Suchergebnisse

In this study, we apply dynamic network data envelopment analysis with slack-based measures to estimate the degree of ease of doing business in Taiwan's counties and cities from 2004 to 2012. By proposing a three-stage regional entrepreneurship system, including entrepreneurship, survival, and operation stages in each county and city in Taiwan, we calculate not only the overall efficiency of the whole system, but also the stage efficiencies, the period efficiencies, and the stage efficiencies in each period. Our findings indicate that the average overall efficiency of Taiwan's regional entrepreneurship system is higher in urban areas than in rural areas; while the average stage efficiency in operation stage is improving, its average efficiency in every year is better in urban than in rural areas. We also find dynamic self-effects in the entrepreneurship system of Taiwan's counties and cities. The implications of this study indicate that entrepreneurs should locate their new enterprises in urban areas in Taiwan, due to the higher efficiencies of their entrepreneurship systems and better environments for business operation; as for local governments in rural areas, the improvement of their entrepreneurship environment is necessary, especially for the performance at operation stage.

Recently we have witnessed the worldwide adoption of many different types of innovative technologies, such as crowdsourcing, ridesharing, open and big data, aiming at delivering public services more efficiently and effectively. Among them, ridesharing has received substantial attention from decision-makers around the world. Because of the multitude of currently understood or potentially unknown risks associated with ridesharing (unemployment, insurance, information privacy, and environmental risk), governments in different countries apply different strategies to address such risks. Some governments prohibit the adoption of ridesharing altogether, while other governments promote it. In this article, we address the question of how risks involved in ridesharing are governed over time. We present an in-depth single case study on Singapore and examine how the Singaporean government has addressed risks in ridesharing over time. The Singaporean government has a strong ambition to become an innovation hub, and many innovative technologies have been adopted and promoted to that end. At the same time, decision-makers in Singapore are reputed for their proactive style of social governance. The example of Singapore can be regarded as a revelatory case study, helping us further to explore governance practices in other countries.

AbstractIn this paper, we develop a set‐theoretic and possible worlds approach to counterfactual analysis in case‐study explanation. Using this approach, we first consider four kinds of counterfactuals: necessary condition counterfactuals, SUIN condition counterfactuals, sufficient condition counterfactuals, and INUS condition counterfactuals. We explore the distinctive causal claims entailed in each, and conclude that necessary condition and SUIN condition counterfactuals are the most useful types for hypothesis assessment in case‐study research. We then turn attention to the development of a rigorous understanding of the 'minimal‐rewrite' rule, linking this rule to insights from set theory about the relative importance of necessary conditions. We show why, logically speaking, a comparative analysis of two necessary condition counterfactuals will tend to favour small events and contingent happenings. A third section then presents new tools for specifying the level of generality of the events in a counterfactual. We show why and how the goals of formulating empirically important versus empirically plausible counterfactuals stand in tension with one another. Finally, we use our framework to link counterfactual analysis to causal sequences, which in turn provides advantages for conducting counterfactual projections.

The 'tribe' is a notion intimately related to the study of Afghanistan, used as a generic signifier for all things Afghan, it is through this notion that the co-constitution of coloniser and colonised is crystallised and foregrounded in Afghanistan. By tracing the way in which the term 'tribe' has been deployed in the Afghan context, the article performs two kinds of intellectual labour. First, by following the evolution of a concept from its use in the early 19th century to the literature on Afghanistan in the 21st century, wherein the 'tribes' seem to have acquired a newfound importance, it undertakes a genealogy or intellectual history of the term. The Afghan 'tribes' as an object of study, follow an interesting trajectory: initially likened to Scottish clans, they were soon seen as brave and loyal men but fundamentally different from their British interlocutors, to a 'problem' that needed to be managed and finally, as indispensable to a long-term 'Afghan strategy'. And second, it endeavours to describe how that intellectual history is intimately connected to the exigencies of imperialism and the colonial politics of knowledge production.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a small scale pilot study undertaken in Northern Ireland to gather service user feedback from individuals who have been subject to adult safeguarding procedures.


Design/methodology/approach
The aims, methods and findings of the "Adult Safeguarding: 10,000 Voices" pilot project are presented.


Findings
The pilot project highlighted how an initiative which captures the experiences of patients, service users, carers and staff in the health and social care sector (10,000 Voices) could be successfully adapted for use in adult safeguarding, facilitating the collation of complex experiences and enabling insights to be gleaned and shared.


Research limitations/implications
The pilot study is limited by the small number of participants. The findings are preliminary.


Practical implications
For the first time in Northern Ireland the 10,000 Voices model was utilised in the context of a non-health related service, namely, adult safeguarding.


