of their effects on organizational learning. It is aimed to determine the ways that the hotels in Turkey respond to previous crisis, what kind of precautions were taken and whether these crises had taught anything regarding the operation and performance of the enterprise. It is also aimed to contribute to related literature and to offer suggestions that will guide businesses and future studies. Within this context, taking account of 2016 (October data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Antalya, which embodies most certified 5-star hotels, and highest bed capacity and number of rooms in resort category, and Istanbul, which embodies most certified 5-star hotels, and highest bed capacity and number of rooms in urban hotels category, are included within the scope of this study. It’s decided to conduct this study on hotels, considering the effects of tourism industry on world economy. In this study, it is aimed to empirically analyze the crisis management practices of tourism enterprises in terms of their effects on organizational learning. It is aimed to determine the ways that the hotels in Turkey respond to previous crisis, what kind of precautions were taken and whether these crises had taught anything regarding the operation and performance of the enterprise. A comprehensive literature review was conducted in the first and second part of this three-part study; The concept of crisis management in the enterprises was examined and the applications on tourism enterprises were discussed. The last part of the study contains information on testing and analyzing hypotheses. The data obtained as a result of the questionnaires were analyzed in SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences and LISREL (LInear Structural RELationships program. A Pearson Correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between

Ownership dynamics with large shareholders : An empirical analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donelli, M.; Urzua Infante, F.; Larrain, B.

2013-01-01

We study the empirical determinants of corporate ownership dynamics in a market where large shareholders are prevalent. We use a unique, hand-collected 20-year dataset on the ownership structure of Chilean companies. Controllers’ blockholdings are on average high -as in continental Europe, for

Mentoring Function and Quality of Supervisor Auditor Relationship: Organizational Justice as A Mediation

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Rahmawati Rahmawati

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study empirically examines the antecedents and consequences of organization justice consisting of distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice. The hypothesis of this study are mentoring function positive effect on organization justice, organizational justice positive effect on quality of supervisor-auditor relationship, mentoring function positive effect on quality of supervisor-auditor relationship. In additional, this study also hypothesized that organization justice as mediation between mentoring functions and quality of supervisor-auditor relationship. This study is a survey of 228 government internal auditors of Financial and Development Supervisory Agency-Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan (BPKP in Java-Bali Indonesia. The technique of collecting data using questionnaires. Test hypotheses using path analysis with SEM-AMOS. The results showed that mentoring function positive effect on organization justice, organizational justice positive effect on quality of supervisor-auditor relationship, mentoring function positive effect on quality of supervisor-auditor relationship. The study also provide an empirical finding that organization justice as mediation between mentoring functions and quality of supervisor-auditor relationship. The study provides recommendations to the BPKP in solving the problems faced by the government in realizing good and clean governance. This study is the first empirically examines the potential benefit of organization justice as a mediation between mentoring function and quality of supervisor-auditor relationship.

Qualitative Case Study Research as Empirical Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Ellinger, Andrea D.; McWhorter, Rochell

2016-01-01

This article introduces the concept of qualitative case study research as empirical inquiry. It defines and distinguishes what a case study is, the purposes, intentions, and types of case studies. It then describes how to determine if a qualitative case study is the preferred approach for conducting research. It overviews the essential steps in…

Relationships between Brand Perception, Ideology and Consumer Ethnocentrism in Post-Communist Romania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iacob, Andrea Ioana; Kuada, John; Lawson, Lartey Godwin

2014-01-01

The present study seeks to empirically test the relationship between ideological orientation, consumer ethnocentrism, brand perception, and demographic factors in Romania. Since previous studies have not empirically examined these relationships, the present study therefore contributes to filling...... this research gap. The results show a strong link between communist ideology and consumer ethnocentrism and between the ethnocentric tendency of the Romanian consumers and their brand perception. Furthermore, demographic characteristics, like gender, age and education, seem to moderate the ideological...

Service delivery innovation architecture: An empirical study of antecedents and outcomes

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Rajeev Verma

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The research examines service delivery innovation architecture and its role in achieving sustainable competitive advantage of firms. The study develops and empirically examines an antecedent based model of service delivery innovation. We collected data from 203 service sector professionals working in Mexican financial and information technology firms, and tested the proposed relationship. Further, the study investigates the moderating role of customer orientation on innovation driven performance outcomes. Results show that customer orientation strengthens the service delivery–performance relationship. This paper aims to contribute to the strategic planning of service firms by guiding their resource allocation to ensure sustainable growth.

Factors influencing the potential for strong brand relationships with consumer product brands: An overview and research agenda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech-Larsen, Tino; Bergkvist, Lars; Francis, Julie

Based on the premise that consumer product brands are different with respect to their potential to form strong long-term relationships with consumers, this paper aims to identify factors that influence brands' potential for strong long-term relationships and to suggest how these can be empirically...... investigated. The paper reviews brand-centric and consumer-centric research and identifies twelve brand variables that may influence the relationship potential of consumer product brands. A research agenda is suggested and a number of issues that needs to be resolved before empirical research can be carried...... out are discussed. The paper concludes by speculating on possible outcomes in future empirical studies and it is suggested that multiple brand variables will have to be employed to evaluate the relationship potential of brands....

An Empirical Method for Particle Damping Design

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Zhi Wei Xu

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Particle damping is an effective vibration suppression method. The purpose of this paper is to develop an empirical method for particle damping design based on extensive experiments on three structural objects – steel beam, bond arm and bond head stand. The relationships among several key parameters of structure/particles are obtained. Then the procedures with the use of particle damping are proposed to provide guidelines for practical applications. It is believed that the results presented in this paper would be helpful to effectively implement the particle damping for various structural systems for the purpose of vibration suppression.

An empirical study on relationship between organizational culture and administrative corruption

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Saeed Sehhat

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Bureaucratic corruption is an organizational phenomenon, which faces the trend of countries’ development with serious problems. In spite of all planning and respects of countries to fight against this phenomenon, we are still observing its growth in various aspects of the community. The basic approach emphasized by present study is that it is necessary to establish a corruption prevention system whose central element is social culture and organizational culture rather than relying upon the trends based on punishment after corruption. To perceive the relationship between organizational culture and bureaucratic health of organizations, we used a field approach and selected four governmental organizations namely “governorship”, “municipality”, “traffic police” and “customs to gather the data. We used two questionnaires A and B to gather the data on organizational culture and the relationship between culture and corruption, respectively. Initially, by distributing questionnaire A, we evaluated all four organizations in a manner that two organizations have bureaucratic culture and two organizations with organic culture. Then, questionnaire B was distributed among employees and clients of studied organizations (to acquire realer information on bureaucratic health rate to study the relationship between the type of organizational culture and bureaucratic health. Research statistical population consists of all employees and clients of bureaucratic organizations in Chabahar province located in south east of Iran. Statistical sample consists of 146 clients and 146 employees of all four studied organizations. The results from data analysis show that there is no significant relationship between organic or mechanic organizational culture and employees’ bureaucratic health.

Religiosity, CSR attitudes, and CSR behavior : An empirical study of executives’ religiosity and CSR

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mazereeuw, C.; Graafland, J.J.; Kaptein, M.

In this paper, we examine the relationship between Christian religiosity, attitudes towards corporate social responsibility (CSR), and CSR behavior of executives. We distinguish four types of CSR attitudes and five types of CSR behavior. Based on empirical research conducted among 473 Dutch

What 'empirical turn in bioethics'?

Science.gov (United States)

Hurst, Samia

2010-10-01

Uncertainty as to how we should articulate empirical data and normative reasoning seems to underlie most difficulties regarding the 'empirical turn' in bioethics. This article examines three different ways in which we could understand 'empirical turn'. Using real facts in normative reasoning is trivial and would not represent a 'turn'. Becoming an empirical discipline through a shift to the social and neurosciences would be a turn away from normative thinking, which we should not take. Conducting empirical research to inform normative reasoning is the usual meaning given to the term 'empirical turn'. In this sense, however, the turn is incomplete. Bioethics has imported methodological tools from empirical disciplines, but too often it has not imported the standards to which researchers in these disciplines are held. Integrating empirical and normative approaches also represents true added difficulties. Addressing these issues from the standpoint of debates on the fact-value distinction can cloud very real methodological concerns by displacing the debate to a level of abstraction where they need not be apparent. Ideally, empirical research in bioethics should meet standards for empirical and normative validity similar to those used in the source disciplines for these methods, and articulate these aspects clearly and appropriately. More modestly, criteria to ensure that none of these standards are completely left aside would improve the quality of empirical bioethics research and partly clear the air of critiques addressing its theoretical justification, when its rigour in the particularly difficult context of interdisciplinarity is what should be at stake.

On the relationship between supplier integration and time-to-market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perols, J.; Zimmermann, C.; Kortmann, S.

2013-01-01

Recent operations management and innovation management research emphasizes the importance of supplier integration. However, the empirical results as to the relationship between supplier integration and time-to-market are ambivalent. To understand this important relationship, we incorporate two major

An empirical study the relationship between intellectual intelligence and university performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamshid Salehi Sadaghiani

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Intellectual capital (IC is normally used to create value for organizations and in today's business environment; the success of each organization depends on managing such assets. During the past few years, many organizations implement IC to increase their competitive advantages. Hospitals are among business units where IC plays an important role on the success of these units. People normally choose hospitals based not only based on their equipments but also based on the specialists and physicians they have. In this paper, we present an empirical study to measure the impact of IC in accounting parts of hospitals. The results of our regression analysis indicates that when there is a unit increase in either of human, customer, structural or intellectual capital individually, we can expect of an increase of 1.278, 1.210, 1.415 and 1.620 units increase in the performance of the university, respectively.

Countertransference when working with narcissistic personality disorder: An empirical investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanzilli, Annalisa; Muzi, Laura; Ronningstam, Elsa; Lingiardi, Vittorio

2017-06-01

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is one of the most challenging clinical syndromes to treat in psychotherapy, especially due to the difficulties of establishing a good enough therapist-patient relationship. Countertransference responses to NPD can be particularly intense, frustrating, and difficult to manage, as is often reported in the clinical literature though not clearly supported empirically. The aims of this study were to (a) investigate the relationship between patients' NPD and therapists' responses; (b) examine the associations between patient, clinician, therapy variables and clinicians' reactions during treatment of NPD patients; and (c) provide an empirically derived portrait of countertransference with NPD. A sample of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists (N = 67) completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire to identify patterns of countertransference, the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200, and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale to assess the personality pathology and psychosocial functioning of a patient in their care. The results showed that NPD was positively associated with hostile/angry, criticized/devalued, helpless/inadequate, and disengaged countertransference and negatively associated with therapists' positive response, regardless of patients' personality and psychosocial functioning. NPD patients with stronger traits of cluster B personality pathology tended to elicit more negative and heterogeneous countertransference reactions than NPD patients without these features. The countertransference patterns with NPD patients were not strongly influenced by the variables of clinicians and therapy, with the exception of clinical experience. Overall, the portrait of therapists' reactions to NPD provided a clinically nuanced and empirically founded description strongly resembling theoretical-clinical accounts. The therapeutic implications of these findings were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights

Consistent constitutive modeling of metallic target penetration using empirical, analytical, and numerical penetration models

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John (Jack P. Riegel III

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Historically, there has been little correlation between the material properties used in (1 empirical formulae, (2 analytical formulations, and (3 numerical models. The various regressions and models may each provide excellent agreement for the depth of penetration into semi-infinite targets. But the input parameters for the empirically based procedures may have little in common with either the analytical model or the numerical model. This paper builds on previous work by Riegel and Anderson (2014 to show how the Effective Flow Stress (EFS strength model, based on empirical data, can be used as the average flow stress in the analytical Walker–Anderson Penetration model (WAPEN (Anderson and Walker, 1991 and how the same value may be utilized as an effective von Mises yield strength in numerical hydrocode simulations to predict the depth of penetration for eroding projectiles at impact velocities in the mechanical response regime of the materials. The method has the benefit of allowing the three techniques (empirical, analytical, and numerical to work in tandem. The empirical method can be used for many shot line calculations, but more advanced analytical or numerical models can be employed when necessary to address specific geometries such as edge effects or layering that are not treated by the simpler methods. Developing complete constitutive relationships for a material can be costly. If the only concern is depth of penetration, such a level of detail may not be required. The effective flow stress can be determined from a small set of depth of penetration experiments in many cases, especially for long penetrators such as the L/D = 10 ones considered here, making it a very practical approach. In the process of performing this effort, the authors considered numerical simulations by other researchers based on the same set of experimental data that the authors used for their empirical and analytical assessment. The goals were to establish a

Population-Area Relationship for Medieval European Cities.

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Rudolf Cesaretti

Full Text Available Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step-to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics-has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations, our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured

Population-Area Relationship for Medieval European Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Cesaretti, Rudolf; Lobo, José; Bettencourt, Luís M A; Ortman, Scott G; Smith, Michael E

2016-01-01

Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step-to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics-has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations), our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured urban spaces.

An empirical system for probabilistic seasonal climate prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Eden, Jonathan; van Oldenborgh, Geert Jan; Hawkins, Ed; Suckling, Emma

2016-04-01

Preparing for episodes with risks of anomalous weather a month to a year ahead is an important challenge for governments, non-governmental organisations, and private companies and is dependent on the availability of reliable forecasts. The majority of operational seasonal forecasts are made using process-based dynamical models, which are complex, computationally challenging and prone to biases. Empirical forecast approaches built on statistical models to represent physical processes offer an alternative to dynamical systems and can provide either a benchmark for comparison or independent supplementary forecasts. Here, we present a simple empirical system based on multiple linear regression for producing probabilistic forecasts of seasonal surface air temperature and precipitation across the globe. The global CO2-equivalent concentration is taken as the primary predictor; subsequent predictors, including large-scale modes of variability in the climate system and local-scale information, are selected on the basis of their physical relationship with the predictand. The focus given to the climate change signal as a source of skill and the probabilistic nature of the forecasts produced constitute a novel approach to global empirical prediction. Hindcasts for the period 1961-2013 are validated against observations using deterministic (correlation of seasonal means) and probabilistic (continuous rank probability skill scores) metrics. Good skill is found in many regions, particularly for surface air temperature and most notably in much of Europe during the spring and summer seasons. For precipitation, skill is generally limited to regions with known El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections. The system is used in a quasi-operational framework to generate empirical seasonal forecasts on a monthly basis.

Kantian Feeling: Empirical Psychology, Transcendental Critique, and Phenomenology

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Patrick Frierson

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the relationship between empirical psychology, transcendental critique, and phenomenology in Kant’s discussion of respect for the moral law, particularly as that is found in the Critique of Practical Reason. I first offer an empirical-psychological reading of moral respect, in the context of which I distinguish transcendental and empirical perspectives on moral action and defend H. J. Paton’s claim that moral motivation can be seen from two points of view, where “from one point of view, [respect] is the cause of our action, but from another point of view the moral law is its ground.” Then, after a discussion of a distinction between first- and second-order transcendental/practical perspectives where reasons for action are first-order practical judgments while the conditions of possibility for those reasons’ authority are expressed in second-order judgments, I turn to a third kind of perspective: the properly phenomenological one. I explain the general notion of Kantian phenomenology with an example of the experience of time from Kant’s Anthropology before applying this to a phenomenological reading of the discussion of respect in the Critique of Practical Reason. I end by noting that on my account, in contrast to that of Jeanine Grenberg, the distinctive phenomenology of respect is not systematically important for grounding claims in moral philosophy.

