Social-geographical essence and content of the competitiveness of the region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Gryniuk

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The current stage of market transformations in Ukraine requires the changing of existing stereotypes and management. Expecting for administrative reform and economic regionalization of the state requires detailed attention to the scientific concept of "competitiveness of the region." Being economical in nature this concept requires social and geographical understanding. The paper traced the content and nature of the economic competitiveness of the region in social and geographical interpretation. Author presents the fragments of research model components of regional competitiveness. The effective influence of socio-geographical laws, patterns, factors and competitive advantages that determine the strategic potential of the region is figured on. The importance of individual studies of functional subsystems, industrial, social, recreation and tourism, natural resources, administrative and management, investment and innovation under the influence of social transformation is noted. Based on scientific generalizations, the author's definition of region competitiveness was suggested. It is defined by the author as an integrated concept that reveals the state, the process and the outcome of the territory as a socio-economic system. The basis of regional competitiveness is the potential of the territory able to function effectively on the basis of competition (social and geographical advantages. The main goal here should be improvement of the region population quality of life. The work reveals the contribution of individual schools and social geographers’ studies to the development of regional competitiveness. The importance of further development of the theory and methodology of social and geographical research competitiveness of the region is stressed.

Regional competitiveness: The case of Western China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vuković Darko

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explains the concept of regional competitiveness and the factors that influence on it. A large number of various authors explain this concept, based on its different aspects, including: productivity, mikroaspekts (firm, quality of human capital, innovation, technology, infrastructure, social capital, etc.. Taking into account complex nature of regional competitiveness, it is difficult to determine a standard definition of this term. The second part of this paper refers to the case of western China. Substantial disparity in regional development is a reality in every geographically large country, and the causes of the disparity are numerous and complex. Regional inequality has been an important issue in China. This paper generally summarized China's Western regions geography, government policies and development situation. The authors put forward some practical strategies on how to help the western regions create a favorable environment to attract national and international investment.

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE COMPETITIVENESS OF FARMS IN POLAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Nowak

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is to assess the competitiveness of the regional diversity of farms in Poland. The study was conducted on a sample of commodity holdings participating in the Polish FADN in 16 voivodeships for the years 2010–2012. The study was based on indicators of competitiveness in terms of production factors and results. Research shows that labour resources and the eff ectiveness of their use are important aspects of regional diversity of competitiveness of farms. In regions where this factor is present in excess (Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie, Mazowieckie, Łódzkie and Lubelskie voivodeships, labor productivity was relatively low. These regions are also characterized by lower production potential expressed by the agricultural area of an average farm. The greatest competitive advantages in terms of production profi tability were achieved by farms in Dolnośląskie voivodeship, where there were also some of the highest rates of profi tability of assets.

Factors shaping competitiveness of the region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szymańska Katarzyna

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Regions are competing between themselves for the highest position in the country. Achieving and maintaining this position is associated with benefits such as attracting investors, the growth of entrepreneurship living in the region or commune, improvement of housing conditions, local enrichment, lower unemployment, lower social spending and the development of the real estate market. The inventors of the region potential are: entrepreneurs, groups connecting various environments (clusters, associations, Special Economic Zones, knowledge, innovation, and the living conditions of citizens. Regions compete with each other by using monuments, attracting investors and investing funds. The main factors of territorial competition are associated with local resources. The most common and most general division of territorial competitiveness factors are classified into internal and external. External factors include national and global environment, social, economic and spacious politics of the state and other organizations. Internal factors are local opportunities and development needs. They are in the local coordinate system and depend on local resources (quantity and quality of education inhabitants of commune or region, natural resources in the region, the policy of the region - pro-health, pro-family and pro-environmental, infrastructure, their accessibility, quality and efficiency of their use. The aim of this article is to discuss about creators of region potential (mainly entrepreneurs, clusters, associations, Special Economic Zones, and the relationships between them.

Competitiveness of Agrarian Areas in the Stavropol Region

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Varivoda, V.; Heijman, W.J.M.; Ophem, van J.A.C.

2010-01-01

Regional development is determined by possessing specific competitive advantages and their constant improvement. The problem how to increase competitiveness of the areas remains one of the most important for the agrarian sector. Russian economic policy aims at the stable development of the agro

Increasing the industrial potential of a region as a factor of improving the region’s competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidiya Viktorovna Shamray

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objective to determine the factors of increasing the region competitiveness by defining the industrial potential of its enterprises. Methods in the research the systemic structural functional situational economic analysis was widely used as well as modelling of the economic entities functioning. The main modeling method used in this work is the model of breakeven point widely known and tested in many enterprises. The dependence proposed by the author is of analytical character. Results the article considers different approaches to the definition of competitiveness the effect of the factors is described. The industrial potential of the enterprises is presented as one of the factors of regional competitiveness. The difference is described between the competitive advantage in commercial and production activities. The author suggests a methodology allowing to evaluate the competitiveness of industrial enterprises through the performance of production capacity the possibility of making managerial decisions based on the results of its application the results of the model testing are present. The possibility of applying the model at the regional level is shown. Scientific novelty the article presents the authorrsquos method allowing to calculate the potential growth of the enterprises competitiveness using the output capacities as the difference between the maximum and actual values of capacity. Practical significance the use of models in the practice of the company allows to evaluate the enterprise competitiveness identifying the marginal productivity of the equipment. Once it has been reached the questions arise how long the company will remain competitive in achieving 100 capacity utilization selection of areas of extensive growth due to the fact that the limits of intensive growth have been achieved. Testing of the model was carried out at the Volgograd baking enterprises it showed a high accuracy of the calculation the deviation of calculated

Regional Spanish Tourism Competitiveness. A DEA-MONITUR approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Carlos Martín

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyse the regional tourist competitiveness performance in Spain. We use the seven pillars of tourism from a very detailed and complete database compiled by the Spanish Government –MoniTUR 2010 as primary data. Thus, we calculate a DEA-MONITUR regional tourist competitiveness index in order to compare and rank the total 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities using data envelopment analysis (DEA. Our results show how this performance is very different among regions, and the position of each of the laggard Autonomous Communities should be analysed by their respective destination management organizations (DMOs in order to envisage adequate corrective measures.

Methodological approaches to the assessment of the competitiveness of the region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nazarov Nikolai Igorevich

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of research methodologies for assessing the competitiveness of the region based on the analysis of literary sources. The study stated the author's technique assessing the competitiveness of the region, in accordance with the paradigm of regional development.

REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND COMPETITION POLICY. CASE STUDY: EU, ASEAN AND NAFTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fora Andreea-Florina

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The large number of regional trade agreements notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO significantly influenced the flow of world trade. By April 2014 there had been notified 583 regional trade agreements to the WTO, of which only 379 are in force. The objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of regional trade agreements in world trade, especially the importance of establishing a regional competition policy in these agreements. The research methodology used is the analysis of legislation governing preferential trade agreements at the level of WTO, the collection and interpretation of statistical data provided by the WTO Secretariat, the case study, namely the study of literature. The paper is structured in three parts. The first part of the paper examines the basic laws based on which regional trade agreements are notified to the WTO and the evolution of these agreements in the period 1958-2013. The second part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of competition policy in regional trade agreements. In this part of the paper, to highlight the patterns of competition policy adopted under these agreements was analyzed by three case studies of competition policy in the EU, ASEAN and NAFTA. The three case studies have revealed that the three preferential trade agreements present regional competition policies with varying degrees of integration. The most complex form of competition policy is found in the European Union, because we are talking about a centralized model of competition policy. ASEAN presents a partially decentralized model, while NAFTA scrolls with a decentralized model of competition policy. The last part of the paper presents the characteristics of the four models of competition policy identified in the preferential trade agreements in force. It should be emphasized that if the initial preferential trade agreements have not put a great emphasis on the rules of competition policy, practice has shown the importance

Assessment of the Competitive Environment in the Regional Markets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandr Yuryevich Kokovikhin

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The maturity of competitiveness and its dynamics is a focus of assessing state decisions aimed for economic growth. To estimate the maturity of the competitive environment, researchers apply different methods. However, synthesis of the existing approaches has revealed the comparability of various approaches to the assessment of the maturity of the competitive environment. The authors have proposed a methodology of comprehensive assessment, which includes the estimation of market concentration, diverging trends of revenue and costs, survey of entrepreneurs. The comparison of the estimations employs a three-stage model of data processing. This model consequently compares the characteristics of markets maturity obtained while implementing the above-mentioned approaches. We have tested the methodology using the materials of the research performed in 2015–2017 on the territory of Sverdlovsk Region. Our study has shown the following essential results. Firstly, we have classified socially important and priority markets of Sverdlovsk Region by the level of competitiveness development. Most of the markets are estimated as the markets with missing and low competition. The majority of them represent the segments of the education market. The authors also grouped highly competitive markets, which include the retail market, the market of overland carriage of passengers, the market of communication services and the market of cultural services. Moreover, we specified the group of markets with a moderate competition. This group consists of the market of housing and communal services, social services market, and the market of medical products. Secondly, we confirmed that the assessment of a competitive situation using one of the approaches is imprecise. Both in 2015 and in 2016, there is no convergence in estimates received by statistical and survey methods for the market of social services and certain segments of the education market. The authors explain it by

Business networking for SMEs as a means to promote regional competitiveness: A Theoretical Framework

OpenAIRE

Vitor Braga

2004-01-01

The competitiveness of regions, as a means of promoting the competitiveness of a country as a whole, has been one of the main topics on the agenda of policy makers over the last decades. Several attempts at promoting competitiveness have been made with different degrees of success. In most cases, public investment in the regions was perceived as the solution to promote regional competitiveness and top-down policies were implemented. However, competitiveness also has an important dimension tha...

Competition increases in the face of strong regional ties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knoetgen, P.M.

1987-01-01

The current fuel market exhibits a large surplus production capacity and is strongly influenced by regional ties, with imports of fabricated fuel serving to supplement domestic production or to keep domestic vendors competitive. In the future, the market is set to become increasingly competitive, especially in Europe and the United States. (author)

Institutes of regional development and competitiveness in the conditions of modernization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadezhda Yakovlevna Kalyuzhnova

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the problem of identifying the institutions that influence the development of regions. A systematization of regional development institutions is implemented. Institutions of macro-, meso-, micro- and nano-levels of the economy affecting regional development are highlighted; at each level of the economy the institutions functioning properly and development institutions are also highlighted. The institutions are also systematically divided by type of adjustable rules. The role of institutions in the concept of regional competitiveness is examined. The indexes of regional competitiveness indicators, excluding the institutional environment of regions, are criticized. It is noted that the concept of regional competitiveness considers the region as an economic entity, which can and must prove its right to income with its economic performance, rather than capital status or informal practices of receiving transfers. Formation of the region and the competitiveness of a business entity depends on the maturity of the regional elites and their consolidation, as well as the institutional environment that encourages regional development and prevents monopoly of certain regions. The results of the quantitative analysis of the impact of institutions on the performance of regional development are presented. In particular, the influence of institutions such as corruption, small business and institutional trust is reviewed. The level of corruption is measured by the CPI index, its impact on economic growth in the sample of 12 countries that are close to Russia in terms of development, as well as at the level of Russian regions is considered. According to 2009-2010, the impact on regional development of the newly created development institutions such as foundations to promote small and medium enterprises, regional mortgage funds, special economic zones and regional venture capital funds is analyzed.

How to Apply Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Regional Developments (Case: Ostrobothnia Region of Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takala Josu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays companies concern more about how to survive and extend their own business in future in their current marketplace. However, developing and prospering a region of the country is becoming more crucial question. Successful cooperation and partnership between different sectors of economy (for instance, between companies, public and academic sectors leads to the flourishing and prosperity of the region and consequently of a country. European Commission established smart specialization platform, which is a strategic approach to economic development of a region. By defining and developing of vision, competitive advantages and strategic preferences, region will determine knowledge-based potential. The purpose of this paper is to assign and define the collaboration/relations existed, how strong these relations are and what the expectations are between 3 sectors of economy: public, academic and business. Area of carrying out this research is Ostrobothnia region, however, connections in other regions of Finland and internationally is also presented. There have been chosen 3 industrial peaks from Ostrobothnia region: Energy, Fur and Boat industrial peaks. Analysis is conducted by implementing two core methods: Sense & Respond (S&R and Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA. The goal of this research is also to use S&R method so as to allocate efficiently resources, and to define competitive priorities in cooperation. The main results show that the most tight collaboration and partnership is observed between companies and companies in all around Finland and internationally. While concerning other relationships, companies expect to have tighter cooperation especially in Ostrobothnia and other regions of Finland.

Unification of the methodology of competitiveness evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivanova Marina

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study is the comparison of the modern methods of competitiveness evaluation and testing the results in practice at a production plant in order to unify the methodology. Analysis of the publications shows that the existing diversity in methods of the competitiveness evaluation complicates the choice of a method and interpretation of the results, which confirms the need to classify and unify the methods available today. The authors suggest that the standardized method of competitiveness evaluation should combine matrix and graphical methods. In our study, we have shown that SWOT-analysis should be carried out in two stages: firstly, it is necessary to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the company, taking into account the following factors: marketing, production, economic and financial situation, technology, the administration and personnel; secondly, it is essential to assess the opportunities and threats with the allowance for the political, legal, and economic situation, the impact of market as well as social, cultural and natural environmental factors. The proposed methodology of competitiveness evaluation has been tested at the industrial enterprise "Olvita ltd", which is dynamically developing and successfully operates on the food market of Ukraine; it specializes in processing, logistics and distribution of fresh and frozen vegetables, fruits and berries, as well as ready-to cook meat products. The results have shown that the competitiveness evaluation remains a pressing issue that requires simple and fairly demonstrative methods, one of which is a method that combines both graphical and matrix approaches. The advantage of the proposed method is its sufficiently high visualizations and record of personal approaches in evaluating the scores for strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats. In the future, the authors are planning to examine and systemize the indicators used in the competitiveness

Competitiveness of Romanian Regions in the Spatial Structure of the EU

Science.gov (United States)

Török, Ibolya

2017-12-01

In the last years, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the regions, researchers and decision makers alike attribute a special role to supporting entrepreneurial activity, strengthening the SME sector, attracting foreign working capital into the local economy, but also to the territorial concentration of R&D centres. Within the present study, I have considered all relevant economic factors, which might influence competitiveness, having at the same time an impact on the position of the Romanian regions within in the economic structure of the European Union. In the study have managed to prove that Romania is in a rather disadvantaged situation in the case of the three main elements, with a significant impact on the competitiveness of regions: the GDP per capita, the employment rate and labour productivity. Only the Bucharest-Ilfov region is in a more favourable position, but its development level remains far behind the central regions of the EU.

Economic and social analyses at a regional level in the light of competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoleta Maria Gogâltan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In most economic studies, competitiveness is considered a key issue of the political success failure. A major element which contributes to regional inequalities is the level of competitiveness. This element has been the subject of numerous studies over the past years, even though more attention was given to the national level and less to the regional one. Moreover, the purpose of these regional analyses is the correlation of territorial objectives and problems with possible sources of financing, seeing to ensure optimal combinations between regional demand and supply, the optimal distribution of the income and of the results obtained, regional competitiveness, the location of clusters, etc.

National and Regional Competitiveness in the Crisis Context. Successful Examples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gina Cristina DIMIAN

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The paper addresses the issue of national and regional competitiveness in the context of socio-economic and financial crisis. Competitiveness is a complex concept which can be studied at both the firm and the local and national level.Thus, in economic terms the competitiveness is most often associated with the productivity or efficiency with which inputs are transformed into goods and services. As for the regional competitiveness it should be analyzed in terms of results (revenue, employment and in relation to its determinants: ranging from the classical production factors (capital, labour, technological progress to the “soft” factors (human capital, research and development, dissemination of knowledge.The current economic environment has revealed that countries such as China, India, Brazil and also the Czech Republic and Poland, following prudent economic policies, have managed to make from macroeconomic stability, investment in education and research some of their major drivers of economic growth.

Territory brand as a factor of region competitiveness (on the example of Penza region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Medushevskaya Inna

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article describes the brand of territory as a factor of the region competitiveness. The examples of territory brands from the world and Russian practice are analyzed. The possible options for the brand for Penza region are proposed.

REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS AND THE IMPACT OF EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS: THE CASE OF ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

. Delia Anca Gabriela Gligor

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the context of internationalization and globalization of the world economy, regional competitiveness is thoroughly debated by politicians and policy makers, emphasizing measurable differences between development regions, without any clear political or conceptual framework. Romania’s accession to the European Union in 2007 provided an opportunity to recover in terms of regional performance and economic growth, namely structural funds as a form of nonrefundable European financial help to disadvantaged regions of member states. Our research is thus focused on analyzing the impact of structural funds’ absorption upon regional competitiveness in Romania, using extensive data over a period of seven years. Results show that EU funds critically influence the competitiveness of Romanian regions, providing reliable data for policy decision makers.

Regions Competitiveness Increase by Improving Conditions for Industry and Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiraskova Eliska

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The main field of study regarding location theories is to define location factors and to determine the optimal location assuming rational behaviour of economic entities. The issue is to find outwhat place is suitable for localization of the economic entity in order to maximize its profits in relation to its spatial orientation. In the theoretical part, location theories for industry andservices with the impact of location factors are first briefly described. Mainly their development and significance in the competitive environment is discussed because the right selection of location factors can actually help to increase the competitiveness of regions. This paper analyses the actual soft regional and local location factors in individual economic sectors and focuses on thesecondary and tertiary sector because the primary sector is affected by other than the examined factors. The aim of this paper is to identify factors that affect industry and are more important to the service sector. Identifying these factors can actually help to attract new businesses and to increase regions competitiveness. It is, therefore, necessary to determine the key factors that have stimulating effects on the development of individual regions.

Casing Out Evaluation: Expanding Student Interest in Program Evaluation through Case Competitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Obrecht, Michael; Porteous, Nancy; Haddock, Blair

1998-01-01

Describes the authors' experiences in organizing bilingual evaluation case competitions for the National Capital Chapter of the Canadian Evaluation Society for three years. Competition structure, eligibility, judging, contestant recruiting, and preparing cases are outlined. (SLD)

Regional differences in entrepreneurial perceptions and implications for the Romanian competitiveness policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae Mariana

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Understanding entrepreneurship as being spatially rooted transforms it in a regional and national competitiveness factor. Despite the increasing importance of the territorial dimension in supporting economic growth at policy and declarative levels, in practice, in Romania, the territorial structure and spatial organization of the economy contributes little to the national value added. In this context, we study regional differences in entrepreneurial initiative and perception and their possible impact on the national competitiveness strategy. We use primary data collected in three Romanian regions (Centre, North-East, Bucureşti-Ilfov and conduct a statistical analysis of the data. The results indicate different comparative regional profiles. The regional differences in the intentions, motivations, barriers and limitation for entrepreneurship confirm the theoretical view that personal motivations of becoming an entrepreneur are determined by environmental conditions. We conclude that the regional differences should be taken into account in the elaboration of the competitiveness policy, corroborated with the results of other similar studies.

REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS VERSUS TERRITORIAL COMPETITIVENESS: PROJECT TAONABA CASE STUDY - TOWN OF ABYMES, GUADELOUPE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neffati Houda

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Territorial intelligence can be defined as the ability of a territory to anticipate socio-economic changes and the resulting knowledge management as well as to generate policies, know-how and innovations that will ultimately create a polycentric area of expertise and service capabilities to enhance the competitiveness of companies located there. It is created by setting up a sustainable development process to review business competitiveness with all the inherent consequences in managing, making, planning and implementing decisions. Territorial competitiveness is an integrated and proactive approach to shaping the future of territories, regions and larger geographies – . to some degree it can also be referred to as spatial planning. It goes beyond traditional regional policy as it brings together economic, social and environment opportunities and in addition to other factors which influence where activities takes place, concerns how different places function and are connected, and what social and business conditions are available Territorial competitiveness strategies can help in exploring the potential for economic growth and job creation and at the same time support an enhanced quality of life by helping to meet the challenge of sustainable development. The article reports on an action research to support the urban community of Cap Excellence in Guadeloupe in its local sustainable development project. After summarizing the terms of the debate surrounding sustainable development and presenting the region, the research is placed back in the context of a more general approach of territorial intelligence.. The limits of developing a local Agenda 21 in the form of a "programmed action plan" give the opportunity to improve territorial intelligence with the concept of agency arising from Foucault's 'dispositif' or apparatus, Deleuze's theory of agency and the actor-network. A discussion on this ontology social will be initiated. We will give

New Horizons Regional Education Center 2001 FIRST Robotics Competition

Science.gov (United States)

2001-01-01

The New Horizons Regional Education Center (NHREC) in Hampton, VA sought and received NASA funding to support its participation in the 2001 FIRST Robotics competition. FIRST, Inc. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization which encourages the application of creative science, math, and computer science principles to solve real-world engineering problems. The FIRST competition is an international engineering contest featuring high school, government, and business partnerships.

New Horizons Regional Education Center 1999 FIRST Robotics Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Purman, Richard I.

1999-01-01

The New Horizons Regional Education Center (NHREC) in Hampton, VA sought and received NASA funding to support its participation in the 1999 FIRST Robotics competition. FIRST, Inc. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization which encourages the application of creative science, math, and computer science principles to solve real-world engineering problems. The FIRST competition is an international engineering contest featuring high school, government, and business partnerships.

Building a competitive regional innovation environment : the regional development platform method as a tool for regional innovation policy

OpenAIRE

Harmaakorpi, Vesa

2004-01-01

The study focuses on building a regional innovation policy tool that takes into account the demands of the present techno-economic and socio-institutional paradigms. Regions are seen to be strongly dependent on their history. The competitiveness of a region is based on the regional resource configurations. In a turbulent world these resource configurations have to be renewed over time setting demands for regional dynamic capabilities. This study emphasises five regional dynamic capabilities: ...

Competition for labor resources: losses of the Amur region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Vasilyeva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to define labor losses of the Amur region because of the competition of regions. Each region, directly or indirectly, seeks to attract and keep in its territory highly skilled labor force. Shortage of labor force slows down development of the economy of the region. Thus, because of the depopulation, the demand for the produced and consumed goods and services in the region is decreasing. The decrease in demand influences tax reduction and non-tax revenues in budgets of various levels, reduction of employment of labor resources, increase in unemployment, increase in cost of products and rendered services, reduction of the gross regional product, growth of social tension in the society.Under conditions of the competition between regions for labor resources, other things being equal, the outflow of labor resources occurs from regions with a rather low level of compensation to regions with a rather high level of the salary. At the same time, the population leaves, as a rule, the provincial and less developed regions and concentrates in the largest metropolitan areas. In the competition for labor resources some regions win and get essential advantages in social and economic development, others sustain considerable losses. Statistical methods of analyzing social and economic phenomena and processes were used as tools for carrying out the research: indexes of dynamics, structure, and tabular and graphic methods of visualization of quantitative data.As a result of the conducted statistical research, it was found out that the population of the Amur region decreases annually, at the same time the decline in the population of the region is long-term and steady in nature. Over 25 years the Amur region lost population amounting to the population of the whole city. The present work shows that the tendency of demographic aging of the population characteristic of many regions of the country is observed in the Amur region. Decrease

Defining competitiveness through the theories of new economic geography and regional economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vuković Darko

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of work is defining competitiveness through a multidisciplinary approach of the theories of new economic geography and regional economy. The paper describes in detail the theory of competitiveness, defined by numerous authors in this area, with special emphasis on the opposing views of Michael Porter and Paul Krugman. A regional competitiveness that is colsely related to economic geography and regional economy, the development of regional economy and typology of regions have been defined in the work. One of the first authors that stressed the importance of geographical location was Michael Porter. In his model called “diamond“, the author emphasizes that geographical concentration of a business enhances the productivity, innovativity and sector export. After this theory, many authors have foccussed on the location problem research, which resulted in better interconnection of economy and geography. As the result of such activities, new directions have been developed, such as the new theory of economic geography and regional economy. New economic geography has been mentioned mostly in connection with the Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman, whose theories are often opposed to Porter's ones. Krugman had the most credit for the development of New Economic Geography. At the end of the work, the differences between comparative and competitive adventages were explained. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47007, br. 47009 i br. 179015

From cities and towns to urban networks in Germany – intra regional competition versus regional co-operation and inter regional competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernhard Mueller

2000-01-01

Full Text Available For many decades of the 20th century particular cities and towns were understood as integral parts of national and international urban systems. For many years the theory on central places and hierarchy of central places, first developed by Christaller and amended by Loesch, had a decisive influence on spatial research and regional development policies with guiding principles for urbanisation and the development of settlement patterns. However it is becoming ever more evident, that the planned effects of concepts for harmonising intra- and inter-regional differences were not reached. Moreover, inter-regional competition between neighbouring municipalities, as well as modern life styles and residential choices have caused the emergence of new settlement structures with dispersed spatial patterns and string functional ties. It is also true, that urban networking isn’t an easy task and that it inherently carries numerous obstacles.

Analysis of the Impact of the Flow of Migrant Workers on Regional Economy: Based on the Thought about the Promotion of Jiangxi Regional Economic Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sun Yuping

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Labor resource is the necessary productive factor in regional economic development, and one of important indexes to evaluate regional economic competitiveness. The great economic achievement brought by the 30-year reform and opening up of China is due to the fact that China brought the backward advantage of “demographic dividend” into play, promoted the fast development of industrialization and urbanization, and became the second largest economy in the world. The entity of “demographic dividend” is the non-agricultural migrant population, i.e., migrant workers. The transfer employment of migrant workers has typical regional liquidity, and the imbalance of regional economy causes the flow of many migrant workers. In order to achieve harmonious development and coordinated development, underdeveloped areas must understand the character and regulation, adopt positive industrial policy and supportive policy, guide the reasonable flow of migrant workers, and realize the transfer of local employment and citizenization of migrant workers, which can enhance regional economic competitiveness

Memory and Evaluation Effects in Competitive Advertising Environments.

OpenAIRE

Keller, Kevin Lane

1991-01-01

A laboratory experiment replicates and extends prior research on how competitive advertising and retrieval cues affect consumer memory and evaluations of brands. The number and valence of competing ads, presence of ad retrieval cues, and valence of target ads were manipulated. A high level of competitive advertising varying in valence produced interference effects for recall and evaluations. Ad retrieval cues offset these effects and enhanced recall and evaluations even when there were no com...

Application of GIS in exploring spatial dimensions of Efficiency in Competitiveness of Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmat, Shahid; Sen, Joy

2017-04-01

Infrastructure is an important component in building competitiveness of a region. Present global scenario of economic slowdown that is led by slump in demand of goods and services and decreasing capacity of government institutions in investing public infrastructure. Strategy of augmenting competitiveness of a region can be built around improving efficient distribution of public infrastructure in the region. This efficiency in the distribution of infrastructure will reduce the burden of government institution and improve the relative output of the region in relative lesser investment. A rigorous literature study followed by an expert opinion survey (RIDIT scores) reveals that Railway, Road, ICTs and Electricity infrastructure is very crucial for better competitiveness of a region. Discussion with Experts in ICTs, Railways and Electricity sectors were conducted to find the issues, hurdles and possible solution for the development of these sectors. In an underdeveloped country like India, there is a large constrain of financial resources, for investment in infrastructure sector. Judicious planning for allocation of resources for infrastructure provisions becomes very important for efficient and sustainable development. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the mathematical programming optimization tool that measure technical efficiency of the multiple-input and/or multiple-output case by constructing a relative technical efficiency score. This paper tries to utilize DEA to identify the efficiency at which present level of selected components of Infrastructure (Railway, Road, ICTs and Electricity) is utilized in order to build competitiveness of the region. This paper tries to identify a spatial pattern of efficiency of Infrastructure with the help of spatial auto-correlation and Hot-spot analysis in Arc GIS. This analysis leads to policy implications for efficient allocation of financial resources for the provision of infrastructure in the region and building a

Student teams practice for regional robotic competition at KSC

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Student teams (right and left) behind protective walls maneuver their robots on the playing field during practice rounds of the 1999 Southeastern Regional robotic competition at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex . Thirty schools from around the country have converged at KSC for the event that pits gladiator robots against each other in an athletic-style competition. The robots have to retrieve pillow-like disks from the floor, as well as climb onto the platform (foreground) and raise the cache of pillows to a height of eight feet. KSC is hosting the event being sponsored by the nonprofit organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, known as FIRST. The FIRST robotics competition is designed to provide students with a hands-on, inside look at engineering and other professional careers.

40 CFR 35.342 - Competitive process.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Competitive process. 35.342 Section 35...) § 35.342 Competitive process. EPA Regions award Pollution Prevention State Grants to State programs through a competitive process in accordance with EPA guidance. When evaluating State applications, EPA...

40 CFR 35.661 - Competitive process.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Competitive process. 35.661 Section 35... 6605) § 35.661 Competitive process. EPA Regions award Pollution Prevention Grant funds to Tribes and Intertribal Consortia through a competitive process in accordance with EPA guidance. When evaluating a Tribe's...

Closing ceremonies of the FIRST Southeast Regional robotics competition

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

At the conclusion of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Southeast Regional competition held at the KSC Visitor Complex, KSC Deputy Director for Business Operations Jim Jennings speaks to the teams and other attendees. At left is Gregg Gale, with Walt Disney World, which is the site of the national competition (at EPCOT) April 6-8. Teams of high school students from all over the country tested the limits of their imagination using robots they designed, with the support of business and engineering professionals and corporate sponsors, to compete in a technological battle against other schools' robots. Of the 30 high school teams competing at the Southeast Regional event, 16 were Florida teams co-sponsored by NASA and KSC contractors. Local high schools participating are Astronaut, Bayside, Cocoa Beach, Eau Gallie, Melbourne, Melbourne Central Catholic, Palm Bay, Rockledge, Satellite, and Titusville.

THE CREATION OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OF REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF REGIONAL UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DANIELA PALAŠČÁKOVÁ

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Universities are rare and the persisting elements of the European culture foundations. The most brilliant minds and the most noble hearts, which shared their wisdom with the people of the world, have always been attracted by universities. University today - applying new curriculum and developing new courses, which correspond with the needs of the labour market – is in the centre of dramatic changes of the quality of life in Europe. The quality of university environment is a significant determinant of the qualitatively or knowledge-based competitiveness. Presented results of the contribution represent the identification and evaluation of the mechanism of the creation of quality management system in university environment and application of the approaches of quality evaluation of university environment using Index of quality of regional university environment in the conditions of the self-governed regions of the Slovak Republic.

EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF INNOVATIVE PROJECTS ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS IN SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ľubica RUMANOVSKÁ

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The scientific paper evaluates the impact of innovative projects on the competitiveness of agricultural holdings in SR. Evaluation of the impact of innovative projects on competitiveness of agricultural holdings was realized on the selected holdings in Nitra and Trnava region. For the evaluation was used RCR coefficient. With the use of RCR coefficient could be confirmed the scientific hypothesis - The innovative projects realized through Program for rural development SR 2007-2013 have positive impact on competitiveness of agricultural holdings. The possibilities for EU financial support for innovative projects in SR represent important source for introduction of new innovative technologies into production process and in future they can significantly contribute to the growth of competitiveness of agricultural subjects. Therefore, to increase competitiveness of agricultural holdings it is important to focus on modernization of machinery and buildings, use of natural sources for energy production, but also to increase the education and the flow of information between rural inhabitants, mainly farmers. In competitive area of EU agricultural sector it is necessary that agricultural holdings will innovate, not only to create independent flow of innovative products and knowledge, but also to increase its value on internal market. Agricultural holdings –receivers of financial support – have expressed the opinion that financial support realized through PRD SR 2007-2013 had definitely allowed them to implement new processes and products.

THE EFFECT OF STRUCTURAL FUNDS ON REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THE NEW EU COUNTRIES: THE CASE OF ROMANIA AND BULGARIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GLIGOR DELIA ANCA GABRIELA

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the context of internationalization and globalization of the world economy, regional competitiveness is thoroughly debated by politicians and policy makers, emphasizing measurable differences between development regions, without any clear political or conceptual framework. The process of European Union integration is a main driving force of change, aiming to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of the fragmented European economy in the face of increasing internationalization. This often exposes countries and regions with unequal resources and technology and different economic structures to international competition. Such is the case of Romania and Bulgaria, countries that after joining the European Union in 2007 were given an opportunity to recover in terms of regional competitiveness and economic growth, namely structural funds as a form of nonrefundable European financial help to disadvantaged regions of member states. This research is thus focused on underlining and analyzing the relation between structural funds’ absorption and the degree of regional competitiveness for the development regions of Romania and Bulgaria, during their first programming period, through identifying and analyzing the factors that influence regional competitiveness and the amount of structural funds absorbed. First, two competitiveness country profiles are created based on data provided by relevant international organisms and second, an impact analysis is developed using six regional competitiveness indicators, grouped into three categories (economic, social and technological. Results show that EU funds critically influence the competitiveness of Romanian and Bulgarian regions, providing reliable data for policy decision makers

Evaluating the Competitive Ability of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. Cultivars against Tumble Pigweed (Amaranthus albus L. in Birjand Region

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mohammad javad babaie zarch

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction Using crop species and cultivars with high competitive ability against weeds is one of the effective strategies for sustainable weed management. Emergence rate, rapid root growth, seed vigor, development rate of leaves, rapid root and shoot biomass accumulation, rapid canopy closure and plant height are important traits in relation to the competitiveness between different cultivars of crops. Competitive ability is measured using two indices including the weed growth prevention ability or weed biomass reduction index and crop tolerance to weed or yield reduction preventing index. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the competitive ability of six oilseed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cultivars and also introducing the most important morpho-physiological attributes affecting their competitive ability with tumble pigweed (Amaranthus albus L. in Birjand. Materials and methods This experiment was carried out as factorial layout based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, University of Birjand in 2012. Treatments were included six sunflower oilseed cultivars (Azargol, Jame esfehan, Farrokh, Syrna, Progress, Euroflor and tumble pigweed densities in four levels (zero (control, 5, 10 and 15 plants per square meter. The number of days and cumulative degree days were recorded from sowing to emergence. Plant height, leaf area and dry matter were recorded at four stages from emergence to 75 days after it. Sunflower seeds were harvested after physiological maturity. Preventing indices were used to evaluate the competitive ability of cultivars, competitive tolerance (Watson et al., 2002 and weed biomass. Data were analyzed with the SAS software and cluster analysis was performed using SPSS software. FLSD test was employed for comparison of the means at the 5% significance level. The graphs were prepared by Excel. Results and Discussion Analysis of variance showed that there was a

Comparison Analysis and Evaluation of Urban Competitiveness in Chinese Urban Clusters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haixiang Guo

2015-04-01

Full Text Available With accelerating urbanization, urban competitiveness has become a worldwide academic focus. Previous studies always focused on economic factors but ignored social elements when measuring urban competitiveness. In this paper, a city was considered as a whole containing different units such as departments, individuals and economic activities, which interact with each other and affect its economic operation. Moreover, a city’s development was compared to an object’s movement, and the components were compared to different forces acting upon the object. With the analysis of the principle of object movement, this study has established a more scientific evaluation index system that involves 4 subsystems, 12 elements and 58 indexes. By using the TOPSIS method, the study has worked out the urban competitiveness of 141 cities from 28 Chinese urban clusters in 2009. According to the calculation results, these cities were divided into four levels: A, B, C, D. Furthermore, in order to analyze the competitiveness of cities and urban clusters, cities and urban clusters have been divided into four groups according to their distributive characteristics: the southeast, the northeast and Bohai Rim, the central region and the west. Suggestions and recommendations for each group are provided based on careful analysis.

Economy of distrust (the institute of trust and its role in the regional competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadezhda Yakovlevna Kalyuzhnova

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The study is dedicated to the role of social capital in ensuring the competitiveness of the social and economic systems. The indicator of interpersonal trust is used as the important indicator of social capital. Trust and distrust are considered in the article as separate categories, the distrust and its role in the economic component of life in the regions and countries are considered. The theoretical provisions revealing the mechanisms of distrust influence on the economy and the competitiveness of economies are given. The article statistically examines the link of indicators of trust and distrust on the level of countries and Russian regions and the competitiveness of countries and Russian regions. The assessment of parameters of interpersonal trust / distrust at the level of regions of the Russian Federation and the country in general on the basis of the Public Opinion Foundation are provided. The calculations of the correlation between the scores of countries’ competitiveness and credibility of the countries on the basis of survey data from the European Social Survey (ESS, as well as the data of the World Economic Forum on the competitiveness of countries in 2008 and 2010 are also provided. Our empirical study confirmed the link between the low level of interpersonal trust and competitiveness of the Russian economy in general, and the state of the country’s institutions. At the same time, we fail to confirm the link between the indicators of interpersonal trust across regions and economic indicators. This may serve as a confirmation of the fact that regional communities have virtually no effect on the behavior and economic decisions of persons taking decisions in the regions. This can be explained by the lack of relationship between trust to the elites making decisions and their position due to the lack of selectivity of the first persons of regions and mechanisms of the real impact of the population on economic decision-making, as

COMPETITIVE FEATURES IN THE MARKET STRUCTURE OF HOUSING PROPERTY WITH REGARD TO REGIONAL DEFINITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kostyantyn Pavlov

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The subject of research. Given the steady demand for residential real estate, the low solvency of the population, and unbalanced development of individual segments of the regional housing market, competition issues and the mechanism of its operation, today is very relevant. Real estate is one of the components of the national economy because it carries more than half of total world wealth and its stable functioning is one of the most complex processes of market transformations occurring in the country. Active functioning property markets are a prerequisite for the sustainable development of cities and regions of the country. This development is the basis for the effective management of regional and implemented in the system of national governance and local governance. In modern terms, Ukraine is at the stage of the market system, one of which is real estate market. From the way, the subject of study is a competitive relationship, and especially their formation in the regional real estate market. Methodology. In order to carry out a thorough study, there was elaborated numerous scientific literature authored by leading scientists of Ukraine, Europe, and the former Soviet Union camp to define the concepts of “competition”, “regional market”, “real estate”, “residential property”. According to the research of current problems and competitive features in the structure of the real estate market on the basis of regional specificity, a logical systematization of these concepts is made. Results of the research allowed us to “carry” a clear parallel between the correlation of factors and competitive impact on the regional real estate market of the potential buyers, the developer and manufacturer of products directly to real estate as an object relationship. Practical implications. The article is to study the specific competitive position in the regional real estate market in Ukraine and also features of exposure to it by consumers

The relationship between evaluative concerns and sport competition state anxiety among youth skiers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bray, S R; Martin, K A; Widmeyer, W N

2000-05-01

Thirty-four youth competitive skiers (mean age = 13.74 years) completed measures of social evaluative concern and competitive anxiety. Consistent with past research, regression analyses showed that cognitive anxiety was related to performance-specific evaluative concerns. However, contrary to current conceptualizations of sport competition anxiety, somatic anxiety was correlated with concerns about evaluation of other non-performance aspects of ski racing. Competitive skiers were most concerned about parents' and friends' evaluations of their performance, and other competitors' and friends' evaluations of their skiing in general. These findings are discussed in relation to the theory and management of sport competition state anxiety.

The Parametric Evaluation of Competitiveness of the Franchising Tourism Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tkachuk Tetyana M.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at studying and evaluating competitiveness of the franchising tourism networks by the proposed options with the possibility to define the characteristics of the relevant tourism franchise at the national market of services. The dynamic changes of positions of Ukraine and of the countries-leaders in the ranking of competitiveness of the travel and tourism sector have been analyzed. The actual parameters of an evaluation of competitiveness of the franchising networks, operating at the domestic market of tourism services, have been defined and substantiated. For the implementation of quantitative evaluation of specific parameters, a questionnaire survey along with point rating of 50 tourism franchisee enterprises was conducted. The franchising networks which are leaders at the national tourism market were analyzed and defined. Based on the results obtained by calculations, a parametric model for evaluation of competitiveness of franchising tourism networks has been proposed and the key characteristics of a tourism franchise have been determined. Further researches will focus on the formation of a structured system for increasing the efficiency of interaction between the tourism enterprises in the franchising system and on the basic principles to ensure their competitiveness.

Systematization of the Methods for Evaluating the International Competitiveness of Enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shtal Tetyana V.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at studying methods for evaluating competitiveness, identifying their practical relevance to domestic enterprises on example of the ОАО «Zavod «Yuzhkabel». A system of methods for evaluating international competitiveness of enterprises has been analyzed, the most frequently encountered in the economic literature methodologies for estimation have been considered. As a result, weaknesses of the individual elements of the system have been identified. Practical significance of the study has been disclosed, the most effective methods for evaluating the international competitiveness of enterprises have been identified. Using methods such as the method of rating estimation, the «4Р» matrix, the «McKinsey» matrix, the HirfindahlHirschman index and the polygon of competitiveness model, international competitiveness of the ОАО «Zavod «Yuzhkabel» has been evaluated. Conclusion about the extent of enterprise's presence at the international market has been made.

Effective governance for competitive regions in Europe: the difficult case of the Randstad

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lambregts, B.; Janssen-Jansen, L.B.; Haran, N.

2008-01-01

Europe has come to recognize that its regions have a major role to play in achieving its cohesion and competitiveness objectives. EU policies and Structural Fund principles are therefore increasingly geared towards enhancing regional capacities. Regions across Europe are responding, with varying

Co-Opetition (Coexisting Competition and Competitive Coexistaence in the Tourism Field in Siberian Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Pavlovna Kuznetsova

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The relevance of the topic is due to the need to use of such category as “co-opetition” by public and local government authorities when implementing their powers in the tourism sphere. We divide the term “co-opetition” into two categories: “coexisting competition” and “competitive coexistence”. The problem field of the study is that in the conditions of crisis development, it is difficult to choose and implement new measures and approaches aimed at improving the economic situation in Russia and its regions, diversify the economy. In modern conditions, it is important and effective to develop domestic tourism and incoming tourism in Russia as well as its effective functioning. Russia has considerable natural and ecological, cultural and historical resources. However, the imperfection of the authorities operation and a mechanism of combined implementation of projects by different territories prevent the transformation of tourism industry into the economic powerhouse. In this regard, on the example of Siberian regions, we offer to the authorities to use co-opetition (in both of its meanings in the combined development of tourism and to establish on this basis the tourist mega-cluster “Fairy Siberia”. The study of foreign experience has allowed revealing the positions, in which Russia falls behind other countries-leaders in the tourism industry. The proposed approach is promising, and it is based on joint efforts of regions and saving money due to the economies of scale. At the same time, it allows the regions to develop their competitive advantages. The practical significance of the received results consists in the possibility of their use by the public and local authorities in the implementation of effective policy for the development of tourism industry.