Social implications
This outline of the model and methodology for obtaining service user feedback can inform user involvement in other contexts.


Originality/value
This paper provides an accessible overview of an innovative approach to engaging service users in adult safeguarding, such approaches, to date have been limited.

ABSTRACTOne potential major role of social economy organizations in sustainability transitions is the creation and mobilization of social capital. Yet, the social economy gathers very distinct organizational models which may be associated with different types and levels of social capital. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to explore whether, and if so how, the type and level of social capital differ between mutual benefit organizations – which essentially seek to meet their members' needs – and public benefit organizations – which seek to enhance the well‐being of a broader community or the society as a whole. The study draws on an econometric analysis of different forms of social capital in two renewable energy cooperatives which are located in Flanders but have clearly divergent orientations toward mutual versus public benefit. The results show that, as compared with an orientation toward public benefit, an orientation toward mutual benefit is associated with lower social identification with the cooperative and weaker ties between members. Our study explores the underlying explanatory mechanisms behind these relationships. Its findings contribute to understanding the potential roles played by cooperatives in sustainability transitions.

ABSTRACTThe article presents findings from a two‐stage study that examined student perceptions of peer evaluations (PEs) conducted in undergraduate business classroom teams. In stage 1, we used qualitative research to identify constructs focal in students' PE‐related cognitive schemas and developed grounded measurement scales and hypotheses about their relationships. Then, we implemented PEs in 17 sections of undergraduate business courses taught over seven semesters. The PEs were highly consequential; i.e., they entirely determined the grade each student received on her/his team project. At the end of each semester, we surveyed student perceptions and behaviors using measurement scales we developed after stage 1 of the study. We find that the knowledge of impending PEs leads students to exercise a great deal of care in terms of what they say and do while working with others. The higher levels of care trigger both impression management behaviors and perceptions that others are contributing more. The perceptions that others are contributing more seem instrumental in shaping students' decision to contribute more themselves. Implications for instructors and future research are discussed.

Denitrifying bioelectrochemical systems (BES) allow safe nitrate treatment in waters with low organic carbon content without chemical requirements and at a competitive cost. However, this technology should move towards scaling-up by improving removal rate capabilities. In this study, a novel tubular design was used to evaluate whether the hydraulic retention time and the influent nitrate concentration influence the nitrate removal rate of denitrifying BES. A nitrate consumption rate of up to 849 g N mNCC−3 d−1 was reached without accumulation of nitrites at a HRT of 28 minutes. Nitrate removal activity was evaluated under different nitrate influent concentrations and under different HRTs. Results suggested preeminence of HRT on modulating the denitrifying activity. Therefore, this study presents an innovative design for nitrate removal using denitrifying BES and it demonstrates that operation at low HRTs increases the nitrate removal rate. It suggests that an appropriate approximation of scaling-up denitrifying BES would be the implementation of compact reactors connected in series operated at low HRTs ; This research was financially supported by the Spanish Government (CTQ2014-53718-R and CTM2015-71982-REDT) and the University of Girona (MPCUdG2016/137)

Denitrifying bioelectrochemical systems (BES) allow safe nitrate treatment in waters with low organic carbon content without chemical requirements and at a competitive cost. However, this technology should move towards scaling-up by improving removal rate capabilities. In this study, a novel tubular design was used to evaluate whether the hydraulic retention time and the influent nitrate concentration influence the nitrate removal rate of denitrifying BES. A nitrate consumption rate of up to 849 g N mNCC−3 d−1 was reached without accumulation of nitrites at a HRT of 28 minutes. Nitrate removal activity was evaluated under different nitrate influent concentrations and under different HRTs. Results suggested preeminence of HRT on modulating the denitrifying activity. Therefore, this study presents an innovative design for nitrate removal using denitrifying BES and it demonstrates that operation at low HRTs increases the nitrate removal rate. It suggests that an appropriate approximation of scaling-up denitrifying BES would be the implementation of compact reactors connected in series operated at low HRTs ; This research was financially supported by the Spanish Government (CTQ2014-53718-R and CTM2015-71982-REDT) and the University of Girona (MPCUdG2016/137)

Denitrifying bioelectrochemical systems (BES) allow safe nitrate treatment in waters with low organic carbon content without chemical requirements and at a competitive cost. However, this technology should move towards scaling-up by improving removal rate capabilities. In this study, a novel tubular design was used to evaluate whether the hydraulic retention time and the influent nitrate concentration influence the nitrate removal rate of denitrifying BES. A nitrate consumption rate of up to 849 g N mNCC−3 d−1 was reached without accumulation of nitrites at a HRT of 28 minutes. Nitrate removal activity was evaluated under different nitrate influent concentrations and under different HRTs. Results suggested preeminence of HRT on modulating the denitrifying activity. Therefore, this study presents an innovative design for nitrate removal using denitrifying BES and it demonstrates that operation at low HRTs increases the nitrate removal rate. It suggests that an appropriate approximation of scaling-up denitrifying BES would be the implementation of compact reactors connected in series operated at low HRTs ; This research was financially supported by the Spanish Government (CTQ2014-53718-R and CTM2015-71982-REDT) and the University of Girona (MPCUdG2016/137)