Client Intimacy & Performance Advice: Determinants of Trust in the Public Accountant - SME Client Relationship

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Dianne McGrath

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This multi-discipline research investigated the determinants of trust in the relationship between Australia’s public accountants and their small and medium-sized (SME clients. In excess of four hundred SME owners, across Australia, were surveyed to test a proposed model and client intimacy variables were found to be the most significant predictors of trust in this important relationship. Offer-related variables, primarily the provision of advisory or performance-related services (rather than conformance-related services, were also found to be significant, however, at a lesser level than client intimacy and relationship variables. The multi-dimensionality of the trust construct was also highlighted.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF COMMERCIAL BANKS PROFITABILITY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM BULGARIA AND ROMANIA

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FIRTESCU BOGDAN

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Our study focuses on commercial banks which are operating in Bulgaria and Romania, two countries whose banking sectors have registered major structural changes in the transition to a market economy and which are showing some similarities. Similar to other EU countries, the financial system from Bulgaria and Romania is dominated by the banking sector, which holds the largest share of total assets. Thus, we can say that health, strength and performance of the banking sector are of major importance for the sustainable economic development of states, but also for efficient transmission of monetary policy decisions on the real economy. The paper aims to identify the key factors that affect bank profitability and to evaluate empirically their contribution to a sample of 29 commercial banks in Bulgaria and Romania, for the period 2003-2012. Our research is based on data from the Bureau Van Dijk database, the World Bank and the European Central Bank and uses panel data estimation techniques. The dependent variable used in our study is the bank profitability, which is measured by two representative indicators the Return on Average Assets (ROAA and Return on Average Equity (ROAE. Regarding the independent variables, our analysis includes capital adequacy, the loan loss reserve rate, cost to income ratio, the ratio of liquid assets to total assets, the interest expenses to deposits ratio, the non-interest income over total gross revenues, bank size, the GDP per capita growth, inflation rate, domestic bank credit to private sector and banking industry concentration. The results of our empirical study shows that among the variables considered, the loan loss reserve rate, the ratio of cost to income, GDP per capita growth and domestic bank credit to the private sector, have a significant impact on bank profitability, results in line with our expectations, but also with the results of other empirical studies.

Determination of strength exercise intensities based on the load-power-velocity relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Jandačka, Daniel; Beremlijski, Petr

2011-06-01

The velocity of movement and applied load affect the production of mechanical power output and subsequently the extent of the adaptation stimulus in strength exercises. We do not know of any known function describing the relationship of power and velocity and load in the bench press exercise. The objective of the study is to find a function modeling of the relationship of relative velocity, relative load and mechanical power output for the bench press exercise and to determine the intensity zones of the exercise for specifically focused strength training of soccer players. Fifteen highly trained soccer players at the start of a competition period were studied. The subjects of study performed bench presses with the load of 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 and 90% of the predetermined one repetition maximum with maximum possible speed of movement. The mean measured power and velocity for each load (kg) were used to develop a multiple linear regression function which describes the quadratic relationship between the ratio of power (W) to maximum power (W) and the ratios of the load (kg) to one repetition maximum (kg) and the velocity (m•s(-1)) to maximal velocity (m•s(-1)). The quadratic function of two variables that modeled the searched relationship explained 74% of measured values in the acceleration phase and 75% of measured values from the entire extent of the positive power movement in the lift. The optimal load for reaching maximum power output suitable for the dynamics effort strength training was 40% of one repetition maximum, while the optimal mean velocity would be 75% of maximal velocity. Moreover, four zones: maximum power, maximum velocity, velocity-power and strength-power were determined on the basis of the regression function.

Quality, Satisfaction and Loyalty in BtoB Relationship s: an Empirical Study of the Electric Power Industry

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Luciano José Oliveira

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Costumer relationship and the comprehension of their behavior is a crucial factor for efficient market performance. A web survey was conducted to evaluate the impact of perceived quality upon attitudes and behavioral intentions of electrical power consumers. The model was evaluated using structural equation techniques. The survey was performed among 922 commercial and industrial consumers. We verified that Commitment, with Value (and Perceived Quality, Satisfaction and Confidence as its antecedents, should be monitored and incremented. The hypothesis that quality determines the satisfaction of the concessionaire’s customers was confirmed, as Satisfaction exerts significant impact upon behavioral intentions of customers regarding the concessionaire. This research contributes by proposing a marketing relationship model in a BtoB context, a semi-monopoly scenario (which is rare. In addition, it suggests actions and quality variables considered by customers in their company evaluations, indicating important managerial implications.

Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) Practices in Danish Small BusinessesCustomer Relationship Marketing (CRM) Practices in Danish Small Businesses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuada, John; Serles, Dorthe

2006-01-01

This paper examines the extent to which the adoption of CRM software packages is a pre-requisite of customer orientation strategies of small firms. This is done by conducting an empirical investigation into the internal determinants of CRM adoption behavior of 179 randomly selected small firms...... in the Northern Jutland region of Denmark. The results suggest that top managers in these firms endorse the strategic value of customer orientation to their businesses but do not consider CRM software packages as necessary for building strong relationships with their customers. This suggests that small firms may...... make their CRM adoption/rejection decisions on the basis of a trade-off between expected benefits from using the available CRM packages compared with alternative modes of achieving customer loyalty....

The evolution of intra-organizational trust networks : The case of a German paper factory: An empirical test of six trust mechanisms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bunt, Gerhard G. van der; Wittek, Rafael P. M.; Klepper, Maurits C. de

Based on the distinction between expressive and instrumental motives, six theoretical mechanisms for the formation of trust relationships are elaborated and empirically tested. When expressive motives drive tie formation, individuals primarily attach emotional value to social relationships. Three

A Tale of Two Empires? The Earl's Court Spanish Exhibition (1889

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Kirsty Hooper

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes that the forgotten Earl's Court Spanish Exhibition of 1889 provides a valuable window onto the complex relationship between the British and Spanish Empires at the moment of one's expansion and the other's fragmentation. Part I assesses the limited archival evidence together with media reports from both Spain and Britain to uncover the Exhibition’s origins in London’s Spanish expatriate business community and its takeover by British businessmen with interests in Latin America. Part II reconstructs the Exhibition’s layout and contents in order to explore how the contrasting geocultural logics of Spain’s renewed self-projection as a modern Empire and the longstanding British obsession with Spain’s Islamic past play out in the exhibitionary space and its contents. Part III analyses the rhetorical and imaginative strategies employed in British press coverage of the Exhibition, to argue that their coded representations of Spain and Spanish culture open the door to understanding the Exhibition in the context of Spain’s partial absorption into Britain’s nineteenth-century ‘informal empire.’

A Place for Sexual Dysfunctions in an Empirical Taxonomy of Psychopathology

Science.gov (United States)

Forbes, Miriam K.; Baillie, Andrew J.; Eaton, Nicholas R.; Krueger, Robert F.

2017-01-01

Sexual dysfunctions commonly co-occur with various depressive and anxiety disorders. An emerging framework for understanding the classification of mental disorders suggests that such comorbidity is a manifestation of underlying dimensions of psychopathology (or “spectra”). In this review, we synthesize the evidence that sexual dysfunctions should be included in the empirical taxonomy of psychopathology as part of the internalizing spectrum, which accounts for comorbidity among the depressive and anxiety disorders. The review has four parts. Part 1 summarizes the empirical basis and utility of the empirical taxonomy of psychopathology. Part 2 reviews the prima facie evidence for the hypothesis that sexual dysfunctions are part of the internalizing spectrum (i.e., high rates of comorbidity; shared cognitive, affective, and temperament characteristics; common neural substrates and biomarkers; shared course and treatment response; and the lack of causal relationships between them). Part 3 critically analyzes and integrates the results of the eight studies that have addressed this hypothesis. Finally, Part 4 examines the implications of reconceptualizing sexual dysfunctions as part of the internalizing spectrum, and explores avenues for future research. PMID:28121167

The relationship between the management of working capital\tand\tcorporate\tprofitability\tin\tthe\tchemicals\tdistribution industry in Colombia

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Sebastián Jaramillo Aguirre

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This article offers empirical evidence on the relationship between the working capital and corporate profitability for the chemicals distribution sector in Colombia. The study looks at 48 companies during the 2008-2014 period. The results provide empirical evidence that there is a significant relationship between the factors pertaining to working capital and corporate profitability in the sector distribution sector in Colombia. The study looks at 48 companies during the 2008-2014 period. The results provide empirical evidence that there is a significant relationship between the factors pertaining to working capital and corporate profitability in the sector. There is negative and significant relationship between days sales outstandingdays payable outstanding, the cash conversion cycle, and corporate profitability

Strategy for a Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model. Development and testing of the empirical approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roeshoff, Kennert; Lanaro, Flavio [Berg Bygg Konsult AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Lanru Jing [Royal Inst. of Techn., Stockholm (Sweden). Div. of Engineering Geology

2002-05-01

This report presents the results of one part of a wide project for the determination of a methodology for the determination of the rock mechanics properties of the rock mass for the so-called Aespoe Test Case. The Project consists of three major parts: the empirical part dealing with the characterisation of the rock mass by applying empirical methods, a part determining the rock mechanics properties of the rock mass through numerical modelling, and a third part carrying out numerical modelling for the determination of the stress state at Aespoe. All Project's parts were performed based on a limited amount of data about the geology and mechanical tests on samples selected from the Aespoe Database. This Report only considers the empirical approach. The purpose of the project is the development of a descriptive rock mechanics model for SKBs rock mass investigations for a final repository site. The empirical characterisation of the rock mass provides correlations with some of the rock mechanics properties of the rock mass such as the deformation modulus, the friction angle and cohesion for a certain stress interval and the uniaxial compressive strength. For the characterisation of the rock mass, several empirical methods were analysed and reviewed. Among those methods, some were chosen because robust, applicable and widespread in modern rock mechanics. Major weight was given to the well-known Tunnel Quality Index (Q) and Rock Mass Rating (RMR) but also the Rock Mass Index (RMi), the Geological Strength Index (GSI) and Ramamurthy's Criterion were applied for comparison with the two classical methods. The process of: i) sorting the geometrical/geological/rock mechanics data, ii) identifying homogeneous rock volumes, iii) determining the input parameters for the empirical ratings for rock mass characterisation; iv) evaluating the mechanical properties by using empirical relations with the rock mass ratings; was considered. By comparing the methodologies involved

Strategy for a Rock Mechanics Site Descriptive Model. Development and testing of the empirical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roeshoff, Kennert; Lanaro, Flavio; Lanru Jing

2002-05-01

This report presents the results of one part of a wide project for the determination of a methodology for the determination of the rock mechanics properties of the rock mass for the so-called Aespoe Test Case. The Project consists of three major parts: the empirical part dealing with the characterisation of the rock mass by applying empirical methods, a part determining the rock mechanics properties of the rock mass through numerical modelling, and a third part carrying out numerical modelling for the determination of the stress state at Aespoe. All Project's parts were performed based on a limited amount of data about the geology and mechanical tests on samples selected from the Aespoe Database. This Report only considers the empirical approach. The purpose of the project is the development of a descriptive rock mechanics model for SKBs rock mass investigations for a final repository site. The empirical characterisation of the rock mass provides correlations with some of the rock mechanics properties of the rock mass such as the deformation modulus, the friction angle and cohesion for a certain stress interval and the uniaxial compressive strength. For the characterisation of the rock mass, several empirical methods were analysed and reviewed. Among those methods, some were chosen because robust, applicable and widespread in modern rock mechanics. Major weight was given to the well-known Tunnel Quality Index (Q) and Rock Mass Rating (RMR) but also the Rock Mass Index (RMi), the Geological Strength Index (GSI) and Ramamurthy's Criterion were applied for comparison with the two classical methods. The process of: i) sorting the geometrical/geological/rock mechanics data, ii) identifying homogeneous rock volumes, iii) determining the input parameters for the empirical ratings for rock mass characterisation; iv) evaluating the mechanical properties by using empirical relations with the rock mass ratings; was considered. By comparing the methodologies involved by the

The demand for gasoline in South Africa. An empirical analysis using co-integration techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akinboade, Oludele A.; Ziramba, Emmanuel; Kumo, Wolassa L.

2008-01-01

Using the recently developed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to co-integration, suggested by Pesaran et al. (Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y., Smith, R.J. Bounds Testing Approaches to the Analysis of Level Relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics 2001; 16(3) 289-326), we empirically analyzed the long-run relationship among the variables in the aggregate gasoline demand function over the period 1978-2005. Our study confirms the existence of a co-integrating relationship. The estimated price and income elasticities of - 0.47 and 0.36 imply that gasoline demand in South Africa is price and income inelastic. (author)

The demand for gasoline in South Africa. An empirical analysis using co-integration techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akinboade, Oludele A.; Ziramba, Emmanuel; Kumo, Wolassa L. [Department of Economics, University of South Africa, P.O.Box 392, Pretoria 0003 (South Africa)

2008-11-15

Using the recently developed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to co-integration, suggested by Pesaran et al. (Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y., Smith, R.J. Bounds Testing Approaches to the Analysis of Level Relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics 2001; 16(3) 289-326), we empirically analyzed the long-run relationship among the variables in the aggregate gasoline demand function over the period 1978-2005. Our study confirms the existence of a co-integrating relationship. The estimated price and income elasticities of - 0.47 and 0.36 imply that gasoline demand in South Africa is price and income inelastic. (author)

Innovation and productivity: empirical evidence for Brazilian industrial enterprises

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Luciana Carvalho

Full Text Available Abstract The aim of this paper is to carry out an empirical investigation into the relationship between innovation and the productive performance of Brazilian businesses measured by Work Productivity and Total Factor Productivity. Data taken from the Research of Innovation and estimated cross section models and panel data was used. The results suggest that innovation produces an incipient impact on competition in the national industry, reflected in the small magnitude of coefficients associated with the diverse indicators of innovation.

The Nexus between Higher Education and Economic Growth: An Empirical Investigation for Pakistan

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Amatul R. Chaudhary

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The study investigates the role of higher education in economic growth for Pakistan between 1972 and 2005 using the application of Johansen Cointegration and Toda & Yamamoto (1995 Causality approach in Vector Autoregressive (VAR framework. It examines whether higher education affect long run economic growth in Pakistan. The empirical analysis reveals that there is a long run relationship between economic growth and higher education, which suggests that these variables are necessary for each other. The empirical results of causality test indicate that there exists a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to higher education and no other direction of causality found between these variables.

An update on the "empirical turn" in bioethics: analysis of empirical research in nine bioethics journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Wangmo, Tenzin; Hauri, Sirin; Gennet, Eloise; Anane-Sarpong, Evelyn; Provoost, Veerle; Elger, Bernice S

2018-02-07

A review of literature published a decade ago noted a significant increase in empirical papers across nine bioethics journals. This study provides an update on the presence of empirical papers in the same nine journals. It first evaluates whether the empirical trend is continuing as noted in the previous study, and second, how it is changing, that is, what are the characteristics of the empirical works published in these nine bioethics journals. A review of the same nine journals (Bioethics; Journal of Medical Ethics; Journal of Clinical Ethics; Nursing Ethics; Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics; Hastings Center Report; Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics; Christian Bioethics; and Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal) was conducted for a 12-year period from 2004 to 2015. Data obtained was analysed descriptively and using a non-parametric Chi-square test. Of the total number of original papers (N = 5567) published in the nine bioethics journals, 18.1% (n = 1007) collected and analysed empirical data. Journal of Medical Ethics and Nursing Ethics led the empirical publications, accounting for 89.4% of all empirical papers. The former published significantly more quantitative papers than qualitative, whereas the latter published more qualitative papers. Our analysis reveals no significant difference (χ2 = 2.857; p = 0.091) between the proportion of empirical papers published in 2004-2009 and 2010-2015. However, the increasing empirical trend has continued in these journals with the proportion of empirical papers increasing from 14.9% in 2004 to 17.8% in 2015. This study presents the current state of affairs regarding empirical research published nine bioethics journals. In the quarter century of data that is available about the nine bioethics journals studied in two reviews, the proportion of empirical publications continues to increase, signifying a trend towards empirical research in bioethics. The growing volume is mainly attributable to two

Empirical modeling of single-wake advection and expansion using full-scale pulsed lidar-based measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Machefaux, Ewan; Larsen, Gunner Chr.; Troldborg, Niels

2015-01-01

In the present paper, single-wake dynamics have been studied both experimentally and numerically. The use of pulsed lidar measurements allows for validation of basic dynamic wake meandering modeling assumptions. Wake center tracking is used to estimate the wake advection velocity experimentally...... fairly well in the far wake but lacks accuracy in the outer region of the near wake. An empirical relationship, relating maximum wake induction and wake advection velocity, is derived and linked to the characteristics of a spherical vortex structure. Furthermore, a new empirical model for single...

