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Industrial Dynamics is a counterpoint to the dominance in economics of Industrial Organization (IO), which focuses on an industry’s market structure and performance. Industrial Dynamics (ID), in contrast, provides a framework for analyses of the dynamics and evolution of industries, particularly the role of entrepreneurial activity and technological and institutional change. ID asserts that industry transformation can only be understood by looking at processes both beyond and within specific industries, especially at changes in innovation systems that cut across industries and at firm-level innovative activities. Research themes in ID include the causes of industry transformation and economic growth, the nature of economic activity in the firm, firm boundaries and interdependence, technological change and its institutional framework, and related public policy. Since the 1980s, the dynamics of industry transformation has been established as a research domain, but institutionalizing Industrial Dynamics as a distinct and recognized subfield of economics remains an ongoing project.

SHL and the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation stand as the principal force or engine behind the commercialization processes in Swedish sport, due to influences from the commercial culture of NHL (i.e., the ‘Americanization’ of sport and society). In addition, the impact of the KHL with regard to player migration has forced the league to look for new commercial alternatives and forms of organization. At the same time, Swedish sport in general is, like ice hockey, basically founded on and ruled by the hegemony of the Swedish Sports Confederation and its basically idealistic values. Thus, SHL is shaped by normative dualism as well as by an incipient commercialization process. The ambition of the following text in this respect is to describe and analyze this dilemma by applying the concepts of juridification and hybridity, in addition to providing general perspectives on the Americanization processes in ice hockey and by testing and illustrating this dilemma by the case of the Växjö Lakers, Ltd/Plc.

The last few decades have seen ice hockey blossom into a vibrant and multifaceted field of study in the humanities and social sciences. The result has been a veritable explosion of detailed and com...

The economy-wide dynamic cost-benefit study of the Swedish industrial subsidy program 1976 through 1984 (Carlsson et al. Res Policy 10(43):336–354 1981; Carlsson J Ind Econ 32(1):9–14, 1983a, b) is revisited in light of later economic development. Since the Swedish Micro to Macro model (Eliasson Am Econ Rev 67(1):277–281 1977a, 2017a) was used for quantification, this article is both (1) a study on the calibration of high dimensional micro-based and nonlinear economic systems models, and (2) a post inquiry into the empirical credibility of the cost-benefit calculations performed. We find that the Micro-based Macro model represents the minimum of detailed resolution necessary for the dynamic cost benefit calculations of the micro interventions in the Swedish economy we study. Even though the increased model complexity meant significant parameter calibration difficulties, a thoroughly researched model specification with exactly defined policy interfaces (with the markets of the economy) should take priority over parameter estimation problems, and always be preferred to estimating the parameters of a wrongly specified model perfectly. The oil price shocks of the 1970s caused radical market disorder in the western economies, bankrupting some 35% of Swedish manufacturing and threatening the Swedish government with massive unemployment. We confirm the earlier results that the government choice of a radical employment rescue policy came at enormous social cost in the form of economic stagnation, and still did not prevent the unemployment of the rest of OECD Europe from hitting Sweden a decade later, and persisting well into the next millennium. According to an alternative simulated policy scenario on the model, had the subsidies been replaced with a general lowering of the payroll tax of the same magnitude and the consequent increase in unemployment taken immediately during 1976–1980, production structures would have been radically and rapidly reorganized, normal employment would have been rapidly restored, and neither the stagnation nor the radical increase in unemployment of the early 1990s would have occurred. In retrospect we see no reason to worry about the empirical credibility of this computed dynamic trade off between Keynesian demand and Schumpeterian supply effects (caused by resource reallocations and endogenous structural change due to the price change), as we did then. We conclude with certainty that this trade-off would not even have been discovered as a possibility had we used a traditional model that did not embody these micro-macro linkages.

