Explaining variation in nascent entrepreneurship

This paper aims at explaining cross-country variation in nascent entrepreneurship. Regression analysis is applied using various explanatory variables derived from three different approaches. We make use of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database, including nascent entrepreneurship rates for 36 countries in 2002 as well as variables from standardized national statistics. The first approach relates the level of entrepreneurship of a country to its level of economic development. We find evidence for a U-shaped relationship. The second approach deals with a regime switch where the innovative advantage moves from large, established enterprises to small and new firms, because new technologies have reduced the importance of scale economies in many sectors. The third approach assumes that nascent entrepreneurship partly depends upon various non-economic conditions in the domains technology, demography, culture and institutions, influencing opportunities, resources, skills and preferences. Several indicators of these aggregate conditions are found to influence nascent entrepreneurship.

Explaining nascent entrepreneurship across countries

This paper aims at explaining cross-country variation in nascent entrepreneurship. Regression analysis is applied using various explanatory variables derived from three different approaches. We make use of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database, including nascent entrepreneurship rates for 36 countries in 2002 as well as variables from standardized national statistics. The first approach relates the level of entrepreneurship of a country to its level of economic development. We found evidence for a U-shaped relationship. The second approach deals with a regime switch where the innovative advantage moves from large, established enterprises to small and new firms, because new technologies have reduced the importance of scale economies in many sectors. The third approach assumes that nascent entrepreneurship depends upon aggregate conditions such as technology, demography, culture and institutions, influencing opportunities, resources, skills and preferences. Several indicators of these aggregate conditions are found to correlate with nascent entrepreneurship. A full model combining the three approaches includes a U-shaped relationship with per capita income as well as with Porter's innovative capacity index, in addition to effects of social security expenditure (-) and the total business ownership rate (+). Finally, a (former) communist-country dummy plays an important role.

Strong Authentication for Web Services using Smartcards

The popularity of the Internet and the variety of services it provides has been immense. Unfortunately, many of these services require the user to register and subsequently login to the system in order to access them. This has resulted in the user having to remember a multitude of username and password combinations in order to use the service securely. However, literature has clearly demonstrated this is not an effective approach, as users will frequently choose simple passwords, write them down, share them or use the same password for multiple systems. This paper proposes a novel concept where Internet users authenticate to web services (service providers) by the use of a smartcard – taking away any requirement for the user to provide credentials. The smartcard is useful in this context as it is a trusted device that is capable of applying cryptography in a tamper resistant environment. The development of the concept is based upon an extension to Authentication Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) models, where a trusted authority (Identity Provider) will provide and manage the smart card to end-users. In devices such as mobile phones, a smartcard is already present (e.g. the SIM) to facilitate this and it is envisaged such a card could also be produced for desktop environments – similarly to what many banks are currently implementing

Response to a Proposed Minnesota State Survey Research Center: Reactions of Potential Users.

Sponsored by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota

New Firms in Minnesota: Their Contributions to Employment and Exports, Their Start-up Problems and Current Status. Draft Report of Phase I of the New Firms Project.

Funded by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, with additional support received from McKnight Foundation research funds provided by the University of Minnesota's School of Management and Computer Center, and the Wharton Computation Center of the Un

1987 Minnesota New Firms Study: An Exploration of New Firms and Their Economic Contributions.

Jobs provided by new firms accounted for 42-99 percent of the net increase in jobs in Minnesota between 1978 and 1986 and 12-29 percent of the net increase in personal income. This study considers the mechanisms behind new firm contributions to the state's economy, how their contributions can be predicted, and what implications this holds for government strategies. A 1986 survey of over 1,000 new Minnesota firms provided the data for this report. A summary of this study appeared in the April 1988 CURA Reporter

Differential effects of oilseed supplements on methane production and milk fatty acid concentrations in dairy cows