DETERMINANTS AND OPTIMAL LEVEL OF CORPORATE CASH HOLDINGS: EVIDENCE FROM US, UK AND JAPAN

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Shan Shan

2013-01-01

This paper firstly investigates the empirical determinants of corporate cash holdings for a sample of listed US, UK and Japanese firms during the 2000-2012 period. Through applying the pooled time-series cross-sectional estimations, cross-sectional estimations and GMM two-step method of estimations, the results reveal that firms’ cash flow, cash flow variability, bank debt and degree of shareholders protection and creditor protection all have inverse relationship with cash holdings. Contraril...

Mapping sediment thickness of Islamabad city using empirical relationships: Implications for seismic hazard assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Sarfraz; Khan, M. Asif

2016-04-01

Soft sediments make an important component of the subsurface lithology, especially in areas underlain by river/stream basins. Occupying a position directly above the bedrock up to the land surface, these soft sediments can range in thickness from few centimeters to hundreds of meters. They carry a special nuisance in seismic hazards, as they serve as a source of seismic amplification that may enhance the seismic shaking of many folds. Determination of the thickness of the soft sediments is therefore crucial in seismic hazard analysis. A number of studies in recent years have demonstrated that frequency and amplitude spectrum obtained from the noise measurements during the recording of natural seismicity can be used to obtain thickness of soft sediments covering the bedrock. Nakamura (1989) presented a technique to determine such spectrum using ratio of horizontal to vertical components of the Rayleigh waves. The present study is based on an extensive set of microtremor measurements carried out in the Islamabad city, Pakistan. Fundamental frequencies were obtained from weak motion sensors and Tromino Engy Plus instruments to show that the correlation is clearly valid for a wide range of sediment thickness. A simple formula was derived for the investigated area to determine directly the thickness of sediments from the main peaks in the H/ V spectrum for seismometer and Tromino data separately. A comparison is made between sediment thicknesses derived from empirical relations developed in this study with those given in literature to demonstrate a positive correlation. The correlation of instrumental resonant frequencies with calculated resonant frequencies (theoretical) suggests that the relation derived from the noise measurements mostly depends on the velocity depth function of the shear wave. The fundamental frequency of the main peak of spectral ratio of H/ V using the both instruments correlates well with the thickness of sediments at the site obtained from the

Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Empirical Study of Polish Listed Companies

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Justyna Dyduch

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we explore whether a number of elements influence the levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR disclosure in the annual reports of Polish companies. These elements include the following: company size, profitability, financial leverage, industry environmental sensitivity, board size, women on the board, internationalization, and reputation. We use content analysis to determine the quality of CSR disclosures. We test our hypotheses using a Tobit regression analysis on a sample of 60 reports from Polish companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. We find industry environmental sensitivity to have significant influence on CSR disclosures. Our research findings also reveal a relationship between company turnover, duration of the stock exchange listing, inclusion in the Respect Index portfolio and foreign capital share, and the level of CSR disclosures. This study extends the scope of previous studies by including non-commonly used independent variables: the company’s internationalization and reputation. To the authors’ knowledge, it is the primary step to investigating CSR reporting practices coupled with the corporate characteristics in a Central and Eastern European country such as Poland. The paper contributes to the understanding of determinants of CSR disclosure and offers findings which are potentially useful for both theory and practice.

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT AND THEFT CRIMES

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Majid Maddah

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of unemployment rate on theft crimes among the provinces of Iran. This study covered the annual data from 1997 to 2006 by using of GMM method. Results have shown that there is a strong significant and positive relationship between unemployment and theft crimes in various categories. Other factors such as poverty and demographic characteristics influence on people’s motivation to crime commitment of theft. Results from estimation of crime models demonstrated that there is a significant and positive relationship between unemployment rate and theft in Iran. In fact, to fight theft crimes, government have to use policies that cause reducing the unemployment rate in society.

Empirical dual energy calibration (EDEC) for cone-beam computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stenner, Philip; Berkus, Timo; Kachelriess, Marc

2007-01-01

Material-selective imaging using dual energy CT (DECT) relies heavily on well-calibrated material decomposition functions. These require the precise knowledge of the detected x-ray spectra, and even if they are exactly known the reliability of DECT will suffer from scattered radiation. We propose an empirical method to determine the proper decomposition function. In contrast to other decomposition algorithms our empirical dual energy calibration (EDEC) technique requires neither knowledge of the spectra nor of the attenuation coefficients. The desired material-selective raw data p 1 and p 2 are obtained as functions of the measured attenuation data q 1 and q 2 (one DECT scan=two raw data sets) by passing them through a polynomial function. The polynomial's coefficients are determined using a general least squares fit based on thresholded images of a calibration phantom. The calibration phantom's dimension should be of the same order of magnitude as the test object, but other than that no assumptions on its exact size or positioning are made. Once the decomposition coefficients are determined DECT raw data can be decomposed by simply passing them through the polynomial. To demonstrate EDEC simulations of an oval CTDI phantom, a lung phantom, a thorax phantom and a mouse phantom were carried out. The method was further verified by measuring a physical mouse phantom, a half-and-half-cylinder phantom and a Yin-Yang phantom with a dedicated in vivo dual source micro-CT scanner. The raw data were decomposed into their components, reconstructed, and the pixel values obtained were compared to the theoretical values. The determination of the calibration coefficients with EDEC is very robust and depends only slightly on the type of calibration phantom used. The images of the test phantoms (simulations and measurements) show a nearly perfect agreement with the theoretical μ values and density values. Since EDEC is an empirical technique it inherently compensates for scatter

Network Analysis Approach to Stroke Care and Assistance Provision: An Empirical Study

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Szczygiel Nina

2017-06-01

Full Text Available To model and analyse stroke care and assistance provision in the Portuguese context from the network perspective. We used the network theory as a theoretical foundation for the study. The model proposed by Frey et al. (2006 was used to elicit and comprehend possible interactions and relations between organisations expected to be involved in the provision of care and assistance to stroke patients in their pathway to rehabilitation. Providers were identified and contacted to evaluate the nature and intensity of relationships. Network analysis was performed with the NodeXL software package. Analysis of 509 entities based on about 260 000 entries indicates that stroke care provision in the evaluated context is best captured in the coalition-collaboration setting, which appears to best demonstrate the character of the network. Information from analysis of the collaboration stage was not sufficient to determine the network dynamics. Application of the network theory to understand interorganisational dynamics of the complex health care context. Empirical validation of the model proposed by Frey et al. (2006 in terms of its operationalisation and the way it actually reflects the practical context. Examination and analysis of interorganisational relationships and its contribution to management of compound health care context involving actors from various sectors.

International Entrepreneurship: A Meta-Analysis on the Internationalization and Performance Relationship

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schwens, Christian; Zapkau, F.B.; Bierwerth, Michael; Isidor, Rodrigo; Knight, Gary; Kabst, Rüdiger

2018-01-01

The article conducts a meta-analysis on the relationship between internationalization and firm performance in international entrepreneurship. Empirical evidence from 15,648 internationalizing entrepreneurial firms nested in 43 independent samples reveals a positive relationship between degree and

The relationship between animal welfare and economic performance at farm level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henningsen, Arne; Czekaj, Tomasz Gerard; Forkman, Björn

We propose a theoretical framework for the relationship between animal welfare and the economic performance of livestock farms. We empirically analyse this relationship based on a unique data set of randomly sampled Danish pig herds that includes information from unannounced inspections of the co......We propose a theoretical framework for the relationship between animal welfare and the economic performance of livestock farms. We empirically analyse this relationship based on a unique data set of randomly sampled Danish pig herds that includes information from unannounced inspections...... of the compliance with the animal welfare legislation. We find large variations in economic performance indicators and animal welfare indicators. The relationship between these two indicators is rather weak, but tends to be slightly positive. We conclude that management has a major influence on both economic...... performance and animal welfare so that good farm managers are able to obey all animal welfare regulations and, at the same time, achieve a high economic performance....

Empirical Test Case Specification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kalyanova, Olena; Heiselberg, Per

This document includes the empirical specification on the IEA task of evaluation building energy simulation computer programs for the Double Skin Facades (DSF) constructions. There are two approaches involved into this procedure, one is the comparative approach and another is the empirical one. I....... In the comparative approach the outcomes of different software tools are compared, while in the empirical approach the modelling results are compared with the results of experimental test cases....

Fickian-Based Empirical Approach for Diffusivity Determination in Hollow Alginate-Based Microfibers Using 2D Fluorescence Microscopy and Comparison with Theoretical Predictions

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Maryam Mobed-Miremadi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Hollow alginate microfibers (od = 1.3 mm, id = 0.9 mm, th = 400 µm, L = 3.5 cm comprised of 2% (w/v medium molecular weight alginate cross-linked with 0.9 M CaCl2 were fabricated to model outward diffusion capture by 2D fluorescent microscopy. A two-fold comparison of diffusivity determination based on real-time diffusion of Fluorescein isothiocyanate molecular weight (FITC MW markers was conducted using a proposed Fickian-based approach in conjunction with a previously established numerical model developed based on spectrophotometric data. Computed empirical/numerical (Dempiricial/Dnumerical diffusivities characterized by small standard deviations for the 4-, 70- and 500-kDa markers expressed in m2/s are (1.06 × 10−9 ± 1.96 × 10−10/(2.03 × 10−11, (5.89 × 10−11 ± 2.83 × 10−12/(4.6 × 10−12 and (4.89 × 10−12 ± 3.94 × 10−13/(1.27 × 10−12, respectively, with the discrimination between the computation techniques narrowing down as a function of MW. The use of the numerical approach is recommended for fluorescence-based measurements as the standard computational method for effective diffusivity determination until capture rates (minimum 12 fps for the 4-kDa marker and the use of linear instead of polynomial interpolating functions to model temporal intensity gradients have been proven to minimize the extent of systematic errors associated with the proposed empirical method.

Holding-based network of nations based on listed energy companies: An empirical study on two-mode affiliation network of two sets of actors

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huajiao; Fang, Wei; An, Haizhong; Gao, Xiangyun; Yan, Lili

2016-05-01

Economic networks in the real world are not homogeneous; therefore, it is important to study economic networks with heterogeneous nodes and edges to simulate a real network more precisely. In this paper, we present an empirical study of the one-mode derivative holding-based network constructed by the two-mode affiliation network of two sets of actors using the data of worldwide listed energy companies and their shareholders. First, we identify the primitive relationship in the two-mode affiliation network of the two sets of actors. Then, we present the method used to construct the derivative network based on the shareholding relationship between two sets of actors and the affiliation relationship between actors and events. After constructing the derivative network, we analyze different topological features on the node level, edge level and entire network level and explain the meanings of the different values of the topological features combining the empirical data. This study is helpful for expanding the usage of complex networks to heterogeneous economic networks. For empirical research on the worldwide listed energy stock market, this study is useful for discovering the inner relationships between the nations and regions from a new perspective.

DOES ENERGY CONSUMPTION VOLATILITY AFFECT REAL GDP VOLATILITY? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS FOR THE UK

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Abdul Rashid

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper empirically examines the relation between energy consumption volatility and unpredictable variations in real gross domestic product (GDP in the UK. Estimating the Markov switching ARCH model we find a significant regime switching in the behavior of both energy consumption and GDP volatility. The results from the Markov regime-switching model show that the variability of energy consumption has a significant role to play in determining the behavior of GDP volatilities. Moreover, the results suggest that the impacts of unpredictable variations in energy consumption on GDP volatility are asymmetric, depending on the intensity of volatility. In particular, we find that while there is no significant contemporaneous relationship between energy consumption volatility and GDP volatility in the first (low-volatility regime, GDP volatility is significantly positively related to the volatility of energy utilization in the second (high-volatility regime.

AN APPROACH TO THE EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT THROUGH EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

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Ismael Sanz Labrador

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article presents the empiral evidences of standardized evaluations and explores the aspects of such evaluations more interesting to the educational community, and investigates the effects in implementing those exams on the performance of students. Furthermore, it is analyzed the relationship between external evaluations and teaching to the test , it is seen how it affects the introduction of these evaluations in student learning and their performance in international assessments of different characteristics, and the effect it produces in schools located in disadvantaged areas.

Determinants of foreign direct investment in Tunisia: Empirical assessment based on an application of the autoregressive distributed Lag model

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Teheni El Ghak

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the changing economic and political environment in Tunisia led to a renewed interest on the drivers of foreign direct investment, given its potential important gains. In this study, we investigated the impact of various factors over the period 1980-2012. In doing this, three categories of determinants were considered: economic, political and sociocultural variables. Empirical findings drawn from the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach show that variation in foreign direct investment inflow in the short-run and long-run is affected by the majority of variables considered, except exchange rate, urban population and gross domestic savings. As a matter of policy, it is essential that government should continue its efforts to create a macroeconomic environment which is attractive to foreign direct investment.

Empirical Support for Perceptual Conceptualism

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Nicolás Alejandro Serrano

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to show that perceptual conceptualism can be understood as an empirically meaningful position and, furthermore, that there is some degree of empirical support for its main theses. In order to do this, I will start by offering an empirical reading of the conceptualist position, and making three predictions from it. Then, I will consider recent experimental results from cognitive sciences that seem to point towards those predictions. I will conclude that, while the evidence offered by those experiments is far from decisive, it is enough not only to show that conceptualism is an empirically meaningful position but also that there is empirical support for it.

An empirical analysis of gasoline demand in Denmark using cointegration techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bentzen, Jan

1994-01-01

Danish time-series data covering the period 1948-91 are used in order to estimate short-run and long-run elasticities in gasoline demand. A cointegration test for a stable long-run relationship between the variables in the model proves to be positive, showing a smaller value of the long-run price elasticity than often quoted in empirical studies of gasoline demand. Finally, an error correction model is estimated. (author)

Banking Fragility in Colombia: An Empirical Analysis Based on Balance Sheets

OpenAIRE

Ignacio Lozano; Alexander Guarín

2014-01-01

In this paper, we study the empirical relationship between credit funding sources and the financial vulnerability of the Colombian banking system. We propose a statistical model to measure and predict banking-fragility episodes associated with credit funding sources classified into retail deposits and wholesale funds. We compute the probability of financial fragility for both the aggregated banking system and the individual banks. Our approach performs a Bayesian averaging of estimated logit ...

Architecture Between Mind and Empirical Experience

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Shatha Abbas Hassan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The research aims to identify the level of balance in the architectural thought influenced by the rational type human consciousness, the materialistic based on the Empirical type, moral based on human experience as source of knowledge. This was reflected in architecture in the specialized thought that the mind is the source of knowledge which explains the phenomena of life. The rational approach based on objectivity and methodology in (Form Production, the other approach is based on subjectivity in form production (Form Inspiration. The research problem is that there is imbalance in the relationship between the rational side and the human experience in architecture, which led into imbalance between theory and application in architecture according to architectural movements.

The determination of the structure of γ-alumina using empirical and first principle calculations and supporting experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paglia, G.; Buckely, C.E.; O'Connor, B.H.; Van Riessen, A.; Rohl, A.L.; Gale, J.D.

