Efficiency and productivity of Singapore’s manufacturing sector 2001-2010: An analysis using Simar and Wilson’s (2007) bootstrapped truncated approach

This paper seeks to explain the lagging productivity in Singapore’s manufacturing noted in the statements of the Economic Strategies Committee Report 2010. Two methods are employed: the Malmquist productivity to measure total factor productivity change and Simar and Wilson’s (J Econ, 136:31–64, 2007) bootstrapped truncated regression approach. In the first stage, the nonparametric data envelopment analysis is used to measure technical efficiency. To quantify the economic drivers underlying inefficiencies, the second stage employs a bootstrapped truncated regression whereby bias-corrected efficiency estimates are regressed against explanatory variables. The findings reveal that growth in total factor productivity was attributed to efficiency change with no technical progress. Most industries were technically inefficient throughout the period except for ‘Pharmaceutical Products’. Sources of efficiency were attributed to quality of worker and flexible work arrangements while incessant use of foreign workers lowered efficiency

Significance of Employing a Multilateral Index Formula for Interstate Comparisons: A Case Study of the Australian Farm Sector

The paper demonstrates the drawbacks on using official data and binary indices when attempting an interstate comparison of output and productivity growth. The use of official data in one’s national currency still requires a numerary currency due to price variations across states. Even with the use of index number formulas, some indices have shown to fail the transitivity property when more than 2 states are concerned. Hence the paper aims to demonstrate the significance of using a multilateral index formula like the Geary-Khamis (GK) method, EKS method and CCD method for derivation of appropriate currency converters or purchasing power parities (PPPs) to enable proper quantification of real output at the multilateral level. Subsequently, the paper demonstrates the variations in results between official aggregates and multilateral aggregates based on the GK method.

Efficiency of Research Performance of Australian Universities: A Reappraisal using a Bootstrap Truncated Regression Approach

The motivation of the study stems from the results reported in the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2010 report. The report showed that only 12 universities performed research at or above international standards, of which, the Group of Eight (G8) universities filled the top eight spots. While performance of universities was based on number of research outputs, total amount of research income and other quantitative indicators, the measure of efficiency or productivity was not considered. The objectives of paper are twofold. First, to provide a review of the research performance of 37 Australian universities using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) bootstrap approach of Simar and Wilson (J Econ, 136:31–64, 2007). Second, to determine sources of productivity drivers by regressing the efficiency scores against a set of environmental variables.Data envelopment analysis, efficiency, universities, bootstrap truncated regression, environmental variables.

Efficiency, technology and productivity change in Australian universities, 1998-2003

In this study, productivity growth in thirty-five Australian universities is investigated using nonparametric frontier techniques over the period 1998 to 2003. The inputs included in the analysis are full-time equivalent academic and non-academic staff, non-labour expenditure and undergraduate and postgraduate student load and the outputs are undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD completions, national competitive and industry grants and publications. Using Malmquist indices, productivity growth is decomposed into technical efficiency and technological change. The results indicate that annual productivity growth averaged 3.3 percent across all universities, with a range between -1.8 percent and 13.0 percent, and was largely attributable to technological progress. However, separate analyses of research-only and teaching-only productivity indicate that most of this gain was attributable to improvements in research-only productivity associated with pure technical and some scale efficiency improvements. While teaching-only productivity also contributed, the largest source of gain in that instance was technological progress offset by a slight fall in technical efficiency.Productivity; technical and scale efficiency; technological progress; Malmquist indices; universities.

