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Micro-enterprises have traditionally been considered a burden for development, from both the theoretical perspective of social sciences as well as policy praxis. However, for some years now, some of the specialized literature has presented evidence that despite their low productivity, the contribution of the informal economy to job creation and income in less-developed economies is significant. Given that other countries have begun to develop policies to encourage productivity in the informal sector, the main purpose of this paper is to understand, through a review of the regulations that support micro-enterprises, as well as new decrees and regulations, the current position of Mexico in this debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article evaluates the incidence of BASC certification in productivity indicators for certified and non-certified companies in Cartagena. In the methodology indicators were calculated at 23 companies, initially the study was conducted during the period 2008 to 2010 (certified companies), later in 2010 (certified and non-certified companies). The technique used was discriminant analysis to explain the ownership and discrimination, analyzing productivity rates. From the discriminant function obtained and analyzed statistics can be concluded for the first case the BASC certification that the indicators positively affects discrimination in Gross Profit / Value Added (IP1) Operating Income / Operating Capital (IP4) and Net Income / Operating Capital (IP5) and the analysis of means present no improvement, for the second case the indicator that present significantly differences was the Operating Income / Operating Capital (IP4) showing no improvement in the analysis of means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A battery manufacturing system typically includes a serial production line with multiple inspection stations and repair processes. In such systems, productivity and quality are tightly coupled. Variations in battery quality may add up along the line so that the upstream quality may impact the downstream operations. The repair process after each inspection can also affect downstream quality behavior and may further impose an effect on the throughput of conforming batteries. In this article, an analytical model of such an integrated productivity and quality system is introduced. Analytical methods based on an overlapping decomposition approach are developed to estimate the production rate of conforming batteries. The convergence of the method is analytically proved and the accuracy of the estimation is numerically justified. In addition, bottleneck identification methods based on the probabilities of blockage, starvation, and quality statistics are investigated. Indicators are proposed to identify the downtime and quality bottlenecks that remove the need to calculate throughput and quality performance and their sensitivities. These methods provide a quantitative tool for modeling, analysis, and improvement of productivity and quality in battery manufacturing systems and can be applied to other manufacturing systems ameanable to investigation using integrated productivity and quality models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, data envelopment analysis variable returns to scale (DEA VRS) model is applied to data collected on 79 software development projects from a leading CMMI level 5 organization. We divide overall software effort into software development effort, software quality conformance effort (EoC), and software maintenance non-conformance (EoNC) effort due to poor software quality at delivery time. Partitioning effort into software development and software quality metrics provides us a comprehensive model to measure productivity of software projects and to identify best practice projects. Some of positive productivity drivers from the DEA best practice efficient projects point to good customer rapport and application familiarity. Inefficient projects had problems such as customer requirements volatility, and the use of unfamiliar technology. The DEA results identify 12 'best practice' projects that can be emulated for software process improvement. Additionally, our results point to approximately 50 % potential for productivity improvement in software projects to get to the level of 'best practice' projects. This study shows that including EoC and EoNC as inputs has a positive impact on the best practice frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates agglomeration effects for classical music production in a wide range of cities for a global sample of composers born between 1750 and 1899. Theory suggests a trade-off between agglomeration economies (peer effects) and diseconomies (peer crowding). I test this hypothesis using historical data on composers and employ a unique instrumental variable - a measure of birth centrality, calculated as the average distance between a composer's birthplace and the birthplace of his peers. I find a strong causal impact of peer group size on the number of important compositions written in a given year. Consistent with theory, the productivity gain eventually decreases and is characterized by an inverted U-shaped relationship. These results are robust to a large series of tests, including checks for quality of peers, city characteristics, various measures of composers' productivity, and across different estimations in which also time-varying birth centrality measures are used as instrumental variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate a time series model of weather shocks on English wheat yields for the early nineteenth century and use it to predict weather effects on yield levels from 1697 to 1871. This reveals that yields in the 1690s were depressed by unusually poor weather; and those in the late 1850s were inflated by unusually good weather. This has led researchers to overestimate the underlying growth of yields over the period by perhaps 50%. Correcting for this effect would largely reconcile the conflicting primal and dual estimates of productivity growth over the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the spillover effects from foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indian manufacturing industries under the capital liberalisation period using macro aggregated panel data (1995–2004). In the first step, we estimate the total factor productivity (TFP) of each industry using a Cobb–Douglas-type production function. In the second step, we examine the relationship between the level of TFP and the level of FDI in each industry, where we distinguish FDI spillover effects two types: short run and long run. In addition, we test FDI spillover both as an intra-industry effect and an inter-industry effect, also called backward linkage. Our main findings are that the FDI stock increases the TFP, especially through backward linkage, although the TFP level fell in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This reflection paper aims to summarize some of the technology trends that companies can use in their business processes to increase productivity and improve the competitiveness of the sector and country. It is based mainly on an official documentation study of both national and international authorized entities. First, some characteristics of the ICT and its influence in companies over the last years are shown; and finally, the conceptualization and benefits that Internet, Telework, e-Learning and Cloud computing represent today to companies in the productive sector are analyzed. It is concluded that ICT, and trends based on them, can make simpler and more agile processes in companies, and also, strengthen their skills to face increasingly demanding markets, whenever globalization and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) call to companies from all sectors to be more effective and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on panel data of 116 countries in 2014–2019, this paper investigates the association between mobile broadband speed and labor productivity. It finds no robust contemporaneous relationship for the total sample, but there is a significant and robust association when a one-year lag of mobile broadband speed is introduced. The interpretation of the results is that a 10 percent increase in mobile broadband speed in period t-1 is associated with 0.2 percent increase in labor productivity, ceteris paribus. The results are only robust for non-OECD and low-income countries, respectively. • Strong association between productivity and one-year lag of mobile broadband speed. • 10% increase in MBB speed in t-1 is associated with 0.2% productivity increase. • The results are only robust for low-income and non-OECD countries, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the main mechanisms by which the oxygen content of the blast and high gas pressure affect the smelting rate in a blast furnace. It is shown that oxygen enrichment of the blast - just as an increase in gas pressure in the furnace - is a means of intensifying the smelting operation. Oxygen enrichment of the blast accomplishes this by reducing the quantity of gases flowing inside the furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-tech industries are capital-intensive, in which capital effectiveness and productivity are critical for maintaining competitive advantages. Most of the existing studies focused on demand forecast, capacity planning, order allocation, and capacity management to enhance capital effectiveness. Few approaches are developed to address productivity and resource management, while one of the critical roles for industrial engineers is to enhance productivity and resource utilization effectiveness in practice. This study aims to propose a set of novel indices for Overall Resource Effectiveness (ORE) and drive various improvement directions for total resource management. A number of case studies are reviewed for illustration, while the proposed methodology is extended to medical instruments for cross validation. The results have shown practical viability of the proposed ORE to drive collaborative efforts to enhance total productivity and overall resource effectiveness. This paper concludes with discussions on value propositions of proposed ORE indices and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the relation between total factor productivity measures for individual production units and those for aggregates such as industries, sectors or economies. This topic has been treated in a number of influential publications, such as Hulten (1978), Gollop (1979) and Jorgenson et al. (1987). What distinguishes this article from other publications in this area is that I deliberately avoid the making of all kinds of (neoclassical) structural and behavioural assumptions, such as the existence of production frontiers with certain properties, or optimizing behaviour of the production units. In addition, I also treat dynamic ensembles of production units, characterized by entry and exit. Thus, a greater level of generality is achieved from which the earlier results follow as special cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The market competition forces companies to work relentlessly on cost reduction and quality improvement. One way to achieve these goals is through the optimization of production processes by replacing raw materials or improving resource productivity. Thus, this research analyzes the performance of a production process of a gaucho company applying Statistical Process Control. The first phase of the study was to identify the problem that was occurring, and following the data collection and subsequent analysis were performed. In the analysis stage, tools like the histogram, control chart of averages and ranges were used, and analysis of process capability indices through Cp and Cpk. The main results of the research show that the process investigated does not present a satisfactory statistical behavior, determining actions to improve the company deploy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Organisations now have to rely on knowledge-worker productivity rather than advances in production equipment to sustain their businesses. There is a quite remarkable contrast in the operating procedures between the "East" and "West" approaches. Research aims. This paper explores how an amalgamated wisdom of East and West management approach can