The literature on innovation systems focuses on the supply side (the creation of technology) rather than on how innovations are converted into economic activity and growth via the market (the demand side, and the interface between supply and demand). One implication of this is that there is a dearth of research on the links between innovation systems and economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to begin to fill this gap in the literature. We articulate the function of entrepreneurial experimentation as an essential mechanism for translating new knowledge into economic activity and growth created in innovation systems. We argue that entrepreneurial experimentation comprises both “technical” and “market” experimentation. Spinoffs and acquisitions are proposed as micro-mechanisms that give rise to system-wide entrepreneurial experimentation. Our framework suggests that entrepreneurial experimentation is central in driving both the supply- and the demand-side dynamics of innovation systems, hence linking both innovation systems and entrepreneurship to economic growth. © 2018 The Author(s) Open access

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help understand how US expatriates living and working in dangerous environments characterized by pervasive corruption deal with the phenomena and make decisions about the degree to which they get involved. Design/methodology/approach To answer this question, 30 US executives who worked in such countries were interviewed. Findings Some executives refused to participate in corrupt practices; others chose to reluctantly succumb to extortion, while others willingly participated in corruption. The study found that social norms played a significant role in their decisions. There are four social norms: personal norms, subjective norms, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms. US executives rely on personal norms and injunctive norms for deciding to refuse to participate in corrupt practices, on descriptive norms and subjective norms for deciding to reluctantly succumb to extortion, and on descriptive norms and personal norms for deciding to willingly participate in corruption. Originality/value These findings illustrate what motivates US executives to make decisions about participating in corruption when living and working in countries with pervasive corruption. This has implications for policy, research, and practice.

A total cost accounting approach was used to analyse the suitability of copper and aluminium as winding material for transformers, using available data from the Ecoinvent database. It could be concluded that the use of recycled metal is a necessary requisite for sustainability. Using cost data for energy and materials and reasonable assumptions about costs for labour and interest for the metal supplier and the product manufacturer, the copper alternative turns out to be the better choice, especially when the expected increase in the prices of energy,copper, and aluminium during life cycle is taken into account. When considering environmental cost, useful indicators are those that can be expressed in cost terms. With the Ecoindicator 99 indicator as the basis for estimating environmental cost, the aluminium alternative is better than the copper alternative. However, the contribution of the environmental cost to the total cost has minor importance when compared with the effect you get from the negative cost contribution from the end-of-life phase. Therefore, the copper alternative is the better choice in terms of least total cost in the application considered. From the study it could also be concluded that the total cost accounting approach would be a valuable design tool, when comparing two design alternatives of a product functional unit to decide which of the two is the more favourable from a sustainability point of view.

The article is set to target several tensions, problems and possibilities in Finnish (and Nordic) men’s elite ice hockey, which have arisen due to increasing commercialization and professionalization. This process has accelerated simultaneously with the recent development and advances of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), in addition to the constant and general influences of NHL (i.e., Americanization). Thus, the essay will focus on Jokerit as an illustrative case. To state, Jokerit, founded in 1967, is a powerhouse in Finnish ice hockey, both sport- ingly and financially. The commercialization of Finnish elite ice hockey culminated in 2014/2015 when Jokerit joined KHL. This article reflects on Jokerit’s financial and legal challenges, as well as the commercial press and progress in Nordic elite ice hockey and thus on Jokerit’s drift towards KHL. In addition to these topics, the essay presents and discusses different aspects of the progress of KHL, as well as its reasons and consequences.

The pros and cons of replacing traditional materials with polymeric materials in solar thermosiphon systems were analysed by adopting a total cost accounting approach.In terms of climatic and envir ...

Sport's relation to society could be grasped in its connection to science. Thus, there seem to exist two parallel processes: the scientification of sport and the sportification of science. Undoubtedly, science has become an important part in the development of sport, particularly in elite sport. As regards the relation between science and sport, an opposite trend has also been observed, in which sport logic influences the (popular) presentation of science. In this respect, this essay talks about the 'sportification of science', by making reference to 'Science Slam' and 'Grand Prix in Science'.

