British entrepreneurs and industrial revolution cost management: a study of innovation

Traditional accounting histories date the advent of sophisticated cost accounting from the mid-1880\u27s and credit American innovators of Frederick Taylor\u27s scientific management movement with conceiving the new practices. However, it is counterintuitive to think the entrepreneurs of the British Industrial Revolution would not have developed costing techniques, given their significant methodological advances in other economic areas, such as technology, capital accumulation, and marketing structure development. This paper reports the findings from a survey of surviving business records from twenty-five large industrial firms during the 1760-1850 period, concentrated in the dominant textile and iron industries. Substantial evidence of mature cost management has been found in eight major areas of activity

Regional Transportation and Land Use Decision Making in Metropolitan Regions: Findings from Four Case Studies

Throughout the United States, metropolitan regions face increasingly complex issues related to transportation and land use. The diffuse nature of decision making creates a need to better coordinate land use and transportation to address issues such as: congestion, infrastructure costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Key players in this decision making are regional metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with transportation planning authority, regional planning responsibilities, and in some cases regional land use planning authority. The goal of this study was to describe and assess efforts by regional agencies to coordinate land use and transportation. Policies and processes in four key topic areas were examined: 1) Governance: formal and informal decision making approaches; 2) Coordination: strategies used to coordinate land use and transportation; 3) Growth Centers: policies to encourage development in higher density centers; and 4) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP): policies to incorporate smart growth criteria in TIP funding decisions

Metropolitan Centers: Evaluating Local Implementation of Regional Plans and Policies

The Denver and Salt Lake City Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) have embarked upon regional visioning strategies that promote development around higher density, mixed use centers with current or future access to transit. This study examines the programs and policies in the Salt Lake City and Denver regions to examine regional vision influence on local planning and the opportunities and constraints facing centers. The research team analyzed local plans over the past several decades, interviewed planners, and examined demographic, land use and transportation characteristics in select centers across the region. We found that the regional vision had a moderate influence on local planning, due to vague definitions and criteria. However, light rail investment and market forces have had a more substantial influence—resulting in cities developing supportive transit oriented development policies. While over 100 centers have been designated, many face significant challenges to support regional goals, particularly because many light rail lines were located along rail and freeway alignments. A limited number of “tipping point centers” already contain the necessary elements to be successful with city and private investment. Many “greenfield centers” offer significant future opportunity for development, but their suburban location and infrastructure needs present significant costs and challenges. Many other “redevelopment centers” are dominated by industrial, commercial or office development, and the land use and transportation patterns within these centers present substantial hurdles that may limit their potential to achieve regional goals

Topography driven spreading

Roughening a hydrophobic surface enhances its nonwetting properties into superhydrophobicity. For liquids other than water, roughness can induce a complete rollup of a droplet. However, topographic effects can also enhance partial wetting by a given liquid into complete wetting to create superwetting. In this work, a model system of spreading droplets of a nonvolatile liquid on surfaces having lithographically produced pillars is used to show that superwetting also modifies the dynamics of spreading. The edge speed-dynamic contact angle relation is shown to obey a simple power law, and such power laws are shown to apply to naturally occurring surfaces

Final Report: Buffalo National River Ecosystems

The objective of this study was to sample the Buffalo River on a seasonal basis for a year, in order to determine whether any potential water quality problems existed