The role of Entrepreneurial Universities in interfacing Competitive Advantages: The Case of Beira Interior region (Portugal)

OpenAIRE

Ferreira, Joao; Leitão, João; Raposo, Mario

2006-01-01

This paper reveals the importance of a local entrepreneurial university in interfacing competitive advantages, by assuming the condition of most influent and dynamic engine of regional development. The strategic diagnosis provides the identification of a dominant quadrant in the TOWS matrix application to the Beira Interior region, which is dominated by Mini-Maxi strategies. For improving the competitive positioning of that region, the transition from the dominant quadrant (Mini-Maxi) t...

Final matches of the FIRST regional robotic competition at KSC

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Four robots vie for position on the playing field during the 1999 FIRST Southeastern Regional robotic competition held at KSC. Powered by 12-volt batteries and operated by remote control, the robotic gladiators spent two minutes each trying to grab, claw and hoist large, satin pillows onto their machines. Student teams, shown behind protective walls, play defense by taking away competitors' pillows and generally harassing opposing machines. Two of the robots have lifted their caches of pillows above the field, a movement which earns them points. Along with the volunteer referees, at the edge of the playing field, judges at right watch the action. FIRST is a nonprofit organization, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The competition comprised 27 teams, pairing high school students with engineer mentors and corporations. The FIRST robotics competition is designed to provide students with a hands-on, inside look at engineering and other professional careers.

Evaluating Competitiveness of Faculties of Higher Educational Establishments in Slovakia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rayevnyeva Olena V.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The problem of competitiveness of higher education, efficiency of its functioning and training graduates of higher educational establishments according to the current and future needs of the market are among the key issues of socio-economic development strategy in EU countries. The aim of the study is to determine the competitiveness of faculties of major higher educational establishments based on the use of the cluster analysis and rating evaluations provided by national experts. The paper describes the methodology of rating evaluation of faculties of higher educational establishments in Slovakia on the basis of such components as: educational process; attractiveness of the program; science and research activities; doctoral studies; attracted grants. Shortcomings of the approach to faculty rating evaluations based on the averaged value have been determined. In order to improve analysis of the competitive positions of individual faculties of higher educational establishments in Slovakia, the cluster analysis was used and the results of breaking the faculties into five groups were presented. To forecast changes in the competitive positions of faculties of higher educational establishments in Slovakia, discriminant functions enabling to determine possible qualitative changes in the state of the faculties’ competitiveness due to external or internal factors have been built.

Sun Grant Initiative Regional Biomass Feedstock Partnership Competitive Grants Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Owens, Vance [South Dakota State Univ., Brookings, SD (United States). North Central Regional Sun Grant Center

2016-12-30

The Sun Grant Initiative partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008 to create the Regional Biomass Feedstock Partnership Competitive Grants Program. The overall goal of this project was to utilize congressionally directed funds to leverage the North Central Regional Sun Grant’s Competitive Grant program at South Dakota State University (SDSU) to address key issues and research gaps related to development of the bioeconomy. Specific objectives of this program were to: 1. Identify research projects through a Regional Competitive Grants program that were relevant to the sustainable production, harvest, transport, delivery, and processing/conversion of cost-competitive, domestically grown biomass. 2. Build local expertise and capacity at the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center at SDSU through an internal selection of key bioenergy research projects. To achieve these, three nationwide Request for Applications (RFA) were developed: one each in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Internal, capacity building projects at SDSU were also selected during each one of these RFAs. In 2013 and 2015, two additional Proof of Concept RFAs were developed for internal SDSU projects. Priority areas for each RFA were 1) Biomass feedstock logistics including biomass harvesting, handling, transportation, storage, and densification; 2) Sustainable biomass feedstock production systems including biomass crop development, production, and life-cycle analysis; 3) Biomass production systems that optimize biomass feedstock yield and economic return across a diverse landscape while minimizing negative effects on the environment and food/feed production; and 4) Promotion of knowledge-based economic development in science and technology and to advance commercialization of inventions that meet the mission of the Sun Grant Initiative. A total of 33 projects were selected for funding through this program. Final reports for each of these diverse projects are included in this summary report

Research on the Core Competitive Power Elements Evaluation System of Green Hotel

OpenAIRE

Hui LIANG

2013-01-01

Green hotel is a new type of hospitality industry development model based on the concept of circular economy and sustainable development. This paper makes an analysis and evaluation of the elements of green hotel core competence, on this basis, constructs the Green Hotel core competitive evaluation index system. The construction of the system is conducive to understand the green hotel’s own competitive advantage objectively, and explore ways to enhance its core competitiveness, providing obje...

Innovation Activity Effect on Competitiveness of the Companies of Khmelnitsky Region

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V.V. Kravchuk

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the innovation industry of Khmelnitsky region and the problems of creating an innovative model of industrial development on a combination of scientific and industrial spheres as well as the effective management of innovation as a factor in improving the economy competitiveness.

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH OF COMPETITIVENESS AND INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN COMPETITION AND COMPETITIVENESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana GUTIUM

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to analysis of interdependence and correlation between competition and competitiveness, and competition’s consequences. The author analysed some authors’ visions on competitiveness, and common features between theories of competition and competitiveness. Using the synthetic indicator elaborated by author has been evaluated the competitiveness of domestic goods on the internal and external market. At the end of this article, the author has developed proposals to increase competitiveness.

Role of the environmental factor in the competitiveness of the region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Ya. Kalyuzhnova

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The article shows the role of environmental factor in the competitiveness of the region. The issue of the country's image and the region is considered according to ecology and touristic appeal. We consider the modern role of botanical gardens and their transformation from scientific horticultural organizations to the objects of multi-use facilities type, for a regional multi-utility. The experience of an innovative project of creation of Russia's first environmental technological park and tourist-recreational zone on the basis of the university botanical garden in Irkutsk using the public-private partnership is stated.

Referees check robots after qualifying match at regional robotic competition at KSC

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Referees check the robots on the floor of the playing field after a qualifying match of the 1999 Southeastern Regional robotic competition at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex . Thirty schools from around the country have converged at KSC for the event that pits gladiator robots against each other in an athletic-style competition. The robots have to retrieve pillow- like disks from the floor, as well as climb onto the platform (with flags) and raise the cache of pillows to a height of eight feet. KSC is hosting the event being sponsored by the nonprofit organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, known as FIRST. The FIRST robotics competition is designed to provide students with a hands-on, inside look at engineering and other professional careers.

Research on the Core Competitive Power Elements Evaluation System of Green Hotel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Liang

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Green hotel is a new type of hospitality industry development model based on the concept of circular economy and sustainable development. This paper makes an analysis and evaluation of the elements of green hotel core competence, on this basis, constructs the Green Hotel core competitive evaluation index system.The construction of the system is conducive to understand the green hotel’s own competitive advantage objectively, and explore ways to enhance its core competitiveness, providing objective basis for sustainable development of China's Hotel industry.

US producers in a competitive market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beck, M.

1987-01-01

The current (1986) situation in the world-wide uranium market is explained and the competitiveness of United States producers is considered in this context. Historical export contracts by US producers are examined to evaluate how sales quantities by region have changed. The influence of inflation and exchange rates on production costs are considered. The threat of US protectionism is discussed. Despite the contraction of the US uranium industry in recent years a number of US producers have remained competitive. Factors which could increase US competitiveness are listed. (U.K.)

Formation of competitive potential of the machine-building complex of the region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Ivanovich Botkin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The article describes the features of competitive potential of regional machine-building complex in a globalized world economy. The purpose of the research is the development of theoretically reasonable economic basis of the machine-building complex considering  the  features of business in the conditions of the WTO. In the work, the hypothesis of a special role of the external economic factors locates in development of the enterprises of regional industrial complexes. The study of the theoretical provisions defining the development of the region revealed the factors determining influence of the international trade agreements on spatial localization of the industry. The main attention is paid to an analytical assessment of the current state and the trends, which have developed in the period of post-crisis economic recovery. Analysis of the main indicators of attractiveness has revealed the weak position of local industrial enterprises in the WTO. The directions of strengthening of the competitive capacity of the local industrial enterprises are defined. The obtained results allow us to increase the sustainability of the industry by means of effective management mechanism improvements and to create favorable operating conditions of a machine-building complex of the region

Competitive advantage of informational technologies and communications sector for the Romanian west 5 region

OpenAIRE

Duda-Daianu, Dana Codruta

2008-01-01

The present work paper aims to analyse and to point out the competitive advantage of the Western 5 Region in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Applying the Michael Porter’s model was determined that the competitive advantage is given by human resources. The results of this research will help the decision factors at local level to understand that it may enforce the combination of development strategies.

Metabolic evaluation of Crioulo horses participating in competitions of 750 km

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorena Alvariza Amaral

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The Crioulo breed of horses performs in one of the most physically demanding equestrian competitions, the Marcha de Resistência, which is a contest in which the horses run 750 km in 15 days. The study's aim was to characterize the metabolic responses during this period. We evaluated eleven Crioulo horses in the competition, specifically, two males and nine females. Blood samples were collected 24 hours before the contest and on the 4th, 9th, 11th, 14th and 15th days of competition. We evaluated CK, AST, LDH, glucose, lactate, urea, creatinine, sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, total calcium, ionized calcium, total protein, hematocrit and the white blood cell count. At the end of the competition, the mean values of serum AST were 1151±358 IU/ L the mean LDH values were 7418±1695 IU/L and CK was 13,867±3998UI /L. There was a significant increase in urea, creatinine and lactate (p<0.0001. A decrease in the mean values of chloride, sodium, potassium, and total and ionized calcium was observed (p≤0.0002. An evaluation of the total leukocytes and segmented neutrophils (p≤0.0002 revealed their increased values, and decreased values were observed for hematocrit, plasma protein and total lymphocytes (p≤0.0003. The values of glucose, on average, remained constant. Based on these data, we conclude that the Marcha de Resistência competition necessitated a high muscular demand and the depletion of energy and electrolytes, suggesting an inflammatory process in the animals evaluated.

Market Competitiveness Evaluation of Mechanical Equipment with a Pairwise Comparisons Hierarchical Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Fujun

2016-01-01

This paper provides a description of how market competitiveness evaluations concerning mechanical equipment can be made in the context of multi-criteria decision environments. It is assumed that, when we are evaluating the market competitiveness, there are limited number of candidates with some required qualifications, and the alternatives will be pairwise compared on a ratio scale. The qualifications are depicted as criteria in hierarchical structure. A hierarchical decision model called PCbHDM was used in this study based on an analysis of its desirable traits. Illustration and comparison shows that the PCbHDM provides a convenient and effective tool for evaluating the market competitiveness of mechanical equipment. The researchers and practitioners might use findings of this paper in application of PCbHDM.

The investigation of the regional engineering industryґs competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Ivanovich Botkin

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the status and features of the development of key sectors of mechanical engineering in the Republic of Udmurtia in an increasingly competitive and globalized economy. The dynamics of a number of key indicators of financial and economic activity has been analyzed. Basing on the analysis, negative trends indicating a weakening of the industrial enterprises in the region and established before the global financial crisis and the factors strengthening efforts of its negative impact have been revealed. These changes require from the management of the enterprises active action for strategic restructuring aimed at obtaining extra competitive advantages and ensuring further development. As a mechanism to overcome these phenomena, the use of a model based on the formation of integrated corporate structures of holding type, with additional benefits in today's global competition in the markets of industrial products and the forthcoming accession of Russia to the WTO has been suggested, allowing post-crisis development of the innovative scenario. As a result of the analysis of the dynamics and parameters of the structuring of the industry's key assets revealed that these transformations are carried out with participation of both big business and the state acting in this process in the name of state corporations.

Student teams maneuver robots in qualifying match at regional robotic competition at KSC

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

All four robots, maneuvered by student teams behind protective walls, converge on a corner of the playing field during qualifying matches of the 1999 Southeastern Regional robotic competition at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex . Thirty schools from around the country have converged at KSC for the event that pits gladiator robots against each other in an athletic-style competition. The robots have to retrieve pillow- like disks from the floor, as well as climb onto the platform (with flags) and raise the cache of pillows to a height of eight feet. KSC is hosting the event being sponsored by the nonprofit organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, known as FIRST. The FIRST robotics competition is designed to provide students with a hands-on, inside look at engineering and other professional careers.

75 FR 55541 - NOAA Regional Ocean Partnership Funding Program-FY2011 Funding Competition

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-13

...-01] RIN 0648-ZC20 NOAA Regional Ocean Partnership Funding Program--FY2011 Funding Competition AGENCY: National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce...-profit organizations (requirements described in full announcement) that NOAA is soliciting proposals for...

[Regional anaesthesia as advantage in competition between hospitals. Strategic market analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, A R; Bauer, K R; Eberlein-Gonska, M; Albrecht, D M; Koch, T

2009-05-01

The German Social Act V section sign 12 is aimed towards competition, efficiency and quality in healthcare. Because surgical departments are billing standard diagnosis-related group (DRG) case costs to health insurance companies, they claim best value for money for internal services. Thus, anaesthesia concepts are being closely scrutinized. The present analysis was performed to gain economic arguments for the strategic positioning of regional anaesthesia procedures into clinical pathways. Surgical procedures, which in 2005 had a relevant caseload in Germany, were chosen in which regional anaesthesia procedures (alone or in combination with general anaesthesia) could routinely be used. The structure of costs and earnings for hospital services, split by types and centres of cost, as well as by underlying procedures are contained in the annually updated public accessible dataset (DRG browser) of the German Hospital Reimbursement Institute (InEK). For the year 2005 besides own data, national anaesthesia staffing costs are available from the German Society of Anaesthesiology (DGAI). The curve of earnings per DRG can be calculated from the 2005 InEK browser. This curve intersects by the cost curve at the point of national mean length of stay. The cost curve was calculated by process-oriented distribution of cost centres over the length of stay and allows benchmarking within the national competitive environment. For comparison of process times data from our local database were used. While the InEK browser lacks process times, the cost positions 5.1-5.3 (staffing costs anaesthesia) and the national structure adjusted anaesthesia staffing costs 2005 as published by the DGAI, were used to calculate nationwide mean available anaesthesia times which were compared with own process times. Within the portfolio diagram of lengths of stay for each DRG and process times most procedures are located in the economic lower left, in particular those with high case mix (length of stay and

Competition Experiments as a Means of Evaluating Linear Free Energy Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Mullins, Richard J.; Vedernikov, Andrei; Viswanathan, Rajesh

2004-01-01

The use of competition experiments as a means of evaluating linear free energy relationship in the undergraduate teaching laboratory is reported. The use of competition experiments proved to be a reliable method for the construction of Hammett plots with good correlation providing great flexibility with regard to the compounds and reactions that…

Evaluation on Core Competitiveness of Wholesale Market of Agricultural Products Based on CWAA Operator

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2011-01-01

According to relevant data,we select five indices,namely management ability,organization and management capability,enterprise culture,development ability and technical equipment ability,to establish the index system of core competitiveness of wholesale market of agricultural products.Based on combination weight arithmetic average(CWAA) operator,we advance an evaluation model of core competitiveness of wholesale market of agricultural products which involves participation of many people.By inviting five exerts,we conduct evaluation in terms of management ability of wholesale market of agricultural products,organization and management capability of leadership,enterprise culture of wholesale market of agricultural products,future development ability of wholesale market of agricultural products,and exiting technical equipment ability of wholesale market of agricultural products.We adopt hundred-mark system to grade and evaluate core competitiveness of wholesale market of agricultural products.The results show that the experts’ evaluation score of core competitiveness of wholesale market of agricultural products is high.The evaluation result is reasonable and authentic and this model is feasible.

COMPETITION AS A FORM OF ORGANIZING CULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF THE KRASNOYARSK REGION POPULATION IN THE 1960-1980S

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Ekaterina Ivanovna Lobyneva

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In the article the author deals with the socialist completion as demonstration of huge enthusiasm and creative initiative of the Krasnoyarsk region population in the 1960s. There were more than twenty shock Komsomol construction sites, which became an effective form of youth participating in the economy development.The aim of the work is to find out in what way socialist completion influences on developing different personal features, like abilities, knowledge, erudition, skills, experience, needs, call of duty, responsibility, etc.The methods of historical approach and objectivism are used in the article.The results of work are to considerate problems concerning with organization of the socialist competition in the Krasnoyarsk region. New materials and some documents of local archives are introduced during the research.The study of the socialist competition in the Krasnoyarsk region enables to make a conclusion that the socialist competition is a form of organizing cultural activities of the Krasnoyarsk region population in the 1960s.

48 CFR 1313.106 - Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation. 1313.106 Section 1313.106 Federal Acquisition... PROCEDURES Procedures 1313.106 Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and...

48 CFR 813.106 - Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation. 813.106 Section 813.106 Federal Acquisition... ACQUISITION PROCEDURES Procedures 813.106 Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award...

Dynamic analysis of interhospital collaboration and competition: empirical evidence from an Italian regional health system.

Science.gov (United States)

Mascia, Daniele; Di Vincenzo, Fausto; Cicchetti, Americo

2012-05-01

Policymakers stimulate competition in universalistic health-care systems while encouraging the formation of service provision networks among hospital organizations. This article addresses a gap in the extant literature by empirically analyzing simultaneous collaboration and competition between hospitals within the Italian National Health Service, where important procompetition reforms have been implemented. To explore how rising competition between hospitals relates to their propensity to collaborate with other local providers. Longitudinal data on interhospital collaboration and competition collected in an Italian region from 2003 to 2007 are analyzed. Social network analysis techniques are applied to study the structure and dynamics of interhospital collaboration. Negative binomial regressions are employed to explore how interhospital competition relates to the collaborative network over time. Competition among providers does not hinder interhospital collaboration. Collaboration is primarily local, with resource complementarity and differentials in the volume of activity and hospital performance explaining the propensity to collaborate. Formation of collaborative networks among hospitals is not hampered by reforms aimed at fostering market forces. Because procompetition reforms elicit peculiar forms of managed competition in universalistic health systems, studies are needed to clarify whether the positive association between interhospital competition and collaboration can be generalized to other health-care settings. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Features of Evaluating the Enterprise Tax Competitiveness Using the Hierarchy Analysis Method

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Didyk Andrii M.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is substantiating the provisions on the evaluation of the enterprise tax competitiveness using the hierarchy analysis method to identify the initial tax position of the business entity and the level of the “gap” between the actual state of its tax system and opportunities of the external tax environment. There have been proved a fragmentary character of developments in this area, which can be explained mainly by the novelty of the research object. The arguments in favor of feasibility of using the hierarchy analysis method to solve the problem of evaluating the level of the enterprise tax competitiveness have been presented. The generalized sequence for evaluating such competitiveness has been presented, which provides for the implementation of a number of stages: the formation of an expert group and organization of its work; statement of the problem and its structuring in the form of a hierarchy; diagnosis of the enterprise tax system according to specified parameters; identification of opportunities of external tax environment; comparison of the current enterprise tax system with opportunities of the external tax environment by building a matrix of pairwise comparisons; determination of eigenvectors and their normalized estimates for each pairwise comparison matrix in order to obtain priority vectors; evaluation of consistency of the pairwise comparison of matrices; building of the generalized priority vector; formation of conclusions and recommendations. The detailed description of each of these stages has been given. Application of the provisions on the evaluation of the enterprise tax competitiveness on the example of JSC “Drogobych truck crane plant” has been considered. It has been concluded that the level of the enterprise tax competitiveness is significantly lower than the opportunity of the external tax environment (generalized by 34,6 %. This is despite the fact that in termsof some parameters of

48 CFR 13.106 - Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation. 13.106 Section 13.106 Federal Acquisition... ACQUISITION PROCEDURES Procedures 13.106 Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and...

Effect of Regional Hospital Competition and Hospital Financial Status on the Use of Robotic-Assisted Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Jason D; Tergas, Ana I; Hou, June Y; Burke, William M; Chen, Ling; Hu, Jim C; Neugut, Alfred I; Ananth, Cande V; Hershman, Dawn L

2016-07-01

Despite the lack of efficacy data, robotic-assisted surgery has diffused rapidly into practice. Marketing to physicians, hospitals, and patients has been widespread, but how this marketing has contributed to the diffusion of the technology remains unknown. To examine the effect of regional hospital competition and hospital financial status on the use of robotic-assisted surgery for 5 commonly performed procedures. A cohort study of 221 637 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy, total nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, hysterectomy, or oophorectomy at 1370 hospitals in the United States from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011, was conducted. The association between hospital competition, hospital financial status, and performance of robotic-assisted surgery was examined. The association between hospital competition was measured with the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), hospital financial status was estimated as operating margin, and performance of robotic-assisted surgery was examined using multivariate mixed-effects regression models. We identified 221 637 patients who underwent one of the procedures of interest. The cohort included 30 345 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy; 20 802, total nephrectomy; 8060, partial nephrectomy; 134 985, hysterectomy; and 27 445, oophorectomy. Robotic-assisted operations were performed for 20 500 (67.6%) radical prostatectomies, 1405 (6.8%) total nephrectomies, 2759 (34.2%) partial nephrectomies, 14 047 (10.4%) hysterectomies, and 1782 (6.5%) oophorectomies. Use of robotic-assisted surgery increased for each procedure from January 2010 through December 2011. For all 5 operations, increased market competition (as measured by the HHI) was associated with increased use of robotic-assisted surgery. For prostatectomy, the risk ratios (95% CIs) for undergoing a robotic-assisted procedure were 2.20 (1.50-3.24) at hospitals in moderately competitive markets and 2.64 (1.84-3.78) for highly competitive markets

Porter on national and regional competitive advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A-P. de Man (Ard-Pieter); F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); T. Elfring (Tom)

1997-01-01

textabstractIntroduction: approaches to competitiveness In the last decade, the issue of competitiveness has captured an important position on the agenda of politicians and policymakers. The growing strength of Asian firms on the world market has been debated at some length in both the USA and in

ECONOMIC MODEL FOR EVALUATION OF INTEGRAL COMPETITIVENESS OF AUTOMOTIVE ENTERPRISES (AE

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A. F. Zubritsky

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers problems pertaining to evaluation of competitiveness of automotive enterprises in the field of international consignments. An economic model for determination of the integral AE competitiveness is proposed in the paper and the model permits to substitute an expert estimation in respect of some factors by their qualitative calculation on the basis of data on enterprise activity in the international consignment market.

Effectiveness and competing capacity of native Rhizobium strains evaluated in IX Region soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrientos D, Leticia; Mendez A, Edith; Pino N, Ines

1995-01-01

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes reaches its optimum when the host plants are nodulated by highly competitive and effective Rhizobium strains. With the purpose of assessing competition and nitrogen fixing capacity of native Rhizobium leguminosarum bio-var trifolii strains, a greenhouse test was carried out using white clover (Trifolium re-pens) and four kinds of soils, which represent the main agroecological areas of the IX Region. Eleven strains were evaluated, they were both native and collected and were streptomycin sulphate antibiotic resistant. A nitrogen and a nitrogen-less without inoculation testers were used as controls. All pots received a solution of ammonium sulphate marked with 10% 15 N a.e, equivalent to 10 kg ha -1 of N. Rye-grass was used as reference crop, cv. Nu-i. In general, the evaluated strains were very efficient. After three or four cuts they became the only source of nitrogen for the plants. They were also very competitive, getting to over 70% of root infection with regard to those present in soils. In Curacautin and Tolten soils, biological nitrogen fixation begins later than other soils evaluated, which is coincident with soils having a higher nitrogen content. Symbiosis occurs when the soil nitrogen content exhausts or diminishes. (author)

Evalvacija šolskega matematičnega tekmovanja Kenguru = Evaluation of the Kangaroo School Mathematical Competition

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Barbara Komel

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Each year Slovene students of secondary vocational schools, among them also the Construction and Service School in Kranj (Economics and Service Educational Centre Kranj, compete in knowledge in the Kangaroo International Mathematical Competition . We decided to evaluate two points of view of the competition, namely processional in the sense of extra-curricular activities, i.e. preparation for the competition, and interpersonal in the sense of deepening the relations between teachers and students. One of the main aims of our evaluation, besides deepening the relations, was to motivate and prepare as many students as possible for the competition. While carrying out the project, there was a growing conviction that the process of evaluation is more important than its results, because it has united and brought closer all the participants, students as well as teacher-mentors. An extremely positive consequence of evaluation is the fact that the understanding of the competition itself has improved and it has also boosted its own efficiency. School climate has become friendlier, while the project group of mathematicians gained new guidelines for further work.

COMPETITIVENESS ASSESSMENT OF THE REWARD POLICY: A CASE STUDY

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Ponomarchuk M. A.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Competitive wage policy is considered as the main tool for solving the problem of attracting, retaining and promoting qualified personnel, which is relevant for domestic organizations. The article defines the main stages and purposes of evaluation of the competitiveness of the wage policy. The authors studied the use of an estimation of the wage policy competitiveness by the Russian organizations and identified practical need for and methods of assessing the competitiveness of the wage policy. Objective and subjective factors influencing the direction of the wage policy are identified, as well as the trends in wages under the influence of the crisis conditions. The main indicators of mobility and personnel turnover, the average wage in the Irkutsk region are considered. The description of the external conditions of functioning of the organizations in the Irkutsk region is presented.

Networks and RegionalCompetitiveness: Towards a Transaction Cost Approach of Small-Scale Cooperation

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Daniel Friel

2005-06-01

Full Text Available A preoccupation with competition often dominates the study of governance. A focus on competition often unnecessarily precludes the possibility that regional institutions can suspend competition in certain areas and facilitate cooperation among potential rivals, thereby potentially contributing to their mutual success. In many ways companies cooperating through these types of networks have a greater degree of flexibility than firms which are forced to rely solely on hierarchies or markets for solutions to their problems. In order to fully understand how such networks work, this article first parses out differences in definitions of networks in order to understand how the type of network mentioned above actually differs from other uses of this term. Then it develops a theory of governance that goes beyond hierarchies and markets by demonstrating how this type of network can lead to reductions in transaction costs. This claim is illustrated on hand from examples of alternative forms of organization in Germany and Italy.

Strategic objectives and the usage possibility of competitive advantages of the grain crops complex of Chelyabinsk region

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Ol'ga Dmitrievna Rubaeva

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the logical scheme of strategy of the grain complex competitive advantages usage. The results of evaluation of financial and economic situation of agricultural enterprises engaged into production of grain are presented. Determination of the level of competitiveness of the agro-grain industry was established on the basis of obtaining an integral point-weighting factor of competitiveness. Evaluation and confirmation of this technique allowed identifying key factors of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in the grain corns industry. The main conclusion of the study is the following: the use of resource-saving technologies for the cultivation of crops greatly influences the development of competitive advantages. Calculations showed that the application of resource-saving technology increases productivity, reduces labour requirements and the cost of equipment maintenance and repair, fuel costs, improves basic economic indicators of activity: gross revenues from sales is increasing.

Development of innovative potential of the region as a way to increase Russian economy competitiveness in today's realities

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Yamkova S. P.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available the article explains the importance of the development of innovation as the economic competitiveness of regions of Russia. Considered term innovation potential of the region. The problems of development of innovative potential of the region and ways to solve them.

PERFECTION RUSSIAN TAX FEDERALISM AS THE FACTOR OF INCREASE COMPETITIVENESS OF INDUSTRIALLY ADVANCED REGIONS

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D.A. Tatarkin

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In the article problems of increase of competitiveness of industrially advanced regions are considered on the basis of optimization of system of differentiation of tax powers and tax incomes, stimulating authorities of different levels to develop own tax potential, to form economic sources for self-development and to carry out a responsible financial policy in interests of the population. The basic background of research became the ground of an opportunity to transfer the principles of a competition on mutual relations of authorities of a various level, thus determining economic advantages of decentralization control system of territory development.

Romania's Competitiveness and Competitive Position in Global Context

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Valentin NECULITA

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Competitiveness increase has become a primordial framework of the social and economic development strategies of most world countries (mainly the most developed ones over the last decades. The vigorous boost of the contemporary phenomenon of globalization, which has widened the global area of economies, sectors and firms confrontation, has laid an emphasis on their competitiveness importance for their favorable position in the international competition and has therefore force the status to take proper, broad and concerted measures to stimulate the determining factors of action and to take better advantage of their effects. The purpose of the paper is to determine whether an increase in competitiveness could reduce the disparities between regions. The E.U. Member States and regions need significant financial help to solve various structural problems and to achieve their potential of growth. Romania is no exception, one of the main problems being the low rate in attracting European funds.

Evaluation of turmeric-mung bean intercrop productivity through competition functions

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Mohamaed ISLAM

2018-04-01

Full Text Available An intercropping experiment was conducted with varying combinations of turmeric and mung bean to find out the efficacy of productivity and economic return through competition functions. Treatments were evaluated on the basis of several competition functions, such as land equivalent ratio (LER, aggressiveness, competitive ratio (CR, monetary advantage index (MAI and system productivity index (SPI. Results showed that rhizome yields of turmeric were higher in intercropping system than in mono crop. It indicated that intercropping of mung bean did not affect the rhizome yield of turmeric. However, turmeric (100 % + 3 row mung bean (100 % in between turmeric lines intercropping system exhibited maximum yield of both the crops as well as turmeric equivalent yield, LER, competitive indices values, SPI and MAI (Tk. 2,44,734.46 ha-1 compared to the other intercropping combinations and the mono crops. Aggressiveness of intercrop indicated dominance of turmeric over mung bean in all the combinations except turmeric (100 % + 1 row mung bean (33 %. Competition functions of intercroping suggested beneficial association of turmeric and mung bean crops. The study revealed that mung bean could be introduced as intercrop with turmeric without hampering rhizome yield with higher benefit additionally increasing mung bean production area.

ESTIMATION OF EFFICIENCY OF THE COMPETITIVE COOPERATION MODEL

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Natalia N. Liparteliani

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Competitive cooperation model of regional travel agencies and travel market participants is considered. Evaluation of the model using mathematical and statistical methods was carried out. Relationship marketing provides a travel company certain economic advantages.

Competitiveness and food security at the regional level

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Mikhail Vasil'evich Fyodorov

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with food safety as one of the areas of food security and food sovereignty. A review of concepts, models, acts on the power of international and national levels is made. The authors formulate a conclusion about the need for a measure of «food quality» with the release of the functional components of fitness (the ability to perform specified functions with the purpose and safety (restrictions on the content of harmful substances in the products. The analysis of the competitiveness of local products is made on the quality characteristics based on the proportion of output indicator of inadequate quality or dangerous to health in the total volume of products placed on the market. The paper identifies key areas of federal and regional levels to comply with the quality of food.

Regional competitiveness in the context of “New industrial policy” – the case of Croatia

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Katarina Bačić

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to do research on regional conditions that are most conducive to maximising the positive effects of the implementation of “New industrial policy” (policy based on Smart specialisation strategy to regional competitiveness in Croatia. Rather than using the standard but fragmented system of counties, this small post-transition economy is first mapped into five regions following the concept of regional innovation systems (RISs. Essentially, RIS concept rests on an idea that interactions among regional agents lead to the creation of optimal innovation output, while policy based on Smart specialisation strategy in Croatia is a national policy that promotes creation of innovative products and services in five promising domains and 13 sub-thematic areas. Analysis is carried out in two steps, firstly using a data-driven approach employed in a multidimensional framework for assessing regional accessibility, absorptive capacity and diffusion of knowledge in the context of Smart specialisation strategy (S3 implementation. In the second step, the assumption of post-transition reliance on the external knowledge and technology in producing innovation output is examined via regional presence of high-technology firms, GDP per capita and international trade and investment variables and patents per 100.000 inhabitants using cluster analysis (Ward method. The results show that highly internationalised regions with higher density of hightechnology firms already produce relatively more innovation output per capita. With already favourable conditions in place, these progressive regions are most likely to reinforce their competitive advantages through the transformation of their economic structures enabled by implementation of S3.

DISSONANCE AND CONSONANCE BETWEEN THE COMPETITIVENESS OF

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OANA CRISTINA POPOVICI

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to identify to what extent the notions of organizational and regional competitiveness are similar, in order to be targeted by a comprehensive set of public policy measures. In this respect, we discuss the notions of organizations’ and regional competitiveness and find common factors of influence, namely innovation, networks and regulation. Based on these factors, we search for empirical evidences as regards the mutual impact between the competitiveness of organizations and competitiveness of regions. We present the results using the example of foreign direct investment companies, as their location decision making process is based on assessing both the competitiveness of organizations and the advantages of locations that point to the competitiveness of a location and, extended, to that of a region. While the dissonance is expressed in the differences of interpretation for the two notions, there is a consonant policy that can be employed for supporting both organizational and regional competitiveness: the cluster policy.

Incorporating Renewable Energy Science in Regional Landscape Design: Results from a Competition in The Netherlands

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Renée M. de Waal

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Energy transition is expected to make an important contribution to sustainable development. Although it is argued that landscape design could foster energy transition, there is scant empirical research on how practitioners approach this new challenge. The research question central to this study is: To what extent and how is renewable energy science incorporated in regional landscape design? To address this knowledge gap, a case study of a regional landscape design competition in the Netherlands, held from 2010–2012, is presented. Its focus was on integral, strategic landscape transformation with energy transition as a major theme. Content analysis of the 36 competition entries was supplemented and triangulated with a survey among the entrants, observation of the process and a study of the competition documents and website. Results indicated insufficient use of key-strategies elaborated by renewable energy science. If landscape design wants to adopt a supportive role towards energy transition, a well-informed and evidence-based approach is highly recommended. Nevertheless, promising strategies for addressing the complex process of ensuring sustainable energy transition also emerged. They include the careful cultivation of public support by developing inclusive and bottom-up processes, and balancing energy-conscious interventions with other land uses and interests.

Competitiveness and Economic Growth in Romanian Regions

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Simionescu Mihaela

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Considering the fact that Romanian economy competitiveness is not based on innovation and investment in human capital, this study makes an empirical evaluation of the impact of occupation and unemployment in Romanian counties on the economic growth. The approach based on panel vector-autoregressive (panel VAR models indicated a negative impact of occupation and activity rate in 42 Romanian counties on the economic growth during 2006-2014. On the other hand, the real economic growth was achieved at high unemployment rates. These results are contrary to previous studies in literature and are due to a structural economic crisis and to lack of labour productivity and investment in human capital. Further policy measures should focus on structural unemployment decrease, more skilled labour force according to labour market needs, lifelong learning, higher performance and quality of education system, promotion of social inclusion, poverty control.

On the issue of methodology of estimating the regional competitive advantages by types of activity

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Azat Rashitovich Safiullin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective to develop the research methodology of the competitive position of territories by types of economic activities to define the relevant types of economic activities and to diagnose their competitive advantages. Methods a differentiated approach to the analysis of competitiveness based on matrix models of competitive positioning which allows to identify the relevant types of economic activities of the territory. This approach determined the choice of specific research methods dialectics abstraction systematic logical structural comparative and statistical. The application of the above methods helped to ensure the validity of the analysis results theoretical and practical conclusions. Results in the study were used the experience and knowledge gained during an earlier undertaken series of projects relating to the assessment of economy efficiency of Tatarstan Republic in 20052011.Previous reports dealt with the change of the selected industries positions of the Republic the structure and dynamics of the competitive position of these industries compared to the leading Russian regions. A distinctive feature of the research results presented in this article is a comparative analysis of competitive advantages of economic activities of Tatarstan Republic based on the matrix model of competitive positioning. Scientific novelty for the first time the matrix model of diagnostics of competitive advantages of the territory by the type of economic activity was proposed which allows to identify the priority industrial portfolio and provide targeted management actions to enhance its investment attractiveness. Practical value the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used by legislative and executive authorities of the Russian Federation business community research institutions and organizations to develop strategies and programs of socioeconomic development and territorial planning schemes priority directions of industrial and investment

Nitrogen deposition, competition and the decline of a regionally threatened legume, Desmodium cuspidatum.

Science.gov (United States)

Skogen, Krissa A; Holsinger, Kent E; Cardon, Zoe G

2011-01-01

Increased nitrogen (N) deposition, resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels, production of synthetic fertilizers, growth of N(2)-fixing crops and high-intensity agriculture, is one of the anthropogenic factors most likely to cause global biodiversity changes over the next century. This influence may be especially large in temperate zone forests, which are highly N limited and occur in regions with the highest levels of N deposition. Within these ecosystems, N(2)-fixing plants, including legumes, may be more sensitive to N deposition than other plant species. Though it has long been recognized that the competitive edge conferred by N(2)-fixation diminishes with increasing soil N availability, the conservation implications of increased N deposition on native N(2)-fixers have received less attention. We focus on Desmodium cuspidatum, which has experienced dramatic population losses in the last 30-40 years in the northeastern United States. We explore competition between this regionally threatened legume and a common non-N(2)-fixing neighbor, Solidago canadensis, across a gradient of N deposition. Our data show that increased N deposition may be detrimental to N(2)-fixers such as D. cuspidatum in two ways: (1) biomass accumulation in the non-N(2)-fixer, S. canadensis, responds more strongly to increasing N deposition, and (2) S. canadensis competes strongly for available mineral nitrogen and can assimilate N previously fixed by D. cuspidatum, resulting in D. cuspidatum relying more heavily on energetically expensive N(2)-fixation when grown with S. canadensis. N deposition may thus reduce or eliminate the competitive advantage of N(2)-fixing species growing in N-limited ecosystems.

Analyzing Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Strategically Managing Resource Allocations to Achieve Operational Competitiveness

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Abdul Malek Nurul Aida

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In today’s dynamic business environment, a key challenge for all companies is to make adaptive adjustments to their manufacturing strategy. This study demonstrates the competitive priorities of manufacturing strategy in hydro-power case company to evaluate the level of sustainable competitive advantage and also to further analyze how business strategies are aligned with manufacturing strategies. This research is based on new holistic analytical evaluation of manufacturing strategy index, sense and respond, and sustainable competitive advantage models. These models help to describe, evaluate, and optimize resource allocation to meet the performance requirements in dynamic decision making. Furthermore, these models evaluate operational competitiveness for manufacturing strategies according to the multi-criteria priority. The results show that the adjustments of competitive priorities in manufacturing strategies by implementing the proposed holistic analytical models are helpful in strategically managing business operations. The discussion derives the most critical attributes in business operations while alignment of resource allocation with competitive priorities help to strategically focus those attributes. In conclusion, we argue that resource allocation and manufacturing strategies have become the most important capabilities in a business environment where companies focus to get a sustainable competitive advantage.

Song competition affects monoamine levels in sensory and motor forebrain regions of male Lincoln's sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii.

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Kendra B Sewall

Full Text Available Male animals often change their behavior in response to the level of competition for mates. Male Lincoln's sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii modulate their competitive singing over the period of a week as a function of the level of challenge associated with competitors' songs. Differences in song challenge and associated shifts in competitive state should be accompanied by neural changes, potentially in regions that regulate perception and song production. The monoamines mediate neural plasticity in response to environmental cues to achieve shifts in behavioral state. Therefore, using high pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection, we compared levels of monoamines and their metabolites from male Lincoln's sparrows exposed to songs categorized as more or less challenging. We compared levels of norepinephrine and its principal metabolite in two perceptual regions of the auditory telencephalon, the caudomedial nidopallium and the caudomedial mesopallium (CMM, because this chemical is implicated in modulating auditory sensitivity to song. We also measured the levels of dopamine and its principal metabolite in two song control nuclei, area X and the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA, because dopamine is implicated in regulating song output. We measured the levels of serotonin and its principal metabolite in all four brain regions because this monoamine is implicated in perception and behavioral output and is found throughout the avian forebrain. After controlling for recent singing, we found that males exposed to more challenging song had higher levels of norepinephrine metabolite in the CMM and lower levels of serotonin in the RA. Collectively, these findings are consistent with norepinephrine in perceptual brain regions and serotonin in song control regions contributing to neuroplasticity that underlies socially-induced changes in behavioral state.

Evaluation of the Impact of the EU Structural Support on the Competitiveness of Lithuanian Economics

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Rita Remeikiene

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Increasing amounts of the EU structural support in Lithuania require theoretical and practical research to disclose the determinants that have a significant impact on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the EU structural support on the competitiveness of Lithuanian economics. The methods of the research include systematic and comparative analysis of the scientific literature, expert evaluation and linear regression. The research disclosed the main determinants of country’s competitiveness. The results have revealed that EU structural support has the most significant impact on Lithuanian engineering and technological infrastructure. The impact of the support on country’s macroeconomic, scientific and social environment can also be considered as significant. The EU structural support has medium strong impact on education and business environment conditions in Lithuania. It has been established that, in the field of business advancement, Lithuanian should be rated as medium competitive. Hence, the increase in country’s competitiveness by employing EU structural funds should be treated as one of priority aims. In addition, responsible authorities should perform with higher efficiency seeking for higher competitiveness of the country.

FIRST 2002, 2003, 2004 Robotics Competition(s)

Science.gov (United States)

Purman, Richard

2004-01-01

The New Horizons Regional Education Center (NHREC) in Hampton, VA sought and received NASA funding to support its participation in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 FIRST Robotics Competitions. FIRST, Inc. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization which encourages the application of creative science, math, and computer science principles to solve real-world engineering problems. The FIRST competition is an international engineering contest featuring high school, government, and business partnerships.