Science and sport are evidently two prominent features of modern societies, however in widely differing ways. Thus, this volume of Sport in Society deals with the interrelationship of these two dec...

Summary: An excess of glucocorticoids leads to the development of obesity in both mice and humans, but the mechanism for this is unknown. Here, we determine the extent to which decreased BAT thermogenic capacity (as a result of glucocorticoid treatment) contributes to the development of obesity. Contrary to previous suggestions, we show that only in mice housed at thermoneutrality (30°C) does corticosterone treatment reduce total BAT UCP1 protein. This reduction is reflected in reduced brown adipocyte cellular and mitochondrial UCP1-dependent respiration. However, glucocorticoid-induced obesity develops to the same extent in animals housed at 21°C and 30°C, whereas total BAT UCP1 protein levels differ 100-fold between the two groups. In corticosterone-treated wild-type and UCP1 knockout mice housed at 30°C, obesity also develops to the same extent. Thus, our results demonstrate that the development of glucocorticoid-induced obesity is not caused by a decreased UCP1-dependent thermogenic capacity. : Glucocorticoid treatment induces obesity, and reduced brown fat thermogenesis has been suggested to be the cause. However, Luijten et al. show here that this is not the case, nor is it fully explainable by overeating. Thus, glucocorticoids channel food energy into lipid storage through a currently unexplained pathway. Keywords: uncoupling protein 1, corticosterone, obesity, thermogenesis, energy balance, brown adipose tissue, thermoneutrality, cold exposure

The nuclear hormone receptor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan C2 (RORC2, also known as RORγt) is a promising target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. A small molecule, inverse agonist of the receptor is anticipated to reduce production of IL-17, a key proinflammatory cytokine. Through a high-throughput screening approach, we identified a molecule displaying promising binding affinity for RORC2, inhibition of IL-17 production in Th17 cells, and selectivity against the related RORA and RORB receptor isoforms. Lead optimization to improve the potency and metabolic stability of this hit focused on two key design strategies, namely, iterative optimization driven by increasing lipophilic efficiency and structure-guided conformational restriction to achieve optimal ground state energetics and maximize receptor residence time. This approach successfully identified 3-cyano- N-(3-(1-isobutyrylpiperidin-4-yl)-1-methyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)-1 H-pyrrolo[2,3- b]pyridin-5-yl)benzamide as a potent and selective RORC2 inverse agonist, demonstrating good metabolic stability, oral bioavailability, and the ability to reduce IL-17 levels and skin inflammation in a preclinical in vivo animal model upon oral administration.

This article explores the relationship between knowledge creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in the United States over the last 150 years. Distinguishing between general knowledge and economically useful knowledge, we examine the changes over time in the locus and content of new knowledge creation: the role of universities, particularly engineering schools and land-grant universities, industrial laboratories, and corporate research and development (R&D) laboratories prior to World War II. The practical orientation of US academic R&D and the close research interaction between academia and industry are noted. We study the unprecedented increase in R&D spending in the United States during and after World War II and how it was converted into economic activity via incumbent firms in the early postwar period and increasingly via new ventures in the last few decades. Copyright 2009 The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

This paper reviews the literature in the field of industrial dynamics (ID) as it has emerged since I first introduced the term in 1985. Nearly 8,000 articles in 12 major journals have been reviewed and classified under five broad themes that constitute the basic questions in ID: (1) the causes of industrial development and economic growth, including the dynamics and evolution of industries and the role of entrepreneurship; (2) the nature of economic activity in the firm and the dynamics of supply, particularly the role of knowledge; (3) how the boundaries and interdependence of firms change over time and contribute to economic transformation; (4) technological change and its institutional framework, especially systems of innovation; (5) the role of public policy in facilitating adjustment of the economy to changing circumstances at both micro- and macro-levels. Under each theme, the main findings and their implications for theory and policy are summarized. The paper concludes with a summary of the...

