Search results for "competition."
showing 10 items of 1367 documents
Open-inquiry driven overcoming of epistemological difficulties in engineering undergraduates: A case study in the context of thermal science
2014
This paper addresses the efficacy of an open-inquiry approach that allows students to build on traditionally received knowledge. A sample of thirty engineering undergraduates, having already attended traditional university physics instruction, was selected for this study. The students were involved in a six- week long learning experience of open-inquiry research activities within the highly motivating context of developing a thermodynamically efficient space base on Mars. They designed and carried out their own scientific investigations, which involved gathering information, collecting and analyzing data, providing explanations, and sharing results. A questionnaire containing fifteen open-e…
Long-term competitive dynamics of two cryptic rotifer species: diapause and fluctuating conditions.
2015
Life-history traits may have an important role in promoting species coexistence. However, the complexity of certain life cycles makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the conditions for coexistence or exclusion based on the study of short-term competitive dynamics. Brachionus plicatilis and B. manjavacasare two cryptic rotifer species co-occurring in many lakes on the Iberian Peninsula. They have a complex life cycle in which cyclical parthenogenesis occurs with diapausing stages being the result of sexual reproduction. B. plicatilis and B. manjavacasare identical in morphology and size, their biotic niches are broadly overlapping, and they have similar competitive abilities. However,…
On the obvious positive interspecific relationship between abundance and distribution: a reply to Blackburn and Gaston
2009
Thomas Kuhn described normal science as ‘ … research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievements … ’, that ‘ … does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none’ ([Kuhn 1996][1]). Kuhn divides scientific enterprise into three faces: normal
Explaining a Surge in IPR Filings: Uncertain Design Rights and Learning Their Boundaries in the Finnish Sauna Heater Market
2017
We present a case study of a surge in design right filings in an industry transforming from technology-based to design-based competition. The motives for and outcomes of filing, and how these changed over time are discussed. We go on to explore the events, which offered the agents opportunities to update their beliefs about the scope of design right protection. We find that filing motives change from specific protection goals to freedom to operate over time. We also find that the actors faced several, but sometimes contradictory, learning opportunities. Finally, we argue that uncertain design rights may have fostered entrepreneurial optimism. Policy makers could level the playing field and …
The effects of recreational Paracentrotus lividus fishing on distribution patterns of sea urchins at Ustica Island MPA (Western Mediterranean, Italy)
2006
This study evaluated the effects of recreational Paracentrotus lividus fishing on average density and size of this edible sea urchin, and its indirect effects on Arbacia lixula on barren substrates of Ustica Island MPA (SW Italy, Mediterranean Sea). Size, single and pooled species densities, density of large individuals (>40 mm long) and small individuals (<20 mm long) of the two species were estimated by scuba diving in autumn 2003, spring and summer 2004 at two sites impacted by P. lividus fishing (Punta Cavazzi and Pagliaro, take zone C) and one control (Cala Sidoti, no take zone). Two samplings were performed in each season. We found that reduced densities of P. lividus and A. lixula oc…
Informal employment in developing countries
2012
There is an ongoing debate among researchers and policy makers, whether informal sector employment is a result of competitive market forces or labor market segmentation. More recently it has been argued that none of the two theories sufficiently explains informal employment, but that the informal sector shows a heterogenous structure. For some workers the informal sector is an attractive employment opportunity, whereas for others – rationed out of the formal sector – the informal sector is a strategy of last resort. To test the empirical relevance of this hypothesis we formulate an econometric model which allows for several unobserved segments within the informal sector and apply it to the …
Analysis of a parabolic cross-diffusion population model without self-diffusion
2006
Abstract The global existence of non-negative weak solutions to a strongly coupled parabolic system arising in population dynamics is shown. The cross-diffusion terms are allowed to be arbitrarily large, whereas the self-diffusion terms are assumed to disappear. The last assumption complicates the analysis since these terms usually provide H 1 estimates of the solutions. The existence proof is based on a positivity-preserving backward Euler–Galerkin approximation, discrete entropy estimates, and L 1 weak compactness arguments. Furthermore, employing the entropy–entropy production method, we show for special stationary solutions that the transient solution converges exponentially fast to its…
Web engineering and multi-criterion analisys of modeling languages used in production systems
2010
Abstract Economic globalization and strong, unprecedented, industrial competition, the overwhelming influence of information and communication technology, the Internet and its most important service, i.e. the World Wide Web have an undisputed impact upon all enterprises, exerting a strong influence on the competition system, the accelerated development of new products and services through reducing the development time of the product life cycle, as well as the improvement of upstream and downstream communication with suppliers and customers. Within this framework, taking into account the decline in worldwide economy, especially during the past few years, this paper aims to proposing a new so…
Misure di agglomerazione spaziale nei Sistemi Locali del Lavoro siciliani
2009
Spatial agglomeration indicators in the Sicilian Local Labour Systems Objectives - This paper examines the links among productive specialization, variety of the economic environment and knowledge spillovers on the basis of the territorial analyses present in the current literature. With the aim of identifying localization benefits in a particular area, some aspects of business settling are compared with trends in the development of economic activities and, particularly, with agglomeration process of the firms. Methods and Results The empirical analysis will be carried out pointing to the dynamics of employment consequent to the effects of the externalities above mentioned. Employment data a…
Managing the Liberalization of Italy’s Retail Electricity Market: A Policy Proposal
2018
Italy will phase electricity retail price regulation by July 1st, 2020. This is the last step in the process of electricity market liberalization, that started in 1999. Until then, residential customers and small businesses who do not choose their supplier, will be supplied under a transitional, regulated service named “maggior tutela” (greater protection), which is supplied by the local distributor at a price set by the regulator. This paper reviews the literature on electricity retail competition – with particular regard to its expected effects on prices, innovation and customer engagement – and the condition under which its benefits may be delivered. Then a Structure-Conduct-Performance …