SPECIFICITY OF INTER-ELITE COMPETITION AT REGIONAL LEVEL IN MODERN RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander SOKOLOV

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the approaches to understanding the concept of ‘competition’. There are three approaches to understanding the concept: as a competition in the market, as a behavioral element of the market mechanism and as a market mechanism criterion to resist monopolization. Conditions for the existence of competition are also considered. The first condition for the competition to emerge is a presence of a great number of items of any particular product or resource in the market. The second condition for the emergence of competition is freedom of choice of producers’ economic activities. The third condition for the competition to emerge is correspondence between what determines the demand and what determines the supply. The forth condition for the emergence of competition is the presence of the market of means of production. The essence of the competition in the political field is analyzed as well. Specific conditions for the political competition in modern Russia are distinguished and common features of the political competition in subjects of the Russian Federation are also determined. An example of the conditions and essence of the political competition in Yaroslavl is considered in detail. Changes of the area of political competition for the last four years of the Russian Federation are also considered.

Competition between television companies for advertising revenue in the United Kingdom: the Independent Television regions prior to deregulation

OpenAIRE

D B Clarke; M G Bradford

1992-01-01

This paper provides a contribution to the geographies of advertising and the media. The authors examine the ways in wbich commercial television companies try to attract advertising to their regions; advertising being their main source of revenue. Competition based on the cost of advertising in particular regions is effectively restricted. This market failure results in regionally uneven allocations of advertising money, and hence an uneven regional pattern of TV company revenues. Other forms ...

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

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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.

REGIONAL CHAINS OF ADDED VALUE AS A TOOL OF INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION- COMPETITIVENESS

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M. E. Guliyev

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. The infrastructural aspects of integrated interaction and factors impacting on the efficiency increase of regional participation  in the creation of added value chains on the example of cooperation  between developed and developing countries during the  implementation of joint production projects are considered.Methods. A factor analysis of the degree of various countries’ involvement into global added value chains is carried out,  taking into account their geographical location, natural resources and openness of markets, as well as the infrastructure, professional knowledge of the workforce, practice of cooperation of  domestic firms with foreign partners and the attractiveness of their investment climate.Results. An evaluation of the integrated potential of individual countries, which could undertake the functions of  integrators and mediators within the implementation of regional  programmes of social and economic development, is presented. The  growth potential is estimated and the role of global creation chains  of added value (AVC revealed as a tool for increasing the  competitiveness of national trade policies. It is determined that,  when adopting the latest technologies, companies strive to geographically approximate the placement of the middle links of added value chains to specialised suppliers, “smart” consumers and scientific centres as a means of maintaining innovation continuity.Conclusion. The countries of the EEU and the CIS have significant potential for developing cooperation in the field of  transition to a model of new economic growth, as well as in the  development and application of regional added value chains. As well  as the extractive sector of the economy of the EEU and CIS  countries, included in the regional added value chains, agriculture, chemical and textile industries, metallurgy, transport  engineering, and services sector have the potential to be key

Stimulating utilities to promote energy efficiency: Process evaluation of Madison Gas and Electric's Competition Pilot Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vine, E.; De Buen, O.; Goldfman, C.

1990-12-01

This report describes the process evaluation of the design and implementation of the Energy Conservation Competition Pilot (hereafter referred to as the Competition), ordered by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) with a conceptual framework defined by PSCW staff for the Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) Company. This process evaluation documents the history of the Competition, describing the marketing strategies adopted by MGE and its competitors, customer service and satisfaction, administrative issues, the distribution of installed measures, free riders, and the impact of the Competition on MGE, its competitors, and other Wisconsin utilities. We also suggest recommendations for a future Competition, compare the Competition with other approaches that public utility commissions (PUCs) have used to motivate utilities to promote energy efficiency, and discuss its transferability to other utilities. 48 refs., 8 figs., 40 tabs.

EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC SECURITY NOVOSIBIRSK REGION (FOR EXAMPLE, A REGIONAL ENGINEERING

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Lugacheva L. I.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article shows the importance of regional engineering for the Russian economy, it clarifies the factors of economic security of the Novosibirsk region (NSO. Analyzed the characteristics prevailing in the engineering industry, its competitive advantages. The research results of the export orientation of the regional engineering VAT: its direction and priorities; discusses the trends that influence the growth during the recovery has formed a new profile of its foreign economic relations. Threats identified in the development of engineering and to propose measures to overcome them to ensure the economic security of the region. The article deals with the problem-tional institutes provide for the sustainable development of regional engineering, discusses the possibility of using pub-lic-private partnerships. Sharing of risks and responsibilities between the subject of the Russian Federation, municipalities and entrepreneurs - one of the priorities in the creation of the necessary conditions for the economic security of the NSO.

DETERMINANTS OF REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS IN ROMANIA - A PANEL DATA APPROACH

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Mihaela-Nona, CHILIAN

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In this study, a few panel data models were estimated to analyze the regional competitiveness in the 42 counties (including Bucharest of Romania. The dynamic panel with Arellano "Bover/Blundell" Bond estimators and robust standard errors showed that during 2000-2012 the GDP in the current period depends on the average number of employees and on the GDP value of the previous period. For a fixed effect model, 34.41% (Rho of the total variation is due to the differences within the counties. The Moran's I index in 2000 is negative and close to zero (0.035 suggesting a negative but non-significant spatial autocorrelation. In 2012, the Moran I's suggests a positive and non-significant spatial auto-correlation.

Off-Line Evaluation of Mobile-Centric Indoor Positioning Systems: The Experiences from the 2017 IPIN Competition

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Joaquín Torres-Sospedra

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The development of indoor positioning solutions using smartphones is a growing activity with an enormous potential for everyday life and professional applications. The research activities on this topic concentrate on the development of new positioning solutions that are tested in specific environments under their own evaluation metrics. To explore the real positioning quality of smartphone-based solutions and their capabilities for seamlessly adapting to different scenarios, it is needed to find fair evaluation frameworks. The design of competitions using extensive pre-recorded datasets is a valid way to generate open data for comparing the different solutions created by research teams. In this paper, we discuss the details of the 2017 IPIN indoor localization competition, the different datasets created, the teams participating in the event, and the results they obtained. We compare these results with other competition-based approaches (Microsoft and Perf-loc and on-line evaluation web sites. The lessons learned by organising these competitions and the benefits for the community are addressed along the paper. Our analysis paves the way for future developments on the standardization of evaluations and for creating a widely-adopted benchmark strategy for researchers and companies in the field.

Off-Line Evaluation of Mobile-Centric Indoor Positioning Systems: The Experiences from the 2017 IPIN Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Adriano; Lungenstrass, Tomás; Lu, Wei-Chung; Seco, Fernando; Nicolau, Maria João; Farina, Joaquín; Morales, Juan Pablo; Lu, Wen-Chen; Cheng, Ho-Ti; Yang, Shi-Shen

2018-01-01

The development of indoor positioning solutions using smartphones is a growing activity with an enormous potential for everyday life and professional applications. The research activities on this topic concentrate on the development of new positioning solutions that are tested in specific environments under their own evaluation metrics. To explore the real positioning quality of smartphone-based solutions and their capabilities for seamlessly adapting to different scenarios, it is needed to find fair evaluation frameworks. The design of competitions using extensive pre-recorded datasets is a valid way to generate open data for comparing the different solutions created by research teams. In this paper, we discuss the details of the 2017 IPIN indoor localization competition, the different datasets created, the teams participating in the event, and the results they obtained. We compare these results with other competition-based approaches (Microsoft and Perf-loc) and on-line evaluation web sites. The lessons learned by organising these competitions and the benefits for the community are addressed along the paper. Our analysis paves the way for future developments on the standardization of evaluations and for creating a widely-adopted benchmark strategy for researchers and companies in the field. PMID:29415508

A multisession evaluation of an adaptive competitive arm rehabilitation game.

Science.gov (United States)

Goršič, Maja; Cikajlo, Imre; Goljar, Nika; Novak, Domen

2017-12-06

People with neurological injuries such as stroke should exercise frequently and intensely to regain their motor abilities, but are generally hindered by lack of motivation. One way to increase motivation in rehabilitation is through competitive exercises, but such exercises have only been tested in single brief sessions and usually did not adapt difficulty to the patient's abilities. We designed a competitive arm rehabilitation game for two players that dynamically adapts its difficulty to both players' abilities. This game was evaluated by two participant groups: 15 participants with chronic arm impairment who exercised at home with an unimpaired friend or relative, and 20 participants in the acute or subacute phase of stroke who exercised in pairs (10 pairs) at a rehabilitation clinic. All participants first played the game against their human opponent for 3 sessions, then played alone (against a computer opponent) in the final, fourth session. In all sessions, participants' subjective experiences were assessed with the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory questionnaire while exercise intensity was measured using inertial sensors built into the rehabilitation device. After the fourth session, a final brief questionnaire was used to compare competition and exercising alone. Participants who played against an unimpaired friend or relative at home tended to prefer competition (only 1 preferred exercising alone), and exhibited higher enjoyment and exercise intensity when competing (first three sessions) than when exercising alone (last session). Participants who played against each other in the clinic, however, did not exhibit significant differences between competition and exercising alone. For both groups, there was no difference in enjoyment or exercise intensity between the first three sessions, indicating no negative effects of habituation or novelty. Competitive exercises have high potential for unsupervised home rehabilitation, as they improve enjoyment and exercise

Comparative evaluation of competitive ELISA test in Colombian cattle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marino, O.; Rueda, E.; Sedano, L.; Zuniga, I.; Calderon, C.; Ortega, A.; Puentes, A.

1998-01-01

In order to contribute to the definition of the best ELISA test for screening and differential diagnosis of Brucella abortus to be applied for control programmes, a total of 2971 sera from Colombian cattle were tested for brucellosis. Conventional agglutination tests, Buffered Plate antigen test (BPAT) and Rose Bengal (RB) as well as Complement Fixation test (CFT) (Alton, et al. 1988) were used comparatively. Radial immunodiffusion test (RID) was also performed to all sera. The sera were also tested using four different ELISAs: indirect ELISA from FAO/IAEA and the indirect ELISA modified by Nielsen, et al. 1992 as well as two competitive ELISAs: one competitive ELISA used B. abortus O-polysaccharide antigen and an enzyme conjugated monoclonal to the O-polysaccharide for competition and detection. The second competitive ELISA used lipopolysaccharide (sLPS) antigen, a different monoclonal antibody for competition but also specific for the O-polysaccharide and a commercially available goat anti-mouse IgG enzyme conjugate for detection. The sera were analyzed based on its population status, 987 positive obtained from Brucella abortus infected herds based on clinical and/or bacteriological evidence and a high prevalence of brucellosis, CFT percentage of positive animals in the herd was greater than 5%. Eight hundred sixty six (866) negative sera from non-vaccinated cattle from a brucellosis free area and 1118 negative sera obtained from reglamentary vaccinated areas under a free herd program. Initial cut-off values were derived using negative serum samples. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity was defined from frequency histograms based on this cut-off values and using 2x2 tables, corresponding confidence limits (95%) were calculated. The data were also analysed using signal detection analysis (ROC). Kappa statistics was determined for all tests and populations, accuracy was used as index of comparison to evaluate different assays. The data support the initial

Book Review: Airport Competition: The European Experience

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Garry Gumelar Pratama

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The competitive business environment in aviation industry has changed since European Integration. Not only airlines become more competitive after s­uch integration, but also other main infrastructure of aviation, airports. At the first stage of regional development, competition in airport industry seems to be impossible since all countries in a region still have clear jurisdictional boundaries. The other side of the coin is that airport competition becomes an important issue in a more integrated region, such as European Union (EU. This occurs because an airport owner from another country can buy other airports outside its state jurisdiction, under the same region. Articles in this book prove the claim of the existence of airport competition. Under the introductory part, the editors outlined three cases from EU: UK Civil Aviation Authority action to Heathrow Airport in 2008, Blocked Takeover of Bratislava Airport 2006 and European Commission Prohibition on Subsidies to Ryanair by Brussels South Charleroi Airport 2004. All of the cases are inevitable proofs that airport competition undoubtedly exists in Europe.

Stimulus Competition in Pre/Post and Online Ratings in an Evaluative Learning Design

Science.gov (United States)

Purkis, Helena M.; Lipp, Ottmar V.

2010-01-01

Evaluative learning is said to differ from Pavlovian associative learning in that it reflects stimulus contiguity, not contingency. Thus, evaluative learning should not be subject to stimulus competition, a proposal tested in the current experiments. Participants were presented in elemental and compound training phases with pictures of shapes as…

Management Innovations as a Condition of Competitive, Sustainable and Secure Development of the Region

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Nikolay Prokofyevich Ivanov

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the article within the comparative analysis the author reveals the tendencies of functioning of an economic complex in a number of regions of the South of Russia in recent years; describes the potential of modernization of economy of the Stavropol region; substantiates the influence of organizational and administrative innovations on activity and efficiency of using territorial management of institutes of economic development in practice. The author of the present research proves that realization of administrative capacity of bodies of the regional power of the Stavropol region is mainly connected with the development of production sector of the region, as well as with the monitoring and management of regional economy become the basic elements of creating the diversified, effective and competitive environment focused on creation in the region of the industrial complexes which yield the final products. The article emphasizes that organizational and administrative innovations are mostly directed on the activization of the process of regional innovative system formation, the search of more effective forms of interaction with vertically integrated companies (mega-corporations operating on the territory of the region which investment resources need to be involved in the process of modernization and restructuring of a regional economic complex.

Cue competition in evaluative conditioning as a function of the learning process.

Science.gov (United States)

Kattner, Florian; Green, C Shawn

2015-11-01

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is the change in the valence of a stimulus resulting from pairings with an affective (unconditioned) stimulus (US). With some exceptions, previous work has indicated that this form of conditioning might be insensitive to cue competition effects such as blocking and overshadowing. Here we assessed whether the extent of cue competition in EC depends upon the type of contingency learning during conditioning. Specifically, we contrasted a learning task that biased participants toward cognitive/inferential learning (i.e., predicting the US) with a learning task that prevented prolonged introspection (i.e., a rapid response made to the US). In all cases, standard EC effects were observed, with the subjective liking of stimuli changed in the direction of the valence of the US. More importantly, when inferential learning was likely, larger EC effects occurred for isolated stimuli than for compounds (indicating overshadowing). No blocking effects on explicit evaluations were observed for either learning task. Contingency judgments and implicit evaluations, however, were sensitive to blocking, indicating that the absence of a blocking effect on explicit evaluations might be due to inferences that occur during testing.

Tpm implementation impact in companies´s competitivity in the metropolitan region of aburra’s valley and near east

OpenAIRE

Arango Serna, Martin Dario; Zapata Cortes, Julian Andrés; Alzate Lopez, Juan Felipe

2012-01-01

Best practices methodologies have been used by different companies as competitive growing tools in a globalized market. In Colombia, particularly at Aburra’s Valley Metropolitan Area (AMVA) and near east can be noticed that TPM (Total Productive Management) had been adopted as a competitive support tool. This article evaluates the TPM implementation impact in different competitiveness variables for the companies that are working on it at the AMVA and near east, finding that there is not a cle...

The Impact of the Hotel Industry on the Competitiveness of Tourism Destinations in Hungary

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Albert Tóth Attila

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on a complex question from the perspective of the hotel industry. It tries to draw attention to the importance of hotels, enhancing it on the basis of the tourism destination competitiveness models and introducing the role and place of the hotel industry in the most important models. The hotel industry research evaluates the most important tourism destinations of Hungary on the micro-regional level that justifies the importance and contribution of the hotels and accommodations to competitiveness and success of tourism destinations with exact results. As a result of the research, the micro-regional destinations can be ranged within three groups in Hungary. In the first group of the most developed and most competitive tourism destinations, the hotel industry plays a very important role. In these regions, the hotel industry has a significant effect not only on competitiveness of tourism but also on general development of the regions. In the second group, which can be still called tourism destination, tourism and the hotel industry both play a significant role, but only the competitiveness of tourism can be considered good, the effects of the tourism on general development of the region can be proved only to a lesser extent. In the third group, the effects of tourism and the hotel industry can only be experienced to a lesser extent. The majority of these regions are not considered to be attractive tourism destinations for tourists any more.

The centrifugal and centripetal force influence on spatial competition of agricultural land in Bandung Metropolitan Region

Science.gov (United States)

Sadewo, E.

2017-06-01

Agricultural activity has suffered a massive land functional shift caused by market mechanism in Bandung metropolitan region (BMR). We argue that the existence of agricultural land in urban spatial structure is the result of interaction between centrifugal and centripetal force on spatial competition. This research aims to explore how several recognized centrifugal and centripetal force influence to the existence of agricultural land in BMR land development. The analysis using multivariate regression indicates that there exists spatial competition between population density and degree of urbanization with agricultural land areas. Its extended spatial regression model suggested that neighboring situation plays an important role to preserve agricultural land areas existences in BMR. Meanwhile, the influence of distance between the location of the city center and employment opportunities is found to be insignificant in the spatial competition. It is opposed to the theory of von Thünen and monocentric model in general. One of the possible explanation of such condition is that the assumption of centrality does not met. In addition, the agricultural land density decay in the southern parts of the area was related to its geographical conditions as protected areas or unfavorable for farming activity. It is suggested that BMR was in the early phase of polycentric development. Hence, better policies that lead redirected development to the southern part of the region is needed as well as population control and regulation of land use.

Evaluation of alternatives for power system coordination and pooling in a competitive environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudnick, H.; Varela, R.; Hogan, W.

1997-01-01

The paper defines and classifies essential issues that relate the need for electric power system coordination with the increasing development of competition. Principles are formulated and a coordination model and a market structure are proposed, emphasizing the need for economic dispatch in the wholesale market. A detailed comparison is made of the market and pooling implementations developed in Argentina and Chile, countries that have pioneered the creation of competitive markets in the electric energy sector. An evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of those two implementations is included

The Necessity of ASEAN Competition Law: Rethinking

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Udin Silalahi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available As outlined in the AEC Blueprint, all ASEAN member states (AMSs will endeavour to introduce competition policy by 2015. At present 7 (seven AMSs, namely: Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar have the national competition laws to supervise anti-competitive conduct in the domestic market. But the question is what if happened unfair competition between ASEAN member states, due to the agreement or businesses activities by business actors that harm competition? ASEAN has an ASEAN Regional Guidelines on Competition Policy (ARGCP that developed by ASEAN Experts Group on Competition (AEGC as framework for member states to develop its own competition law or policy and as a guideline in measuring that directly affect the behaviour of enterprises and the structure of industry and markets. Regional Guideline is just to help AMSs in increasing of awareness of important policy, not to sustain the competition among ASEAN member countries. Until now there is no ASEAN Competition Law and Institution to oversee competition among ASEAN member countries. In this era, ASEAN economic integration it is a certainty that anti-competitive among AMSs will happen.

Evaluation of competitive and economic indices in canola and pea intercropping at different rates of nitrogen fertilizer

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Seyfollah fallah

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The experiment was conducted in order to evaluate of competitive and economic indices in canola and pea intercropping at different rates of nitrogen fertilizer at Shahrekord University research farm during 1390 - 1391. Intercropping and sole cropping treatments (100% canola; 66% canola + 33% pea, 50% canola + 50% pea; 33% canola + 66% pea; 100% pea were evaluated as the first factor and nitrogen rates (100% need; 75% need and 50% need as the second factor in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The calculated competitive indices were included land equivalent ratio (LER, relative crowding coefficient (K, aggressively (A, the system production index (SPI, actual yield loss (AYL, competitive ratio (CR and economy indices included monetary advantage index (MAI, and the intercropping advantage (IA. Results showed that all the competitive and economic indices had the highest amount in 50 and 75% of nitrogen requirement. The amounts of AYLt and SPI and economic indices (MAI and IA were positive for all intercropping ratios. Also, LERt and Kt for all intercropping ratio were greater than one, that indicating the superiority of intercropping over sole cropping any of the two plants. The positive values aggressively index and the greater than one values competitive ratio for canola, indicated canola was superior competitor in compared to pea. In conclusion, the evaluation of competitive and economic indices appropriately describes intercropping advantage of canola with pea in reduced nitrogen fertilizer conditions.

Regional alternative transportation evaluation report - Region 4

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-15

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center (Volpe Center) conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 4, which is comprised of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Geor...

Regional alternative transportation evaluation report - region 2

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe : Center (Volpe Center) conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 2, : which is comprised of Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexic...

Regional alternative transportation evaluation report - region 5

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-14

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center (Volpe Center) conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 3, which is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michiga...

Competition among Turkish hospitals and its effect on hospital efficiency and service quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Torun, Nazan; Celik, Yusuf; Younis, Mustafa Z

2013-01-01

The level of competition among hospitals in Turkey was analyzed for the years 1990 through 2006 using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). Multiple and simple regression analyses were run to observe the development of competition among hospitals over this period of time, to examine likely determinants of competition, and to calculate the effects of competition on efficiency and quality in individual hospitals. This study found that the level of competition among hospitals in Turkey has increased throughout the years. Also, competition has had a positive effect on the efficiency of hospitals; however, it did not have a significant positive effect on their quality. Moreover, there are important differences in the level of competition among hospitals that vary according to the geographical region, the type of ownership, and the type of hospital. This study is one of the first to evaluate the effects of health policies on competition as well as the effects of increasing competition on hospital quality and efficiency in Turkey.

Regional alternative transportation evaluation report - region 1

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-21

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center (Volpe Center) conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 1, which is comprised of Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and H...

Coal competitiveness?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogeaux, B.

2006-01-01

Will coal electrical plants be more competitive in the coming years? Answering this one cannot be limited to merely comparing estimates based on reference electricity production costs. The competitiveness of coal will indeed depend on the final product marketed, as the MWhs are not equal: is the purpose to produce base, half-base MWh? Does the electrical equipment structure require flexible MWh (for instance in the event of significant intermittent renewable energy amounts), and therefore plants able to adjust their power rapidly? But the competitiveness of coal will also depend on many factors that will correct reference cost estimates: uncertainties, risks, externalities. These factors will need to be appreciated on a case by case basis. We introduce some of the reasoning used to better appreciate the future competitiveness of coal, and the main factors conditioning it in three contrasting regions of the world: Europe, USA, china. (author)

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS - SCENARIOS METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Valeriu

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Keeping a company in the top performing players in the relevant market depends not only on its ability to develop continually, sustainably and balanced, to the standards set by the customer and competition, but also on the ability to protect its strategic information and to know in advance the strategic information of the competition. In addition, given that economic markets, regardless of their profile, enable interconnection not only among domestic companies, but also between domestic companies and foreign companies, the issue of economic competition moves from the national economies to the field of interest of regional and international economic organizations. The stakes for each economic player is to keep ahead of the competition and to be always prepared to face market challenges. Therefore, it needs to know as early as possible, how to react to others’ strategy in terms of research, production and sales. If a competitor is planning to produce more and cheaper, then it must be prepared to counteract quickly this movement. Competitive intelligence helps to evaluate the capabilities of competitors in the market, legally and ethically, and to develop response strategies. One of the main goals of the competitive intelligence is to acknowledge the role of early warning and prevention of surprises that could have a major impact on the market share, reputation, turnover and profitability in the medium and long term of a company. This paper presents some aspects of competitive intelligence, mainly in terms of information analysis and intelligence generation. Presentation is theoretical and addresses a structured method of information analysis - scenarios method – in a version that combines several types of analysis in order to reveal some interconnecting aspects of the factors governing the activity of a company.

Ingroup/Outgroup Attitudes and Group Evaluations: The Role of Competition in British Classroom Settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virginia L. Lam

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Children’s intergroup bias is one of the consequences of their readiness to categorise people into ingroups and outgroups, even when groups are assigned arbitrarily. The present study examined the influence of intergroup competition on children’s ingroup and outgroup attitudes developed within the minimal-group setting in British classrooms. One hundred and twelve children in two age groups (6-7- and 9-10-year-olds were assessed on classification skills and self-esteem before being allocated to one of two colour “teams.” In the experimental condition, children were told that the teams would have a competition after two weeks and teachers made regular use of these teams to organise activities. In the control condition, where no competition ensued, teachers did not refer to “teams.” Then children completed trait attributions to their own-team (ingroup and other-team (outgroup members and group evaluations. It was found that children developed positive ingroup bias across conditions, but outgroup negative bias was shown only by 6-7-year-olds in the experimental condition, particularly if they lost the competition, where they evaluated their team more critically. Better classification skills were associated with less negativity towards the outgroup in the experimental condition. Findings are discussed in relation to relevant theoretical premises and particulars of the intergroup context.

Short supply chain: analysis of the competitiveness of organic horticultural farmers at Italian regional level

OpenAIRE

Bertazzoli, Aldo; Ruggeri, Arianna; Samoggia, Antonella

2010-01-01

The paper focuses on the competitiveness of organic horticultural farms implementing short food supply chain (SFSC), by analysing the organisational structures adopted by farmers and their economic performance. The collection of data based on face to face interviews with farmers and the review of the rural development plans of three central Italy regions. Results show that farms prefer a combination of organizational structures that involve both business to consumer and business to business s...

Designing competitions for education in robotics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Nils Axel; Ravn, Ole

2012-01-01

The paper describes design considerations for making a robot competition. Topics as level of participants, learning objective, evaluation form, task design and competition rules are treated. It is shown that careful design considering these topics are necessary for a succesful outcome of a compet......The paper describes design considerations for making a robot competition. Topics as level of participants, learning objective, evaluation form, task design and competition rules are treated. It is shown that careful design considering these topics are necessary for a succesful outcome...... of a competition. The conclusions are based on examples from more than 15 years of experience with robotic competitions....

Common region wins the competition between extrinsic grouping cues: Evidence from a task without explicit attention to grouping.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoro, Pedro R; Villalba-García, Cristina; Luna, Dolores; Hinojosa, José A

2017-12-01

The competition between perceptual grouping factors is a relatively ignored topic, especially in the case of extrinsic grouping cues (e.g., common region or connectedness). Recent studies have examined the integration of extrinsic cues using tasks that induce selective attention to groups based on different grouping cues. However, this procedure could generate alternative strategies for task performance, which are non-related to the perceptual grouping operations. In the current work, we used an indirect task, i.e. repetition discrimination task, without explicit attention to grouping cues to further examine the rules that govern dominance between competing extrinsic grouping factors. This procedure allowed us to obtain an unbiased measure of the competition between common region and connectedness cues acting within the same display. The results corroborate previous data showing that grouping by common region dominated the perceived organization of the display, even though the phenomenological strength of the grouping cues was equated for each participant by means of a preliminary scaling task. Our results highlight the relevance of using indirect tasks as an essential tool for the systematic study of the integration of extrinsic grouping cues.

Competition policy and public procurement in developing countries

OpenAIRE

Falvey, Rod; La Chimia, Annamaria; Morrissey, Oliver; Zgovu, Evious

2008-01-01

Measures to support Competition Policy and enhance the efficiency of Public Procurement can enhance the impact of regional integration agreements. The first part addresses Competition Policy - measures employed by government to ensure a fair competitive market environment. Competition policy aims to ensure that markets remain competitive (through anti-trust or anti-cartel enforcement) or become competitive (through liberalisation). For a variety of reasons, competition is often restricted in ...

The Competitiveness of Settlements with SPAS in Some Central European Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márta Bakucz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The paper covers two topics which are, broadly, inseparable. The first has as its main target the competitiveness of Spa Tourism in two Regions of Hungary - in settlements with different characteristics; the second, recognising the need for a new way to measure competitiveness in the sector, deals with the creation of a new competitiveness index. The benefits of virtually all forms of Tourism - economic or social – are well enough known to need no repetition. This is especially true of such fields as Spa or Health Tourism, in which there is a natural trend towards longer stays and higher expenditure by visitors. For a relatively poor country such as Hungary – weak in natural resources apart from agricultural land – the basic presence of a generous supply of easily accessible thermal or medicinal water below a huge proportion of its surface area (70% is a remarkable gift. Nevertheless, many factors are to be studied if a rational, sustainable development policy is to be elaborated by public and private interests. There are many spas – settlements with thermal or medicinal waters (or both - spread across Hungary, and their variety is extraordinary. There are huge differences in terms of size, visitor numbers, accommodation facilities, overnights, leisure or treatment facilities and location – that is, their closeness to favourable population areas (domestic or foreign. The critical decisions on investment and development need comprehensive data on all factors of all locations. The essential issue is competitiveness: in Central Europe, where spas have a great tradition and history (e.g., Germany, Austria and today’s Czech Republic, does or can Hungary offer a product which will sell? There are numerous factors and as many bases on which to judge. In 2013 a team from the Faculty of Business and Economics at Pécs University - supported by Hungary’s National Scientific Research Foundation (OTKA – embarked on a study of the

Measuring competition in civil aviation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lijesen, M.G.; Nijkamp, P.; Rietveld, P.

2002-01-01

Markets in civil aviation are characterized by large differences in the level of competition, both between time periods as between regions. To measure competition, several indicators are available, such as the number of competitors, the C4-index and the Herfindahl index. We use these measures in

You Be the Judge: When Competitions Employ an Engineering Design Rubric

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Gail Lynn

2017-01-01

This article examines the use of an engineering design rubric by judges for three different student competitions--one regional, one national, and one global--to evaluate portfolios posted on the Innovation Portal, a free online resource available to students, teachers, and others engaged in STEM education across instructional levels. Judges…

Competitive low-tech manufacturing and challenges for regional policy in the European context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Teis; Winther, Lars

2014-01-01

Today, low-tech firms in high-wage countries are focusing on increasing investments in highly skilled labour and advanced machinery, incremental innovation and high value-added niches. Danish policy, however, gives little attention to the new specificities of low-tech manufacturing......, and the understanding of innovation in national and regional strategies is dominated by a science-based perspective. There is a strong policy focus on human capital and research and development in manufacturing. Human capital is vital to manufacturing in general, but the latter is of less importance for low-tech firms....... Conversely, user–producer interactions and machinery investments, which are critical to low-tech competitiveness, are disregarded by policies....

Corporate competitiveness and sustainability risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udo Braendle

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at providing a theoretical analysis of the existing research on corporate competition and sustainability risks that occur when companies aspire to reach maximum competitive advantages and gain competitive benefits compared to their rivals. Competitiveness has been described as a multidimensional, theoretical and relative concept linked with the market mechanism. The concept of competitiveness may refer to different levels of aggregation: national, regional, industrial and individual companies. This paper contributes to the theoretical research on corporate competitiveness by the analysis of old and new definitions of this category. It also notes that the sustainability risks connected to competition can be divided into several groups where the authors highlight environmental, legal, financial risks, behaviour risks and state-related risks as the most crucial ones. For companies to be fit for the competitive challenge, the paper identifies main characteristics of such risks and gives policy guidance for their avoidance

Regional Alternative Transportation Evaluation: Region 8

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-28

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Federal Lands Highway (FLH), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center (Volpe Center) have conducted regional alternative transportation evaluations (RATEs) in almost each of FWSs eight ...

48 CFR 2913.106-3 - Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

..., evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation. 2913.106-3 Section 2913.106-3 Federal... Procedures 2913.106-3 Soliciting competition, evaluation of quotations or offers, award and documentation. In... responsive quotation from a responsible supplier is used as the basis for a purchase, the contracting officer...

Innovation and strategic competitiveness

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Jović Mile B.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Paper discussed relationships of innovation to achieving strategic competitiveness in today globalized economic environment. Special attention is devoted to the nature of competitive advantages on global industries as well national level. Competitive advantage is a firm's ability to transform inputs into goods and services at a profit on a sustained basis, better than competitors. Comparative advantage resides in the factor endowments and created endowments of particular regions. Beside the traditional endowment approach (land, natural resources, labor and the size of the local population it is emphasized the importance of created one such as skilled labor, the technology and knowledge base, government support and culture. Creating corporate or country competitiveness roadmap there are no substantial difference - innovative as well strategic approach is essential.

Changes in Subjective Sleep Quality Before a Competition and Their Relation to Competitive Anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrlenspiel, Felix; Erlacher, Daniel; Ziegler, Matthias

2016-12-09

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of competitions on subjective sleep quality. Previous studies have been inconclusive and lack differentiated and standardized measurements of subjective sleep quality. Furthermore the temporal relation between precompetitive anxiety and sleep quality was investigated. Anxiety and nervousness associated with competitions are considered to cause sleep impairments. A convenience sample of N = 79 elite male athletes from various sports participated. In a time-to-event paradigm, sleep quality and competitive anxiety were assessed via standardized self-report measurements 4 days before a competition and on the day of the competition. Univariate analyses were used to examine differences between time points. To examine cross-lagged effects between anxiety and sleep quality a latent change score model (LCSM) was specified that tested an effect of anxiety on changes in sleep quality. Evaluations of nocturnal sleep deteriorated significantly from 4 days before competition to the day of competition, but there were no differences regarding perceptions of the restorative value of sleep. LCSM revealed that athletes who reported more intense worry symptoms 4 days before competition also reported greater deterioration in evaluations of nocturnal sleep. The findings support earlier reports of impaired subjective sleep quality before competitions. Precompetitive sleep impairments appear also to be preceded by cognitive anxiety. Whereas interventions should thus address worry-cognitions associated with competition and sleep, research should address the practical importance of these perceptions of sleep impairments.

Revealed Competition for Greenfield Investments between European Regions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.J. Burger (Martijn); G.A. van der Knaap (Bert); R.S. Wall (Ronald)

2012-01-01

textabstractIn the modern economy, cities are assumed to be in fierce competition over attracting foreign investments in leading sectors of the world economy. Despite the rich theoretical discourse on these 'wars', it remains unclear which territories are competing with each other over which types

LOCAL GOVERNMENT TAX COMPETITION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1918-1938

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Haas

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The study evaluates tax competition among local governments in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period. Using correlation and regression analysis it proves that (1 local politicians took into account the tax policies of neighbouring jurisdictions when imposing additional tax rates on top of the direct central taxes, (2 there were some regional differences, (3 migration played its role in tax rate setting and (4 the "race-to-the-bottom" did not take place.

Economic competitiveness of fuel cell onsite integrated energy systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bollenbacher, G.

1983-01-01

The economic competitiveness of fuel cell onsite integrated energy systems (OS/IES) in residential and commercial buildings is examined. The analysis is carried out for three different buildings with each building assumed to be at three geographic locations spanning a range of climatic conditions. Numerous design options and operating strategies are evaluated and two economic criteria are used to measure economic performance. In general the results show that fuel cell OS/IES's are competitive in most regions of the country if the OS/IES is properly designed. The preferred design is grid connected, makes effective use of the fuel cell's thermal output, and has a fuel cell powerplant sized for the building's base electrical load.

A Regional Comparative Outlook of the Romanian Tourism Industry Competitiveness

OpenAIRE

Carmen MORARU

2012-01-01

The paper aims to determine if the Romanian tourism product has growth prospects using several diagnose and assessment tools: such as BCG matrix (Boston Consulting Group), "Porter Five Forces" model and finally, we are going to analyze the main products in the portfolio using the Ansoff's Matrix. This approach will help us decide what strategy is appropriate for each product. The last step will be to determine the degree of competitiveness of the Romanian tourism using the Tourism Competitive...

Risk diversification and tax competition : the influence of risk correlations and tax provisions on tax competition

OpenAIRE

Berndt, Markus; Reichl, Bettina

2000-01-01

From standard-portfolio-models the authors derive demand elasticities for risky assets, and combine the results with a simple non-cooperative model of tax competition between capital importing countries. They find that tax rates resulting from tax competition depend heavily on the correlations of capital market indices. If investment alternatives are not correlated, the outcome of both tax competition and a cooperative solution of tax harmonization are identical. The results suggest regional ...

Assessment and Evaluation of National Human Resource Development System Competitiveness in Emerging Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, HunSeok; Seo, DongIn; Kim, JuSeuk; Yoo, SangOk; Seong, HeeChang

2015-01-01

This study assessed and evaluated the competitiveness of national human resource development (NHRD) systems in emerging countries with potential for growth. The literature on emerging countries and NHRD systems was reviewed. The study developed a model mechanism with forty-one indices and nine sub-components for the NHRD system assessment in…

2000 FIRST Robotics Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Purman, Richard

2000-01-01

The New Horizons Regional Education Center (NHREC) in Hampton, VA sought and received NASA funding to support its participation in the 2000 FIRST Robotics competition. FIRST, Inc. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization which encourages the application of creative science, math, and computer science principles to solve real-world engineering problems. The FIRST competition is an international engineering contest featuring high school, government, and business partnerships.

A Comparison of Moment Rates for the Eastern Mediterranean Region from Competitive Kinematic Models

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, E. C.; Ozeren, M. S.; Shen-Tu, B.; Galgana, G. A.

2017-12-01

Relatively continuous, complex, and long-lived episodes of tectonic deformation gradually shaped the lithosphere of the eastern Mediterranean region into its present state. This large geodynamically interconnected and seismically active region absorbs, accumulates and transmits strains arising from stresses associated with: (1) steady northward convergence of the Arabian and African plates; (2) differences in lithospheric gravitational potential energy; and (3) basal tractions exerted by subduction along the Hellenic and Cyprus Arcs. Over the last twenty years, numerous kinematic models have been built using a variety of assumptions to take advantage of the extensive and dense GPS observations made across the entire region resulting in a far better characterization of the neotectonic deformation field than ever previously achieved. In this study, three separate horizontal strain rate field solutions obtained from three, region-wide, GPS only based kinematic models (i.e., a regional block model, a regional continuum model, and global continuum model) are utilized to estimate the distribution and uncertainty of geodetic moment rates within the eastern Mediterranean region. The geodetic moment rates from each model are also compared with seismic moment release rates gleaned from historic earthquake data. Moreover, kinematic styles of deformation derived from each of the modeled horizontal strain rate fields are examined for their degree of correlation with earthquake rupture styles defined by proximal centroid moment tensor solutions. This study suggests that significant differences in geodetically obtained moment rates from competitive kinematic models may introduce unforeseen bias into regularly updated, geodetically constrained, regional seismic hazard assessments.

Competitiveness and linking of emission trading systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hausotter, Tobias; Steuwer, Sibyl; Taenzler, Dennis [adelphi, Berlin (Germany)

2011-01-15

The establishment of emission trading systems raises concerns among industries regarding international competitive disadvantages for the industries under an emissions cap. This study aims to assess competitiveness exposure of industrial sectors and presents policy measures to address these concerns. Moreover, the study provides a comparison of different existing approaches to competitiveness concerns proposed by regional emission trading systems. (orig.)

Evaluating competition in the loan and deposit market using the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Competition was more intense in the market for loans than in the deposit market. There was more competition among domestic banks than among foreign banks. The study also reveals that there was marginal differences in the intensity of competition for loans and deposits among domestic banks. On the aggregate level, ...

The relative importance of seed competition, resource competition and perturbations on community structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Bohn

2011-05-01

Full Text Available While the regional climate is the primary selection pressure for whether a plant strategy can survive, however, competitive interactions strongly affect the relative abundances of plant strategies within communities. Here, we investigate the relative importance of competition and perturbations on the development of vegetation community structure. To do so, we develop DIVE (Dynamics and Interactions of VEgetation, a simple general model that links plant strategies to their competitive dynamics, using growth and reproduction characteristics that emerge from climatic constraints. The model calculates population dynamics based on establishment, mortality, invasion and exclusion in the presence of different strengths of perturbations, seed and resource competition. The highest levels of diversity were found in simulations without competition as long as mortality is not too high. However, reasonable successional dynamics were only achieved when resource competition is considered. Under high levels of competition, intermediate levels of perturbations were required to obtain coexistence. Since succession and coexistence are observed in plant communities, we conclude that the DIVE model with competition and intermediate levels of perturbation represents an adequate way to model population dynamics. Because of the simplicity and generality of DIVE, it could be used to understand vegetation structure and functioning at the global scale and the response of vegetation to global change.

Regional Competitive Intelligence: Benchmarking and Policymaking

OpenAIRE

Huggins , Robert

2010-01-01

Benchmarking exercises have become increasingly popular within the sphere of regional policymaking in recent years. The aim of this paper is to analyse the concept of regional benchmarking and its links with regional policymaking processes. It develops a typology of regional benchmarking exercises and regional benchmarkers, and critically reviews the literature, both academic and policy oriented. It is argued that critics who suggest regional benchmarking is a flawed concept and technique fai...

Comparison of cell-based assays for the identification and evaluation of competitive CXCR4 inhibitors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anneleen Van Hout

Full Text Available The chemokine receptor CXCR4 is activated by its unique chemokine ligand CXCL12 and regulates many physiological and developmental processes such as hematopoietic cell trafficking. CXCR4 is also one of the main co-receptors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV entry. Dysfunction of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis contributes to several human pathologies, including cancer and inflammatory diseases. Consequently, inhibition of CXCR4 activation is recognized as an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. In this regard, numerous agents modifying CXCR4 activity have been evaluated in in vitro experimental studies and pre-clinical models. Here, we evaluated a CXCL12 competition binding assay for its potential as a valuable initial screen for functional and competitive CXCR4 inhibitors. In total, 11 structurally diverse compounds were included in a side-by-side comparison of in vitro CXCR4 cell-based assays, such as CXCL12 competition binding, CXCL12-induced calcium signaling, CXCR4 internalization, CXCL12-guided cell migration and CXCR4-specific HIV-1 replication experiments. Our data indicated that agents that inhibit CXCL12 binding, i.e. the anti-CXCR4 peptide analogs T22, T140 and TC14012 and the small molecule antagonists AMD3100, AMD3465, AMD11070 and IT1t showed inhibitory activity with consistent relative potencies in all further applied CXCR4-related assays. Accordingly, agents exerting no or very weak receptor binding (i.e., CTCE-9908, WZ811, Me6TREN and gambogic acid showed no or very poor anti-CXCR4 inhibitory activity. Thus, CXCL12 competition binding studies were proven to be highly valuable as an initial screening assay and indicative for the pharmacological and functional profile of competitive CXCR4 antagonists, which will help the design of new potent CXCR4 inhibitors.

Fatores de Competitividade Turística: A Área Regional de Turismo do Algarve

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Estevão

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Tourism has emerged as an industry with enormous potential for national and global scale, taking a prominent role as an instrument of competitiveness and regional development booster. There are many studies on this subject, however are still deficient those who are focused on empirical validation of a tourist destination competitiveness models. This research intends to contribute to filling this gap, the purpose of which is based on the evaluation of the competitiveness of the regional area of the Algarve tourism, by identifying the tourism competitiveness factors in this region. The methodology used in the research required the application of primary data, where it was used a questionnaire to the companies with the satellite account of characteristics activities of the World Tourism Organization. Using structural equation models, the results show that there are several significant relationships between resources, supply and destination management as key factors for the competitiveness of the regional study area.

