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The integration of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) brings about a significant improvement in the efficiency and productivity of industrial processes. The speed and accuracy of various tasks have been greatly enhanced with the utilization of IIoT which allows smoother operations and cost-effective solutions, to protect uninterrupted intrusions and avoid potential threats. This article proposes a novel recurrent federated network-based enhanced local search grasshopper (RFN-ELG) algorithm. Datasets like UNSW-NB15 and MQTT-IoT-IDS2020 datasets are employed to determine the performances of IIoT via two diverse phases, namely the data preprocessing phase as well as attack detection phase. The recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are integrated with federated learning (FL) to overcome the gradient issues during the training process. In addition to this, the hyperparameters of RNN-FL are tuned via a grasshopper optimization algorithm with a local search strategy. Accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and false alarm rate (FAR) are the performance metrics taken for attack detection, where accuracy attains the value of 98.1%, precision attains the value of 97.4%, recall attains the value of 96.1%, F1-score attains the value of 97.2%, and FAR attains the value of 96.1%, respectively. Therefore, the proposed RFN-ELG algorithm attains high performance in detecting the attacks in IIoT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the firm productivity premium for servitized firms. It discusses servitization across the product value chain and estimates the effects of the range and extent of servitization on productivity premium in manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a conceptual framework and tests the hypotheses on the effects of servitization on productivity premium using linear regression models with a sample of 20,837 Russian manufacturing firms gathered from the Ruslana Bureau van Dijk database and the Russian customs service. Findings: Servitized firms exhibit higher total factor productivity and labor productivity. The labor productivity premium increases with the number of services offered. However, the impact of services on productivity varies along the product value chain: postmanufacturing and postsales services enhance productivity premium, while manufacturing and back-office services diminish them. The effect of establishment services remains ambiguous. Practical implications: This paper offers an analytical framework for firms to assess their servitization strategies. These strategies should be gradual, focused on enhancing firm efficiency rather than being an end goal. Firms should initiate the process by introducing services at the postproduction and postsales stages of the product creation chain to achieve productivity premium. Originality/value: The paper extends the evidence on firm-level productivity drivers and contributes to the servitization theory. A servitization strategy should be portfolio-based, considering both the potential gains and losses in productivity resulting from the implementation of specific services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient and effective handling of loading and unloading processes at ports is key to achieving set volume targets. In this context, intelligence strategy plays a crucial role in strengthening loading and unloading activities. This study aims to analyze how the implementation of intelligence strategy can enhance loading and unloading activities at Teluk Lamong Port. Through a case study approach, we explore the implementation of intelligence strategy by port authorities and its impact on achieving volume targets. The research findings indicate that well-integrated intelligence strategies can provide timely and relevant information to stakeholders, enabling more efficient resource management and enhancing coordination among various parties involved. The practical implications of these findings underscore the importance of employing intelligence strategies to enhance productivity and operational efficiency at ports, thereby contributing to the attainment of set volume targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of bank credit on firm productivity. We exploit a matched firm‐bank database, covering all the credit relationships of Italian corporations, to measure idiosyncratic supply‐side shocks to credit availability and estimate a production model augmented with financial frictions. We find the effect of credit supply to be asymmetric: contractions harm TFP growth, halting productivity‐enhancing activities; positive credit supply shocks have limited effects. This points toward a role of financial stability in preserving productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The logistic and transportation plays an integral part in maintaining a well-functioning organization. One of the most extensively used, original, famous, and popular non-parametric methods for evaluating the efficiency of organizations is the Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA technique. Suppose we can formulate the concept of effectiveness in the DEA technique. In that case, we will be able to measure the productivity of organizations since productivity is a blend of efficiency and effectiveness. Several studies have been developed, e.g., the "Malmquist Productivity Index" (MPI) and the "Lunberger Productivity Index" (LPI), which assess the productivity of corporations through the DEA technique, but these models do not display all factors in a system. Also, they need at least two periods to appraise productivity. Furthermore, their two components of efficiency and effectiveness are not considerably evident. Moreover, sensitivity analysis is not possible in these models. Therefore, a model was presented that can measure the relative productivity of decision-making units through the technique of DEA, simultaneously in a period through the two elements of efficiency and effectiveness with the feature of sensitivity analysis and its solution method is more reliable due to the use of multi-objective planning method. In addition, a case study was used to indicate the application of the proposed model, which demonstrated that a branch could be efficient but unproductive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between financial technology (FinTech) and real economy firms has garnered considerable attention. This paper explores the relationship and mechanism between FinTech and corporate zombification using the data of Chinese A-share listed firms in China from 2011 to 2021. The research findings reveal that FinTech significantly inhibits firm zombification, and FinTech breadth and depth both play a significant role in restraining firm zombification. Mechanism exploration indicates that, on the one hand, FinTech reduces friction in the financial market, inhibiting firm zombification by improving firm investment efficiency, especially alleviating under-investment. On the other side, FinTech indirectly affects the technological investment, production, and operation of firms, thereby inhibiting firm zombification by increasing their total factor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the inhibitory effect of FinTech on corporate zombification is more pronounced for non-stateowned firms and small-sized firms, as well as those in manufacturing industries and highly competitive industries. This paper provides some novel evidence on evaluating the effect of