Should I make or should I buy? Innovation strategies and governance structures in the Italian food sector

This paper analyses the “make or buy” decision of food firms applied to innovation strategy using 389 Italian food firms data from the Unicredit 2007 database. We develop a set of hypothesis from three theoretical perspectives such as transaction cost economics, strategic management and resource-based view. Our paper aims at highlight whether or not different firm’s features can be linked to the decision to make or buy. We found out that these two decisions are positively interlinked. Moreover we also found out that it is difficult to indicate a clear-cut behaviour for the Italian food firms if we refer to making or buying decisions. We discuss these results and use them to bring some interesting outcomes to discuss managerial implications and/or policy interventions in this highly strategic domain

Intrinsic expansions for averaged diffusion processes

We show that the rate of convergence of asymptotic expansions for solutions of SDEs is generally higher in the case of degenerate (or partial) diffusion compared to the elliptic case, i.e. it is higher when the Brownian motion directly acts only on some components of the diffusion. In the scalar case, this phenomenon was already observed in (Gobet and Miri 2014) using Malliavin calculus techniques. In this paper, we provide a general and detailed analysis by employing the recent study of intrinsic functional spaces related to hypoelliptic Kolmogorov operators in (Pagliarani et al. 2016). Relevant applications to finance are discussed, in particular in the study of path-dependent derivatives (e.g. Asian options) and in models incorporating dependence on past information

GIS Integration for Quantitatively Determining the Capabilities of Five Remote Sensors for Resource Exploration

To assist the U.S. Geological Survey in carrying out a Congressional mandate to investigate the use of side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) for resources exploration, a research program was conducted to define the contribution of SLAR imagery to structural geologic mapping and to compare this with contributions from other remote sensing systems. Imagery from two SLAR systems and from three other remote sensing systems was interpreted, and the resulting information was digitized, quantified and intercompared using a computer-assisted geographic information system (GIS). The study area covers approximately 10,000 square miles within the Naval Petroleum Reserve, Alaska, and is situated between the foothills of the Brooks Range and the North Slope. The principal objectives were: (1) to establish quantitatively, the total information contribution of each of the five remote sensing systems to the mapping of structural geology; (2) to determine the amount of information detected in common when the sensors are used in combination; and (3) to determine the amount of unique, incremental information detected by each sensor when used in combination with others. The remote sensor imagery that was investigated included real-aperture and synthetic-aperture radar imagery, standard and digitally enhanced LANDSAT MSS imagery, and aerial photos

Analysis of multi-sensor data, 12 September - 11 December 1968

Analysis of multi-sensor data obtained by Earth Resources Aircraft Progra

Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: The case of material use in the Dutch textile industry

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The aim of this paper is to gain insight into how requirements for transitioning to circular economy creates new organizational forms in inter-firm collaborations, and ultimately how they stimulate the emergence of new institutions enhancing sustainability. Two strands of literature, one on circular economy and one on institutional analysis, provide the theoretical background for this research. Currently a clearly formulated and unified theory on the institutions of circular economy is lacking. Therefore this research compares and contrasts empirical evidence from cases derived from the textile industry in The Netherlands, and concepts derived from institutional analysis and literature on circular economy to inductively build a cohesive conceptual framework. Using information from cases we identified two pathways to transition into circular economy and to manage circular material flows. We define these pathways Status Quo arrangements (SQ), when firms focus on optimizing up-cycling technologies and infrastructure in their circular relations and collaborations, and Product as Service arrangements (PAS), to indicate a focus on providing products in service contracts. Chain coordination, contracting, and financial mechanisms were identified as key organizational elements for creating new pathways to transition into circular materials flows. However in analyzing these elements we also highlight differences between SQ and PAS arrangements. SQ arrangements may have implications at the level of formal rules, for example by creating a new industry standards for up-cycled fabrics. PAS arrangements may have wider implications, for example by reshaping ownership in service contracts and creating cascading activities. Moving ownership to the supply chain will result in increased responsibility for materials and will create an incentive for improving quality of products, including their environmental performance. This is expected to generate positive socio-environmental impacts at a system level as well. Moreover PAS arrangements may have bottom up effects at a formal institutional level, resulting in alteration and creation of formal rules, for example in terms of new approaches to the ownership of materials

The Onset of Planet Formation in Brown Dwarf Disks

The onset of planet formation in protoplanetary disks is marked by the growth and crystallization of sub-micron-sized dust grains accompanied by dust settling toward the disk mid-plane. Here we present infrared spectra of disks around brown dwarfs and brown dwarf candidates. We show that all three processes occur in such cool disks in a way similar or identical to that in disks around low- and intermediate-mass stars. These results indicate that the onset of planet formation extends to disks around brown dwarfs, suggesting that planet formation is a robust process occurring in most young circumstellar disks.Comment: Published in Science 2005, vol 310, 834; 3 pages in final format, 4 figures + 8 pages Supporting Online Material. For final typeset, see http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/310/5749/834?eto

High-resolution Spectroscopy of [Ne II] Emission from TW Hya

We present high-resolution echelle spectra of [Ne II] 12.81 micron emission from the classical T Tauri star (CTTS) TW Hya obtained with MICHELLE on Gemini North. The line is centered at the stellar radial velocity and has an intrinsic FWHM of 21\pm 4 km/s. The line width is broader than other narrow emission lines typically associated with the disk around TW Hya. If formed in a disk, the line broadening could result from turbulence in a warm disk atmosphere, Keplerian rotation at an average distance of 0.1 AU from the star, or a photoevaporative flow from the optically-thin region of the disk. We place upper limits on the [Ne II] emission flux from the CTTSs DP Tau and BP Tau.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 18 pages, including 2 figures and 2 table

Gaussian lower bounds for non-homogeneous Kolmogorov equations with measurable coefficients

We prove Gaussian upper and lower bounds for the fundamental solutions of a class of degenerate parabolic equations satisfying a weak Hörmander condition. The bound is independent of the smoothness of the coefficients and generalizes classical results for uniformly parabolic equations

Geographic analysis of multiple sensor data from the NASA/USGS earth resources program

Qualitative and quantitative analyses were made of multi-sensor data acquired during aircraft missions. While the principal analysis effort was concentrated on imagery taken over test sites in Southern California, data were also studied from records acquired on missions over test sites at Phoenix, Chicago, Asheville, and New Orleans. The objectives of the analyses were: (1) to determine the capabilities of ten remote sensors in identifying the elements of information necessary in conducting geographic investigations in land use analysis, urban problems, surface energy budget, and soil moisture; (2) to determine the feasibility of using these sensors for these purposes at orbital altitudes; and (3) to collate and analyze ground and air data previously collected and assemble it in a format useful in the accomplishment of cost effectiveness studies