The Position of Slovakia in Competitiveness Ranking – the Causes, Impacts and Prospects

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Lucia Stredná

2012-06-01

Full Text Available A country’s competitiveness could be translated as its ability to successfully compete within international comparison also as a prosperity which is expressed by productivity growth of economy and living standards. Is Slovakia competitive? What are its strengths and weaknesses? What are the leading countries of the European Union in competitiveness ranking? In what aspects is Slovakia falling behind countries of V4? Strengthening of which competitive advantages is perspective for the Slovak Republic? We will try to find answers to these questions in an analysis of competitiveness based on the Global Competitiveness Reports. This thesis focuses on definition of the competitiveness in general, apprises of measuring methodology based on multicriterial evaluation and summarises pros and cons of this benchmark. The main focus is on the Slovak Republic and its position in the international ranking. In detail we will focus on comparison of the Slovak Republic with countries of V4 region. It is the authors’ ambition to bring critical view on position of the Slovak Republic in the international comparison and to formulate recommendations for the future that could contribute to strengthening of competitiveness and success of our country.

Competitive (AP7) and non-competitive (MK-801) NMDA receptor antagonists differentially alter glucose utilization in rat cortex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clow, D.W.; Lee, S.J.; Hammer, R.P. Jr.

1991-01-01

The effects of D,L-2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (AP7), a competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, and MK-801, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, on regional brain metabolism were studied in unanesthetized, freely moving rats by using the quantitative 14 C2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic procedure. AP7 (338 or 901 mg/kg) produced a dose-dependent decrease of metabolic activity throughout most of the regions studied including sensory, motor, and limbic cortices. In contrast, MK-801 (0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg) resulted in a dose-dependent decrease of metabolic activity in sensory cortices, and an increase in limbic regions such as the hippocampal stratum lacunosum moleculare and entorhinal cortex. MK-801 also produced a biphasic response in agranular motor cortex, whereby the low dose increased while the high dose decreased labeling. In addition, MK-801 produced heterogeneous effects on regional cerebral metabolism in sensory cortices. Metabolic activity decreased in layer IV relative to layer Va following MK-801 treatment in primary somatosensory (SI) and visual (VI) cortices, suggesting a shift in activity from afferent fibers innervating layer IV to those innervating layer Va. MK-801 administration also decreased metabolic activity in granular SI relative to dysgranular SI, and in VI relative to secondary visual cortex (VII), thus providing a relative sparing of activity in dysgranular SI and VII. Thus, the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist suppressed activity from extrinsic neocortical sources, enhancing relative intracortical activity and stimulating limbic regions, while the competitive NMDA antagonist depressed metabolic activity in all cortical regions

How Do National Economic Competitiveness Indices View Human Capital?

Science.gov (United States)

Sabadie, Jesus Alquezar; Johansen, Jens

2010-01-01

"Economic competitiveness" is at the top of national, regional and global political and economic agendas. Several countries in all regions of the world have established policies and institutions devoted to economic competitiveness, including in developing and transition countries. This leads to the question of how to define national economic…

EVALUATION OF COMPETITION CONDITIONS IN THE HOTEL SECTOR IN ISTANBUL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazım Ozan ÖZER

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The various dimensions of the concept of the competitiveness in service sectors have drawn attention of many researchers. Discipline of business concerns firm, sector and the international dimensions of national level competition. This study focus on explaining the competitiveness of Istanbul Hotel Sector by considering the dynamics connected to the sectoral competitiveness of Tourism. For the analysis, different data collection techniques have been used. As for the secondary data, literature review has been done about Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model that is mostly prefered for this kind of researches. For the primary data, senior managers of hotels in Istanbul Hotel Sector were applied to the interviews and formal interviews. As a result of this study it’s seen that Istanbul Hotel Sector has profitability rates that attract new entrants and the competition conditions are available for new entrants to the Istanbul Hotel Sector.

Evaluation of PersianCAT Agent's Accepting Policy in Continuous Double Auction, Participant in CAT 2007 Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Honari, Sina; Fos-Hati, Amin; Ebadi, Mojtaba; Gomrokchi, Maziar

As there is a growing tendency towards online auctions, online Multi Agent Systems for economic activities like stock exchanges is more in demand. CAT (CATallactics) competition has produced a great opportunity for researchers since 2007 to put their theories into practice in a real-time economic-based competition, combining traders and brokers. As one of participants, we evaluated our new accepting policy by putting it to challenge. In this paper we give a general overview of one of our policies in the market.

Competitiveness of tomato production in punjab, pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhtar, W.; Qureshi, A.H.; Khan, M.A.

2016-01-01

The study measures competitiveness at farm level and economic efficiency at country level of tomato production in relation to tomato trade by using Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) framework in Punjab, Pakistan. The province was divided into two tomato production regions i.e., Central and Southern Punjab for analysis purpose under importable scenario by using import parity price. Results of PAM model revealed that tomato production in both regions of Punjab has competitiveness under prevailing market situation as indicated by positive private profitability and private cost ratio (PCR) which is less than 1. Competitiveness difference in two regions indicated that Central Punjab has more competitiveness at farm level in tomato production. Economic efficiency results i.e. Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) ratio remained 0.39 and 0.51 in Central and Southern Punjab, respectively with positive social profitability indicating strong comparative advantage under importable scenario. The above results implied that Central Punjab has greater economic efficiency than Southern Punjab in domestic resources use for production of tomato as import substitute commodity. Results of Nominal Protection Coefficient (NPC) and Effective Protection Coefficient (EPC) indicated that combine effects of policies on output and tradable input market did not pass any protection to tomato farmers in the study area. Net effect of policy or market failure is reducing the profitability of tomato producers at farm level which indicates lack of motivation from policies for farmers to expand tomato production as import substitute crop. Present study recommended competitiveness and economic efficiency analysis in other tomato producing regions of the country for year round tomato supply on the basis of resource efficiency and to curtail tomato imports to save the precious foreign exchange. To enhance the competitiveness there is need to increase farmer's incentives through increase of farm level price up to

Genetic conditions of joint Nordic genetic evaluations of lifetime competition performance in warmblood sport horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Viklund, Å; Furre, S; Eriksson, S; Vangen, O; Philipsson, J

2015-08-01

Breeding programmes for warmblood sport horses are similar in the Nordic countries Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, and stallions of same origin are used. The aim was to investigate whether a joint Nordic genetic evaluation based on lifetime competition performance is feasible and beneficial for breeding competitive sport horses in the Nordic countries. Results for almost 45,000 horses in show jumping and 30,000 horses in dressage were available. The larger populations in Sweden and Denmark contributed with 85% of the results. Heritabilities and genetic correlations between performances in the different countries were estimated, and comparisons of accuracies of estimated breeding values (EBVs) and number of stallions with EBVs based on national or joint data were studied. The heritabilities ranged between 0.25 and 0.42 for show jumping and between 0.14 and 0.55 for dressage. The genetic correlations between competition performances in the Nordic countries were estimated to 0.63-1.00. EBVs based on joint data increased accuracies for EBVs for stallions by 38-81% and increased the number of available stallions with EBVs by 40-288%, compared to EBVs based on national data only. A joint Nordic genetic evaluation for sport horses is recommended. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Evaluating the potential impact of transmission constraints on the operation of a competitive electricity market in Illinois.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cirillo, R.; Thimmapuram, P.; Veselka, T.; Koritarov, V.; Conzelmann, G.; Macal, C.; Boyd, G.; North, M.; Overbye, T.; Cheng, X.; Decision and Information Sciences; Univ. of Illinois

2006-04-30

Despite the current adequacy of the generation and transmission system in Illinois, there is concern that the uncertainties of electricity restructuring warrant a more detailed analysis to determine if there might be pitfalls that have not been identified under current conditions. The problems experienced elsewhere in the country emphasize the need for an evaluation of how Illinois might fare under a restructured electricity market. The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) commissioned this study to be undertaken as a joint effort by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Argonne National Laboratory to evaluate the Illinois situation in the 2007 period when restructuring is scheduled to be fully implemented in the State. The purpose of this study is to make an initial determination if the transmission system in Illinois and the surrounding region would be able to support a competitive electricity market, would allow for effective competition to keep prices in check, and would allow for new market participants to effectively compete for market share. The study seeks to identify conditions that could reasonably be expected to occur that would enable a company to exercise market power in one or more portions of the State and thereby create undue pressure on the prices charged to customers and/or inhibit new market participants from entering the market. The term 'market power' has many different definitions, and there is no universal agreement on how to measure it. For the purposes of this study, the term is defined as the ability to raise prices and increase profitability by unilateral action. A more complete definition is provided later. With this definition, the central question of this analysis becomes: 'Can a company, acting on its own, raise electricity prices and increase its profits?' It should be noted that the intent of the study is not to predict whether or not such market power would be exercised by any company. Rather, it is

Policies and place-making for competitive cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Musterd, S.; Kovács, Z.; Musterd, S.; Kovács, Z.

2013-01-01

Policy-makers are making efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of their cities and urban regions. This book is about these policies and their implications for place-making and competitive cities. Policies driven by ‘classic’ location theory, cluster policies, ‘creative class’ policies aimed at

Competitive Intelligence and Regional Development within the Framework of Indonesian Provincial Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Henri; Manullang, Sri Damayanty

2004-01-01

Teaching methodologies and uses of competitive intelligence and competitive technical intelligence in countries where the culture and the technological level are very different from the western world cannot be implemented without a cultural understanding of the tacit local knowledge and cultural behavior of people. As an example of…

Research and technology organizations’ mobilizers of the regional environment: Competitive strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Augusto Rincón Díaz

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose a contingent model that facilitates knowledge of the strategies followed by the research technology organizations (RTOs of Valencia and the Basque Country, Spain, to adapt to the turbulence of their environment. Design/methodology/approach - The research includes context, organizational and results variables and identifies some barriers that the RTOs encounter in collaborating with SMEs and also the best practices they follow to develop competitive advantages. The methodology used consisted of applying the proposed model to the 27 RTOs of both autonomous regions; a factor analysis was then performed to determine whether there exist groups of related (correlated variables; finally, the authors proceeded to carry out a hierarchical cluster analysis to observe how the 27 RTOs are distributed according to their ability to adapt and respond to environmental turbulence. Findings - The technological policy must consider the characteristics of each region to propose more efficient and equitable mechanisms that allow the RTOs to face new challenges. Originality/value -This study proposes a theoretical model suitable for RTOs to respond to environmental changes, to the current economy globalization and to cope with new challenges. This proposal means that RTOs must manage an appropriate combination of key factors, including the development of more proactive innovation strategies, an organic organizational structure to relate better with other innovation agents and universities, which help them to work more efficiently with SMEs and to obtain a higher innovative performance.

Sustainability and Competitiveness of Tourism

OpenAIRE

Angelkova, Tanja; Koteski, Cane; Jakovlev, Zlatko; Mitreva, Elizabeta

2011-01-01

Tourism is an activity that can have a really big impact on sustainable development. Sustainability of tourism involves extensive cooperation between tourist companies, tourist destinations and national, regional and local authorities in order to cover a broad group of challenges and at the same time to remain competitive. Opportunities for sustainable tourism development and preservation of its competitiveness, largely influenced by the quality of the environment, preserved and attractive...

THE TAXATION AND THE COUNTRIES COMPETITIVENESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Csongor CSŐSZ

2017-06-01

Full Text Available According to the OECD, competitiveness is a measure of a country's advantage or disadvantage in selling its products on international markets. While economists consider productivity and growth rate as basic indicators of competitiveness, those dealing with economic- and social policy - including the OECD and various bodies of the EU - also emphasize the importance of high level employment rates. The regional policy of the EU,which is targeting balanced territorial development, considers the improvement of the competitiveness of its regions as the most effective tool achieving cohesion. The study contains an analysis of the GDP of the 12 member states that joined the Union in 2004 (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and those in 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria in relation with the employment rate, corporate tax, personal income tax values, imports and exports value.

A Teachable-Agent-Based Game Affording Collaboration and Competition: Evaluating Math Comprehension and Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Pareto, Lena; Haake, Magnus; Lindstrom, Paulina; Sjoden, Bjorn; Gulz, Agneta

2012-01-01

This paper presents an educational game in mathematics based on an apprenticeship model using a teachable agent, as well as an evaluative study of how the game affects (1) conceptual understanding and (2) attitudes towards mathematics. In addition, we discuss how collaborative and competitive affordances of the game may affect understanding and…

Competition for biomass. Regional imbalances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiklund, S.E.; Bohlin, B.; Remes, M.; Aakesson, H.; Warnqvist, B.; Norrstroem, H.; Jonsson, Tomas

1997-04-01

The main aim of this study has been to investigate if a substantial increase in biofuel utilization may lead to pronounced regional differences in supply and demand, and what effects such imbalances could lead to. In the study the country has been split up into ten regions, from north to south, and it is confirmed that there would be an imbalance effect. confirmed that there would be an imbalance effect

FACTORS INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF MILK PRODUCTION IN THE KRASNODAR REGION

OpenAIRE

Kremyanskaya E. V.

2016-01-01

The study justifies the need for improving the competitiveness of milk production in the commodity market, identifies the key indicators of improving the competitiveness of milk, which include the quality and level of costs. A direct dependence of the efficiency of realization of milk and incentives of operators of machine milking (milkers) on the quality of the raw milk produced is defined by means of the method of statistical groupings. A correlation and regression analysis of the quality o...

EDITORIAL: Physics competitions Physics competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Jordens, H.; Mathelitsch, L.

2009-11-01

1. Physics competitions: aims and realizations One aim of physics competitions is to increase the interest of young students, primarily at upper secondary level, to physics and natural sciences in general. A competition has motivational aspects known usually from sports events or games—comparing one's own ability with others, of course with the desire to be better and to win. If competitions reach nationwide and even international levels, additional stimulation is created. Competitions provide greatest attraction to possible winners, to the group of gifted people in a particular field. This implies that science contests are excellent tools for the promotion of talented students. Traditional teaching has been shown to have problems in supporting this group of students. Very often teachers are overstretched with the demands of teaching both low- and high-level students. Extracurricular activities are therefore a good chance to relieve the teacher, and to give talented students the opportunity for appropriate training and challenge. The competitions, however, have a broader impact and address more young people than one might guess from the statements above. Training courses and selection at school level give a larger group of students extra and, to some extent, complimentary education in physics. The degree of complexity of the tasks corresponds very often to the standards of the next level of education in the school system. Interestingly, many physics competitions have their origin in countries beyond the former Iron Curtain. They started as regional and national tournaments, were joined by neighbouring countries and have grown, in some cases, to events with participants from more than 80 countries. Although the features mentioned above are common to the different competitions, there are distinct differences between them [1]. The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) is the oldest international physics competition for students at upper secondary level [2]. It dates

Approximate kernel competitive learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jian-Sheng; Zheng, Wei-Shi; Lai, Jian-Huang

2015-03-01

Kernel competitive learning has been successfully used to achieve robust clustering. However, kernel competitive learning (KCL) is not scalable for large scale data processing, because (1) it has to calculate and store the full kernel matrix that is too large to be calculated and kept in the memory and (2) it cannot be computed in parallel. In this paper we develop a framework of approximate kernel competitive learning for processing large scale dataset. The proposed framework consists of two parts. First, it derives an approximate kernel competitive learning (AKCL), which learns kernel competitive learning in a subspace via sampling. We provide solid theoretical analysis on why the proposed approximation modelling would work for kernel competitive learning, and furthermore, we show that the computational complexity of AKCL is largely reduced. Second, we propose a pseudo-parallelled approximate kernel competitive learning (PAKCL) based on a set-based kernel competitive learning strategy, which overcomes the obstacle of using parallel programming in kernel competitive learning and significantly accelerates the approximate kernel competitive learning for large scale clustering. The empirical evaluation on publicly available datasets shows that the proposed AKCL and PAKCL can perform comparably as KCL, with a large reduction on computational cost. Also, the proposed methods achieve more effective clustering performance in terms of clustering precision against related approximate clustering approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Competitive Pressure on China : Factor Rewards Migration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ten Raa, T.; Pan, H.

2001-01-01

Our objective is to assess personal income under perfect competition, when factors are rewarded according to their productivities, and to contrast the ensuing distribution with the status quo.Competition will yield winners and losers, both in terms of factor claims and in terms of regions or

Globalization and Firm Competitiveness in the Middle East and North Africa Region

OpenAIRE

Fawzy, Samiha

2002-01-01

Globalization has increased competitive pressures on firms. Together with rapid technological change, it has altered the environment in which firms operate. While globalization offers unprecedented opportunities for firms to act successfully, it simultaneously heightens the risks for firms lagging behind. In an open and liberalized world, increasing firm competitiveness has become a major ...

Farmer Performance under Competitive Pressure in Agro-cluster Regions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wardhana, D.; Ihle, R.; Heijman, W.J.M.

2017-01-01

Agro-clusters would allow farmers to acquire positive and negative externalities. On one hand, smallholder farmers in spatial proximity are likely to benefit from this concentration; on the other hand, they incur high competitive pressure from other neighboring farmers. We examine the link between

Evaluation of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for measurements of soluble HLA-G protein

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, M; Dahl, M; Buus, S

2014-01-01

. We report a novel method, a competitive immunoassay, for measuring HLA-G5/sHLA-G1 in biological fluids. The sHLA-G immunoassay is based upon a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) principle. It includes a recombinant sHLA-G1 protein in complex with β2-microglobulin and a peptide...... as a standard, biotinylated recombinant sHLA-G1 as an indicator, and the MEM-G/9 anti-HLA-G monoclonal antibody (mAb) as the capture antibody. The specificity and sensitivity of the assay were evaluated. Testing with different recombinant HLA class I proteins and different anti-HLA class I mAbs showed....../ml. An intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) of 15.5% at 88 ng/ml and an inter-assay CV of 23.1% at 39 ng/ml were determined. An assay based on the competitive sHLA-G ELISA may be important for measurements of sHLA-G proteins in several conditions: assisted reproduction, organ transplantation, cancer...

The effect of swimming on oral health status: competitive versus non-competitive athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simonetta D’ERCOLE

2016-04-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Young swimmers are particularly susceptible to the onset of oral diseases. Objective To evaluate the oral health status in young competitive and non-competitive swimmers, involving an assessment of salivary cariogenic bacteria and secretory IgA (S-IgA concentration. Material and Methods Before training sessions (T1, 54 competitive and 69 non-competitive swimmers had the following parameters assessed: decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT, Plaque Index (PlI, and Gingival Index (GI. At T1 and after training sessions (T2, stimulated saliva was collected and microbiological and immunological analyses were performed. Results Competitive swimmers trained 2.02±0.09 hours 5 times a week, while non-competitive swimmers trained 2.03±0.18 hours a week. A total of 14.7% of competitive swimmers suffered dental trauma related to sports. Only 11.76% of the competitive swimmers took a daily dose of fluoride, against 32.65% of non-competitive swimmers (p=0.029. Neither group followed an established diet or presented statistically significant differences in terms of nutritional supplement drink and chocolate intake. There were statistically significant differences in terms of oral hygiene. No significant difference in clinical indexes (DMFT, PlI, and GI was present. S. mutans was harbored by 18.6% of competitive and the 32.2% of non-competitive swimmers. S. sobrinus was detected in 22.03% of competitive and 91.6% of non-competitive swimmers (p<0.05. S. sanguinis was found only in the saliva of competitive swimmers. The average S-IgA of competitive swimmers decreased significantly at T2 (p<0.05. The pool water had a daily average pH of 7.22. Conclusions Microbial markers, immune status and sporting characteristics are important for establishing guidelines for management of training load in order to minimize physical stress and the risk of oral infection.

Analysis of the Competitive Potential of Bioethanol in Colombia: An approach from Michael Porter's 5 Competitive Forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez Velasquez, Alejandro; Montoya R, Ivan Alonso; Montoya Restrepo, Alexandra

2012-01-01

The search for alternative energy production and consumption require a look into the industry of biofuels such as bioethanol as an alternative energy to overcome the disadvantages generated by the traditional methods of production and consumption, especially in the political, environmental and social issues and generate competitive advantages compared to other primary energy sources. In the present document, and from the Michael Porter five (5) Forces model is detailed an evaluation of the bioethanol industry as an alternative fuel and is described how attractive or competitive may become the industry today. To achieve this purpose, an evaluation of the competitive forces was proposed to a group of experts, using a Likert scale. Thus, it was evaluated the potential usefulness of the proposal.

An evaluation of the self-regulation of promotional competitions in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Promotional competitions are competitions in which prizes are awarded by lot or chance in order to promote goods or services. ... Commerce's Consolidated Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications Practice are summarised and the European Advertising Standards Alliance's role in self-regulation is considered.

Green competitiveness research on Chinese automotive enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanhui Li

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: More and more executives of automobileindustry in China start to recognize the concept of green competitiveness recently. However, relatively less research attention has been devoted to the consideration of measurement. This paper aims to find empirical approach to quantify green competitiveness for automotive enterprises. The connotation of green competitiveness is explored and one suite of evaluation index system has been proposed with four dimensions including environmental, resource, capability and knowledge.Design/methodology/approach: By introducing the factor analysis method, green competitiveness has been measured through an empirical analysis of 24 automotive enterprises within China.Findings: The results indicate that those elements, such as enterprise resource possession and utilization; environment, responsibility and knowledge; profitability; management efficiency, have significant effect on the green competitiveness for automotive enterprises. The further analysis also unveils the advantages and disadvantages of green competitiveness for each company and the direction for improvement.Research limitations/implications: Guide regulators and managers of automobile industry to take some measures to enhance their green competitive advantage.Practical implications: Provide practical methods to measure green competitiveness for automotive enterprises.Originality/value: This paper proposes an evaluation index system of green competitiveness for automotive enterprises. The suggestions of our research will be beneficial to enterprise executives and industry regulators.

Evaluating the Impact of Regional Marketing Projects on the Development of Regions from Different Stakeholder Perspectives

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Kunze Kim-Kathrin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the competition for economically attractive stakeholders, regions have to implement strategies to gain and adhere those interest groups. Empirical studies concerning the migration motivations show that it is not only labor market but also soft locational factors of the social environment, nature and landscape that are of high importance: A majority of the population is willing to move or rather stay at a special place because of such soft locational factors. This study examines the impact of regional marketing projects on the development of regions from the perspectives of inhabitants and tourists as well as general attributes to measure a region’s attractiveness from the perspective of high potentials. We argue that those projects that fit to the region and its unique selling propositions contribute to positioning and building location brand value. We show that projects have a socio-economic effect on the attitude towards regions and contribute to building location brand value. An analysis of group differences shows that the project influence on the region and region attractiveness are perceived in significantly different manner depending on the knowledge level of the stakeholder group. Consequently, one should increase the awareness of marketing activities and regions and focus on soft locational factors while establishing and positioning a region brand.

Spatial concentration of economic activity and competitiveness of Central European regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justyna Majewska

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The paper tackles with a still somewhat underdeveloped aspect of regional competiveness which regards to spillover effects stemming from spatial proximity of highly competitive neighbors. Although spillover effects are well recognized in the literature, we focus more on inter-regional concentration of business activity when enterprises are located in a particular district which is not far from the agglomeration center but not the center itself. We check for statistical significance of spatial autocorrelation measures (local Moran’s Ii statistic in order to identify spillovers between districts in Central European countries (Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. We use variables indicating Knowledge Intensive Services (KIS, in particular hi-tech KIS and information and communication services (including computer science. We compare 2009 with 2015 to notice agglomeration dynamics. We observe statistically significant spillover effects in Central European countries in urbanization-type clusters as well as strengthening of the effect over time. Taking into consideration more detailed data for Poland we conclude that while hi-tech KIS mostly spill over to neighboring districts, the reverse pattern may be observed for computer science (programming and consultancy. One explanation is that this subsector relies on highly demanded workforce and a prestigious localization (in the agglomeration centers works as a bargaining chip to attract programmers. In order to measure the spillover effects more precisely it is recommended to define and measure the neighborhood of agglomeration centers using localization of firms based on GPS coordinates instead of centroids (geometric means of districts – as shown in example of Poland.

Patterns and Drivers of Tree Mortality in Iberian Forests: Climatic Effects Are Modified by Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Benito, Paloma; Lines, Emily R.; Gómez-Aparicio, Lorena; Zavala, Miguel A.; Coomes, David A.

2013-01-01

Tree mortality is a key process underlying forest dynamics and community assembly. Understanding how tree mortality is driven by simultaneous drivers is needed to evaluate potential effects of climate change on forest composition. Using repeat-measure information from c. 400,000 trees from the Spanish Forest Inventory, we quantified the relative importance of tree size, competition, climate and edaphic conditions on tree mortality of 11 species, and explored the combined effect of climate and competition. Tree mortality was affected by all of these multiple drivers, especially tree size and asymmetric competition, and strong interactions between climate and competition were found. All species showed L-shaped mortality patterns (i.e. showed decreasing mortality with tree size), but pines were more sensitive to asymmetric competition than broadleaved species. Among climatic variables, the negative effect of temperature on tree mortality was much larger than the effect of precipitation. Moreover, the effect of climate (mean annual temperature and annual precipitation) on tree mortality was aggravated at high competition levels for all species, but especially for broadleaved species. The significant interaction between climate and competition on tree mortality indicated that global change in Mediterranean regions, causing hotter and drier conditions and denser stands, could lead to profound effects on forest structure and composition. Therefore, to evaluate the potential effects of climatic change on tree mortality, forest structure must be considered, since two systems of similar composition but different structure could radically differ in their response to climatic conditions. PMID:23451096

Endogenous growth theory and regional development policy

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Cvetanović Slobodan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The numerous versions of endogenous explanations of economic growth emphasize the importance of technological change driving forces, as well as the existence of appropriate institutional arrangements. Endogenous growth theory contributes to a better understanding of various experiences with long-term growth of countries and regions. It changes the key assumptions of the Neoclassical growth theory and participates in the modern regional development physiology explanation. Based on these conclusions, the paper: a explicates the most important theoretical postulates of the theory, b explains the most important factors of economic growth in the regions in light of the Endogenous growth theory messages and c emphasizes the key determinants of regional competitiveness which in our view is conceptually between the phenomena of micro- and macro-competitiveness and represents their necessary and unique connection. First of all, micro-competitiveness is transformed into a regional competitiveness; then regional competitiveness is transformed into a macro-competitiveness. In turn, macro - influences the microeconomic competitiveness, and the circle is closed. After that, the process starts over again.

DETERMINANTS OF BANK COMPETITION IN MOROCCO AND EVALUATION OF STRUCTURAL REFORMS

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Afifa Hakam

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The empirical results of this paper indicate that the degree of competition in the banking system is determined by several macroeconomic aggregates that describe the relevance of the policies implemented in financial Morocco. Thus, the result shows that there is a positive relationship between the index of competition and concentration there by verifies our theoretical perception. On another note, economic growth is negatively correlated with the competition, which unfortunately indicates that when there are sustained economic growth banks does not behave concurrently and try to retain their market share stimulated by a high concentration sector. This is also dependent on conditions in the credit market, which indicates that when the demand is constant, banks tend to have fewer competing behaviors. In addition, the development of positive market impact of competition which is consistent with liberal theory. Thus, the use of financial market intensifies competition between banks to produce services being able to attract more customers to compensate for those who chose the stock market. Finally, in the implementation of monetary policy, the indicator of interbank interest rate has a positive impact on competition.

Evaluating plant-soil feedback together with competition in a serpentine grassland.

Science.gov (United States)

Casper, Brenda B; Castelli, Jeffrey P

2007-05-01

Plants can alter biotic and abiotic soil characteristics in ways that feedback to change the performance of that same plant species relative to co-occurring plants. Most evidence for this plant-soil feedback comes from greenhouse studies of potted plants, and consequently, little is known about the importance of feedback in relation to other biological processes known to structure plant communities, such as plant-plant competition. In a field experiment with three C4 grasses, negative feedback was expressed through reduced survival and shoot biomass when seedlings were planted within existing clumps of conspecifics compared with clumps of heterospecifics. However, the combined effects of feedback and competition were species-specific. Only Andropogon gerardii exhibited feedback when competition with the clumps was allowed. For Sorghastrum nutans, strong interspecific competition eliminated the feedback expressed in the absence of competition, and Schizachyrium scoparium showed no feedback at all. That arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may play a role in the feedback was indicated by higher AM root colonization with conspecific plant neighbours. We suggest that feedback and competition should not be viewed as entirely separate processes and that their importance in structuring plant communities cannot be judged in isolation from each other.

Apparent competition and native consumers exacerbate the strong competitive effect of an exotic plant species.

Science.gov (United States)

Orrock, John L; Dutra, Humberto P; Marquis, Robert J; Barber, Nicholas

2015-04-01

Direct and indirect effects can play a key role in invasions, but experiments evaluating both are rare. We examined the roles of direct competition and apparent competition by exotic Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) by manipulating (1) L. maackii vegetation, (2) presence of L. maackii fruits, and (3) access to plants by small mammals and deer. Direct competition with L. maackii reduced the abundance and richness of native and exotic species, and native consumers significantly reduced the abundance and richness of native species. Although effects of direct competition and consumption were more pervasive, richness of native plants was also reduced through apparent competition, as small-mammal consumers reduced richness only when L. maackii fruits were present. Our experiment reveals the multiple, interactive pathways that affect the success and impact of an invasive exotic plant: exotic plants may directly benefit from reduced attack by native consumers, may directly exert strong competitive effects on native plants, and may also benefit from apparent competition.

Does tourism destination competitiveness lead to performance? A case of ASEAN region

OpenAIRE

Hafiz Hanafiah, Mohd; Hemdi, Mohamad Abdullah; Ahmad, Ismail

2016-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to identify the causes of ASEAN tourism performance. This paper empirically examines the role of tourism destination competitiveness on tourism performance among the ASEAN countries. This study employed the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) to assess tourism performance of the ASEAN countries. More specifically, this paper explores whether tourism's core resources, complementary resources, destination management, tourism prices and globalisation...

41 CFR 105-72.503 - Competition.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... competitive advantage, contractors that develop or draft specifications, requirements, statements of work... (Continued) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Regional Offices-General Services Administration 72-UNIFORM...

Evaluation of the contributions of four components of gross domestic product in various regions in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Sanmang; Lei, Yalin; Li, Li

2015-01-01

Four major components influence the growth of the gross domestic product in Chinese provinces: consumption, investment, transnational exports, and inter-provincial exports. By splitting a competitive input-output table into a non-competitive input-output table, this study used an input-output model to measure the contributions of the four components of gross domestic product in various regions in China. We found that international exports drove the growth of the gross domestic product more strongly in the eastern region than in other regions. Investment and inter-provincial exports were the major impetus for gross domestic product growth in the central and western regions. We also found that consumption played a minimal role in driving the growth of the gross domestic product in all regions in China. According to these findings, although various regions can share much in terms of policies to transform the impetus for economic growth, there should be different foci for different regions. Their shared policy is to increase the role of final consumption in stimulating economic growth. Region-specific policies mandate that the eastern region should strengthen the driving force provided by international exports and that the central and western regions should strengthen indigenous growth capabilities by improving scientific innovation, industrial support, and institutional innovation.

Evaluation of the contributions of four components of gross domestic product in various regions in China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanmang Wu

Full Text Available Four major components influence the growth of the gross domestic product in Chinese provinces: consumption, investment, transnational exports, and inter-provincial exports. By splitting a competitive input-output table into a non-competitive input-output table, this study used an input-output model to measure the contributions of the four components of gross domestic product in various regions in China. We found that international exports drove the growth of the gross domestic product more strongly in the eastern region than in other regions. Investment and inter-provincial exports were the major impetus for gross domestic product growth in the central and western regions. We also found that consumption played a minimal role in driving the growth of the gross domestic product in all regions in China. According to these findings, although various regions can share much in terms of policies to transform the impetus for economic growth, there should be different foci for different regions. Their shared policy is to increase the role of final consumption in stimulating economic growth. Region-specific policies mandate that the eastern region should strengthen the driving force provided by international exports and that the central and western regions should strengthen indigenous growth capabilities by improving scientific innovation, industrial support, and institutional innovation.

Relative competitiveness of soybean cultivars with barnyardgrass

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Marlon Ouriques Bastiani

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The aim of this work was to evaluate the competitiveness between soybean cultivars and barnyardgrass, based on morphological and physiological characteristics of species. The experiments were conducted in completely randomized experimental design, with 4 replications. In the first study, for both soybean and barnyardgrass, it was determined the population of plants in which shoot dry matter became constant and independent of the population (16 plants∙pot−1 or 400 plants∙m−2. In the second study, 2 experiments were conducted to evaluate the competitiveness of BMX Apolo RR and BMX Potência RR soybean cultivars with barnyardgrass plants, both carried out in replacement series under different proportions of plants∙pot−1 (100:0; 75:25; 50:50; 25:75 and 0:100 between the crop and the weed. The analysis of the species competitiveness was determined through diagrams applied to replacement series experiments and use of relative competitiveness indexes. At 44 days after the emergence of species, the physiological and morphological parameters of the crop and the weed were evaluated. The BMX Apolo RR and BMX Potência RR soybean cultivars show similar competitiveness when competing with the barnyardgrass; therefore, the ability of one species to interfere on another is equivalent. For plant height, barnyardgrass displays higher competitiveness compared to BMX Apolo RR, with early cycle and short height. The intraspecific competition is more important to barnyardgrass than interspecific competition with soybean cultivars, resulting in negative effects on the morphological and physiological characteristics of species.

Innovation and growth potentials of European regions: A meta-multi-criteria analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijkamp, P.; Zwetsloot, F.; van der Wal, S.

2010-01-01

Creative regions are nowadays seen as foci of innovation and growth and are hence regarded strategic areas in a fierce-and often global-competition. This paper aims at providing an operational assessment framework for evaluating the innovation potential of competing regions on the basis of

Case competitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schjoldager, Anne Gram

2009-01-01

The paper presents and discusses a teaching project with case competitions for MA students of specialised translation at the Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University. Drawing on a series of online questionnaires, the paper ascertains how the project was evaluated by the participating students...

Non-price competition in the regional high-rise construction market

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Ganebnykh Elena

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the market of high-rise residential construction in the city of Kirov (Russia. A minimal significance of price factors has been revealed in the process of the market analysis. This suggests that a lower price does not guarantee an increase in consumer demand. Thus, factors of non-price competition are of great importance in the market in question. The expert survey has identified the factors of non-price competition which influence consumer perceptions. A perceptual map has been constructed on the basis of the identified factors by means of the factor analysis to determine the positioning of each high-rise building relative to the consumer requirements. None of the high-rise residential buildings in the market in question meets the consumers’ expectations of an “ideal facility”.

Non-price competition in the regional high-rise construction market

Science.gov (United States)

Ganebnykh, Elena; Burtseva, Tatyana; Gurova, Ekaterina; Polyakova, Irina

2018-03-01

The article analyzes the market of high-rise residential construction in the city of Kirov (Russia). A minimal significance of price factors has been revealed in the process of the market analysis. This suggests that a lower price does not guarantee an increase in consumer demand. Thus, factors of non-price competition are of great importance in the market in question. The expert survey has identified the factors of non-price competition which influence consumer perceptions. A perceptual map has been constructed on the basis of the identified factors by means of the factor analysis to determine the positioning of each high-rise building relative to the consumer requirements. None of the high-rise residential buildings in the market in question meets the consumers' expectations of an "ideal facility".

Mediterranean Way of Competitiveness

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Art Kovacic

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The Mediterranean area have a special concept of competitiveness topic. Normally is that region not so industrial and knowledge based oriented as a North Europe.That countries can't reach the same development level as the north one. Lisbon's and Goethenburg's strategies create the main framework of development programme. Mediterranean programme is such a case. European internal market has forced the EU countries to increase competitiveness. The economic prosperity of countries is associated with their ability to generate or attract economic activities which are able to increase income by performing well on themarket. Financial crisis in the EU has changed the look on the competitiveness research. Economy in the main countries has to find way of recovery. Former giants of the financial world have found themselves suddenly facing bankruptcy.Inevitably, the crisis is also having an effect on households and businesses - economic growth has slowed sharply and in some EU countries unemployment has begun to increase for the first time in several years. Form that perspective we have to find the right solution of European competitiveness.

Competitiveness of the Garment Industry on the Basis of the Industrial Cluster Establishment

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Tatiana Dmitrievna Sinyavets

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The issue of the development prospects of the Russian economy and the economy of its individual branches in the regions is highly relevant in terms of the increasing crises and economic development challenges. The scope of the study is a garment industry of the Siberian Federal District, which includes 12 subjects, and only six of them develop the garment industry actively. There are the regions of Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Republic of Khakassia. The subject matter of the research is the state and prospects of the garment industry of the Siberian Federal District. It also includes the assessment of the garment industry as one of the sub-sectors of the light industry in terms of its competitiveness in the domestic market. The purpose of the comprehensive study is to determine the conditions and factors affecting the development of the industry, as well as to identify its development reserves and competitiveness on the basis of industrial cluster’s generation. The hypothesis of this study is that in the Siberian Federal District, there are a need and reserves to create a cluster of the garment industry. The main methods of the study are the comparative analysis, the expert assessment of the sector in certain regions of the Siberian Federal District, as well as the assessment of possible formation of the industrial cluster in the region. The results of the study are the evaluation of the competitiveness and prospects of the garment industry in Russia and the Siberian Federal District (a low level of development and competitiveness; the evaluation of the development level of the garment industry in the Federal District, which have showed the demand for apparel products from the population and enterprises, as well as the conditions for the provision of clothing manufacture with natural fabrics and synthetic materials, labor resources and research and development achievements; also the justification of the existing

Analysis of the JSF Engine Competition

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-01

development and planned production relative to the F136, the differences were not significant enough to saddle the F136 with a competitive disadvantage ... disadvantage of the F136 at the first competitive lot to be smaller than those calculated for earlier successful competition programs. Once we...SDD contracts by evaluating F135 and F136 schedule projections  Focused on Initial Flight Release ( IFR ) and Initial Service Release (ISR

Anthropometric and Performance Perspectives of Female Competitive Surfing

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Barlow Matthew John

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To evaluate the anthropometric profiles of female surfers and to identify whether any anthropometrical factors might predict competitive ranking. Secondly, to evaluate the activity profile of female competitive surfing with respect to environmental conditions using Global Positioning System (GPS derived measures.

Evaluation and Adaption of the Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS) for Assessment in Competitive Sports.

Science.gov (United States)

Sallen, Jeffrey; Hirschmann, Florian; Herrmann, Christian

2018-01-01

The demands of a career in competitive sports can lead to chronic stress perception among athletes if there is a non-conformity of requirements and available coping resources. The Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS) (Schulz et al., 2004) is said to be thoroughly validated. Nevertheless, it has not yet been subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis. The present study aims (1) to evaluate the factorial validity of the TICS within the context of competitive sports and (2) to adapt a short version (TICS-36). The total sample consisted of 564 athletes (age in years: M = 19.1, SD = 3.70). The factor structure of the original TICS did not adequately fit the present data, whereas the short version presented a satisfactory fit. The results indicate that the TICS-36 is an economical instrument for gathering interpretable information about chronic stress. For assessment in competitive sports with TICS-36, we generated overall and gender-specific norm values.

Evaluation and Adaption of the Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS) for Assessment in Competitive Sports

Science.gov (United States)

Sallen, Jeffrey; Hirschmann, Florian; Herrmann, Christian

2018-01-01

The demands of a career in competitive sports can lead to chronic stress perception among athletes if there is a non-conformity of requirements and available coping resources. The Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS) (Schulz et al., 2004) is said to be thoroughly validated. Nevertheless, it has not yet been subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis. The present study aims (1) to evaluate the factorial validity of the TICS within the context of competitive sports and (2) to adapt a short version (TICS-36). The total sample consisted of 564 athletes (age in years: M = 19.1, SD = 3.70). The factor structure of the original TICS did not adequately fit the present data, whereas the short version presented a satisfactory fit. The results indicate that the TICS-36 is an economical instrument for gathering interpretable information about chronic stress. For assessment in competitive sports with TICS-36, we generated overall and gender-specific norm values. PMID:29593611

Problemy konkurencii i kooperacii v toplivno-jenergeticheskom komplekse Baltijskogo regiona [Competition and cooperation problems in the energy sector of the Baltic region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zverev Yuri

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article considers the problems of competition and cooperation in the field of energy in the Baltic region, first of all, those related to the export of Russian oil and oil products, the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and the construction of nuclear plants in Poland, the Kaliningrad region, Lithuania, and Belarus. The author shows that, though Russia and the EU occasionally pursue opposite goals, there is considerable interdependence between them, and a confrontation is disadvantageous for both parties.

Competitiveness regulation of dairy products production in the Crimea

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Domozhilkina Zh. V.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available the article outlines the results of studying the major problems concerning supporting competitiveness and quality of dairy products in the Crimea. The researchers compared the level of competitiveness of the dairy enterprise ltd. «Бег» with other brands of milk and suggested measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of competitiveness management of dairy products in this region.

Co-operation and Competition in Regional Economic Development Associated with Radioactive Waste Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webler, Thomas

2009-01-01

Competition and co-operation appear in many different social venues. The author gives a variety of examples of co-operative behaviour in economics, politics, research, and everyday life activities such as sports. These four diverse examples illustrate the variety of forms that co-operation may take such as tacit co-operation, incremental co-operation, deep co-operation, etc. The links with the form of democracy (adversary democracy or consensual democracy) are also pointed. However, as with so many other things in life, the key is to the question of co-operation or competition is balance. Co-operation and competition are dialectical opposites. They create and maintain and define each other; they each are incomplete without the other

COMPETITIVENESS - KEY ISSUES OF THE ROMANIAN ECONOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela-Liliana, CIOBAN

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Based on the theory that competitiveness plays an increasingly powerful role in creating prosperity, wealth, a large number of economists, researchers, scientists, highlight a number of approaches aimed, on the one hand, on the analysis of competitiveness at national or regional level, and on the other hand, on the ability of local firms to achieve competitive products and to commercialize them in the extern markets. In this context we aim to analyze and develop strategies and methods to help identify competitive areas at a national level. This is necessary because in our opinion the competitiveness of a company and / or country is more than wealth itself; it means a systematic process of wealth creation, plus a social system in which most citizens have access to material wealth. We consider in this respect that a country cannot automatically be considered competitive only if it is rich in natural resources. In our view, a competitive country creates wealth through labor, talent and organization and thus it manages to have a productive and creative potential making it independent of material resources.

