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Since in Argentina the Primary Health Care Centers (CAPS) are financed by public funds, the analysis of their efficiency becomes relevant in order to propose improvements in their performance. In this work, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) is applied to evaluate the technical efficiency of CAPS operating in a city in the interior of Argentina. For this, the CAPS are grouped according to the available specialties (nursing, medical clinic and pediatrics) and the following are used: a DEA BCC (Banker, Charnes y Cooper) output oriented model and a Super-efficiency model to evaluate the technical efficiency in each group. The results differ between the groups. In the CAPS that offer the 3 specialties, most are efficient. On the contrary, in the CAPS that have an infirmary and a medical clinic, as well as those that only have an infirmary, most of the CAPS are considered inefficient. It is concluded that it is possible to improve the efficiency in the use of public resources assigned to the first level of care in the city, based on the increase in the number of consultations or the reduction in the number of working hours, which would allow improving the access to health care for the most vulnerable population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper performs a nonlinear estimation of a normalized CES production function within a system of equations with a panel of Spanish regions for the period 1964-2013. It obtains an elasticity of substitution below one and identifies different rates of factor-augmenting technical progress. The results support for labor-saving innovations hypothesis for the Spanish case. Nevertheless, they do not support a relationship between the elasticity of substitution and the initial regional capital per worker. The results do not change if labor is adjusted by human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Team production theory, which Margaret Blair developed in tandem with Lynn Stout, has had a major impact on corporate law scholarship. The team production model, however, has been applied sparingly outside the United States. This article, part of a symposium honoring Margaret Blair's scholarship, serves as a partial corrective by drawing on team production theory to assess corporate arrangements in the United Kingdom. Even though Blair and Stout are dismissive of "shareholder primacy" and the U.K. is thought of as a "shareholder-friendly" jurisdiction, deploying team production theory sheds light on key corporate law topics such as directors' duties and the allocation of managerial authority. In particular, the case study offered here shows that board centrality--a key element of team production thinking--features prominently in U.K. corporate governance despite Britain's shareholder-oriented legal framework. The case study also draws attention to the heretofore neglected role that private ordering can play in the development of team production-friendly governance arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging economy, market distortions exist in China's institutional adjustment during its economy transformation. However, the price distortion of capital and labor factors will lead to factor misallocation among provinces. This will eventually reduce the total factor productivity (TFP) at the national level. Based on Hsieh and Klenow's [1] model framework, this paper aims to measure the degree of misallocation of capital and labor factors among provinces, and estimates the growth potential of China's TFP by using input-output data from 1993 to 2017. The findings show that: First, the degree of inter-provincial labor misallocation is greater than that of capital. For example, in 2017, the degree of capital (labor) misallocation was 5.77% (10.25%), resulting in China's TFP loss of 17.23%. Second, due to the factor marketization reforms, the degree of labor misallocation has declined while the degree of capital misallocation has intensified in recent years. Lastly, this paper introduces the time-varying elasticity production function model, finding that using the Cobb-Douglas production function will cause the factor misallocation to be underestimated by 5.91% due to the assumption of constant output elasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the period of the Great Depression and analyzes several measures taken by the US President Roosevelt's government that allowed the country to get out of the crisis. An analysis and proof of the correctness of the measures chosen to exit from the crisis was conducted using econometric models and the use of statistics. Techniques for overcoming crises are relevant for all countries. This study adapts an innovative perspective in that it used the sequence of the Cobb–Douglas type function including different types of factors, and applied fuzzy regression methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the time-varying elasticity production function model, we calculate factor price distortions, and study their influence on the rationalization and optimization of industrial structure. We find that the impact coefficient of capital, and labor factor price distortions on the rationalization of industrial structure are −1.2087 and −0.3147 respectively. Additionally, the impact coefficients on the optimization of industrial structure are −0.2333 and −0.0718 respectively. These results demonstrate that capital and labor factor price distortions are significantly negative for the rationalization and optimization of industrial structure. Therefore, it is imperative to reduce factor price distortions, and support industrial structure upgrades to promote supply-side structural reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies an idea we call "(null) self-recognition," which occurs when a player who was certain that they were a particular type privately discovers that they are in fact some other type. To address unresolved questions as to how players update their beliefs regarding their