NEW CHALLENGES FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRIES IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

The full integration of the textile industry into GATT, which with some exceptions occurred on January 1, 2005, is likely to greatly impact the global textile and apparel industries. In particular, one prediction is that the South African industries are likely to be ¡°decimated.¡± The actual effect on these industries will depend at least partly on the ability to take advantage of economies of scale and to be internationally competitive. In an endeavor to gain more insights into the future of these industries in South Africa, this study uses a cost function to investigate the presence of scale economies and the nature of input interrelationships. The findings include statistically significant economies of scale present in both industries and cross price elasticity estimates indicating that most inputs are substitutes for one another. The first result offers an opportunity to reduce unit costs if these industries can grow their markets. However, lower prices on imported intermediate goods will likely decrease the demand for domestic inputs. The cross price elasticities of demand are relatively low in some cases, consistent with domestic input market rigidities and international trade restrictions.South Africa, Textile Industry, Apparel Industry

A Bacon of Hope? Another Look at the Italian Textile Industry

Despite increasing competition from newly industrializing countries, Italy’s textile industry has continued to be an important contributor to the domestic economy. Many observers attribute this resilience to the industry’s focus on quality. Here, we take note of that view but also examine production and cost relationships to explore the existence of returns to scale and the interrelationships among inputs to gain additional insights about the future prospects for this industry. The findings are consistent with constant returns to scale and a substitute relationship between all input pairs except for domestic capital and foreign intermediate goods. While the estimated cross elasticity values for the latter input pair suggested complementarity, they were not statistically significant. The results also suggested some increasing flexibility in the labor market, perhaps including informal sector arrangements, greater responsiveness of labor demand to the price of capital, and more international production sharing arrangements. An increasing elasticity over time of the demands for domestic capital and domestic intermediate goods with respect to the price of foreign substitutes was also observed. Maintaining the Italian textile industry’s reputation for outstanding quality may be an important survival strategy for some products; international production sharing may be necessary to maintain competitiveness for others.Italy, Textile Industry

The South African Textile Industry: Challenges and Opportunities

The full integration of the textile industry into GATT, which with some exceptions occurred on January 1, 2005, is likely to greatly impact the global textile and apparel industries. In particular,one prediction is that the South African industries are likely to be "decimated." The actual effect on these industries in an individual country will depend at least partly on the ability to take advantage of economies of scale and to be internationally competitive. In an endeavor to gain more insights into the future of these industries in South Africa, this study uses a cost function to investigate the presence of scale economies and the nature of input interrelationships. The findings include statistically significant economies of scale present in both industries and cross price elasticity estimates indicating that most inputs are substitutes for one another. The first result offers an opportunity to reduce unit costs, if these industries can grow their markets. However, lower prices on imported intermediate goods will likely decrease the demand for domestic inputs. The cross price elasticities of demand are relatively low in some cases, consistent with domestic input market rigidities and international trade restrictions. More recent data might bring findings of higher cross elasticities in the new international environment.South Africa, Textile Industry

NAFTA¡¯S IMPACT ON THE MEXICAN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

The findings discussed here are the outcome of continuing research on the Mexican automotive industry and include data for several years during which the NAFTA was in effect. Key results include strong evidence of constant returns to scale in both the automotive industry as a whole as well as the vehicle assembly industry and a finding that the period after NAFTA was implemented has been associated with lower production costs. In addition, these data support the conclusion that capital, labor, and foreign intermediate goods are all substitutes for one another, as are capital and domestic intermediate goods, but that labor and domestic intermediate goods are complements. While evidence was found to suggest some increased responsiveness in domestic markets to both foreign and domestic input prices, other results give reason for concern about continuing market impediments in Mexico.Mexico, Automotive Industry, NAFTA

The Korean Textile Industry: Still Competitive, After All These Years?

Although a vital part of the economy, the Korean textile industry has been challenged by the recent reduction of international trade barriers, particularly as this industry was fully integrated into GATT in 2005. The textile industries in Japan and many other countries have also faced difficulties. This study examines future prospects for the Korean industry by investigating the presence of economies of scale and relationships among the inputs of domestic capital, labor, and intermediate goods, as well as foreign intermediate goods. The findings are consistent with constant returns to scale and a substitutes relationship among all input pairs except for domestic capital and foreign intermediate goods. Thus, there appear to be no further cost reductions available through increased output and economies of scale. However, some reduction in industry output may not result in increased unit costs either. A reduction in the price of foreign intermediate goods will increase the demand for domestic capital, but also, at least in the short run, add stress to the industry as it decreases the demand for domestic labor and domestic intermediate goods.Korea, Textile Industry

Optimizing the FPGA memory design for a Sobel edge detector

This paper explores different memory systems by investigating the trade-offs involved with choosing one memory system over another on an FPGA. As an example, we use a Sobel edge detector to look at the trade-offs for different memory components. We demonstrate how each type of memory affects I/O performance and area. By exploiting these trade-offs in performance and area a designer should be able to find an optimum on-chip memory system for a given application

What Patient Related Factors Negatively Impact Patient or Procedure Outcomes in Screening Colonoscopy?

The success of colonoscopy in early detection and treatment of colonic lesions depends upon adequate bowel preparation. This study addresses factors related to the adequacy of bowel preparation for colonoscopy with a focus on patient factors including variables related to demographics as well as compliance. The hypothesis of the study of factors related to the adequacy of bowel preparation for colonoscopy is that certain patient factors are associated with inadequate colon preparation independent from preparation type or timing of the procedure. Patient related factors were compared to colonoscopy procedure completion, compliance with colonoscopy preparation instructions and quality of colon preparation. Quality of colon preparation was found to have a significant effect on procedure completion along with compliance of participants with preparation instruction and presence of side effects to the colonoscopy preparation. The only factor studied with a significant impact on compliance with colonoscopy preparation instructions was presence of preparation side effects. The only significant factors related to quality of colon preparation were presence of side effects and compliance with preparation instructions. The greatest value from this study is that it leads to additional questions for further research. The lack of significance on outcomes of general patient demographics indicates that other factors may influence patient compliance with colon preparation for colonoscopy and procedure completion

Factors Affecting Negotiated Wage Rate Changes in the United States: An Industry Level Investigations

Lila Truett is Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio

Effect of Teaching Method, Educational Level, or Years of Experience on Evidence-Based Practice Implementation by RNs

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an approach to nursing practice using research evidence for clinical decisions, incorporating patient preferences and previous clinical experience. EBP integrates technical skills and professional knowledge with clinical research to plan and provide nursing care. A fundamental role of nursing education is to enable the nurse to comprehend and implement EBP. The purpose of my study, guided by Benner’s novice to expert theory, was to determine if EBP teaching strategies, nursing education level, and years in nursing practice affect the RN’s ability to implement EBP. Study participants were recruited among the RN population in Florida and Ohio with 235 RNs participating. Using analysis of variance, results indicated that the various teaching methods had no significant effect on the RNs’ EBP implementation behaviors (p = .534), whereas there were significant differences in the effects of academic level (p = .001, ŋ2 = .074) and years of nursing experience (p = .006, ŋ2 = .060). Higher academic levels demonstrated increased EBP implementation behaviors as did greater number of years of experience. However, the overall mean EBP Implementation Scale (EBPI) score for all factors remained low at 26.68. Future research should focus on discovering additional factors which affect the implementation of EBP in nursing practice. It is important to strengthen nurses’ EBP skills and increase the practicality of EBP in the clinical setting to improve and maintain quality nursing care which effects positive social change