By describing and analysing normative uncertainties and the commercial immaturity in Swedish ice hockey (Swedish Hockey League/Swedish Ice Hockey Association), this article focuses on the tension and dialectics in Swedish sport; increasingly greater commercial attempts (i.e. entrepreneurship, ‘Americanization’, multi-arenas, innovations and public limited companies) have to be mixed with a generally non-profit making organization (e.g. the Swedish Sports Confederation) and its traditional values of health, democracy and youth sports and fosterage. In this respect, the elite ice hockey clubs are situated in a legal culture of two parallel norm systems: the tradition of self-regulation in sport and in civil law (e.g. commercial law). Indeed, the incoherent blend of idealism and commercialism in Swedish elite hockey appears to be fertile ground for hazardous (sports) management and indebtedness. This mix of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘immaturity’ has given rise to various financial trickeries and negligence, which have subsequently developed into legal matters. Consequently, the legal system appears to have become a playground for Swedish ice hockey. This article reflects on the reasons and the rationale in this frictional development by focusing on a legal case that comes under the Business Reorganisation Act. The analysis reveals support for a ‘soft’ juridification process in Swedish ice hockey in order to handle the charging tension of the two parallel norm systems.

To assess the suitability of solar collector systems in which polymeric materials are used versus those in which more traditional materials are used, a case study was undertaken. In this case study a solar heating system with polymeric solar collectors was compared with two equivalent but more traditional solar heating systems: one with flat plate solar collectors and one with evacuated tube solar collectors. To make the comparison, a total cost accounting approach was adopted. The life cycle assessment (LCA) results clearly indicated that the polymeric solar collector system is the best as regards climatic and environmental performance when they are expressed in terms of the IPPC 100 a indicator and the Ecoindicator 99, H/A indicator, respectively. In terms of climatic and environmental costs per amount of solar heat collected, the differences between the three kinds of collector systems were small when compared with existing energy prices. With the present tax rates, it seems unlikely that the differences in environmental and climatic costs will have any significant influence on which system is the most favoured, from a total cost point of view. In the choice between a renewable heat source and a heat source based on the use of a fossil fuel, the conclusion was that for climatic performance to be an important economic factor, the tax or trade rate of carbon dioxide emissions must be increased significantly, given the initial EU carbon dioxide emission trade rate. The rate would need to be at least of the same order of magnitude as the general carbon dioxide emission tax rate used in Sweden. If environmental costs took into account not only the greenhouse effect but also other mechanisms for damaging the environment as, for example, the environmental impact factor Ecoindicator 99 does, the viability of solar heating versus that of a natural gas heating system would be much higher.

Liver-selective thyromimetic agents could provide a new approach for treating dyslipidaemia.We performed a multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of eprotirome, a liver-selective thyroid hormone receptor agonist, in 98 patients with primary hypercholesterolaemia. After previous drug wash-out and dietary run-in, patients received 100 or 200 μg day(-1) eprotirome or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary end-point was change in serum LDL cholesterol; secondary end-points included changes in other lipid parameters and safety measures.Eprotirome treatment at 100 and 200 μg daily reduced serum LDL cholesterol levels by 23 ± 5% and 31 ± 4%, respectively, compared with 2 ± 6% for placebo (P0.0001). Similar reductions were seen in non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) B, whereas serum levels of HDL cholesterol and apo A-I were unchanged. There were also considerable reductions in serum triglycerides and lipoprotein(a), in particular in patients with elevated levels at baseline. There was no evidence of adverse effects on heart or bone and no changes in serum thyrotropin or triiodothyronine, although the thyroxine level decreased. Low-grade increases in liver enzymes were evident in most patients.In hypercholesterolaemic patients, the liver-selective thyromimetic eprotirome decreased serum levels of atherogenic lipoproteins without signs of extra-hepatic side effects. Selective stimulation of hepatic thyroid hormone receptors may be an attractive way to modulate lipid metabolism in hyperlipidaemia.

This article takes a firm departure in the thesis of the juridification of sport. By initially presenting two cases that highlight the logics and problems in the interaction between sport and the l...

