The political economy of satellite business

Satellite communications systems are the outcome of the fusion of big governments, high technology and big business, whose needs they meet. As a major growth sector they are becoming extremely important in economic terms. But satellite communications raise wider issues of the relationships between rich and poor countries and within rich countries. They will crucially influence the location of economic activity and the future prospects for countries in terms of access to information, decision making and income. The article discusses these questions and suggests how Europe might improve its position. It also argues that participation in public policy on satellite communications should be opened to a wider range of parties.     

Freedom of access to the radio spectrum for satellite communications

A conference will open on 8 August 1985 under ITU auspices to consider major procedural changes in the international regulation of the use of the radio spectrum by geostationary satellites. There has been strong pressure for the introduction of a priori orbit/ spectrum planning for, for example, the fixed-satellite service from countries which foresee that they may lose their option to set up domestic satellite networks under the present ptocedure. However, reform of the present procedures, rather than radical change, would give better assurance that the real needs of all countries will be met.     

Information technology and its changing roles to economic growth and productivity in Australia

In this paper we describe our investigation of the role of investment in information technology (IT) on economic output and productivity in Australia over a period of about four decades. The framework used in this paper is the aggregate production function, where IT capital is considered as a separate input of production along with non-IT capital and labour. The empirical results from the study indicate the evidence of robust technical progress in the Australian economy in the 1990s. IT capital had a significant impact on output, labour productivity and technical progress in the 1990s. In recent years, however, the contribution of IT capital on output and labour productivity has slowed down. Regaining the IT capital productivity therefore remains as a key challenge for Australia, especially in the context of greater IT investment in the future.     

Congruence between technology and compensation systems: implications for strategy implementation

This paper examines the interactive relationship between the use of integrated manufacturing and compensation practices in predicting several aspects of plant performance in the concrete pipe industry. We predicted that compensation practices reinforcing collective effort, teamwork, and flexibility (team incentives and skill-based pay) enhance the effectiveness of integrated manufacturing systems (total quality management and advanced manufacturing technology), while practices inhibiting cooperation and teamwork among employees (individual incentives and seniority-based pay) impede it. Results provide moderate support for the congruence model across several measures of plant effectiveness (labor hours per ton, lost-time accidents, perceptual performance, and customer satisfaction). Implications of the research are addressed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Access to information resources: The developmental context of the space WARC

The first session of the Space WARC to be convened in August 1985 is concerned with ‘principles, technical parameters, and criteria for planning’. This article argues that the actual agenda is much greater: it concerns equitable access to the tools of the information revolution. The author proposes an agenda for action including modification of the INTELSAT VI series and measures to ensure access to terrestrial facilities. The author believes that failure to view the Space WARC in a developmental context could result in an impasse at the conference and perpetuation of inequitable access to information resources.     

The implications of economic efficiency for US telecommunications policy

Subsidizing local residence telecommunications service from toll services has produced large distortions in US state and interstate toll markets. While both the business and residence groups as a whole would benefit from lower toll prices and higher residence prices, the fact that toll usage is concentrated means that most residence subscribers would be made worse off. It is therefore politically difficult to implement efficient telecommunications pricing. However, this same concentration of toll usage makes it advantageous for large toll users to bypass the local network to escape the subsidy-laden carrier access charges. Such a bifurcation of the telecommunications network has the potential for making most residence subscribers even worse off than they would be under an efficiency- enhancing reduction in toll prices.     

Foreign direct investment,information technology and economic growth dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa

The research assesses how information and communication technology (ICT) modulates the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth dynamics in 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 1980–2014. The employed economic growth dynamics are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, real GDP and GDP per capita while ICT is measured by mobile phone penetration and internet penetration. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of Moments. The study finds that both internet penetration and mobile phone penetration overwhelmingly modulate FDI to induce overall positive net effects on all three economic growth dynamics. Moreover, the positive net effects are consistently more apparent in internet-centric regressions compared to “mobile phone”-oriented specifications. In the light of negative interactive effects, net effects are decomposed to provide thresholds at which ICT policy variables should be complemented with other policy initiatives in order to engender favourable outcomes on economic growth dynamics. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Direct broadcasting by satellite in the USA: Interim regulations and implications

Technological advances in satellite communications and changes in regulatory philosophy in the USA came together at the end of the 1970s to foster a new medium — direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS). DBS, similar to other new television distribution systems, holds the promise not only of serving the people who cannot be reached by conventional television systems, but also of offering diverse programming to existing television audiences. However, the potential problems raised by the FCC's interim DBS regulations might jeopardize the economic viability and the development of future DBS systems in the USA, and might affect the interests of DBS audiences.     

