Search results for "productivity."
showing 10 items of 557 documents
Workplace Heterogeneity and the Returns to Versatility
2021
Abstract In the canonical random on-the-job search model with continuous firm heterogeneity, I show that a mean-preserving spread of the firm-productivity distribution raises the returns to mobility, i.e., the inter-firm mobility of workers as measured by the number of outside contacts per employment spell. Both sorting and rent-share mechanisms play a role. In a further contribution, I distinguish frictional and structural impediments to mobility in order to establish a link between mobility and skills via the concept of versatility. Versatility enhances a person’s mobility since a mismatch between job requirements and the person’s skill set is less likely to occur. I provide some statisti…
Effect of light intensity, light duration and photoperiods in the performance of an outdoor photobioreactor for urban wastewater treatment
2019
[EN] A series of eight experiments were carried out to analyse the effects of light intensity, light duration and photoperiods on a microalgae culture for treating AnMBR effluent at an outdoor photobioreactor (PBR) plant. Improved performance was achieved in terms of nutrient recovery rates, biomass productivity and effluent nutrient concentrations at a higher net photon flux. However, the higher irradiance was also responsible for lower biomass productivity:light irradiance ratios. None of the experiments with different lighting regimes and the same net photon flux showed any significant differences. The data obtained suggest that microalgae performance in this system did not depend on the…
Selecting the most suitable microalgae species to treat the effluent from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor.
2018
[EN] Conventional treatments for nutrient removal in wastewater are shifting to Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors, which produce a high-quality effluent with minimum sludge production. The effluent resulting contains high nitrogen and phosphorus load that can be eliminated by microalgae culture. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ammonium and phosphorus removal rate of different microalgae species in the effluent of an anaerobic treatment. For that, 4 different microalgae species have been tested (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Scenedesmus obliquus, Chlorella vulgaris and Monoraphidium braunii) in batch monoculture and mixed conditions. Results indicate that all species are able to eliminate…
Different ways of measuring performance in the service industries: application in Spanish small and medium-sized hotels
2008
There is no suitable unit of analysis for explaining the profitability and competitiveness of the company, as typically pointed out in the debate between the disciplines of economics and management. After a study of the possible variables, we opted for those of minimum cost output and productivity, using these two measurements to analyse their application to Spanish hotels. The subsequent objective was to attempt to identify general strategies that could be applied to any SME within service industries. In situations where time and resources are not readily available to create action plans for each of the different types of SME, there is a need for incentives that can be applied to the creat…
The impact of globalization on regional development and competitiveness: cases of selected regions
2019
International audience; The objective of this study is to conduct an analysis of regional development and competitiveness in the EU and Latvia under current conditions of economic globalization. This paper makes an attempt to evaluate a theory of regional development and regional competitiveness concept in relation to regional competitiveness in the light of current global economic changes. The authors emphasise that the regional development is based on competitive advantages, which has been a subject of fundamental research by Michal Porter and that serves as a basis for the current scientific methodology to assess competitiveness of regions and countries. The authors support a view of man…
Regionalna specjalizacja produkcji rolnej w Polsce
2016
Agriculture is a very specific sector of the economy, significantly different from other economic activities. One of the main distinguishing characteristics of agricultural production is its nature and strong dependence on the environmental conditions. These conditions determine to a large extent, the nature of agricultural production and its structure (crop/animal). The accession of Poland to the EU in 2004 and access to EU funds (subsidies for farmers under different EU programs) often were the cause of change in the current profile of farm activities. Therefore, it seems reasonable to examine the changes in the specialization of agricultural production in Poland after 2004. The aim of th…
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…
Development and application of the Hicks-Moorsteen productivity index for the total factor productivity assessment of wastewater treatment plants
2015
Abstract The assessment of the productivity change in wastewater treatment plants is essential to improve performance and reduce operational costs. Several indices are available to compute unit productivity, however some assessments are more reliable than others. In the absence of price data, the Malmquist productivity index is the most commonly applied; but it does not maintain total factor productivity properties under variable returns to scale technology. Hence, Malmquist productivity index is not a suitable index to compute total factor productivity change in wastewater treatment plants. The present study served to overcome such limitations by calculating, for the first time, total fact…
Productivity growth of wastewater treatment plants – accounting for environmental impacts: a Malmquist-Luenberger index approach
2015
As the number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has increased, the economic considerations associated with their management have become more relevant. Measuring the productivity of WWTPs allows the best practice to be identified and resource use to be optimized. Previous studies assessing the productivity change of WWTPs have ignored undesirable outputs; thus, wastewater treatment was considered to be free of environmental impacts. To overcome this limitation and for the first time, we assessed the productivity growth of a sample of Spanish WWTPs, while also accounting for the emission of greenhouse gases and sludge production. The Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index (MLPI) and its…
The integration of quality and safety concerns in the wine industry: the role of third-party voluntary certifications
2016
Abstract Over the past few years, public attention has focused on the quality and safety control, traceability, and environmental issues surrounding food products. Several mandatory public standards and private voluntary schemes worldwide have been developed to address these concerns. Using survey data, this paper analyses the key factors affecting the adoption of voluntary quality standards in the wine industry and the existence of a relationship between the adoption of voluntary quality standards and economic performance, measured in terms of labour productivity and marketing behaviour. The survey involved 89 cellars, of which 68 were non-certified and 21 had one or more food quality cert…