This article reviews the scientific contributions of the 2013 recipient of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, Maryann Feldman, Heninger Distinguished Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina. Maryann Feldman is well known for her contributions to the study of the geography of innovation. A central focus of her work is on the role of entrepreneurial activity in the formation of regional industry clusters. She has studied entrepreneurial events involving both individuals and teams and the role of knowledge spillovers and finance in geographical clustering. She has also addressed other important aspects of contemporary entrepreneurship research, such as how academic entrepreneurship is influenced by intellectual property rights and modes of finance and how high-technology entrepreneurship aligns with public policy and the geography of innovation. The most significant impact of Maryann Feldman’s scientific output lies in research on firm location, inter-firm knowledge spillovers, and clusters/ regional development. Her research addresses macro aspects of industry evolution, micro-level aspects of firm strategy and organization, as well as meso-level aspects of institutions, infrastructures, and policy. The Global Award consists of 100,000 euro and a statuette by the internationally renowned Swedish sculptor Carl Milles.

How can sport science be defined and demarcated, and what is to be included in and regarded as sport are frequent questions asked by sport scientists. Despite serious and worthy ambitions, it appea...

The thyroid hormone (TH) analog eprotirome (KB2115) was developed to lower cholesterol through selective activation of the TH receptor (TR) β1 in the liver. Interestingly, eprotirome shows low uptake in nonhepatic tissues, explaining its lipid-lowering action without adverse extrahepatic thyromimetic effects. Clinical trials have shown marked decreases in serum cholesterol levels. We explored the transport of eprotirome across the plasma membrane by members of three TH transporter families: monocarboxylate transporters MCT8 and MCT10; Na-independent organic anion transporters 1A2, 1B1, 1B3, 1C1, 2A1, and 2B1; and Na-dependent organic anion transporters SLC10A1 to SLC10A7. Cellular transport was studied in transfected COS1 cells using [14C]eprotirome and [125I]TH analogs. Of the 15 transporters tested initially, the liver-specific bile acid transporter SLC10A1 showed the highest eprotirome uptake (greater than a sevenfold induction after 60 minutes) as well as TRβ1-mediated transcriptional activity. Uptake of eprotirome by SLC10A1 was Na+ dependent and saturable with a Michaelis constant of 8 μM. Eprotirome transport was inhibited by known substrates for SLC10A1 (e.g., cholate and taurocholate), and by TH analogs such as triiodothyropropionic acid and triiodothyroacetic acid. However, no significant SLC10A1-mediated transport was observed of these [125I]TH analogs. We also studied the plasma disappearance and biliary excretion of [14C]eprotirome injected in control and Slc10a1 knockout mice. Although eprotirome is also transported by mouse Slc10a1, the pharmacokinetics of eprotirome were not affected by Slc10a1 deficiency. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the liver-specific bile acid transporter SLC10A1 effectively transports eprotirome. However, Slc10a1 does not appear to be critical for the liver targeting of this TH analog in mice. Therefore, the importance of SLC10A1 for liver uptake of eprotirome in humans remains to be elucidated.

This article uses David Fraser’s work on law and cricket as a departure point. His analysis of the relationship between law, popular culture and everyday life is inspiring and contributes to a socio-legal understanding of law and morality as well as society and its cultural development in general. Cricket, no doubt, is closely connected with the British Empire, with parliamentarianism, modernity, cultural identity, heritage, fair play and the sportsmanship of 19th-century ideals and virtues; but it is also closely associated with rule violations, commercialization and commodification, as is modern sport in general. The focus of this article, which departs from Fraser’s approach, will be on a computer game; that is, a game that, at least hypothetically, is related to globalization, networks, post-modernity, youth, lifestyles and moral pluralism.

