Search results for "PRODUCTIVITY"
showing 10 items of 618 documents
Reconsidering learning by exporting
2012
Self-selection and learning by exporting are the main explanations for the higher productivity of exporting firms. But, whereas evidence on self-selection is largely undisputed, results on learning by exporting are mixed and far from conclusive. However, recent research by De Loecker (J Int Econ 73(1):69–98, 2007) has shown that the conclusions from previous learning by exporting studies may have been driven by strong assumptions about the evolution of productivity and the role of export status. Relaxing these assumptions turns out to be critical to find evidence of learning by exporting in a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. Our results indicate that the yearly average …
Creative service industries and regional productivity
2015
This research analyses the effect of creative service industries on labour productivity of the regions. Creative service industries offer services that increase a region's capacity to generate and combine new ideas, resulting in an increased production of innovations which raise productivity. The paper proposes an analytical framework and compares findings in 250 regions in 24 countries of the European Union in 2008. We find that creative service industries increases labour productivity of the regions and their effects are as important for regional productivity as scientific research or highly qualified human capital.
Assessing environmental performance in the European Union: Eco-innovation versus catching-up
2017
Abstract This paper assesses environmental performance in the European Union (EU) using Luenberger productivity indicators, directional distance functions and Data Envelopment Analysis techniques. It considers four indicators of the pressures exerted by economic activity on the environment: global warming, tropospheric ozone formation, acidification and particulate formation. The change in environmental performance from the early 2000s onwards is decomposed at the levels of country and environmental pressure, and as the result of eco-innovations and catching-up with the best available environmental technologies; furthermore, we distinguish between the periods of economic growth (2001–07) an…
Agroecology as a challenge for the competitiveness of small scale agriculture
2018
L'agroecologia viene spesso presentata come un'alternativa agli attuali sistemi di produzione diffusi, sebbene ci siano molte domande sulla reale possibilità di una produzione alimentare sufficiente- mente elevata per una popolazione in crescita. L' analisi sviluppata in questo paper è basata sulla ricer- ca scientifica degli ultimi vent'anni e sulle l'attività delle ONG, dei movimenti degli agricoltori e delle organizzazioni governative di diversi contesti. L'obiettivo è quello di fornire un panorama dei princi- pali argomenti in discussione per una transizione agroecologica dei sistemi alimentari mondiali, individ- uando alcune sfide prioritarie e immaginando chi saranno i partecipanti qu…
Diversity of the selected elements of agricultural potential in the European Union countries
2020
Agricultural importance in determining the directions of respective regions results from its production potential. The agricultural potential of a given country is determined by natural resources, ways of using them, natural conditions, workforce resources, technical resources and basic economic conditions. In this paper, only income and rural population are taken under consideration to describe the agricultural potential. Currently, European Union countries are functioning under the assumptions of the Common Agricultural Policy, assuming, among other things, increasing agricultural productivity, ensuring an adequate standard of living for the rural population and stabilising markets. The E…
IS evolution benefit assessment: Challenges with economic investment criteria
2007
Maintenance and system evolution activities have a significant role in the information system (IS) life cycle. It has been estimated that approximately 80% of the total IT expenses are allocated for maintenance activities [20]. According to Lehman’s first law, maintenance is necessary, because software needs to be continuously improved or it will get out of date and cannot respond to the requirements of its environment [19]. Despite the importance of IS evolution investments, there is a gap between the IT related costs and company profitability [27]. Brynjolfssen [10] described this as a productivity paradox: information technology utilization has increased since the 70’s but simultaneously…
CAPITAL FLOW BONANZAS AS A FUNDAMENTAL INGREDIENT IN SPAIN'S FINANCIAL CRISES, 1850-2015
2020
El trabajo analiza los mecanismos a través de los cuales los flujos de capital produjeron inestabilidad financiera en España durante un período de 165 años. Se estudia por qué y cómo las bonanzas de capital hacen que las crisis sean más probables y severas, y si su incidencia varía en función de los tipos de crisis (crisis cambiaria, bancaria y de deuda). Concluimos que la mayoría de ellas se produjeron en diferentes regímenes de política monetaria pero que se asociaron a bonanzas de capital en un marco regulatorio liberal, lo que contribuyó a una mayor probabilidad y a una mayor gravedad de las crisis. El análisis de los diferentes regímenes de política monetaria, las estructuras financier…
Cultivation and biochemical characterization of isolated Sicilian microalgal species in salt and temperature stress conditions
2021
Abstract In the last years, the possibility to exploit autochthone microalgae in regional applications has been explored. The regional-based microalgal industry may bring several benefits, as autochthone microalgae are already adapted to the biotic and abiotic stresses of their environment. In this work, this concept was applied to Sicily, in which three microalgal strains were collected from the coastline. Monoalgal strains were then isolated and molecular characterization was performed for the species determination. Three of them, two strains of Chlorella and one of Dunaliella, were cultivated in lab-scale in four different conditions: Low Temperature-Low Salt (LT-LS), High-Temperature-Lo…
Periphyton pigment analyses using paper chromatography
1983
Paper chromatography was used to study the community structure, the proportion of degraded chlorophylls to the total pigment content, and the chlorophyll and carotenoid content of the epilithic periphyton algae from Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada. Analyses were made using both samples directly from the lake and cultured periphytic algae. The extraction was made with boiling 100% methanol; two dimensional chromatography was used to separate the pigments. The relative contribution of different pigment fractions to total light absorption by the complete periphyton extract was estimated by planimetric integration of absorption curves. From the pigment structure, estimates were made of the propor…
NEW EU MEMBER COUNTRIES ARE PHASING OUT LABOR-INTENSIVE ACTIVITIES: AN ECONOMETRIC APPROACH
2012
This paper deals with the process of industrial development that has been unfolding in Central and East-European Countries during the last two decades, with special focus on changes in international specialization induced by successive shifts in comparative advantage. As it was to be expected, these advances have gradually improved the respective countries’ exports structure, the most important mutation residing in the gradual abandoning of subcontracting agreements – mostly confined to assembly-of-imported-inputs – and the expansion of the production of knowledge and human capital-intensive goods and services. European integration has most certainly been acting as a catalyst for this proce…