instigate a wisdom-based renaissance of humanistic epistemology to provide a platform of harmony in managing knowledge-worker productivity, one of the biggest management challenges of the 21st century. Method. The paper invites further discussions from the social and business research communities on the significance of "interpretation realism" technique in comprehending Lao Tzu, Confucius and Sun Tzu's philosophies written in "Classical Chinese." Key findings. This paper concludes with a call to explore how amalgamating Eastern cultural wisdom (favouring a humanity approach) and Western practices (favouring a performance approach) help to instigate business harmony and its impact on the management of knowledge-practitioners and their productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a first approach of 5S impact on the study factors of quality, productivity, industrial security and organizational climate in the manufacturing area of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Colombia, through a case study carried out in a small company located in Bogotá, in order to evaluate whether the 5S methodology could be considered as an effective tool to improve manufacturing companies. A visual diagnosis was chosen to identify the area that presented the greater amount of clutter and dirt. Once the location was identified, surveys, performance measures and a risk landscape were performed, focusing on the study factors, in order to understand the initial situation of the area. Subsequently, the implementation of 5S was carried out and then three measurements were taken to monitor the performance of the study factors, so as to know if they followed a trend during the measuring period. The results show the existence of a positive relationship between the study factors and the implementation of the 5S methodology, since an increase of productivity and quality was evidenced, based on the performance measures as well as an improvement of the organizational climate and a decrease of the risks identified in the workshop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the institutional economics thesis the role of IPRs is one of the relevant determinants of economic growth in long run. Measures of IPRs have been limited and empirical studies have not been able to evaluate their impacts on productivity growth. The major conclusion that the author can be drawn from his estimations is that the extent to which patent rights and trademarks, ceteris paribus, positively correlated with output per capita depends on the intensity of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess the relationship between industrial productivity and industrial wage share in China between 1980 and 2007, and to identify the determinants of the industrial wage share over the same period. The results suggest that the market reforms in China have led to a reduction of workers’ bargaining power, which in turn explains both the rapid productivity increase and the steady decline in the wage share observed since the beginning of the reforms. The results also suggest that privatization, labor market informalization, and retreat of the state from social provisioning are key factors explaining the decline in the wage share. The current Chinese model of development, however, is unsustainable for economic, social, and environmental reasons, and a sustainable model of development is likely to require a more egalitarian income distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the location choice of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China, shedding special light on the role of agglomeration of same-nationality firms. We examine how this role differs according to firms' productivity. Furthermore, we compare the location choice of Japanese and Taiwanese MNEs in China, taking into consideration that Taiwanese MNEs experience less uncertainty in investing in China due to Taiwan's linguistic and cultural advantages. When considering firms' productivity, we find that less productive Japanese firms prefer to locate close to larger same-nationality agglomerations while there are no differences in location choices in the case of Taiwanese firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on improving manufacturing efficiency and production by designing new steps to the work process with an employee focus group. The set-up behaviors of two regular stock welders at a medium-size metal furniture manufacturer were observed via video recordings. The videos of the welders completing their tasks were reviewed in an employee focus group, during which it was determined that designing the welding process to include the use of walkie-talkies would successfully alter the contingencies surrounding set-up behaviors, thereby leading to a decrease in average set-up time. Results for the two welders combined showed a decrease in average set-up time of 2.27 min, with Welder A exhibiting a larger decrease overall and Welder B’s set-up time showing a greater reduction in variability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper considers the optimal choice of productivity (load) of components in 1-out-of-N non-repairable cold standby systems. It is assumed that each system component can function at different levels of productivity (load) and that the life time acceleration factor as well as operational and replacement costs of each component are affected by its productivity. We present a model for evaluating the standby system reliability and expected mission cost. Furthermore, we formulate and solve the optimal load distribution problems in which the mission cost is minimized subject to system reliability constraint. Both fixed and variable sequences of component initiation are considered. Illustrative examples are provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study aimed to modify the plastic vision lens production line CR39 in order to improve its productivity. Work study and line balancing techniques were employed in order to improve the bottleneck point in the manufacturing process. Standard time was measured. The result shows that productivity increased by 1,257 pieces per day and labor productivity increased from 82 to 88 pieces per man-hour. However, this