Does Eco-labeling of Services Matter? Evidence from Higher Education

Eco-labeling of services has become increasingly common, yet little empirical evidence exists concerning its effectiveness. We address this gap in the literature by analyzing a highly visible eco-label, the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), in the sector of higher education. We match information about the ACUPCC to the US Department of Education IPEDS database to examine the impact of signing on student applications, admissions, and enrollment. We mainly utilize a difference-in-difference approach to identify the effects of interest but confirm results with an interrupted time series model. We find that signing the ACUPCC increases applications and admitted students by 2.5–3.5 %. However, the evidence regarding enrollment is weaker with only some specifications finding increases of around 1–2 %. Overall, there is considerable heterogeneity across sectors and selectivity of the institutions. These results show that, at the minimum, voluntary and information-based approaches (VIBAs) for services can be effective in generating visibility and influencing less-costly consumer behavior

The market potential of the South African apple industry: Strategies and options

This paper uses one of four possible areas of strategic market research, namely Trademaps , to analyse the South African market potential for deciduous fruit. It isolates the apple industry to illustrate the application of Trademaps. An overview of the export performance within the apple industry is given. Export Trademaps are then utilised to analyse the trade flows and the market potential of South African apples on the world market. The Trademaps generated are based on trade data for the years 1995 to 1999 as reported by nearly 100 trading nations in the COMTRADE database of the United Nations Statistical Division. Possible strategies and options are suggested, given the results of the Trademap analysis. It is concluded that this analysis demonstrates the usefulness of Trademaps as a research tool to provide market information on new and existing markets.Crop Production/Industries,

Modelling fertiliser use in the grain crop and oilseed sectors of South Africa

A Partial Equilibrium (PE) model is developed to model fertiliser use in the grain crop and oilseed sectors to assess the impact of changes in the physical and economic environment on production and fertiliser use. Since the adoption of a policy of trade liberalisation and the shift towards a free market for agricultural products, the actual cropping patterns of grain crops have moved closer to the expected optimum production pattern. It is shown that the total area cultivated will decrease by 2,4 percent. Results show that except for the area under sunflower (that remains unchanged) and yellow maize that increases, the area utilised by other crops will decrease. Fertiliser use is directly correlated with production patterns in the provinces. A comparison of the base-case scenario and optimum solution revealed that the movement from a base to an optimum solution results in a drop in total area cultivated, production and exports. Fertiliser use correspondingly decreases.Crop Production/Industries,

Nucleosynthesis in Fast Expansions of High-Entropy, Proton Rich Matter

We demonstrate that nucleosynthesis in rapid, high-entropy expansions of proton-rich matter from high temperature and density can result in a wider variety of abundance patterns than heretofore appreciated. In particular, such expansions can produce iron-group nuclides, p-process nuclei, or even heavy, neutron-rich isotopes. Such diversity arises because the nucleosynthesis enters a little explored regime in which the free nucleons are not in equilibrium with the abundant alpha particles. This allows nuclei significantly heavier than iron to form in t he presence of abundant free nucleons early in the expansion. As the temperature drops, nucleons increasingly assemble into alpha particles and heavier nuclei. If the assembly is efficient, the resulting depletion of free neutrons allows disintegrat ion flows to drive nuclei back down to iron and nickel. If this assembly is inefficient, then the large abundance of free nucleons prevents the disintegration flows and leaves a distribution of heavy nuclei after reaction freezeout. For cases in between, an intermediate abundance distribution, enriched in p-process isotopes, is frozen out. These last expansions may contribute to the solar system's supply of the p-process nuclides if mildly proton-rich, high-entropy matter is ejected from proto-neutron stars winds or other astrophysical sites. Also sign ificant is the fact that, because the nucleosynthesis is primary, the signature of this nucleosyn thesis may be evident in metal poor stars.Comment: 11 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure. Submitted to ApJ Letter

Site determination and thermally assisted tunneling in homogenous nucleation

A combined low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory study on the binding and diffusion of copper monomers, dimers, and trimers adsorbed on Cu(111) is presented. Whereas atoms in trimers are found in fcc sites only, monomers as well as atoms in dimers can occupy the stable fcc as well as the metastable hcp site. In fact the dimer fcc-hcp configuration was found to be only 1.3 meV less favorable with respect to the fcc-fcc configuration. This enables a confined intra-cell dimer motion, which at temperatures below 5 K is dominated by thermally assisted tunneling.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Why Customers Value Mass-customized Products: The Importance of Process Effort and Enjoyment

We test our hypotheses on 186 participants designing their own scarves with an MC toolkit. After completing the process, they submitted binding bids for "their" products in Vickrey auctions. We therefore observe real buying behavior, not merely stated intentions. We find that the subjective value of a self-designed product (i.e., one's bid in the course of the auction) is indeed not only impacted by the preference fit the customer expects it to deliver, but also by (1) the process enjoyment the customer reports, (2) the interaction of preference fit and process enjoyment, and (3) the interaction of preference fit and perceived process effort. In addition to its main effect, we interpret preference fit as a moderator of the valuegenerating effect of process evaluation: In cases where the outcome of the process is perceived as positive (high preference fit), the customer also interprets process effort as a positive accomplishment, and this positive affect adds (further) value to the product. It appears that the perception of the self-design process as a good or bad experience is partly constructed on the basis of the outcome of the process. In the opposite case (low preference fit), effort creates a negative affect which further reduces the subjective value of the product. Likewise, process enjoyment is amplified by preference fit, although enjoyment also has a significant main effect, which means that regardless of the outcome, customers attribute higher value to a self-designed product if they enjoy the process. The importance of the self-design process found in this study bears clear relevance for companies which offer or plan to offer MC systems. It is not sufficient to design MC toolkits in such a way that they allow customers to design products according to their preferences. The affect caused by this process is also highly important. Toolkits should therefore stimulate positive affective reactions and at the same time keep negative affect to a minimum. (authors' abstract

Classes of generalized functions with finite type regularities

We introduce and analyze spaces and algebras of generalized functions which correspond to Hölder, Zygmund, and Sobolev spaces of functions. The main scope of the paper is the characterization of the regularity of distributions that are embedded into the corresponding space or algebra of generalized functions with finite type regularities

A multi-data source surveillance system to detect a bioterrorism attack during the G8 summit in Scotland

In 18 weeks, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) deployed a syndromic surveillance system to early-detect natural or intentional disease outbreaks during the G8 Summit 2005 at Gleneagles, Scotland. The system integrated clinical and non-clinical datasets. Clinical datasets included Accident and Emergency (A and E) syndromes, and General Practice (GPs) codes grouped into syndromes. Non-clinical data included telephone calls to a nurse helpline, laboratory test orders, and hotel staff absenteeism. A cumulative sum-based detection algorithm and a log-linear regression model identified signals in the data. The system had a fax-based track for real-time identification of unusual presentations. Ninety-five signals were triggered by the detection algorithms and four forms were faxed to HPS. Thirteen signals were investigated. The system successfully complemented a traditional surveillance system in identifying a small cluster of gastroenteritis among the police force and triggered interventions to prevent further cases