The e-government (short form of electronic government) is a new term which is about the process for decision making and implementing through modern technology. E government refers to improve the efficiency, ensure the accountability, transparency effectiveness of government through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). It is in this context, the study of e-government has become very important in the literature of social sciences, administrative sciences and public policy studies. In the present scenario, e-government is already in its second decade. More or less all countries around the world are introducing the e-government as a tool for reducing cost, saving time, improving social services and increasing efficiency and effectiveness of public sector. E-government is a comparatively new concept in Pakistan. However, being a developing country, it is facing serious problems regarding adoption of e-government in public services delivery. The underlying aim of this study is to analyze the issues related to electronic governance while focusing on the challenges hindering informed decision making and good governance in Pakistan.

This book is an ethnographic study of the internal dynamics of a subcultural community that defines itself as a social movement. While the majority of scholarly studies on this movement focus on its official face, on its front stage, this book concerns itself with the ideological and practical paradoxes at work within the micro-social dynamics of the backstage, an area that has so far been neglected in social movement studies. The central question is how hierarchy and authority function in a social movement subculture that disavows such concepts. The squatters' movement, which defines itself primarily as anti-hierarchical and anti-authoritarian, is profoundly structured by the unresolved and perpetual contradiction between both public disavowal and simultaneous maintenance of hierarchy and authority within the movement. This study analyzes how this contradiction is then reproduced in different micro-social interactions, examining the methods by which people negotiate minute details of their daily lives as squatter activists in the face of a funhouse mirror of ideological expectations reflecting values from within the squatter community, that, in turn, often refract mainstream, middle class norms.

It was very many years ago that most blind people who were employed in a small group of occupations. Additionally, changes in legislations have made people who are blind more aware of their rights to pursue employment in the field of their choice, and these same laws prohibit employers from discriminating against the blind applicant or employee. The visually impaired individuals mostly opt for teaching position and a number of teachers working school and collegiate level. However the employers and administrators attitude is a crucial component in employment of Visually Impaired teachers. Hence this study aimed to find out the Administrators Attitude towards Visually Impaired teachers. The investigator developed her own Rating Scale to measure Administrators Attitude towards Visually Impaired Teachers. Descriptive survey design is adopted in this study. Descriptive research which include selection, surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds were collected. Administrators of 30 visually impaired teachers working in schools and 30 in college / university level assessed about their attitude towards Visually Impaired Teachers working under them. The results revealed that the administrators expressed moderate level of attitude towards Visually Impaired teachers.

South Korea is one of a country that has a good image overseas due to the successful of their nation branding. With K-Wave as their nation branding they introduce their country and culture through Korean entertainment. Indonesia is one of Asian countries which also really exposed by the Korean Wave, especially Alay subculture. The fact that Korean Wave affecting the behavior and way of thinking in Indonesian society especially Alay subculture became an interesting phenomenon to study. This study have the purpose to explore the phenomenon and trying to figure the perception of Alay subculture toward Korean nation branding (Korean Wave) and what factors that influence the Alayers' perception process. Using consumer perception theory, the researchers try to analyze and elaborate each stage of perception process that Alayers experienced. The knowledge of this research may be beneficial towards government especially to Indonesian government to create a great and successful nation branding for Indonesia. Also the researcher expects to reveal the answer that will create a clear explanation of the phenomenon for this issue.

AbstractThis paper deals with the Hungarian Holocaust Memorial Year 2014 and the ongoing debate about how to assess Hungary's involvement in the Holocaust. By introducing the Holocaust Memorial Year 2014, erecting the Monument on the German Occupation and initiating a Memorial to Child Victims of the Holocaust (the House of Fates), the Hungarian government tried to establish a common narrative about the Holocaust in Hungary. For various reasons, however, this attempt failed. Instead, it turned out that the anniversary year 2014 fostered the emergence of diverse new cultures of commemoration at different levels of society. This study discusses the reasons for these developments and provides an overview of the (public) events surrounding commemorations in the Holocaust Memorial Year, thus exploring Hungary's process of coming to terms with its past. The events in 2014 were accompanied by disputes at multiple levels that were held in the public domain and involved all types of traditional and modern media. This study highlights the reactions to several statements and explains how they came about. Our aim is to engender interest in further scholarly examination.