improved production capacity was still below the target capacity. Therefore three additional alternatives were proposed. A simulation model was employed in order to analyze these alternatives. The results found that, by using the lowest unit production cost scenario, additional labor and machines were added into the bottleneck point of the production line. The productivity was then increased by 7,738 pieces per day or a 44% improvement, which reached the target productivity, and the average resource utilization was 89%, which satisfied the objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The risk of geothermal drilling in proven fields is smaller than perceived. [•] Drilling wells of or took the same time, the wider ones gave 35% more steam. [•] Predictions of steam-flow from injectivity must consider reservoir conditions. [•] It might be feasible to sidetrack the production section of up to 40% of the wells. [•] Power output per drilled well amounts to 5.9MWe but 7.5MWe per productive well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this study is to compare sectoral efficiency and productivity of the largest 500 manufacturing industrial firms in Turkey. The structure of these firms is analyzed, a general information on Malmqumist total factor productivity index and data envelopment analysis is given and finally efficiency and productivity findings of the sectors are evaluated. The amprical evidence suggests that 38 of 44 sectors ensure upturn in total factor productivity for the research period, while for the rest -6 sectors- experienced a reduction in total factor productivity. Besides, wholesale food, drink and cleaning products; wholesale and foreign trade and jewellery have become 3 major sector which are fully efficient. 41 of 44 sectors, on the other hand, can not catch the boundary of the best production efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide new evidence, made possible by human capital data that became available after IFRS adoption, on the productivity of intellectual capital and its components. These productivity measures are modelled to determine their value-relevance in the share market, and the modelling is extended to comparative productivity measures for the book-value of assets. Design/methodology/approach - Financial data are sourced from financial databases and company annual reports on a sample of 160 Australian listed firms over a five-year period. Panel regression analysis is used to test five models built from Riahi-Belkaoui's (1999) general price model of the value-relevance of accounting numbers. Findings - The results show that the productivity of human capital, structural capital and intellectual capital are each significantly positively related to share price (i.e. have value-relevance), whereas the productivity of total assets at book-value is non-significant and tangible assets is inversely significant. Originality/value - This study constructs a new improved method of computing the amount of structural capital, and uses recently available financial statement data to provide first-time evidence on human capital and its inclusion in the determination of the amount of intellectual capital. These new models and data enable a direct comparison to be made between the value-relevance of intellectual and the book-value of assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efforts at integrating communication strategy into industrial productivity are very scanty. This paper examined the interaction economy of a production firm using six different communication media/channels. These media were subjected to analysis based on five identified patterns/networks of interactions in the manufacturing organisation. Interrelationship between personnel authority and responsibility was used to develop a model to analyze personnel's interactions, by bringing cost and benefits of the selected channels into the same model. The results of the study showed that Intranet and private branch exchange (PBX) were the most economic media to use in the manufacturing industry because they possessed highest benefit to cost ratios of 7.59 and 6.05, respectively, in term of productivity. The practical implications of this finding showed that the model is promising in solving personnel interaction problem in the production industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we estimate total factor productivity (TFP) growth for the Peruvian economy using the primal and dual methods for the period 2003-2012. According to the primal method, a procedure that uses the Solow residual as an indicator of productivity, TFP grew at an average annual rate of 1.6%, adjusted for the quality and usage of the factors of production. According to the dual method, a procedure that considers estimations of the marginal productivities of the factors of production, TFP grew at an annual rate of 1.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on quality, always mention that in order to do things right, they must be done in a clean and orderly way. Japan has a recipe for achieving clean spaces, improve order and increase productivity in their factories, called the 5's. This concept should not seem strange today for any organization, unfortunately it is. This philosophy began in Toyota in the 60s. The goal was to improve productivity by achieving a better workplace; the means were well organized work places, more orderly and cleaner. The method's effectiveness was proven and has been adopted in offices, shops, hospitals, schools and other places as a way to increase the efficiency with very good results, especially in terms of saving time and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Federal Labor Reform has generated lots of controversy, even since it was presented as an initiative on August 1st 2012 by the former Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, in which he assured necessity to present this labor reform. In this paper it is point out some inconsistencies of this Federal Labor Reform published in the Official Federal Diary on November 30Th of 2012, particularly in reference to the III-Bis chapter named "De la productividad, formación y capacitación de los trabajadores", and specificly expressed in the 153-A article, and its connection with 153-D, 153-E, and 153-1 articles. From the reformation, the article 153-A, which apparently the alteration in the drafting seems to be minimum, this follows a problematic that starts from the central research question: What is the point in reforming article 153-A in this way if apparently it is the same? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact leadership on productivity and which leadership style influences more of productivity. The research problem among others includes the style of leadership that improves productivity and ones that hampers productivity. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical method. The findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between leadership and productivity. It recommended that different leadership styles have strong effect on organizational productivity. Role of leadership in the management of creativity and innovation that set the main factor is essential and very important and sensitive. Because the leadership ability, talent, creativity and innovation, are to promote and encourage productivity. There are direct and positive correlation among leadership, creativity, innovation, and productivity level. The Responsibilities of a leader influence the leaders in the productivity improvement. This paper explains how productivity is influenced by the leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide new evidence, made possible by human capital data that became available after IFRS adoption, on the productivity of intellectual capital and its components. These productivity measures are modelled to determine their value-relevance in the share market, and the modelling is extended to comparative productivity measures for the book-value of assets. Design/methodology/approach – Financial data are sourced from financial databases and company annual reports on a sample of 160 Australian listed firms over a five-year period. Panel regression analysis is used to test five models built from Riahi-Belkaoui's (1999) general price model of the value-relevance of accounting numbers. Findings – The results show that the productivity of human capital, structural capital and intellectual capital are each significantly positively related to share price (i.e. have value-relevance), whereas the productivity of total assets at book-value is non-significant and tangible assets is inversely significant. Originality/value – This study constructs a new improved method of computing the amount of structural capital, and uses recently available financial statement data to provide first-time evidence on human capital and its inclusion in the determination of the amount of intellectual capital. These new models and data enable a direct comparison to be made between the value-relevance of intellectual and the book-value of assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has a dual aim. First, it sets out to underline a learning-by-exporting effect in Spanish firms between 1991 and 2002. It further seeks to outline the conditions allowing firms to benefit from these spillover effects. Using a propensity score matching method, a group of firms having entered the export market (treatment group) is compared with a similar group of non-exporting firms (control group), and difference-in-differences regressions are carried out. The results show a cumulative productivity differential of 32% for the first four years of exporting, with continuous improvement in productivity. After three years of exporting, productivity gain is still approximately 10%. This study shows that increases in capacity utilisation and competitive pressure from foreign markets are insufficient to explain this causal link between exporting and total factor productivity (TFP). It is thus possible to deduce the presence of a learning-by-exporting effect, benefiting firms with sufficiently qualified employees and which are already engaged in international relations (due to foreign suppliers and/or foreign equity participation). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We investigate experimentally how bonuses and productivity interact with workplace cheating. [•] Exposing workers to a compensation scheme based on random bonuses makes them cheat more. [•] We also find that more productive workers behave more dishonestly. [•] Our results are consistent with cheating responding to the perceived fairness of the compensation scheme. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examines the productivity growth of Spanish universities over the period 1994–2008. The Malmquist index is used to illustrate the contribution of efficiency and technological change to changes in the universities’ productivity. The results indicate that annual productivity growth is attributable largely to efficiency improvements rather than technological progress. Gains in scale efficiency appear to have played only a minor role in productivity gains. The results contribute to the knowledge of the university system in Spain, describing different university behaviours that could be useful for management at the institutional and national level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This study investigates the impacts of telecommunications policy on productivity change of the Chunghwa Telecom Company (CHT) from pre- to post-privatization. A three-stage method is employed to measure the productivity scores of CHT during the period 1966–2008. The Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is used in the first stage to assess the productivity of CHT. In the second stage, the statistical confidence intervals of productivity scores of CHT were obtained using the bootstrapping algorithm. Finally, the Chow test and multiple regression models were also utilized to investigate the impact of telecommunications policy on productivity change of CHT. Results of empirical examination indicate that on average TFP scores obtained by the bootstrapping technique are smaller than those obtained by the MPI technique. In addition, there is no difference in productivity change of CHT between pre- and post-privatization according to the MPI and bootstrapping MPI. The results show that the effect of privatization on productivity