Productivity Growth of East Asia Economies' Manufacturing: A Decomposition Analysis

Applying a stochastic production frontier to sector-level data within manufacturing, this paper examines total factor productivity (TFP) growth for eight East Asian economies during 1963-1998, using both single country and cross-country regression. The analysis focuses on the trend of technological progress (TP) and technical efficiency change (TEC), and the role of productivity change in economic growth. The empirical results reveal that although input factor accumulation is still the main source for East Asian economies® growth, TFP growth is accounting for an increasing and important proportion of output growth, among which the improved TEC plays a crucial role in productivity growth.total factor productivity, technical efficiency change, technological progress, stochastic production frontier, East Asian economy

Researching ecosystems in innovation contexts

Purpose – The rapid adoption of the ecosystem concept in innovation contexts has led to a proliferation of differing uses. Scholars need to be crystal clear which concept of the ecosystem they are using to facilitate communication between scholars and allow for cumulativeness and creativity. This paper aims to introduce some clarity into the conceptual mist that surrounds the notion of “ecosystems” in innovation contexts. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the extant literature on ecosystems in innovation contexts to derive an integrated approach to understanding the variety of constructs in use. Findings – This paper introduces clarity into the conceptual mist that surrounds the term “innovation ecosystem”, showing there are three basic types of ecosystems, all of which have a common focus on the collective production of a coherent system-level output. Originality/value – Contributes through a comprehensive overview of the differing ecosystem types in innovation contexts and with a heuristic to disambiguate types of innovation ecosys tems

Assessing Medicare Beneficiaries’ Strength‐of‐Preference Scores for Health Care Options: How Engaging Does the Elicitation Technique Need to Be?

The objective was to determine if participants’ strength‐of‐preference scores for elective health care interventions at the end‐of‐life (EOL) elicited using a non‐engaging technique are affected by their prior use of an engaging elicitation technique

Ecosystem emergence : an investigation of the emergence processes of six digital service ecosystems

This thesis investigates processes of ecosystem emergence. Ecosystem research has thus far focused on understanding the structure and dynamics of already existing ecosystems. However much less attention has been devoted to the emergence of ecosystems. I first theoretically develop an institutional approach to ecosystems, arguing that the ecosystem is an organisational field which has value co-creation as its recognised area of institutional life. Synthesising the theories of dominant design, social movements, and institutional entrepreneurship, I identify four activities that drive the processes of ecosystem emergence: resource, technological, institutional and contextual activities. Empirically, I compare the emergence sequences of six digital service ecosystems – Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, Salesforce and Wikipedia – using a narrative explanation methodology, applying event colligation, optimal matching, direct inspection, frequency analysis and an innovative statistical bootstrapping technique. I find that emergence sequences of each case are significantly dissimilar and that there are three phases of emergence – Initiation, Momentum, Control. The first of these phases is similar across cases, but subsequent phases exhibit increasing dissimilarity as the ecosystem evolves and takes on idiosyncratic characteristics. To explain these findings, I develop an ecosystem perspective that explicitly integrates value co-creation processes as an important regulator of the evolution of ecosystems. I suggest that idiosyncratic logics of value co-creation result in differing value creation processes. I show that the three distinct phases of ecosystem emergence form a coherent, distinctive whole when considered from the perspective of value co-creation. Emphasising that value appropriated must first be co-created, I propose the ‘ecosystem model’ as an analytic tool to better conceptualise value co-creation and appropriation in ecosystems. I discuss the implications of these contributions for ecosystem research, institutional theory, and strategic management practice.Open Acces

Integrating service quality as a second-order factor in a customer satisfaction and loyalty model

Abstract: Purpose – The study conceptualizes service quality as a second-order factor and analyzes its influence on customer satisfaction, perceived value, image, consumption emotions and customer loyalty by testing a structural equation model. Design/methodology/approach – The model is tested using data collected from 672 guests staying in accommodation establishments located in South Africa. The study follows a hierarchical approach using confirmatory factor analysis to test the second-order factor model and structural equation modeling to test the overallmodel. Findings – The results indicate that the second-order factor model is acceptable both empirically as well as conceptually and performs better than other competing models of service quality. The findings provide support for all hypotheses and evidence of a structural model with a high explanatory power. Research limitations/implications – The second-order factor model is less useful when fine-grained analyses are needed, such as when a detailed assessment of the level of quality of service offered by a hospitality organization is required. Practical implications – The second-order factor model allows for an analysis of service quality at different levels of abstraction. Accommodation managers interested in customers’ evaluation of service on a cumulative basis can make use of the global measure to determine service quality evaluations. Practitioners can also use the findings to manage the different dimensions of service quality. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that service quality is best represented as a second-order factor, and in doing so, it provides an improved measurement of the construct. More so, by integrating the variable in a nomological network, the research develops a more parsimonious model than the existing ones

Developing a cultural competence assessment tool for people in recovery from racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds: the journey, challenges and lessons learned.