It is known that supplementing dairy cow diets with full-fat oilseeds can be used as a strategy to mitigate methane emissions, through their action on rumen fermentation. However, direct comparisons of the effect of different oil sources are very few, as are studies implementing supplementation levels that reflect what is commonly fed on commercial farms. The objective was to investigate the effect of feeding different forms of supplemental plant oils on both methane emissions and milk fatty acid (FA) profile. Four multiparous, Holstein-Friesian cows in mid-lactation were randomly allocated to one of four treatment diets in a 4 x 4 Latin square design with 28-day periods. Diets were fed as a TMR with a 50:50 forage:concentrate ratio (dry matter, DM basis) with the forage consisting of 75:25 maize silage:grass silage (DM). Dietary treatments were a control diet containing no supplemental fat, and three treatment diets containing extruded linseed (EL), calcium salts of palm and linseed oil (CPLO) or milled rapeseed (MR) formulated to provide each cow with an estimated 500 g additional oil/d (22 g oil/kg diet DM). Dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, milk composition and methane production were measured at the end of each experimental period when cows were housed in respiration chambers for 4 days. There was no effect of treatment diet on DMI or milk protein or lactose concentration, but oilseed-based supplements increased milk yield compared with the control diet and milk fat concentration relative to control was reduced by 4 g/kg by supplemental EL. Feeding CPLO reduced methane production, and both linseed-based supplements decreased methane yield (by 1.8 L/kg DMI) and intensity (by 2.7 L/kg milk yield) compared with the control diet, but feeding MR had no effect on methane emission. All the fat supplements decreased milk total saturated fatty acid (SFA) concentration compared with the control, and SFA were replaced with mainly cis-9 18:1 but also trans FA (and in the case of EL and CPLO there were increases in polyunsaturated FA concentration). Supplementing dairy cow diets with these oilseed-based preparations affected milk FA profile and increased milk yield. However, only the linseed-based supplements reduced methane production, yield, or intensity, whilst feeding MR had no effect

Prior Discipline and Performance among Police Officers: Does Organizational Fairness Matter?

Using a survey of police officers (n=1080) in a southern state of the USA, this study examines how overall performance is influenced by organizational fairness and prior disciplinary actions. In particular, this study focuses on the relationship between organizational treatment and officers’ self-acknowledged engagement in more innocuous forms of negative workrelated behaviors, general task performance, and extra-role behaviors. Results suggest prior disciplinary actions and organizational treatment are related to officer performance. Our findings highlight fair treatment’s relationship to enhanced prosocial activities and reduced negative work behaviors. Of importance to police administrators, police officers’ fairness perceptions of the police organization appear to have a stronger influence on overall work performance among officers that have prior disciplinary actions, further underscoring the need for organizations to consider how officers are treated

Tomography of X-ray Nova Muscae 1991: Evidence for ongoing mass transfer and stream-disc overflow

We present a spectroscopic analysis of the black hole binary Nova Muscae 1991 in quiescence using data obtained in 2009 with MagE on the Magellan Clay telescope and in 2010 with IMACS on the Magellan Baade telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory. Emission from the disc is observed in H alpha, H beta and Ca II (8662 A). A prominent hotspot is observed in the Doppler maps of all three emission lines. The existence of this spot establishes ongoing mass transfer from the donor star in 2009-2010 and, given its absence in the 1993-1995 observations, demonstrates the presence of a variable hotspot in the system. We find the radial distance to the hotspot from the black hole to be consistent with the circularization radius. Our tomograms are suggestive of stream-disc overflow in the system. We also detect possible Ca II (8662 A) absorption from the donor star.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Ecology of Conflict: Marine Food Supply Affects Human-Wildlife Interactions on Land

Human-wildlife conflicts impose considerable costs to people and wildlife worldwide. Most research focuses on proximate causes, offering limited generalizable understanding of ultimate drivers. We tested three competing hypotheses (problem individuals, regional population saturation, limited food supply) that relate to underlying processes of human-grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) conflict, using data from British Columbia, Canada, between 1960–2014. We found most support for the limited food supply hypothesis: in bear populations that feed on spawning salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), the annual number of bears/km2killed due to conflicts with humans increased by an average of 20% (6–32% [95% CI]) for each 50% decrease in annual salmon biomass. Furthermore, we found that across all bear populations (with or without access to salmon), 81% of attacks on humans and 82% of conflict kills occurred after the approximate onset of hyperphagia (July 1st), a period of intense caloric demand. Contrary to practices by many management agencies, conflict frequency was not reduced by hunting or removal of problem individuals. Our finding that a marine resource affects terrestrial conflict suggests that evidence-based policy for reducing harm to wildlife and humans requires not only insight into ultimate drivers of conflict, but also management that spans ecosystem and jurisdictional boundaries