change is insignificant. Instead, the operational efficiency of CHT is affected by the government involvement in decision-making under its private/public joint ownership, which causes CHT to be a firm with little managerial profit orientation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Horizontal well technology has been widely used in developing oil fields. Very commonly, these wells are hydraulically fractured to improve productivity in low permeability reservoirs. The productivity of a multifractured horizontal well is mainly affected by reservoir properties and fracture parameters. A simple and accurate method for evaluating and optimizing productivity of this type of wells is not available and is highly desirable to reservoir engineers. The authors analyzed the equipressure contour, velocity vector distributions, and the influence of factors such as ratio of vertical permeability to horizontal permeability, anisotropy of plane permeability, hydraulic fracturing angle, fracture distribution, and morphology on horizontal well's productivity by finite element numerical simulation method. The results show that optimizing the well trajectory and direction can reduce the degree of reservoir permeability anisotropy influencing on the productivity of well. Hydraulic fracture tilt or angles among multifractures due to natural fractures or ground stress can lower the productivity. Asymmetric distribution of fractures about wellbore can improve production and distribution with staggered interval can generate greater production. When the space between hydraulic fractures is small, fractures bend at a small angle and display a separated trend due to interference among fractures. In this case production has a little increase. Finite element numerical simulation method is accurate and intuitive when simulating percolation field of fractured horizontal wells. The results have certain reference significance for in situ fracturing operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Despite a dramatic rise in the instances of anti-dumping (AD) duties, their impact on the targeted firms is not clear. Using detailed firm level data we find robust evidence that the US AD duty led to over 12 (or five) percent decrease in labor productivity (or TFP) of targeted Chinese firms. We also find that firms with high initial export intensity experience both a higher decrease in exports (and total sales) and a bigger drop in productivity due to the US AD duties. Our results suggest reduced economies of scale as a possible mechanism for the drop in firm productivity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we first show that true equipment utilizations may be significantly lower than what is recorded by existing monitoring systems in semiconductor fabrication operations, owing to various process and tool-related delays that occur during the tool “busy” or “running” state. We then demonstrate the use of a custom-developed system aimed at re-gaining the productivity loss, piloted at an Intel production facility for 300 mm 45 nm high volume manufacturing. Through a pilot case study, we present how these delays were reduced significantly (37% on average delay and 17–40% on variation in delay.) This improvement represents an equivalent of up to 4% improvement in true utilization on the pilot toolset, far more than any single project or even aggregation of projects on the roadmap for the toolset's availability improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Documentation errors have been identified as a significant problem within the construction and engineering industry. Errors contained with contract documents can contribute to loss of profit, reduced productivity, and cost and time overruns as well as contractual disputes. Research has identified that as much as 60% of variations in construction and engineering projects are a result of errors and omissions contained within poor quality documentation. Considering this alarming statistic and the impact that poor quality documentation can have on productivity, the research presented in this paper classifies and quantifies errors in 106 drawings and the cable schedule used to document for the electrical package for an Iron Ore Stacker Conveyor. The research reveals that Computer Aided Design (CAD) used to produce the electrical drawings was ineffective, inefficient and costly to produce as they contained an array of errors. In addressing the need to eliminate documentation errors and improve productivity, the cable schedule is used to create a Systems Information Management to develop a 1:1 object orientated model using the software Dynamic Asset Documentation. As a result, of using this approach it is estimated that a 94% cost saving and a substantial improvement in productivity could have been attained in this particular case. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigate the roles of productivity and the specificity of inputs for the international sourcing strategy of firms which are part of a multinational network. We present a framework in which firms decide to import from a foreign independent supplier or from their related party abroad according to these two dimensions. We use a detailed survey that provides a detailed geographical breakdown of French firms’ imports at the product level as well as the sourcing mode used for each transaction. The dataset also provides information to estimate the firms’ productivity and their intensity in relationship-specific inputs. After controlling for countries of origin, products and sectors specific effects, the empirical results provide evidence that for the most productive multinationals the likelihood of trading through an independent supplier is higher especially if they use relationship-specific inputs intensively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper investigates the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy ( CAP) subsidies on farm total factor productivity ( TFP) in the European Union ( EU). We employ a structural semi-parametric estimation algorithm directly incorporating the effect of subsidies into a model of unobserved productivity. We empirically study the effects using the Farm Accountancy Data Network ( FADN) samples for the EU-15 countries. Our main findings are clear: subsidies impact negatively on farm productivity in the period before the decoupling reform was implemented; after decoupling the effect of subsidies on productivity is more nuanced and in several countries it turned positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field experiment was conducted (08/22/2012 to 01/02/2013) on community "Riacho Salgado (Salt Creek)", São Paulo's Potengi-RN, to evaluate the productivity and quality of elephant grass and sorghum whose soil was irrigated with the ground water and desalination of waste. We analyzed the following parameters of productivity and nutritional quality: green mass, dry matter and crude protein content of the two cultures. The increased salinity of the irrigation water of 2.89 dS/m to 3.69 dS/m reduced plant height, the crude protein content, yield of green mass and dry of the two cultures. The productivity of sorghum in relation to all these parameters was higher than that of two cultivars of elephant grass, and the productivity of the grass growing purple relatively higher than that of green grass. Thus, sorghum BRS Ponta Negra is an alternative socioeconomic sustainability to the use of waste water desalination system in which salinity conditions present at or below the study, thus ensuring an alternative source of income and employment for agriculture family or Water Users Association on semi-arid region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a research that led to setting up a teleworking model for a company that develops engineering projects. This model considers elements that are important to both the quality of life of workers and the productivity of the company. Similarly, the document outlines the scope and limitations in the application of teleworking as an organizational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a large number of research which main purpose is the search for a empirical relationship between corporative governance and the performance. Studies which seeks to demonstrate this relationship characterized by the use of financial indicators and indicators of stock analysis, combined with the use of econometric methods. However, there are suggestions so that be established alternative measures of performance, such as use of non-parametric analysis. Measuring the performance using other analysis techniques to assess the relationship between corporate governance and performance represents a relevant contribution to this study field. By using the nonparametric technique of Data Envelopment Analysis, the main objective of this paper is to verify whether there are significant differences between technical efficiency and productivity of companies in the segments of corporate governance with the technical efficiency and productivity of companies in other segments of Bovespa. The technical efficiency scores showed no significant differences between groups of companies with and without governance. However, in the years of 2008 and 2009 companies with shares traded on other segments of Bovespa showed a higher level of technical efficiency. Similar results were observed with the Malmquist productivity index. In order to establish parameters in the comparison of the performance achieved by the efficiency scores were analyzed the traditional metrics for measuring the value, Tobin's Q and Firm Value. It was observed in the three years analyzed that the market value of companies in the segments of corporate governance is lower than the companies of other segments of stock trading. This research advances over previous contributions have focused on determining the performance, too, by measuring technical efficiency and productivity growth. The results allow a new angle of analysis in the evaluation of companies in a specific way for the adoption of good corporate governance practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall objective of the research was to analyze the efficiency and productivity in the industry Venezuelan Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) in the Guayana region during 2005 to 2009. The methodology used was Data Envelopment Analysis DEA-Malmquist Index and Russell Hicks-Moorsteen. The results indicate an efficiency of 98% input and a waste of the installed capacity in the industry of 48%. It also reduces the overall productivity of 80.8% on average, and 2009-2011, there is a tendency to lower it, reaching a value of 60%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in productivity in the digital economy constitute an important engine for economic growth. What drives productivity dynamics in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector? This study examines the productivity dynamics of ICT firms across countries from the perspective of corporate balance sheets. We study the effects of intangible assets and leverage on productivity growth using firm-level panel data from five industrialized countries. We find that intangible assets positively affect the total factor productivity in the ICT sector. The positive effect of intangible assets on total factor productivity growth is larger for ICT manufacturing firms than for ICT service firms. We also find that leverage has a positive relationship with total factor productivity development in the ICT sector. In addition, our empirical results substantiated that productivity is catching up to the technological frontier. Furthermore, larger firms and/or younger firms generally show higher total factor productivity growth than their peers. Economies of scale are more prominent in the ICT service sector than in the ICT manufacturing sector. Our findings contribute to the understanding of cross-country productivity dynamics in the ICT sector at the firm level in the digital economy. • Firm-level total factor productivity dynamics in the ICT sector are studied. • Intangible assets have positive effects on total factor productivity growth. • Leverage also has positive impacts on total factor productivity growth. • Larger firms and/or younger firms show higher total factor productivity growth. • The ICT manufacturing sector and the ICT service sector are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]