partner's type and higher-order beliefs regarding both players' types after self-recognition, we propose a "sequential reassessment" rule, in which beliefs concerning each player's type are modified up to a given order. As an initial investigation of its equilibrium consequences, we embed sequential reassessment in a simple model of team production, in which players experience self-recognition when game play begins. Our main result, which applies for team projects with uneven task demands, shows how a player's decision to work or shirk can depend solely on whether that player's reassessment of their own type is "deeper" or "shallower" than their reassessment of their partner's type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In team problems is it better for the principal to reward players based on their individual efforts or should they be rewarded based on collective performance or even a combination of the two? The answer will depend on the importance of two familiar challenges in team works – coordination and free riding. With perfectly complementary efforts, free-riding incentives are absent, so the principal prefers output monitoring over input monitoring but sometimes both may be dominated by mixed-wage incentives. When efforts are perfect substitutes in production, either of the two polar mechanisms may dominate the other but sometimes mixed-wages may dominate both. For more general technologies only output and input monitoring mechanisms are compared. It is shown that when the team production technology is supermodular, coordination becomes the primary concern and monitoring agents through collective output is mostly the better protocol. On the other hand, if the technology is submodular, output monitoring encourages free riding and so input monitoring may be a more attractive alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists and inventors increasingly work in teams, raising fundamental questions about the nature of team production and making individual assessment increasingly difficult. Here we present a method for describing individual and team citation impact that both is computationally feasible and can be applied in standard, wide-scale databases. We track individuals across collaboration networks to define an individual citation index and examine outcomes when each individual works alone or in teams. Studying 24 million research articles and 3.9 million US patents, we find a substantial impact advantage of teamwork over solo work. However, this advantage declines as differences between the team members' individual citation indices grow. Team impact is predicted more by the lowercitation rather than the higher-citation team members, typically centering near the harmonic average of the individual citation indices. Consistent with this finding, teams tend to assemble among individuals with similar citation impact in all fields of science and patenting. In assessing individuals, our index, which accounts for each coauthor, is shown to have substantial advantages over existing measures. First, it more accurately predicts out-of-sample paper and patent outcomes. Second, it more accurately characterizes which scholars are elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Overall, the methodology uncovers universal regularities that inform team organization while also providing a tool for individual evaluation in the team production era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an outlier detection system based on the visual-physiology multimodal data system for a Korean reality TV show, ''Perfect on Paper.'' The goal of this system is to provide the program production team and the master of ceremonies with real-time facial expressions and bio-signal analysis results of program participants. Using this information, the program production team and master of ceremonies can easily identify the participants with unusual behavior. We propose an insole-type hardware that measures the wearer's skin conductivity, temperature, and motion. We also suggest a dynamic time warp-based clustering algorithm for the outlier and micro-expression detection technique. The system was developed starting from the program planning phase through a 6-month period in collaboration with the production team. The developed system analyzed the biometric information and facial expressions of 88 participants in 11 episodes and provided rapid feedback to the production team at the shooting spot in real time. Finally, we present a case where a visual-physiology multimodal system can be useful for a real TV broadcasting production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We build upon an already known but scarcely developed feature of growth theory: the importance of asset distribution in an aggregate production function. We elaborate on a simple model of two individuals, and then generalize its deductions to an extended model of n agents, concluding that perfectly distributed productive capital leads to positive and optimum long-run "endogenous" growth. Recent and classical empirical literature on the topic suggests this interpretation. In addition, we find exploratory panel data evidence that supports our theory of growth and distribution in a set of Latin American countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic farming has become an important part of Czech agriculture. The aim of this study is an evaluation of the technical efficiency of Czech organic farms and determining the main factors, including subsidies, which affect the technical efficiency of both conventional and organic farms. The Farm Accountancy Data Network Czech Republic (FADN CR) database provides sufficient panel data for this kind of research focusing on types of farming with livestock production. The methodological tool used to achieve the aim of this paper is the parametric stochastic frontier analysis, "True" Random Effects model, supposing farms heterogeneity and time variant determinants of inefficiency. The results of the research verified differences in the technical