FinTech on firms and also offers new insights for efficient governance of zombie firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between environmental regulation and firm productivity has been widely debated but inconsistencies in findings across different studies. Using detailed firm-level micro-data from 2000 to 2007, this paper employs difference-in-difference combined with matching based on entropy balancing method to explore the effect of environmental regulation on firm total factor productivity (TFP) in pulp and paper industry in China. Our main findings are as following: Firstly, stricter environmental regulation, as represented by the Wastewater Discharge Standards for Pulp and Paper Industry in Shandong province, increases firm TFP significantly. Moreover, the coefficients of interest are robust to multiple robustness checks. Secondly, dynamic effects estimates reveal that when faced with this phase-in environmental regulation, firms take the foreseeably increasing strictness into account from the very beginning and prefer to take one-step adjustment to reach full compliance. Thirdly, potential mechanism analysis finds that the positive effect mainly comes from the improvement of resource allocation efficiency within firms. Fourthly, the heterogeneity test indicates that the effect of environmental regulation on firm TFP is heterogeneous across firms with different sizes, ages, ownerships, capital intensity, and export status. Finally, this paper provides convincing and insightful evidence that environmental regulation has the potential to achieve the dual goals of environmental sustainability and economic growth and is thus of broader significance for understanding the enforcement of environmental regulation in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) is of great significance to promote the sustainable development of urban agglomerations. The objective of this research is to evaluate the eco-efficiency of urban agglomerations. Taking the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) as a case study, this study evaluated the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of the eco-efficiency by using the Super-SBM model. Additionally, the factors that affect the efficiency fluctuations are analyzed by decomposing the Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) index and the input–output redundancy rates are measured. The study additionally put forth a conceptual framework aimed at evaluating eco-efficiency within the context of urban agglomerations. The findings indicated that the eco-efficiency of the YRDUA had not reached the effective level with noticeable variations across different regions. The resource redundancy of the YRDUA was severe and negatively correlated with eco-efficiency. Environmental pollution was the primary cause of efficiency loss. Technological progress was the main driving factor of regional total factor productivity (TFP), but technical efficiency still needed to be improved. Therefore, it is urgent for the YRDUA to improve the efficiency of its industrial structure and foster the harmonious growth of various sectors, in order to achieve the sustainable utilization of natural resources and the preservation of the ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China from 2011 to 2018, the DEA model and Malmquist index were used to calculate the industrial carbon unlocking efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in a static and dynamic way, and the Tobit model was used to empirically test its influencing factors. The results show that (1) the overall efficiency of industrial carbon unlocking in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is on the rise, but there are regional differences. The efficiency of industrial carbon unlocking in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is higher than that in the upper and middle reaches. (2) The total factor productivity of industrial carbon unlocking in the Yangtze River Economic Belt has increased steadily on the whole, and technological progress is the main source of growth. (3) Industrial carbon unlocking efficiency is affected by many factors. Environmental regulation and degree of openness have a promoting effect on industrial carbon unlocking efficiency, while government investment and innovation level have a restraining effect on industrial carbon unlocking efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital finance has a substantial effect on macroeconomics and plays an important role in corporate investment behaviour. However, few studies examine how digital finance affects corporate investment efficiency. We use the data of Chinese A-share listed companies for 2011–2017 and the provincial digital finance index developed by Peking University to document that digital finance significantly improves corporate investment efficiency. Our findings are supported by extensive robustness tests. In addition, we identify two mechanisms by which digital finance may affect corporate investment efficiency: by reducing financing constraints and stimulating corporate innovation. We find that digital finance has a more pronounced effect on non-state-owned enterprises, small firms, firms in the central and western regions of China, firms with fewer loans, and firms with a higher dependence on external financing, indicating that digital finance increases the inclusiveness of financial markets. Finally, our economic consequences test shows that digital finance increases the total factor productivity of firms. Overall, this study provides insights for developing countries. In particular, it suggests that digital finance can increase firms' resource allocation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel modeling framework that quantifies spatial spillovers on firm total factor productivity (TFP) growth and its components in a single‐stage setting. A random parameters frontier model is specified to measure firm efficiency and calculate TFP growth and its components while allowing for the random parameters and the inefficiency term to be functions of individuals' and neighbors' characteristics. In this manner, the dependence of TFP growth and its components on these characteristics is built into the model, and the corresponding marginal effects are calculated. The empirical application concerns specialized Dutch dairy farms observed over the 2009–2016 period. Apart from the conventional input–output quantities, information on farms' latitudes and longitudes is available, thus allowing the identification of neighboring producers and testing for the existence of spatial spillovers. The empirical findings suggest that farms surrounded by more intensive neighbors experience faster technical progress and TFP growth, which highlights the existence of positive spatial spillovers in Dutch dairy farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the efficiency of housing finance companies operating in India by applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). We analyse 26 housing finance companies' efficiency using various key financial indicators. In addition to DEA, we utilised Tobit regression to investigate the determinants of efficiency in housing finance companies. The findings indicate that large firms need internal restructuring of their coefficients to achieve efficiency, while small firms maintain efficiency within their capacity in the given scenarios. The total factor productivity change for housing finance companies was the highest in 2020–21, followed by a comparative decline in the subsequent