The discrete dynamics of symmetric competition in the plane.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, H; Rogers, T D

1987-01-01

We consider the generalized Lotka-Volterra two-species system xn + 1 = xn exp(r1(1 - xn) - s1yn) yn + 1 = yn exp(r2(1 - yn) - s2xn) originally proposed by R. M. May as a model for competitive interaction. In the symmetric case that r1 = r2 and s1 = s2, a region of ultimate confinement is found and the dynamics therein are described in some detail. The bifurcations of periodic points of low period are studied, and a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations is indicated. Within the confinement region, a parameter region is determined for the stable Hopf bifurcation of a pair of symmetrically placed period-two points, which imposes a second component of oscillation near the stable cycles. It is suggested that the symmetric competitive model contains much of the dynamical complexity to be expected in any discrete two-dimensional competitive model.

Model Selection in Data Analysis Competitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wind, David Kofoed; Winther, Ole

2014-01-01

The use of data analysis competitions for selecting the most appropriate model for a problem is a recent innovation in the field of predictive machine learning. Two of the most well-known examples of this trend was the Netflix Competition and recently the competitions hosted on the online platform...... performers from Kaggle and use previous personal experiences from competing in Kaggle competitions. The stated hypotheses about feature engineering, ensembling, overfitting, model complexity and evaluation metrics give indications and guidelines on how to select a proper model for performing well...... Kaggle. In this paper, we will state and try to verify a set of qualitative hypotheses about predictive modelling, both in general and in the scope of data analysis competitions. To verify our hypotheses we will look at previous competitions and their outcomes, use qualitative interviews with top...

The Role of Special Operations Forces in Global Competition

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

adversary to achieve its objectives. 10 Gray Zone and competition short of armed conflict The concept of a gray area between peace and war...and distract, or a prolific arsonist in a region may achieve all of the escalatory objectives. Summary of actions: global competition options For...place today. COMPETITION CONTROL/ ADVANTAGE U.S. NEAR PEER STATES ASPIRING STATES NON-STATE ACTORS D DOD NORTHCOM SOUTHCOM EUCOM AFRICOM CENTCOM

Theoretical Basis Of The Company Competitiveness Assessment

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Vladimir Nikiforovich Belkin

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the basic theoretical questions of the company competitiveness assessment. The state of modern economic thought on this issue is shown. The main factors of the company competitiveness are specified. A specific role of staff of an enterprise is revealed: on the one hand, it is a resource, on the other is a subject, resulting in productive movement all factors of competitiveness, i.e. the staff is a critical factor in the company competitiveness. The criterion of company competitiveness is proposed, on its basis, the concept of “competitive enterprise” is defined. The most well-known approaches for assessing the company competitiveness are analyzed. The author’s method of the company competitiveness assessment based on the dynamics of the integral index of competitiveness is provided. For those cases, when it is impossible to determine the proportion of products on the market, it is proposed to evaluate the company competitiveness on the profitability of its production. The article shows the experience in calculating of the company competitiveness on the proposed author’s methods.

Systemic Competitiveness of SMEs in Mexico City, Mexico

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Maria Luisa Saavedra García

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to apply the model of systemic competitiveness, SMEs in Mexico City. Developing four levels of competitiveness: macro level (economic environment, meso level (regional environment, Level Goal (Environment Socioeconomic and micro Level (internal factors. Data collection was done through fieldwork and archival research. The main findings are among the major strengths of the economic environment: high level of gross domestic product, high labor productivity and fiscal autonomy, the main weaknesses: the unions and the unemployment rate; meanwhile stand between foreign investment opportunities between threats and insecurity, corruption and difficulty in business transactions. In the regional setting a positive and 1 perfect relationship between the number of economic units and per capita GDP was found. With regard to socio-cultural factors, presents lower levels of poverty and unemployment to the rest of the country. Finally, at the micro level, the competitiveness of SMEs is in direct relation to the size of the company and the industry sector shows higher competitiveness trade and services sectors.

Studies on antigenic competition. Efforts to identify the cellular basis of competition using a cell transfer system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McArthur, W.P.; Siskind, G.W.; Thorbecke, G.J.

1974-01-01

Antigenic competition was studied in a cell transfer system. The effect of reconstituting lethally irradiated mice with various numbers of thymus or bone marrow cells on the extent of antigenic competition was evaluated. Brucella or burro erythrocytes both caused inhibition of the immune response (Plaque-forming cell) to sheep erythrocytes when given two days prior to the test antigen. Varying the dose of thymus cells, or of bone marrow cells did not alter the degree of competition. Competition was observed even when the competing antigen was injected with bone marrow cells alone two days before the test antigen and thymus cells. The results suggest that mechanisms other than T-cell activation alone must be considered as operative in some models of antigenic competition

Demolishing the competition: the longitudinal link between competitive video games, competitive gambling, and aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

Adachi, Paul J C; Willoughby, Teena

2013-07-01

The majority of research on the link between video games and aggression has focused on the violent content in games. In contrast, recent experimental research suggests that it is video game competition, not violence, that has the greatest effect on aggression in the short-term. However, no researchers have examined the long-term relationship between video game competition and aggression. In addition, if competition in video games is a significant reason for the link between video game play and aggression, then other competitive activities, such as competitive gambling, also may predict aggression over time. In the current study, we directly assessed the socialization (competitive video game play and competitive gambling predicts aggression over time) versus selection hypotheses (aggression predicts competitive video game play and competitive gambling over time). Adolescents (N = 1,492, 50.8 % female) were surveyed annually from Grade 9 to Grade 12 about their video game play, gambling, and aggressive behaviors. Greater competitive video game play and competitive gambling predicted higher levels of aggression over time, after controlling for previous levels of aggression, supporting the socialization hypothesis. The selection hypothesis also was supported, as aggression predicted greater competitive video game play and competitive gambling over time, after controlling for previous competitive video game play and competitive gambling. Our findings, taken together with the fact that millions of adolescents play competitive video games every day and that competitive gambling may increase as adolescents transition into adulthood, highlight the need for a greater understanding of the relationship between competition and aggression.

Competition, transmission and pattern evolution: A network analysis of global oil trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Hai-Ying; Ji, Qiang; Fan, Ying

2014-01-01

This paper studies the competition among oil importers using complex network theory, combined with several alternative measures of competition intensity, to analyze the evolution of the pattern and transmission of oil-trading competition. The results indicate that oil trade has formed a global competition pattern and that the role played by the Asian-Pacific region in the evolution of this competition pattern is becoming increasingly prominent. In addition, global competition intensity has continued to rise, and non-OECD countries have become the main driving force for this increase in global competition intensity. The large oil importers are the most significant parts of the global oil-trading competition pattern. They are not only the major participants in the competition for oil resources but also play important roles in the transmission of oil-trading competition. China and the United States especially display the feature of globalization, whose impacts of transmission reach across the whole oil-trading competition network. Finally, a “5C” (changeability, contestability, cooperation, commitment and circumstances) policy framework is put forward to maintain the stability of oil trade and improve the energy security of oil importers in various aspects. - Highlights: • An oil-trading competition network is constructed using complex network theory. • Oil trade has formed a global competition pattern and its intensity has kept rising. • The status of the Asian-Pacific region in the competition pattern becomes prominent. • Large oil importers play important roles in transmitting the trading competition. • A “5C” policy framework is put forward to cope with the intensive competition

RELATIVE COMPETITIVENESS OF GOOSEGRASS BIOTYPES AND SOYBEAN CROPS

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JADER JOB FRANCO

2017-01-01

Full Text Available he goosegrass ( Eleusine indica (L. Gaertn is an annual plant that has a low - level resistance to glyphosate (LLRG, resulting in control failure in genetically modified soybean crops for resistance to this herbicide. Alleles related to resistance may cause changes in the plant biotype, such as inferior competitive ability. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluated the competitive ability of soybean crops and susceptible and resistant (LLRG goosegrass biotypes. Replacement series experiments were conducted with soybean crops and goosegrass biotypes. The ratios of soybean to susceptible or resistant (LLRG goosegrass plants were 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100, with a total population of 481 plants m - 2 . The leaf area, plant height and shoot dry weight were evaluated at 40 days after emergence of the soybean crops and weeds. The soybean crop had superior competitive ability to the susceptible and resistant (LLRG goosegrass biotypes. The soybean crop showed similar competitive ability in both competitions, either with the susceptible or resistant (LLRG goosegrass biotypes. The intraspecific competition was more harmful to the soybean crop, while the interspecific competition caused greater damage to the goosegrass biotypes competing with the soybean crop

Electric power's new competitive marketplace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hornick, R.; Zeppieri, J.; Rudden, K.

1993-01-01

Currently, competition is limited primarily to power generation, the sale of wholesale bulk power, and fuel substitution at the point of end use. However, within the next several years, the rivalry will focus on large, energy-intensive industrial and large commercial customers. Driven by the disparity in rates among neighboring and regional utilities, large users are expected to lobby aggressively for retail wheeling and access to new supplies. New competitors will provide customers with additional supply options, forcing traditional utilities to offer better prices and or service. Competition at the point of end use also will increase as the natural gas industry develops new end-use technologies, gas utilities compete more aggressively, and some state regulatory commissions promote fuel switching as part of integrated resource planning (IRP) and demand-side management (DSM). However, as long as electric utilities are subject to cost-based rate of return regulation within price-sensitive markets, they will be a competitive disadvantage. The paper discusses the following: competitive risks by market segment, wholesale markets, industrial markets, commercial markets, residential markets, and franchise markets

Green competitiveness research on Chinese automotive enterprises

OpenAIRE

Li, Yuanhui

2014-01-01

Purpose: More and more executives of automobileindustry in China start to recognize the concept of green competitiveness recently. However, relatively less research attention has been devoted to the consideration of measurement. This paper aims to find empirical approach to quantify green competitiveness for automotive enterprises. The connotation of green competitiveness is explored and one suite of evaluation index system has been proposed with four dimensions including environmental, resou...

Evaluation of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for the competitiveness analysis of selected indigenous cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) Bradyrhizobium strains from Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Ndungu, Samuel Mathu; Messmer, Monika M; Ziegler, Dominik; Thuita, Moses; Vanlauwe, Bernard; Frossard, Emmanuel; Thonar, Cécile

2018-06-01

Cowpea N 2 fixation and yield can be enhanced by selecting competitive and efficient indigenous rhizobia. Strains from contrasting agro-ecologies of Kilifi and Mbeere (Kenya) were screened. Two pot experiments were established consisting of 13 Bradyrhizobium strains; experiment 1 (11 Mbeere + CBA + BK1 from Burkina Faso), experiment 2 (12 Kilifi + CBA). Symbiotic effectiveness was assessed (shoot biomass, SPAD index and N uptake). Nodule occupancy of 13 simultaneously co-inoculated strains in each experiment was analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) to assess competitiveness. Strains varied in effectiveness and competitiveness. The four most efficient strains were further evaluated in a field trial in Mbeere during the 2014 short rains. Strains from bacteroids of cowpea nodules from pot and field experiments were accurately identified as Bradyrhizobium by MALDI-TOF based on the SARAMIS™ database. In the field, abundant indigenous populations 7.10 × 10 3 rhizobia g -1 soil, outcompeted introduced strains. As revealed by MALDI-TOF, indigenous strains clustered into six distinct groups (I, II, III, IV, V and VI), group III were most abundant occupying 80% of nodules analyzed. MALDI-TOF was rapid, affordable and reliable to identify Bradyrhizobium strains directly from nodule suspensions in competition pot assays and in the field with abundant indigenous strains thus, its suitability for future competition assays. Evaluating strain competitiveness and then symbiotic efficacy is proposed in bioprospecting for potential cowpea inoculant strains.

A normative model for assessing competitive strategy

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Ungerer, Gerard David

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The hyper-competitive nature of e-business has raised the need for a generic way to appraise the merit of a developed business strategy. Although progress has been made in the domain of strategy evaluation, the established literature differs over the ‘tests’ that a strategy must pass to be considered well-constructed. This paper therefore investigates the existing strategy-evaluation literature to propose a more integrated and comprehensive normative strategic assessment that can be used to evaluate and refine a business’ s competitive strategy , adding to its robustness and survivability.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional alternative transportation evaluation : region 6

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center (Volpe Center) conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 6, which is comprised of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebra...

ICT Impact on Competencies and Innovations: Regional Applicability of Global Indicators

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Antanas Buracas

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Paper deals with the multiple criteria assessment methodology applied for global evaluations of ICT impact on competency, talent potential and innovation, and aims to conclude how suitable it is for the regional assessment of education quality a/o processes determining skills in knowledge economy. Below the attention is given to interdependencies of education and knowledge components with the factors characterizing the ICT impact within multiple criteria evaluations for regional cases (Baltic States, also the factors used for international ratings of academic institutions in Lithuania. The task is to evaluate how much some indicators used by experts for global evaluations and popular ratings of universities could be applied for evaluations of the competencies determining competitive innovativeness of the social activity of countries under review. Also for detailing the intersectorial distributing of limited resources for more rational development of labour & vocational skills. Most of the conclusions emphasize that substantial part of ICT determinants applied for evaluations of global competitiveness help to rank the countries or academic institutions for investment solutions but do not detail the mechanisms determining the professional competencies and innovativeness of business at necessary level.

Building Regional Competencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Norus, Jesper

2004-01-01

This paper analyzes the foundations of regional knowledge and its long-term impact onthe region's companies' and how a particular knowledge has developed an ability tostay competitive within a specific technological field. The case illustrates how theCopenhagen region has been able to develop...... a dominating position in the global marketfor industrial enzymes from 1870-2004. The case of industrial enzymes shows how aregion has been able to build sustainable competitive advantages from its distinctivecompetencies. This is done through a mixture of outsourcing and in sourcing ofcompetencies, knowledge...

Response- Surface Analysis for Evaluation of Competition in Different Densities of Sesame (Sesamum indicum and Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris Intercropping

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A. Koocheki

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Response surface models predict crop yield based on crop density and this is an important tool for evaluation competition at different density and hence selection of optimum density based on yield. In order to study intra and inter specific competition in intercropping bean (Phaseolus vulgaris and sesame (Sesamum indicum, an experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during the growing season of 2010. For this purpose a complete randomized block design with 3 replications and 16 treatments based on different densities of sesame and bean intercropping was used. The model predicted the maximum yield of an isolated plant of bean and sesame approximately 33 and 17g per plant respectively. The area associated with the maximum yield per plant in bean and sesame were 0.6 and 0.1 m2, respectively. Bean was the dominant competitor with respect to both grain and biomass, and competition coefficient was 0.35 and 0.3 for bean grain yield and bean biomass respectively. Intra-specific competition was more important than inter-specific competition for bean. Competition coefficient was 2.6 and 2.9 for sesame grain yield and biomass respectively. Intra-specific competition was much less important than Interspecific competition in sesame. The highest grain yield in bean (300 g m-2 was obtained of sole crop with density of 20 plants, and the highest sesame grain yield (195 g m-2 was obtained of sole crop with density of 40 plants, the highest land equivalent ratio (1.14 was obtained in intercropping of 20 plants of bean and 10 plants of sesame.

Tourism Competitiveness Index – An Empirical Analysis Romania vs. Bulgaria

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Mihai CROITORU

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In the conditions of the current economic downturn, many specialists consider tourism as one of the sectors with the greatest potential to provide worldwide economic growth and development. A growing tourism sector can contribute effectively to employment, increase national income, and can also make a decisive mark on the balance of payments. Thus, tourism can be an important driving force for growth and prosperity, especially in emerging economies, being a key element in reducing poverty and regional disparities. Despite its contribution to economic growth, tourism sector development can be undermined by a series of economic and legislative barriers that can affect the competitiveness of this sector. In this context, the World Economic Forum proposes, via the Tourism Competitiveness Index (TCI, in addition to a methodology to identify key factors that contribute to increasing tourism competitiveness, tools for analysis and evaluation of these factors. In this context, this paper aims to analyze the underlying determinants of TCI from the perspective of two directly competing states, Romania and Bulgaria in order to highlight the effects of communication on the competitiveness of the tourism sector. The purpose of this analysis is to provide some answers, especially in terms of communication strategies, which may explain the completely different performances of the two national economies in the tourism sector.

Competitive and innovation factors in wine tourism clusters: A comparative study between consolidated and emerging regions in Brazil and Uruguay / Factores de competitividad e innovación en clusters enoturísticos: Un estudio comparativo entre las regiones consolidadas y emergentes en Brasil y Uruguay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flores Shana Sabbado

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to establish a cross-country analysis of the structure and organization of wine tourism clusters in consolidated and emerging wine regions in Brazil and Uruguay, looking for identifying the key factors for competitiveness and innovation. The regions chosen for analysis are: Vale dos Vinhedos, Campanha and Vale do São Francisco, in Brazil, and sites on Montevideo and Canelones, in Uruguay. The study analyze competitive factors in each region, including: the structure and density, support institutions at national and regional level, educational and research institutions, organization process for the geographical indication and the relationship between wine tourism and the promotion of wine and region. Further than comparing the two countries, the research also puts stop regions according to their stage of development in each assessed factor. Thus, the study suggests strategies that can be adopted at regional level or in cooperation between regions (in the country or bi-national cooperation to strengthen and develop the tourist areas of the wine as a whole.

DECISION MAKING IN COMPETITIVENESS OF REGIONS

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Marija Bogataj

2011-02-01

Full Text Available ESPON ATTREG project aims to investigate the motivation and behaviour of migration flows and daily commuting of students, tourists, aging population migrating to their secondary homes, students and other “part time” commuters – but especially behaviour of human resources in gross migrations and daily commuting – between regions. One of the key elements of the cohesion policy of the European Commission is the contribution of the development of new transport infrastructure to regional economic development. Extensive spending has taken place under ERDF, Cohesion Fund and ISPA to reduce disparities among regions. One of the prominent initiatives in the European Union in this respect is the development of the Trans-European transport networks (TEN-T, where also investments in Slovenian networks took place among priority list, which is based on the accessibility index value. In the case study of Slovenia decision support system is suggested for better forecasting the results of investments.

Competitiveness and Policy Development of SME Clusters, Empirical Evidence in Indonesia

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Ma’ruf

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to analyze SME clusters competitiveness based on 9 factors. Those 9 factors of competitiveness are raw materials, labour, product prices, markets, technology, investment, management, and economic and socio-cultural base. The development of SMEs is a part of long-term economic development to attain a balanced economic structure. Nevertheless, the gaps of resource potential, infrastructure and market lead to disproportional dispersion of location as well as industrial lethargy. Regional economic development is defined as a process where the Academic, Business, Community and Government (ABCG manage the existing resources and establish an interrelationship among them to run the economy at regional level. There are seven clusters of SMEs in Sragen regency including featured products of the region. This study investigated the competitiveness of three clusters of SMEs, namely batik cluster, convection cluster and furniture cluster based on the Criteria of Regional Superior Products (PUD. The expected objectives of this study were to determine the contribution of batik fashion, convection and furniture clusters to GRDP, poverty, and development of cluster area/location as well as to provide inputs for the prevailing policy related to the improvement of competitiveness of SMEs clusters. The inputs include the recommendation for the local government to prioritize the policy for the development of batik cluster competitiveness particularly on labor, raw material, management and pricing. In convection cluster, the priority of development policy should be preoccupied on technology, market, investment and economic base. Meanwhile, the socio-cultural aspects must be prioritized for the development of furniture cluster competitiveness. Data was analyzed by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP and Topsis Analysis.

Solar photovoltaic. Competitiveness and economic evaluation. Comparative and models; Energia solar fotovoltaica. Competitividad y evaluacion economica. comparativa y modelos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Collado Fernandez, E.; Colmenar Santos, A.; Peire Arroba, J.; Carpio Ibanez, J.; Castro Gil, M. A.

2010-07-01

Limits have been evaluated in the medium and long term economic competitiveness of solar photovoltaic energy in general and Spain in particular, considering the level of evolution that must have this form of energy production, until it become cevitamin with the other traditional energy sources and other emerging growth. to conduct the study, has developed a scenario-based methodology photovoltaic, which has taken account of the Spanish state regulation because it is vital operation on the road to real competitiveness relative to other types of energy. (Author) 10 refs.

MEASURING COMPETITION FOR TEXTILES: DOES THE U.S. MAKE THE GRADE?

OpenAIRE

Lyford, Conrad P.; Welch, J. Mark

2004-01-01

U.S. textile manufacturing is coming under increasing pressure from foreign competition. This paper evaluates the U.S. competitive position in the yarn segment using established quantifiable measures and provides an overall competitive assessment. The study found the industry in a relatively weak competitive position but that U.S. competitive position is improving.

Competitiveness levels in cattle herd farms

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Pedro Rocha Marques

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this experiment was to identify improvement demands for farms with different levels of competitiveness in the west of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. A total of 63 owners of large farms were interviewed (farms with an area greater than 900ha by applying a semi-structured questionnaire, guided by four drivers: technology (TEC, management (MAN, market relations (MR and the institutional environment (IE.It was used the Statistical Analysis System 9.2 software to perform the cluster analysis and identify farmers' characteristics. Three random clusters with different levels of competitiveness were observed: low competitiveness level (LCL, middle competitiveness level (MCL and high competitiveness level (HCL. The 29 variables (sub factors were evaluated in the cluster analysis according to level of impact on competitiveness, being classified into variables of high, medium or low impact. Stratification was carried out, ranking demands for improvements from aspects attributed by experts in relation to sub factors. The farmers with low competitiveness level (LTL had an unfavorable status for MAN, while the farmers belonging to clusters MCL and HCL have, respectively, favorable and neutral status for the same driver. The management characteristics determined the level of competitiveness of the farms surveyed

Technology Assessment Need: Review on Attractiveness and Competitiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Salwa Sait, Siti; Merlinda Muharam, Farrah; Chin, Thoo Ai; Sulaiman, Zuraidah

2017-06-01

Technology assessment is crucial in managing technology for the purpose of technology exploitation. With business environment continuously changing, firms have to address this issue critically as technology is considered one of the important elements to evaluate performance and gain competitive advantage. Missteps in deciding the best technology to be developed, employed or maintained would cost the firm overall value. To fulfil the need of finding the appropriate scale to assess suitable technology, this paper summarizes that technology assessment (TA) should cover two main aspects, namely technology attractiveness and competitiveness. These components are seen capable to link the scale suggested towards evaluation of financial and non-financial performance towards competitive advantage.

What Do We Know About Namibia’s Competitiveness?

OpenAIRE

Ken Miyajima

2007-01-01

This paper evaluates Namibia's competitiveness using several traditional indicators; it concludes that, while the real effective exchange rate (REER) is in equilibrium at present?suggesting no imminent need for concern?the country may wish to improve its competitiveness by increasing educational attainment, reducing the skills mismatch, and diversifying its exports. Moreover, although Namibia scores relatively well on survey-based major indicators of structural competitiveness, the business e...

Dietary Intake of Competitive Bodybuilders.

Science.gov (United States)

Spendlove, Jessica; Mitchell, Lachlan; Gifford, Janelle; Hackett, Daniel; Slater, Gary; Cobley, Stephen; O'Connor, Helen

2015-07-01

Competitive bodybuilders are well known for extreme physique traits and extremes in diet and training manipulation to optimize lean mass and achieve a low body fat. Although many of the dietary dogmas in bodybuilding lack scientific scrutiny, a number, including timing and dosing of high biological value proteins across the day, have more recently been confirmed as effective by empirical research studies. A more comprehensive understanding of the dietary intakes of bodybuilders has the potential to uncover other dietary approaches, deserving of scientific investigation, with application to the wider sporting, and potential health contexts, where manipulation of physique traits is desired. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of dietary intake practices of competitive bodybuilders, evaluate the quality and currency of the existing literature, and identify research gaps to inform future studies. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted from the earliest record until March 2014. The search combined permutations of the terms 'bodybuilding', 'dietary intake', and 'dietary supplement'. Included studies needed to report quantitative data (energy and macronutrients at a minimum) on habitual dietary intake of competitive bodybuilders. The 18 manuscripts meeting eligibility criteria reported on 385 participants (n = 62 women). Most studies were published in the 1980-1990s, with three published in the past 5 years. Study methodological quality was evaluated as poor. Energy intake ranged from 10 to 24 MJ/day for men and from 4 to 14 MJ/day for women. Protein intake ranged from 1.9 to 4.3 g/kg for men and from 0.8 to 2.8 g/kg for women. Intake of carbohydrate and fat was 6 months from competition) or immediate post-competition period and lowest during competition preparation (≤6 months from competition) or competition week. The most commonly reported dietary supplements were protein powders/liquids and amino acids. The studies failed to provide

EVALUATION OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES OF COFFEE RETAILING IN ASPECT OF MARKET ECONOMY

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Aslı ÖZTOPÇU

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Coffee retailers are trying to improve both their products and services and to increase their market share. Companies are both competing and developing different strategies such as issues production, R&D, business model, customers, and innovations. The aim of this study is to determine the competitive strategies in the coffee retailing aspect of the market economy. For this purpose, firstly, in this sector, the major competitors, suppliers, and customers were researched and the general structure of the sector was determined. Secondly, size of the global market, industry, and demand growth rate and the future status of the coffee retail industry were determined. Finally, the bargaining power of customers and suppliers of the sector were evaluated. According to the evaluation obtained, it was understood that coffee retailing is an attractive, large and dynamic sector. In the analysis according to the study of Porter’s five force model, important information was obtained for coffee retailing.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL POTENTIAL IN OLTENIA TOURIST REGION

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Ionuţ Cosmin BĂLOI

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Tourism can bring an attractive horizon for Romania: the projects can generate jobs, cooperation between the touristic destinations, the increase of living standards and local people revenues. This paper treats an issue of tourist business administration and seeks to assess the actual potential of tourist resources and determining the differences between the Oltenia's actual touristic exploitation and their growth potential. We develop a model of evaluate the tourist resources, the industry efficiency and also their attractiveness for entrepreneurial initiatives. Their quantification can be statistically correlated leading to a rethinking of models that shape the parameters of regional competitiveness. The synthetic and the graphic tools highlights the most important features of the competitiveness of tourism for the region of Oltenia.

Ontology-Based Model Of Firm Competitiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Deliyska, Boryana; Stoenchev, Nikolay

2010-10-01

Competitiveness is important characteristics of each business organization (firm, company, corporation etc). It is of great significance for the organization existence and defines evaluation criteria of business success at microeconomical level. Each criterium comprises set of indicators with specific weight coefficients. In the work an ontology-based model of firm competitiveness is presented as a set of several mutually connected ontologies. It would be useful for knowledge structuring, standardization and sharing among experts and software engineers who develop application in the domain. Then the assessment of the competitiveness of various business organizations could be generated more effectively.

Evolution of competitive ability within Lonicera japonica's invaded range

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory A. Evans; Francis F. Kilkenny; Laura F. Galloway

2013-01-01

Factors influencing invasive taxa may change during the course of an invasion. For example, intraspecific competition is predicted to be more important in areas with older stands of dense monospecific invaders than at the margins of an invaded range. We evaluated evolution in response to predicted changes in competition by comparing the intraspecific competitive...

Identifying competitive strategies to improve the performance of hospitals in a competitive environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chuan-Hui; Chiao, Yu-Ching; Tsai, Yafang

2017-11-21

This study is based on competitive dynamics theory, and discusses competitive actions (including their implementation requirements, strategic orientation, and action complexity) that influence hospitals' performance, while also meeting the requirements of Taiwan's "global budget" insurance payment policy. In order to investigate the possible actions of hospitals, the study was conducted in two stages. The first stage investigated the actions of hospitals from March 1 to May 31, 2009. Semi-structured questionnaires were used, which included in-depth interviews with senior supervisors of 10 medium- and large-scale hospitals in central Taiwan. This stage collected data related to the types of actions adopted by the hospitals in previous years. The second stage was based on the data collected from the first stage and on developed questionnaires, which were distributed from June 29 to November 1, 2009. The questionnaires were given to 20 superintendents, deputy superintendents, and supervisors responsible for the management of a hospital, and focused on medical centers and regional hospitals in central Taiwan in order to determine the types and number of competitive actions. First, the strategic orientation of an action has a significantly positive influence on subjective performance. Second, action complexity has a significantly positive influence on the subjective and the objective performance of a hospital. Third, the implementation requirements of actions do not have a significantly positive impact on the subjective or the objective performance of a hospital. Managers facing a competitive healthcare environment should adopt competitive strategies to improve the performance of the hospital.

COMPETITIVE ABILITY OF BEAN CULTIVARS WITH HAIRY BEGGARTICKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LEANDRO GALON

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Weed interference is a factor that limits the productivity of beans and, among these, hairy beggarticks is one of the main species competing with the crop for environmental resources. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the competitive ability of black bean cultivars (BRS Campeiro, IPR Uirapuru, SCS204 Predileto and BRS Supremo in the presence of a biotype of hairy beggarticks. The experimental design is a completely randomized block with four replications. Treatments were arranged in a replacement series, consisting of a proportion of the crop and the hairy beggarticks: 100:0; 75:25; 50:50: 24:75, and 0:100, which corresponds to 40:0, 30:10, 20:20, 10:30, and 0:40 plant pots1. We accomplished competitive analysis through diagrams applied to the replacement series, as well as using relative competitive indices. The leaf area and shoot dry mass were evaluated at 40 days after emergence of the species. There was competition between bean cultivars and hairy beggarticks for the same environmental resources, causing negative interference in the growth of the species, independent of the proportion of plants. Bean cultivars had a lower relative loss by reducing the morphological variables of the hairy beggarticks, thereby demonstrating superiority in its competitive ability in relation to the weed. Interspecific competition is less damaging than intraspecific competition for both species.

MEASURING COMPETITIVENESS OF ECONOMIC ENTITIES

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MUNGIU-PUPĂZAN MARIANA CLAUDIA

2013-12-01

Full Text Available A competitive structure of a national economy is influenced by the competitiveness of each of the actors made the national economy. In other words, to achieve competitive economic structure shall contribute all sectors of the national economy and hence all branches of the national economy, all organizations within each branch. Thus, the productive sectors of the economy contribute by increasing their competitiveness, GDP growth, added value, while other branches making a contribution through activity, increased quality of life (health, culture, social in training skilled labor (education to ensure effective functioning of the judiciary, protection of private property and citizen safety, lower crime rate (police, reducing the risk of political instability, increasing social cohesion, social disparities (richness and extreme poverty, and discrimination against women and minority groups. Human resources are probably the most important factor determining the competitiveness of an area. The ability of a country to move up the value chain is closely related to human resource capability. In understanding the competitive evaluation is important to assess not only in terms of education, improvement, skills and work experience, but also in terms of other attributes, more difficult to measure, as entrepreneurial relationships, creativity and risk tolerance. Secondly, we must accept that individual productivity is determined by external factors. Latent potential of the individual can develop when the person moves to another environment that provides better and more opportunities. Currently structural changes to remain competitive obtaining essential parameters of the Romanian economy to cope with competitive pressures of the single European market.

INNOVATIVE CLUSTER OR COMPETITIVENESS POLE?

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Liliana Scutaru

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes the situation of clusters in Romania and their areas of activity and innovation in entrepreneurship Romanian state. It is made also a territorial distribution of clusters on the eight regions. The findings lead to the conclusion that there are some clusters that have the vocation to become poles of competitiveness in areas such as renewable energy, automotive, electronics, health, biotechnology, mechatronics or ICT (Information and Communication Technology which represent the resources for future of the Romanian economy. Regarding the degree of innovation of Romanian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs, the level is relatively modest, 30.8% of all enterprises being innovative. If we were to answer the question the title suggests, we would say "yes" to both since the innovative cluster as well as the competitiveness pole promotes par excellence, innovation through study, research and stimulation of creativity. And this is more than enough to support economic growth of Romania and maintain the competitiveness worldwide.

Possibilities of fractal analysis of the competitive dynamics: Approaches and procedures

Science.gov (United States)

Zagornaya, T. O.; Medvedeva, M. A.; Panova, V. L.; Isaichik, K. F.; Medvedev, A. N.

2017-11-01

The possibilities of the fractal approach are used for the study of non-linear nature of the competitive dynamics of the market of trading intermediaries. Based on a statistical study of the functioning of retail indicators in the region, the approach to the analysis of the characteristics of the competitive behavior of market participants is developed. The authors postulate the principles of studying the dynamics of competition as a result of changes in the characteristics of the vector and the competitive behavior of market agents.

Evaluating the competitive intelligence effort in a manufacturing company / Sidney Farrell

OpenAIRE

Farrell, Sidney

2007-01-01

In order for organisations to remain competitive, supportive tools for decision-making are required. In an industry of information overload, the emphasis is not on more information but on actionable intelligence, capable of guiding decisions in a company. Specific areas are considered fundamental for the success of actionable competitive intelligence. The most important facet is the support and involvement of top management and the participation of the entire company. Fur...

Quantitative evaluation of time-series GHG emissions by sector and region using consumption-based accounting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homma, Takashi; Akimoto, Keigo; Tomoda, Toshimasa

2012-01-01

This study estimates global time-series consumption-based GHG emissions by region from 1990 to 2005, including both CO 2 and non-CO 2 GHG emissions. Estimations are conducted for the whole economy and for two specific sectors: manufacturing and agriculture. Especially in the agricultural sector, it is important to include non-CO 2 GHG emissions because these are the major emissions present. In most of the regions examined, the improvements in GHG intensities achieved in the manufacturing sector are larger than those in the agricultural sector. Compared with developing regions, most developed regions have consistently larger per-capita consumption-based GHG emissions over the whole economy, as well as higher production-based emissions. In the manufacturing sector, differences calculated by subtracting production-based emissions from consumption-based GHG emissions are determined by the regional economic level while, in the agricultural sector, they are dependent on regional production structures that are determined by international trade competitiveness. In the manufacturing sector, these differences are consistently and increasingly positive for the U.S., EU15 and Japan but negative for developing regions. In the agricultural sector, the differences calculated for the major agricultural importers like Japan and the EU15 are consistently positive while those of exporters like the U.S., Australia and New Zealand are consistently negative. - Highlights: ► We evaluate global time-series production-based and consumption-based GHG emissions. ► We focus on both CO 2 and non-CO 2 GHG emissions, broken down by region and by sector. ► Including non-CO 2 GHG emissions is important in agricultural sector. ► In agriculture, differences in accountings are dependent on production structures. ► In manufacturing sector, differences in accountings are determined by economic level.

Samsoe. Renevable energy island. 10 years' development and evaluation; Denmark; Samsoe - vedvarende energi-oe. 10 aars udvikling og evaluering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joergensen, P.J. (PlanEnergi, Skoerping (DK)); Hermansen, S.; Johnsen, Aa.; Nielsen, J.P. (Samsoe Energiakademi, Samsoe (DK))

2007-10-15

In 1997 the Danish Ministry of Energy arranged a competition on the most realistic and feasible plan for a complete switch-over of a local region or an island to become self-sufficient as regards renewable energy over a number of years. Samsoe won the competition, but what has become of the project and all the ideas? This report evaluates the project on the basis of statistical data from 2005. (BA)

Strategic Accessibility Competition

OpenAIRE

Bacchiega, Emanuele; Randon, Emanuela; Zirulia, Lorenzo

2010-01-01

We analyze the effect of competition in market-accessibility enhancement among quality-differentiated firms. Firms are located in regions with different ex-ante transport costs to reach the final market. We characterize the equilibrium of the two-stage game in which firms first invest to improve market accessibility and then compete in prices. Efforts in accessibility improvement crucially depend on the interplay between the willingness to pay for the quality premium of the median consumer an...

MACROECONOMIC ASPECTS OF COMPETITIVENESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleg Hooke

2017-09-01

economic development strategy based on the principles of sustainable development and, accordingly, with the trends of the “green” transformation of the economy. The practical significance of this research paper is that the resulting conclusion and generalizations will help the state, regional government, local self-government, as well as enterprises, solve important problems of developing and implementing their economic development strategies based on the principles of sustainable development and, accordingly, along with the trends of the “green” transformation of the economy. Value. In terms of a crisis of competitiveness, the advantages are primarily obtained not through improving the quality of products, but through reducing costs. Thus, one of the goals of the Ukrainian economy at the present stage is to become competitive and maximize the usage of its macroeconomic aspect.

Competitive Advantages from Horizontal Relationships in Productive Agglomerations: perceptions of local agents

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Leonardo Pinheiro Deboçã

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Objective – This paper aims to assess to what extent relational view assumptions can explain competitive advantages perceived in the industrial agglomeration contexts of small businesses. Design/methodology/approach – We used qualitative research; two furniture centers, Misassol (SP and Ubá (MG, were examined through comparative data analysis. Data was collected through interviews with executives from 40 companies and 13 supporting organizations. The relational view and its assumptions point to factors that generate competitive advantage resulting from collaborative relationships between companies. Moreover, agglomerations provide intense relationships and are encouraged by governance entities. Findings – No competitive advantages clearly established due to relational gains were identified. The behavior of entrepreneurs in both centers tends strongly towards individualism. What agents identify as competitive advantages corresponds to situational or contextual factors in these centers and do not result from the realization of relational view assumptions, escaping from this paradigm. Relational gains can result only from subgroups that are formed through affinity, with no intervention from governance. Practical implications – Despite an agglomeration tendency within companies belonging to the furniture sector, a strong inclination towards individualism creates barriers to obtaining additional advantages resulting from relational gains, whether due to market regionalization, access of sales representatives, or logistics and tax costs, among other issues. However, actions in small groups are an important governance mechanism for that context. Contributions – Evaluate the assumptions of relational view and its explanatory power for competitive advantages in agglomerations of Brazilian furniture companies.

Regional Information System for Educators: Installation and Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kromer, Charles

This document describes the installation and evaluation of the Regional Information System within the Michigan-Ohio Regional Educational Laboratory (MOREL). MOREL is an agency established to develop and test alternatives to current educational practice under Title IV of ESEA. The Regional Information System was established to provide referrals to…

Would Enforcing Competition Law Compromise Industry Policy Objectives?

OpenAIRE

Evenett, Simon J.

2005-01-01

One recurring concern in the debate over the efficacy of enacting competition laws in developing countries is that its enforcement may compromise important industrial policy goals. This concern has been raised in regional fora and in multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization, where officials have considered the pros and cons of including competition provisions in international trade agreements. However, the concern is broader and often national debates over the merits of...

Energy market competition in the EU and G7: the relative extent of energy market competition in the EU and G7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-09-01

This report presents a methodology for measuring the competitiveness of energy markets in the light of the UK government's Public Service Agreement target to ensure that the UK ranks within the top three most competitive markets. Details are given of the approach taken involving the identification of competitiveness indicators in the supply chain, analysis of current practices by regulatory and competitive authorities, application of a scoring rule, and aggregation and weighting of the scores. The initial filtering of countries based on the presence of crucial characteristics, the availability of data, and the ease of interpretation and evaluation of the filters is described along with detailed indicators for upstream markets, wholesale markets, retail suppliers and network activities. Information on data sources, data used for indicator evaluation, calculation of US and Canadian comparators, profitability margins, and links between companies is presented in appendices.

Evaluating the economics of biomass energy production in the Watts Bar region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alexander, R.R.; English, B.C.; Bhat, M.G. [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Graham, R.L. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

1993-12-31

While the commercial potential of biofuel technology is becoming more feasible, it is not clear whether the supply of biomass feedstock will be available in competitive markets. In order to exploit the potential of biomass crops as a reliable source of biofuels, a significant commitment on the part of farmers to convert large amounts of cropland would be required. Dedicated energy crops have to compete with conventional crops which could result in significant interregional shifts in crop production. Those changes could further affect overall agricultural production, food prices, consumer spending, and government spending on farm programs. Evaluating these economic impacts provides important information for the ongoing debate. This research is a case study incorporating an existing power plant. The objective of this project is to evaluate the potential of short rotation woody crops as a fuel source in the Watts Bar facility located in eastern Tennessee. The appraisal includes estimates of environmental impacts as well as of economic feasibility. This is achieved by estimating the amounts of biomass that would be supplied at a predetermined price. By changing prices of biomass at the plant in an incremental fashion, a regional supply curve for biomass is estimated. The model incorporates current agricultural production possibilities in the region along with the proposed short rotation woody crop production activities. In order to adequately model the landscape, several variables are considered. These variables include soil type, crop production, government policy, land use conversion to crop land, and distance from the plant. Environmental issues including erosion, chemical usage, and potential leaching are also incorporated within the modeling framework; however, only estimates on erosion are available in this analysis. Output from the model provides insight on where and what types of land should shift from current land use to biomass production.

Evaluation Strategy Michael Porter's five forces model of the competitive environment on the dairy industry (Case Study: Amoll Haraz Dvshh dairy company)

OpenAIRE

Mohammad Bolorian Tehrani; Faezeh Rahmani

2016-01-01

State of competition in an industry depends on five basic forces. Porter's five forces model including bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of newcomers to the industry, threat of substitute products is the intensity of rivalry between competitors. Joint strength of these forces determines the ultimate benefit of potentially any industry. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the competitive environment of the dairy industry based on Michael Por...

Interspecific competition between alien and native congeneric species

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Serrano, H.; Sans, F. X.; Escarré, J.

