Foreign Direct Investment and Firm Level Productivity in Kenyan Manufacturing: A Panel Data Analysis

This paper uses panel data to examine the effects of foreign presence on firm level productivity in the Kenyan manufacturing industry employing “traditional” and “recent” methodologies using the production function framework. The results show that foreign firms dominated in virtually all the economic activities, including productivity performance. The analysis of productivity determinants using a technologically profound approach produced a statistically significant role played by foreign presence on firm level productivity, thus supporting the occurrence of spillovers. The paper argues that the use of productivity based methodologies largely masks the nature, actual processes and mechanisms through which spillovers occur. The paper, therefore, advocates a “paradigm shift” in the spillover analysis techniques and recommends a broader approach with particular emphasis on technological innovations which takes into consideration learning, capability building and innovation.- FDI, foreign presence, spillovers, productivity, technological innovation

Effective Ownership Strategies: The Key to Farm Family Business Success Over Time

Farm Management,

The Farm Family and Their Farm Business: A Multidisciplinary, but Potentially Explosive Mix of Business, Legal Ownership and Family Aspects

The family farm is a complex interaction overtime between the three major or macro components; the farm business, ownership and the farm family. Failure by the farm family to understand or appreciate the complexity of the interaction or be aware of the potential effects each components may have on each other may well result in less than optimal use of the resources available. Inheritance can turn a viable family farm into a non-viable family farm, 'overnight'. The Australian family farm is a very large investment, on average, of around AUD $1 to$1.5 million, yet the family focus is primarily farming, rather than on the provision of cash to satisfy family needs. The farm family 'accommodates' to the farms cash output and at times off farm income is a necessity to support or supplement the farm income. Coupled with this situation, ownership of land, the basis of family farming, creates a paradox for many farm families, as land has two value systems; one during the owners life time to earn a 'living' (historical cost); and on death, as an asset for distributing to other family members as an inheritance (current cost). It is this dual use of ownership that creates the paradox. In today's legal environment parents are concerned about how to be fair or to provide for their children equally. The farm is usually the parents only/major asset and the child, who takes over or 'inherits' the family farm pays out their siblings their share of 'inheritance', this in effect is 'buying the family farm each generation' and significantly affects farm viability. Inheritance undermines farm business sustainability and competitiveness. The family farm needs to grow to keep up with inflation and technological change, but this only increases the inheritance problem. Traditionally, each of these three major components have been serviced by separate and specialised service providers and at times the advice provided for one component, may be dysfunctional to one or both of the other major components. There is thus a need for a macro generalist to help overcome the shortcomings of the present specialist advice system provided farm families. A number of farm family members were asked to evaluate and rate a number of options and ideas, as an alternative to the inheritance paradox, which would provide a basis for growth and building on what the parents had built. The No. 1 rating was separating the family farm into the components of; the farm business; the ownership structure; and the farm family. Most of the options/ideas were new to the participants and the comment was made many times, that there was a lack of information available to assist farm families with their business and family issues and that they do not know what questions to ask. This research has significant implications for farm service providers. Who is servicing who?Farm Management,

Octonion X,Y-Product G2G_{2} Variants

The automorphism group $G_{2}$ of the octonions changes when octonion X,Y-product variants are used. I present here a general solution for how to go from $G_{2}$ to its X,Y-product variant.Comment: 5 pages, latex, no figure

Information Complements, Substitutes, and Strategic Product Design

Competitive maneuvering in the information economy has raised a pressing question: how can firms raise profits by giving away products for free? This paper provides a possible answer and articulates a strategy space for information product design. Free strategic complements can raise a firm's own profits while free strategic substitutes can lower profits for competitors. We introduce a formal model of cross-market externalities based in textbook economics -- a mix of Katz & Shapiro network effects, price discrimination, and product differention -- that leads to novel strategies such as an eagerness to enter into Bertrand price competition. This combination helps to explain many recent firm strategies such as those of Microsoft, Netscape (AOL), Sun, Adobe, and ID. We also introduce the concept of a ''content-creator'' who adds value for end-consumers but may not be paid directly. Similar to the case of product dumping, this research implies that both firms and policy makers need to consider complex market interactions to grasp information product design and profit maximization. The model presented here argues for three simple and intuitive results. First, a firm can rationally invest in a product it intends to give away into perpetuity even in the absence of competition. The reason is that increased demand in a complementary goods market more than covers the cost of investment in the free goods market. Second, we identify distinct markets for content-providers and end-consumers and show that either can be a candidate for the free good. The decision on which market to charge rests on the relative elasticities as governed by their network externality effects. If the externality effect is sufficiently great, the market with the higher elasticity is the market to subsidize with the free good. It is also possible to charge both markets but to keep one price artificially low. Importantly, the modeling contribution is distinct from tying in the sense that consumers need never purchase both goods -- unlike razors and blades, the products are stand-alone goods. It also differs from multi-market price discrimination in the sense that the firm may extract no consumer surplus from one of the two market segments, implying that this market would have previously gone un-served. Third, a firm can use strategic product design to penetrate a market that becomes competitive post-entry. The threat of entry is credible even in cases where it never recovers its sunk costs directly. The model therefore helps to explain several interesting market behaviors such as free goods, upgrade paths, split versioning, and strategic information substitutes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39683/3/wp299.pd

