Modelling IS successions in e-commerce

The paper considers the conditions governing the diffusion and development of ecommerce. The analysis builds on earlier discussions of technological successions and explores a number of factors, not normally considered, which are likely to have a bearing on the probability of e-commerce IS technologies displacing traditional IS technologies. The first factor is differentiation of the characteristic sets offered by the old and new technologies, and contrast this with higher performance specifications over the same set of characteristics. Second, we consider differential costs due to scale economies. Differential falling unit costs of alternative information systems (IS) affect demand when these are transmitted to prices, altering the pricequality combinations offered by old and new IS technology providers. Third, we consider time as a possible explanatory variable. Altering the time in which new IS technology providers are able to exploit their superior applications is likely to affect the probability of a technological succession occurring. Analysis is conducted via simulation techniques on an agent-based model that contain heterogeneous populations of adaptive users and providers who co-evolve over time

Family Succession and Firm Performance: Evidence from Italian Family Firms

This article contributes to the growing empirical literature on family firms by studying the impact of the founder–chief executive officer (CEO) succession in a sample of Italian firms. We contrast firms that continue to be managed within the family by the heirs to the founders with firms in which the management is passed on to outsiders. Family successions, that is, successions by the founder’s heirs, are further analyzed by assessing the impact of the sectoral intensity of competition on the post-succession performance. This analysis also addresses the endogeneity in the timing of the CEO succession by controlling for a pure mean-reversion effect in the firm’s performance. We find that the maintenance of management within the family has a negative impact on the firm’s performance, and this effect is largely borne by the good performers, especially in the more competitive sectors. These results indicate that there is no inherent superiority of the family-firm structure and emphasize the importance of conducting an analysis of governance in a variety of institutional settings.Family successions; Family firms; Founder-run firms

Contrasting carbonate depositional systems for Pliocene cool-water limestones cropping out in central Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Pliocene limestone formations in central Hawke's Bay (eastern North Island, New Zealand) accumulated on and near the margins of a narrow forearc basin seaway within the convergent Australia/Pacific plate boundary zone. The active tectonic setting and varied paleogeographic features of the limestone units investigated, in association with probable glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations, resulted in complex stratigraphic architectures and contrasting types of carbonate accumulation on either side of the seaway. Here, we recognise recurring patterns of sedimentary facies, and sequences and systems tracts bounded by key physical surfaces within the limestone sheets. The facies types range from Bioclastic (B) to Siliciclastic (S) end-members via Mixed (M) carbonate-siliciclastic deposits. Skeletal components are typical cool-water associations dominated by epifaunal calcitic bivalves, bryozoans, and especially barnacles. Siliciclastic contents vary from one formation to another, and highlight siliciclastic-rich limestone units in the western ranges versus siliciclastic-poor limestone units in the eastern coastal hills. Heterogeneities in facies types, stratal patterns, and also in diagenetic pathways between eastern and western limestone units are considered to originate in the coeval occurrence in different parts of the forearc basin of two main morphodynamic carbonate systems over time

Which Italian Family Farms Will Have a Successor?

The succession in family farm is a critical issue: it not only involves the transmission of wealth, but also of specific skills and of specific farm management techniques. Since a large share of farmers in Italy are old, the lack of prospective successors in their farms would imply that a change in the farm management will take place. In some cases this might lead to the abandonment of farms and to degradation of the territory. It is therefore important to explore the conditions under which a farm household can transmit the farm management within the household itself. In our paper we try to assess which are the determinants of the likely farm succession within the family and we test in a developed country the hypothesis put forward by Rosenzweig and Wolpin (1985) for LDCs that farm-specific knowledge creates an incentive for children to take on the farm. To do this, we estimate by probit models the determinants for the presence of prospective successors, taking as an indicator the presence of children working on the farm. Explanatory variables include personal characteristics of the operators, including their work status, and farm, location and labour market characteristics. The results suggest that specific knowledge does favour farm succession within the household, along with other variables already considered in the previous literature; nevertheless, the effects of these variables are in general weak, and more research is needed to identify them.Farm household, succession, farm specific knowledge, probit model, Farm Management, J43, Q12,

A fluid flow perspective on the diagenesis of Te Aute limestones

Pliocene cool-water, bioclastic Te Aute limestones in East Coast Basin, New Zealand, accumulated either in shelfal shoal areas or about structurally shallow growth fold structures in the tectonically active accretionary forearc prism. Up to five stages of carbonate cementation are recognised, based on cement sequence-stratigraphic concepts, that formed on the seafloor during exposure of the limestones before burial, during burial, uplift, and deformation. Two principal fluid types are identified--topography-driven meteoric fluids and compaction-driven fluids. We have developed conceptual and quantitative models that attempt to relate the physical characteristics of fluid flow to the cement paragenesis. In particular, we have simulated the effects of uplift of the axial ranges bordering East Coast Basin in terms of the degree of penetration of a meteoric wedge into the basin. The dynamics of meteoric flow changed dramatically during uplift over the last 2 m.y. such that the modelled extent of the meteoric wedge is at least 40 km across the basin, and the penetration depth 1500 m or more corresponding with measured freshwater intersections in some oil wells. Cement-fluid relationships include: (1) true marine cements that precipitated in areas remote from shallow freshwater lenses; (2) pre-compaction cements that formed in shallow freshwater lenses beneath limestone "islands"; (3) post-compaction cements derived from compaction-driven flow during burial; (4) early uplift-related fracture-fill cements formed during deformation of the accretionary prism and uplift of the axial ranges; and (5) late uplift-related cements associated with uplift into a shallow meteoric regime

