Aggregate Measures of Income and Output in Canada and the United States: Implications for Productivity and Living Standards

The objectives of this article are to clarify definitions and to produce estimates of the eight aggregate measures of income and product (gross domestic product, gross domestic income, gross national product, gross national income, net domestic product, net domestic income, net national product and net national income) for Canada and the United States over the 1980-2008 period. The article also discusses the implications of the eight measures for productivity and living standards analysis. It concludes that GDP and NDP are the most appropriate measures of output for productivity analysis, while NNI is the most appropriate measure of income for the analysis of living standards because it captures the impact on real income of terms of trade changes, net income received from abroad, and the sustainability of the capital stock.gross domestic product, gross domestic income, gross national product, gross national income, net domestic product, net domestic income,net national product, net national income, productivity, living standards

How the perceived effectiveness of a female coach is Influenced by their apparent masculinity/femininity

The aim of this study was to investigate how the apparent masculinity/femininity of a coach influenced others’ perceptions of their ability to successfully interact with their athletes. Seventy-three participants (44 males, 29 females, Mage=23.8 SD= ± 8.41) watched four videos depicting a coach working with a group of athletes. Each video was the same but featured the four combinations of masculinised/feminised coach and male/female athletes. Participants rated the coach on perceived relationship quality, empathy, and competency. There was a main effect in relationship quality (closeness) and three of four subscales of coaching competency, with the masculinised coach rated higher than the feminised coach. There was also a non-significant trend for the feminised coach to score higher in relationship quality and competency when working with male athletes compared to female athletes, and the masculinised coach to score higher with females. For affective empathy, there was a main effect for athlete sex, with both coaches rated higher working with male athletes. There was also a non-significant trend for both coaches’ cognitive empathy to be rated higher when working with male athletes. The perception of the masculinity/femininity of a coach influences how others understand their interactions even when the behaviours of that coach are similar across situations. Coaches need to be aware that gender-based stereotypes may influence how others perceive their competency. This could potentially affect coach effectiveness and career progression

The influence of gender on perceptions of coaches’ relationships with their athletes:a novel video-based methodology

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of coach and athlete gender on perceptions of a coach through the use of a novel video-based method. Forty-one participants (16 males, 25 females, Mage=32.76 SD= ± 11.57) watched four videos depicting a coach and an athlete having a conversation about the athlete’s de-selection from a squad. Each video featuring different gender combinations of the coach and athlete. Participants rated the coach on perceived relationship quality and perceived empathy. Analysis showed a main effect for coach gender with female coaches being rated higher than male coaches for relationship quality and empathy, and a main effect for athlete gender with all coaches perceived as displaying a greater level of affective empathy when paired with a female athlete. Coaches need to be aware that their actions may be interpreted differently based on their gender and that of the athletes they are working with. This could potentially impact on coach effectiveness and the outcomes of their behaviours

Exploring the challenges of implementing e-health: a protocol for an update of a systematic review of reviews.

There is great potential for e-health to deliver cost-effective, quality healthcare and spending on e-health systems by governments and healthcare systems is increasing worldwide. However, the literature often describes problematic and unsuccessful attempts to implement these new technologies into routine clinical practice. To understand and address the challenges of implementing e-health, a systematic review was conducted in 2009, which identified several conceptual barriers and facilitators to implementation. As technology is rapidly changing and new e-health solutions are constantly evolving to meet the needs of current practice, an update of this review is deemed necessary to understand current challenges to the implementation of e-health. This research aims to identify, summarise and synthesise currently available evidence, by undertaking a systematic review of reviews to explore the barriers and facilitators to implementing e-health across a range of healthcare settings

The Perceived Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used by millions of consumers in their daily lives. Although this technology is providing convenience, information, and instant gratification the underlying moral framework that AI uses remains largely unknown to the consumers of the technology. Two of the mostly widely used moral approaches (deontology and teleology), and their implications for AI, are discussed. The context of chatbots that use AI is examined, specifically exploring Amazon’s Alexa. The context illustrates the issue of the latent moral frameworks that AI technologies use when interacting with consumers or the environment. Although AI holds the promise of many potential benefits, they may come at a cost currently unknown to consumers. Globalization concerns and potential solutions are discussed

Festival's Defining Moment. [review]

Let’s start with "Gulpilil". A project initiated by Festival director Stephen Page and Belvoir Company B director Neil Armfield, this theatre monologue featuring one of Australia’s most distinguished screen actors was the subject of much speculation. There was talk that the rehearsals weren’t going well, that they were taking place in a cave in the Blue Mountains, that David Gulpilil was finding it all too much and had gone back to his home in Ramingining in Arnhem Land. Even Page conceded, with his trademark candour, that he was worried that this Festival commission might not happen

Relationships between Team-Referent Attributions and Sport Outcomes: Moderating Effects of Team Contextual Factors