2002-01-01

Full text: Because of its hardness, abrasion resistance, mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, and good electrical insulation, alumina (AI 2 O 3 ) is a material of high technological and industrial significance. Alumina exists in a variety of metastable structures including the γ, η, θ, K, and χ aluminas, as well as its stable α alumina phase. The crystal structure of the γ-phase in alumina has attracted considerable attention over the past 40 years, with various reports attributing either a cubic or tetragonal structure to this phase. Consensus on the definitive structure of γ-alumina (γ-AI 2 O 3 ) has yet to be reached. Rapid advancement has occurred in the field of computational materials science in recent times. Huge advances in computing power during this period have made ft possible to apply the laws of quantum mechanics to the study of macroscopic properties of real materials at the atomic level. Predicting the properties of materials by theoretical means complements the traditional experimental approaches. This research is directed at determining the structure of γ-Al 2 O 3 using theoretical first principles and empirical computational techniques combined with experimental methods. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the problems associated with determining the structure of γ-AI 2 O 3 and to outline the methodology being applied to solve it. Copyright (2002) Australian X-ray Analytical Association Inc

Relationship of saving habit determinants among undergraduate students: A case study of UiTM Negeri Sembilan, Kampus Seremban

Science.gov (United States)

Syahrom, N. S.; Nasrudin, N. S.; Mohamad Yasin, N.; Azlan, N.; Manap, N.

2017-08-01

It has been reported that students are already accumulating substantial debt from higher education fees and their spending habit are at a critical stage. These situations cause the youngsters facing bankruptcy if they cannot improve their saving habit. Many researches have acknowledged that the determinants of saving habit include financial management, parental socialization, peer influence, and self-control. However, there remains a need for investigating the relationship between these determinants in order to avoid bankruptcy among youngsters. The objectives of this study are to investigate the relationship between saving habit determinants and to generate a statistical model based on the determinants of saving habit. Data collection method used is questionnaire and its scope is undergraduate students of UiTM Negeri Sembilan, Kampus Seremban. Samples are chosen by using stratified probability sampling technique and cross-sectional method is used as the research design. The results are then analysed by using descriptive analysis, reliability test, Pearson Correlation, and Multiple Linear Regression analysis. It shows that saving habit and self-control has no relationship. It means that students with less self-control tend to save less. A statistical model has been generated that incorporated this relationship. This study is significant to help the students save more by having high self-control.

Organizational Learning, Strategic Flexibility and Business Model Innovation: An Empirical Research Based on Logistics Enterprises

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Yaodong; Cheng, Lin; Zhang, Jian

Using the data of 237 Jiangsu logistics firms, this paper empirically studies the relationship among organizational learning capability, business model innovation, strategic flexibility. The results show as follows; organizational learning capability has positive impacts on business model innovation performance; strategic flexibility plays mediating roles on the relationship between organizational learning capability and business model innovation; interaction among strategic flexibility, explorative learning and exploitative learning play significant roles in radical business model innovation and incremental business model innovation.

The relationship between animal welfare and economic performance at farm level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henningsen, Arne; Czekaj, Tomasz Gerard; Forkman, Björn

2018-01-01

We propose a theoretical framework for the relationship between animal welfare and the economic performance of livestock farms. We empirically analyse this relationship based on a unique dataset of randomly sampled Danish pig herds that includes information from unannounced inspections of the com...

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS ON STABILITY AND QUALITY OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP

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Maja Kus Ambroz

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this article, we developed a model based on the insight into different theories and empirical studies about inpact of economic crisis on intimate relationship. With the economic crisis, the behaviour of individual in a relationship also changed. Increased stress is one of the reactions of individual to the crisis, and this directly or indirectly influences his or her intimate relationship. That impact is manifested as a factor of the decrease of stability and quality of such relationship. As a starting point, we took the fact that the individual in developed western societies is adapted to the mainstream of so-called consumer society, which discourages him or her to strive for the intimate relationship, and the purpose of such relationship is the preservation of family. On the contrary, this encourages individual's selfish principle to satisfy his or her comfort and convenience. We were mainly interested in the individual's reaction to this phenomenon. Based on these findings, we developed the “intimate relationship stress model” (IRSM, which could be used in further empirical studies and psychotherapy practices.

Determinants of Business Success – Theoretical Model and Empirical Verification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kozielski Robert

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Market knowledge, market orientation, learning competencies, and a business performance were the key issues of the research project conducted in the 2006 study. The main findings identified significant relationships between the independent variables (market knowledge, market orientation, learning competencies and the dependent variables (business success. A partial correlation analysis indicated that a business success primarily relies on organisational learning competencies. Organisational learning competencies, to a large extent (almost 60%, may be explained by the level of corporate market knowledge and market orientation. The aim of the paper is to evaluate to what extent the relationships between the variables are still valid. The research was based on primary and secondary data sources. The major field of the research was carried out in the form of quantitative studies. The results of the 2014 study are consistent with the previous (2006 results.

Mothers' Perceptions of the Quality of Childhood Sibling Relationships Affected by Disability

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, Melissa; Campbell, Marilyn

2015-01-01

The quality of the sibling relationship has an important role in the development of psychosocial skills throughout childhood. While the literature suggests that the significance of sibling relationships is heightened when one sibling has a disability, empirical findings about the quality of these relationships are few and inconsistent. The present…

Developing Relationships with School Customers: The Role of Market Orientation

Science.gov (United States)

Poole, Sonja Martin

2017-01-01

Purpose: While the role of relationship marketing to consumers' overall satisfaction with schools has been discussed in the education management literature, empirical studies on the marketing mechanisms that underpin school-customer relationships are limited. The purpose of this paper is to establish the association between market orientation (MO)…

A global empirical system for probabilistic seasonal climate prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Eden, J. M.; van Oldenborgh, G. J.; Hawkins, E.; Suckling, E. B.

2015-12-01

Preparing for episodes with risks of anomalous weather a month to a year ahead is an important challenge for governments, non-governmental organisations, and private companies and is dependent on the availability of reliable forecasts. The majority of operational seasonal forecasts are made using process-based dynamical models, which are complex, computationally challenging and prone to biases. Empirical forecast approaches built on statistical models to represent physical processes offer an alternative to dynamical systems and can provide either a benchmark for comparison or independent supplementary forecasts. Here, we present a simple empirical system based on multiple linear regression for producing probabilistic forecasts of seasonal surface air temperature and precipitation across the globe. The global CO2-equivalent concentration is taken as the primary predictor; subsequent predictors, including large-scale modes of variability in the climate system and local-scale information, are selected on the basis of their physical relationship with the predictand. The focus given to the climate change signal as a source of skill and the probabilistic nature of the forecasts produced constitute a novel approach to global empirical prediction. Hindcasts for the period 1961-2013 are validated against observations using deterministic (correlation of seasonal means) and probabilistic (continuous rank probability skill scores) metrics. Good skill is found in many regions, particularly for surface air temperature and most notably in much of Europe during the spring and summer seasons. For precipitation, skill is generally limited to regions with known El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections. The system is used in a quasi-operational framework to generate empirical seasonal forecasts on a monthly basis.

Physician Assistant Job Satisfaction: A Narrative Review of Empirical Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hooker, Roderick S; Kuilman, Luppo; Everett, Christine M

2015-12-01

To examine physician assistant (PA) job satisfaction and identify factors predicting job satisfaction and identify areas of needed research. With a global PA movement underway and a half-century in development, the empirical basis for informing employers of approaches to improve job satisfaction has not received a careful review. A narrative review of empirical research was undertaken to inform stakeholders about PA employment with a goal of improved management. The a priori criteria included published studies that asked PAs about job satisfaction. Articles addressing PA job satisfaction, written in English, were reviewed and categorized according to the Job Characteristics Model. Of 68 publications reviewed, 29 met criteria and were categorized in a Job Characteristics Model. Most studies report a high degree of job satisfaction when autonomy, income, patient responsibility, physician support, and career advancement opportunities are surveyed. Age, sex, specialty, and occupational background are needed to understand the effect on job satisfaction. Quality of studies varies widely. Employers may want to examine their relationships with PAs periodically. The factors of job satisfaction may assist policymakers and health administrators in creating welcoming professional employment environments. The main limitation: no study comprehensively evaluated all the antecedents of job satisfaction. PAs seem to experience job satisfaction supported by low attrition rates and competitive wages. Contributing factors are autonomy, experienced responsibility, pay, and supportive supervising physician. A number of intrinsic rewards derived from the performance of the job within the social environment, along with extrinsic rewards, may contribute to overall job satisfaction. PA job satisfaction research is underdeveloped; investigations should include longitudinal studies, cohort analyses, and economic determinants.

Do Biology Students Really Hate Math? Empirical Insights into Undergraduate Life Science Majors’ Emotions about Mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Wachsmuth, Lucas P.; Runyon, Christopher R.; Drake, John M.; Dolan, Erin L.

2017-01-01

Undergraduate life science majors are reputed to have negative emotions toward mathematics, yet little empirical evidence supports this. We sought to compare emotions of majors in the life sciences versus other natural sciences and math. We adapted the Attitudes toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory to create an Attitudes toward the Subject of Mathematics Inventory (ASMI). We collected data from 359 science and math majors at two research universities and conducted a series of statistical tests that indicated that four AMSI items comprised a reasonable measure of students’ emotional satisfaction with math. We then compared life science and non–life science majors and found that major had a small to moderate relationship with students’ responses. Gender also had a small relationship with students’ responses, while students’ race, ethnicity, and year in school had no observable relationship. Using latent profile analysis, we identified three groups—students who were emotionally satisfied with math, emotionally dissatisfied with math, and neutral. These results and the emotional satisfaction with math scale should be useful for identifying differences in other undergraduate populations, determining the malleability of undergraduates’ emotional satisfaction with math, and testing effects of interventions aimed at improving life science majors’ attitudes toward math. PMID:28798211

A Tool for Empirical Forecasting of Major Flares, Coronal Mass Ejections, and Solar Particle Events from a Proxy of Active-Region Free Magnetic Energy

Science.gov (United States)

Barghouty, A. F.; Falconer, D. A.; Adams, J. H., Jr.

2010-01-01

This presentation describes a new forecasting tool developed for and is currently being tested by NASA s Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) at JSC, which is responsible for the monitoring and forecasting of radiation exposure levels of astronauts. The new software tool is designed for the empirical forecasting of M and X-class flares, coronal mass ejections, as well as solar energetic particle events. Its algorithm is based on an empirical relationship between the various types of events rates and a proxy of the active region s free magnetic energy, determined from a data set of approx.40,000 active-region magnetograms from approx.1,300 active regions observed by SOHO/MDI that have known histories of flare, coronal mass ejection, and solar energetic particle event production. The new tool automatically extracts each strong-field magnetic areas from an MDI full-disk magnetogram, identifies each as an NOAA active region, and measures a proxy of the active region s free magnetic energy from the extracted magnetogram. For each active region, the empirical relationship is then used to convert the free magnetic energy proxy into an expected event rate. The expected event rate in turn can be readily converted into the probability that the active region will produce such an event in a given forward time window. Descriptions of the datasets, algorithm, and software in addition to sample applications and a validation test are presented. Further development and transition of the new tool in anticipation of SDO/HMI is briefly discussed.

A study on relationship between organizational culture and organizational commitment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Khalili

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between organizational culture and organization commitment. The study uses two questionnaires, one for measuring organizational commitment originally developed by Meyer and Allen (1991 [Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991. A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human resource management review, 1(1, 61-89.] and the other one for organizational culture developed by Denison and Spreitzer (1991 [Denison, D. R., & Spreitzer, G. M. (1991. Organizational culture and organizational development: A competing values approach. Research in organizational change and development, 5(1, 1-21.]. The study is accomplished among selected full time employees who work for an Iranian bank named Bank Saderat Iran. Using Pearson correlation test as well as linear regression methods, the study has determined that there were some positive and meaningful relationship between all components of organizational commitment and organizational culture.

Actor bonds after relationship dissolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skaates, Maria Anne

2000-01-01

Most of the presented papers at the 1st NoRD Workshop can be classified as belonging to the business marketing approach to relationship dissolution. Two papers were conceptual, and the remaining six were empirical studies. The first conceptual study by Skaates (2000) focuses on the nature...... of the actor bonds that remain after a business relationship has ended. The study suggests that an interdisciplinary approach would provide a richer understanding of the phenomenon; this could be achieved by using e.g. Bourdieu's sociological concepts in dissolution research....

The Relationship Between Pedometer-Determined Ambulatory Activity and Balance Variables Within an Older Adult Population

OpenAIRE

Campbell, Candice; Kress, Jeff; Schroeder, Jan; Donlin, Ayla; Rozenek, Ralph

2016-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the differences between gender, physical activity level, and balance in an older adult population. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between pedometer-determined ambulatory activity and balance. Forty-six older adults aged 73.7 ± 6.2 years participated in the study. Participants completed the Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) Scale and completed a 2-week daily step recording to determine average steps taken per day. Low-level...

Solidarity and ambivalence in parent-child relationships

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gaalen, R.I.A. van

2007-01-01

In this dissertation, new challenges for intergenerational family relationship research were formulated and empirically investigated. Major socio-demographic and socio-cultural developments have induced changes in Western family life. These were changes in the structure of families and changes in

The relationship between renewable energy assets and crude oil prices : an empirical analysis with emphasis on the effects of the financial crisis

OpenAIRE

Grøm, Halvdan Alexander

2013-01-01

In this thesis I have analysed the relationship between renewable energy stocks and the price of crude oil. As a part of my analysis I have provided a basic economic overview of the research period and how the value of renewable energy stocks and crude oil is determined. In order to analyse this relationship I have utilized a Vector Autoregressive Model (VAR) in addition to a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). My findings indicate that the aforementioned assets follow a simi...

The role of need fulfillment in relationship functioning and well-being: a self-determination theory perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, Heather; Knee, C Raymond; Canevello, Amy; Lonsbary, Cynthia

2007-03-01

Self-determination theory posits 3 basic psychological needs: autonomy (feeling uncoerced in one's actions), competence (feeling capable), and relatedness (feeling connected to others). Optimal well-being results when these needs are satisfied, though this research has traditionally focused on individual well-being outcomes (e.g., E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 2000). Three studies examined the role of need fulfillment in relationship functioning and well-being. Study 1 found that fulfillment of each need individually predicted both individual and relationship well-being, with relatedness being the strongest unique predictor of relationship outcomes. Study 2 found that both partners' need fulfillment uniquely predicted one's own relationship functioning and well-being. Finally, in Study 3, the authors used a diary recording procedure and tested a model in which the association between need fulfillment and relationship quality was mediated by relationship motivation. Those who experienced greater need fulfillment enjoyed better postdisagreement relationship quality primarily because of their tendency to have more intrinsic or autonomous reasons for being in their relationship. 2007 APA, all rights reserved

Evaluation of empirical relationships between extreme rainfall and daily maximum temperature in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Herath, Sujeewa Malwila; Sarukkalige, Ranjan; Nguyen, Van Thanh Van

2018-01-01

Understanding the relationships between extreme daily and sub-daily rainfall events and their governing factors is important in order to analyse the properties of extreme rainfall events in a changing climate. Atmospheric temperature is one of the dominant climate variables which has a strong relationship with extreme rainfall events. In this study, a temperature-rainfall binning technique is used to evaluate the dependency of extreme rainfall on daily maximum temperature. The Clausius-Clapeyron (C-C) relation was found to describe the relationship between daily maximum temperature and a range of rainfall durations from 6 min up to 24 h for seven Australian weather stations, the stations being located in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The analysis shows that the rainfall - temperature scaling varies with location, temperature and rainfall duration. The Darwin Airport station shows a negative scaling relationship, while the other six stations show a positive relationship. To identify the trend in scaling relationship over time the same analysis is conducted using data covering 10 year periods. Results indicate that the dependency of extreme rainfall on temperature also varies with the analysis period. Further, this dependency shows an increasing trend for more extreme short duration rainfall and a decreasing trend for average long duration rainfall events at most stations. Seasonal variations of the scale changing trends were analysed by categorizing the summer and autumn seasons in one group and the winter and spring seasons in another group. Most of 99th percentile of 6 min, 1 h and 24 h rain durations at Perth, Melbourne and Sydney stations show increasing trend for both groups while Adelaide and Darwin show decreasing trend. Furthermore, majority of scaling trend of 50th percentile are decreasing for both groups.

