Betting shops and crime: is there a relationship?

Gambling and its link with criminal activity is an area of growing research interest. Studies from various regions worldwide have suggested an association between criminal activity and easily accessible gambling, yet, despite growth in the commercial gambling industry, relatively little is known about the nature, extent or impact of gambling-related crime. Such information is critical in the current UK climate as some gambling establishments (particularly betting shops) are prevented from getting operating licenses on the basis of police objections that they are likely to become ‘crime hotspots’. Therefore, this paper briefly overviews to what extent betting shops cause, facilitate, or attract crime. It is concluded that only two types of betting shops can realistically be associated with crime arising from problem gamblers who use their premises and with criminal behaviour occurring within or in the immediate environment of the premises itself. Although a few studies have shown associations between gambling and crime there is no empirical evidence showing that gambling venues (including betting shops) cause crime. Most of the empirical evidence concerning the relationship between crime and gambling concerns the criminal consequences of problem gambling (including those ‘addicted’ to gambling). In order to be a cause of crime, betting shops must be both a necessary and sufficient condition for the crimes in question to occur. This paper finds that they are neither

Understanding take-up of broadband by small and micro-enterprises: a case study

The paper examines patterns of broadband take-up, implementation and effects within small and micro-sized enterprises. The research focuses on the ‘onlincolnshire’ initiative, a local government-led programme which aims to encourage broadband take-up through provision of connection subsidies to SMEs in rural areas of Lincolnshire

THE RELEVANCE OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE FOR DURABLE DEVELOPMENT. CHALLENGES FOR ROMANIA

This article aims to approach the topic of the electronic commerce considering the context of the durable development, without exclusively limiting to the economic dimension of sustainable development. This paper aims to offer a vision on the e-commerce based on an optimistic approach of the reconciliation between economic growth and durable development, but moderate by the current realities (digital divide between countries/regions, economic crisis etc). Furthermore, by identifying some of the problems that Romania encounters concerning the construction of a competitive information society, the article presents also the possible solutions that can help our country to benefit of the advantages of the e-commerce.electronic commerce, durable development, economic growth, digital divide, Information and Communication Technology (IT&C), information society.

The effect of e-business on corporate performance : firm level evidence for Belgium.

E-business offers buyers and sellers a new form of communication and provides an opportunity to create new marketplaces. Theoretical studies suggest in general that the development of e-business results in higher firm performance as a result of lower search and head-to-head comparison costs. However, there are a number of recent theoretical studies, which demonstrate that the growth of e-commerce may lead to monopolistic pricing behaviour so that firms engaging in e-commerce need not perform better compared to more traditional enterprises. To date, there exists little empirical evidence on the impact of information technology on economic performance. This paper is the first that uses a large representative data set of Belgian firms to study empirically the impact of e-business on corporate performance. Our main conclusions can be summarised as follows: (1) The penetration of the Internet in Belgian firms is high, however, the use of e-business is still limited. (2) It is especially the large firms that engage in e-business and mostly in e-procurement. (3) E-business has no effect on total factor productivity in small firms, however, we find positive effects on performance of e-business in large firms.Economy; Internet; Firm performance; e-procurement; e-business;

Liquidity Constraint and the Demand for Food: Income Elasticity of Calorie in Rural Ethiopia.

E-business offers buyers and sellers a new form of communication and provides an opportunity to create new marketplaces. Theoretical studies suggest in general that the development of e-business results in higher firm performance as a result of lower search and head-to-head comparison costs. However, there are a number of recent theoretical studies, which demonstrate that the growth of e-commerce may lead to monopolistic pricing behaviour so that firms engaging in e-commerce need not perform better compared to more traditional enterprises. To date, there exists little empirical evidence on the impact of information technology on economic performance. This paper is the first that uses a large representative data set of Belgian firms to study empirically the impact of e-business on corporate performance. Our main conclusions can be summarised as follows: (1) The penetration of the Internet in Belgian firms is high, however, the use of e-business is still limited. (2) It is especially the large firms that engage in e-business and mostly in e-procurement. (3) E-business has no effect on total factor productivity in small firms, however, we find positive effects on performance of e-business in large firms.new economy, internet, firm performance, e-procurement, e-business