efficiency of organic and conventional agriculture related both to the different farming methods and to the production conditions. The type of farming and the economic size of farms influence the farms' profitability, economic performance and comparability with conventional farms. The technical efficiency of organic farming is growing over the long term. Farms with growing technical efficiency show a decline in the proportion of operating subsidies to production, irrespective of their classification in quartiles by the technical efficiency estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the mutual impact channels of Germany's major regional policy instrument (GRW) on regional economic development. Different from earlier studies which have predominately focused on a partial assessment of output effects, we explicitly endogenize the factor inputs of the underlying production function. This allows us to comprehensively assess the role of the GRW in driving per capita output, employment, human and physical capital intensities as well as the region's technological growth. The results from a spatial panel vector autoregressive model show that GRW funding has significant positive effects on regional output, the employment rate and human capital intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Hematopoiesis model with multiple unimodal production functions is proposed to elucidate the dynamics of blood cells. • Periodic behavior of the density of mature blood cells is investigated. • It is easy to check whether the obtained condition is satisfied or not. • Existence region of positive periodic solutions is clarified by using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory. • Positive parameters and variable coefficients of our model can be estimated from clinical data on health and blood disease. Abstract A discrete model describing the increase and decrease of blood cells is considered in this paper. This hematopoiesis model is a discretization of a delay differential equation with unimodal production function whose coefficients and delays are periodic discrete functions with ω -period. This paper is concerned with the existence of positive ω -periodic solutions. Our results are proved by using the well-known continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory. The existence range of the positive ω -periodic solutions is also clarified. A concrete example and its simulation are also given to illustrate our result. Finally, we examine how positive numbers and coefficients making up our model influence the upper and lower limits of blood cell counts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Object-oriented approach for risk and performance assessment of complex systems. • Customized domain-specific features can be included in standard analysis techniques. • Example combines fault tree, dynamic process phase, and production function models. • Open data format to define modelling technique, model structure and parameter values. • Applicable to industrial process reliability, availability and performance analyses. Graphical abstract Abstract This paper introduces an Open Modelling approach for Availability and Reliability of Systems (OpenMARS), which is developed for risk and performance assessment of large and complex systems with dynamic behaviours. The approach allows for combining the most common risk assessment and operation modelling techniques. This ensures a high degree of freedom for the modeller to accurately describe the system without limitations imposed by an individual technique. OpenMARS uses a platform-independent tabular format to define the used modelling technique, to create the model structure, and to assign the parameter values. We developed the format to enable a straightforward manual model definition while maintaining database compatibility. This paper also presents our calculation engine for stochastic simulation-based analysis of OpenMARS models. Our intention is to use this approach as a basis for new software. We demonstrate the feasibility of OpenMARS with an example of a multi-state production process that is subject to failures. The example creates a comprehensive system model by combining interconnected failure logic, operation phase, and production function models. We believe that the advanced features of OpenMARS have wide ranging applications for analysis of reliability, performance, and energy efficiency of complex industrial processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the EU context, industrial sectors have significantly reduced their energy consumption in the last decade. Despite significant disparities existing across industry branches, comparative studies focused on the effect of energy use in the production growth of the different industry branches are limited and not related to the EU countries. This study undertakes a production growth approach to analyze the effect of energy use in different industry branches, through the estimation of translog production functions, based on data from 12 EU countries during the 2000–2014 period. In addition, two sub-periods are studied to evaluate if industrial energy efficiency has been improving through time, specifically from 2007. Findings confirm the existence of different behavior patterns with respect to energy use in the considered sectors and from one sub-period to another. As a result, policy measures should be sector-specific, since no general production-energy use patterns can be obtained. Graphical abstract Image 104 Highlights • This study analyzes the production-energy use relationship in different industry branches. • The study refers to 12 EU countries in the 2000–2014 period. • Translog production functions are estimated by using panel data techniques. • Different behavior patterns are found among industrial branches and time periods. • Energy policy measures should be sector-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Peer accountability matters in collaborative team production environments. • Forced observability of