Search results for "ample"
showing 10 items of 2398 documents
Comparing changes in productivity among private water companies integrating quality of service: A metafrontier approach
2019
Abstract Most previous studies evaluating the effect of ownership on the performance of water companies have ignored the fact that there are several types of private water companies. In this study, we instead recognize that private water companies can differ considerably in how they are managed, based on whether their infrastructure is privately or publicly owned. We estimated change in productivity of fully-privatized companies and concessionary companies by employing the metafrontier Malmquist Luenberger productivity (MMLP) index, which allowed us to integrate quality-of-service variables as undesirable outputs. We segregated the MMLP index to assess changes over time in relative efficien…
A New Wavelet Tool to Quantify Non-Periodicity of Non-Stationary Economic Time Series
2020
We introduce a new wavelet tool, the windowed scale index, to study the degree of non-periodicity of time series. The windowed scale index is based on some recently defined tools, such as the windowed scalogram and the scale index. This novel measure is appropriate for non-stationary time series whose characteristics change over time and, therefore, it can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines. Furthermore, we revise the concept of the scale index and pose a theoretical problem: it is known that if the scale index of a function is not zero then it is non-periodic, but if the scale index of a function is zero, then it is not proved that it has to be periodic. This problem is solved for…
Open innovation and firms performance: state of the art and empirical evidences from the bio-pharmaceutical industry
2016
The research presented in this paper explores the effect of inbound, outbound and coupled open innovation practices on firms' performances in the biopharmaceutical industry. Specifically, although existing researches on open innovation effectiveness have separately investigated the effect of open innovation practices on innovation and financial performance, this study evaluates the concurrent effect of these practices on both such performance dimensions in a single framework. We state the importance for a manager to explore concurrently the influence of specific open innovation practices both on innovation and economic-financial performance. We empirically test our framework on a sample of …
Development of the Parents' Perception of their Involvement in their Child's Tennis Activity Questionnaire (Q-PPICTA)
2013
The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire for assessing parents' perception of their involvement in their children's tennis activity (Q-PPICTA). The validation required four successive studies. In study 1, a preliminary version of the questionnaire was formulated after selecting and adapting items taken from existing questionnaires and interviews conducted with the parents of 36 young tennis players. Three factors for measuring parental involvement in sport were identified and retained: emotional, logistic, and informational supports. In study 2, exploratory factor analyses were performed on data collected from 214 parents of tennis players. Results attested the …
Efeitos das práticas verdes na lealdade: proposta de um modelo para o segmento hoteleiro colombiano
2021
Resumen El propósito de este estudio fue analizar la incidencia de las prácticas verdes como impulsoras para generar confianza, satisfacción y lealtad en los huéspedes. Para ello, a partir de una muestra de 302 huéspedes de hoteles en Bogotá, Colombia, se estimó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales a través de la regresión de mínimos cuadrados parciales. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian que las prácticas sostenibles contribuyen al aumento de la confianza y la satisfacción de los huéspedes, y que estas, a su vez, influyen positivamente en su lealtad hacia el hotel. Además, dichos resultados ponen de manifiesto que una comprensión más profunda del perfil de los turistas medioambientalment…
Youth Migration Aspirations in Georgia and Moldova
2018
This study investigates in what ways individual and household capabilities and their general life aspirations affect migration aspirations in particular, among Georgian and Moldovan youth. The utilized sample was extracted from nationally representative surveys and considers youth aged 11 to 19 (N=3,583). Multi-level, step-wise probit models are used to predict youth migration aspirations. Among the findings are that individual capabilities, aspirations, and household capabilities significantly impact youth migration aspirations, while household aspirations are statistically insignificant. The results further emulate the importance of residential satisfaction, the effects of gendered social…
Towards safe reinforcement-learning in industrial grid-warehousing
2020
Abstract Reinforcement learning has shown to be profoundly successful at learning optimal policies for simulated environments using distributed training with extensive compute capacity. Model-free reinforcement learning uses the notion of trial and error, where the error is a vital part of learning the agent to behave optimally. In mission-critical, real-world environments, there is little tolerance for failure and can cause damaging effects on humans and equipment. In these environments, current state-of-the-art reinforcement learning approaches are not sufficient to learn optimal control policies safely. On the other hand, model-based reinforcement learning tries to encode environment tra…
The visual query language CQL for transitive and relational computation
2000
Abstract Classification query language (CQL) is a high-level visual query language with a great expressive power. In CQL the processing of ordinary relations and classifications based on transitive relationships is integrated seamlessly. Relations and classifications are represented in the visual interface in a uniform way through relation and classification skeletons. All query formulation in CQL is QBE-like – based on the intuitive way of filling constants and sample values into the skeletons. In order to guarantee great expressive power, relational and classification expressions can be nested freely with each other at unlimited nesting levels. Recursive definition of transitive processin…
The Underpricing of Spanish REITs When Going Public
2019
This study analyses underpricing in a sample of 41 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) from the Spanish market between November 2013 and January 2019. The results show a significant underpricing on the initial-day (either when we compute raw or market-adjusted initial returns) concentrated in the primary market. Besides, price adjustment continues until the third day as we find significant raw and market-adjusted buy-and-hold returns. This underpricing is not accounted for by the theories of information asymmetry but instead by some signalling theories related to capital structure, by the pre-listing stock market conditions and by the peculiarities of the market analysed.
PASSIM – an open source software system for managing information in biomedical studies
2007
Abstract Background One of the crucial aspects of day-to-day laboratory information management is collection, storage and retrieval of information about research subjects and biomedical samples. An efficient link between sample data and experiment results is absolutely imperative for a successful outcome of a biomedical study. Currently available software solutions are largely limited to large-scale, expensive commercial Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS). Acquiring such LIMS indeed can bring laboratory information management to a higher level, but often implies sufficient investment of time, effort and funds, which are not always available. There is a clear need for lightweig…