Summary We wondered how corruption, endemic in Nigeria, is experienced by a specific and understudied set of actors—entrepreneurs. Semi-structured interviews with founders/CEOs of firms in three industries associated with high levels of corruption revealed entrepreneurs—rather than victims of bribe demanding government agents—are themselves active perpetrators of bribery, adopting a set of “bribery best practices” governed by a well-embedded set of social norms, rules, routines, and power relations to deliberately subvert formal state budgetary systems. While reforming institutions is a key focus of anti-corruption policies in many Sub-Saharan African countries, our results suggest a bottom-up approach to remediation based on understanding the practice from the perspective of those who actively engage in it.

In the study of The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (1989), the internationally renowned Danish researcher Gosta Esping-Andersen characterizes the Scandinavian countries as examples of a social ...

This article sheds light on the problematic, but urgent, relation between sport and its environmental effects by focusing on the development of internal policies in the Swedish sport movement as well as on external normative pressures for a sustainable environmental development. The materials in this study portray a passive (and blind) governance in relation to an official environmental policy at macro and meso levels, regardless of the manifestations of individual environmental projects in everyday sport practices. The analysis shows that the ideology of the autonomy of sport and the emphasis on self-regulation, regularly upheld by the Swedish Sports Confederation, is obsolete.

This article presents a critical diagnosis of Swedish club football, in light of its current shortcomings on the European football market, and in comparison with the other Scandinavian leagues. The article highlights the commercial immaturity of the Swedish clubs, in addition to the context of historical and cultural values, restricted association forms, the emphasis on internationalism, the fixed tax system, the standards of the arenas, the lack of patronage and the migration of talents. The analysis closes with a depressed depiction of Swedish club football, in relation to development in Europe, as well as in Scandinavia. Still, in a dialectical reasoning this situation is, finally, evaluated as a valuable development in relation to fairness, internal sports logics as well as ecological values.

In this paper we suggest that the spillover of knowledge may not occur automatically as typically assumed in models of endogenous growth. Rather, a mechanism is required to serve as a conduit for the spillover and commercialization of knowledge from the source creating it, to the firms actually commercializing the new ideas. In this paper, entrepreneurship is identified as one such mechanism facilitating the spillover of knowledge. Using a panel of entrepreneurship data from 18 countries, we provide empirical evidence that, in addition to measures of Research & Development and human capital, entrepreneurial activity also serves to promote economic growth.

As a departure from sport ethics and sociology of law this article deals with norms, rules, ethical principles and legal instruments that have an influence on the development of sport. The subject ...

Statins effectively reduce levels of serum cholesterol and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, but have limited effectiveness if stringent goals for serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels are not met or adverse effects develop, requiring a dose reduction or drug discontinuation. Previous studies have shown that thyroid hormone and some of its metabolites reduce levels of serum LDL cholesterol and have potentially favorable actions on other lipoproteins. The studies were discontinued because of reports of adverse effects on heart and bone, and possible deaths. In a recent report, eprotirome, a thyromimetic compound with minimal uptake in nonhepatic-tissues, was shown to reduce levels of serum total and LDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B without apparent side effects in patients not receiving statin therapy. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicenter trial investigated the safety and efficacy of eprotirome in lowering the level of serum LDL cholesterol in patients with hypercholesterolemia who already were receiving simvastatin or atorvastatin. The aim of the study was to determine whether adding eprotirome to statin therapy would provide additional lipid-lowering actions without producing adverse extrahepatic thyromimetic effects. Patients were randomly assigned to receive daily oral doses of 25, 50, or 100 mcg of eprotirome or a placebo for 12 weeks. The primary study outcome was changes in serum LDL cholesterol. The potential adverse thyromimetic effects on the heart, bone, and pituitary were examined. Treatment of patients for 12 weeks already receiving statins with either placebo or eprotirome at a dose of 25, 50, or 100 μg reduced the mean level of serum LDL cholesterol from 141 mg per deciliter (3.6 mmol per liter) at baseline to 127, 113, 99, and 94 mg per deciliter (3.3, 2.9, 2.6, and 2.4 mmol per liter), respectively; this represented a mean reduction from baseline of 7%, 22%, 28%, and 32%, respectively. Similar reductions were found in the secondary study outcomes, which included serum levels of apolipoprotein B, triglycerides, and Lp(a) lipoprotein. No evidence of adverse effects of eprotirome on the heart, bone, or pituitary was noted. Although reductions in serum levels of thyroxine occurred in some patients who received eprotirome, there were no changes in levels of thyrotropin or triiodothyronine. These findings demonstrate that the addition of eprotirome to statin therapy produces substantial further reductions in serum LDL cholesterol, non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B. The drug appears to have an excellent safety profile.