year. By considering censored or truncated data, Tobit regression allows us to identify the specific factors influencing efficiency scores derived through DEA. The independent variables used in the Tobit regression model include financial indicators and other relevant factors impacting housing finance companies' efficiency. Overall, this study sheds light on the performance of housing finance companies and highlights the financial parameters necessary for maintaining a robust non-banking financial system in the Indian economy. The combination of DEA and Tobit regression provides a comprehensive understanding of efficiency and aids in identifying areas for improvement in the housing finance sector while benefiting policymakers and industry stakeholders alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New energy strategies are crucial to address energy and environmental issues, but the energy consumption transition may also affect firm behavior with unintended economic consequences. Using data from A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019, this paper investigates the impact of energy consumption structure transformation on firms' total factor productivity (TFP) using China's new energy demonstration city (NEDC) policy as a shock. It is found that the NEDC reduces firms' TFP by about 6.4%. This conclusion still holds after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. According to the channel analysis, NEDC reduces the efficiency of firms' resource allocation and innovation, resulting in efficiency losses. Furthermore, differences in firms' ownership and geographical location make the impact of NEDC on TFP heterogeneous. For example, the hindering effect of NEDC on TFP is more pronounced in private firms and firms in regions with lower marketization. This paper shows that the promotion and application of new energy may have certain economic costs. To better balance the benefits and costs of new energy strategies, the government and other relevant departments should increase policy flexibility and perfection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the features of the development of industrial enterprises, their current state today, as well as the influence of the diversification factor on the results of production. The author makes reflections on the development of the country's economy, improving the economic results of the industry and improving economic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Within the two-tier bargaining system, the role of complementary collective bargaining is somewhat controversial. In this paper, the authors analyse collective agreements from a triple perspective: scanning the contents of firm-level complementary collective agreements (CCAs); identifying the factors that determine the probability of signing a CCA and analysing the relationship between the latter and firm performance with a focus on the role of different negotiated topics. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical procedure is based on 2 main linked sources: longitudinal balance sheet data and a cross-sectional dataset of a representative sample of Italian firms with at least 15 employees, including some retrospective information. The innovative dataset derives from integrating multiple sources. The main empirical approaches include Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimations, multivariate regressions, as well as instrumental variable (IV) estimations to overcome simultaneity issues. Findings: With respect to the probability of signing a CCA, on the firms' side, the authors find a positive role of the degree of firm capitalisation and affiliation with an employers' association and a negative role of family firms compared to non-family firms; on the workers' side, a positive role of the workers' unionisation rate and a positive but differentiated weight of workers' union representations and industrial conflicts. With regard to firm performance, the authors' estimates suggest that signing a CCA is associated with an average increase of 3% in total factor productivity (TFP) and 7.8% in labour productivity. By investigating the contents of the complementarity agreements, the authors show that bargaining a wider range of topics implies advantages that are not homogenous, benefitting more efficient firms. Moreover, the authors find a specific positive and significant role for three main interacting issues: economic incentives, organisation and employment. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional structure of the data on bargaining practices prevents detecting causal relationships due to either potential common driver(s) of both the target variables (firm performance) and bargaining practices (simultaneity bias) and unobservable time-invariant firm-level characteristics (heterogeneity bias). Practical implications: According to the authors' results, policymakers should operate along four fiscal channels to spur the efficiency of firms, via CCA. First, tax incentives stimulate higher firm capitalisation, as this seems to be a CCA-favouring factor. Second, deduction in taxable income for union members, which should led to higher membership rates, hence raising the likelihood of obtaining a CCA. Third, incentives aimed at directly promoting the greater diffusion of CCAs as a source of improved performance. Fourth, fiscal tools aimed at favouring the negotiation of either specific contents or "bundles" of contents, which the authors' estimates show as an additional performance-enhancing tool of CCA practices. Originality/value: The conceptualisation of the contents of CCA as organisational investments and the whole probability function of signing a CCA are quite innovative. Moreover, the econometric strategy takes account of several potential sources of bias when estimating the relevant coefficients at each stage, which is currently not fully considered in the literature. Finally, this is the first study to shed light on both the diverse outcomes associated with different negotiated topics (in terms of quantity and quality) and the distinction between short and medium-long term effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing water environmental protection and economic growth is a priority for the local governments. Many literature analyses found that the reform of the River Chief System (RCS) had a significant effect on water quality improvement in China; however, it is important and necessary to comprehensively assess the impact of the RCS on the total factor productivity (TFP) of industrial enterprises, which provides a realistic basis for the decisions of local governments. This paper uses the quasi-natural experiment of the RCS in China and data from Chinese industrial enterprises to analyze the impact of the policy reform on the total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises and the influence mechanism. The empirical analysis finds that the TFP of industrial enterprises in the reformed areas of the RCS is significantly lower than that in the non-reformed areas. This indicates that the implementation of the RCS is not conducive to the improvement of TFP of industrial enterprises. And this effect is mainly generated by reducing the output level and capital allocation efficiency of industrial enterprises. Meanwhile, the impact of the RCS on the TFP of industrial enterprises exists heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period 1873–1947 was productive in fostering ideas about observing, measuring, and quantifying repetitive human movements, prior to