individual inputs leads to fast unravelling of cooperation. • Letting peers chose whether to observe the input of others results in higher output. • If transparency is a requirement, endogenous accountability may be a good option. Abstract In a real effort lab and online team production experiment, we analyze exerted effort under different conditions of individual accountability. In a repeated setting, we vary the degree to which production can be directly traced back to a collaborator's individual or randomly drawn effort level, respectively. We find that individuals produce much less and the decline of effort over time is significantly steeper under high as compared to low and endogenously chosen personal accountability. While endogenous accountability provides an option for monitoring others, it does not force subjects to learn about their under-performing peers, thus limiting the typical decline of contributions over time. We conclude that accountability one step removed may be an interesting institutional setting for repeated collaborations in contexts where low accountability for political, social or legal reasons is not a viable option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional production of live TV combines real‐time and recorded video into a single broadcast stream. In "live" TV, non‐live "instant replay" footage can help viewers to make sense of what has just happened. This article shows how multi‐person TV production teams assemble timely and relevant instant replays that can be seamlessly combined with real‐time footage during live broadcasts. Detailed interaction analysis demonstrates how this work is dependent on coordinated practices, and how team members achieve this by orienting to narrative concerns across multiple temporalities to produce topically useful instant replays, displaying clip relevance, and help segueing transitions between the ongoing action and replay. We conclude by examining the interrelationships between the sequential flow of visual content, the role of talk in mediating time‐shifted visual alignments, and how members make their work visible and accountable to one another and to their intended audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Considering the objectives of Nigeria's Renewable Energy Program, three basic questions are asked in this study: Can Nigeria really build its economy on renewable energy? Is it possible to substitute nonrenewable energy for renewable energy? What is the impact of renewable energy on the economy? This study primarily analyzes renewable energy development in Nigeria. Among other things, we estimate the economic impact, output elasticity, and the substitution possibilities of both renewable and nonrenewable energies. Our findings, based on a dataset from 1980 to 2015, in the framework of the translog production function, show that capital and labor are the main drivers of output in Nigeria; however, the economic impact of both energy types (renewable and nonrenewable) are insignificant, even though positive. With output and substitution elasticities being positive, this study confirms the possibility of moving towards a renewable power generation, but also highlights the limitation associated with such transition, citing inherent problems such as power density and scale, cost, and location. Based on Nigeria's economic and industrialization agenda, this study agrees with the respective strategies enshrined in the Renewable Energy Program but recommends that its implementation should be gradual and in accordance with Nigeria's economic goals. Highlights • The impact of renewable and nonrenewable energy is estimated for Nigeria. • Both energy types insignificantly impact Nigeria's economy. • Renewable and nonrenewable energy are substitutes. • Substitution possibility is uncertain given the inherent problems of renewable energy. • Transition to a renewable electricity system should be gradual and a long-term objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large range of different approaches to determine a region's total factor productivity (TFP) is currently used in the literature. As there is no generally recognized method, it is an important issue whether different approaches produce comparable results or whether results depend heavily on the chosen method. By employing a data set of 220 European regions over the period from 1990 to 2007, the present work compares a set of TFP estimation approaches and examines whether regional TFP levels and TFP growth rates obtained from the various approaches differ considerably from each other. More specifically, the neoclassical accounting approach, the cross-section approach, the pooled panel approach, and the fixed-effects approach are investigated. Furthermore, this article proposes an extension of the fixed-effects approach that allows estimation of both regional TFP levels and region-specific, long-term TFP growth rates in a single estimation procedure. The results clearly demonstrate that the choice between the examined approaches has an essential impact on estimation results for both TFP levels and TFP growth rates. From the apparent differences between the obtained results, it is reasonable to expect that follow-up analyses based on TFP estimates, for example, studies investigating the determinants of regional TFP, are affected by the model choice to a considerable extent. Therefore, it is important to examine whether one model is superior to others or whether it is only up to the scholar to choose a model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research explains that the expenses caused by a merger and / or acquisition are relevant in the analysis of returns to scale (Cobb-Douglas production function). The results of the research indicate that the returns to scale that are growing, emphasizing that they have an importance comparable to other items such as the expenses in research and development (R & D) and the other operational expenses, which are analyzed in the literature. It is concluded that innovation is not