Differences in Measuring Market Risk in Four Subsectors of the Digital Economy

This paper defends the wisdom of not considering the Digital Economy to be one homogeneous sector. Our hypothesis is that it is best to consider it the result of adding four different subsectors. We test whether indeed the economic and financial performance of a portfolio of listed companies in each of the four subsectors presents relevant differences. We use the value at risk measure to estimate market risk of the four subsectors of the digital economy. The riskiest subsector is Mobile/Internet Contents & Services followed by SW&IT Services and Application Software. On the contrary, the Telecom sector is by far the safest one. These results support the hypothesis that the Digital Economy is not a homogeneous sector

New Tasks in Old Jobs: Drivers of Change and Implications for Job Quality

This overview report summarises the findings of 20 case studies looking at recent changes in the task content of five manufacturing occupations (car assemblers, meat processing workers, hand-packers, chemical products plant and machine operators and inspection engineers) as a result of factors such as digital transformations, globalisation and offshoring, increasing demand for high quality standards and sustainability. It also discusses some implications in terms of job quality and working life. The study reveals that the importance of physical tasks in manufacturing is generally declining due to automation; that more intensive use of digitally controlled equipment, together with increasing importance of quality standards, involve instead a growing amount of intellectual tasks for manual industrial workers; and that the amount of routine task content is still high in the four manual occupations studied. Overall, the report highlights how qualitative contextual information can complement existing quantitative data, offering a richer understanding of changes in the content and nature of jobs

Editor's Note

The term 'Digital Economy' was coined for the first time by Don Tapscott in 1995 in his best-seller The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence. When he wrote the book 20 years ago, he announced how he thought the Internet would fully transform the nature of business and government. We have now extended the concept, illustrating how digital technologies are rapidly transforming business practices, the economy and societies. Technology, and its impact on business strategy and society, continues to rise in importance. The Digital Economy, sometimes also called “Digital Business” has become a philosophy for many top executive teams as they seek competitive advantages in a world of fast moving technological change. When we talk about digital technologies, we are not only talking about the internet, nor only ICT (Information and Communications Technology), but other concepts such as mobile, telecommunications or content. The digital economy is by no means an exclusively economic concept. Therefore, it might be more appropriate to speak of digital society or digital technology. What matters is that digital is a transverse concept that affects individuals, businesses and public administrations

Distinguishing the Social Sector: A Buffalo-Niagara Labor Market Study

The study focuses on the two largest parts of Buffalo-Niagara’s social sector: nonprofit and government employers

Analyzing the Potential of Hybrid and Electric Off-Road Equipment in Reducing Carbon Emissions from Construction Industries

This report quantifies the likely impact recent improvements in emissions technology in the heavy construction equipment fleet will have on national and state-level carbon emissions from construction industries. Specific technologies examined in this report include hybrid and electric-powered off-road equipment. Innovation in the equipment manufacturing industry, and adoption of innovative technology by construction firms, is driven by a wide range of factors, some of which can be influenced by public policy. Therefore, this paper describes policies available to public decision makers at the local, state and national levels that impact equipment use and development decisions, including those that encourage the use of green equipment in government procurement, local level job site emissions regulations, and state and nationally mandated emissions standards, fuel taxes, and direct research subsidies

Infrastructure investment in network industries: The role of incentive regulation and regulatory independence

This paper finds that coherent regulatory policies can boost investment in network industries of OECD economies. Rate-of-return regulation is generally thought to result in overinvestment, while incentive regulation is believed to entail underinvestment. Yet, previous empirical work has generally found that the introduction of incentive regulation has not systematically changed investment in network industries. According to the theoretical literature, regulatory uncertainty exposes both types of regimes to the danger of underinvestment. However, regulatory uncertainty is arguably higher under rate-of-return regulation because investment decisions (what can be included in the rate base) are usually evaluated in a discretionary manner, while firms operating under incentive regulation are less affected by this behaviour. In addition, incentive regulation encourages investment in cost-reducing technologies. Using Bayesian model averaging techniques, this paper shows that incentive regulation implemented jointly with an independent sector regulator (indicating lower regulatory uncertainty) has a strong positive impact on investment in network industries. In addition, lower barriers to entry are also found to encourage sectoral investment. These results support the importance of implementing policies in a coherent framework.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64379/1/wp956.pd

What’s behind a definition? Netting the ‘slippery fish’!

Objectives: The paper explains the process and problems of mapping a localised creative industry sector, contrasting the findings of secondary data with primary data from within the field; identifying implications for policy and innovation. Prior Work: Cunningham et al (2009) term creative industries and innovation as conceptually ‘slippery fish’ concurring with authors who espouse the difficulty of defining creative industries (Boggs, 2009; Galloway and Dunlop, 2007). Even though Flew et al (2010) suggest that there is increasing consensus about the size and scope of CIs, there remain obstacles to mapping creative clusters, an obstacles to policy making decisions (Vecco 2009, Boggs, 2009). Yet authors persist in suggesting that creative industries are dynamic laboratories of change and innovation, exploiting new technologies in production, distribution and markets (Flew et al, 2010). Approach: The research is based on the analysis of Official Statistics within a defined group of CIs, individual company data searches and a survey of 240 CI businesses in Nottingham, UK. The survey was administered electronically, with telephone follow-up. Questions related to business activity; age, size, turnover; markets and networks and respondents were mostly SMEs. Results: Official statistics declare some 2,400 creative businesses in Nottinghamshire, and some 18,900 people employed in the creative industries and related networks. The survey suggests that almost all creative industries businesses are small, but challenges some official statistics in terms of sectoral activity. There are good levels of international activity, and, contrary to expectations, a sizeable nucleus of mature, established businesses. Implications: The results reveal the scope for contrast between officially generated statistics and the observable activity within an industry, which in turn has policy implications. CIs demonstrate varying patterns of growth, business creation, innovation and market activity. While new businesses are being created, the longevity of others is an interesting finding. These are each areas worthy of further, more detailed exploration with scope for case studies to better understand business life-cycles and networks (after Cunningham 2011). Value: The paper questions current thinking on policy for creative industries, contrasting work by Potts et al (2008) that links CIs to new media and new markets. While this tendency exists, the maturity of other CI businesses and their role in rejuvenating traditional industries provides opportunity to enhance competitiveness through appropriate and targeted support. Meanwhile, understanding of business markets and networks needs to consider evolving business to business relationships as well as the emerging social media based business - consumers interface

Public perception of creative and cultural industries in Croatia

This research investigates the public perception of creative and cultural industries in Croatia. Based on the survey data, it assesses how well Croatian citizens/consumers are familiar with creative and cultural industries and explores their usage of creative and cultural industry products and services. The consumers’ attitudes towards creative and cultural industries’ products and services are also compared. The research objective is to identify the determinants of public perception in the context of creative industries and the creative economy. Six main theoretical models of acceptance are tested to examine which model best fits the context of creative industries in Croatia. The findings are framed to facilitate policy decision-making so 20 recommendations for the future development of policies to encourage creative and cultural industries in Croatia are offered