Current and Preferred Housing of Psychiatric Consumers/Survivors

As part of a participatory action research project, we surveyed 300 psychiatric consumers/survivors from southwestern Ontario regarding their housing preferences and housing satisfaction. We found that, while 79% of the sample preferred independent living, 76% were living in some other type of setting (e.g., temporary shelter, supportive housing, sheltered care). Those living in temporary shelters reported the lowest levels of housing satisfaction, and those who were living in the type of housing that they preferred had the highest levels of housing satisfaction. This information is being used by stakeholder groups involved in the project to help build the capacity of the community to provide the types of housing that are preferred by consumers/survivors

A low temperature X-ray single-crystal diffraction and polarised infra-red study of epidote

The effects of low-temperature on the crystal structure of a natural epidote [Ca1.925Fe0.745Al2.265Ti0.004 Si3.037O12(OH), a = 8.8924(7), b = 5.6214(3), c = 10.1547(6) angstrom and beta = 115.396(8)degrees at room conditions, Sp. Gr. P2(1)/m] have been investigated with a series of structure refinements down to 100 K on the basis of X-ray single-crystal diffraction data. The reflection conditions confirm that the space group is maintained within the T-range investigated. Structural refinements at all temperatures show the presence of Fe3+ at the octahedral M(3) site only [%Fe(M3) = 70.6(4)% at 295 K]. Only one independent proton site was located and two possible H-bonds occur, with O(10) as donor and O(4) and O(2) as acceptors. The H-bonding scheme is maintained down to 100 K and is supported by single crystal room-T polarised FTIR data. FTIR Spectra over the region 4,000-2,500 cm(-1) are dominated by the presence of a strongly pleochroic absorption feature which can be assigned to protonation of O(10)-O(4). Previously unobserved splitting of this absorption features is consistent with a NNN influence due to the presence of Al and Fe3+ on the nearby M(3) site. An additional relatively minor absorption feature in FTIR spectra can be tentatively assigned to protonation of O(10)-O(2). Low-T does not affect significantly the tetrahedral and octahedral bond distances and angles, even when distances are corrected for "rigid body motions". A more significant effect is observed for the bond distances of the distorted Ca(1)- and Ca(2)-polyhedra, especially when corrected for "non-correlated motion". The main low-T effect is observed on the vibrational regime of the atomic sites, and in particular for the two Ca-sites. A significant reduction of the magnitude of the thermal displacement ellipsoids, with a variation of U-eq (defined as one-third of the trace of the orthogonalised U-ij tensor) by similar to 40% is observed for the Ca-sites between 295 and 100 K. Within the same T-range, the U-eq of the octahedral and oxygen sites decrease similarly by similar to 35%, whereas those of the tetrahedral cations by similar to 22%

Comparison of submillimeter and ultraviolet observations of neutral carbon toward Zeta Ophiuchi

We have observed the ^3P_1 → ^3P_0 ground state transition of C_I emission toward ζ Oph. We compare this observation with predictions made from Copernicus ultraviolet absorption measurements of the population of the ^3P_1 level and with millimeter wave observations of CO

Pulse transit time: a new approach to haemodynamic monitoring in obstetric spinal anaesthesia

Part of the Portfolio Thesis by Geoffrey H. Sharwood-Smith: The inferior vena caval compression theory of hypotension in obstetric spinal anaesthesia: studies in normal and preeclamptic pregnancy, a literature review and revision of fundamental concepts, available at http://hdl.handle.net/10023/1815Original abstract presented at the Obstetric Anaesthetisits' Association congress 2002, Nottingham, 9-10 May.Postprin

Pulse transit time confirms altered response to spinal anaesthesia in pregnancy induced hypertension

Poster presented at the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ISSHP)Congress, Toronto 2002.Part of the Portfolio Thesis by Geoffrey H. Sharwood-Smith: The inferior vena caval compression theory of hypotension in obstetric spinal anaesthesia: studies in normal and preeclamptic pregnancy, a literature review and revision of fundamental concepts, available at http://hdl.handle.net/10023/1815Postprin