Improvement in Competitiveness of Serbian Small and medium enterprises

During last decade SME became important factor of Serbian economy. Although encouraging achievements were made in their development, due to late transition process, comparing to other transitory economies and to EU, SME in Serbia are well bellow, especially in efficiency. During the World economic crisis small and medium enterprises suffered like other companies, but most severe problems are related to shops. In spite of Government increasing help shops in 2010 had a negative net demographical effect. SME are vital and very important in the phase of economic recovery, which already started, and have to be supported. In the future SME supportive policy ought to be oriented toward a) competitive improvement and b) innovation development. With more efficient small and medium scale companies only Serbian economy has better prospects on the Global market.

Monetary and nonmonetary incentive measures: which work better in the Czech betting firm?

In this paper I examine the interrelation between monetary and non monetary incentive measures and the performance of a betting firm in the Czech Republic. Previous studies have focused either solely on monetary measures in order to examine the positive and adverse monetary incentive effects or on measuring the effect of certain non monetary managerial objectives and often on the level of top managers. I argue that the monetary and non monetary incentive measures should be analyzed separately as they influence the final outcome in a methodologically different way and that the analysis on lower level of organization can bring more reliable data. The evidence from unique set of medium term data from the Czech betting firm shows the possible positive effect of increased wage variability on its performance while the effect of trainings and nonmonetary rewards were proven as insignificant.monetary incentives, trainings, knowledge dispersion, wage dispersion

Review of the evidence for adolescent and young person specific, community-based health services for NHS managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evidence surrounding the design and delivery of adolescent-specific health services for young people aged 14-25. This aims to make recommendations for National Health Service (NHS) senior management teams on the available literature relating to service design for children’s and young people's services within the UK. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a mini-review carried out in Spring 2013 using EMBASE, BNI, PSYCHinfo, MEDLINE and Google Scholar to systematically search available published and unpublished research papers. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and evaluations of service models were included within this review. Adapted “GRADE” criteria were used to appraise the evidence. Findings – Of 70 papers found, 22 met the inclusion criteria. There were five main service designs found within the literature: hospital-based; school-linked or school-based; community based; combination and integrative; and other methods which did not fit into the four other categories. Research limitations/implications – This review is limited to the literature available within the inclusion criteria and search strategy used. It intends to inform management decisions in combination with other parameters and available evidence. Originality/value – There is range of research and evidence syntheses relating to adolescent services, but none of these have been conducted with a focus on the UK NHS and the information needs of managers re-designing services in the current climate within England

Productivity Measurement in a Service Industry: Plant-Level Evidence from Gambling Establishments in the United Kingdom

Gambling is one of the fastest growing service industries. Unfortunately, there have been no studies of total factor productivity (TFP) in this sector. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, based on an analysis of U.K. establishment-level data. These data are derived from the Annual Respondents Database (ARD) file, constructed by the U.K. Office for National Statistics, consisting of individual establishment records from the Annual Census of Production. The ARD file contains detailed data on output, materials, energy, employment, and numerous plant and firm characteristics and is quite similar to the U.S.-based Longitudinal Research Database (LRD). This information can be used to construct measures of TFP. We also construct estimates of labour productivity, since TFP is may be measured with error. We use these data to estimate labour and total factor productivity equations based on a stochastic frontier production function framework. The latter approach enables us to assess whether investment in information technology enhances relative productivity. Our preliminary results suggest that the production function models fit well, generating plausible elasticity estimates and indicating constant returns to scale. While investment in computers per se does not appear to have a productivity enhancing effect, gambling establishments that use Internet-based technology appear to be closer to the frontier.