Exploring opportunities for diversification of smallholders' rice-based farming systems in the Senegal River Valley

CONTEXT: Policy-based or technological interventions are more likely to be effective if aligned with farmers' objectives, constraints, and decision-making processes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore trade-offs and synergies of farming systems in response to innovative rice cultivation activities by understanding current farming systems, main drivers impacting farm management and farmers' perspectives on rice intensification. Understanding these interrelations is key in rice production areas, where smallholder farmers largely depend on growing rice to subsist. METHODS: A rapid system analysis was conducted interviewing 20 farmers in 4 villages along the Senegal River Valley (SRV) to obtain a general view on farm functioning and farmers' perspectives on farming systems. A detailed system analysis with four farmers was subsequently conducted to provide an insight into the underlying processes regulating farm management. A multi-objective optimization model was used to quantitatively evaluate and explore farm performances based on four selected indicators representing: rice production, household agricultural profit, household labour and farm nutrient balance. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study showed that government programmes and farmers' Unions were strongly influencing farmers' decision-making in agricultural production. Farmers also reported that although rice was still essential for their livelihoods, there were transitions towards less rice production in the wet season with short duration rice varieties and more vegetable production. Both farmers' interviews and the modelling results suggested that farmers would be unlikely to increase or even maintain the area of rice double cropping, which has been strongly promoted by the Senegalese government. Instead, farmers would rather keep investing in vegetable production. SIGNIFICANCE: This modelling study shows the consequences of policy-based and technological interventions for farming systems and may inform both policy makers and farmers in situations where objectives are strongly divergent. Hence, modelling outcomes may be used to inspire discussion and innovation in order to align the government priority of ensuring national food security and farmers' objectives and constraints in the SRV

The facies architecture of large igneous provinces: an integrated geological and geophysical approach to the characterisation of volcanic successions in 3-D

Quantifying the facies architecture of flood volcanic provinces is important as it can be used to understand the physical volcanology and rock property variations throughout the igneous succession. This is very important to the petroleum industry exploration efforts in volcanic rifted margins as volcanic successions commonly mask geophysical images of sub-volcanic petroleum plays. This problem is known as the 'sub-basalt imaging problem' and is caused by factors including the geometrical heterogeneities and elastic velocity and density contrasts through the volcanic pile. The study of facies architecture is broken down into a series of orders of scale. These scales reflect a systematic approach to the characterisation of the facies architecture, from a centimetre through to kilometre-scale, and incorporates 3D modelling of a range of data types for constructing the 3D structure of the flood volcanic successions. A system for the characterisation of lava flow scale facies is presented termed the 'intrafacies scheme'. This may be used to assess and interpret the geological facies heterogeneities present on a 'micro-scale' and link the interpretations to geophysical rock properties. The scheme is applied to outcrop-scale case studies in the Talisker Bay area of the Skye Lava Field on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. On a lava field scale of study ('meso-scale'), the geometrical relationships of several flood basalt provinces are studied, focusing on the Skye Lava Field. This is studied in ID through to 3D, revealing that the lava field may be divided into architectural sequences based on lava flow facies interpretations. The facies evolve upwards through the volcanic succession from geometrically complex thin, olivine-basaltic compound-braided lava flow facies towards the base, to simple, thick basaltic-andesite tabular lava flows. The lower lavas are interpreted to have formed on the gently dipping flanks of a shield volcano. The observations and understanding of flood volcanics on a lava field scale of observation and the facies forming the building blocks of lava fields are used to interpret the GFA-99 2D seismic data from the Faeroe-Shetland Basin. The interpretation is developed into 3D and thicknesses of the Faeroes Lava Group are calculated. The complete study of facies from intrafacies through to basin-scale interpretations reveal that flood volcanic successions contain substantial geometrical and rock property heterogeneities, and that these can be characterised in the 3D modelling environment into geologically realistic geophysical flood basalt facies architectural models

The Market for Vice-Chancellors

How homogenous is the market for top managerial talent? We analyse data from university annual reports on Vice Chancellors’ remuneration for the period 1995-2002 and test to see whether there is alignment between the market for Vice-Chancellors and the market for CEOs in Australia. While the responsiveness of pay to institution size is not dissimilar, Vice-Chancellors receive on average about 60 percent less than CEOs. In addition, we also compare the remuneration of Australian Vice-Chancellors to those in the United States and the United Kingdom and find that the Australians receive the highest real remuneration when using purchasing power parity exchange rates. The remuneration of Australian Vice-Chancellors is even more attractive once taxation and quality of life factors are taken into consideration. We also construct a demographic profile of Vice-Chancellors, showing that relative to CEOs, Vice-Chancellors are appointed later in life and do not have shorter tenures. Regarding Vice-Chancellor backgrounds, there is an over-representation of Vice-Chancellors from social and pure sciences and an under-representation of Vice-Chancellors from management and commerce relative to the number of award completions in those areas.