Analysis of empirical determinants of credit risk in the banking sector of the Republic of Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Račić Željko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is the detection and analysis of empirical determinants of credit risk in the banking sector of the Republic of Serbia. The paper is based on an analysis of results of the application of the linear regression model, during the period from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2014. There are three main findings. Firstly, the higher lending activity of banks contributes to the increasing share of high-risk loans in the total withdrawn loans (delayed effect of 3 years. Secondly, the growth of loans as opposed to deposits contributes to the increased exposure of banks to credit risk. Thirdly, the factors that reduce the exposure of banks to credit risk increase profitability, growth of interest rate spread and real GDP growth. Bearing in mind the overall market conditions and dynamics of the economic recovery of the country, there is a general conclusion based on the results that in the coming period the question of non-performing loans (NPLs in the Republic of Serbia will present a challenge for both lenders and borrowers.

Tax-and-Spend or Spend-and-Tax? Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Tan Juat Hong

2009-01-01

The paper investigates the causal relationships between government spending and revenue for Malaysia. The study uses annual data, a Johansen cointegration test and an error-correction model. A preliminary test shows that government revenue and expenditure are cointegrated. Empirical results support the spend-and-tax hypothesis. Furthermore, they underscore the fact that fiscal policy may not be effective enough to curb the rising budget deficits over the long term and may even reduce private ...

Teacher Loyalty of Elementary Schools in Taiwan: The Contribution of Gratitude and Relationship Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Shueh-Chin; Yeh, Liang-Yin

2014-01-01

Gratitude was an important missing factor in the extant relationship quality and relationship loyalty model. We introduced gratitude into the model of relationship quality and relationship loyalty. Two hundred and eighteen teachers from elementary schools in Taiwan were used to conduct an empirical research. The results show that teachers'…

Life Writing After Empire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

A watershed moment of the twentieth century, the end of empire saw upheavals to global power structures and national identities. However, decolonisation profoundly affected individual subjectivities too. Life Writing After Empire examines how people around the globe have made sense of the post...... in order to understand how individual life writing reflects broader societal changes. From far-flung corners of the former British Empire, people have turned to life writing to manage painful or nostalgic memories, as well as to think about the past and future of the nation anew through the personal...

An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Economic Growth in the Western Balkans

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Fetai Besnik Taip

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to assess the main determinants and the policies that affect economic growth in the Western Balkan over the period 1994 to 2015. It employs techniques such as pooled OLS, fixed and random effects model, and Hausman-Taylor model with instrumental variables (IV. The study shows evidence of conditional convergence, indicating the need for an upward move in the steady state level. The results show that foreign direct investments, gross savings and domestic credit to the private sector have a positive effect on per capita growth. On the other hand, initial level of per capita growth, corruption, unemployment, and general government final consumption, have a negative relationship with per capita growth. The study also shows a puzzling result, that schooling is not a significant factor for growth in Western Balkans. The study also highlights the relevance of attracting more foreign direct investments and reduction in corruption.

A comparison of the performance of a fundamental parameter method for analysis of total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectra and determination of trace elements, versus an empirical quantification procedure

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W(egrzynek, Dariusz; Hołyńska, Barbara; Ostachowicz, Beata

1998-01-01

The performance has been compared of two different quantification methods — namely, the commonly used empirical quantification procedure and a fundamental parameter approach — for determination of the mass fractions of elements in particulate-like sample residues on a quartz reflector measured in the total reflection geometry. In the empirical quantification procedure, the spectrometer system needs to be calibrated with the use of samples containing known concentrations of the elements. On the basis of intensities of the X-ray peaks and the known concentration or mass fraction of an internal standard element, by using relative sensitivities of the spectrometer system the concentrations or mass fractions of the elements are calculated. The fundamental parameter approach does not require any calibration of the spectrometer system to be carried out. However, in order to account for an unknown mass per unit area of a sample and sample nonuniformity, an internal standard element is added. The concentrations/mass fractions of the elements to be determined are calculated during fitting a modelled X-ray spectrum to the measured one. The two quantification methods were applied to determine the mass fractions of elements in the cross-sections of a peat core, biological standard reference materials and to determine the concentrations of elements in samples prepared from an aqueous multi-element standard solution.

What should we mean by empirical validation in hypnotherapy: evidence-based practice in clinical hypnosis.

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Alladin, Assen; Sabatini, Linda; Amundson, Jon K

2007-04-01

This paper briefly surveys the trend of and controversy surrounding empirical validation in psychotherapy. Empirical validation of hypnotherapy has paralleled the practice of validation in psychotherapy and the professionalization of clinical psychology, in general. This evolution in determining what counts as evidence for bona fide clinical practice has gone from theory-driven clinical approaches in the 1960s and 1970s through critical attempts at categorization of empirically supported therapies in the 1990s on to the concept of evidence-based practice in 2006. Implications of this progression in professional psychology are discussed in the light of hypnosis's current quest for validation and empirical accreditation.

'Nobody tosses a dwarf!' The relation between the empirical and the normative reexamined.

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Leget, Carlo; Borry, Pascal; de Vries, Raymond

2009-05-01

This article discusses the relation between empirical and normative approaches in bioethics. The issue of dwarf tossing, while admittedly unusual, is chosen as a point of departure because it challenges the reader to look with fresh eyes upon several central bioethical themes, including human dignity, autonomy, and the protection of vulnerable people. After an overview of current approaches to the integration of empirical and normative ethics, we consider five ways that the empirical and normative can be brought together to speak to the problem of dwarf tossing: prescriptive applied ethics, theoretical ethics, critical applied ethics, particularist ethics and integrated empirical ethics. We defend a position of critical applied ethics that allows for a two-way relation between empirical and normative theories. Against efforts fully to integrate the normative and the empirical into one synthesis, we propose that the two should stand in tension and relation to one another. The approach we endorse acknowledges that a social practice can and should be judged both by the gathering of empirical data and by normative ethics. Critical applied ethics uses a five stage process that includes: (a) determination of the problem, (b) description of the problem, (c) empirical study of effects and alternatives, (d) normative weighing and (e) evaluation of the effects of a decision. In each stage, we explore the perspective from both the empirical (sociological) and the normative ethical point of view. We conclude by applying our five-stage critical applied ethics to the example of dwarf tossing.

The Regional Heterogeneity of Productivity Determinants: Evidence from Ukrainian Firms

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Cieślik Andrzej

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the determinants of the total factor productivity (TFP for Ukrainian firms in the manufacturing sector across macro-regions using recent micro-level datasets for 2013. Our empirical results show some degree of heterogeneity across Ukrainian macro-regions; in particular, the link between the total factor productivity, firm size, imports and the level of competition seems to be valid for all macro regions. However, the effects of private ownership status, capital intensity and exports seems to be region specific. In addition, we found no relationship between firm productivity and foreign ownership for any of the regions.

The relationship between social determinants of health, and rehabilitation of neurological conditions: a systematic literature review.

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Frier, Amanda; Barnett, Fiona; Devine, Sue

2017-05-01

This systematic literature review aims to explore the relationship between social determinants of health (SDH), and the rehabilitation of neurological conditions. In particular, the review will consider relationships between social determinants and peoples' attendance and sustained adherence to rehabilitation programs, and motivation regarding neurological rehabilitation. A systematic search of peer-reviewed literature from electronic databases; MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL and Informit health, was conducted. Papers published between 2004 and 2014 were considered. Eleven quantitative studies met the inclusion criteria. There was a lack of research addressing SDH and neurological rehabilitation simultaneously. Cardiac and cancer rehabilitation studies reported employment and income, social support, transport, housing and food security as the most frequent SDH factors influencing attendance, sustained adherence and motivation. Given this association, a similar relationship between neurological rehabilitation and SDH is plausible. Rehabilitation of neurological conditions can be a long and difficult process. To pursue optimal outcomes, an individual's social circumstances should be considered. Understanding how SDH interact with neurological rehabilitation may enhance service delivery, thus maximizing the possible rehabilitation outcomes for individuals. Future research that considers SDH and rehabilitation of neurological conditions jointly may benefit service providers and those requiring neurological rehabilitation. Implications for Rehabilitation Social determinants of health are important to consider in the rehabilitation of neurological conditions. Understanding the interplay between the social determinants of health and neurological rehabilitation may enhance the possible outcomes for those requiring rehabilitation. Increased awareness and capacity of health care professionals involved in neurological rehabilitation may hasten momentum towards decreased health

Interaction and actors‘ identities in business relationships

OpenAIRE

La Rocca, Antonella; Snehota, Ivan

2011-01-01

The existence of continuous buyer-seller relationships in business-to- business markets has been evidenced in numerous empirical studies and more recently acknowledged in marketing in general. Research shows that the critical process in the development of business relationships is interaction (Håkansson et al., 2009). This study deals with the interactive behaviours of actors and focuses on how actors interpret each other’s identities. We review three fields of research that offer impul...

Money supply-inflation relationship in postcommunist Russia

OpenAIRE

Nikolic, M.

2003-01-01

Numerous empirical studies have been devoted to analyses of diverse inflation processes and have demonstrated consistent patterns for money price relationships for various market economies. While these propositions may be valid for market economies, they do not seem to be holding for the majority of transition economies. Except for Russia and Poland, no systematic pattern for the money price relationship was detected in transition economies in the first half of the 1990s, thus ...

Does Access to Finance Lower Firms’ Cost of Capital? Empirical Evidence from International Manufacturing Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lashitew, Addisu A.

2011-01-01

Lack of access to finance is argued to be one of the most binding constraints for firm growth. There is, however, limited empirical evidence on the relationship between access to finance and the cost of capital. This paper uses international manufacturing data to analyze the effect of access to

Empirical Determination of Dark Matter Velocities Using Metal-Poor Stars.

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Herzog-Arbeitman, Jonah; Lisanti, Mariangela; Madau, Piero; Necib, Lina

2018-01-26

The Milky Way dark matter halo is formed from the accretion of smaller subhalos. These sub-units also harbor stars-typically old and metal-poor-that are deposited in the Galactic inner regions by disruption events. In this Letter, we show that the dark matter and metal-poor stars in the Solar neighborhood share similar kinematics due to their common origin. Using the high-resolution eris simulation, which traces the evolution of both the dark matter and baryons in a realistic Milky Way analog galaxy, we demonstrate that metal-poor stars are indeed effective tracers for the local, virialized dark matter velocity distribution. The local dark matter velocities can therefore be inferred from observations of the stellar halo made by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey within 4 kpc of the Sun. This empirical distribution differs from the standard halo model in important ways and suggests that the bounds on the spin-independent scattering cross section may be weakened for dark matter masses below ∼10  GeV. Data from Gaia will allow us to further refine the expected distribution for the smooth dark matter component, and to test for the presence of local substructure.

Visual Design Principles: An Empirical Study of Design Lore

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Kimball, Miles A.

2013-01-01

Many books, designers, and design educators talk about visual design principles such as balance, contrast, and alignment, but with little consistency. This study uses empirical methods to explore the lore surrounding design principles. The study took the form of two stages: a quantitative literature review to determine what design principles are…

Survey Explores Symbiotic Relationship between China’s Nonofficial Finance and SMEs

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

虞群娥; 李爱喜

2008-01-01

Domestic and foreign studies have revealed the existence of an interactive development relationship between nono cial nance and small and medium-sizedenterprises.Based on the empirical findings of a Hangzhou case study,this article substantiates the existence of a very strong symbiotic relationship between China’s nono cial nance and small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs).This symbiotic relationship is an equilibrium outcome among three market players:formalnance,nono cial nance and SMEs.Meanwhile,it is also a rational choice and suboptimal equilibrium point reached under the existing institutional spaceconstraints.In our empirical study,we found that formal nance failure left a space for symbiosis to survive in two ways:the comparative advantages of nono cialnance created an institutional basis for symbiosis to grow,and immense SME fund shortages created a market space for symbiosis to thrive.In this article,we alsoput forward some recommendations for further development of such a symbiotic relationship.

Fixation of waste materials in grouts. Part I. Empirical correlations of formulation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tallent, O.K.; Gilliam, T.M.; McDaniel, E.W.; Godsey, T.T.

1986-03-01

Data correlations have demonstrated systematic relationships between important variables in hydrofracture grout formulation. The data are taken from an investigation to determine conditions for eliminating drainable water from the grout system. The two most important variables affecting drainable water are the amounts of Attapulgite-150 clay in the dry-solid blends and the ratios in which the blends are mixed with the waste. Empirical equations were developed relating the (1) vol % of drainable water, (2) time for free water adsorption, (3) wt % clay, (4) dry-blend liquid-waste mix ratio, (5) compressive strength, (6) wt % fly ash, and (7) pumping velocity required for turbulent flow through a 2-in.-ID pipe. The equations allow predictions of properties within the compositional range of the investigation from which the data were obtained. They also provide a relatively simple method that can be used to improve future test design, eliminate superfluous testing, decrease costs, and increase overall efficiency of individual investigations. 11 refs., 15 figs

Empirical ethics, context-sensitivity, and contextualism.

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Musschenga, Albert W

2005-10-01

In medical ethics, business ethics, and some branches of political philosophy (multi-culturalism, issues of just allocation, and equitable distribution) the literature increasingly combines insights from ethics and the social sciences. Some authors in medical ethics even speak of a new phase in the history of ethics, hailing "empirical ethics" as a logical next step in the development of practical ethics after the turn to "applied ethics." The name empirical ethics is ill-chosen because of its associations with "descriptive ethics." Unlike descriptive ethics, however, empirical ethics aims to be both descriptive and normative. The first question on which I focus is what kind of empirical research is used by empirical ethics and for which purposes. I argue that the ultimate aim of all empirical ethics is to improve the context-sensitivity of ethics. The second question is whether empirical ethics is essentially connected with specific positions in meta-ethics. I show that in some kinds of meta-ethical theories, which I categorize as broad contextualist theories, there is an intrinsic need for connecting normative ethics with empirical social research. But context-sensitivity is a goal that can be aimed for from any meta-ethical position.

Using Customer Relationship Trajectories to Segment Customers and Predict Profitability

OpenAIRE

Mark Tanya; Niraj Rakesh; Dawar Niraj

2007-01-01

A central premise of relationship marketing theory is that economic benefits flow fromretaining customers. However, the early research focus on the duration of the relationship may obscure other important aspects of the interactions with the customer that drive profitability. Borrowing from the branding literature, where different types of customer relationships have been described (but not empirically examined), we study the patterns of business customers’ buying behavior, or trajectories th...

Consumer trust in food safety--a multidisciplinary approach and empirical evidence from Taiwan.

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Chen, Mei-Fang

2008-12-01

Food scandals that happened in recent years have increased consumers' risk perceptions of foods and decreased their trust in food safety. A better understanding of the consumer trust in food safety can improve the effectiveness of public policy and allow the development of the best practice in risk communication. This study proposes a research framework from a psychometric approach to investigate the relationships between the consumer's trust in food safety and the antecedents of risk perceptions of foods based on a reflexive modernization perspective and a cultural theory perspective in the hope of benefiting the future empirical study. The empirical results from a structural equation modeling analysis of Taiwan as a case in point reveal that this research framework based on a multidisciplinary perspective can be a valuable tool for a growing understanding of consumer trust in food safety. The antecedents in the psychometric research framework comprised reflexive modernization factors and cultural theory factors have all been supported in this study except the consumer's perception of pessimism toward food. Moreover, the empirical results of repeated measures analysis of variance give more detailed information to grasp empirical implications and to provide some suggestions to the actors and institutions involved in the food supply chain in Taiwan.