2007-01-01

A good way to check hypotheses explaining the invasion of ecosystems by exotic plants is to compare alien and native congeneric species. To test the hypothesis that invasive alien plants are more competitive than natives, we designed a replacement series experiment to evaluate interspecific competition between three Senecio species representing the same bushy life form: two alien species ( S. inaequidens and S. pterophorus, both from South Africa) and a native species from the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula and Maghreb ( S. malacitanus). While S. inaequidens is widespread throughout western Europe and is expanding towards the south of Spanish-French border, the geographical distribution of the recently introduced S. pterophorus is still limited to north-eastern Spain. Plants from each species were grown in pure and in mixed cultures with one of their congeners, and water availability was manipulated to evaluate the effects of water stress on competitive abilities. Our results show that the alien S. inaequidens is the most competitive species for all water conditions. The native S. malacitanus is more competitive that the alien S. pterophorus in water stress conditions, but this situation is reversed when water availability is not limiting.

Air Cargo Development in the Regional Airports of the Baltic Sea Region Through Road Feeder Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beifert Anatoli

2015-06-01

Full Text Available As issued in the Competition Policy Brief on the new state aid rules for a competitive aviation industry by the Competition Directorate-General of the European Commission in February 20141, it will be more difficult for unprofitable airports, to obtain financial public subsidies on EU, national or regional level. Although the positive impact of small airports on the regional development and general accessibility was mentioned, still the operating aid to the airports shall be cut out over a maximum of 10 years. It has been further stated that the vast majority of small and regional airports experience problems to cover their running operative costs, as a result from an intensive market competition and overlapping of airports’ catchment areas preventing even some promising airports from growth. Public subsidies are mostly used by the airport management for infrastructural investments, to cover operating losses or to attract price-sensitive airlines. Herewith, among other things, the EU Commission is pointing out at the lack of cooperation structures and network strategies among the regional airports and at rather isolated and individual approach during elaboration of the airport development scenarios. However, the Competition Policy Brief permits public aid to regional airports, among other things if there is sufficient transports need to establish transition periods for small airports; the need for more flexibility of the regional airports in the remote areas has been underlined. The EU Commission is expecting herewith not to close the regional airports, but to stimulate them to operate on cost efficient and profitable basis, and that only the most inefficient airports will be closed.

COMPETITIVENESS OF UKRAINIAN FOOD ENTERPRISES. FEATURES OF ASSESSMENT.

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K. Stasiukova

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Competitiveness of a product is a main factor for its commercial success in the market with a largenumber of manufacturers of similar products. The article describes features of assessment and analysis offood enterprises products. It offers an evaluation algorithm and the ways of competitiveness improvement.

Competition policy for health care provision in Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Brekke, Kurt R; Straume, Odd Rune

2017-02-01

Competition policy has played a very limited role for health care provision in Norway. The main reason is that Norway has a National Health Service (NHS) with extensive public provision and a wide set of sector-specific regulations that limit the scope for competition. However, the last two decades, several reforms have deregulated health care provision and opened up for provider competition along some dimensions. For specialised care, the government has introduced patient choice and (partly) activity (DRG) based funding, but also corporatised public hospitals and allowed for more private provision. For primary care, a reform changed the payment scheme to capitation and (a higher share of) fee-for-service, inducing almost all GPs on fixed salary contracts to become self-employed. While these reforms have the potential for generating competition in the Norwegian NHS, the empirical evidence is quite limited and the findings are mixed. We identify a set of possible caveats that may weaken the incentives for provider competition - such as the partial implementation of DRG pricing, the dual purchaser-provider role of regional health authorities, and the extensive consolidation of public hospitals - and argue that there is great scope for competition policy measures that could stimulate provider competition within the Norwegian NHS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design + energy: results of a national student design competition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-01-01

A national competition for students in schools of architecture was conducted during the Spring of 1980. The competition was the first of a series of competitions that emphasized the integration of architectural design and energy considerations in medium-scale building projects, and specifically applying passive solar design strategies and the appropriate use of brick masonry materials. Some 300 faculty members and over 2200 students representing 80 of the 92 US architecture schools participated in the program. A summary is presented of the program and the range of submissions grouped by problem types and general climatic region.

Student Intern Lands Top Prize in National Science Competition | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer Student intern Sam Pritt’s interest in improving geolocation led him to develop a project that won a top regional prize at the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology in November. Pritt was awarded a $3,000 college scholarship, and he competed in the national competition in early December.

The competitive advantage of the Tunisian palm date sector in the Mediterranean region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ben-Amor, R.; Aguayo, E.; Miguel-Gómez, M. D. de

2015-07-01

In Tunisia, date-palm cultivation and production are of clear strategic importance in terms of economic, social and environmental development. However, the globalization of markets has had a huge impact on the traditional concept of the comparative advantage enjoyed by Tunisia in date exports, highlighting the necessary determinants for competitiveness in the international scenario. In fact, an analysis of the competitive advantage of the Tunisian date industry in the Mediterranean area and Iran over the last 20 years shows that Tunisia is still the main supplier of dates to the EU. The Deglet-Nour variety, in particular, puts Tunisia ahead of traditional competitors such as Algeria and Iran, with average of competitiveness indices as BIS 6405.99, DI 17.38, CMS 41.04 and TBI 99.50 are more stable than those countries during the studied period. But it is currently facing new competitors like Israel and re-exporting countries like France. New business strategies (conditioning, new non-chemical treatments, packing, opening new markets, new distribution channels) would be positive responses to tackle current market limitations, the emergence of new producers and restrictive EU policies. (Author)

The competitive advantage of the Tunisian palm date sector in the Mediterranean region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rihab Ben-Amor

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In Tunisia, date-palm cultivation and production are of clear strategic importance in terms of economic, social and environmental development. However, the globalization of markets has had a huge impact on the traditional concept of the comparative advantage enjoyed by Tunisia in date exports, highlighting the necessary determinants for competitiveness in the international scenario. In fact, an analysis of the competitive advantage of the Tunisian date industry in the Mediterranean area and Iran over the last 20 years shows that Tunisia is still the main supplier of dates to the EU. The Deglet-Nour variety, in particular, puts Tunisia ahead of traditional competitors such as Algeria and Iran, with average of competitiveness indices as BIS 6405.99, DI 17.38, CMS 41.04 and TBI 99.50 are more stable than those countries during the studied period. But it is currently facing new competitors like Israel and re-exporting countries like France. New business strategies (conditioning, new non-chemical treatments, packing, opening new markets, new distribution channels would be positive responses to tackle current market limitations, the emergence of new producers and restrictive EU policies.

VIRTUAL COMPETITIVENESS: YOUTHS’ VIEWS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Yu. Semenov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Nowadays, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT has become an integral part both of every individual’s life and of the society in general. It is no longer possible to deny the impact of virtual environment on socialisation and development of the identity of young people. In this regard, the investigation of young people’s view on virtual social networks, and the possibility of students’ own competitiveness realization through various web services. The aim of the research presented in the article is to study the factors of students’ assessment of virtual social networks as a tool of personal fulfillment. Methodology and research methods. Content analysis and synthesis of scientific publications studies were carried out at a theoretical stage of the research; secondary sampling analysis of sociologic data material sources was conducted. The empirical research stage involved the instrument of questionnaire surveys, statistical data processing and interpretation of the results. Results and scientific novelty. The social survey conducted in 2017 with the participation of 1087 high school students and 1196 college students of the Tyumen Region shown that the more competitive students consider themselves, the more competitive they perceive the people having great popularity on the Internet. At that, compared to girls, young people are more inclined to consider the people having great popularity on the Internet competitive. It is determined that having a popular virtual media account for the young person is less worthwhile than for female respondents. The author explains this fact: male representatives regard it as “social capital” which can contribute to growth of their competitiveness in society as well as to achieve some profit. The author concludes that youth views on competitiveness are not directly related to the activity in virtual social networks. Frequent use by respondents of the Internet and

Competitive balance in national European soccer competitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haan, M.A.; Koning, R.H.; van Witteloostuijn, A.; Albert, Jim; Koning, Ruud H.

2007-01-01

According to popular belief, competitive balance in national soccer competitions in Europe has decreased due to the Bosman ruling and the introduction of the Champions League. We test this hypothesis using data from 7 national competitions, for a host of indicators. We find some evidence for

How Can We Assess and Evaluate the Competitive Advantage of a Country's Human Resource Development System?

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hunseok; Ryu, Hyue-Hyun; Choi, Myungweon

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an index to assess and evaluate the competitive advantage of a country's human resource development system. Based on an extensive literature review, a theoretical model of a human resource development system at the national level (named National Human Resource Development: NHRD) was constructed. The…

Analysis of inter-energy competition in the age of complex energies

Science.gov (United States)

1989-12-01

This is a survey report of the Japan Energy Economics Research Institute. Section 1 describes the energy industry in time of complex energies (History of changes and competition of energy sources. Formation of the energy market. Energy tax). Section 2 describes the present situation and the prospect of the competition among the energies (Present images of competition between industrial sector, civil household sector, transportation sector and the energy conversion sector. Development of the energy utilization system (cogeneration, regional air conditioning, waste heat recovery system, individual air conditioning system. Strategic meaning of the expansion of inter-energy competition market). Section 3 describes the arrangement of the fair competition conditions and the energy policy (Energy policy effect and cost. Energy industrial regulation and its abatement. Competitive energy market and fair competing conditions).

Competition along productivity gradients: news from heathlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Delerue, Florian; Gonzalez, Maya; Achat, David L; Puzos, Luc; Augusto, Laurent

2018-05-01

The importance of competition in low productive habitats is still debated. Studies which simultaneously evaluate preemption of resources and consequences for population dynamics are needed for a comprehensive view of competitive outcomes. We cultivated two emblematic species of European heathlands (Calluna vulgaris and Molinia caerulea) in a nursery for 2 years at two fertility levels, reproducing the productivity gradient found in phosphorus (P)-depleted heathlands in southwest France. The second year, we planted Ulex europaeus seedlings, a ubiquitous heathland species, under the cover of the two species to evaluate its ability to regenerate. Half of the seedlings were placed in tubes for exclusion of competitor roots. We measured the development of the competitors aboveground and belowground and their interception of resources (light, water, inorganic P). Ulex seedlings' growth and survival were also measured. Our results on resources interception were consistent with species distribution in heathlands. Molinia, which dominates rich heathlands, was the strongest competitor for light and water in the rich soil. Calluna, which dominates poor heathlands, increased its root allocation in the poor soil, decreasing water and inorganic P availability. However, the impact of total competition and root competition on Ulex seedlings decreased in the poor soil. Other mechanisms, especially decrease of water stress under neighbouring plant cover, appeared to have more influence on the seedlings' response. We found no formal contradiction between Tilman and Grime's theories. Root competition has a primary role in acquisition of soil resources in poor habitats. However, the importance of competition decreases with decreasing fertility.

CURRENT TRENDS OF THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETITIVE ECONOMIC AGGLOMERATIONS OF CLUSTER TYPE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LAURA CISMAŞ

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The study of economic agents’ behaviour, whose nowadays tendency is togroup themselves in space as clusters, has an important place in the field of localizing industrialactivities. This is due to domestic scale economies, known as agglomerations economies.According to Edgar M. Hoover (Hoover, 1948, domestic scale economies are specific tocompanies; the economies of localizing - to a certain branch, whose companies form clusters incertain geographical arias, and the urbanization economies are specific to cities, where thereare clusters of companies from different branches. The specialty literature regarding localeconomic development, based on the idea of cluster starts from well-known economic theories,such as: agglomeration theory (Alfred Marshall, the theory of spatial localizing of industrialunits (Alfred Weber, the theory of interdependence of locations (Harold Hotelling, the diamondtheory (Michael Porter, the theory of entrepreneurship (Joseph Schumpeter, the theory ofgeographical concentration. Basically, the common point which links them are the conceptswhich occur in these theories, such as: industrial district, industrial agglomeration, spatialinterdependence, concepts which lie at the basis of the cluster idea. Clusters represent animportant instrument for promoting industrial development, innovation, competitiveness andeconomic growth. If, at the beginning, the effort to develop clusters belonged to private personsand companies, nowadays, the actors involved in their development are the governments andpublic institutions of national or regional level.The objective established within the Lisbon Strategy (2000, to make the EuropeanUnion “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy”, is tightly linked to thenew approaches of the European economic policy, to competitiveness. One of the policies isfocused on developing at the European Union level clusters in the high competitiveness fields. with an innovative character

The CES Case Competition: A Valuable Resource for Community-Based Agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergeron, Natasha; Welsh, Paul

2003-01-01

Illustrates the contribution that the Student Case Competition of the Canadian Evaluation Society can make to agencies with evaluation needs by describing the experience of an addiction and family services program whose gambling addiction treatment program used as the case in the qualifying round of the 1998 competition. (SLD)

Organizational matters of competition in electronic educational resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ирина Карловна Войтович

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article examines the experience of the Udmurt State University in conducting competitions of educational publications and electronic resources. The purpose of such competitions is to provide methodological support to educational process. The main focus is on competition of electronic educational resources. The technology of such contests is discussed through detailed analysis of the main stages of the contest. It is noted that the main task of the preparatory stage of the competition is related to the development of regulations on competition and the definition of criteria for selection of the submitted works. The paper also proposes a system of evaluation criteria of electronic educational resources developed by members of the contest organizing committee and jury members. The article emphasizes the importance of not only the preparatory stages of the competition, but also measures for its completion, aimed at training teachers create quality e-learning resources.

Competitive Advantage and its Sources in an Evolving Market

Science.gov (United States)

Zaridis, Apostolos D.

2009-08-01

In a continuously altered and evolving Market, as is the food manufacturing market, the main and long-lasting objective of firm that is the maximization of its wealth and consequently the continuous remaining in profit regions, appears that it is possible to be achieved via the obtainment and maintenance of diachronically long-term competitive advantage, which it will render the firm unique or leader force in a inexorable competition that is continuously extended in a globalized market. Various definitions and different regards are developed in regard to the competitive advantage and the way with which a firm it is possible, acquiring it, to star in the market in which it is activated. As result of sustainable competitive advantage in a firm comes the above the average performance. Abundance of resources and competences that are proposed as sources of competitive advantage in the resource-based view literature exists, while they are added continuously new based on empiric studies. In any case, it appears to suffer hierarchy of sources of competitive advantage, with regard to sustainability of these.

Reflections on Competition, Competition Regulation and the Current Crises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buch-Hansen, Hubert; Wigger, Angela

2013-01-01

competition came to enjoy such an exalted status in Europe and then challenges conventional wisdom by bringing into focus the downsides of competition. It argues that excessive competition and neoliberal competition regulation have contributed to intensify the economic, political, social and environmental...

First International Diagnosis Competition - DXC'09

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtoglu, tolga; Narasimhan, Sriram; Poll, Scott; Garcia, David; Kuhn, Lukas; deKleer, Johan; vanGemund, Arjan; Feldman, Alexander

2009-01-01

A framework to compare and evaluate diagnosis algorithms (DAs) has been created jointly by NASA Ames Research Center and PARC. In this paper, we present the first concrete implementation of this framework as a competition called DXC 09. The goal of this competition was to evaluate and compare DAs in a common platform and to determine a winner based on diagnosis results. 12 DAs (model-based and otherwise) competed in this first year of the competition in 3 tracks that included industrial and synthetic systems. Specifically, the participants provided algorithms that communicated with the run-time architecture to receive scenario data and return diagnostic results. These algorithms were run on extended scenario data sets (different from sample set) to compute a set of pre-defined metrics. A ranking scheme based on weighted metrics was used to declare winners. This paper presents the systems used in DXC 09, description of faults and data sets, a listing of participating DAs, the metrics and results computed from running the DAs, and a superficial analysis of the results.

Technical Efficiency and Port Competition: Revisiting the Bohai Economic Rim, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grace Wang

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The Bohai Economic Rim plays an important role in supporting China’s economic growth. For this research, we selected nine main ports in the region to study whether intra-port competition or corporatization would improve efficiency. Using a panel fixed effect model and stochastic frontier model, we found that the technical efficiency of selected ports is significantly influenced by the time of the initial public offering than by regional competition. The results are supportive and encouraging for policy makers to move toward the decentralized port governance in China.

Regional Policies For Social Housing. An experience in Regione Calabria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corrado Trombetta

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Social housing is again a dynamic sector of construction. European «cohesion» and «convergence» programs aim to promote Mediterranean housing in order to improve competitiveness, innovation and employment in under-developed regions. The whole SH planning and implementing process implies criticalities that often damage local initiatives. This study of the Calabria Case has pointed out that both public and private entrepreneurs perceive the cumbersome requirements and procedures as ‘unfriendly’ and tend to renounce the incentives. Process management information instruments together with simpler evaluation and certification systems seem to encourage suitable and flexible solutions, reliable results as well as transparency and quality of action.

Sellers’ Pricing Policy in Spatial Competition Models (a case study of the Russian rolled product market

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Torbenko A. M.

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article views competition in the rolled section market. The hypotheses about price discrimination, competition according to Cournot or Hotelling being present at this market, have been tested. The dependence of rolled section prices in the region on the distance between the region and rolled section producers’ location, as well as on other factors, has been tested. It is concluded that the Russian rolled section market is characterized by Hotelling competition without using price discrimination

An Evaluation of the Self-Regulation of Promotional Competitions in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Strachan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Promotional competitions are competitions in which prizes are awarded by lot or chance in order to promote goods or services. In order to protect participants and consumers against abuse, these competitions are usually regulated by gambling or consumer protection legislation. However, the relevant legislation is often complemented by self-regulation, which is the focus of this contribution. Self-regulation entails the regulation or governing of an industry by the role players in that industry. This article commences by explaining the relevant terminology and exploring self-regulation in general, including the various forms of self-regulation and the binding force thereof. The nature of self-regulation is discussed together with the advantages and challenges associated with this form of regulation. This is followed by some examples of self-regulation on a global level in order to provide a comparative perspective on the topic. The provisions of the International Chamber of Commerce's Consolidated Code of Advertising and Marketing Communications Practice are summarised and the European Advertising Standards Alliance's role in self-regulation is considered. Attention is also given to the relevant industry codes in the United Kingdom in view of the comprehensive way in which promotional competitions are covered by self-regulation in that country. The main part of the article centres on the self-regulatory position in South Africa. A brief overview of the role and function of the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASASA is provided. The provisions of the ASASA's Code of Advertising Practice are then examined and some ASASA rulings are discussed in order to illustrate the relevant principles. Thereafter, the focus shifts to the Code of Conduct of the Wireless Application Service Providers' Association, which contains detailed provisions relating to promotional competitions. Some relevant rulings are also considered. In conclusion

Environmental structure and competitive scoring advantages in team competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Merritt, Sears; Clauset, Aaron

2013-10-01

In most professional sports, playing field structure is kept neutral so that scoring imbalances may be attributed to differences in team skill. It thus remains unknown what impact environmental heterogeneities can have on scoring dynamics or competitive advantages. Applying a novel generative model of scoring dynamics to roughly 10 million team competitions drawn from an online game, we quantify the relationship between the structure within a competition and its scoring dynamics, while controlling the impact of chance. Despite wide structural variations, we observe a common three-phase pattern in the tempo of events. Tempo and balance are highly predictable from a competition's structural features alone and teams exploit environmental heterogeneities for sustained competitive advantage. Surprisingly, the most balanced competitions are associated with specific environmental heterogeneities, not from equally skilled teams. These results shed new light on the design principles of balanced competition, and illustrate the potential of online game data for investigating social dynamics and competition.

The role of nuclear power in the new competitive era

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pryor, C.W.

1998-01-01

As power generators around the world grapple with the challenges of deregulation and competition, there are those who suggest that ownership of an operating nuclear power plant may prove to be a liability. This is not the case for most plants. On the contrary, nuclear facilities that perform well will be important assets in competitive markets, whether as sources of competitively priced electricity, or as strategic factors in mergers and acquisitions. And, as the world focuses renewed attention on global climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear power's significant environmental benefits further enhances its continued viability. The emergence of competitive markets will create a period of tremendous opportunity and enhanced value for nuclear plants. Nuclear plants, large coal plants, and hydro are the only types that can produce power at the bus bar with production costs close to one cent per kilowatt-hour. The challenge for all nuclear plants is to reduce costs and improve performance in order to improve their net earnings stream. Prospects for dramatic reductions are very high. In recent years, average nuclear plant performance figures worldwide have improved rapidly and substantially, and average costs are dropping. How will nuclear plants compare with alternative energy sources in an era of heightened competition? To evaluate nuclear plants in a competitive environment, this paper will look at three key areas: capital costs; operation and maintenance costs; and fuel costs, including spent fuel issues. The paper will examine innovative strategies to deal with capital or 'sunk costs' such as write-downs through securitization and regional operating companies, and will also focus on best practices in O and M and fuel where all nuclear plants have the potential to move to 'best in class'. The lessons that every nuclear plant can learn from other plants can contribute significantly to the performance improvement process. What has been

The effect of counter-trading on competition in electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dijk, Justin; Willems, Bert

2011-01-01

In a competitive electricity market, nodal pricing is the most efficient way to manage congestion. Counter-trading is inefficient as it gives the wrong long term signals for entry and exit of power plants. However, in a non-competitive market, additional entry will improve the competitiveness of the market, and will increase social benefit by reducing price-cost margins. This paper studies whether the potential pro-competitive entry effects could make counter-trading more efficient than nodal pricing. We find that this is unlikely to be the case, and expect counter-trading to have a negative effect on overall welfare. The potential benefits of additional competition (more competitive prices and lower production cost) do not outweigh the distortions (additional investment cost for the entrant, and socialization of the congestion cost to final consumers). - Research highlights: → 'Counter-trading' and 'nodal pricing' manage congestion in electric grids. → Nodal pricing gives superior locational prices. → Counter-trading induces extra investments in regions with a production surplus. → Extra investments improve competition, but are expected to be socially inefficient.

Confidential data in a competitive utility environment: A regulatory perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vine, E.

1996-08-01

Historically, the electric utility industry has been regarded as one of the most open industries in the United States in sharing information but their reputation is being challenged by competitive energy providers, the general public, regulators, and other stakeholders. As the prospect of competition among electricity power providers has increased in recent years, many utilities have been requesting that the data they submit to their utility regulatory commissions remain confidential. Withholding utility information from the public is likely to have serious and significant policy implications with respect to: (1) consumer education, the pursuit of truth, mutual respect among parties, and social cooperation; (2) the creation of a fair market for competitive energy services; (3) the regulatory balance; (4) regional and national assessments of energy-savings opportunities; (5) research and development; and (6) evaluations of utility programs, plans, and policies. In a telephone survey of all public utility commissions (PUCs) that regulate electric and gas utilities in the U.S., we found that almost all PUCs have received requests from utility companies for data to be filed as confidential, and confidential data filings appear to have increased (both in scope and in frequency) in those states where utility restructuring is being actively discussed. The most common types of data submitted as confidential by utilities dealt with specific customer data, market data, avoided costs, and utility costs.

Early selection in open-pollinated Eucalyptus families based on competition covariates

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Bruno Ettore Pavan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The objetive of this work was to evaluate the influence of intergenotypic competition in open-pollinated families of Eucalyptus and its effects on early selection efficiency. Two experiments were carried out, in which the timber volume was evaluated at three ages, in a randomized complete block design. Data from the three years of evaluation (experiment 1, at 2, 4, and 7 years; and experiment 2, at 2, 5, and 7 years were analyzed using mixed models. The following were estimated: variance components, genetic parameters, selection gains, effective number, early selection efficiency, selection gain per unit time, and coincidence of selection with and without the use of competition covariates. Competition effect was nonsignificant for ages under three years, and adjustment using competition covariates was unnecessary. Early selection for families is effective; families that have a late growth spurt are more vulnerable to competition, which markedly impairs ranking at the end of the cycle. Early selection is efficient according to all adopted criteria, and the age of around three years is the most recommended, given the high efficiency and accuracy rate in the indication of trees and families. The addition of competition covariates at the end of the cycle improves early selection efficiency for almost all studied criteria.

Field trial of brucellosis competitive ELISA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez, B.; Rojas, M.

1998-01-01

2990 sera samples from cattle were tested for antibodies to Brucella abortus using 8 serological tests for. The tests used were Rose Bengal (RBT), Buffer Plate Agglutination Test (BPAT), Complement Fixation (CFT), 2 Indirect and 2 Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA). Bacteriological evaluation from milk was done also. All tests were compared with respect to diagnostic specificity in vaccinated herds which were considered to be Brucella-free. The diagnostic specificity of the Indirect and Competitive ELISA was greater than 99,8%. Estimates of relative sensitivity were obtained from infected herds. The diagnostic sensitivity of the Indirect ELISA was greater than 95,8% and for the Competitive ELISA between 98,8 and 100 %, the last value refers to the Competitive ELISA Prototype II (SLPS antigen/M84 Mab), which was found highly suitable to differentiate vaccinated from brucella-infected cattle. The use of C-ELISA II for monitoring bovine populations under an eradication programme is recommended. (author)

COMPETITIVENESS OF LEADING COMMODITIES TO SUPPORT DEVELOPING REGION OF AGROTOURISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murwatiningsih Murwatiningsih

2013-10-01

Full Text Available AbstractThe aim of the research is to seek the competitiveness of the leading commodity in Semarang city which supports the development of centre commodity in agrotourism area. The method of analysis is leading sector, scoring analysis and capacity asessment through FGD. The result of the research reveals that leading commodities are Durian, Longan, Water Apple, and Rambutan. It is found that subdistrict Gunungpati and Mangunsari are ready to be the centre of horticulture commodity because its strategic location. It is located nearby Jatibarang reservoir (potential to be a tourism village, its cultivation is relatively successful, accessable transportation, and good management. Hence, it can be the pilot project area.Key words: competitiveness, centre, commodity, horticultureJEL Classification: O20, Q10AbstrakKesejahteraan petani tidak meningkat karena daya saingnya rendah dan pengelolannya tidak optimal. Tujuan penelitian, untuk melihat daya saing komoditas unggulan Kota Semarang untuk mendukung pengembangan sentra komoditas di kawasan agrowisata. Metode analisis yaitu sektor basis, analisis scoring serta capacity assessment melalui FGD. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan komoditas yang diunggulkan di Gunungpati adalah durian, klengkeng, jambu air dan rambutan. Kelurahan Gunungpati dan Mangunsari siap dijadikan sentra komoditas hortikultura di Kecamatan Gunungpati karena letaknya strategis- dekat dengan waduk Jatibarang (dapat menjadi desa wisata, budidaya relatif lebih berhasil, transportasi dan akseptibilitas lebih mudah, pengelolaannya bagus sehingga sudah menjadi daerah percontohan.Kata Kunci: daya saing, sentra, komoditas, hortikulturJEL Classification: O20, Q10

Techno-economic accompanying research the national competition ''Bioenergy Regions''. Final report funding measure 2009-2012; Technisch-oekonomische Begleitforschung des Bundeswettbewerbes ''Bioenergie-Regionen''. Endbericht Foerdermassnahme 2009-2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bohnet, Sebastian; Haak, Falko; Gawor, Marek [DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnuetzige GmbH, Leipzig (Germany); Thraen, Daniela [DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnuetzige GmbH, Leipzig (Germany); Helmholtz-Zentrum fuer Umweltforschung (UFZ), Leipzig (Germany)

2015-07-01

This final report describes the results of the techno-economic accompanying research of the competition of bioenergy regions. The competition was realized as a three-year funding project of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), wherein the DBFZ analyzed the bioenergy development in the project regions and effects for regional development. The aim of the techno-economic accompanying research was to evaluate the project regions regarding the use of bioenergy. To this end, the bioenergy plants and supply chains of bioenergy as well as the raw materials used were the focus of investigations. Hereby the comparison between the regions and classification of the national average should be made possible. It was also necessary to be able to make statements about the climate protection contribution of funding the project. Not least the DBFZ supported the office of competition and the regions in answering technical-economic issues. The report is divided into a theoretical part A and the result Part B. After a summary of the results (chapter 1) and a brief overview of important and higher-level indicators (Chapter 2) the background and objectives of the competition are in Part A, first presented (Chapter 3). This is followed by Chapter 4 of the explanation of the methodological approach. Part B contains the results of the accompanying research project. The individual chapters are based respectively on the specific questions or thematic blocks of techno-economic accompanying research (Section 5-8). The final chapter 9 takes a brief look at the second funding phase from 2012 to 2015. [German] Der vorliegende Endbericht beschreibt die Ergebnisse der technisch-oekonomischen Begleitforschung zum Wettbewerb Bioenergie-Regionen. Der Wettbewerb wurde als dreijaehriges Foerdervorhaben des Bundesministeriums fuer Ernaehrung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz (BMELV) realisiert, bei dem das DBFZ die Bioenergieentwicklung in den Projektregionen sowie

Retail competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

Retail competition as the cornerstone of a competitive electricity marketplace was the subject of the seventh in the series of policy discussion papers developed at the Market Design Conference. Concern was expressed that because of the complexities involved in market design and technical implementation, the retail competition may lag behind other elements of the implementation of the new market design. A variety of key issues were debated, including the role of physical versus financial contracts, the form of retail competition and financial settlement systems in the short term, the requirement to separate 'competitive' (metering, billing, maintenance, consumer education) from non-competitive' (the transmission wires) services and the role of municipal electric utilities. It was agreed that the IMO should play an important role in defining and enforcing the separation of services, and that as a general rule, the development of policy in this area should be guided by the principle of maximizing the potential for competition

Product competitiveness analysis for e-commerce platform of special agricultural products

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Fucheng; Ma, Ning; Yang, Dongwei; Xiong, Zhangyuan

2017-09-01

On the basis of analyzing the influence factors of the product competitiveness of the e-commerce platform of the special agricultural products and the characteristics of the analytical methods for the competitiveness of the special agricultural products, the price, the sales volume, the postage included service, the store reputation, the popularity, etc. were selected in this paper as the dimensionality for analyzing the competitiveness of the agricultural products, and the principal component factor analysis was taken as the competitiveness analysis method. Specifically, the web crawler was adopted to capture the information of various special agricultural products in the e-commerce platform ---- chi.taobao.com. Then, the original data captured thereby were preprocessed and MYSQL database was adopted to establish the information library for the special agricultural products. Then, the principal component factor analysis method was adopted to establish the analysis model for the competitiveness of the special agricultural products, and SPSS was adopted in the principal component factor analysis process to obtain the competitiveness evaluation factor system (support degree factor, price factor, service factor and evaluation factor) of the special agricultural products. Then, the linear regression method was adopted to establish the competitiveness index equation of the special agricultural products for estimating the competitiveness of the special agricultural products.

Competitive intelligence as an enabler for firm competitiveness: An overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Maune

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to provide an overview, from literature, about how competitive intelligence can be an enabler towards a firm’s competitiveness. This overview is done under the background of intense global competition that firms are currently experiencing. This paper used a qualitative content analysis as a data collection methodology on all identified journal articles on competitive intelligence and firm competitiveness. To identify relevant literature, academic databases and search engines were used. Moreover, a review of references in related studies led to more relevant sources, the references of which were further reviewed and analysed. To ensure reliability and trustworthiness, peer-reviewed journal articles and triangulation were used. The paper found that competitive intelligence is an important enabler of firm competitiveness. The findings from this paper will assist business managers to understand and improve their outlook of competitive intelligence as an enabler of firm competitiveness and will be of great academic value.

The association between Generalized Joint Hypermobility and shoulder mobility in young, competitive swimmers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Hans Kromann; Junge, Tina

2016-01-01

The association between Generalized Joint Hypermobility and shoulder mobility in young, competitive swimmers. Junge, T.1, 2, 3, Henriksen, P. 2, 4, Knudsen, H.K.1, Juul-Kristensen, B.3, 4 1Institute of Regional Health Services, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark 2Department...... (Zemek et al., 1995). Increased shoulder mobility as well as Generalised Joint Hypermobility (GJH), are both suggested being predisposing risk factors for shoulder injuries (Pink et al., 2000, Zemek et al., 1995). An association between GJH and shoulder mobility among young, competitive swimmers has......) participated. GJH was evaluated by the Beighton test (BT) a 0-9 scoring system. GJH was classified at cut points ≥5/9, ≥6/9 and ≥7/9. Shoulder mobility was measured as HSA using an inclinometer in a standardized protocol format. A multiple regression analysis was used to reveal associations between GJH...

Power generation planning: a survey from monopoly to competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kagiannas, A.G.; Askounis, D.T.; Psarras, J.

2004-01-01

During the last two decades electric power generation industry in many countries and regions around the world has undergone a significant transformation from being a centrally coordinated monopoly to a deregulated liberalized market. In the majority of those countries, competition has been introduced through the adoption of a competitive wholesale electricity spot market. Short-term efficiency of power generators under competitive environment has attracted considerable effort from researchers, while long-term investment performance has received less attention. In this context, the paper aims to serve as a comprehensive review basis for generation planning methods applied in a competitive electric power generation market. The traditional modeling techniques developed for generation expansion planning under monopoly are initially presented in an effort to assess the evolution of generation planning according to the evolution of the structure of the electric power market. (author)

Relationship Between Resilience and Coping Strategies in Competitive Sport.

Science.gov (United States)

Secades, Xabel García; Molinero, Olga; Salguero, Alfonso; Barquín, Roberto Ruíz; de la Vega, Ricardo; Márquez, Sara

2016-02-01

Resilience is important in sport performers to withstand the pressure they experience. This study analyzed the relationship among resilient qualities and coping strategies in 235 Spanish athletes (126 males, 109 females; M age = 20.7 yr) who practiced different sports (79.1% team sports, 20.9% individual sports). They were evaluated at the beginning of the last competitive mesocycle and after an important competition. Coping strategies and level of resilient qualities were measured by the Coping Inventory for Competitive Sport and the Resilience Scale. There was no significant difference in resilience scores between evaluations performed during the last mesocycle or competition. A significant increase occurred in the scores for emotion-oriented and distraction-oriented coping during competition. Resilience scores correlated positively to task-oriented coping and negatively to disengagement- and distraction-oriented coping during both periods. Analysis of variance indicated that athletes with high individual resilient qualities reached higher scores in task-oriented coping, using to a lower extent disengagement- and distraction-oriented coping. Results obtained suggest that resilient characteristics may associate in athletes to the use of more potentially adaptative coping strategies. © The Author(s) 2016.

Peer review and competition in the Art Exhibition Game.

Science.gov (United States)

Balietti, Stefano; Goldstone, Robert L; Helbing, Dirk

2016-07-26

To investigate the effect of competitive incentives under peer review, we designed a novel experimental setup called the Art Exhibition Game. We present experimental evidence of how competition introduces both positive and negative effects when creative artifacts are evaluated and selected by peer review. Competition proved to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it fosters innovation and product diversity, but on the other hand, it also leads to more unfair reviews and to a lower level of agreement between reviewers. Moreover, an external validation of the quality of peer reviews during the laboratory experiment, based on 23,627 online evaluations on Amazon Mechanical Turk, shows that competition does not significantly increase the level of creativity. Furthermore, the higher rejection rate under competitive conditions does not improve the average quality of published contributions, because more high-quality work is also rejected. Overall, our results could explain why many ground-breaking studies in science end up in lower-tier journals. Differences and similarities between the Art Exhibition Game and scholarly peer review are discussed and the implications for the design of new incentive systems for scientists are explained.

The tobacco international competitiveness of the South Brazil :1997-2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Candéa Sá Barreto

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The research analyses the international competitiveness of the southern tobacco in international trade. We used data analysis system of the Foreign Trade Information Internet (ALICE-Web, the Foreign Trade Secretariat (SECEX of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC in the years 1997-2014. Additionally, advantages index were constructed for and competitiveness revealed to observe the state of the production behavior in international trade. The results show that the southern region has a high relative advantage in tobacco exports over the years considered. The revealed competitiveness was positive, however, advantage of greater magnitude since 2005.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY: THE CASE OF HUMAN COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Castro Murillo

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Human Company, a 100% Costa Rican business, through its brand Eco Sunrise has achieved to produce biodegradable goods under a socially responsible approach. This paper is aimed at evaluating how these practices influence the Company’s competitiveness levels using the PRISMA method and the CINBAGE matrix. Therefore, the general objective is to determine whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR is a competitive strategy for Human Company, for which the Company must identify advantages and obstacles faced by SMEs in regards to CSR, evaluate each of the areas comprising the Company’s CSR, quantify the Company´s competitiveness, and determine how CSR influences competitiveness.

The Brazilian electric power industry restructuring: an evaluation of the competition through the contestable market theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinhaes, Elbia; Santana, Edvaldo de

1999-01-01

The central issue of debate was the need to align the energy sector's options and organization with changing global patterns of economic and social development, characterized by the increasing role played by the private sector, greater integration in the world economy, and new economic and social priorities such as efficiency, decentralization, deregulation, and a closer attention to environmental issues. The aim of the work is to evaluate the competition in the Brazilian electric power industry through the Contestable Market Theory proposed by Baumol

Competitiveness of the mining sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrera Arango, Jairo; Gamba Saavedra, Gloria Patricia

2006-01-01

The paper is based on the upgraded study of the evaluation of competitiveness of the Colombian mining sector, carried out for the UPME, in the year 2005, with base in this study, the conditions were examined offered for Colombia for the mining industry

Marketing technologies for building competitiveness of companies export

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatyana Tsygankova

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In context of post-industrial development of global economy, escalating competition in international goods markets, the definition of competitive export is proposed based upon both existing criteria – sustainability, effectiveness, adaptivity and fair competition, and on those described in the work – ecological performance, service maintenance, brand awareness and high technology. Given that, it is proved that with the aim of detailing the elements of competitive export, the latter should be typified depending upon the performer (export competitiveness of a company, country, region and subject (export competitiveness of goods, services, rights upon intellectual property objects, keeping in mind universal and specific features of export criteria proposed to be characterised through a range of indices on corporate and state levels. Groups of factors affecting export competitiveness building are systematized (institutional, financial and economic, marketing, foreign trade, scientific and technological, resource-related and social and ecological. Marketing technologies are typified on corporate level under the following criteria: novelty, object, creative component availability, internationalization stages, international marketing forms, digitalization level, management functions, customer-centreness scale, international marketing activity stages, financial security, specific features of intercorporate coordination. The practice of applying international marketing technologies by companies is investigated. In context of necessity to overcome crisis phenomena and increase competitive export volume, an assessment is made of integrating national manufacturing into regulated global chains of creating added value with the relevant rating, in particular, depending upon the available potential, minimality of technical and organizational changes, marketing relevancy, enabling to determine the manufacturing areas most prepared to cooperation, and

Sudden Cardiac Arrest during Participation in Competitive Sports.

Science.gov (United States)

Landry, Cameron H; Allan, Katherine S; Connelly, Kim A; Cunningham, Kris; Morrison, Laurie J; Dorian, Paul

2017-11-16

The incidence of sudden cardiac arrest during participation in sports activities remains unknown. Preparticipation screening programs aimed at preventing sudden cardiac arrest during sports activities are thought to be able to identify at-risk athletes; however, the efficacy of these programs remains controversial. We sought to identify all sudden cardiac arrests that occurred during participation in sports activities within a specific region of Canada and to determine their causes. In this retrospective study, we used the Rescu Epistry cardiac arrest database (which contains records of every cardiac arrest attended by paramedics in the network region) to identify all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occurred from 2009 through 2014 in persons 12 to 45 years of age during participation in a sport. Cases were adjudicated as sudden cardiac arrest (i.e., having a cardiac cause) or as an event resulting from a noncardiac cause, on the basis of records from multiple sources, including ambulance call reports, autopsy reports, in-hospital data, and records of direct interviews with patients or family members. Over the course of 18.5 million person-years of observation, 74 sudden cardiac arrests occurred during participation in a sport; of these, 16 occurred during competitive sports and 58 occurred during noncompetitive sports. The incidence of sudden cardiac arrest during competitive sports was 0.76 cases per 100,000 athlete-years, with 43.8% of the athletes surviving until they were discharged from the hospital. Among the competitive athletes, two deaths were attributed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and none to arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Three cases of sudden cardiac arrest that occurred during participation in competitive sports were determined to have been potentially identifiable if the athletes had undergone preparticipation screening. In our study involving persons who had out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the incidence of sudden cardiac

Municipal Competition for Inhabitants under Population Decrease. Zusammenfassung: Kommunale Konkurrenz um Einwohner bei Bevölkerungsrückgang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Friedrich

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The shrinking population during the break-down, adaptation and recovery phase in Estonian social and political development enforces municipal competition among the municipalities. Competition for inhabitants is embedded in regional competition showing horizontal and vertical competition relations. Inhabitants’ competition prevails indirectly through municipal business promotion competition and directly through competition for inhabitants. The competition shows three phases. A phase concerns zoning and long-term planning; a second one refers to negotiations with settlement firms and short-term actions to attract inhabitants followed by a phase of revisions of zoning and measures. The oligopolistic industrial zoning model of business promotion policy points to the consequences of horizontal municipal competition also on population. Vertical influences on business promotion policy demonstrate a game-theoretic example of intergovernmental intervention from higher government on zoning. The negotiation phase in business promotion policy is modelled by a bilateral monopoly model between a municipality and a settlement firm. Horizontal regional competition highlights the implications on inhabitants’ competition. An oligopoly model of direct inhabitant competition concerns the zoning in particular for housing. Furthermore, a model of public enterprise service and fee formation and of horizontal public firm competition shows inhabitants’ competition in the second phase. Forms of inhabitant competition concerning suburbanisation and using public debt, revenues such as taxes, fees and expenditures are mentioned. Finally, follows a discussion of possible instruments to regulate inhabitant competition.

Increasing state market share through regional positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Muzaffer Uysal; Joseph S. Chen; Daniel R. Williams

2000-01-01

State tourism officials need to know more about the nature of in-state and out-of-state visitor characteristics and how actual and potential visitors perceive local destinations. The main objective of this study was to understand Virginia's image as a travel destination versus competitive states in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA. The regional competitiveness...

