Regional determinants of access to entrepreneurial finance: a conceptualisation and empirical study in Norwegian startup ecosystems

This paper presents hypotheses and a novel examination of the influence of a set of conditional factors concerning regional industries, startup culture, ecosystem collaboration and non-financial investor resources on perceived access to startup finance. We conducted a survey of 131 nascent, early-phase or mature startups and founders associated with entrepreneurial ecosystems in rural and urban Norway. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Two main findings are that (1) startups that open up for outside involvement at an earlier phase experience better perceived access to finance and (2) unrelated ventures in homogenous industrial regions find it harder to attract finance. However, we found only a weak, indirect effect of ecosystem collaboration on perceived access to funding, which was mediated by access to non-financial resources. This study represents a rare empirical contribution to the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the findings provide empirical support for the feedback loops in ecosystems that have previously been theorized in the literature. These issues should be considered by policymakers who wish to promote ecosystem development.publishedVersionPaid open acces

Rare Kaon Decays: Matching Long And Short Distance Physics In K - > Pi e+ e-

In this thesis we try to understand the non-perturbative regime of QCD through long and short distance matching of the decay amplitude K->pi e^+ e^-. The first Chapter contains brief introduction and motivation then in the end we introduce the notations and transformation properties of various quantities and tables of phenomenological parameters. In the second chapter we discuss the Chiral Symmetry and its breaking and the construction of Delta S = 0,1 Lagrangians. Then we apply chiral Lagrangian to calculate the amplitude of K^+ -> pi^+ pi^- decay at one loop in section of the second chapter, the approach is a little bit different than that of Ecker, Pick and Raffael but a few tricks introduced by them were used. In section 2.7.3 we introduce the beyond leading order dispersive calculation of the same decay by D'Ambrosio et al. where the phenomenological parameters a_i and b_i (that completely fixes the form factor of the decay under study) were introduced and were predicted in the last chapter. In chapter 3 we start with a brief discussion of long and short distance matching of QCD and the calculation of Wilson coefficients. Then we introduce in reasonable detail the Bardeen, Buras and G`erard (BBG) scheme of matching which plays the central role in our work. In the last chapter we apply BBG scheme to calculate the form factor of the deacy K -> pi e^+ e^-, first in section 4.0.6 without vector meson resonances and find values which are extremely small compared to the experimental values then in section 4.1 we introduce the resonances through Hidden Local Symmetry (HLS) and construct the weak chiral Lagrangian containing vector coupling based on the Gilman-Wise Delta S = 1 Hamiltonian, we then use it to calculate the appropriate extension of the BBG long distane evolution operator introduced in chapter 3 and calculate the a_i and b_i parameters. Vector inclusion shows huge enhancements in both parameters. We provide detailed evaluations of the loop integrals in Appendix B, Feynman rules and other conventions are presented in Appendix A and in Appendix C we present the large N structure of relevant Wilson coefficients. Notations, symbols and transformation properties of quantities along with various phenomenological parameters and their values are provided in the end of the introductory chapter

The Child Health Scenario in India: An Application of Bayesian Approach

Background: The child mortality rate of a place is an indication of the basic health facility prevalent there. A place with better medical facility records low child mortality. The child mortality rate reduction is not as expected in many developing countries. In last two decades the child death rate has not been reduced significantly in India. The aim of this work is to explore the child death rate in different Indian states. Materials and Methods: The Bayesian approach has been applied to control the over dispersion due to presence of zero (i.e. no-death count) in the data set. The Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP) has been applied to control the presence of over the Zero Inflation Distribution. The data set has been considered from Indian National Health and Family Survey (NFHS-3) conducted during 2005-2006. The women having at least one living child of age less than five years has been selected as study subjects

Investigation of the chemical profiles of seven wood species for their potential applications

Determination of the chemical composition of biomaterial is important for their valued utilization in biorefinery. In this study, the chemical composition of seven wood species, i.e. lambu (Khaya anthotheca), raj-koroi (Albizia richardiana), jhau (Casuarina equisetifolia), sil-koroi (Albizia procera), katbadam (Terminalia catappa), jolpai (Elaeocarpus robustus), and arjun (Terminalia arjuna) were examined. The chemical characterization of these wood species can expedite a further study on the extraction of cellulose, lignin, and extractive. alpha-cellulose content was in the range of 37.0% to 42.1% and lignin content was 20.4% to 34.1%. The solubility in 1% caustic soda was 16.1% to 24.3%. The a-cellulose and lignin content were similar to other wood species. Therefore, these species can be a potential source of raw material for biorefinery

Investigation of the potentiality of five bamboo species in biorefinery through analysis of chemical profiles