Malmquist Indices of Pre and Post-Deregulation Productivity, Efficiency and Technological Change in the Singaporean Banking Sector

By the end of the 1990s, the Singaporean government had recognised the need to open up its banking sector so as to remain competitive in the global economy. The Monetary Authority of Singapore thus began deregulation of the banking sector in 1999 to strengthening the competitiveness of local banks relative to their foreign competition through mergers. This paper employs a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index to provide measure of productivity, technological change and efficiency gains over the period 1995-2005. The findings reveal some total factor productivity growth associated with deregulation and scale efficiency improvement largely from mergers amongst the local banks.Efficiency, productivity; deregulation; Malmquist indices; banking

A Computational Study to Understand the Surface Reactivity of Gold Nanoparticles with Amines and DNA

We conducted a computational adsorption study of methylamine on various surface-models of gold nanoparticle which is facetted by multiple {111} and {100} planes. In addition to these flat surfaces, our models include the stepped surfaces (ridges) formed along the intersections of these planes. Binding on the flat surface was fairly weak, but substantially stronger on the ridges by an average of 4.4 kcal/mol. This finding supports the idea that ssDNA’s interaction with gold nanoparticles occurs through the amines on the purine/pyrrimidine rings. Also, this typically undesirable interaction between DNA and gold nanoparticles is expected to increase as the particle size decreases. Our analysis suggests that particle size is an important controlling parameter to reduce this interaction.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Preparation of DNA-Functionalised CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots

We functionalised core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDots) with short-chain 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3MPA) to render these nanocrystalline semiconductor water-soluble. The ligand-exchange reaction was significantly improved with the use of an organic base to first remove the thiolic hydrogen. Non-bound 3MPA could be removed from the colloid by dialysis, but it was found that the choice of membrane is important. Cellulose membrane obliterated the photoluminescence of the QDots, while cellulose-acetate membrane worked well. Amine-modified DNA was then attached to the QDots through amide bond linkage, using EDC and NHS as reaction promoters. The pH of the reaction medium has an important impact on the successful attachment of functional DNA on the QDots.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Agricultural productivity in the presence of undesirable output: The case of African agriculture

The motivation for this study stems from two major concerns that are interlinked. First, the on-going food security crisis of African countries. Second, the negative impact greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions from agriculture have on future food production which worsens the food insecurity problem. The conundrum SSA faces is the need to increase food output through productivity growth while minimizing GHG emissions. To measure changes in productivity growth and GHG emissions, this study evaluates agricultural performance of 18 African countries by utilizing the Malmquist-Luenberger index to incorporate good and bad outputs for the years 1980 to 2012. The empirical evidence demonstrates that productivity is overestimated when not considering bad outputs in the production model. The analysis will also provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of previous mitigation methods which would then allow for appropriate course of action to achieve the twin objectives of increasing agriculture productivity while reducing GHG emissions

Science and Film-making

The essay reviews the literature, mostly historical, on the relationship between science and film-making, with a focus on the science documentary. It then discusses the circumstances of the emergence of the wildlife making-of documentary genre. The thesis examined here is that since the early days of cinema, film-making has evolved from being subordinate to science, to being an equal partner in the production of knowledge, controlled by non-scientists

DNA binding shifts the redox potential of the transcription factor SoxR

Electrochemistry measurements on DNA-modified electrodes are used to probe the effects of binding to DNA on the redox potential of SoxR, a transcription factor that contains a [2Fe-2S] cluster and is activated through oxidation. A DNA-bound potential of +200 mV versus NHE (normal hydrogen electrode) is found for SoxR isolated from Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This potential value corresponds to a dramatic shift of +490 mV versus values found in the absence of DNA. Using Redmond red as a covalently bound redox reporter affixed above the SoxR binding site, we also see, associated with SoxR binding, an attenuation in the Redmond red signal compared with that for Redmond red attached below the SoxR binding site. This observation is consistent with a SoxR-binding-induced structural distortion in the DNA base stack that inhibits DNA-mediated charge transport to the Redmond red probe. The dramatic shift in potential for DNA-bound SoxR compared with the free form is thus reconciled based on a high-energy conformational change in the SoxR–DNA complex. The substantial positive shift in potential for DNA-bound SoxR furthermore indicates that, in the reducing intracellular environment, DNA-bound SoxR is primarily in the reduced form; the activation of DNA-bound SoxR would then be limited to strong oxidants, making SoxR an effective sensor for oxidative stress. These results more generally underscore the importance of using DNA electrochemistry to determine DNA-bound potentials for redox-sensitive transcription factors because such binding can dramatically affect this key protein property