Testing isotherm models and recovering empirical relationships for adsorption in microporous carbons using virtual carbon models and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terzyk, Artur P; Furmaniak, Sylwester; Gauden, Piotr A; Harris, Peter J F; Wloch, Jerzy

2008-01-01

Using the plausible model of activated carbon proposed by Harris and co-workers and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we study the applicability of standard methods for describing adsorption data on microporous carbons widely used in adsorption science. Two carbon structures are studied, one with a small distribution of micropores in the range up to 1 nm, and the other with micropores covering a wide range of porosity. For both structures, adsorption isotherms of noble gases (from Ne to Xe), carbon tetrachloride and benzene are simulated. The data obtained are considered in terms of Dubinin-Radushkevich plots. Moreover, for benzene and carbon tetrachloride the temperature invariance of the characteristic curve is also studied. We show that using simulated data some empirical relationships obtained from experiment can be successfully recovered. Next we test the applicability of Dubinin's related models including the Dubinin-Izotova, Dubinin-Radushkevich-Stoeckli, and Jaroniec-Choma equations. The results obtained demonstrate the limits and applications of the models studied in the field of carbon porosity characterization

Empirical and pragmatic adequacy of grounded theory: Advancing nurse empowerment theory for nurses' practice.

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Udod, Sonia A; Racine, Louise

2017-12-01

To draw on the findings of a grounded theory study aimed at exploring how power is exercised in nurse-manager relationships in the hospital setting, this paper examines the empirical and pragmatic adequacy of grounded theory as a methodology to advance the concept of empowerment in the area of nursing leadership and management. The evidence on staff nurse empowerment has highlighted the magnitude of individual and organisational outcomes, but has not fully explicated the micro-level processes underlying how power is exercised, shared or created within the nurse-manager relationship. Although grounded theory is a widely adopted nursing research methodology, it remains less used in nursing leadership because of the dominance of quantitative approaches to research. Grounded theory methodology provides the empirical and pragmatic relevance to inform nursing practice and policy. Grounded theory is a relevant qualitative approach to use in leadership research as it provides a fine and detailed analysis of the process underlying complexity and bureaucracy. Discursive paper. A critical examination of the empirical and pragmatic relevance of grounded theory by (Corbin & Strauss, , ) as a method for analysing and solving problems in nurses' practice is provided. This paper provides evidence to support the empirical and pragmatic adequacy of grounded theory methodology. Although the application of the ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions of grounded theory is challenging, this methodology is useful to address real-life problems in nursing practice by developing theoretical explanations of nurse empowerment, or lack thereof, in the workplace. Grounded theory represents a relevant methodology to inform nursing leadership research. Grounded theory is anchored in the reality of practice. The strength of grounded theory is to provide results that can be readily applied to clinical practice and policy as they arise from problems that affect practice and that

An empirical study of the relationship between earnings forecasts and risk profile

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Malekian Esfandiar

2016-11-01

Full Text Available A new approach to examine the relationship between the excess of forecast based on characteristics toward management forecast and business risk is provided in this research at companies listed on the stock exchange in Tehran.The customary (traditional (approach is based on the regression of management forecast errors of past years. Therefore, the observable and unobservable inputs, such as managements, incentive misalignment, are used to predict management forecast errors. In this study, the future earnings is at first estimated by using characteristics including earnings per share, loss indicator, Neg. accruals per share , Pos. accruals per share ,asset growth , dividend indicator (non-payment of the dividend, Book-to-market value, share price and dividend per share for companies. Based on that, a criterion (CO for estimating the earnings forecast error was developed, which is the alternative forecasted errors. One should notice that, business risk is considered as a measure of company performance. In this study, measures of business risk are volatility of earnings and dividend ratio. Research findings show that, there is a significant relationship between the CO and volatility of earnings, on the contrary there is no significant relationship between this criteria and dividend ratio

Empire as a Geopolitical Figure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parker, Noel

2010-01-01

This article analyses the ingredients of empire as a pattern of order with geopolitical effects. Noting the imperial form's proclivity for expansion from a critical reading of historical sociology, the article argues that the principal manifestation of earlier geopolitics lay not in the nation...... but in empire. That in turn has been driven by a view of the world as disorderly and open to the ordering will of empires (emanating, at the time of geopolitics' inception, from Europe). One implication is that empires are likely to figure in the geopolitical ordering of the globe at all times, in particular...... after all that has happened in the late twentieth century to undermine nationalism and the national state. Empire is indeed a probable, even for some an attractive form of regime for extending order over the disorder produced by globalisation. Geopolitics articulated in imperial expansion is likely...

Are stock market returns related to the weather effects? Empirical evidence from Taiwan

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Chang, Tsangyao; Nieh, Chien-Chung; Yang, Ming Jing; Yang, Tse-Yu

2006-05-01

In this study, we employ a recently developed econometric technique of the threshold model with the GJR-GARCH process on error terms to investigate the relationships between weather factors and stock market returns in Taiwan using daily data for the period of 1 July 1997-22 October 2003. The major weather factors studied include temperature, humidity, and cloud cover. Our empirical evidence shows that temperature and cloud cover are two important weather factors that affect the stock returns in Taiwan. Our empirical findings further support the previous arguments that advocate the inclusion of economically neutral behavioral variables in asset pricing models. These results also have significant implications for individual investors and financial institutions planning to invest in the Taiwan stock market.

Firm productivity, pollution, and output: theory and empirical evidence from China.

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Tang, Erzi; Zhang, Jingjing; Haider, Zulfiqar

2015-11-01

Using a theoretical model, this paper argues that as firm productivity increases, there is a decrease in firm-level pollution intensity. However, as productivity increases, firms tend to increase their aggregate output, which requires the use of additional resources that increase pollution. Hence, an increase in productivity results in two opposing effects where increased productivity may in fact increase pollution created by a firm. We describe the joint effect of these two mechanisms on pollution emissions as the "productivity dilemma" of pollution emission. Based on firm-level data from China, we also empirically test this productivity dilemma hypothesis. Our empirical results suggest that, in general, firm productivity has a positive and statistically significant impact on pollution emission in China. However, the impact of productivity on pollution becomes negative when we control for increases in firm output. The empirical evidence also confirms the positive influence of productivity on output, which suggests that the main determinant of pollution is the firm's output. The empirical results provide evidence of the existence of, what we describe as, the productivity dilemma of pollution emission.

Prenatal lead exposure and relationship with maternal exposure determinants in a public maternity hospital of La Plata, Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Enrique; Varea, Ana; Apezteguía, María; González, Horacio F; Girardelli, Ana; Caro, Laura Sanchez; Lobisuto, Mario; Delgado, Griselda; Disalvo, Liliana

2014-03-01

Prenatal lead exposure is a health hazard that may cause cognitive development impairments and other adverse effects in children. We conducted a cross sectional study analyzing cord blood lead levels (CBLL) of newborns and their relationship with maternal determinants of lead exposure. Mothers answered a questionnaire about socio-demographic, lifestyle habits and environmental characteristics. We used Mann-Whitney's test to compare CBLL geometrical means (GM) corresponding to the presence or absence of each lead exposure determinant, and Chi square test to study the relationship between CBLL and maternal lead exposure determinants. A total of 159 newborns participated in the study. CBLL GM was 2.1 μg/dL; and 25% of the participants had a measurable CBLL (LOQ=3.3 μg/dl). Although the participants had several determinants of lead exposure, we only found a significant relationship with inside household determinants, such as presence of lead piping (p=0.026), unplastered walls (p=0.046) and peeling paint (p=0.048). Our results show that CBLL GM was similar to that reported in several studies conducted around the world. However, 25% of the participants might have some degree of risk for lead poisoning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigating the effects of service quality and hedonic on behavioral intentions: An empirical survey on restaurant industry

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Seyed Hossein Mansouri

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This research proposes a comprehensive model that investigates the relationships between service quality, hedonic, perceived value and behavioral intentions. The purpose of this study is to build a better understanding of the determinants of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty throughout the restaurant services by incorporating the perceptions of hedonic effect in service delivery and outlining why and how service quality is important to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Respondents were chosen from three regular customers of Atawich chain restaurants in city of Tehran by using stratified random sampling method. A total of 390 questionnaires were used for data analysis. Structural equations modeling by using LISREL was performed to empirically test the relationships between the constructs of this study. Results show that both service quality and hedonic effect are importance predictors of customer satisfaction in Iranian society. In addition, results indicate that service quality and hedonic effect have positive and significant effects on perceived value. However, relationship between customer satisfaction and perceived value with attitudinal loyalty was not significant. Finally, it suggests that restaurant managers should improve their restaurant service offerings to satisfy customers. In addition, the results emphasize the significance of hedonic effect and positive emotions in creating perceived value and customer satisfaction.

The Twin Deficits Hypothesis: An Empirical Analysis for Tanzania

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Manamba Epaphra

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship between current account and government budget deficits in Tanzania. The paper tests the validity of the twin deficits hypothesis, using annual time series data for the 1966-2015 period. The paper is thought to be significant because the concept of the twin deficit hypothesis is fraught with controversy. Some researches support the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between current account deficits and fiscal deficits in the economy while others do not. In this paper, the empirical tests fail to reject the twin deficits hypothesis, indicating that rising budget deficits put more strain on the current account deficits in Tanzania. Specifically, the Vector Error Correction Model results support the conventional theory of a positive relationship between fiscal and external balances, with a relatively high speed of adjustment toward the equilibrium position. This evidence is consistent with a small open economy. To address the problem that may result from this kind of relationship, appropriate policy variables for reducing budget deficits such as reduction in non-development expenditure, enhancement of domestic revenue collection and actively fight corruption and tax evasion should be adopted. The government should also target export oriented firms and encourage an import substitution industry by creating favorable business environments.

What determines crime rates? An empirical test of integrated economic and sociological theories of criminal behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Engelen, Peter Jan; Lander, Michel W.; van Essen, Marc

Research on crime has by no means reached a definitive conclusion on which factors are related to crime rates. We contribute to the crime literature by providing an integrated empirical model of economic and sociological theories of criminal behavior and by using a very comprehensive set of

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG P/E RATIO, STOCK RETURN AND DIVIDEND YIELS FOR ISTANBUL STOCK EXCHANGE

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Funda H. SEZGIN

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The price to earnings ratio (P/E is widely used, particularly by practitioners, as a measure of relative stock valuation. Price to earnings is an indicator which indicates current mood of investors how much they are willing to pay per unit of company earnings. Traditionally, the P/E ratio has been assumed to be an indicator of the quality of an investment; a relatively low P/E ratio implies a good investment, whereas a relatively high P/E ratio indicates a “poor” investment prospect. The aim of this study is to identify relationship among market stock return, dividend yields and price to earnings ratio affect in the period 2000.01-2009.12. Therefore, to determine long-run and short-run relationship, Johansen cointegration tests, error-correction models and Granger causality tests are used.

State ownership and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies

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Mei Yu

2013-06-01

Full Text Available While the relationship between state ownership and firm performance has been widely researched, the empirical evidence has provided mixed results. This study applies panel data regression techniques to 10,639 firm-year observations of non-financial Chinese listed firms during 2003–2010 to examine the relationship between state ownership and firm performance. The results show that state ownership has a U-shaped relationship with firm performance. The Split Share Structure Reform in 2005–2006 played a positive role in enhancing the relationship between state ownership and firm profitability ratios. Although state ownership decreased significantly after 2006, it remains high in strategically important industry sectors such as the oil, natural gas and mining sector and the publishing, broadcasting and media sector. The findings reveal that a higher level of state ownership is superior to a dispersed ownership structure due to the benefits of government support and political connections. The Split Share Structure Reform made previously non-tradable shares legally tradable, improving corporate governance and reducing the negative effect of non-tradable state shares.

Empirical Assessment of the Mean Block Volume of Rock Masses Intersected by Four Joint Sets

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, Gian Luca

2016-05-01

The estimation of a representative value for the rock block volume ( V b) is of huge interest in rock engineering in regards to rock mass characterization purposes. However, while mathematical relationships to precisely estimate this parameter from the spacing of joints can be found in literature for rock masses intersected by three dominant joint sets, corresponding relationships do not actually exist when more than three sets occur. In these cases, a consistent assessment of V b can only be achieved by directly measuring the dimensions of several representative natural rock blocks in the field or by means of more sophisticated 3D numerical modeling approaches. However, Palmström's empirical relationship based on the volumetric joint count J v and on a block shape factor β is commonly used in the practice, although strictly valid only for rock masses intersected by three joint sets. Starting from these considerations, the present paper is primarily intended to investigate the reliability of a set of empirical relationships linking the block volume with the indexes most commonly used to characterize the degree of jointing in a rock mass (i.e. the J v and the mean value of the joint set spacings) specifically applicable to rock masses intersected by four sets of persistent discontinuities. Based on the analysis of artificial 3D block assemblies generated using the software AutoCAD, the most accurate best-fit regression has been found between the mean block volume (V_{{{{b}}_{{m}} }}) of tested rock mass samples and the geometric mean value of the spacings of the joint sets delimiting blocks; thus, indicating this mean value as a promising parameter for the preliminary characterization of the block size. Tests on field outcrops have demonstrated that the proposed empirical methodology has the potential of predicting the mean block volume of multiple-set jointed rock masses with an acceptable accuracy for common uses in most practical rock engineering applications.

Moderators, mediators, and bidirectional relationships in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework: An empirical investigation using a longitudinal design and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

Science.gov (United States)

Rouquette, Alexandra; Badley, Elizabeth M; Falissard, Bruno; Dub, Timothée; Leplege, Alain; Coste, Joël

2015-06-01

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) published in 2001 describes the consequences of health conditions with three components of impairments in body structures or functions, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Two of the new features of the conceptual model were the possibility of feedback effects between each ICF component and the introduction of contextual factors conceptualized as moderators of the relationship between the components. The aim of this longitudinal study is to provide empirical evidence of these two kinds of effect. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data from a French population-based cohort of 548 patients with knee osteoarthritis recruited between April 2007 and March 2009 and followed for three years. Indicators of the body structure and function, activity and participation components of the ICF were derived from self-administered standardized instruments. The measurement model revealed four separate factors for body structures impairments, body functions impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. The classic sequence from body impairments to participation restrictions through activity limitations was found at each assessment time. Longitudinal study of the ICF component relationships showed a feedback pathway indicating that the level of participation restrictions at baseline was predictive of activity limitations three years later. Finally, the moderating role of personal (age, sex, mental health, etc.) and environmental factors (family relationships, mobility device use, etc.) was investigated. Three contextual factors (sex, family relationships and walking stick use) were found to be moderators for the relationship between the body impairments and the activity limitations components. Mental health was found to be a mediating factor of the effect of activity limitations on participation restrictions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

A Research for Determining the Relationship between Destination Image and Destination Personality

OpenAIRE

Savaş Artuğer; Burçin Cevdet Çetinsöz

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between destination image and destination personality. The sample group of the study consisted of tourists visiting Alanya district of Antalya province between June and August 2013. A brand personality scale developed by Aaker (1997) and a survey used for grading the destination image were used as tools for collecting data which were obtained from a total of 395 tourists for the application. Descriptive analyses such percentage, frequenc...

Factors of economic growth in Palestine: an empirical Analysis during the period of (1994-2013

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Omar Mahmoud Abu-Eideh

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the impact of the size of domestic working labour force, real gross domestic capital formation, real domestic exports and imports of goods and services, and political instability on real gross domestic product( RGDP in Palestine during the period of 1994 -2013. To examine the empirical relationship between these explanatory variables and real (GDP growth the study adopted a standardized Cobb- Douglas production function by using the annual official data of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS, and applying the Ordinary least Square method (OLS and Second Order Auto Correlation Techniques. The empirical results of the model applied indicated that there is a positive relationship between the size of domestic working labour force, real gross domestic capital formation, real domestic exports and real gross domestic product( RGDP, and a negative relationship between real domestic imports of goods and services, and political instability and the real growth of (GDP. The study suggested several recommendations that can boost the level of growth, among them the most important one, is the urgent need for more investment in the economy as it leads to more formation of domestic capital which can count more in terms of economic growth in many ways.

The empirical relationship between energy futures prices and exchange rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadorsky, P.

