Documentation of model components EXPAMOD and CAPRI

ISBN no.: 978-90-8585-129-

Impact of infestation by parasitic weeds on rice farmers' productivity and technical efficiency in sub-Saharan Africa

Rice production is crucial for food security and income generation in sub-Saharan Africa. However, productivity and technical efficiency levels in rice production systems are severely constrained by biotic constraints such as parasitic weeds. This paper assesses the impact of infestation by parasitic weeds on rice farmers’ technical efficiency and examines the potential role of managerial factors in improving technical efficiency. Household and field survey data were collected from rice farmers in Cote d’Ivoire and Benin in West Africa. A stochastic frontier production function was estimated, which allows for identifying the levels of exogenous factors that prevent farmers from improving technical efficiency levels. The results suggest that farmers cope with parasitic weeds through learning from experiencing infestations by parasitic weed. The results will assist national extension in designing segmented training programmes that are better tailored to rice farmers’ needs and preventing food security from being jeopardized by parasitic weeds

Credence attributes and the quest for a higher price – A hedonic stochastic frontier approach

Food manufacturers that offer credence attributes, whose presence cannot be determined a priori, may fail to differentiate their products effectively and achieve higher prices if asymmetric information (on the producers' side) impairs their ability to reach consumers with higher willingness to pay. In this article, we assess whether manufacturers carrying products with credence attributes in their portfolio are able to obtain higher prices. To this end, we use a large database of yoghurt sales in Italy and a hedonic price model estimated using a stochastic frontier estimator. The results indicate that manufacturers that offer more credence attributes in their portfolios have the ability to price their products systematically at higher levels

Adoption of innovation in agriculture:A critical review of economic and psychological models

Two main models have been used to analyse farmers’ decisions toadopt an innovation; the first is based on the concept of utility maximisation(UM) and the second is based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Thisstudy uses a vote-count method to identify the effect of different variables onfarmers’ adoption decisions in 36 studies using either UM or the TPB. Resultsfrom the UM studies show that the explanatory variables mostly have aninsignificant effect on the adoption decision. When the effects are significant,the sign of the effect is inconsistent across studies. Results from the TPBstudies show that correlations between the psychological constructs used in thistype of model are significant in most cases. However, most variables are onlyused in one or two studies and it is therefore no

An international comparison of productivity change in the textile and clothing industry: a bootstrapped Malmquist index approach

Firms in the textile and clothing industry operate in competitive international markets characterized by the liberalized trade after the removal of multi-fiber agreement quotas in 2005, and have to address rapid changes in consumer preferences and production technology. Hence, improving competitiveness is crucial for firm survival. Competitiveness of the sector often depends on its firms meeting their production potential. This paper analyzes productivity changes in the textile and clothing industry worldwide during the period 1995-2004. A bootstrapped Malmquist approach is used to identify the respective contributions of technical change, technical efficiency change, and scale efficiency change. Moreover, differences in productivity changes across different groups of firms are statistically assessed. Our results show a relatively small overall productivity increase for both textile and clothing firms due to positive technical change, despite declines in technical and scale efficiency. Furthermore, our results indicate that productivity and its components differ for textile firms and clothing firms, for firms in countries that benefited and did not benefit from the quotas' elimination, and for firms in different regions. © 2014 The Author(s)

Hospital Costs of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Adults:A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Costs associated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are an important factor in establishing cost effectiveness. In this systematic review, we aimed to determine the total hospital costs of ECMO for adults. METHODS: The literature was retrieved from the PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases from inception to 4 March 2020 using the search terms ‘extracorporeal membrane oxygenation’ combined with ‘costs’; similar terms or phrases were then added to the search, i.e. ‘Extracorporeal Life Support’ or ‘ECMO’ or ‘ECLS’ combined with ‘costs’. We included any type of study (e.g. randomized trial or observational cohort) evaluating hospital costs of ECMO in adults (age ≥18 years). RESULTS: A total of 1768 unique articles were retrieved during our search. We assessed 74 full-text articles for eligibility, of which 14 articles were selected for inclusion in this review; six papers were from the US, five were from Europe, and one each from Japan, Australia, and Taiwan. The sample sizes ranged from 16 to 18,684 patients. One paper exclusively used prospective cost data collection, while all other papers used retrospective data collection. Five papers reported charges instead of costs. There was large variation in hospital costs, ranging from US$22,305 to US$334,608 (2019 values), largely depending on the indication for ECMO support and location. The highest reported costs were for lung transplant recipients who were receiving ECMO support in the US, and the lowest reported costs were for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation patients presenting with non-shockable rhythm in Japan. The additional costs of ECMO patients compared with non-ECMO patients varied between US$2518 and US$200,658. Personnel costs varied between 11 and 52% of the total amount. CONCLUSIONS: ECMO therapy is an advanced and expensive technology, although reported costs differ considerably depending on ECMO indication and whether charges or costs are measured. Combined with the ongoing gathering of outcome data, cost effectiveness per ECMO indication could be determined in the future. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41669-021-00272-9

Inventory of social entrepreneurial methods/tools for succesful PC3 implementation

In this paper, authors carried out an extensive literature revision to identify what contributes to the success of social enterprises operating in Base of the Pyramid (BoP) markets, thus leading to enhanced understanding of how social enterprises can operate in these markets. This includes identifying methods, instruments, tools and/or practices used by successful social enterprises, which distinct them from enterprises that fail to successfully serve the BoP markets. As part of a larger research in the field of development through co-creation, the Product Co-created Centres (PC3), the focus is on business innovation through engaging with, and building enterprises with the people at the BoP. This builds on the cutting edge work in the field of BoP strategy by Erik Simanis and Stuart Hart from the Cornell University, thus their work focusses on MNCs operating in BoP markets, whereas this study focusses on engaging the people at the BoP with entrepreneurial activities

Hemorrhagic complications during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation - The role of anticoagulation and platelets

PURPOSE: Hemorrhagic complications during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation are frequent and have a negative impact on outcome. We studied the association between activated partial thromboplastin time or platelet count and the occurrence of hemorrhagic complications. The secondary objective was to determine risk factors for hemorrhagic complications. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study in a single-center Dutch university hospital. We included all adult patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation admitted to the intensive care unit between 2010 and 2017. RESULTS: We included 164 consecutive patients of which 73 (45%) had a hemorrhagic complication. The most prevalent hemorrhagic complications were surgical site (62%) and cannula site bleeding (18%). Survival to discharge was 67% in the patients without a hemorrhagic complication and 33% in the patients with hemorrhagic complications (p < .01). A higher activated partial thromboplastin time in the 24 h prior was associated with the occurrence of hemorrhagic complications (adjusted hazard ratio per 10 s increase 1.14; (95% CI 1.05-1.24). Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, duration of support, and higher activated partial thromboplastin time were risk factors for the occurrence of hemorrhagic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Higher activated partial thromboplastin time is associated with the occurrence of hemorrhagic complications