Nuclear power regional analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parera, María Delia

2011-01-01

In this study, a regional analysis of the Argentine electricity market was carried out considering the effects of regional cooperation, national and international interconnections; additionally, the possibilities of insertion of new nuclear power plants in different regions were evaluated, indicating the most suitable areas for these facilities to increase the penetration of nuclear energy in national energy matrix. The interconnection of electricity markets and natural gas due to the linkage between both energy forms was also studied. With this purpose, MESSAGE program was used (Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impacts), promoted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This model performs a country-level economic optimization, resulting in the minimum cost for the modelling system. Regionalization executed by the Wholesale Electricity Market Management Company (CAMMESA, by its Spanish acronym) that divides the country into eight regions. The characteristics and the needs of each region, their respective demands and supplies of electricity and natural gas, as well as existing and planned interconnections, consisting of power lines and pipelines were taken into account. According to the results obtained through the model, nuclear is a competitive option. (author) [es

Long-term stability analysis and effect evaluation of energy supply and demand in asia and pacific regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, B.R. [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea, Republic of)

1998-06-01

The competition in the supply of energy in Northeast Asian countries including Korea is forecasted to be intensively unfolded because of the soaring energy consumption the region. It is because the consumption of coal in Asia will be curtailed due to heightened global attention to environment, the import of Middle Eastern crude oil will be largely increasing since crude oil production in China and Indonesia is experiencing a slow-down. Therefore, close international cooperation is requested for the smooth supply of crude oil and natural gas to back up the economic growth. This study checked the energy supply and demand status in the Asian region that is changing since the 1990s, and analyzed the pressure factors in the energy supply sector. It needs to develop the Far Eastern region of Russia intensively as the energy supply base together with the Middle Eastern oil- producing regions as the plan to alleviate the energy competition within the region and seek economic development concurrently. Since this region requires large- scale investment as an never-expedited area, multilateral cooperation including neighboring countries that need energy and international enterprises who are interested in the profitability of the business are urgently required. Therefore, it is necessary to form and operate Northeast Asia Energy Forum (NAEF) which is a centripetal point that will actually carry out the resources development of Northeast Asia. Korea who is at the centripetal point of Northeast Asian tension should actively participate and support in the formation of this organization within the region in order to utilize it as the cornerstone of national north and south unification. 41 refs., 7 figs., 53 tabs.

Europos Sąjungos regioninė politika: regionų konkurencingumo analizė

OpenAIRE

Stasiulionis, Tadas

2018-01-01

European Union regions’ competitiveness analysis is based on European Commission data about European regions’ competitiveness. Regions, that want to implement their economic, political and social goals, have to properly compete and be involved into an economic activities. For this reason it is important to analyse European Union regions’ competitiveness and search for appropriate methods, that could be applied to acquire the appropriate competitiveness in European regions. By analysing differ...

Competitive Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergeron, Pierrette; Hiller, Christine A.

2002-01-01

Reviews the evolution of competitive intelligence since 1994, including terminology and definitions and analytical techniques. Addresses the issue of ethics; explores how information technology supports the competitive intelligence process; and discusses education and training opportunities for competitive intelligence, including core competencies…

PERMANENT INNOVATION - SOLUTION FOR THE INCREASE OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE COMPANIES

OpenAIRE

Corina FRÃSINEANU; Ioan FRÃSINEANU

2011-01-01

The economy based on knowledge imposes a careful administration of the innovation activity at the level of the companies parallel to the possibility of the formation of innovation networks - competitive poles - clusters. These types of cooperation between companies are aimed at maintaining and increasing the competitive advantage acquired at regional or national level

Competitive forces and academic plastic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, S H

1998-04-01

Economic constraints developing as a result of rising health care costs in the United States pose significant challenges for and threats to the survival of academic plastic surgery. Declining clinical revenues, competition for patients and resources from other health care providers, and reductions in support of its education and research efforts necessitate a paradigm shift if it is to survive. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 92 of the 100 postgraduate training program directors of plastic surgery in the United States. The most common source of clinical income on a national basis was indemnity insurance. Sources of clinical income varied by region. The majority of programs, 80 percent, report that at least 75 percent of the income support for faculty came from practice income. Financial support for ancillary and research personnel, in large part, came from this same source. Resident salaries and benefits came largely from other resources. Generally as population density within the metropolitan area in which a program was located increased, so too did the number of competing plastic surgeons, including graduates of the program and nonacademic cosmetic and hand surgeons. However, levels of competition for cosmetic surgery in smaller metropolitan areas of some regions seem to be similar to those reported by programs in larger communities. Plastic surgery programs in very competitive communities received significantly greater amounts of their income from indemnity insurance and self-paying patients than did programs in less competitive metropolitan areas. Internal competition from other surgical and nonsurgical specialists within the same institution is likewise keen. Virtually all respondents, 93 percent, report that their institutions provided patient care in a least one designated center of excellence in the following disciplines: hand, microsurgery, craniofacial, cleft lip and palate, burn, and cosmetic surgery. This study suggests that centers of

Healthy Competition and Unsound Comparison: Reforming Educational Competition in Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Søren

2015-01-01

It is frequently claimed that the "competition state" responds to external competition by making competition increasingly central to its internal processes as well. This article discusses education reform in Singapore as departing from the opposite position. In Singapore "excessive" competition in education is now targeted by…

Exchange Rate Effects on International Commercial Trade Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel Bostan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This study is meant to be an evaluation sustained by theoretical and empirical considerations of the exchange rate impact on international commercial trade competitiveness. In this respect, the study aims to find how the exchange rate influences Romanian competitiveness through assessing the effects generated on exports and imports. The main purpose of the study is to assess the complex action of the exchange rate on international commercial trade competitiveness in contemporaneity and the connections between these variables. The empirical part contains a regression analysis where exports and imports are dependent variables influenced by a series of determinants.

Retrospective injury epidemiology of one hundred one competitive Oceania power lifters: the effects of age, body mass, competitive standard, and gender.

Science.gov (United States)

Keogh, Justin; Hume, Patria A; Pearson, Simon

2006-08-01

The injury epidemiology of competitive power lifters was investigated to provide a basis for injury prevention initiatives in power lifting. Self-reported retrospective injury data for 1 year and selected biographical and training information were obtained via a 4-page injury survey from 82 men and 19 women of varying ages (Open and Masters), body masses (lightweight and heavyweight), and competitive standards (national and international). Injury was defined as any physical damage to the body that caused the lifter to miss or modify one or more training sessions or miss a competition. A total of 118 injuries, which equated to 1.2 +/- 1.1 injuries per lifter per year and 4.4 +/- 4.8 injuries per 1,000 hours of training, were reported. The most commonly injured body regions were the shoulder (36%), lower back (24%), elbow (11%), and knee (9%). More injuries appeared to be of a sudden (acute) (59%) rather than gradual (chronic) nature (41%). National competitors had a significantly greater rate of injury (5.8 +/- 4.9 per 1,000 hours) than international competitors (3.6 +/- 3.6 per 1,000 hours). The relative proportion of injuries at some body regions varied significantly as a function of competitive standard and gender. No significant differences in injury profile were seen between Open and Masters or between lightweight and heavyweight lifters. Power lifting appears to have a moderately low risk of injury, regardless of the lifter's age, body mass, competitive standard, or gender, compared with other sports. Future research should utilize a prospective cohort or case-controlled design to examine the effect of a range of other intrinsic and extrinsic factors on injury epidemiology and to assess the effects of various intervention strategies.

The spirit of competition: to win or not to win.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teresa Szczepinska

Full Text Available A competition is a contest between individuals or groups. The gain is often an award or recognition, which serves as a catalyst to motivate individuals to put forth their very best. Such events for recognition and success are part of many International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB Student Council Regional Student Groups (RSGs activities. These include a popular science article contest, a Wikipedia article competition, travel grants, poster and oral presentation awards during conferences, and quizzes at social events. Organizing competitions is no different than any other event; they require a lot of hard work to be successful. Each event gives remarkable organizational and social experience for students running it, while at the same time the participants of the competitions are rewarded by prizes and recognition. It gives everybody involved an opportunity to demonstrate their extraordinary talents and skills. Competitions are unique because they bring out both the best and worst in people.

The Effect of Advanced Management Accounting Practices on the Competitive Strategies and Performance

OpenAIRE

Rahmi Yücel; Kayhan Ahmetoğulları

2015-01-01

This study is based on a sample of 300 managers from the production industry of West Marmara Region. The goal of this study is to examine the interaction among advanced management accounting practices, competitive strategies and company performance. As a result of study, it is found that advanced accounting management practices have a positive effect on the company performance and competitive strategies. In addition, competitive strategies have an effect on the company performance positively....

Efficiency-wage competition and nonlinear dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrazzi, Marco; Sodini, Mauro

2018-05-01

In this paper we develop a nonlinear version of the efficiency-wage competition model pioneered by Hahn (1987) [27]. Under the assumption that the strategic relationship among optimal wage bids put forward by competing firms is non-monotonic, we show that market wage offers can actually display persistent fluctuations described by a piece-wise non-invertible map. Thereafter, assuming that employers are never constrained in the labour market, we give evidence that in the parameter region of chaotic dynamics, the model is able to reproduce the business cycle regularity according to which in the short-run average wages fluctuate less than aggregate employment. In addition, we show that the efficiency-wage competition among firms leads to some inefficiencies in the wage setting process.

EDITORIAL: Physics competitions Physics competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Jordens, H.; Mathelitsch, L.

2010-07-01

This editorial opens the second special section on physics competitions in European Journal of Physics. In the first section last year, we asked for feedback on the idea of such a section and on the content of the articles. We received no answer whatsoever, which can be interpreted in two ways: the section is not interesting enough to raise motivation for feedback, or the reader is satisfied. Having no indication which scenario is the correct one, we are optimistic and favour the second. The section at hand contains three articles. Again, as last year, the organizer of the annual Olympiad reports on tasks and outcomes of this competition. The Olympiad took place in Merida, Mexico, and was by far the largest event with 316 contestants from 68 countries. Again, the predominance of Asian/Chinese students was manifest, showing how serious the training is taken by both their authorities and students. Unfortunately, the winners of the last International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT), the team from Korea, did not accept the offer to report on their prize-winning contribution. We are thankful that two students from Austria, who achieved second place with their team, took over and reported on the task which they presented in the finals of the competition. It connects the fields of sport and physics and explains a special move in skateboarding. The third contribution introduces a different competition, 'International Conference of Young Scientists'. On one hand, as in the Olympiad, it addresses individuals, not teams. On the other, as in the IYPT, students have several months to prepare and also the quality of the presentation is an important element of the judgment. In fact, this competition comes closer to real scientific research compared to the other events. Finally and again, we hope that this section will serve several purposes: To show the competitions as a very important tool in the support of gifted students. To raise awareness amongst university teachers, and

Evaluation of comparative advantages in the profitability and competitiveness of the small-scale dairy system of Tulancingo Valley, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Posadas-Domínguez, Rodolfo Rogelio; Del Razo-Rodríguez, Oscar Enrique; Almaraz-Buendía, Isaac; Pelaez-Acero, Armando; Espinosa-Muñoz, Verónica; Rebollar-Rebollar, Samuel; Salinas-Martínez, Jesús Armando

2018-06-01

This article combines a Policy Analysis Matrix with a sensitivity and poverty line analysis with the objective of evaluating the economic contribution of comparative advantages to the private profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy systems. For 1 year, socioeconomic data were collected from 82 farms selected from four strata via statistical sampling. Two scenarios were established to determine the quantitative contribution of comparative advantages: (1) a simulated scenario, which accounted for the cost of purchasing the total food and the opportunity cost of the family labour force (FLF), and (2) an actual production scenario, which accounted for the cost of producing food and eliminating the payment of the FLF and included other income. The E3 and E4 producers were the most profitable and competitive in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. Of the four scales evaluated, the E2 and E1 producers were the most efficient in taking advantage of the economic contribution provided by the comparative advantages in their own production of food and employment of the FLF, in addition to accounting for other income, a condition that increased their profitability by 171 and 144% and competitiveness by 346 and 273%, respectively. The poverty results indicated that only E3 and E4 producers were non-vulnerable in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. The purchase of food was the comparative advantage with the greatest sensitivity to cost increases in the two scenarios analysed, which exacerbated the effect on the E1 and E2 producers.

THE STATE OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM IN UKRAINE AND ITS IMPACT ON COMPETITIVENESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Mytsiuk

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The place of Ukraine in the world rankings, the level of economic freedom in Ukraine and its impact on competitiveness are considered in the article. The analysis of tendencies of development of Ukraine in the international arena is carried and competitiveness of the national economy is defined. The indices of global competitiveness and economic freedom are investigated. The basic components of these ratings are analyzed and correlation between economic freedom of the country and its competitiveness is proved. The macroeconomic and institutional factors of Ukraine's competitiveness increase on the world stage are identified. It has been found out that reduction of the competitiveness of Ukraine in the international rankings is connected with the political instability and foreign aggression. Since military confrontation in the Donbas region lead to a steady decline in general economic indicators, destruction of infrastructure, lower production, it has a negative impact on future international competitiveness ranking of Ukraine.

Power market competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, J.

1998-01-01

In the Unites States the prospect of greater competition in wholesale power market was immediately eclipsed by talk of retail competition. Attempts to move to retail competition have been costly and complex. Prudent public policy and economic analyses suggest that retail competition not be implemented until it can first be demonstrated that effective competition exists in wholesale power markets [it

Lunabotics Mining Competition

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Rob; Murphy, Gloria

2010-01-01

This slide presentation describes a competition to design a lunar robot (lunabot) that can be controlled either remotely or autonomously, isolated from the operator, and is designed to mine a lunar aggregate simulant. The competition is part of a systems engineering curriculum. The 2010 competition winners in five areas of the competition were acknowledged, and the 2011 competition was announced.

Trade Openness, Market Competition, and Inflation: Some Sectoral Evidence from OECD Countries

OpenAIRE

Mahir Binici; Yin-Wong Cheung; Kon S. Lai

2011-01-01

This study evaluates the role market competition plays in determining inflation based on sector-level data from OECD countries. In theory, trade openness can affect inflation through changes in market competitiveness and productivity. Nonetheless, previous empirical studies often fail to account for productivity effects, and their results may overstate the role of market competition. This study shows that inflation decreases with greater market competitiveness even after controlling for produ...

Evaluation of seed yield and competition indices of corn (Zea mays L. intercropped with different bean (Phaseolus spp. types

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakime Ziaei

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In order to evaluate the intercropping of corn (Zea mays L. and bean cultivars (Phaseolus spp. an experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replicaties at Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University during growing season of 2010. The experimental treatments consisted of sole cropping of corn, white bean, bush bean, red bean, pinto bean and sword bean and 50:50 ratio of corn and bean types. In this experiment, the corn-bush bean and corn-pinto bean intercropping had the highest seed yield (5734.4 and 5674.3 kg/ha-1, respectively and land equivalent ratio (LER=1.13 and 1.21, respectively. Evaluated intercropping indices indicated that red bean (k= 1.85, pinto bean (k= 2.41 and sword bean (k= 2.80 had the highest crowding coefficient whereas the maximum aggressivity value was belonged to pinto bean intercropped with corn (A= -0.02. Also, both the red bean and pinto bean (CR=0.75 and CR=0.98, respectively had the maximum competitive ratio. Furthermore, the most corn crowding coefficient (K=1.15 was belonged to corn and sword bean intercropping and maximum corn aggressivity value was observed in corn intercropped with white bean (A=+0.60 and bush bean (A=+0.69. In conclusion, according to competition indices, intercropping of 50% corn + 50 % red bean and pinto bean plants were superior as compared to other combinations.Also, both the red bean and pinto bean (CR=0.75 and CR=0.98, respectively had the maximum competitive ratio. Furthermore, the most corn crowding coefficient (K=1.15 was belonged to corn and sword bean intercropping and maximum corn aggressivity value was observed in corn intercropped with white bean (A=+0.60 and bush bean (A=+0.69. In conclusion, according to competition indices, intercropping of 50% corn + 50 % red bean and pinto bean plants were superior as compared to other combinations.

Studies on mating competition of irradiated melon flies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Limohpasmanee, W.

1994-01-01

Mating competition is the key factor for fruit flies control by using sterile insect technique project. Mass rearing and irradiation can reduce the mating competition of fruit flies. This experiment has purpose to evaluate the mating competition of the irradiated melon fly. The results show that mating competition values of irradiated melon flies were 0.36 and 0.24 when they mated with normal and irradiated females. Both normal male and female can mate more frequency than irradiated flies. (Z=1.322, P<0.05; Z=1.851, P<0.05). The results show that quality of mass rearing and irradiated melon fly was lower than the normal flies. So that quality of irradiated fly must be improved and the number of released flies as less must be higher than natural flies 6 time

Evaluation of regional climate simulations over the Great Lakes region driven by three global data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Shiyuan Zhong; Xiuping Li; Xindi Bian; Warren E. Heilman; L. Ruby Leung; William I. Jr. Gustafson

2012-01-01

The performance of regional climate simulations is evaluated for the Great Lakes region. Three 10-year (1990-1999) current-climate simulations are performed using the MM5 regional climate model (RCM) with 36-km horizontal resolution. The simulations employed identical configuration and physical parameterizations, but different lateral boundary conditions and sea-...

Mass Customization as Innovation Driver of International Competitiveness in Peripheral Regional SME Subcontractors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taps, Stig B.; Brunø, Thomas Ditlev; Nielsen, Kjeld

2014-01-01

practices that can be exploited as competitive capabilities. This paper suggests that an open network structure demands a transformation of peripheral-located SME subcontractor from traditional customized producer to mass customized producer. Mass customization as an instrument for the transformation...

Evaluating Competition in the Loan and Deposit Market using the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

kirstam

Key words: Competition, loan and deposit market, Boone indicator approach, Zimbabwe ... Performance measurement is a framework for assessing the effect of government ... resource wastage and to lower the market prices of financial products (Berger & ..... costs are more efficient and gain more market share or profits.

Local, Regional or Global?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geisler Asmussen, Christian

to be consistent with models of internationalization that incorporate different assumptions about strategic choice and global competition. Preliminary results show that large multinationals follow home region oriented internationalization paths, although much of the regional effect reported by previous studies...

Economic competitiveness of nuclear power in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Chuanwen

2005-01-01

Development of nuclear power in China has made a good progress. Currently, economic competitiveness of nuclear power compared to fossil-fuelled power plants is one of the major problems which hamper its development. This article presents the economic competitiveness of nuclear power in China with two-level analyses. First, levelized lifetime cost method is adopted for electricity generation cost comparisons. Important factors influencing economic competitiveness of nuclear power are described. Furthermore, a broad economic evaluation of the full fuel chain of nuclear power and fossil-fuelled plants is discussed concerning macro social-economic issues, environmental and health impacts. The comprehensive comparative assessment would be carried out for decision making to implement nuclear power programme. In consideration of external costs and carbon value, the economic competitiveness of nuclear power would be further improved. Facing swift economic growth, huge energy demand and heavy environmental burden, nuclear power could play a significant role in sustainable development in China. (authors)

Competition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bridoux, F.; Vodosek, M.; Den Hartog, D.N.; McNett, J.M.

2014-01-01

Competition traditionally refers to the actions that firms take in a product market to outperform rivals in attracting customers and generating revenues. Yet, competition extends beyond product markets to other arenas such as factor markets, where firms compete for resources, and the political

Competitive Advantages of Small Medium Industry on the Islands in Indonesian Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muslim El Hakim Kurniawan

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Indonesian Law No.3/2014 regarding Industry requires both Central and Local Governments to realize the competitiveness of small and medium industries. However, the fact that the condition of each region is not similar becomes a main problem. It is because Indonesia is an archipelagic country. The competitiveness index of Asia Competitiveness Institute 2015 indicates that islands provinces, such as Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Sulawesi Utara, Maluku, Maluku Utara, Sulawesi Tenggara, need specific development strategies. They cannot be equated with the mainlands, such as Java and Sumatera, because their competitiveness rank is very low. A review of literature on the competitiveness of islands entrepreneurs shows that from the 4 (four schools of thought in competitive advantage, only few researchers have pertained on the knowledge based on the schools of thought. Therefore, this could be a future research opportunity.

Responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 by the Athletes Participated in the (IJF) Judo Grand Prix Competition, Samsun 2015 in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Agaoglu, Yavuz Selim

2016-01-01

The judo is a popular sport which people engaged in more than 178 countries at any age in the world. Besides its popularity, the studies on this field continue to increase gradually. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to measure pre-competition anxieties, and to evaluate data obtained of the pre-competition concerns of the judo athletes who…

Competition in Japan

OpenAIRE

Michael E. Porter; Mariko Sakakibara

2004-01-01

This article examines competition in Japan and its link to postwar economic prosperity. While Japan's industrial structure and competition policy seem to indicate that competition in Japan has been less intense, the empirical evidence does not support this conclusion. The sectors in which competition was restricted prove to be those where Japan was not internationally successful. In the internationally successful sectors, internal competition in Japan was invariably fierce. While the level of...

Competitive bidding in Medicare: who benefits from competition?

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zirui; Landrum, Mary Beth; Chernew, Michael E

2012-09-01

To conduct the first empirical study of competitive bidding in Medicare. We analyzed 2006-2010 Medicare Advantage data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services using longitudinal models adjusted for market and plan characteristics. A $1 increase in Medicare's payment to health maintenance organization (HMO) plans led to a $0.49 (P service plans included, higher Medicare payments increased bids less ($0.33 per dollar), suggesting more competition among these latter plans. As a market-based alternative to cost control through administrative pricing, competitive bidding relies on private insurance plans proposing prices they are willing to accept for insuring a beneficiary. However, competition is imperfect in the Medicare bidding market. As much as half of every dollar in increased plan payment went to higher bids rather than to beneficiaries. While having more insurers in a market lowered bids, the design of any bidding system for Medicare should recognize this shortcoming of competition.

Competitive Priorities and Competitive Advantage in Jordanian Manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Awwad, Abdulkareem S.; Al Khattab, Adel A.; Anchor, J.R

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research was to explore and predict the relationship between the competitive priorities (quality, cost, flexibility and delivery) and the competitive advantage of firms in the Jordanian Industrial Sector. A population of 88 Jordanian manufacturing firms, registered on the Amman Stock Exchange, was targeted using a cross-sectional survey employing a questionnaire method of data collection. The results of the data analysis indicate a significant relationship between competit...

Global Social Entrepreneurship Competitions: Incubators for Innovations in Global Health?

Science.gov (United States)

Huster, Karin; Petrillo, Carl; O'Malley, Gabrielle; Glassman, Debra; Rush, Jessica; Wasserheit, Judith

2017-01-01

A growing number of organizations have launched social entrepreneurship competitions to help students develop the knowledge and skills to create sustainable solutions to the intertwined challenges of health and development. We conducted a program evaluation of the first 9 years of the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) at the…

From cities and towns to urban networks in Germany – intra regional competition versus regional co-operation and inter regional competitiveness

OpenAIRE

Bernhard Mueller

2000-01-01

For many decades of the 20th century particular cities and towns were understood as integral parts of national and international urban systems. For many years the theory on central places and hierarchy of central places, first developed by Christaller and amended by Loesch, had a decisive influence on spatial research and regional development policies with guiding principles for urbanisation and the development of settlement patterns. However it is becoming ever more evident, that the planned...

Estimation of the competitive conditions in the Czech banking sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Stavárek

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper uses New Empirical Industrial Organization approach, especially Panzar-Rosse model to estimates the level of competition of the banking industry in the Czech Republic during the period 2001–2009. We apply Panzar-Rosse model to estimate H statistic for a panel of 15 banks, which represent almost 90 % of the market. This paper also measures and compares the degree of banking competition in two sub-periods, 2001–2005 and 2005–2009, in order to investigate development of the competitive structure of the Czech banking industry. We found that the market was in equilibrium during most of the estimation period, which is a necessary condition for sound evaluation of the competition level. While the market can be described as perfectly competitive in 2001–2005, the intensity of competition decreased after joining the EU in 2004 and the market can be characterized as one of monopolistic competition in 2005–2009. The monopolistic competition in the Czech banking market was also revealed if the full sample 2001–2009 is considered.

Niche filtering, not interspecific resource competition, explains the co-occurrence of butterfly species across the Japanese archipelago

OpenAIRE

Iwasaki, Takaya; Sato, Yasuhiro; Nakadai, Ryosuke; Hashimoto, Koya

2017-01-01

The relevance of interspecific resource competition in the context of community assembly by herbivorous insects is a well-known topic in ecology. Most previous studies focused on local species assemblies, that shared host plants. Few studies evaluated species pairs within a single taxon when investigating the effects of host plant sharing at the regional scale. Herein, we explore the effect of plant sharing on the geographical co-occurrence patterns of 229 butterflies distributed across the J...

Plan competitions reveal entrepreneurial talent

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Madison, Alison L.

2011-05-15

Monthly economic diversity column for Tri-City Herald business section. Excerpt below: There’s something to be said for gaining valuable real-world experience in a structured, nurturing environment. Take for instance learning to scuba dive in the comfort of my resort pool rather than immediately hanging out with sharks while I figure out little things like oxygen tanks and avoiding underwater panic attacks. Likewise, graduate students are getting some excellent, supportive real-world training through university business plan competitions. These competitions are places where smart minds, new technologies, months of preparation and coaching, and some healthy pre-presentation jitters collide to reveal not only solid new business ideas, but also some promising entrepreneurial talent. In fact, professionals from around our region descend upon college campuses every spring to judge these events, which help to bridge the gap between academics and the real technology and business-driven economy.

Regional analysis of the nuclear-electricity; Analisis regional de la nucleoelectricidad

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parera, M. D., E-mail: dparera@cnea.gov.ar [CNEA, Gerencia de Planificacion, Coordinacion y Control, Subgerencia de Planificacion Estrategica, Av. Gral. Paz 1499, B1650KNA San Martin, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2011-11-15

In this study was realized a regional analysis of the Argentinean electric market contemplating the effects of regional cooperation, the internal and international interconnections; and the possibilities of insert of new nuclear power stations were evaluated in different regions of the country, indicating the most appropriate areas to carry out these facilities to increase the penetration of the nuclear energy in the national energy matrix. Also was studied the interconnection of the electricity and natural gas markets, due to the existent linking among both energy forms. With this purpose the program Message (Model for energy supply strategy alternatives and their general environmental impacts) was used, promoted by the International Atomic Energy Agency. This model carries out an economic optimization level country, obtaining the minimum cost as a result for the modeling system. The division for regions realized by the Compania Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Electrico (CAMMESA) was used, which divides to the country in eight regions. They were considered the characteristics and necessities of each one of them, their respective demands and offers of electric power and natural gas, as well as their existent and projected interconnections, composed by the electric lines and gas pipes. According to the results obtained through the model, the nuclear-electricity is a competitive option. (Author)

The Literature Review of a New Form of Competitiveness Called City Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osman EROĞLU

2014-06-01

Full Text Available With globalization, the rapid development of information technologies and the rapid changes in the economic structure, the country’s borders at a time increasingly depreciate and the importance of city competitiveness reveals. Although it is an ongoing debate around the world whether cities compete with each other, city competitiveness is a new form of competitiveness. Cities compete with each other to increase their competitiveness. City competitiveness is defined as having better values compared to other cities. In this study, a new form of competitiveness called city competitiveness is examined.

Estimating Trade Effects of the Competitive Devaluation Policy in East Asia’s Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yana Valeryevna Dyomina

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The paper examines the competitive devaluation policy effects on the East Asia’s trade for the period of 2000–2011. The author obtained quantitative estimation of the currency policy trade effects with the help of panel data regression analysis (using export and import data of the following countries: China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. The article includes investigation of the following foreign trade flows: total, intra-regional and out- of-regional exports and imports of merchandise. The study reflects the fact that the competitive devaluation policy of ASEAN+3 countries negatively affects the out-of-regional exports and imports, as well as the total imports. Simultaneously such exchange rate policy measures have no effect on intra-regional trade

Competition within the energy sector and State regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, A.; Jess Olsen, O.

1995-10-01

It is presumed that energy markets will be liberalized. Questions discussed are how the Danish electricity and gas sectors are to be re-regulated in order to ensure that this goal is reached in the most satisfactory manner (cheaper energy supply under competitive conditions) and whether there will be a conflict between the goal of liberalization and the environmental goals of clean technology and energy conservation. It is suggested that a compulsory splitting up of the two regional power associations in Denmark should not be necessary. Transmission and distribution must continue to be regulated as these are natural monopolies not compatible with competition. District heating will still be a monopoly and its prices must be closely regulated to prevent soaring. The opening up of the European gas market to competition will threaten Danish energy utilities. The increasing compulsory use of natural gas in cogeneration plants to politically determined high prices is not sustainable under competitive conditions. Energy saving activities should not be affected. Energy surcharges are attractive measures on a liberalized market. The regulation of competition ought to be incorporated explicitly as a restriction in the Ministry of Energy's energy policy regulation. Energy utilities could be excluded from participation in price setting. International regulation of competition will demand a clarification of the separation of regulatory competence between the member states and the European Commission. It will also be necessary to adjust the Danish regulation of the electricity sector to the future Scandinavian system. (AB) 77 refs

Competition policies on the electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubois, U.

2008-01-01

This article puts forward a critical analysis of European competition instruments and practices in terms of market power on the electricity wholesale markets. Due to the speck nature of electrical activities, competition policies come up against difficulties of market power identification at first, since there is no model for detecting perfectly the potential or real exertion of market power in this sector. What is more, since competition authorities rely on specific intervention methods, their ability to limit the exertion of market power is relatively low. For a large number of their interventions involves controlling concentrations. In the light of this double phenomenon, this article discusses some recent developments of European competition policies on the electricity wholesale markets. The sector inquiry of 2007 seems to mark the start of a new competition policy practice in the electricity sector. The initiative and decision-making power now seem to be nesting mainly at a European level where action is not only to be found in terms of controlling mergers and acquisitions, but also stretches to involve an in-depth evaluation of the way the different markets work. This action is manifested in decisions to investigate some companies as well as legislative proposals in the framework of the third package. Thus we are moving towards a greater monitoring of electricity markets using more formal supervision instruments and on a more continuous basis. (author)

Quantitative and regional evaluation methods for lung scintigraphs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fichter, J.

1982-01-01

For the evaluation of perfusion lung scintigraphs with regard to the quantitative valuation and also with regard to the choice of the regions new criteria were presented. In addition to the usual methods of sectioning each lung lobe into upper, middle and lower level and the determination of the per cent activity share of the total activity the following values were established: the median of the activity distribution and the differences of the per cent counting rate as well as of the median of the corresponding regions of the right and left lung. The individual regions should describe the functional structures (lobe and segment structure). A corresponding computer program takes over the projection of lobe and segment regions in a simplified form onto the scintigraph with consideration of individual lung stretching. With the help of a clinical study on 60 patients and 18 control persons with 99mTc-MAA and 133 Xe-gas lung scintigraphs the following results could be determined: depending on the combination of the 32 parameters available for evaluation and the choice of regions between 4 and 20 of the 60 patients were falsely negatively classified and 1 to 2 of the 18 controls were falsely positive. The accuracy of the Tc-scintigraph proved to be better. All together using the best possible parameter combinations comparative results were attained. (TRV) [de

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional alternative transportation evaluation report - region 3 November 16, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-16

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center (Volpe Center) conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 3, which is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michiga...

Wind and Photovoltaic Large-Scale Regional Models for hourly production evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marinelli, Mattia; Maule, Petr; Hahmann, Andrea N.

2015-01-01

This work presents two large-scale regional models used for the evaluation of normalized power output from wind turbines and photovoltaic power plants on a European regional scale. The models give an estimate of renewable production on a regional scale with 1 h resolution, starting from a mesosca...... of the transmission system, especially regarding the cross-border power flows. The tuning of these regional models is done using historical meteorological data acquired on a per-country basis and using publicly available data of installed capacity.......This work presents two large-scale regional models used for the evaluation of normalized power output from wind turbines and photovoltaic power plants on a European regional scale. The models give an estimate of renewable production on a regional scale with 1 h resolution, starting from a mesoscale...

Developing the Cyber Defenders of Tomorrow with Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competitions (CCDC)

Science.gov (United States)

Carlin, Anna; Manson, Daniel P.; Zhu, Jake

2010-01-01

With the projected higher demand for Network Systems Analysts and increasing computer crime, network security specialists are an organization's first line of defense. The principle function of this paper is to provide the evolution of Collegiate Cyber Defense Competitions (CCDC), event planning required, soliciting sponsors, recruiting personnel…

Level set method for image segmentation based on moment competition

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Hai; Wang, Xiao-Feng; Huang, De-Shuang; Jin, Jing; Wang, Hong-Zhi; Li, Hai

2015-05-01

We propose a level set method for image segmentation which introduces the moment competition and weakly supervised information into the energy functional construction. Different from the region-based level set methods which use force competition, the moment competition is adopted to drive the contour evolution. Here, a so-called three-point labeling scheme is proposed to manually label three independent points (weakly supervised information) on the image. Then the intensity differences between the three points and the unlabeled pixels are used to construct the force arms for each image pixel. The corresponding force is generated from the global statistical information of a region-based method and weighted by the force arm. As a result, the moment can be constructed and incorporated into the energy functional to drive the evolving contour to approach the object boundary. In our method, the force arm can take full advantage of the three-point labeling scheme to constrain the moment competition. Additionally, the global statistical information and weakly supervised information are successfully integrated, which makes the proposed method more robust than traditional methods for initial contour placement and parameter setting. Experimental results with performance analysis also show the superiority of the proposed method on segmenting different types of complicated images, such as noisy images, three-phase images, images with intensity inhomogeneity, and texture images.

Unsustainable Growth, Hyper-Competition, and Worth in Life Science Research: Narrowing Evaluative Repertoires in Doctoral and Postdoctoral Scientists' Work and Lives

Science.gov (United States)

Fochler, Maximilian; Felt, Ulrike; Müller, Ruth

2016-01-01

There is a crisis of valuation practices in the current academic life sciences, triggered by unsustainable growth and "hyper-competition." Quantitative metrics in evaluating researchers are seen as replacing deeper considerations of the quality and novelty of work, as well as substantive care for the societal implications of research.…

Policy evaluation in terms of relative industrial performance and competitiveness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stigson, P.; Dotzauer, E. [Malardalen Univ., Vasteras (Sweden); Yan, J. [Malardalen Univ., Vasteras (Sweden); KTH, Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden)

2008-07-01

This paper presented a tool that can improve energy and climate policymaking processes through a stronger inclusion of industry expertise while safeguarding industrial competitiveness. The authors suggested that in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes, policymakers should recognize the role that industry plays as emission abatement investors. The tool is designed to promote policy design and management processes, facilitating transparency of methodology and subjectivity, consensus of results, rapid simulations of policy processes, and high inter-usability by key decision makers. The authors analyzed how climate and energy policy framework design and management processes can be improved through evaluation processes that focus on carbon dioxide emissions, energy efficiency, and utilization of renewable energy resources. The tool was used in a Swedish case study where industries are known to be relatively energy efficient with low emissions. The study showed that a more diversified and individual policy approach could be favorable, but this would result in increased administrative work for the government and public entities that administer the policy regime. Although this is a negative effect, the authors argued that the challenge of combating climate change will incur additional costs and labor in one way or the other. The authors emphasized that early-action can mitigate the costs. 40 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs.

Productive and Unproductive Competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guerra, Alice; Luppi, Barbara; Parisi, Francesco

Conventional theories of competition classify contests as being either “productive,” when the competitive efforts generate a surplus for society, or “unproductive,” when competition generates no social surplus and merely distributes already existing resources. These two discrete categories of com...... and socially optimal levels of competition in the full range of intermediate cases, as well as in the extremum cases of destructive and super-productive competition.......Conventional theories of competition classify contests as being either “productive,” when the competitive efforts generate a surplus for society, or “unproductive,” when competition generates no social surplus and merely distributes already existing resources. These two discrete categories...... of competition create a division of real-world situations into analytical categories that fails to recognize the entire spectrum of competitive activities. Taking the existing models of productive and unproductive competition as benchmark idealizations, this paper explores the relationship between the privately...

Assessment of the regional executive power reputation (on the example of the Smolensk region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N N Rozanova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available With the development of information society, intangible assets are increasingly becoming a significant competitive advantage. At the regional level, the reputational capital turns into a powerful tool to improve the region’s investment attractiveness. The most important component of the regional reputational capital is such a significant political resource as the reputation of the regional authorities: good reputation can and should be a key intangible asset of regional management system development aiming to strengthen the authorities decisions and actions and the public confidence, and to mobilize citizens for the real interested participation in the regional management. The article presents the results of testing the research phase of the technological cycle of the regional power reputation management, which was conducted to identify its key essential characteristics and ways for evaluation. The author proposes a research model to study the regional authorities’ reputation and defines the logic of its perception study in terms of two main subjects - the authorities and the population. The results of the assessment of the regional authorities reputation on the example of the Smolensk region let the author examine the coherence of the regional authorities reputation estimates by the public and the authorities themselves (civil servants of the regional executive power and identify a significant gap in the assessments of this reputation by the population as compared to the civil servants opinions.

Creation of the competition's profile of Serbia as a tourism destination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ubavić Predrag

2015-01-01

Full Text Available During the last several decades tourism has more and more significant role in economic and social development of other countries, as well as in everyday life of a contemporary man. The Republic of Serbia, also, tends to use valorization of its touristic potentials to realize numerous objectives of its economic and general social development. Number of destinations that offer their tourist products on the tourist market increases, leading to intensified competition. Competitiveness is emphasized as a crucial issue in contemporary tourism, as destinations strive to be better than competitors. Observed from today's perspective we can come to a general conclusion that Serbia as a touristic destination, still hasn't taken adequate competitive position regarding other tourist destinations in the region. The aim of this paper is to point out the necessity of repositioning the present competitive position of Serbia to make it, within as short time period as possible, an attractive tourist destination on the regional and international tourist market. With adequate implementation of theoretical concepts and chosen research methods this paper is expected to enrich domestic professional literature from this field, also to point out new possibilities of Serbian tourism development to creators and those who carry out such economic and touristic politics.

Mixing, entropy and competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klimenko, A Y

2012-01-01

Non-traditional thermodynamics, applied to random behaviour associated with turbulence, mixing and competition, is reviewed and analysed. Competitive mixing represents a general framework for the study of generic properties of competitive systems and can be used to model a wide class of non-equilibrium phenomena ranging from turbulent premixed flames and invasion waves to complex competitive systems. We demonstrate consistency of the general principles of competition with thermodynamic description, review and analyse the related entropy concepts and introduce the corresponding competitive H-theorem. A competitive system can be characterized by a thermodynamic quantity—competitive potential—which determines the likely direction of evolution of the system. Contested resources tend to move between systems from lower to higher values of the competitive potential. There is, however, an important difference between conventional thermodynamics and competitive thermodynamics. While conventional thermodynamics is constrained by its zeroth law and is fundamentally transitive, the transitivity of competitive thermodynamics depends on the transitivity of the competition rules. Intransitivities are common in the real world and are responsible for complex behaviour in competitive systems. This work follows ideas and methods that have originated from the analysis of turbulent combustion, but reviews a much broader scope of issues linked to mixing and competition, including thermodynamic characterization of complex competitive systems with self-organization. The approach presented here is interdisciplinary and is addressed to the general educated readers, whereas the mathematical details can be found in the appendices. (comment)

A Simple Procedure to Evaluate Competitiveness of Toxigenic and Atoxigenic Isolates of Aspergillus flavus in Solid and Liquid Media

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Mohammad Moradi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Application of atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus to reduce aflatoxin levels is the most successful strategy applied in some agricultural crops. The role of ammonium hydroxide for preliminary screening of the competitiveness of atoxigenic A. flavus isolates to interfere with aflatoxin production by highly toxigenic isolates were evaluated. Out of 270 A. flavus isolates, 17 were detected as true atoxigenic using cultural methods and confirmed by analytical assays from different pistachio agro-ecological zones during 2013. For assessment competitive ability among atoxigenic isolates of A. flavus with highly toxigenic one, rice flour, coconut agar and coconut broth medium substrates were inoculated with mixtures including combinations of toxigenic and atoxigenic isolates, simultaneously. The rice flour substrate was used to quantify the content of aflatoxin in either co-inoculations or toxigenic isolate alone on thin layer chromatography plates with a scanning densitometer. While the culture media were used to determine the intensity of color change on exposing to ammonium hydroxide vapor. The reduction rates of aflatoxin B1 in co-inoculations were varied and ranged from 2%-82%. Based on the intensity of colony color changes, the competitiveness of the isolates was classified into five groups. Atoxigenic isolates with high competitiveness have shown low color changes in culture media and high aflatoxin reduction in TLC assays with a ratio of higher than 78%. The method will facilitate preliminary screening of efficient atoxigenic isolates for mitigation of aflatoxins in food and feed as a cheap, simple and quick method.

The European Regional Development Fund and Island Regions: An Evaluation of the 2000-06 and 2007-13 Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harvey W. Armstrong

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents results from a regional policy evaluation study conducted for the European Commission. The study examined the impact of the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund on EU regions with ‘specific geographical characteristics’, namely islands, mountain regions and sparsely populated areas. These types of regions have been attracting increasing EU regional policy attention and their economic development is considered important in helping the EU to attain its important ‘territorial cohesion’ objective. The focus of this paper is on the island regions. Evaluation of island regions in their own right has not been undertaken before by the EU. The study focuses on the 2000-06 and (still on-going 2007-13 EU regional policy programs. The paper presents the methodology adopted by the study before turning to the main findings concerning the types of policy initiatives adopted in the island regions, and the appropriateness of the policies used for the economic situation faced by the islands. The islands encompassed by the study are all normal sub-national regions of EU member states. Islands with an unusual degree of administrative autonomy (e.g. the Outermost Regions were excluded.

Dancing in the Dark: Competition over the "Meaning of Competition"

OpenAIRE

Metcalfe John Stanley

2009-01-01

Competing concepts of competition provide a sharp divide between theories of economic order and theories of economic transformation. The shift from competition as a state of affairs and competition as a creative process provides the divergence of perspective that is the topic of this paper. We link the Smith Marshall approach of rivalry and open competition to the more modern evolutionary view based on variation cum selection perspectives on innovation and the adaptive role of market processe...