People’s explanations for why team events occur (i.e., team-referent attributions) are instrumental in subsequent cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses. The nature of these relationships is likely dependent on the contexts in which they occur. The purpose of this PhD was to examine the extent to which contextual factors structure the relationships between attributions and sport outcomes. Chapters 1 and 2 provide an introduction and detail three team contextual factors that could structure the relationships between team-referent attributions and sport outcomes. The subsequent three chapters detail empirical investigations examining if these contextual factors moderate team-referent attribution-sport outcome relationships. In Chapter 3 the moderating roles of dispositional team- referent attributions on the relationships between situational team-referent attributions and collective efficacy were examined. Results indicated that adaptive dispositional attributions might buffer against the negative effects of maladaptive situational attributions. In Chapter 4, two studies were used to examine the moderating role of social identity on the relationships between team-referent attributions and sport outcomes. Results indicated that relationships between attributions and collective efficacy vary at different levels of social identity. In Chapter 5, the effect of team-referent attributions and attributional consensus on interpersonal outcomes and performance were examined. Two experiments in which participants were led to believe their teammate agreed or disagreed with their personal team-referent attribution revealed that high attributional consensus led to more positive interpersonal and performance outcomes. Chapter 6 provides a summary and theoretical explanation for the findings, as well as strengths, limitations, and future directions relevant to the research conducted. At a specific attribution level, the results of this thesis indicate that athletes’ teams might help structure the way they think about their attributions. At a broad level, the results of this thesis highlight the importance of considering contextual factors when exploring group level constructs within sport

Self-Service Technologies that Appear Human Interacting with Customers: Effects on Third-Party Observers

This dissertation examines the effects of viewing and hearing service failure and recovery interactions between self-service technologies (SSTs) and customers on third-party observers. Third-party observers are those that observe the actions of other customers as they interact with a firm in some way. These observations could occur in the present (face-to-face) or past (watching a video or listening to an audio recording). Third-party observers provide a unique perspective as they can provide a more neutral perspective of a failed service transaction and recovery as compared to the involved customer and firm. This dissertation contributes to the SST literature and to theory by creating a virtual service agent acceptance model. An important grounding theory used is attribution theory. Simply, attribution theory (Heider 1958; Weiner 1985, 2006) posits that we are motivated to attribute meaningful causes to action and behavior. The theory suggests that when faced with the task of appraising an outcome, we broadly make either dispositional attributions, which reside firmly within the individual, or situational attributions, which refer to external factors outside of the individual. Attribution theory has been extended to the service context to explain where failures are attributed, and the causal inferences made by customers when a service failure occurs. While much literature has been written on the attribution process with the interaction between human employees and customers, the literature remains sparse on attribution theory as it relates to third-party observers viewing interactions between SSTs and customers. Additionally, much of the previous research has assumed the locus of causality to be unambiguous, assuming the cause of service failures lies within the firm or employee. This may not always be the case with new SSTs, such as avatars, and the cause of the failure may indeed lie within the customer or with situational aspects. I intend to fill this gap with the dissertation and delve into the mechanisms that drive attribution. As artificial intelligence increases the capabilities of self-service technology and these SSTs progress to be closer and closer to being indistinguishable from real humans, this research is important to managers of firms as they will make decisions on employing self-service technologies, human employees or a mixture of both working side by side. Study 1 specifically explores a service failure and recovery situation between a customer and an SST (i.e., an avatar). Study 1 finds main effects of customer attributes, avatar attributes and important interaction effects of service elements that impact attributions of failure. Further, Study 1 shows how these attributions of failure impact the third-party observer’s satisfaction toward the avatar. Furthermore, Study 1 shows how their perceived satisfaction affects their future approach intention of avatars. These are important findings as they show that third-party observers are able to evaluate service interactions that fail and subsequent recoveries to the failure and use this information to determine their perceived satisfaction and potentially whether or not they intend to use the services they observed in the future. Lastly, Study 1 adds to the attribution theory literature as it left the locus of causality dimension ambiguous allowing the respondent, acting as the third-party observer, to attribute the failure to not only the firm or avatar, but also the customer. This is an important gap to fill as it allows the observer the opportunity to attribute failure to the customer where much of the previous literature has not. Study 2 further extends the virtual service agent acceptance model as it uses appraisal theory to ground the prediction concerning negative emotions and coping responses to an observed failure. Simply, appraisal theory predicts that when observing an event, an observer appraises the event, experiences emotions through this appraisal and copes with the observed event (Lazarus, 1991; Lazarus and Smith, 1988). Study 2 specifically shows the effects of service elements on emotions and coping resources. Moreover, it shows the effects of these coping resources on choice behavior toward SSTs of third-party observers. Study 2 adds to and extends Study 1 and adds robustness to the findings. Together, these studies contribute to the literature in three ways 1) Adding to the emerging AI powered SST literature, 2) blending the established theories of attribution and appraisal theory to form the virtual service agent acceptance model to explain and predict the acceptance of SSTs by third-party observers, and 3) adding to the others literature showing the importance of the effects of observing a customer interact with the firm on third parties in a service interaction