The purpose of this essay is to capture the significance of norms and virtues in computer games, with a major focus on digital sports, in relation to the traditional representations of sports in no...

During 1987 and 1988 all patients undergoing a cataract extraction at the eye Clinic of Sahlgrenska University Hospital were registered to determine the yearly incidence of cataract extractions according to sex and age. We found that after the age of 70 years the incidence of cataract extractions was higher for females than males. This difference was most pronounced for operations of the first eye. In this case the relative risk to undergo a cataract extraction for a woman compared to a man was 1.71 with 95% confidence interval 1.51-1.94, which showed a significantly increased risk. The preoperative VA of the best eye at the time of the first operation did not differ significantly between older men and women, indicating that women had no tendency to come earlier to operation. Our results show that after the age of 70 years the operation incidence of women is significantly higher than for men. This probably reflects a generally increased prevalence of various stages of cataract among females above 70 years in a Nordic population.

We can observe an ongoing external, as well as an internal, juridification of football, which means that the legal system and a legal rationality has become to an increasingly degree mixed up with football. Whether applying an internal or an external perspective the juridification process and the regulation can be understood as an outcome of the increasing commercialization and professionalization of football. In the wake of the commercialization process various clubs have suffered, and still suffer, from overspendings, in Sweden as well as in other European countries. In this respect, the regulation of football licenses in Sweden, which was introduced in 2001, constitutes the main subject in this essay. The regulation was introduced by the Swedish Football Association, mainly as an internal response to the acceleration of expenses in Swedish football. By focusing on football licenses and their regulation the essay intends to shed light on the ‘internal juridification of sport’. And by taking a departure ...

Phase change behaviour of pure and some chemically modified calcium chloride hexahydrate materials suggested in the literature as suitable heat storage media was studied in storage systems with a low degree of mixing in order to evaluate their long-term reversibility. The influence of gravitation on the phase change properties of the pure system was elaborated by determining local salt concentrations in the liquid phase and changes in the volume of the system during repeated melting and crystallization, whereby the amounts of the different phases being present could be assessed. It was found that thermo gravitational effects are of minor importance in generating salt concentration gradients in the liquid phase when compared to the concentration gradients resulting from the sedimentation of the formed tetrahydrate and the hexahydrate during the phase change reactions. Due to these effects it was not possible to prevent irreversible tetrahydrate formation and deterioration in heat storage capability by adding a surplus of water to the hexahydrate materials, if seeds for the tetrahydrate were present during repeated melting and crystallization. Upon addition of SrCl2 · 6H2O a solid solution of the two hexahydrates is formed and as a result the formation of the tetrahydrate is suppressed. Due to irreversible formation of SrCl2 · 2H2O a state of true congruent melting seems, however, not possible to reach. Phase segregation effects also in this case lead to irreversible calcium chloride tetrahydrate formation if seeds for the latter are added during repeated melting and crystallization. If Ca(OH)2 is also added, the tetrahydrate formation can be further suppressed. But, even in this case, irreversible tetrahydrate formation can not be prevented if the composition of the liquid phase corresponds to the hexahydrate. On addition of 5 wt% KCl or 5 wt% KCl + 2 wt% SrCl2 · 6H2O or 5 wt% KCl + 0.4 wt% NaCl, repeated melting and crystallization in the presence of seeds of the tetrahydrate can, however, be carried out without irreversible formation of the latter occurs. In the heat storage system CaCl2 · 6H2O + 5 wt% KCl, formation of tetrahydrate is observed but its rate of dissolution is found considerably faster than in the pure hexahydrate system. It was concluded that with those modified calcium chloride hexahydrate systems reversible phase change cycling can be performed and therefore there is for example no the need for thickener agents to be added to avoid irreversible tetrahydrate formation successively reducing heat storage capability of systems in those cases.