only internal (in house), since external innovation is an alternative to acquire patent rights at more accessible costs and with a lower risk that is originated in the process of innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to test the hypothesis that the effect of production slowdown on labour demand can be muted by labour hoarding. Design/methodology/approach - This study adopts a production function approach, using data from Malta, a small state in the EU. Findings - The results confirm the hypothesis and indicate that firms are normally prepared to employ and dismissmore workers in the long run than in the short run. Practical implications - This finding has important implications for developed countries, including that labour hoarding can be of certain relevance in times of economic slowdown as shocks are absorbed by internal flexibility. Originality/value - The results of this study add on to the existing literature in two ways. First, this study compares two industries -manufacturing and financial services- for which the former sector received support to hoard labour after the financial turmoil of 2008. Consequently, the dominance of labour hoarding in manufacturing relative to financial services is uncovered and the effect of hoarding practices on labour demand is estimated. Second, Malta is an interesting case because it is one of the smallest economies in the world and faces a high degree of vulnerability because of constraints associated with small size and insularity. As a result, firms adopt policy-inducedmeasures to minimise adjustment costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Data-intensive Web applications are usually developed by means of specific Web application frameworks, which provide, among other features, the proper tools to automate redundant tasks, e.g. the implementation of CRUD operations. However, although Model-Driven Web Engineering (MDWE) approaches have defined specific languages and tools to significantly reduce development efforts, the provision of such automation tools has been traditionally neglected. This paper presents AutoCRUD, a WebRatio plug-in automating the generation of CRUD operations in OMG Interacting Flow Modelling Language (IFML). It has been developed as a joint effort by academia and industry to assess its validity in a real scenario. Highlights • A MDWE tool (WebRatio plugin) to automatically generate CRUD operations specification in IFML by pattern instantiation. • New patterns may be defined to enlarge its default repository. • For teaching purposes, a step-by-step generation of IFML may be performed. • Easy and guided visual instantiation of patterns. • It may significantly increase development team productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation costs are an important topic in international trade, but seldom have researchers paid attention to general equilibrium trade modelling with transportation costs and explored their relevant effects. This paper uses numerical general equilibrium trade model structures to simulate the impacts of transportation costs on welfare and trade for a Canada-US country pair case. We compare two groups of model structures: Armington assumption models and homogeneous goods models. Within these two groups of models, we also compare balanced trade structures to trade imbalance structures and production function transportation costs to iceberg transportation costs. Armington goods models generate more absolute welfare gains from transportation cost elimination than homogeneous goods models. Welfare gains under balanced trade structures are larger in production function transportation cost scenarios than in iceberg transportation cost scenarios, but under trade imbalance structures, welfare gains are greater under iceberg transportation cost scenarios. Canada's welfare gains in the iceberg transportation cost scenario are significantly larger than gains in the production function transportation cost scenario. On trade effects, homogeneous goods models generate more export and import gains, balanced trade structures have more trade variations, and iceberg transportation costs generate more trade effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studied agricultural eco-efficiency in the Amazon, using hyperbolic distance functions with a stochastic frontier based on the classical variables of the multi-product production function and internalization of two externalities (one positive and one negative). The study allowed the contrast among various specifications of production functions and estimation of the opportunity costs of externalities, marginal rates of substitution and transformation, as well as an index of environmental sustainability and its determinants. The main results of the study indicate that the opportunity cost of preserved areas is between US$ 82.39 and US$ 170.37 per ha/year, and it is possible to increase the desired outputs by 19.5%, simultaneously reducing the degraded areas and inputs by 16.36%, and this only referring to the best practices in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of transformation of the Russian economy there is an urgent need for accelerated development of small and medium enterprises. Solving this problem is very urgent in each of Russia's regions. The aim of the study was to assess the two-factor production functions that describe the dependence of the volume of production (turnover) of small and medium enterprises on the wages of their employees and investments in fixed assets. The study was based on empirical spatial data characterizing the activities of medium enterprises, small enterprises and microenterprises. Official statistical information on 82 regions of Russia for 2016 was used. The study allowed to determine the factors influencing turnover of SMEs located in all regions, to prove the high quality of approximation of the initial data by the twofactor production functions, to prove that the economy of the Russian regions has not reached saturation with small and medium enterprises. The