the rise of occupational health and ergonomics within industrial psychology. Starting with physiological experimentation in the lab, instruments of graphic inscription were then applied in the industrial workplace, initially as a benevolent measurement for monitoring worker health, but elsewhere as a more invasive measurement for the surveillance of worker efficiency. Herman Helmholtz's invention of the myograph, and an adaptation called the ergograph, would help form what Kronecker (1873) and later Mosso (1891) termed the 'curve of fatigue', and were used in extensive research on factory workers for Jules Amar's Le Moteur humain in 1914. Meanwhile, in Britain in 1915 the physiologist Sherrington was observing workers in munitions factories, feeding into the formation of the Industrial Fatigue Research Board in 1919, which produced official reports. In the United States, similar but more high-profile research was conducted by Frederick Winslow Taylor and Lillian and Frank Gilbreth, who studied movement efficiency to maximize industrial productivity by innovating upon photographic and chronophotographic techniques. Further physiological research was taken up in Lawrence J. Henderson's Harvard Fatigue Laboratory between 1927 and 1947 on subjects situated in environmental extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the Group of 20 (G20; excluding EU economies) were selected as the research objects, and the dynamic network slacks-based model (SBM) was used to evaluate the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and forested area on the efficiency and productivity of the industrial and agricultural sectors from 2011 to 2015. Empirical results showed that: (1) The efficiency of the industrial sector was superior to that of the agricultural sector among the G20 countries. Argentina, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the US maintained the best industrial sector efficiency values, falling on the efficiency boundary, whereas Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia, South Korea, Russia, and the US had the best agricultural sector efficiency values. (2) Argentina, Indonesia, and the US had the best overall efficiency value of G20 countries. Saudi Arabia (0.0303), China (0.2721), and the UK (0.2809) had the lowest efficiency values. (3) Only France and Germany had higher than average total factor productivity, while Indonesia and Saudi Arabia had declining industrial and agricultural sector productivity. (4) The proportion of forested area (546.02%) was the most important variable to be improved due to the influence of desert topography, followed by the proportion of agricultural output values (60.86%) and the proportion of industrial output values (38.02%) in some countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the harmonious development of economic growth and the environment, nations must pay more attention to wastewater treatment and boost efficiency using green technology. This study applies the Malmquist-DEA model to assess the efficiency of green technology innovation in 19 Chinese wastewater treatment companies between 2017 and 2020. In addition, focus is placed on the core wastewater treatment technology of the companies with excellent performance, indicating how wastewater treatment companies may improve their green technology. The results of the study indicate that, first, the overall effectiveness of green technology innovation in companies follows a rising and then decreasing trend. In 2020, wastewater treatment companies' green technology innovation efficiency was around 17.4 percent lower than in 2017. Improving technical progress is the key to boosting the total factor productivity of wastewater treatment companies. Second, based on the Tobit regression, the shareholding ratio of companies has a positive influence on the technical efficiency of companies. Therefore, China should increase innovation capacity and productivity, adopt current sewage treatment technology from overseas, and thus gradually achieve clean sewage utilization and ecological environment management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring the coefficient of variation (CV) allows process monitoring to be performed when both the process mean and the standard deviation are not constant but, nevertheless, proportional. Until now, few research papers have investigated the monitoring of the CV in a short production run context. This paper investigates the design and implementation of a Variable Sampling Interval Shewhart control chart to monitor the coefficient of variation in a short production run context. Formulas for the truncated average time to signal are derived and a performance comparison is carried out with a Fixed Sampling Rate Shewhart chart monitoring the CV. An example illustrates the use of this chart on real industrial data. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are still some problems in China's ice and snow environmental sports industry, such as an unbalanced industrial structure and insufficient utilization of ecological resources. In order to achieve leap-forward development, the ice and snow sports industry needs to further optimize the allocation of input-output resources, enhance the overall technical capability, and improve the efficiency level of the industry. This study takes five cities of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, and Beijing as the research objects, constructs the input-output evaluation system of the ice-snow sports industry, measures the input-output-efficiency level of ice-snow environmental sports industry in China, and studies and analyzes the relationship between efficiency level and industrial input-output. Furthermore, this paper compares and analyzes the traditional total factor productivity and green total factor productivity of the ice and snow environmental sports industry and discusses the influencing mechanism of ecosystem efficiency of the ice-snow sports industry. The results show that the input/output ratio of different regions in 2018 was Heilongjiang (1.12) > Liaoning (1.09) > Beijing (1.08) > Hebei (1.06) > Jilin (0.81). The change in input and output level is the direct influencing factor leading to the change of efficiency, while efficiency is the core to promote the development of the ice and snow environmental sports industry. Comparing traditional and green total factor productivity, it can be found that the GameMaker Language (GML) index of green total factor productivity in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, and Beijing has increased by 10.50%, 9.59%, 12.22%, 11.34%, and 20.29%, respectively, in 2013. In most cases, the green total factor productivity is higher than the traditional total factor productivity, showing an environment-friendly development. The development of the ice and snow environmental sports industry, talents in the ice and snow tourism industry, urbanization level and promotion of sports cultural products in the ice and snow environment are the main external influencing factors, while the internal influencing factors are mainly reflected in the industrial structure, ownership structure, industrial relevance, industrial agglomeration degree, industrial layout, industrial scale, and differentiation of industrial product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-trade zones are highlands of regional development that have a radiating effect on surrounding cities. This paper uses Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) data from 2003 to 2018, to examine the impact of the China (Shanghai) pilot free-trade zone (SPFTZ) on green total factor productivity (GTFP) in the YRDUA. It uses the regression discontinuity (RD) method and analyzes the influence mechanism with the help of the mediating effect model. The paper presents the following major findings. The establishment of the SPFTZ significantly promoted GTFP in the YRDUA, with technological progress being the main driving force. An analysis using the mediating effect model found that financial efficiency and industrial structure upgrading play a complete mediating role in GTFP growth in the YRDUA. Therefore, the SPFTZ should make use of its policy advantages, take full advantage of the effect of the green growth pole, and promote green mutual development with the YRDUA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Malmquist-DEA model and the DEA-BCC model, using the data of 53 industrial Internet-listed companies, the total factor productivity (TFP), technological progress (TC), and technical efficiency changes of the industrial Internet industry were measured from static and dynamic perspectives (EC), and used the coefficient of variation to further analyze the variance variables that measure the differences between enterprises in various subsectors in the industrial Internet industry. The study pointed out that the overall productivity level of the industrial Internet industry in 2015 to 2019 was low, and the fluctuation range was large, especially the sharp drop in productivity in 2016 to 2017, which had a serious impact on the entire industry. At the same time, changes in technical efficiency are the main reason for the decline in total factor productivity after 2015. Among various industries, the Malmquist indices of manufacturing and information transmission, software, and information technology services are all less than 1, and there is little difference in production efficiency and changes between the two. This study provides a reference for the productivity measurement of the industrial Internet industry based on the Malmquist-DEA model and provides practical inspiration for future management activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A precision design pipeline for artificial consortium engineering is presented. • This pipeline could be a blue-print for improving kinetically yet limited bioprocesses. • Artificial microbial consortia offer functional simplicity, control, and reproducibility. • Knowledge-based eco-physiological design is key to eco-biotechnological optimization. • Eco-biotechnology optimization depends on mutual medium selection and design. In natural microbial ecosystems the metabolic diversity of the organisms enables interaction among the community members and allows them to engage in syntrophic interactions. With regard to biotechnology, artificial microbial consortium engineering is used to improve productivities and yields of bioprocesses. However, to achieve supreme productivity or efficiency at industrial scale, defined ecosystems must be physiologically well-selected to meet eco-biotechnological demands. Here, we present an artificial microbial consortia design and engineering pipeline for developing dark fermentative biohydrogen production processes. The proposed pipeline might be considered as a blue-print for enhancing other bioprocesses that fundamentally face metabolic restrictions or kinetic limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay studies the narrative self‐positioning of Science Studies in the German Democratic Republic during the 1980s. Drawing on archival material on the foundation of the Council for Marxist‐Leninist Science Studies at the Academy of Sciences in East Berlin in March 1988, it analyses how boundaries between Science Studies as a lone standing discipline and several other fields were construed and crossed at the same time and how (scientific) authority was claimed from the intermediate position of an external insider. Not only did Science Studies engage with their subject – the sciences –, but also with the politics of the Socialist Party, with the institution of the Academy, and with (industrial) production. After a formative institutional phase that spanned across the 1970s, Science Studies made efforts to centralize their work during the 1980s, to bind themselves closer to the state and scientific institutions, and to distinguish themselves from them at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research describes the industries' development and efficiency distribution, investigates the process of industry efficiency influence of these industries' agglomeration effect on total factor productivity (TFP) change based China's science and technology service industries from 2010 to 2019 data. We analyse the main factors influencing TFP change and the stage effect difference of significant factors through using linear and non-linear regression equations by construct the panel regression equations. The empirical results show:1) the overall trend of science and technology service industry agglomeration in China is declining; 2) Provinces and regions exhibits a trend of respective agglomeration within the economic belt; 3) the different location entropies of the five regions lead to obvious differences in the development stages; 4) the influences of technology progress and foreign trade on TFP efficiency changes are generally significant; 5)Science and technology service industry have improved industrial efficiency in the central and western regions and made it easier for these regions to break through bottlenecks. We conclude that industrial efficiency improvements should be based on technology upgrading and expansion in infrastructure allocation, also offering more realistic solutions to promote system construction and interregional policy coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-tech industrial agglomeration is conducive to boosting technological progress, promoting industrial structure upgrading and realizing economic transformation, and certainly affects the overall industrial environmental efficiency. However, few recent studies have focused on its impact on industrial environmental efficiency from a green perspective. In the context of promoting the development of green economy, it is of great significance to clarify the links between high-tech industrial agglomeration and industrial environmental efficiency. In this research, we first analyzed the theoretical mechanism of the impact of high-tech industrial agglomeration and its spatial spillover effects on industrial environmental efficiency and then made an empirical analysis based on the panel data of 29 provinces and cities in China from 2003 to 2016. During the research, Super-DEA method, ESDA method and spatial Dubin model are used. The result shows that: (1) There is a significant spatial positive correlation between China's industrial environmental efficiency and high-tech industrial agglomeration; (2) high-tech industrial agglomeration has improved the local industrial productivity and industrial technology level through scale effects and technical effects, which has accordingly significantly enhanced the corresponding environmental efficiency; (3) through the association of regional industries, the cross-regional cooperation of enterprises and the formation of innovation networks, high-tech industrial agglomeration promotes the spillover of knowledge and technology among regions, improves the level of industrial technology in neighboring regions, and enhances the industrial environmental efficiency in neighboring