2000-01-01

This paper investigates the interaction between energy futures prices and exchange rates. Results are presented to show that futures prices for crude oil, heating oil and unleaded gasoline are co-integrated with a trade-weighted index of exchange rates. This is important because it means that there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between these four variables. Granger causality results for both the long- and short-run are presented. Evidence is also presented that suggests exchange rates transmit exogenous shocks to energy futures prices. 22 refs

Relationship Marketing: Association of Demography, Ethical Ideologies and Personalisation with Customer Value and Relationship Duration in Travel & Leisure Industry

OpenAIRE

Chew, Jennie Lay Peng

2010-01-01

Casino industry relationship management has created interest among the Asia region especially with the opening of the two Integrated Resorts (IR) – Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands in year 2010 after the success of Macau – The Asia Las Vegas. Underlying the threat to Genting Malaysia, this study is aim to analysis the relationship marketing theoretically and empirically on customer value and commitment of Genting patronage since the opening of the two IR. The dynamicity of relati...

An empirical analysis of the relationship between the consumption of alcohol and liver cirrhosis mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bentzen, Jan Børsen; Smith, Valdemar

The question whether intake of alcohol is associated with liver cirrhosis mortality is analyzed using aggregate data for alcohol consumption, alcohol related diseases and alcohol policies of 16 European countries. The empirical analysis gives support to a close association between cirrhosis morta...... mortality and intake of alcohol - and the latter also concerns each of the specific beverages, i.e. spirits, wine and beer, where other studies usually only find evidence of spirits and wine related to liver cirrhosis mortality.  ...

Hurricane-Induced Stage-Frequency Relationships for the Territory of American Samoa

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Militello, Adele

1998-01-01

.... The statistical approach taken to calculated frequency-of-occurrence relationships was the Empirical Simulation Technique, which applies historical wave information and a nearest neighbor technique...

Hurricane-Induced Stage-Frequency Relationships for the Territory of American Samoa

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Militello, Adele

2003-01-01

.... The statistical approach taken to calculate frequency-of-occurrence relationships was the Empirical Simulation Technique, which applies historical wave information and a nearest neighbor technique...

Exploring Longitudinal Risk-return Relationships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Torben J.; Bettis, Richard A.

2015-01-01

We study a longitudinal fit model of adaptation and its association with the longitudinal risk-return relationship. The model allows the firm to adjust its position in response to partial learning about a changing environment characterized by two path-dependent processes—a random walk and a stoch......We study a longitudinal fit model of adaptation and its association with the longitudinal risk-return relationship. The model allows the firm to adjust its position in response to partial learning about a changing environment characterized by two path-dependent processes—a random walk...... can lead to the inverse longitudinal risk-return relationships observed empirically. We discuss this apparent paradox and the possible resolution between mindless and conscious behavior as plausible causes of the longitudinal Bowman Paradox....

Theological reflections on empire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allan A. Boesak

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Since the meeting of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Accra, Ghana (2004, and the adoption of the Accra Declaration, a debate has been raging in the churches about globalisation, socio-economic justice, ecological responsibility, political and cultural domination and globalised war. Central to this debate is the concept of empire and the way the United States is increasingly becoming its embodiment. Is the United States a global empire? This article argues that the United States has indeed become the expression of a modern empire and that this reality has considerable consequences, not just for global economics and politics but for theological refl ection as well.

Empiric transcatheter arterial embolization for massive bleeding from duodenal ulcers: efficacy and complications.

Science.gov (United States)

Ichiro, Ikushima; Shushi, Higashi; Akihiko, Ishii; Yasuhiko, Iryo; Yasuyuki, Yamashita

2011-07-01

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of empiric transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) for patients with massive bleeding from duodenal ulcers. During January 2000 and December 2009, 59 patients with duodenal ulcer bleeding in whom TAE was attempted after endoscopic therapy failed were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into empiric TAE (n = 36) and identifiable TAE (n = 23) groups according to angiographic findings with or without identification of the bleeding sites. The technical and clinical success rate, recurrent bleeding rate, procedure-related complications, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. The technical and clinical success rates of TAE were 100% and 83%. The recurrent bleeding rate, clinical success, duodenal stenosis, and 30-day mortality after TAE were not significantly different between the empiric and identifiable TAE groups. A high rate of technical and clinical success was obtained with empiric TAE comparable to identifiable TAE in patients with massive bleeding from duodenal ulcers. There were no severe complications. Empiric TAE is an effective and safe method when a bleeding site cannot determined by angiography. Copyright © 2011 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship Between Education Expenditure And Economic Growth ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The empirical part of the result shows that there is unidirectional relationship between education and economic growth with causality running from education expenditure to economic growth. The result therefore suggests that policy makers should boost expenditure on education as it will further improve economic growth in ...

Semi-Empiric Algorithm for Assessment of the Vehicle Mobility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ticusor CIOBOTARU

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The mobility of military vehicles plays a key role in operation. The ability to reach the desired area in war theatre represents the most important condition for a successful accomplishment of the mission for military vehicles. The off-road vehicles face a broad spectrum of terrains to cross. These terrains differ by geometry and the soil characteristics.NATO References Mobility Model (NRMM software is based on empirical relationship between the terrain characteristics, running conditions and vehicles design. The paper presents the main results of a comparative mobility analysis for M1 and HMMWV vehicles obtained using NRMM.

Climate change, income and happiness: An empirical study for Barcelona

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sekulova, F.; van den Bergh, J.C.J.M.

2013-01-01

The present article builds upon the results of an empirical study exploring key factors which determine life satisfaction in Barcelona. Based on a sample of 840 individuals we first look at the way changes in income, notably income reductions, associated with the current economic situation in Spain,

University-Industry Collaboration from a Relationship Marketing Perspective: An Empirical Analysis in a Spanish University

Science.gov (United States)

Frasquet, Marta; Calderon, Haydee; Cervera, Amparo

2012-01-01

Building relationships between universities and industry bodies is of prime importance for creating value for universities' stakeholders. This paper focuses on relationships in relation to undergraduate internship programmes in the Social Sciences. Using the relationship marketing approach, we analyze this type of collaboration of firms with a…

RELATIONSHIP OF SELF-REGULATION AND PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. P. Zavodchikov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Today, the problem of personal planning and realization of the individual professional future has become very urgent in the conditions of uncertainty of the social and economic environment development, fast updating of technologies and transformation of the world of professions. Therefore, skills of self-regulation and attraction of all psychological abilities of the individual are required to build up personal professional perspective.The aim of the publication is to present the results of the pilot study of the relationship of self-regulation parameters and components of personal professional perspective at the stage of vocational training.Methodology and research methods. The methodological basis of the research is subject-activity approach to the study of the phenomena “professional self-determination”. To obtain empirical data, V. I. Morosanova’s questionnaire “The Style of Self-Regulation of Behaviour” and the scheme of creation of the personal professional plan developed by E. A. Klimov and added with the valuable and moral components of self-determination offered by N. S. Pryazhnikov were applied. Mathematical-statistical processing of the results was carried out by means of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was used for the comparative analysis; the Spearman’s rank correlation test was used for the correlation analysis.Results and scientific novelty. In the present article, the idea of self-determination of the subject in the professional sphere is discussed at the methodological level. Creation of personal professional perspective is shown as practical actions for predicting of the professional future under the developed behavioural self-regulation structures of the personality.The relationship of self-regulation and professional perspective (as the measured parameters of professional self-determination was revealed at the empirical level on the sample of students of the

Humility, Forgiveness, and Emerging Adult Female Romantic Relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Chance A; Fincham, Frank D

2017-10-26

Among a sample of emerging adult females (N = 152) we empirically examined the role of humility and forgiveness in romantic relationships. We specifically tested a model linking perceived humility to relationship satisfaction with self-forgiveness and partner-forgiveness. Participants in a romantic relationship completed measures of self-reported humility, self-forgiveness, partner-forgiveness, and relationship satisfaction. Serial mediation analyses were conducted using path analysis to test the following sequence, humility self-forgiveness partner-forgiveness relationship satisfaction. Findings indicate that humility was related to relationship satisfaction via a serially mediated path of self-forgiveness and partner-forgiveness, which was not reducible to impression management. We consider implications for research and clinical practice. © 2017 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

The mediating role of relatedness need satisfaction in the relationship between charitable behavior and well-being: Empirical evidence from China.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jiang; Zeng, Taoran; Zhang, Chong; Wang, Rong

2016-08-03

Based on self-determination theory, the current research aimed to explore the potential mediating effect of relatedness need satisfaction on the relationship between charitable behavior and well-being in the Chinese context. Employing a cross-sectional design, participants reported data on the aforementioned variables in Study 1. The results indicated that relatedness need satisfaction mediated the positive relationship between charitable behavior and hedonic well-being and that between charitable behavior and eudaimonic well-being. Subsequently, a field experiment was conducted in Study 2. Participants rated their levels of relatedness need satisfaction and well-being after charitable donation behaviors were primed. We again observed consistent results. Specifically, charitable behavior was positively associated with both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and these relationships were mediated by relatedness need satisfaction. The above findings help to clarify the association between charitable behavior and people's subjective feelings (i.e., well-being), and they deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanism from the perspective of psychological needs satisfaction. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

The effect of marketing expenses on car sales – an empirical analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tudose Mihaela Brînduşa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper assesses empirically the relationship between marketing expenditures and sales in a highly competitive industry, namely automotive, by analyzing the marketing expending of Automobile Dacia S.A. The first part of the paper presents the state-of-the-art and discusses the studies previously conducted which focus on the structure, dynamic and the impact of marketing expenses, while the second part consists in an empirical analysis conducted on Automobile Dacia S.A. marketing spending. The results of the study show that the company managed to increase its’ market share by adopting differentiated marketing for each geographical area. Although the research revealed that the allocation percentage from sales for marketing spending is relatively low (5-6%, the analysis conducted on the cost per unit sold reveals a share of 3% on marketing spending.

An Empirical Study on New Teacher-Student Relationship and Questioning Strategies in ESL Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zuosheng

2012-01-01

Teacher-student relationship and questioning strategies are extremely crucial elements in English teaching and learning. Questioning strategies can influence learners' emotional changes in classroom and the relationship between teachers & students. The affective factors play a very important role in language teaching & learning.…

Does Innovating Customer Relationship Management Improve Firm Performance?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geersbro, Jens; Ritter, Thomas

Based on an empirical study of more than 400 B2B firms, this paper investigates the role of innovating a firm’s customer relationship management capability on firm performance. There is a lot of evidence for the positive impact of customer relationship management capability on firm performance....... This paper advances this stream of literature by analyzing whether or not investments into developing a firm’s customer relationship capability increase firm performance. The findings illustrate that although relationship management innovation (defined as new (to the firm) processes, systems and tools...... for relationship management) has a positive correlation with firm performance, the impact is fully mediated by the firms’ relationship management capability. The paper also identifies internal and external drivers of customer relationship management innovation. Not surprisingly customer and competitor dynamics...

Stock Price Volatility and Role of Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Shah, Syed Akif; Noreen, Umara

2016-01-01

Despite years of empirical research, the linkage between dividend policy and stock price volatility remains controversial among the researchers and scholars. This research endeavors to figure out the relationship between stock price volatility and dividend policy of listed companies in Pakistan. A sample of fifty firms, based upon consistent dividend paying behavior, listed on Karachi Stock Exchange has been selected from non-financial sectors, for the period of 2005 to 2012. Multiple regress...

Consumer-Brand Relationships under the Marketing 3.0 Paradigm: A Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Suárez, Mónica; Martínez-Ruiz, María Pilar; Martínez-Caraballo, Noemí

2017-01-01

Consumer-brand relationships encompass several dimensions, most of which have attracted growing research attention during the last years. Building these relationships is especially important in the marketing 3.0 era, where it is suggested that customers will choose those brands that satisfy their deepest needs. With these ideas in mind, this article provides a review of two key concepts implied in such relationships: brand love and customer engagement. Although both conceptions focus on different stages of consumer-brand relationships, they actually cover different perspectives on the same process. Moreover, they come from diverse conceptual paradigms: whilst brand love comes from the psychology discipline, engagement derives from diverse areas of the marketing field (e.g., the service-dominant logic perspective). However, their further empirical developments have taken place in marketing. Besides, both terms appear to be applied to different empirical perspectives: brand love is usually linked to the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry and customer engagement to services.

Consumer-Brand Relationships under the Marketing 3.0 Paradigm: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Suárez, Mónica; Martínez-Ruiz, María Pilar; Martínez-Caraballo, Noemí

2017-01-01

Consumer-brand relationships encompass several dimensions, most of which have attracted growing research attention during the last years. Building these relationships is especially important in the marketing 3.0 era, where it is suggested that customers will choose those brands that satisfy their deepest needs. With these ideas in mind, this article provides a review of two key concepts implied in such relationships: brand love and customer engagement. Although both conceptions focus on different stages of consumer-brand relationships, they actually cover different perspectives on the same process. Moreover, they come from diverse conceptual paradigms: whilst brand love comes from the psychology discipline, engagement derives from diverse areas of the marketing field (e.g., the service-dominant logic perspective). However, their further empirical developments have taken place in marketing. Besides, both terms appear to be applied to different empirical perspectives: brand love is usually linked to the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry and customer engagement to services. PMID:28275360

Empirical evidence of design-related bias in studies of diagnostic tests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lijmer, J. G.; Mol, B. W.; Heisterkamp, S.; Bonsel, G. J.; Prins, M. H.; van der Meulen, J. H.; Bossuyt, P. M.

1999-01-01

CONTEXT: The literature contains a large number of potential biases in the evaluation of diagnostic tests. Strict application of appropriate methodological criteria would invalidate the clinical application of most study results. OBJECTIVE: To empirically determine the quantitative effect of study

Una mirada empírica a los determinantes del desplazamiento forzado en Colombia An empirical look of tha determinants of forced displacement in Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pérez Murcia Luis Eduardo

2001-12-01

Full Text Available Esta investigacion propone un modelo empirico que falsea las distintas hipotesis explicativas sobre los determinantes del desplazamiento forzado. Segun los resultados empiricos no se puede argumentar que los desplazamientos se presentan en los municipios ricos o pobres, pero si se puede argumentar que se producen en zonas con alto potencial economico en donde por la existencia de fuertes mecanismos concentradores del ingreso, baja participacion politica y altos niveles de impunidad, las comunidades viven en condiciones de vulnerabilidad, que van mas alla de la pobreza; el conflicto armado.This research tries to pose an empirical model that denies the
different alternative hypothesis about the determinants of forced
displacement in Colombia. According to the empirical results it
is not correct to state that displacements take place in rich or
poor counties, but it is correct to argue that displacements take
place in areas of great economic potential in which, given the
existence of strong income concentration mechanisms, scarce political participation and high impunity levels, the communities
live under vulnerable conditions that go beyond poverty; armed conflict.

Empirical Modeling of Oxygen Uptake of Flow Over Stepped Chutes ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The present investigation evaluates the influence of three different step chute geometry when skimming flow was allowed over them with the aim of determining the aerated flow length which is a significant factor when developing empirical equations for estimating aeration efficiency of flow. Overall, forty experiments were ...

Inflation and Growth: Positive or Negative Relationship?

Science.gov (United States)

Berument, Hakan; Inamlik, Ali; Olgun, Hasan

This study has been motivated by two developments. Firstly, by the vast literature on the relationship between inflation and growth which is abundantly endowed with diverse theoretical explanations and contradictory evidence and by the unique experience of the Turkish economy with inflation and growth. A preliminary examination of the Turkish data pointed to a negative relation between inflation and growth. Moreover, there is a unanimous agreement among the students of the Turkish economy that many factors have contributed to inflation in this country. In view of these facts this paper employs a VAR model which will enable us to identify the sources of the shocks and control for external factors. In addition VAR models have a high predictive power and enable the researcher to observe the impulse response functions. The study employs Generalised Impulse Response analysis. In the empirical experiments oil prices, money supply, government spending and taxes have been taken as the most likely determinants of inflation. The study shows that there is a negative relationship between inflation and output growth in Turkey and that the underlying explanatory factor is the real exchange rate. This result is robust.