results of the study, namely new knowledge and tools for assessing production activities of small and medium enterprises in the regions, are of scientific and practical importance. They can be used in monitoring of business climate in regions, determining resource needs, as well as the implementation of the Russian strategy for its development up to 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trend toward a more competitive electricity market has led to efforts by the electric power industry to develop advanced efficiency evaluation models that adapt to market behavior operations management. The promotion of the operational performance management of the electric power industry plays an important role in China’s efforts toward energy conservation, emission control and sustainable development. Traditional efficiency measures are not able to distinguish sales effects from productive efficiency and thus are not sufficient for measuring the operational performance of an electricity generation system for achieving its specific market behavior operations management goals, such as promoting electricity sales. Effectiveness measures are associated with the capacity of an electricity generation system to adjust its input resources that influence its electricity generation and, thus, the capacity to match the electricity demand. Therefore, the effectiveness measures complement the efficiency measures by capturing the sales effect in the operational performance evaluation. This study applies a newly developed data envelopment analysis-based effectiveness measurement to evaluate the operational performance of the electric power industry in China’s 30 provincial regions during the 2006-2010 periods. Both the efficiency and effectiveness of the electricity generation system in each region are measured, and the associated electricity sales effects and electricity reallocation effects are captured. Based on the results of the effectiveness measures, the alternative operational performance improvement strategies and potentials in terms of input resources savings and electricity generation adjustments are proposed. The empirical results indicate that the current interregional electricity transmission and reallocation efforts are effective in China overall, and a moderate increase in electricity generation with a view to improving the effect on sales is more crucial for improving effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparing temperature and emissions data does not clearly show a relationship between the two variables. Going further, this study combines Leontief production technology with a computable general equilibrium model of global trade in order to quantitatively test the implications of mitigation policies for welfare and the environment. We compute optimal emissions taxes and show that administering carbon fees reduces environmental damages by nearly 50%. However, there is a tradeoff effect on production which calls for caution when implementing environmental policies. In general, environmental benefits and resources shifting due to carbon taxes lead to welfare gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of nontrivial equilibrium and poverty traps for a generalized Solow growth model with concave and nonconcave production functions is investigated. The explicit solutions of the growth model, which is expressed by a differential equation with corresponding boundary conditions, are employed to illustrate the spatial dynamics of the model in different economic regions. Numerical method is used to justify the validity of the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As leaders of a multi-specialty outcomes research team, we have observed (and admittedly often committed) several collaborator behaviors that tend to stymie innovation, productivity, and efficiency. In order to preserve the unique and complementary skills of the academic team without committing these Collaborator Conundrums, team leaders should recognize these problematic behaviors and enact effective countermeasures. Conversely, seeking collaborator input too early can be inefficient and promote maladaptive behaviors from Diversionists and Naysayers. Recognizing unhelpful collaborator behaviors and executing proactive countermeasures is a key to fostering effective, efficient, and fulfilling collaboration. [Extracted from the article]

Previous literature assumes a symmetric linkage between energy consumption and economic growth. However, a variation on energy consumption does not necessarily have the same impact on economic growth, or vice-versa. Considering this possible asymmetry between the variables, this study aims to examine the long- and short-run relationships between total, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic growth in G7 countries over the period 1980–2014 by using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) and asymmetric causality approaches. Findings indicate that production function matters in determining the cointegration among the variables. The results of asymmetric and symmetric relationships and causality analyses, on the other hand, are found to be very volatile across production functions and energy proxies. When the energy consumption is measured by total energy use, however, the results provide strong support of an asymmetric relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in the long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of energy in economic growth is controversial. Models based on aggregate production functions (APF) range from the neoclassical, which downplay energy due to a cost-share theorem, but typically rely on exogenous total factor productivity (TFP), to the ecological economic, which acknowledge energy's importance. The validity of the APF concept itself is questioned. Here, we apply cointegration analysis to identify APFs between output, capital, labor, and possibly energy, measured as primary energy or useful exergy. We test for TFP growth by including a time trend. We require that