Competitive intelligence: An instrument to enhance South Africa’s competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilma Viviers

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The case for Competitive Intelligence (CI as an instrument that can enhance the competitiveness of South African companies and South Africa as a country is strong. Various global competitive rankings measurements have indicated over a number of years the areas in which competitiveness is lacking. Moreover, these rankings have indicated that South Africa has failed to improve its position year on year. The fact that the world is becoming increasingly competitive for South African entities is undisputed. Coupled with a fluctuating exchange rate and the country’s geographical proximity, this poses unique challenges facing South African managers who have to deal with various regulations and legislative matters. In order to create and sustain an effective knowledge economy and to enhance global competitiveness, South Africa however has to put appropriate strategies/measures in place to stimulate, encourage and grow knowledge practices. Competitive Intelligence (CI as a means of making more sense of the competitive business environment and to identify opportunities and risks in time to act upon can be effectively used as a means to enhance competitiveness. Valuable lessons from successful CI practices in the business sector and government can be learnt from elsewhere in the world. CI should be investigated and adapted for South Africa’s business environment. It is therefore the aim of this article to first attempt to describe the role of CI in enhancing competitiveness, specifically in South Africa and secondly, to stimulate thought on how to secure momentum in enhancing CI as an academic field by developing relevant CI courses as well as demonstrating the value of CI to companies in South Africa through research and collaboration between academics and the private and public sectors.

COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH INFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca Daniela RIZEA

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Intelligence competitiveness has already started to build its road in the company’s long term strategies. Nonetheless, business executives continue to look for ways to apply information technology strategically to their businesses. Using information managers manage to communicate, to convey their knowledge about markets, competitors, products, services and operations. Even if data and information are all over there are few amounts of managers that realize the importance of them to the success of the business. This article will review competitive forces and competitive information systems strategies for gaining competitive advantages, explain concepts of value chain, value co-opetition (competition and cooperation, and discuss innovation strategy. Co-opetition is a strategy whereby companies cooperate and compete at the same time with their competitors, complementors (i.e. hardware and software businesses, customers, suppliers. The article discuss an important dimension of information system, identifies competitive advantages and enhancing competitive strategies thought information systems.

Injuries and overuse syndromes in competitive and elite bodybuilding.

Science.gov (United States)

Siewe, J; Marx, G; Knöll, P; Eysel, P; Zarghooni, K; Graf, M; Herren, C; Sobottke, R; Michael, J

2014-10-01

Competitive bodybuilding is a weightlifting sport similar to powerlifting, strongman competition and Olympic weightlifting, which aims to increase muscle mass, symmetry, and body definition. Although data regarding rates of injury, overuse syndromes and pain during routine training is available for these other disciplines, it is rare for competitive bodybuilding. The aim of this study was to investigate rates of injury, pain during workouts and/or overuse syndromes, as well as the influence of particular intrinsic and external factors. Data was collected using questionnaires from 71 competitive and elite bodybuilders. The information included training routines and prior injuries. Participants were recruited from bodybuilding clubs in Germany. 45.1% of athletes reported symptoms while training. The overall injury rate was computed to be 0.12 injuries per bodybuilder per year (0.24 injuries per 1 000 h of bodybuilding). Athletes over 40 exhibited higher rates of injury (p=0.029). Other investigated parameters showed no effects. Most injuries occurred in the shoulder, elbow, lumbar spine and knee regions. A large proportion of bodybuilders complained of pain not resulting in interruptions of training/competition. The injury rate is low compared to other weightlifting disciplines such as powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting or strongman competition. In comparison to team or contact sports the injury rate is minimal. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

CORDEX Coordinated Output for Regional Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Gutowski, William; Giorgi, Filippo; Lake, Irene

2017-04-01

The Science Advisory Team for the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) has developed a baseline framework of specified regions, resolutions and simulation periods intended to provide a foundation for ongoing regional CORDEX activities: the CORDEX Coordinated Output for Regional Evaluation, or CORDEX-CORE. CORDEX-CORE was conceived in part to be responsive to IPCC needs for coordinated simulations that could provide regional climate downscaling (RCD) that yields fine-scale climate information beyond that resolved by GCMs. For each CORDEX region, a matrix of GCM-RCD experiments is designed based on the need to cover as much as possible different dimensions of the uncertainty space (e.g., different emissions and land-use scenarios, GCMs, RCD models and techniques). An appropriate set of driving GCMs can allow a program of simulations that efficiently addresses key scientific issues within CORDEX, while facilitating comparison and transfer of results and lessons learned across different regions. The CORDEX-CORE program seeks to provide, as much as possible, homogeneity across domains, so it is envisioned that a standard set of regional climate models (RCMs) and empirical statistical downscaling (ESD) methods will downscale a standard set of GCMs over all or at least most CORDEX domains for a minimum set of scenarios (high and low end). The focus is on historical climate simulations for the 20th century and projections for 21st century, implying that data would be needed minimally for the period 1950-2100 (but ideally 1900-2100). This foundational ensemble can be regionally enriched with further contributions (additional GCM-RCD pairs) by individual groups over their selected domains of interest. The RCM model resolution for these core experiments will be in the range of 10-20 km, a resolution that has been shown to provide substantial added value for a variety of climate variables and that represents a significant forward step compared in the CORDEX

Competitive Grant Projects (2008) | IDRC - International ...

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

2016-04-25

Apr 25, 2016 ... This 2008 study distills some of IDRC's corporate learning on competitive grants processes. ... The study raises some of the main options and issues that IDRC staff face when ... Related articles. Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM). The Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking ...

The competitiveness versus the wealth of a country.

Science.gov (United States)

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Kenett, Dror Y; Stanley, H Eugene

2012-01-01

Politicians world-wide frequently promise a better life for their citizens. We find that the probability that a country will increase its per capita GDP (gdp) rank within a decade follows an exponential distribution with decay constant λ = 0.12. We use the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and find that the distribution of change in CPI (GCI) rank follows exponential functions with approximately the same exponent as λ, suggesting that the dynamics of gdp, CPI, and GCI may share the same origin. Using the GCI, we develop a new measure, which we call relative competitiveness, to evaluate an economy's competitiveness relative to its gdp. For all European and EU countries during the 2008-2011 economic downturn we find that the drop in gdp in more competitve countries relative to gdp was substantially smaller than in relatively less competitive countries, which is valuable information for policymakers.

The competitiveness versus the wealth of a country

Science.gov (United States)

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Kenett, Dror Y.; Stanley, H. Eugene

2012-09-01

Politicians world-wide frequently promise a better life for their citizens. We find that the probability that a country will increase its per capita GDP (gdp) rank within a decade follows an exponential distribution with decay constant λ = 0.12. We use the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and find that the distribution of change in CPI (GCI) rank follows exponential functions with approximately the same exponent as λ, suggesting that the dynamics of gdp, CPI, and GCI may share the same origin. Using the GCI, we develop a new measure, which we call relative competitiveness, to evaluate an economy's competitiveness relative to its gdp. For all European and EU countries during the 2008-2011 economic downturn we find that the drop in gdp in more competitve countries relative to gdp was substantially smaller than in relatively less competitive countries, which is valuable information for policymakers.

Putting competition into perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, L. III.

1993-01-01

This paper examines the current level of competition in the electric industry in the context of the history of the industry and the development of electric markets in other counties. The topics of the paper include competition in the history of the American electric industry, the current state of competition, the competitive situation in Texas, competition in other electric markets, and competitive changes in the US market

Algorithm of developing competitive strategies and the trends of realizing them for agricultural enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viktoriia Boiko

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The paper specifies basic stages of developing and realizing the strategy of enhancing competitiveness of enterprises and represents an appropriate algorithm. The study analyzes the economic indexes and results of the activity of the agrarian enterprises in Kherson region and provides competitive strategies of efficient development of agrarian enterprises with different levels of competitiveness and specifies the ways of realizing them which will contribute to the optimal use of the available strategic potential

Estimation of the banking sector competition in the CEE countries: The Panzar-Rosse approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arben Mustafa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Competitive conditions in the banking sectors in the light of transition process in the Central and Eastern Europe countries (CEE has been subject of interest for researchers and policy-makers, especially upon entry of foreign banks and concentrated markets. In this paper the Panzar-Rosse approach is used to assess competition of banking sectors in CEE. By using General Method of Moments on the panel data for 300 banks for the period 1999-2009, empirical evidence indicates that banks operating in the CEE exert monopoly behaviour. From the methodological point of view, the findings suggest that using a price equation or controlling for total assets in a Panzar-Rosse approach produces upwards biased and invalid estimates of the H-statistic. Therefore, further support is provided for maintaining a reducedform revenue equation when estimating a Panzar-Rosse model. The findings also suggest that banks operating in the non-EU countries of the CEE region have exerted stronger market power compared to the banks operating in the EU countries of this region. Policy-makers should improve competitive conditions and general ‘enabling’ environment for the banking sectors, especially the non-EU countries of the CEE region, while balancing competition-stability trade-off.

Process evaluation of the Regional Biomass Energy Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, C.R.; Brown, M.A.; Perlack, R.D.

1994-03-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established the Regional Biomass Energy Program (RBEP) in 1983 to increase the production and use of biomass energy resources. Through the creation of five regional program (the Great Lakes, Northeast, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and West), the RBEP focuses on regionally specific needs and opportunities. In 1992, Oak Ridge National (ORNL) conducted a process evaluation of the RBEP Program designed to document and explain the development of the goals and strategies of the five regional programs; describe the economic and market context surrounding commercialization of bioenergy systems; assess the criteria used to select projects; describe experiences with cost sharing; identify program accomplishments in the transfer of information and technology; and offer recommendations for program improvement.

Does the EU Funding Increase Competitiveness of Firms by Supporting Organisational Changes?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martinez Felipe

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Competitive firms with a good economic performance contribute to social development and quality of life. Countries and regions support competitiveness of firms through public policies and public funds. The research concerns question whether financial support from public funds actually helped to increase competitiveness in firms through organisational changes. This paper explores the relationship between competitiveness of firms (measured by sales divided by employment with organisational structure changes and the amount of financial resources from the EU Structural Funds. The data were collected from the Czech Statistical Office and a survey among Czech firms. The estimates provide us with conclusion that only the European Social Funds assistance had a positive effect on productivity, but not organisational changes in firms.

The Mutual Benchmarking Method for Smes’ Competitive Strategy Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rostek Katarzyna

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Competitive advantage is a relative feature, evaluated in respect of other competing enterprises. The gaining of sustainable competitive advantage is conditioned by knowledge of own performance and the results of the competitive environment. SMEs have limited opportunities to obtain such information on their own. The method of mutual benchmarking changes this situation by introducing the collaborative network. The aim of the cooperation is to support each of the group members to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, which is the result of a conscious strategy, and not only a matter of chance. This cooperation is based on the collecting and processing of data and sharing information through a common IT platform: for example, a group of Polish SMEs was shown how to implement such a common IT solution and how to provide the information preparing within the proposed service. The whole is a complete proposal for effective support of creating a competitive strategy in SMEs.

Multinationals and Institutional Competitiveness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hull Kristensen, Peer; Morgan, Glenn

This article discusses how institutional competitiveness and multinationals are mutually enriching concepts. Seen from the perspective of Multinationals, institutional competitiveness becomes expressed at two levels. At the level of corporate HQs institutional competitiveness proves itself...... competitiveness of Liberal Market Economies and Coordinated Markets Economies under the current competitive regime....

Mycorrhizal association in soybean and weeds in competition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cíntia Maria Teixeira Fialho

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of mycorrhizal association on the interference of Bidens pilosa, Urochloa decumbens and Eleusine indica on soybean culture in two conditions: a plants competing without contact with roots of another species; b with contact between roots. At 60 days after planting, growth, nutrient accumulation and mycorrhizal colonization of soybean and weeds were evaluated. The contact between roots of soybean plant and weed species increased the negative interference effects for both species, with less growth and nutrient accumulation. With the individualization of roots, higher competition occurred for soil resources up to 60 days of coexistence between species. In competition with soybean, Bidens pilosa and Urochloa decumbens stood out in accumulation of most nutrients without differing from when cultivated in monocultivation. The increase of the soybean mycorrhizal colonization was 53, 40 and 33% when in competition with Urochloa decumbens, Eleusine indica and Bidens pilosa species, respectively. A positive interaction occurred for soybean mycorrhizal colonization and competing plants irrespective of weed species or root contact.

MULTIDIMENSIONAL MODELING TOOL OF POTENTIAL EVALUATION OF REGION DEVELOPMENT

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Володимир Олександрович ТІМОФЄЄВ

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The results of Ukrainian research of western towns are proposed for evaluation of development potential of recreational tourism and the whole tourism industry. Socio-economic factors, climatic and natural factors, state and perspectives of infrastructure in the region, political and administrative stability were chosen as evaluation parameters. The conclusion was done concerning the obtained results of rating evaluation.

Relationship Between Competitive Strategies and the Success Perception of Polish Born Globals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baranowska-Prokop Ewa

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The key objective of this paper is to describe and evaluate the competitive strategies applied by Polish born global enterprises. To reveal these strategies, two competitive models developed by M.E. Porter are applied to an original data set obtained from 256 small and medium Polish enterprises through a survey employing the CATI technique. The outcomes of these strategies, as perceived by the companies applying them, are also evaluated against two hypotheses. We conclude that Polish firms apply both basic strategies of competition, i.e. cost leadership strategies and differentiation strategies and that a substantial majority of companies perceive themselves to have succeeded on the market.

Intraguild Competition of Three Noctuid Maize Pests.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentivenha, J P F; Baldin, E L L; Hunt, T E; Paula-Moraes, S V; Blankenship, E E

2016-08-01

The western bean cutworm Striacosta albicosta (Smith), the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), and the corn earworm Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) are among the major lepidopteran pests of maize in the United States, belonging to the same guild and injuring the reproductive tissues of this crop. Here, intraguild competition of these lepidopterans on non-Bt maize was evaluated through survival analysis of each species under laboratory and field conditions. Competition scenarios were carried out in arenas containing maize silk or ear tissue, using larvae on different stadium of development. Fitness cost competition studies were conducted to examine the influence of intraguild competition and cannibalism and predation rates on larval development. The survival of S. albicosta competing with the other species was significantly lower than in intraspecific competition, even when the larvae were more developed than the competitor. For S. frugiperda, survival remained high in the different competition scenarios, except when competing in a smaller stadium with H. zea Larvae of H. zea had a high rate of cannibalism, higher survival when competing against S. albicosta than S. frugiperda, and reduced survival when the H. zea larvae were at the same development stadium or smaller than the competitors. Based on fitness cost results, the absence of a competitor for the feeding source may confer an advantage to the larval development of S. frugiperda and H. zea Our data suggest that S. frugiperda has a competitive advantage against the other species, while S. albicosta has the disadvantage in the intraguild competition on non-Bt maize. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The evaluation of competitiveness and innovation factors in order to increase market share

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukajlović Đurđica

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Doing business in modern days is characterized by a large number of suppliers of products and / or services that can meet our needs in the same or similar manner. For this reason, each organization has to constantly monitor the competitiveness of the market, to innovate in order to maintain the existing place on the market or possibly reach new markets. The purpose of conducted research was to assess the factors which are important for achieving a competitive advantage, increasing innovative activities and to identify factors which are crucial for the entry and penetration into new markets, as well as to determine the correlation of these factors with different characteristics of organization (size, level and duration of business. The results have shown that marketing is recognized as the most important factor for achieving a competitive advantage. Innovative activities are usually of imitative character, while consumers and their needs and requirements are largely ignored.

Competitive energy markets. The effective route to improving the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swinden, D.J.

1996-01-01

Market forces, operating in an increasingly competitive energy market, are a preferred route to achieving environmental and energy efficiency benefits, than those which can be achieved through a managed approach adopted by many governments. It is shown, through examples, how electricity is a catalyst for change at several levels in business, the community and the general economy. Experience in the United Kingdom indicates that free market forces and inter-energy competition not only help improve the regional and therefore national economy, but they offer a very effective way of introducing improvements in energy efficiency and the environment. Governments should establish the framework for competition and regulation but not attempt to manage an industry, which is invariably done more effectively by those who run them. (author)

Local Competition-Based Superpixel Segmentation Algorithm in Remote Sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jiayin; Tang, Zhenmin; Cui, Ying; Wu, Guoxing

2017-06-12

Remote sensing technologies have been widely applied in urban environments' monitoring, synthesis and modeling. Incorporating spatial information in perceptually coherent regions, superpixel-based approaches can effectively eliminate the "salt and pepper" phenomenon which is common in pixel-wise approaches. Compared with fixed-size windows, superpixels have adaptive sizes and shapes for different spatial structures. Moreover, superpixel-based algorithms can significantly improve computational efficiency owing to the greatly reduced number of image primitives. Hence, the superpixel algorithm, as a preprocessing technique, is more and more popularly used in remote sensing and many other fields. In this paper, we propose a superpixel segmentation algorithm called Superpixel Segmentation with Local Competition (SSLC), which utilizes a local competition mechanism to construct energy terms and label pixels. The local competition mechanism leads to energy terms locality and relativity, and thus, the proposed algorithm is less sensitive to the diversity of image content and scene layout. Consequently, SSLC could achieve consistent performance in different image regions. In addition, the Probability Density Function (PDF), which is estimated by Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) with the Gaussian kernel, is introduced to describe the color distribution of superpixels as a more sophisticated and accurate measure. To reduce computational complexity, a boundary optimization framework is introduced to only handle boundary pixels instead of the whole image. We conduct experiments to benchmark the proposed algorithm with the other state-of-the-art ones on the Berkeley Segmentation Dataset (BSD) and remote sensing images. Results demonstrate that the SSLC algorithm yields the best overall performance, while the computation time-efficiency is still competitive.

CREATING COMPETITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY USING THE FUNNEL METHOD

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Lidija Stefanovska

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In the highly competitive environment of the 21st century, organizations must be able to effectively change through the application of effective strategies, quickly and in a way that the competitors will be unable to imitate. Therefore, the essential question in any organization is how to achieve and maintain competitive advantage. In this regard, strategic leaders should first logically consider what will bring a substantial advantage to the organization in a long-term, and then start with the process of creating the strategy. To achieve this, researchers in the field of managerial issues offer a concept of continuous process that begins by looking at the customers pattern, through defining the competitive environment and the place of business in it and finally categorizing several strategic business conditions, as a precondition for election and creation of a competitive strategy. This process can be presented as the “funnel for selection of competitive strategy”, in whose widest part we can put the customer matrix, in the middle part we can place definitions of the business outlook of the business and the position of the organization in those perspectives. In order to implement the "Funnel method" of strategic planning teams we need accurate, timely and relevant information based on which we can bring appropriate organizational strategy. The subject of this paper is displaying the Funnel method for selection of the competitive strategy, and presentation of the situation in some of the organizations in the Pelagonija region, related to the way and the information used to create organizational strategies through the Funnel method.

Competition effects of mergers: An event study of the German electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keller, Andreas

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the competition effects of the entry of Vattenfall into the German electricity market. While the competition authorities supported the entry by approving Vattenfall's acquisition of three regional utilities, other market participants raised concerns over the emergence of an upcoming oligopoly in the German market for power generation. We contrast the efficiency hypothesis postulating pro-competitive effects of mergers with the market power hypothesis postulating anti-competitive effects. For the analysis of the two opposing hypotheses, we use an event study approach to the stock prices of Vattenfall's competitors in the German market. While we find no empirical evidence for increased market power in the German electricity market due to Vattenfall's mergers, there is some indication for efficiency increases. We therefore cannot oppose the view of the competition authorities predicting an overall positive effect for consumers as a result of Vattenfall's entry into the German electricity market.

Sexual competitiveness of gamma irradiated red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (herbst)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Satar, A.; Khan, A.; Khattak, S.U.; Salihan, Z.

1989-01-01

Studies on the sexual competitiveness of radiated male and female adults of tribolium castaneum were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. The results evaluated on the basis of tendency infertility and competitiveness showed that a ratio of 5:1:1 (Irradiated male/female: Unirradiated male/female: Unirradiated female/male) was the best followed by 4:1:1, 3;1:1, 2:1:1 and 1:1:1 in both the sexes. However, females were found more competitive than male. (author)

Goal orientations and sport motivation, differences between the athletes of competitive and non-competitive rhythmic gymnastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Koumpoula, M; Tsopani, D; Flessas, K; Chairopoulou, C

2011-09-01

The present study examines the sport motivation and the goal orientations in the competitive and non-competitive structure of rhythmic gymnastics. Participation of individuals in one or the other structure of the sport differs in line with the goals they want to achieve and possibly also with respect to the factors that impulse them to take part in one or the other. The purpose of this study is to examine how individuals who participate in different structures of the sport of rhythmic gymnastics differentiate with regard to the type of motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic, amotivation) and goal orientations. The study involved 98 young female rhythmic gymnastics athletes (aged 14 years and up), out of which 40 were athletes of competitive clubs or members of national teams, and 58 were athletes of non-competitive clubs. For the evaluation of motivation and goal orientations the following tools were used: the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ). Descriptive and inductive statistical data analysis was conducted. The results showed that the athletes of the non-competitive structure presented higher levels of introjected regulation (extrinsic motivation), amotivation and lower levels of ego orientation (PRhythmic gymnastics athletes' (regardless of the structure of the sport) presented high level in task orientation while the high levels of task orientation is positively associated with high levels of intrinsic motivation regardless of the levels of ego orientation. The intrinsic motivation of athletes participating in rhythmic gymnastics runs at high levels. The amotivation of rhythmic gymnastics athletes' is a phenomenon which is also presented in the the non-competitive sport structure. It is important that the two different structures of sports be determined with accurate criteria.

Sibling competition arena: selfing and a competition arena can combine to constitute a barrier to gene flow in sympatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, A K; Hood, M E; Giraud, T

2012-06-01

Closely related species coexisting in sympatry provide critical insight into the mechanisms underlying speciation and the maintenance of genetic divergence. Selfing may promote reproductive isolation by facilitating local adaptation, causing reduced hybrid fitness in parental environments. Here, we propose a novel mechanism by which selfing can further impair interspecific gene flow: selfing may act to ensure that nonhybrid progeny systematically co-occur whenever hybrid genotypes are produced. Under a competition arena, the fitness differentials between nonhybrid and hybrid progeny are then magnified, preventing development of interspecific hybrids. We investigate whether this "sibling competition arena" can explain the coexistence in sympatry of closely related species of the plant fungal pathogens (Microbotryum) causing anther-smut disease. The probabilities of intrapromycelial mating (automixis), outcrossing, and sibling competition were manipulated in artificial inoculations to evaluate their contribution to reproductive isolation. We report that both intrapromycelial selfing and sibling competition significantly reduced rates of hybrid infection beyond that expected based solely upon selfing rates and noncompetitive fitness differentials between hybrid and nonhybrid progeny. Our results thus suggest that selfing and a sibling competition arena can combine to constitute a barrier to gene flow and diminish selection for additional barriers to gene flow in sympatry. © 2012 The Author(s). Evolution © 2012 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Pediatric Injuries at an Annual Motocross Competition: Rates and Severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Brendan A; McFadden, James P; Teurlings, Tyler L; Blakemore, Laurel C

Pediatric motocross injuries occur frequently and with significant associated morbidity; however, data are limited regarding injury occurring during competition. North Central Florida hosts an annual motocross competition with numerous pediatric competitors. We sought to evaluate the rate and severity of injuries sustained at this event over a multiyear period. Our primary hypothesis was that motocross injury rates and severity in competition exceed that of other competitive sports in this age group. A retrospective review was performed to identify pediatric patients (17 and younger) presenting to a single Level 1 Trauma Center as a result of injury sustained at an annual motocross competition from 2009 to 2012. Demographic, diagnostic, and treatment data were collected including injuries, procedural interventions, and length of hospital stay. Rate, type, and severity of injury were evaluated and compared with established norms of other competitive sports in a similar age group. Over a 4-year period, 51 pediatric motocross competitors sustained 75 injuries. Injured riders were 14.2±2.51 years (range, 8 to 17 y) old and 92% (47/51) male. Forty (78%) patients sustained at least 1 orthopaedic injury and 17 (33%) patients suffered polytrauma. The majority of injuries occurred in the upper extremity (36%). Twenty-four (47%) patients required procedural intervention, 15 of which were operative. Thirty-nine (76%) patients necessitated surgical specialty care. Average injury severity score was 6.5 (1 to 75) and 1 death occurred. The injury rate for pediatric motocross riders in this study was 19.9 injuries per 1000 competitors. High rates of injury occur among pediatric patients in competitive motocross, exceeding those seen in other competitive sports in a comparable age group. Significant morbidity and at least 1 fatality were demonstrated in the group studied. The majority of patients suffer at least 1 orthopaedic injury and nearly all patients require pediatric

13 CFR 124.507 - What procedures apply to competitive 8(a) procurements?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... boundaries are eligible to submit offers. (3) Competition for all non-construction requirements. Except for... procedures. Procuring activities will conduct competitions among and evaluate offers received from... the Participant submitted its initial offer which includes price. (5) If the procuring activity...

Collateral Determinats In Bank Risk Mananagement: The Regional Case

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A. M. Karminsky

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Regional banks are struggling with significant obstacles in the modern Russian economy. Among them are strong competition with major big banks, strong resource restrictions, tightening the Bank of Russia’s requirements, and quite rapid expansion of financial technologies. Thus, the reduction of regional banks occurs, that produces both a negative impact on the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs and challenges for balanced competition on the Russian market. Basically, these banks provide the settlement of region’s social and economic problems while maintaining local companies and enterprises. Collateral, as a source for losses covering, became the essential element of credit risk management in banks. Providing lenders to implement such instruments, it helps to reduce bank losses under borrower’s default. The purpose of the article relates to revealing of collateral determinants with higher impact on bank risk with the application of empirical methods (including regional level. This study is based on linear regression models evaluated by the least square method. Private data of secured small and medium business loans is used. This article presents LTV (loan-to-value as a major collateral determinant. The empirical evidence of interlinkage between collateral requirements, by the means of LTV, and risk premium is provided for loan portfolio of Russian regional banks. The hypothesis that LTV conversely correlates with risk premium is statistically proved.

THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN OLTENIA REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Schiopoiu BURLEA

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Being confronted with a series of technological, economic and socialproblems in the context of the market economy, the Romanian enterpriseshave come to be aware of the necessity of personalizing the managementpractices for the human resources, the social responsibility and the socialaudit in spite of the fact that there are some clear regulations in theRomanian legislation. The study enabled the evaluation of the impact ofpromoting the Social Responsibility on the competitiveness of the companiesfrom four large activity sectors from the Oltenia Region: automobile,petroleum sector, construction materials, production and transport of electricenergy

Planning the International Competition Schedules for the Health of Elite Athletes: A 21-Year Retrospective Study Evaluating the Effectiveness and Economic Impact in an Olympic Sport.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Maria Malagoni

Full Text Available The increased number of trips and competitions scheduled in the international agonistic calendars meets commercial demands while acting as a source of stress for the athletes. A model, developed in biathlons to monitor the so-called competition load, revealed an upward trend over time. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in a 21-year period, the effects of the International Biathlon Union's rescheduling of the competitive calendars to control the competition load, as well as its stability over time and the economic impact of this intervention.For each season competition, the load factors from the international agonistic calendar (number of venues/events, competition days/distance were considered, and the athletes' daily and maximal stress scores were calculated. The calendar rescheduling, which started in 2001, involved the length of competitions, number of resting days and frequency of travels. Data from the period pre (1994-2000 and post (2001-2007 the intervention, as well as follow-up (2008-2015, were compared and analyzed in relation to the federation's budget.The competition load and athletes' daily stress score progressively increased pre, plateaued post and remained stable in follow-up. Their annual variations within the final two periods were significantly lower than in the pre period, in spite of the higher average values. The maximal stress score decreased over time. The direct correlation between most of the competition load factors with the economic budget present in pre was lost in post and follow-up. Similarly, the athletes' daily stress score had a stable trend in post and follow-up, while budget continued to increase.The management of an athlete's potential source of stress by an international federation stabilized the competition load over time, but it did not affect the budget. Furthermore, it uncoupled the relationship between the athlete's effort and federation income.

Planning the International Competition Schedules for the Health of Elite Athletes: A 21-Year Retrospective Study Evaluating the Effectiveness and Economic Impact in an Olympic Sport.

Science.gov (United States)

Malagoni, Anna Maria; Lamberti, Nicola; Carrabre, James E; Litmanen, Hannu; Jeannier, Pierre; Zhukovskaja, Larisa; Dal Follo, Donatella; Zambon, Christel; Resch, Nicole; Manfredini, Fabio

2015-01-01

The increased number of trips and competitions scheduled in the international agonistic calendars meets commercial demands while acting as a source of stress for the athletes. A model, developed in biathlons to monitor the so-called competition load, revealed an upward trend over time. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in a 21-year period, the effects of the International Biathlon Union's rescheduling of the competitive calendars to control the competition load, as well as its stability over time and the economic impact of this intervention. For each season competition, the load factors from the international agonistic calendar (number of venues/events, competition days/distance) were considered, and the athletes' daily and maximal stress scores were calculated. The calendar rescheduling, which started in 2001, involved the length of competitions, number of resting days and frequency of travels. Data from the period pre (1994-2000) and post (2001-2007) the intervention, as well as follow-up (2008-2015), were compared and analyzed in relation to the federation's budget. The competition load and athletes' daily stress score progressively increased pre, plateaued post and remained stable in follow-up. Their annual variations within the final two periods were significantly lower than in the pre period, in spite of the higher average values. The maximal stress score decreased over time. The direct correlation between most of the competition load factors with the economic budget present in pre was lost in post and follow-up. Similarly, the athletes' daily stress score had a stable trend in post and follow-up, while budget continued to increase. The management of an athlete's potential source of stress by an international federation stabilized the competition load over time, but it did not affect the budget. Furthermore, it uncoupled the relationship between the athlete's effort and federation income.

EDITORIAL: Physics competitions Physics competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Jordens, H.; Mathelitsch, L.

2011-07-01

International tests on competences, such as TIMSS or PISA, and knowledge of young students have revealed low average scores in many countries, often unexpectedly. One effective measure to increase the average standard of a population is to bring the last third of the group to a higher level. Therefore, many nations put some effort into this activity. This brings the danger that not enough attention is paid to students at the other end, those who are talented. Indeed, it is a very difficult task for a teacher to support the less able and at the same time challenge the gifted students, to lead them to the limits of their abilities and provide for a smooth transition to university study. Physics competitions have been proven to fulfil these last demands to a large degree, and therefore are an important additional and, to some extent, complementary tool for the promotion of talented students. This third special section on physics competitions in European Journal of Physics contains three papers, each dealing with a different form of science contest. The first continues the series of presentations of tasks performed at the International Young Physicists' Tournament, which was held in Vienna in 2011. First place went to the team from Singapore, and they have put their investigation on vertical oscillations of coupled magnets into written form (not required by the tournament, where an oral presentation and a defence and discussion are the central aspects). Their paper shows how rich in physics this problem is, and what level of solutions high-school students can already achieve. Sadly, those responsible for the organization of last year's International Physics Olympiad did not provide us with a report on this competition. This is unfortunate, since the Olympiad in Zagreb was very successful and, in particular, the experimental tasks were creative and demanding. Very similar to the aims and the execution of the Physics Olympiad is the International Olympiad on Astronomy

Exploring an Age Difference in Preschool Children's Competitiveness Following a Competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yu; Zhu, Yi

2018-01-01

Literature suggests that resource acquisition compels competition in young children. However, little is still known about the development of preschool children's competitiveness. In this preliminary study, 166 children (aged 2-4 and 5-6 years) engaged in a dyadic competition which resulted in a winning and a losing group (in a control/non-competition group, participants engaged in a similar task which did not lead to winning/losing outcome), and then experimenters tracked their decisions to compete again with a rival (i.e., an individual they interacted in the previous competition task) and a non-rival competitor (i.e., an anonymous classmate they did not interact in the previous competition task) for a reward, respectively. As expected, results showed an age-related decreasing trend in the percentage of choices to compete with a competitor. However, this age difference was only significant in the control group when participants played with the partner with whom they interacted in the previous game and in the losing group when participants competed with a non-rival competitor. This study contributes to our knowledge of how competitiveness develop in preschool childhood, and calls for further research on the roles of motivation and cognitive control in children's competitiveness.

Integration of industrial risk in regional policy management. Possibilities of evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubert, Philippe; Pages, Pierre

1990-02-01

Since the responsibility for risk management depends more and more on regional factors, evaluation methods and management regulations are not developed enough. This study start from the fact that an important methods exist for evaluation transport of dangerous materials in cities, risk analysis and emergency plans related to classified installations, management of quality of water, 'chronic' industrial risks at local and regional level, probabilistic estimation for industrial plants. The objective is in fact to show what risk analysis could bring to the municipality, the city or the region [fr

Competitive interactions are mediated in a sex-specific manner by arbuscular mycorrhiza in Antennaria dioica.

Science.gov (United States)

Varga, S; Vega-Frutis, R; Kytöviita, M-M

2017-03-01

Plants usually interact with other plants, and the outcome of such interaction ranges from facilitation to competition depending on the identity of the plants, including their sexual expression. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been shown to modify competitive interactions in plants. However, few studies have evaluated how AM fungi influence plant intraspecific and interspecific interactions in dioecious species. The competitive abilities of female and male plants of Antennaria dioica were examined in a greenhouse experiment. Females and males were grown in the following competitive settings: (i) without competition, (ii) with intrasexual competition, (iii) with intersexual competition, and (iv) with interspecific competition by Hieracium pilosella - a plant with similar characteristics to A. dioica. Half of the pots were grown with Claroideoglomus claroideum, an AM fungus isolated from the same habitat as the plant material. We evaluated plant survival, growth, flowering phenology, and production of AM fungal structures. Plant survival was unaffected by competition or AM fungi. Competition and the presence of AM fungi reduced plant biomass. However, the sexes responded differently to the interaction between fungal and competition treatments. Both intra- and interspecific competition results were sex-specific, and in general, female performance was reduced by AM colonization. Plant competition or sex did not affect the intraradical structures, extraradical hyphae, or spore production of the AM fungus. These findings suggest that plant sexual differences affect fundamental processes such as competitive ability and symbiotic relationships with AM fungi. © 2016 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Evaluation of stereoisomers of 4-fluoroalkyl analogues of 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate in in vivo competition studies for the M1, M2, and M3 muscarinic receptor subtypes in brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiesewetter, Dale O.; Eckelman, William C.; Jaetae, Lee; Paik, Chang H.; Park, Seok G.

1995-01-01

To develop a subtype selective muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) antagonist for PET, fluorine-19 labeled alkyl analogues of quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) were synthesized by stereoselective reactions. To investigate these analogues for tissue subtype specificity, in vivo competitive binding studies were performed in rat brain using (R)-3-quinuclidinyl (R)-4-[ 125 I]Iodobenzilate (IQNB). Five, fifty, or five-hundred nmol of the non-radioactive ligands were coinjected intravenously with 8 pmol of the radioligand. Cold (R,R)-IQNB blocked (R,R)-[ 125 I]IQNB in a dose-dependent manner, without showing regional specificity. For the (R,S)-fluoromethyl, -fluoroethyl, and -fluoropropyl derivatives, a higher percent blockade was seen at 5 and 50 nmol levels in M2 predominant tissues (medulla, pons, and cerebellum) than in M1 predominant tissues (cortex, striatum and hippocampus). The blockade pattern of the radioligand also correlated qualitatively with the percentage of M2 receptors in the region. The S-quinuclidinyl analogues showed M2 selectivity but less efficient blockade of the radioligand, indicating lower affinities. Radioligand bound to the medulla was inversely correlated to the M2 relative binding affinity of the fluoroalkyl analogues. These results indicate that the nonradioactive ligand blocks the radioligand based on the affinity of the nonradioactive ligand for a particular receptor subtype compared to the affinity of the radioligand for the same receptor subtype. Of the seven compounds evaluated, (R,S)-fluoromethyl-QNB appears to show the most selectivity for the M2 subtypes in competition studies in vivo

When Two of the Same Are Needed: A Multilevel Model of Intragroup Ethnic Party Competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bochsler, Daniel

2012-01-01

diversification of minority groups. In states with multiple levels of governments, intra-ethnic rival parties emerge if minorities are local majorities in certain regions. Intra-ethnic party competition is limited, however, through the national electoral system, and especially high legal thresholds can restrict......Parties of ethno-regional minorities have been created in a large number of ethnically diverse countries, but sometimes one such party is not enough. While previous work has investigated the consequences of intragroup party competition, this study looks at the causes of internal political...

Research of Competitive Orientation Among Secondary School Seniour Students: Current Trends and Prospects for Nurturing (Case Study of Tyumen Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gennady F. Shafranov-Kutsev

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: the priorities of socio-economic development facing our country set new requirements to secondary education; a graduate should not only have a certain amount of knowledge, but also be able to build an effective communication strategy, to be prepared for constant professional self-development, to take the initiative, to interact under conditions of rivalry, in other words, to be competitive. Addressing these issues will contribute to the creation of conditions in which objective requirements of the social system would have found understanding among secondary school students, therefore it is necessary to form competitive thinking. The aim of the study was to consider the factors enabling secondary school students to accept knowledge, values and skills of a competitive person needed for further su stainable development. Materials and Methods: a questionnaire survey of high school students was selected for its reliability and validity in studying competitive skills. The design of the questionnaire was developed by the team of the Sociological Laboratory of the Chair of General and Economic Sociology at Tyumen State University. IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software product was used to process and ana lyse the obtained data. Results: the research provides important insights into the dynamics of the social well-being of secondary school students, defines the main determinants of the formation of skills in competitive environment. The results of this study highlight obstacles to this process as well. Discussion and Conclusions: this paper argues that self-dependent decision-making, critical perception of information, willingness to compete enable to form a competitive personality. The findings from this study have significant potential implications for future educational practice. These research materials are relevant for improving the methods and skills of teaching activities and for development of youth policy. Possible areas for further

Competition-colonization trade-offs, competitive uncertainty, and the evolutionary assembly of species.

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Pradeep Pillai

Full Text Available We utilize a standard competition-colonization metapopulation model in order to study the evolutionary assembly of species. Based on earlier work showing how models assuming strict competitive hierarchies will likely lead to runaway evolution and self-extinction for all species, we adopt a continuous competition function that allows for levels of uncertainty in the outcome of competition. We then, by extending the standard patch-dynamic metapopulation model in order to include evolutionary dynamics, allow for the coevolution of species into stable communities composed of species with distinct limiting similarities. Runaway evolution towards stochastic extinction then becomes a limiting case controlled by the level of competitive uncertainty. We demonstrate how intermediate competitive uncertainty maximizes the equilibrium species richness as well as maximizes the adaptive radiation and self-assembly of species under adaptive dynamics with mutations of non-negligible size. By reconciling competition-colonization tradeoff theory with co-evolutionary dynamics, our results reveal the importance of intermediate levels of competitive uncertainty for the evolutionary assembly of species.

Estimating a theoretical model of state banking competition using a dynamic panel: the Brazilian case

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Fábio A. Miessi Sanches

2009-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper we set up a model of regional banking competition based on Bresnahan (1982, Lau (1982 and Nakane (2002. The structural model is estimated using data from eight Brazilian states and a dynamic panel. The results show that on average the level of competition in the Brazilian banking system is high, even tough the null of perfect competition can be rejected at the usual significance levels. This result also prevails at the state level: Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco and Minas Gerais have high degree of competition.

Competitive Dairy Value Chains in Southeast Asia – Part II : Dairy Expert Roundtable Meeting, December 8 & 9, 2010, Muak Lek, Thailand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haartsen, L.; Lee, van der J.; Wouters, A.P.

2011-01-01

The regional Dairy Expert Roundtable Meeting on “Competitive Dairy Value Chains in Southeast Asia” provided a forum for participants from six Southeast Asian countries to discuss how dairy value chains in this region can become more competitive and sustainable. The demand for dairy products in these

Crested wheatgrass-cheatgrass seedling competition in a mixed-density design

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Mark G.; Pyke, David A.

1996-01-01

Plant competition experiments have historically used designs that are difficult to interpret due to confounding problems. Recently, designs based on a 'response function' approach have been proposed and tested in various plant mixture settings. For this study, 3 species were used that are important in current revegetation practices in the Intermountain West. 'Nordan' (Agropyron desertorum [Fish. ex Link] Shult.) and 'Hycrest' (A. cristatum [L.] Gaertn. x desertorum) crested wheatgrass are commonly-used revegetation species on rangelands susceptible to cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) invasion, although little quantitative data exist that compare their competitive abilities. We evaluated the competitive ability of Hycrest and Nordan seedlings in 2-species mixtures with cheatgrass in a greenhouse study. Linear and nonlinear models were developed for a range of densities (130- 520 seeds m-2) for each species to predict median above-ground biomass and tiller numbers and to further test the usefulness of this design for evaluating species to rehabilitate rangelands. In both experiments, increasing Hycrest and Nordan densities reduced their own biomass and tiller production while increasing Hycrest densities reduced cheatgrass biomass and tiller production. Nordan did not affect cheatgrass biomass and tiller production. However, increasing cheatgrass densities reduced Hycrest and Nordan biomass and tiller production, and its own biomass and tiller production. The competition index i.e. substitution rate, indicated that Hycrest seedlings were better competitors with cheatgrass than Nordan, although in all mixtures, cheatgrass plants were the superior competitors. Further field research using this design, where environmental inputs are less optimal and diverse, is needed to validate these results and to further evaluate the use of this approach in examining effects of intra- and interspecific competition.

Diversifying evolution of competitiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldauf, Sebastian A; Engqvist, Leif; Weissing, Franz J

2014-10-29

In many species, individuals express phenotypic characteristics that enhance their competitiveness, that is, the ability to acquire resources in competition with others. Moreover, the degree of competitiveness varies considerably across individuals and in time. By means of an evolutionary model, we provide an explanation for this finding. We make the assumption that investment into competitiveness enhances the probability to acquire a high-quality resource, but at the same time reduces the ability of exploiting acquired resources with maximal efficiency. The model reveals that under a broad range of conditions competitiveness either converges to a polymorphic state, where individuals differing in competitive ability stably coexist, or is subject to perpetual transitions between periods of high and low competitiveness. The dynamics becomes even more complex if females can evolve preferences for (or against) competitive males. In extreme cases, such preferences can even drive the population to extinction.