PERFORMANCE IN CROSS-BORDER MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRAZILIAN CASE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Bruscato Bortoluzzo

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the cross-border acquisitions made by Brazilian companies over the past 15 years have improved their financial performance. Drawing on institutional, sociocultural, and organizational learning theories, this study develops and empirically tests several hypotheses on the determinants of M&A performance. The results demonstrate that the cross-border acquisition moves by Brazilian companies actually improve their financial performance. Financial performance tends to be positive when the cultural distance between the countries of the acquiring and acquired companies is low to medium and when the institutional context of the acquired company is a developed one. We also found an inverted-U shape relationship between acquiring companies’ previous international M&A experience and the performance of a new cross-border operation. These findings suggest that research on international M&As should include acquirers’ M&A experience as well as the institutional characteristics of their target countries.

Semi-empirical neutron tool calibration (one and two-group approximation)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czubek, J.A.

1988-01-01

The physical principles of the new method of calibration of neutron tools for the rock porosity determination are given. A short description of the physics of neutron transport in the matter is presented together with some remarks on the elementary interactions of neutrons with nuclei (cross sections, group cross sections etc.). The definitions of the main integral parameters characterizing the neutron transport in the rock media are given. The three main approaches to the calibration problem: empirical, theoretical and semi-empirical are presented with some more detailed description of the latter one. The new semi-empirical approach is described. The method is based on the definition of the apparent slowing down or migration length for neutrons sensed by the neutron tool situated in the real borehole-rock conditions. To calculate this apparent slowing down or migration lengths the ratio of the proper space moments of the neutron distribution along the borehole axis is used. Theoretical results are given for one- and two-group diffusion approximations in the rock-borehole geometrical conditions when the tool is in the sidewall position. The physical and chemical parameters are given for the calibration blocks of the Logging Company in Zielona Gora. Using these data the neutron parameters of the calibration blocks have been calculated. An example, how to determine the calibration curve for the dual detector tool applying this new method and using the neutron parameters mentioned above together with the measurements performed in the calibration blocks, is given. The most important advantage of the new semi-empirical method of calibration is the possibility of setting on the unique calibration curve all experimental calibration data obtained for a given neutron tool for different porosities, lithologies and borehole diameters. 52 refs., 21 figs., 21 tabs. (author)

An Empirical Analysis of Human Performance and Nuclear Safety Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeffrey Joe; Larry G. Blackwood

2006-01-01

The purpose of this analysis, which was conducted for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), was to test whether an empirical connection exists between human performance and nuclear power plant safety culture. This was accomplished through analyzing the relationship between a measure of human performance and a plant's Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE). SCWE is an important component of safety culture the NRC has developed, but it is not synonymous with it. SCWE is an environment in which employees are encouraged to raise safety concerns both to their own management and to the NRC without fear of harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or discrimination. Because the relationship between human performance and allegations is intuitively reciprocal and both relationship directions need exploration, two series of analyses were performed. First, human performance data could be indicative of safety culture, so regression analyses were performed using human performance data to predict SCWE. It also is likely that safety culture contributes to human performance issues at a plant, so a second set of regressions were performed using allegations to predict HFIS results

Are Empires Striking Back? A Political and Cultural Comparison of the European Union and Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumetz Jérôme

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article is a position paper focusing on the current standoff between two regional powers, the European Union and Russia. Following a series of crises, in particular the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, the relationship between Russia and many of its neighbours has significantly deteriorated. This shift has led to various geopolitical opinions, often opposite and seemingly irreconcilable. A holistic and historical approach to this new reality leads some to question the validity of the current world order through the prism of the anachronistic concept of Empires. Subsequent to a review of definitions, the author analyses historical characteristics and political factors of the two territories on focus: the European Union and Russia. There are two outcomes of this study: On the one side, the European Union has become an organisation that shares many characteristics of an Empire, but several key elements exclude it from this political construction. On the other side, the geopolitical actions of Russia have shaped the position of the country into a structure that bears many of the artefacts of an Empire with key essential features. The conclusion of this argument states that the European Union is not an Empire by design, despite many resembling features; whilst Russia lives in an anachronistic paradigm of an Empire, without having the means of being one.

Does organizational culture mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nor Hazana Abdullah

2015-02-01

Full Text Available To date, the relationships among organizational culture, transformational leadership and organizational commitment have been empirically investigated. However, majority of these studies have been focusing on direct effects of either transformational leadership or organizational culture on organizational commitment in large organizations. This approach might not only hinder our understanding on real predictors of organizational commitment but also obscure the presence of spurious relationships. Therefore, this study aims to determine the mediating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment among small business employees. An explanatory research design was used with cross-sectional survey as data collection technique. Once the composite reliability, construct, and convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement constructs were established, a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM was run to analyze the structural model and the mediating effect of organizational culture. The results showed that organizational culture mediates the effect of transformational leadership on organizational commitment among small business. This study cautions the generalization of findings obtained from large organizations to be extended to small organizations.

Theoretical-empirical model of the steam-water cycle of the power unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grzegorz Szapajko

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The diagnostics of the energy conversion systems’ operation is realised as a result of collecting, processing, evaluatingand analysing the measurement signals. The result of the analysis is the determination of the process state. It requires a usageof the thermal processes models. Construction of the analytical model with the auxiliary empirical functions built-in brings satisfyingresults. The paper presents theoretical-empirical model of the steam-water cycle. Worked out mathematical simulation model containspartial models of the turbine, the regenerative heat exchangers and the condenser. Statistical verification of the model is presented.

Birds of the Mongol Empire

OpenAIRE

Eugene N. Anderson

2016-01-01

The Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire the world has ever known, had, among other things, a goodly number of falconers, poultry raisers, birdcatchers, cooks, and other experts on various aspects of birding. We have records of this, largely in the Yinshan Zhengyao, the court nutrition manual of the Mongol empire in China (the Yuan Dynasty). It discusses in some detail 22 bird taxa, from swans to chickens. The Huihui Yaofang, a medical encyclopedia, lists ten taxa used medicinally. Ma...

Gender and Subject Choice: An Empirical Study on Undergraduate Students' Majors in Phnom Penh

Science.gov (United States)

Dom, Vannak; Yi, Gihong

2018-01-01

The empirical study on 610 undergraduate students between the age of 16 to 25 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was set to examine the relationship of gender and subject choice. The findings have revealed that women were overrepresented in non-science subjects and their gender identity has strong connection with subject choice (*** p < 0.001). The study…

Empowering Kanban through TPS-Principles - An Empirical Analysis of the Toyota Production System

OpenAIRE

Thun , Jörn-Henrik; Drüke , Martin; Grübner , Andre

2010-01-01

Abstract The purpose of this paper is the empirical investigation of the Toyota Production System in order to test existing relationships as they are proposed in theory. The underlying model consists of seven factors reflecting the key practices of the Toyota Production System. Using data from 188 manufacturing plants participating in the High Performance Manufacturing research project, the model?s measurement characteristics were validated through confirmatory factor analysis. Pat...

Islamic banks and profitability: an empirical analysis of Indonesian banking

OpenAIRE

Jordan, Sarah

2013-01-01

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the factors that determine the profitability of Indonesian banks between the years 2006-2012. In particular, it investigates whether there are any significant differences in terms of profitability between Islamic banks and commercial banks. The results, obtained by applying the system-GMM estimator to the panel of 54 banks, indicate that the high bank profitability during these years were determined mainly by the size of the banks, the market share...

Development and evaluation of an empirical diurnal sea surface temperature model

Science.gov (United States)

Weihs, R. R.; Bourassa, M. A.

2013-12-01

An innovative method is developed to determine the diurnal heating amplitude of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) using observations of high-quality satellite SST measurements and NWP atmospheric meteorological data. The diurnal cycle results from heating that develops at the surface of the ocean from low mechanical or shear produced turbulence and large solar radiation absorption. During these typically calm weather conditions, the absorption of solar radiation causes heating of the upper few meters of the ocean, which become buoyantly stable; this heating causes a temperature differential between the surface and the mixed [or bulk] layer on the order of a few degrees. It has been shown that capturing the diurnal cycle is important for a variety of applications, including surface heat flux estimates, which have been shown to be underestimated when neglecting diurnal warming, and satellite and buoy calibrations, which can be complicated because of the heating differential. An empirical algorithm using a pre-dawn sea surface temperature, peak solar radiation, and accumulated wind stress is used to estimate the cycle. The empirical algorithm is derived from a multistep process in which SSTs from MTG's SEVIRI SST experimental hourly data set are combined with hourly wind stress fields derived from a bulk flux algorithm. Inputs for the flux model are taken from NASA's MERRA reanalysis product. NWP inputs are necessary because the inputs need to incorporate diurnal and air-sea interactive processes, which are vital to the ocean surface dynamics, with a high enough temporal resolution. The MERRA winds are adjusted with CCMP winds to obtain more realistic spatial and variance characteristics and the other atmospheric inputs (air temperature, specific humidity) are further corrected on the basis of in situ comparisons. The SSTs are fitted to a Gaussian curve (using one or two peaks), forming a set of coefficients used to fit the data. The coefficient data are combined with

Empirical Music Aesthetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grund, Cynthia M.

The toolbox for empirically exploring the ways that artistic endeavors convey and activate meaning on the part of performers and audiences continues to expand. Current work employing methods at the intersection of performance studies, philosophy, motion capture and neuroscience to better understand...... musical performance and reception is inspired by traditional approaches within aesthetics, but it also challenges some of the presuppositions inherent in them. As an example of such work I present a research project in empirical music aesthetics begun last year and of which I am a team member....

How to get lost customers back? : a study of antecedents of relationship revival

OpenAIRE

Homburg, Christian; Hoyer, Wayne D.; Stock-Homburg, Ruth

2006-01-01

Most research in the field of customer relationship management has focused on keeping existing customers. However, some companies also systematically address lost customers and try to revive these relationships. This facet of customer relationship management has been largely neglected by academic research. Our study provides a theoretical discussion and an empirical analysis of factors driving the success of relationship revival activities. Drawing on equity theory we find that the cust...

The Role of Empirical Evidence for Transferring a New Technology to Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Baldassarre, Maria Teresa; Bruno, Giovanni; Caivano, Danilo; Visaggio, Giuseppe

Technology transfer and innovation diffusion are key success factors for an enterprise. The shift to a new software technology involves, on one hand, inevitable changes to ingrained and familiar processes and, on the other, requires training, changes in practices and commitment on behalf of technical staff and management. Nevertheless, industry is often reluctant to innovation due to the changes it determines. The process of innovation diffusion is easier if the new technology is supported by empirical evidence. In this sense our conjecture is that Empirical Software Engineering (ESE) serves as means for validating and transferring a new technology within production processes. In this paper, the authors report their experience of a method, Multiview Framework, defined in the SERLAB research laboratory as support for designing and managing a goal oriented measurement program that has been validated through various empirical studies before being transferred to an Italian SME. Our discussion points out the important role of empirical evidence for obtaining management commitment and buy-in on behalf of technical staff, and for making technological transfer possible.

Growth-corruption-health triaca and environmental degradation: empirical evidence from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Azam, Muhammad; Khan, Abdul Qayyum

2017-07-01

This study examines the impact of economic growth, corruption, health, and poverty on environmental degradation for three countries from ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand using annual data over the period of 1994-2014. The relationship between environmental degradation (pollution) by carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and economic growth is examined along with some other variables, namely health expenditure, poverty, agriculture value added growth, industrial value added growth, and corruption. The ordinary least squares (OLS) method is applied as an analytical technique for parameter estimation. The empirical results reveal that almost all variables are statistically significant at the 5% level of significance, whereby test rejects the null hypotheses of non-cointegration, indicating that all variables play an important role in affecting the environment across countries. Empirical results also indicate that economic growth has significant positive impact, while health expenditures show significantly negative impact on the environment. Corruption has significant positive effect on environment in the case of Malaysia; while in the case of Indonesia and Thailand, it has insignificant results. However, for the individual analysis across countries, the regression estimate suggests that economic growth has a significant positive relationship with environment for Indonesia, while it is found insignificantly negative and positive in the case of Malaysia and Thailand, respectively, during the period under the study. Empirical findings of the study suggest that policy-makers require to make technological-friendly environment sequentially to surmount unregulated pollution, steady population transfers from rural areas to urban areas are also important, and poverty alleviation and better health provision can also help to improve the environment.

Structural impacts on the occurrence and effectiveness of transformational leadership : An empirical study at the organizational level of analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Walter, Frank; Bruch, Heike

2010-01-01

This article empirically investigates the role of organizational structure in the transformational leadership (TFL) process. We examine organizational centralization, formalization, and size as antecedents of an organization's TFL climate, and as moderators of the relationship between TFL climate

Biomarker-based strategy for early discontinuation of empirical antifungal treatment in critically ill patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Rouzé, Anahita; Loridant, Séverine; Poissy, Julien; Dervaux, Benoit; Sendid, Boualem; Cornu, Marjorie; Nseir, Saad

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a biomarker-based strategy on early discontinuation of empirical antifungal treatment. Prospective randomized controlled single-center unblinded study, performed in a mixed ICU. A total of 110 patients were randomly assigned to a strategy in which empirical antifungal treatment duration was determined by (1,3)-β-D-glucan, mannan, and anti-mannan serum assays, performed on day 0 and day 4; or to a routine care strategy, based on international guidelines, which recommend 14 days of treatment. In the biomarker group, early stop recommendation was determined using an algorithm based on the results of biomarkers. The primary outcome was the percentage of survivors discontinuing empirical antifungal treatment early, defined as a discontinuation strictly before day 7. A total of 109 patients were analyzed (one patient withdraw consent). Empirical antifungal treatment was discontinued early in 29 out of 54 patients in the biomarker strategy group, compared with one patient out of 55 in the routine strategy group [54% vs 2%, p strategy compared with routine strategy [median (IQR) 6 (4-13) vs 13 (12-14) days, p strategy increased the percentage of early discontinuation of empirical antifungal treatment among critically ill patients with suspected invasive Candida infection. These results confirm previous findings suggesting that early discontinuation of empirical antifungal treatment had no negative impact on outcome. However, further studies are needed to confirm the safety of this strategy. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02154178.

Empirical relations between instrumental and seismic parameters of some strong earthquakes of Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marin Arias, Juan Pablo; Salcedo Hurtado, Elkin de Jesus; Castillo Gonzalez, Hardany

2008-01-01

In order to establish the relationships between macroseismic and instrumental parameters, macroseismic field of 28 historical earthquakes that produced great effects in the Colombian territory were studied. The integration of the parameters was made by using the methodology of Kaussel and Ramirez (1992), for great Chilean earthquakes; Kanamori and Anderson (1975) and Coppersmith and Well (1994) for world-wide earthquakes. Once determined the macroseismic and instrumental parameters it was come to establish the model of the source of each earthquake, with which the data base of these parameters was completed. For each earthquake parameters related to the local and normal macroseismic epicenter were complemented, depth of the local and normal center, horizontal extension of both centers, vertical extension of the normal center, model of the source, area of rupture. The obtained empirical relations from linear equations, even show behaviors very similar to the found ones by other authors for other regions of the world and to world-wide level. The results of this work allow establishing that certain mutual non compatibility exists between the area of rupture and the length of rupture determined by the macroseismic methods, with parameters found with instrumental data like seismic moment, Ms magnitude and Mw magnitude.

Knowledge Management and its Role in Customer Relationship Marketing Campaigns Empirical study of online CRM tools

OpenAIRE

Al-Hayaly, Ali

2015-01-01

This empirical study aimed at conducting a cross case analysis of a four targeted Web-based CRM companies (Microsoft dynamics, Salesforce.com, Sugarcrm and Oracle on demand), in which this research will recognize the extent of knowledge management implantations used in these selected systems. Then highlighting the enhancement role of knowledge management implantations on these web-based CRM selected systems. Besides conducting the cross mapping the marketing campaigns of these selected system...