plausible APFs verify cointegration, non-negative output elasticities, and Granger-causality linking inputs to output. Our method recognizes cases where: a) plausible APFs do not exist (thereby addressing the APF critique); b) energy impacts growth directly; c) energy impacts growth indirectly, through capital and labor. We apply the method to Portugal (1960–2009), considering standard and quality-adjusted capital/labor measures. With a time trend or disregarding energy, plausible APFs are never found. Without a trend, plausible APFs are found only when considering capital-energy-labor combinations. Within these, with quality-adjusted capital and labor and useful exergy, results are consistent with the cost-share theorem but energy plays a central role, through a constraint on all factors of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of finding the integral content of the components of substances and materials for a given volume and mass of a substance (material) at certain moments or time intervals based on weighted average estimates is considered. The solution of the problem is important for control, recording, and monitoring of production of substances in industrial-scale volumes, generation of waste, including emissions and discharges. Formulas are given for calculating the total standard uncertainty of weighted average estimates, taking into account the uncertainty of the values of the weighting coefficients of the estimates, due to the uncertainty of the mass measurements of the analyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses theoretically the question whether culture has an effect on economic performance in team production, and what would be an optimal team culture. The members of a team are guided both by economic incentives and by personal norms, weighed according to their prevailing level of materialism. We assume that personal norms evolve following a dynamic driven by a combination of psychological mechanisms such as consistency and conformism. The different vectors of materialism, consistency and conformism shared by the group result in a continuum of cultures characterized by different combinations of individualism and collectivism. Team culture turns out to be a fundamental determinant for long term group performance. When income distribution is not completely egalitarian or the members of the team display heterogeneous levels of skills, there is an optimal culture that maximizes steady state team production and its characteristics depend on the specific distribution of income and skills. A high average productivity or a less egalitarian dispersion of remuneration require a more collectivist culture, while a high dispersion of individual productivity requires a more individualist culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new model of economic production process is proposed (in the form of a set of ODEs) based on an idea that nonconsumable factors of production facilitate the conversion of inputs to output in much the same catalytic way as do enzymes in living cells when transforming substrates into different chemical compounds. The output of a converging, multi-resource, single-product supply chain network is shown to depend on the minimum of its inputs in the form of the Leontief-Liebig production function, providing the validity of the clearing function approximation. In turn use of the clearing function is legitimate when the machine processing time is much shorter than the machine loading time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the full range of effects of knowledge properties and explains how knowledge properties such as transient appropriability, non-exhaustibility, and indivisibility do not only have negative effects, but also positive ones. Knowledge externalities help reduce the cost of knowledge and imitation externalities reduce the revenue and profitability of innovations. Their effects need to be considered jointly in a single analytical framework. An analysis of their combined effects questions the scope of application of the 'Arrovian postulate' according to which the limited appropriability of knowledge due to its uncontrolled dissemination reduces invention. This ignores spillovers of outside knowledge, which increases invention. These are the two opposing faces of the limited appropriability of knowledge. Policy implications suggest that along with public interventions designed to support the supply of knowledge and to compensate for missing incentives, much attention should be paid to all interventions that favour the dissemination of knowledge and the knowledge connectivity of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of knowledge spillovers on output per worker at the industry level using a primal production function approach. The article makes three different contributions to the international spillovers literature: (1) it identifies trade‐related spillovers under alternative assumptions regarding the information transferred through imports; (2) it explores the importance of horizontal and vertical foreign direct investment (FDI) in knowledge spillovers; and (3) it looks at how institutional factors determine the impact of FDI‐related spillovers on productivity. The main findings of the study are: (1) international knowledge spillover is an important driver of industry output per worker, and the magnitude of this spillover effect varies with alternative assumptions about the information content embodied in imports, while high technology industries benefit significantly more from import‐related knowledge spillovers; and (2) the gains from FDI spillovers are primarily horizontal, but when institutional factors are considered, countries with stronger protection of intellectual property rights and a high “ease of doing business” tend to experience a substantial increase in the effectiveness of both horizontal and vertical FDI‐related spillovers. (JEL E24, F1, F6, O3, O4) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of land consolidation on the productivity of smallholder