69,830 research outputs found
Commercialising Australia's interstate rail freight transport: Some ownership and investment issues
The paper addresses the issues of rights of way ownership and application of consistent investment appraisal techniques across modes of transport. There are linkages between ownership, rights of way, competitive strategies and market contestability which will have a significant bearing on the choice of investment criteria used by commercialised railways. Investment methodologies in competing modes of land transport must be consistent. Investment in individual elements of railway infrastructure must be integrated with the overall cost recovery strategy of the operator. Major railway projects must be submitted to both financial and economic evaluation, so that the interests of individual railway authorities and the community are considered
Implementing the market approach to enterprise support - an evaluation of ten matching grant schemes
Developing viable new business is critical to recovery, and long-term growth, especially in transition economies. There has been a long history of public support of enterprise development, starting with centralized state agency initiatives, but moving more recently to decentralized instruments for development of the business services market. The window of time during which the benefits of intervention are likely to be greatest: when a market is in its infancy, and its development is constrained by uncertainty, and lack of information. Interventions for enterprise support should be demand-responsive, and flexibly organized. In some circumstances, centralized assistance may still be effective, but it is generally better to use competitive private service providers responding to enterprises'changing needs. The main task is to stimulate the private services sector, improving its capacity to respond to the demands of new, and expanding private enterprises. Support for enterprises has tended to be either free, or heavily subsidized. But such subsidies can be justified only if interventions efficiently supply goods. Providing technical, and management know-how can be a public good if it generates externalities- if, for example, know-how benefits can be disseminated at proportionately low additional cost. Any subsidy for an intervention should be temporary, and should be phased out when the main objective of intervention is achieved - that is, when the market takes off. Grants should generally be for know-how, not for equipment. There may be a case for unbundling the know-how component of loans (including feasibility studies, and follow-up expert services) for grant funding. A package combining loans and grants - through a single financial institution, or through separate institutions - may work provided safeguards can be put in place to prevent perverse use of grants. The matching grant model, which is used increasingly in the World Bank, and elsewhere, is one solution - but it must be justified, and carefully designed. After evaluating ten matching grant funds, the author concludes that performance is mixed. Best practice models are needed. Ensuring economic benefits requires proactive management, with clear objectives of market facilitation ("making a market"). And it requires a balance between rapid grant approval procedures, and careful selection of services for grants.Economic Theory&Research,Decentralization,Enterprise Development&Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Health Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies
The effects of public funding on farmers' attitudes to farm diversification
The overall aim of this research is to provide the UK Government with an evidence base from which it may be established whether there is a rationale for continuing Government intervention to encourage farm diversification, in particular through making capital grant funding available to farm diversification projects. The project's findings will inform the future role of government support, including whether other forms of support (advice, guidance and training) may be appropriate.Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,
An exploratory study of information technology evaluation and benefits management practices of SMEs in the construction industry
While the number of articles on IT evaluation and benefits management has been substantial, limited attention has been given to these topics in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly the construction industry. This paper presents findings from a questionnaire survey that sought to examine the approaches used by 126 construction organisations to evaluate and justify their IT investments, as well as the benefits and costs that they have experienced due to IT implementation. The analysis of their responses identified three key findings. Firstly, different organisation types significantly differ in the amount they invest in IT and their firm size (in terms of turnover and number of employees) does not influence investment levels in IT. Secondly, the evaluation process adopted by construction SMEs is used as for both control and learning. Thirdly, a major barrier to justifying IT investments was attributed to having no strategic vision. While organisations experienced no significant differences in the tactical and operational benefits incurred after the adoption of IT, differences were found with respect to the strategic benefits. If construction SMEs are to leverage the benefits of IT, then this should form an integral part of their business strategy. Considering this, recommendations for IT evaluation for construction SMEs that are also pertinent for SMEs operating in other industry sectors, are presented
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Transforming failure into success through organisational learning: An analysis of a manufacturing information system
This paper describes the idiosyncracies of a case study company, through highlighting issues and problems
experienced during their attempts to evaluate, implement and realise the holistic implications of a manufacturing
information system. Although the Information System (IS) was operational for a period of time, it
was eventually deemed a failure. The reason for this was that a range of human and organisational factors
prevented the organisation from embracing the full impact of the system. The eventual success of their
information system was realised through a bespoke implementation, based upon a traditional systems development
lifecycle that indirectly addressed learning issues following the earlier failed deployment. The
paper highlights key issues relating to business success and failure, and then contrasts them alongside the
presented case study. In doing so, the authors conclude by proposing methods through which manufacturing
information systems can be transformed for business success. This is described achievable through both a
realisation in the positioning of the organisation relative to technology management, and the related mapping
of human and technological constructs that support information systems related succes
Estimating Shadow Wage Rates for Economic Project Appraisal
One of the central concerns in cost benefit analysis is the adjustment of distortions in markets to provide a better guide to a more effective allocation of scarce resources. The objectives of this paper are to develop a model for the estimation of the shadow wage rate (SWR) for groups of occupations and to estimate the SWRs for the major groups of occupations in Australia. The main findings of the analysis indicate that estimated SWRs for major groups of occupations are different from the corresponding market wage rates, and that estimated SWRs of the groups are different. The results of the study demonstrate the importance of estimation of the SWR as a part of the appraisal process of investment projects. The ratio analysis indicates the significance of the difference between SWR and market wage rate, which is recommended to be adjusted is economic analysis of projects.Wages, Shadow Prices, Economic Projects
Venture capital and risk in high-technology enterprises
We find UK investors and entrepreneurs are significantly concordant in rankings of investments and key factors for risk but significantly discordant on risk classes. Investors emphasise agency risk (e.g., motivation, empowerment, alignment), and entrepreneurs emphasise business risk (e.g., market opportunities)
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