35,251 research outputs found
The case of public transport infrastructure in Malta, and its impact on the elderly
The concept of equity is essential in
transport because inequities lead to the formation of
transport-disadvantaged groups, such as the elderly, disabled
and low-income people. This paper focuses on the
elderly. Due to age-related circumstances, several elderly
persons have to surrender on driving, consequently
they become highly dependent on public transport.
Hence, accessible public transport is crucial to provide
them with the necessary mobility. This research considers
accessibility as a key indicator for transport
equity, since the latter primarily deals with the provision
of equal access to opportunities. The study focuses
on the case of Malta's public transport system, which
is composed of the bus service. The uniqueness of the
Maltese case is that transport policy is fragmented, and
is not focused on equity. This paper looks at three aspects
of accessibility related to road infrastructure, public
transport infrastructure, and the bus
fleet. The first
aspect refers to accessibility at the macro scale, for instance,
pavements may not be solely designed to cater
for the bus service, but they are an integrative part of it.
The meso scale refers to accessibility of infrastructure in
physical and cyber form, such as access to and on bus
stops and access to online travel information. The bus
fleet refers to the micro scale of accessibility, which may
include boarding and alighting the vehicle, and access on
the vehicle. The research approach involves a review of
existing Maltese public transport policy, with speci c focus
on whether accessibility for the elderly is considered
in the context of the afore-mentioned scales. It is envisaged
that the minimal or non-existent policy on accessibility
in public transport that focuses on elderly, makes
this population segment at a double disadvantage. The
research concludes with implications for policy related to public transport accessibility in a Maltese ageing society.peer-reviewe
Role and Discipline Relationships in a Transdisciplinary Biomedical Team: Structuration, Values Override and Context Scaffolding
Though accepted that "team science" is needed to tackle and conquer the
health problems that are plaguing our society significant empirical evidence of
team mechanisms and functional dynamics is still lacking in abundance. Through
grounded methods the relationship between scientific disciplines and team roles
was observed in a United States National Institutes of Health-funded (NIH)
research consortium. Interviews and the Organizational Culture Assessment
Instrument (OCAI) were employed.. Findings show strong role and discipline
idiosyncrasies that when viewed separately provide different insights into team
functioning and change receptivity. When considered simultaneously,
value-latent characteristics emerged showing self-perceived contributions to
the team. This micro/meso analysis suggests that individual participation in
team level interactions can inform the structuration of roles and disciplines
in an attempt to tackle macro level problems.Comment: Presented at COINs13 Conference, Chile, 2013 (arxiv:1308.1028
The Determinants of Value Creation at the Firm, Industry and National Levels: A Framework and Evidence
We aim to bridge three (plus one) levels of (strategic) management theory of value capture and sustainable value creation; micro (firm), meso (industry, region), macro (national) (and also global). We propose a framework for value creation by firms and explore firm strategies for value capture and their relationship to value creation. We construct requisite variables and test our framework for 17 OECD countries using panel data. We find support for our integrative framework. We also explore the issue of sustainability and its implications for managerial practises, corporate governance, public policy and global governance that promote sustainable global value creation.Global value creation and capture, sustainability, governance
Growth aspirations and social capital: Young firms in a post-conflict environnment
We explore the social determinants of growth aspirations of young firms’ owners and managers in a post-conflict economy. We focus on social capital, which we treat as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, studying not only the effect of owners’ and managers’ personal networks on growth aspirations, but also other facets that facilitate cooperation such as trust in institutions and generalised trust in people. We posit that that the generalised trust amplifies the beneficial effects of personal business networks, explaining how this conclusion diverges from earlier literature. We argue that in a post-conflict country, preservation of ethnic diversity is indicative of tolerance and low communication barriers and social capital appropriable for entrepreneurship. Our empirical counterpart and hypotheses testing rely on survey of young businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cognitive change in women's empowerment in rural Bangladesh
Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public spheres due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women suffer from severe discrimination, due partly to a lack of access to information. Information and communication and technologies (ICT) are tools that potentially can reach rural women and address their knowledge and information needs. Considering this scenario, the aim of this paper is to examine the situation of rural women using ICT tools provided by non-government and government organizations, and investigate whether access to ICT has changed their lives in terms of socio-economic development. Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from women in villages where two different ICT projects have been introduced. The change in women's awareness, skills and knowledge of the wider environment on various issues (including health, education, legal rights) is described. These cognitive changes were compared in women with ICT intervention and women who did not use ICT. The overall cognitive awareness of the women indicates more changes among women with ICT intervention than without. Therefore, ICT intervention in rural villages in Bangladesh is leading to empowerment
The Role of ICT in Women's Empowerment in Rural\ud Bangladesh
Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public\ud
spheres due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women suffer from severe\ud
discrimination, and it is thought this is heightened due to a lack of access to\ud
information. Information communication and technology (ICT) is a potential tool\ud
that can reach rural women and enrich their knowledge. This paper discusses\ud
women‟s empowerment in terms of perceptual change in rural villages in\ud
Bangladesh after ICT intervention has been introduced by Non-Government\ud
Organizations (NGOs). Since empowerment is a complex phenomenon to measure\ud
because of its multidimensional aspects and its relationship with time as a process,\ud
the methodology used in this research was an integration of qualitative and\ud
quantitative methods. Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from\ud
women in two different villages where ICT projects have been introduced. The\ud
change in women‟s perception after using ICT was compared with changes in\ud
women who did not use ICT. The results indicate that ICT intervention changed\ud
women‟s perception in a positive direction in one village but it did not change in\ud
the other village
Clusters: Determinants and Effects
This memorandum surveys the empirical literature about the effects and determinants of clusters. It finds that clusters generally lead to more innovations, knowledge spillovers, faster diffusion of technologies and knowledge, and competitive advantages. The presence of a skilled labour force is the most important determinant for clusters. Other important factors for the existence of clusters are economies of scale and scope, knowledge spillovers, and competition from foreign competitors. Clusters appear to be especially important for small firms. Surprisingly, there is relatively little cooperation between these firms. Even though clusters are generally located near a knowledge institution, there is also relatively little cooperation between the cluster and the knowledge institution. Since clusters need skilled labour and competition, a good cluster policy may be no cluster policy at all. Instead, the government should look after an education system that produces a highly educated and skilled workforce, and stimulate competition by (further) opening markets to foreign competitors.
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