maize farmers in Rwanda. The research was conducted in Musanze District with a sample size of 67 farmers known to be adopting Land Consolidation in two sectors namely Cyuve and Nyange whereby the maize crop was grown due to favorable climate. The Cobb-Douglass production function model was used to estimate the productivity in maize production. The results showed that the land under maize cultivation, fertilizers and labor have a significant and positive influence on maize farm productivity; maize seed was not significant but has a partial positive influence on maize yield. On the productivity model, the results showed that age, years of schooling, extension access, and cooperative farming have a significant impact on the productivity but farmer's experience was not significant and positively affected the productivity of maize farmers. The most constraints observed were the lack of adequate market, low price given to maize farmers compared to the cost of production, and price unpredictability of agricultural products. This study proposes strategies such as farmer training programs, raising the educational level of farmers, and providing farmers with greater access to credit, adoption contracting farming where farmers could produce on contractual basis with the known potential buyers and encourage cooperative farming which could increase the bargaining power to afford better prices in order to increase the productivity of fragmented maize farms in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I examine how uncertainty in the size of the relevant population affects the voluntary contribution of public goods. I analyze a case where the marginal production of public goods is decreasing and convex, and agents’ social preferences are irrelevant to the population size. The voluntary contribution level in Nash equilibrium is higher when the number of players is random than when the number of players is fixed at the mean of the population distribution. The findings from a controlled experiment are consistent with this theoretical prediction. I also analyze a case where the production function is linear and the agents’ social preferences are modeled in the form of a warm-glow utility function which could be increasing concave in the population size. The experimental findings reject the hypothesis that warm glow is congestible: when the public-goods production function is linear, uncertainty in the population size does not lead to changes in the contribution level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article models a production function and analyzes the technical efficiency of listed companies in the United States, Germany and England between 2005 and 2012 based on the vine copula approach. Traditional estimates of the stochastic frontier assume that data is multivariate normally distributed and there is no source of asymmetry. The proposed method based on vine copulas allow us to explore different types of asymmetry and multivariate distribution. Using data on product, capital and labor, we measure the relative efficiency of the vine production function and estimate the coefficient used in the stochastic frontier literature for comparison purposes. This production vine copula predicts the value added by firms with given capital and labor in a probabilistic way. It thereby stands in sharp contrast to the production function, where the output of firms is completely deterministic. The results show that, on average, S&P500 companies are more efficient than companies listed in England and Germany, which presented similar average efficiency coefficients. For comparative purposes, the traditional stochastic frontier was estimated and the results showed discrepancies between the coefficients obtained by the application of the two methods, traditional and frontier-vine, opening new paths of non-linear research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the observed heterogeneity and technical efficiency of Czech food processing companies are investigated. Recent studies proved that food processing firms' heterogeneity can influence the result of the efficiency estimation. For the empirical study, the panel data set from the years 2005-2012 containing 2854 observations of 607 food processing companies was used. Variables representing heterogeneity factors were incorporated in the mean of inefficiency term distribution of the Battese and Coelli model (1995). The models were estimated in the form of translogarithmic production function using the Stochastic Frontier Approach. The results indicate the presence of significant heterogeneity among the firms in the analysed branches and among different branches of the food processing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-variant elasticity production function is introduced to estimate OEMs' time-variant value output elasticity coef ficients of production resources, R&D resources, brand and marketing resources. OEMs' upgrading path is identified by comparing time-variant value elasticity coef ficients which embody value creation potential of different resources. The proposed method is applied to identify upgrading path for three typical OEMs of furniture industry in China. The results demonstrate that the method is effective and practical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the emergence of cultural homogeneity in personal norms when the behavior of heterogeneous individuals is driven both by economic incentives and by personal norms. Agents participate in a team production game by choosing their level of costly effort. Norms evolve along the life cycle of the individuals according to two psychological forces: cognitive dissonance or consistency and informational conformity. The model sheds light on how primitive economic and behavioral parameters such as the distribution of skills, the income distribution, and the levels of materialism, conformism, and consistency in the group determine the long-run culture and its degree of cultural homogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]