A total cost accounting approach for material selection is demonstrated by analysing the suitability of some light weight materials for use in the exterior panel of a back door to a private car. For pre-selection purposes, the suitability of using low alloy steel, aluminium, SMC and a hybrid GMT/aluminium material as construction material for the exterior panel of the back door are compared by taking into account differences in production cost, cost associated with excess mass, cost of probable failures and damages, maintenance and operational costs, end-of-life cost, and cost associated with probable ecological damage. From one manufacturer's point of view and considering only the production cost for the installed part of the back door, steel is the best alternative for large production volumes. However, this is not the case when taking into account all costs. All the other materials seem better and exhibit essentially the same qualities. The main reason is lower fuel consumption. The results of the suitability analysis nicely reflect the relative importance of the various factors contributing to the total cost but the suitability analysis also points to the need of performing a more advanced analysis taking into account also aspects like safety and ease of surface treatment.

Contemporary theories of entrepreneurship generally focus on the decision-making context of the individual. The recognition of opportunities and the decision to commercialize them is the focal concern. While the prevalent view in the entrepreneurship literature is that opportunities are exogenous, the most prevalent theory of innovation in the economics literature suggests that opportunities are endogenous. This paper bridges the gap between the entrepreneurship and economic literature on opportunity by developing a knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. The basic argument is that knowledge created endogenously via R&D results in knowledge spillovers. Such spillovers give rise to opportunities to be identified and exploited by entrepreneurs. Our results show that there is a strong relationship between knowledge spillovers and new venture creation.

This paper examines intellectual property (IP) management in U.S. companies and addresses three questions: What are typical sources of IP? How do companies manage IP? What role do donations of IP play in IP management? We used in-depth interviews and an on-line survey to gather data. We found that firms develop their IP position from a wide variety of sources such as joint ventures, acquisitions, and consulting contracts, but internal development is still the primary source of IP. Organizationally, three structural archetypes of IP management were identified: a centralized structure, a purely decentralized IP structure and a compromise structure involving a divisional assignment where a multi-business unit or division committee oversees IP. IP donations clearly do not appear to be a major phenomenon at the present time. Our survey results suggest that tax benefits are an important driver and that recent tax law changes have diminished the incentives to donate IP. The uncertainty of tax benefits and the costs associated with IP valuation appear to be the main disincentives.

By adopting a total cost counting approach a sputtered solar absorber coating is compared with an electrochemically produced solar absorber coating for the application of domestic hot water production. The comparison is made assuming a 25 years service time and takes into account production cost, cost associated with initial non-ideal optical performance, possible cost due to reduction in long-term performance, end-of-life cost, and possible cost associated with ecological damage. The result from the analysis gives an understanding of the relative importance of the various factors contributing to the total cost and shows that the sputtered coating seems more favourable to the electrochemical coating in all respects.

Summary This paper analyzes the determinants of firms’ innovative activity using the Korean Innovation Survey (KIS) dataset. We focus primarily on the role of external networks and technological opportunity in performing innovative activities. Product innovation, product improvement, and process innovation are used as proxies for innovative activity. The explanatory variables such as firm size, market concentration ratio, lagged profitability, foreign ownership, export ratio, firm's age, and formal research and development (R&D) activity are also considered. We estimate the logistic regression model using data from 1,124 firms. The research finding indicates that the external networks have a strong positive effect on innovative output regardless of the type of innovation. However, the network effects vary across the type of innovation and by partner (other firms or research institutions). We find that the determinants of a firm's innovative activities differ according to both the type of innovation and th...