regions. All these three is helpful to re-evaluate the development mode of high-tech industry agglomeration and to formulate relevant government policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our country's equipment manufacturing industry ranks among the best in all developing countries, but compared with developed countries, there is still a long way to go. It is not only the backwardness of various technologies, but also the interference of other countries. Although our country's equipment manufacturing industry is not as advanced as the advanced technology of developed countries, we still have to stick to our original aspirations, do not underestimate ourselves, and be good at absorbing and learning from the strengths of others to make up for our own weaknesses. While not working behind closed doors and while absorbing technology from other countries, we can make use of our strengths to make up for our weaknesses and develop our own industrial technology. This paper studies the evolution trend of innovation network structure and at the same time studies the evolution mechanism of advanced equipment manufacturing innovation network structure from the perspective of complex systems. The explained variable in this article is green total factor productivity. The variable adopts the Malmquist–Luenberger global super-efficiency index model. There are two main explanatory variables. One is the heterogeneity that affects the efficiency of industrial evolution, including factor heterogeneity, structural heterogeneity, and environmental heterogeneity, and the other is the interaction term of equipment manufacturing specialization agglomeration degree dummy variable multiplied by factor heterogeneity. The regional economic development level is added to the model as a control variable. In the selection of measurement indicators, the per capita GDP is used as the control variable. The experimental results show that each sample is tested in pairs, and the standard error level of the mean is 0.018, which is less than 0.05, indicating that the efficiency of the equipment manufacturing industry's economic correlation spatial network has a significant impact on the overall economic development level of the industry. The reduction in spur helps to increase economic output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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During the past decade, the proliferation of low-cost carriers (LCCs) and the related huge increase in traffic has been the most visible effect of the deregulation of the airline market in Europe. Little attention has been paid to how airports were affected by the changes in the new institutional environment. In this study, we model the total factor productivity (TFP) for a panel of the largest airports in the UK over the 2002–2005 period and investigate whether the presence of LCCs had some impact on airports’ TFP. Empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that conspicuous entry of LCCs on European markets has impacted positively on the vertical chain by facilitating airports’ productivity improvements. This result is robust to reverse causality issues associated with the possibility that the most efficient airports are those that are more likely to attract LCCs. Different possible arguments may explain our results: traffic increases brought about by LCCs for a given installed capacity might have generated higher TFP; more efficient organizational models might have been adopted to meet LCCs operational requirements (short turnaround times); cost reductions might have been realized to lower charges and attract LCCs; and competition from a larger number of airports induced by LCCs’ wider catchment areas (with respect to full service airlines) might have exerted further pressure toward TFP improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Product modularity can be considered as a product design strategy. It provides many benefits for companies that adapt it. However, there is little empirical evidence to support such an expectation. This study aims to measure the effects of product modularity on the efficiency and productivity of the product engineering area of a bus manufacturer. To reach the proposed objective, a longitudinal case study was conducted on the product engineering department of a company covering a period of three consecutive years. We used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) combined with Mann–Whitney U test and Malmquist index. The results show an increase of 18.40% in the efficiency indexes of the company's products engineering. In addition, positive changes can be observed, that is, there was a 63.50% increase in Total Factor Productivity Index (TFPI). The improvements are attributed to the implementation of product modularity in the organization under study. In this sense, the main contribution of this paper to the field is to present the increment of productivity with the insertion of the product modularity in the product engineering in a bus manufacturing company. Thus, product modularity can be considered a technology that increases the Total Factor Productivity Index (TPFI) of the companies that use it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stocking strategy for spare parts has a pivotal influence on the productivity and efficiency of industrial plants. Considering the situation of lacking historical statistics causing by uncertainty, this paper proposes a method to optimize spares varieties based on uncertainty theory and uncertain data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. Firstly, a recursive hierarchy structure is established to construct an evaluation system to meet the requirement of avoiding attributes' redundancy. Then, an uncertain spares optimization model (USOM), which is based on uncertain DEA model, is developed to optimize spares varieties. Furthermore, the uncertainty theory is utilized to convert the USOM into an equivalent deterministic model for simplification. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the performance of this model. The results show that the stocking strategy obtained from the proposed decision model can satisfy the purpose of saving resources and prompting continuous operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a practical approach to realize demand and energy savings in large industrial plants through behind-the-meter conservation voltage reduction implementation. Requirements of a device that can implement conservation voltage reduction in harsh industrial environments are identified. Based on the requirements, a device called stacked isolated voltage optimization module is discussed. Issues concerning the design and operation of the device are explained. Experimental results from a prototype unit are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine efficiency and total factor productivity for hospitals operating in China between the years of 2009-2016. Given reforms in China focusing on the hospital sector, it has been demonstrated that efficiency and productivity are important in meeting the overall objective of meeting more accessibility to hospital care for the population. Measuring an aggregate directional distance function is in itself a non-parametric approach, we report on the decomposition of hospital performance and found that between 2009 and 2010, technical inefficiency (using resources inefficiently) dominated overall inefficiency but beyond 2011-2016, mix inefficiency (misallocation of resources) was higher. Furthermore, an additive total factor