Search results for "Ranking"
showing 10 items of 212 documents
Testing the Acemoglu–Pischke model in Spain
2001
Abstract The Acemoglu–Pischke approach to training in imperfect labor markets predicts that wage compressions should shift incentives to invest in training from workers to firms. This will increase firm-sponsored general training when workers are unable to invest in training by themselves. Spain is on the top of the ranking of regulated labor markets. However, the training figures for Spain indicate a poor effect of highly compressed wage structure on firm-sponsored training.
Measuring freedom of choice: An alternative view of a recent literature
2004
A recent literature has emerged in social choice theory which attributes intrinsic importance to freedom in the evaluation of states of affairs. The literature’s philosophical basis lies in Berlin’s notion of positive liberty. Accordingly, axiomatic measures of availability of choices are developed and the information they convey used for ranking states on the basis of the extent of liberty they offer to individuals. This paper argues that the literature’s contributions have taken Berlin’s analytical framework for granted exceedingly narrowing the philosophical terms of the debate. It is shown that, once freedom is analyzed from the perspective of an alternative structure, the triadic synta…
Ranking farms with a composite indicator of sustainability
2011
The assessment of sustainability at farm level has been growing in popularity over the last few years. This article contributes to this line of research by building up composite indicators for different facets—social, economic, environmental, and global—of farm sustainability using a methodological approach that combines data envelopment analysis (DEA) and multicriteria decision making (MCDM) methods, and assigns common weights to each individual sustainability indicator. This approach is applied to a database of 163 farms located in the Campos County, a region belonging to the dry lands of the Spanish Northern Plateau, using 12 individual indicators of sustainability. Our findings show tha…
Exploring the future: Runtime scenario selection for complex and time-bound decisions
2015
Abstract Scenarios are designed to support decision-makers in gaining a better understanding of the consequences of decisions. Despite their popularity in IT for Foresight, a major obstacle is the complexity of strategic decisions and the resulting multitude of scenarios. Therefore choices need to be made, which scenarios to fully work out, by which experts and in which level of detail. This paper presents an approach to support making these trade-offs between accuracy and resources spent by prioritising scenarios based on their significance for the decision even on the basis of incomplete information. This approach combines theoretical findings in decision theory with results that were eli…
Testing the usability of the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) method for comparison of EIA and SEA results
2008
Abstract This study examines how the results of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) could be compared using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) method. There are many tools and techniques that have been developed for use in impact assessment processes, including scoping, checklists, matrices, qualitative and quantitative models, literature reviews, and decision-support systems. While impact assessment processes have become more technically complicated, it is recognized that approaches including simpler applications of available tools and techniques are also appropriate. The Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) is a tool for organizing, a…
Global sensitivity analysis in wastewater applications: A comprehensive comparison of different methods
2013
Three global sensitivity analysis (GSA) methods are applied and compared to assess the most relevant processes occurring in wastewater treatment systems. In particular, the Standardised Regression Coefficients, Morris Screening and Extended-FAST methods are applied to a complex integrated membrane bioreactor (MBR) model considering 21 model outputs and 79 model factors. The three methods are applied with numerical settings as suggested in literature. The main objective considered is to classify important factors (factors prioritisation) as well as non-influential factors (factors fixing). The performance is assessed by comparing the most reliable method (Extended-FAST), by means of proposed…
Parameter subset selection for the dynamic calibration of activated sludge models (ASMs): experience versus systems analysis.
2007
In this work we address the issue of parameter subset selection within the scope of activated sludge model calibration. To this end, we evaluate two approaches: (i) systems analysis and (ii) experience-based approach. The evaluation has been carried out using a dynamic model (ASM2d) calibrated to describe nitrogen and phosphorus removal in the Haaren WWTP (The Netherlands). The parameter significance ranking shows that the temperature correction coefficients are among the most influential parameters on the model output. This outcome confronts the previous identifiability studies and the experience based approaches which excluded them from their analysis. Systems analysis reveals that parame…
Success factors for information technology supported international technology transfer: Finding expert consensus
2006
Information technology (IT)-supported international technology transfer (ITT) is complex, risky, and fails often. No empirical studies are available on the factors that affect the success of IT-supported ITT. We review applicable theories (i.e. diffusion of innovation theory) and empirical research in conventional technology transfer to develop such a model. We carry out a multiple focus group method to rank factors that affect the success of IT-supported ITT and then apply a branch and bound method to derive a consensus ranking of these factors. The identified consensus ranking sheds light on factors that are similar to those of DOI theory and suggests a pattern of factors that affect IT-s…
The Multicriteria Electre III Model Applied to the Evaluation of the Placement of University Graduates
2010
During the last years the Italian university system has been undergoing a reform process regarding issues of governance such as the progressive financial autonomy of the University (art. 5, law 537/24 December 1993) and the reshape of the academic curricula (law 509/99 and 270/04). The most obvious result of this complex process has been the challenging attempt to manage a necessary change in a context of limited financial resources. In order to encompass the composite features of an efficient and effective management of resources, features of high relevance for the full accomplishment of the reform benchmarks, one has to take into account the academic organisation’s objectives, so that to …
fuzzy approach to the robust facility layout in uncertain production environments
2001
The proposed method approaches the problem of the optimal facility layout using fuzzy theory. The optimal layout is a robust layout that minimizes the total material handling cost, when the product market demands are uncertain variables, which are defined as fuzzy numbers. Since each department has a limited production capacity, not all possible combinations, deriving from each product's market demand, are taken into account because some combination could exceed the overall department's productivity. Therefore, the optimal solution results by solving a 'constrained' fuzzy optimization problem, in which the fuzzy material handling costs corresponding to the layouts are evaluated, and a ranki…