In 1997, Maryland implemented a new managed care mental health system. Consumer satisfaction, evaluation and cultural competency were considered high priorities for the new system. While standardized tools for measuring consumer satisfaction were readily available, no validated, reliable and standardized tool existed to measure the perception of people from minority groups receiving mental health services. The MHA*/MHP* Cultural Competency Advisory Group (CCAG) accepted the challenge of developing a consumer assessment tool for cultural competency. The CCAG, composed of people in recovery, clinicians and administrators used their collective knowledge and experiences to develop a 52-item tool that met standards for validity and reliability. Consultation from a researcher helped to further develop the tool into one possessing tremendous potential for statewide implementation within Maryland's Public Mental Health System. Recognizing the limitations of the study and the need for further research, this instrument is a work in progress. Strategies to improve the instrument are currently underway with the Mental Hygiene Administration's Systems Evaluation Center of the University of Maryland and several national researchers

Social behavior of the black lizard

26 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 24-26)."A colony of 22 lizards (Ctenosaura pectinata) was located on the loose-rock wall of a cemetery near the village of Acapancingo, near Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. This colony was studied during the late winter and spring. Animals were identified by such distinguishing marks as broken or regenerated tails, specific markings of the neck, the degree of blackness of the skin, and by individual behavioral traits. Each tended to remain on or in the vicinity of a particular rock, usually one located slightly higher than others along the wall. These sunning or lookout stones were between 15 and 30 feet apart. Three of the females shared sunning rocks with their mates, while two females occupied separate points along the wall. Among the adult males a hierarchy, which comprised at least eight individuals, was found to exist. The highest ranking male preëmpted the right to trespass upon the footage of any other male that dwelled upon the wall. If he encountered any sign of opposition as he crossed a territorial boundary he merely opened his jaws threateningly and passed on while his lesser rivals crawled down into the crevices until he had passed. The 'tyrant's' nearest neighbors on the wall possessed the same right of trespass but to a very much more limited degree. They never passed over the 'tyrant's' holding, which was located at the highest point of the wall, at the north corner, even though it was closest to the food supply. All members of the colony fed, unmolested by the 'tyrant,' upon bean seedlings in the near-by field and drank from the near-by stream. Each individual actually possessed no more 'territory' than the narrow strip of wall that extended halfway between his lookout rock and that of his neighbors on either side of him. This small footage was defended against encroachment by all except the 'tyrant' himself, and on rare occasions by a male who held a footage on the wall next to that of the 'tyrant.' All lesser males in the hierarchy respected one another's territorial rights and were never observed to trespass. It is believed that this colony type of lizard society evolved from the simple individual territoriality, which is still prevalent in C. pectinata that occur far from tilled soil. The daily 'tour of inspection' that the 'tyrant' makes along the walls of the cemetery represents a vestige of the habit that black iguanas, like most lizards that live in non-agricultural regions, have of patrolling their individual territories, each of which would be greater in area than the entire bean field and cemetery combined. With the advent of agriculture in Mexico many centuries ago, the concentration of succulent food in small fields surrounded by loose stone walls provided ideal ecological conditions for large herbivorous lizards such as those of the genus Ctenosaura. Such an environment may have resulted in adaptive behavioral changes, especially on the part of low-ranking individuals in the group. This is indicated by the fact that, although all eight males in the hierarchy exhibited varying degrees of pugnacity during the period of observation, only male A regularly threatened the others and preëmpted the right of at least temporary trespass on their resting areas. By yielding to male A, the lesser members of the hierarchy gained the unusual security of the rock walls as dwelling places and enjoyed the bountiful food to be found in the gardens. In untilled areas no colonies were observed; instead, individuals were widely dispersed, and no hierarchy was possible. Rivals no doubt fought for a territory, but the defeated animal simply moved on in search of another area"--P. 23-24

Studies of the molecular basis of soil water repellency.

To identify the causes of water repellency in soils, a range of water repellent soils and wettable control soils, sampled from five countries (Australia, Greece, Portugal, The Netherlands, U.K.), were studied. Water repellency was assessed using the water drop penetration time (WDPT) test whilst total organic carbon (TOC) analysis and diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT) were used to measure the TOC and aliphatic content respectively in the soils. Water repellency correlated slightly better with aliphatic content than TOC content, although neither correlated well with water repellency. The efficiency of Soxhlet extractions with isopropanol: aqueous ammonia (7:3, v:v) in extracting compounds associated with water repellency was examined. Extraction efficiency was examined by determining: extract mass; severity of water repellency post-extraction; amounts of organic carbon and aliphatic C-H removed; and by assessing the ability of extracts to cause repellency in acid washed sand. Extraction removed repellency completely from 12 of 14 repellent samples and extracts from all soils (including the wettable control samples) were capable of inducing repellency. Samples were rendered wettable regardless of the mass extracted or the quantity of organic carbon removed, suggesting that provided there is some aliphatic material present, the amount is less important than its constitution and/or molecular arrangement. Low polarity solvents caused sample repellency to increase despite the removal of non-polar hydrocarbons, suggesting that compounds such as alkanes are not, in themselves, the main cause of repellency. Kinetics and selectivity of the extraction procedure (using isopropanol: aqueous ammonia) was also examined. Increasing extraction time caused an increase in extract mass and a decrease in soil water repellency. The same compound types were detected by GC-MS in all extracts, but their proportions varied with extraction time. In particular, the removal of alkanes from the soil sample was less rapid than that of more polar compounds