Determination of the chemical composition of biomaterial is important for their valued utilization in biorefinery. In this study, the chemical composition of five bamboo species, i.e., mitinga (Bambusa tulda), borak (Bambusa balcooa), rengoon (Thyrsostachys oliveri), orah (Dendrocalamus longispathus), and bajja (Bambusa vulgaris) were determined. The chemical characterization of these bamboo species can expedite a further study on the extraction of cellulose and lignin. alpha-cellulose content was in the range of 42.7-45.7% and Klason lignin content was 22.4-28.2%. The ash content was 1.8-4.3% for the studied five bamboo species. The alpha-cellulose and lignin content were similar to other non-timber spices. The ash content was lower than other non-timber species. Therefore, these species can be a potential source of raw material for biorefinery

THE DETERMINANTS OF ONLINE INFORMATION DISCLOSURE

ii Online users ’ concerns about collusive information exchanges and fears of violation of privacy rights of individuals have the potential to stem the even-flow of e-businesses. Misuse of information can also have a major strategic impact on a company, damaging its reputation, and limiting the trust it can foster in relationships with customers, employees, channel members, and competitors; thus having a crippling effect on its customer relationship management programs in its entirety. The research recognizes that there may be a dichotomy between privacy attitudes and actual behaviour, and highlights that economic studies of privacy worked on the assumption that individuals are rational agents, which fails to answer the above dichotomy. The paper posits instead that the individual decision process with respect to disclosure of information differs from that of the collective, and there is a pressing need for focusing on the individual’s privacy sensitive behaviour taking into account one’s background, environmental context, location etc. The paper intends to extend previous research by identifying key factors and explores any new factors that affect a customer’s online information disclosure and proposes a theoretical model of online information disclosure that considers the cognitive process of an individual. Finally, it draws a cognitive map of a how an individual’s information disclosure behaviour is shaped

The determinants of online information disclosure

Online users' concerns about collusive information exchanges and fears of violation of privacy rights of individuals have the potential to stem the even-flow of e-businesses. Misuse of information can also have a major strategic impact on a company, damaging its reputation, and limiting the trust it can foster in relationships with customers, employees, channel members, and competitors; thus having a crippling effect on its customer relationship management programs in its entirety. The research recognizes that there may be a dichotomy between privacy attitudes and actual behaviour, and highlights that economic studies of privacy worked on the assumption that individuals are rational agents, which fails to answer the above dichotomy. The paper posits instead that the individual decision process with respect to disclosure of information differs from that of the collective, and there is a pressing need for focusing on the individual's privacy sensitive behaviour taking into account one's background, environmental context, location etc. The paper intends to extend previous research by identifying key factors and explores any new factors that affect a customer's online information disclosure and proposes a theoretical model of online information disclosure that considers the cognitive process of an individual. Finally, it draws a cognitive map of a how an individual's information disclosure behaviour is shaped.Godkänd; 2005; 20061211 (haneit)</p

A trust-privacy model of customers' willingness to be profiled and to transact online : theoretical model and empirical estimation

Privacy concerns are cited to be on the rise due to intense personalization efforts by online firms. Alongside, trust placed in stores has been identified as a key component behind consumer willingness to transact online. In this paper we examine the concepts of trust, risk perceptions, privacy concerns and consumer willingness to disclose information online with the consumer willingness to transact online as the desired outcome. Based upon the literature review, the thesis is divided into two parts and follows a multistage research methodology. Study A adopts a qualitative research approach using in-depth interviews and analyses respondent data using a cognitive mapping tool to chart the decision flow of participants. The results confirm the presence of several antecedents in individual customers' willingness to disclose information online. It also identifies the presence of an additional variable as a possible antecedent to trust formation. Based upon the theoretical foundation laid down and the results obtained from Study A, the latter part of the thesis (Study B) proposes and empirically tests a theoretical model aimed at holistically examining the factors behind consumers' willingness to be profiled online and their willingness to partake in transactions. A survey was conducted among users of a popular voice over internet protocol service, and hypothesized relationships within a proposed model was tested for fit using structural equation modeling. Results further confirm the presence of the locational variable suggested by study A, as well as indicate that privacy concerns is not a uni-dimensional factor as suggested by earlier research, but rather a bi-dimensional factor - involving willing and unwilling disclosure scenarios. Perceived risk and three categories of trust are found to be the more important criteria when faced with a transaction scenario. Also, notably, reputation is found to be a surrogate of familiarity in case of an online firm. Furthermore, no significant relationship was found between willingness to disclose information and willingness to transact, indicating that while assuring customers about privacy concern related factors can lead to potential customers becoming willing to disclose their data online, the same may not be enough to influence their willingness to transact.Godkänd; 2007; 20071126 (ysko