productivity (TFP) indicator is proposed to capture contributions of individual provincial (or group) hospital performance to the total productivity gain. We also report that mix inefficiency had growth throughout this time period indicating a catching up in the correct mix of inputs. This finding is worth following as hospital reform in China also focuses on utilizing the right labor and capital mix in producing efficient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the utilization efficiency of industrial land in China's rapid urbanization. Land productivity is calculated to analyze spatial characteristics using the data of 275 prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2016. Findings suggest that urban industrial land productivity has steadily increased over time. The points and belt shape is the spatial feature, in which high-level productivity cities located in the coastal regions are connected into an S curve. The gap of land productivity among the four regions in China had been widening from 2006 to 2016. The empirical results show that capital density, labor density, urban developed area, urban population, economic growth, and industrial structure are significant factors of land productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized firms frequently are viewed as the, drivers of radical innovation. However, they often do not have the focus and commitment necessary for improving and, extending the innovation, tasks better accomplished by routinized large firms. Using a uniquely rich industry-level data set for German manufacturing industries during 1991-2004, this article finds evidence for this David-Goliath symbiosis. Although small and medium-sized firm innovation rates can explain the within-industry variation of productivity growth, it is the large firm process innovation rate that explains differences in the level of productivity growth between industries, i.e. differences in the degree of routinization of innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the relationship between sales assistant turnover and labor productivity in 325 stores of a large U.K. clothing retailer tracked over 1995--99. We find that the turnover-productivity relationship is contingent on type of work system. For a large group of part-timers, managed under a "secondary" work system, the relationship clearly has an inverted U-shape, but for the smaller group of full-timers, managed under a "commitment" system, the relationship is the conventional negative one. Implications for the contingency view of the link between turnover and productivity are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the situational relevance of strategy is vital given that strategies have varying utilities under different environmental settings which result in performance variations. Research remains silent regarding the situational relevance of cooperative marketing strategy implementation whereby performance outcomes are maximised. Through quantitative survey results, we explore the relationship between cooperative marketing and performance outcomes across varying environmental contexts (internal and external environments). While past studies acknowledge the importance of an open systems' perspective and the influence of the environment on strategic outcomes, they fall prey to key shortcomings such as a reductionist perspective and inadequate measurement. We provide an insight into the environment-strategy-performance relationship by using a holistic environmental approach and detailing the environments conducive to co-marketing strategy implementation. Managerial implications and future directions for research are also provided in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid inter-agent negotiation mechanism based on currency and a pre-emption control scheme is proposed to improve the performance of multi-agent manufacturing systems. The multi-agent system considered consists mainly of four types of agents: machine, clone, part and mediator. The machine agent controls the scheduling and the execution of a task. The clone agent aims to maximize the utilization rate by attracting relevant work to the machine. The part agent communicates with the machine agent or clone agent to acquire necessary production resources in order to get the required processing done, and the mediator agent contains the status of the part that will be processed by the subcontracting machine agent. The primary objective is to design decentralized control protocols for discrete part manufacturing systems to enhance the efficiency of the system and to allocate dynamically the resources to critical jobs based on the dynamic search tree. This research incorporates both the currency and the pre-emption schemes within a common framework. Currency functions are used to help the agents meet their individual objectives, whereas the pre-emption scheme is used to expedite the processing of parts based on their due dates. A dynamic search algorithm for the best route selection of different operations based on the job completion time is also proposed and it is implemented on a small manufacturing unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the sequencing aspects of a stochastic hybrid flexible assembly system (FAS) operating in a build-to-order environment. In such a system, although the flow of parts is unidirectional, parallel paths can exist for accommodating different types of parts produced and potential rework of the parts that fail inspection at a given production stage. As a result, the original sequential order of parts can become distorted, resulting in an exit demand sequence which is at variance with the input sequence. To compensate for such sequence disturbances, an adequately sized buffer is installed at the exit end of the FAS. From a practical viewpoint, the study is relevant to the sequencing of upstream operations in an automotive assembly plant functioning in an in-line vehicle sequencing mode. An important feature of the FAS considered in this study is that the demand sequence of part types is known and fixed for a given period of time. Further, the different part types that constitute the demand sequence can have different frequencies of occurrence in a range specified from low to high. We exploit this property of the demand sequence in the development of the least in-sequence probability (LISP) algorithm. The development of LISP is based on the trade-off of pulling low-volume parts ahead in the input sequence while delaying the high-volume parts. We propose the use of the heuristic as a means to achieve both of the following: (a) to improve customer service levels in terms of the number of in-sequence parts output from the system, given a fixed size for the re-sequencing buffers; and (b) to reduce re-sequencing buffer sizes given target levels of customer service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theory, better access to bank credit can reduce or increase output volatility depending on whether firms are more financially constrained during contractions or expansions. This paper finds that the volatility of industrial output is lower in countries with more bank credit. Most of the reduction in volatility is idiosyncratic, which follows from the ability of banks to pool and diversify shocks. Systematic volatility is reduced less strongly. Volatility dampening is achieved via countercyclical borrowing: At the firm level, short-term borrowing is less (or more negatively) correlated with sales and inventories in countries with high levels of bank credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the role of production externalities in the task assignment problem. Milgrom and Roberts (1992) suggest that complementarities available when agents are assigned to diverse tasks are necessary to overcome distortions in effort allocations caused by an inability to fine-tune incentives when agents' compensation is based on aggregate imperfect signals. Our analysis formalizes this intuition in a setting that encompasses externalities under both diverse and similar task assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital markets perform two distinct functions: provision of capital and facilitation of good governance through information production and monitoring. I argue that the governance function has more impact on the efficiency with which resources are utilized within the firm. Based on industry-level data across 38 countries, I present evidence suggesting a positive relation between market-based governance and improvements in industry efficiency. The measures of governance are also positively correlated with productivity improvements and growth in real output. Furthermore, while governance affects efficiency, the capital provision services induce technological change. The evidence underscores the role of capital markets as a conduit of socially valuable governance services as distinct from capital provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory building has lagged on the intermediate linkages responsible for the relationship between HRM and firm performance. We introduce the construct "strength of the HRM system" and describe the meta-features of an HRM system that result in a strong organizational climate, analogous to Mischel's "strong situation," in which individuals share a common interpretation of what behaviors are expected and rewarded. The strength of the HRM system can help explain how individual employee attributes accumulate to affect organizational effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategizing by firms from the resource-based view is concerned with the process through which firms acquire a distinctive bundle of resources that is costly and time-consuming for competitors to duplicate or imitate. A central question facing any firm, therefore, is its strategy for accumulating the resources that underpin its production activities. In this article, the process of resource accumulation is discussed as one involving potentially both internal resource development and external resource acquisition, from the perspective of the strategic issues involved in making a choice between these options. Emerging markets for technologies and know-how, through licensing and other forms of resource exchange, have opened up new avenues through which firms may jostle for advantage. The article is concerned with three major aspects of this process, illustrating the discussion with cases from biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. First, the strategizing by firms around the 'internal development' vs. 'external sourcing' issue is discussed, as informed by the practices of leading firms, and how these lend greater variety of strategic options for firms; second, the potential competitive advantages as well as disadvantages to be secured by firms through the process of external sourcing (as compared with the well-known potential advantages accruing to incumbents through internal development, such as time compression diseconomies and causal ambiguity); and third, the criteria to be used by firms to strategically evaluate resources individually, as contrasted with the strategic evaluation of the resource bundle, or totality. These criteria, it is argued, turn on the issues of marginal value contribution, resource complementarities and synergies, resource variety and transferability (involving intellectual property issues). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a contingency view of process management's influence on both technological innovation and organizational adaptation. We argue that while process management activities are beneficial for organizations in stable contexts, they are fundamentally inconsistent with all but incremental innovation and change. But dynamic capabilities are rooted in both exploitative and exploratory activities. We argue that process management activities must be buffered from exploratory activities and that ambidextrous organizational forms provide the complex contexts for these inconsistent activities to coexist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using plant-level observations from the Longitudinal Research Database I show that conglomerates are more productive than stand-alone firms at a given point in time. Dynamically, however, firms that diversify experience a net reduction in productivity. While the acquired plants increase productivity, incumbent plants suffer. Moreover, stock prices track firm productivity and this tracking is equally strong for diversified and stand-alone firms. Therefore, lower transparency of conglomerates is unlikely to explain the discrepancy between productivity and stock prices on average. Finally, I offer some evidence that this discrepancy may arise because conglomerates dissipate rents in the form of higher wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many manufacturers in the automobile industry around the world have adopted the just-in-time (JIT) set of management strategies in an effort to improve productivity, efficiency and product quality. This paper provides empirical evidence that supports the idea that JIT manufacturing environments are, in fact, more productive than their non-JIT counterparts. Plant-level cross-sectional data from auto-parts manufacturing firms are used to estimate variable cost functions for a JIT group as well as for a non-JIT group of plants. Differences in cost function characteristics between the two groups are examined and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet and related computer technology are having a profound influence on the day-to-day activities occurring within sales organisations. In a survey of 123 salespeople from a variety of industries, the current study reports on salespeople's use of and reactions to the new technology. Most salespeople embrace the changes, and believe the new tools result in closer relationships with clients and increased productivity. At the same time, there is a distinct (albeit minority) segment of salespeople who feel threatened by the new technology. Implications for sales organisations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis examines how changes in major industrial relations policies affected productivity over the years 1974?91 at one of the most important manufacturing plants in the United States. The authors find that productivity fell greatly, both in percentage terms and in absolute dollars, during strikes and a slowdown and during the terms of office of tough union leaders. In contrast with much of the firm performance literature, they find only small initial productivity effects of a movement from adversarial labor-management relations, which is the norm in this industry, to total quality management (TQM) and back again. How and why TQM is adopted, the authors suggest, may be as important as whether it is adopted. Finally, major industrial relations events like strikes, a slowdown, and the TQM program did not have long-term productivity effects; the firm returned to pre-event levels of productivity within one to four months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]