The economic implications of using HACCP as a food safety regulatory standard

This article discusses the nature and role of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) as a food safety control system and, in particular, its role as an element of public food safety regulation. The notion of efficiency in food safety regulation is discussed and related to the nature of food safety controls. It is suggested that, if appropriately applied, HACCP is a more economically efficient approach to food safety regulation than command and control (CAC) interventions. The economic implications of HACCP are discussed with reference to estimates of the costs and benefits, in particular for the food industry. Finally, the use of HACCP as an international trade standard and the facilitation of trade in processed food products is considered.     

Examining the dimensions of technology

The meaning of technology seems simple. Most people have little difficulty expressing some notion of what it is. Technology is machine, automobile, computer, tool ... the list goes on and on.For some, technology is defined in contrast to other academic disciplines such as science or engineering. It is clear that science and technology are woven throughout a larger complex of human activity which is oriented around a mix of economic, political, humanitarian, and cultural means and ends. However, it is also clear that the knowledge base, processes, and goals of technology are distinctly different from science.This paper depicts technology as consisting of four distinct conceptual dimensions. These are (a) artefact, (b) knowledge, (c) process, and (d) volition (Mitcham, 1979). The goals are to clarify and explore the conceptual complexities of technology in order to provide a conceptual foundation for the study of Technology Education for all.A central mission of education should be to orient people to the cultures within which they are living and making decisions. Given that technology and technological systems are important in every culture around the world, it is absolutely essential that they become a primary focus of study.Rodney L. Custer is Assistant Professor of Technology and Industry Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he graduated with the Doctor of Philosophy in Practical Arts and Vocational and Technical Education. His research interests include the philosophy of technology, implications of cognitive science for understanding problem-solving, and critical skills for employment in the 21st century. Custer is currently co-editing a book entitled Technology and the Quality of Life, which will be published in 1966 by the Council on Technology Teacher Education. The book will explore the ways in which cultures have influenced the development of technology as well as the positive and negative impacts which technology has had on social and cultural values. He is currently on leave from the University of Missouri for the 1995–96 academic year, working as a Program Officer for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, DC.Rodney L. Custer, University of Missouri-Columbia, 103 London Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, Fax Number: 314-442-6056, Electronic Mail: PAVTROD@showme.missouri,edu, Work Number: 314-882-3082.     

Information communications technology and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A panel data approach

This research empirically analyzed the impact of mobile phone and the Internet on per capita income of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period of 2006–2015 using a panel data of 40 countries. We have employed the robust two-step system GMM. Results showed that growth in mobile phone penetration has contributed significantly to the GDP per capita of the region after controlling for a number of other variables. A 10% increase in mobile phone penetration results in a 1.2% change in GDP per capita. Therefore, improving access to mobile phones will play a critical role in reducing the poverty level of the region through raising the per capita income of the population.However, the Internet has not contributed to the per capita GDP during the study period. The insignificant impact of the Internet could be due to low penetration of the technology, low ICT skill of Internet users, lack of or insufficient local content on the global network, and the relatively immature state of the technology in the region. Therefore, governments and other stakeholders should design policies that encourage expansion of the Internet. In addition to improving Internet access, policies which focus on ICT skill development and local content creation should also be designed and implemented.     

Configurations of resources and capabilities and their performance implications: an exploratory study on technology ventures

As one of the most widely accepted theoretical perspectives in strategy, the resource‐based view (RBV) suggests that a firm's resources underlie its ability to achieve competitive advantage. However, much of the extant work in this stream has examined the characteristics that resources must have in order to yield rents, while efforts to specify the crucial link between resources and value creation have been sparse. As a consequence, current theory is not sufficiently clear on how different kinds of resources and capabilities contribute to performance, nor does it clarify how firms can combine different resources and capabilities to achieve superior performance outcomes. Analyzing data obtained from 230 technology ventures with partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling and cluster analysis, this study seeks to improve understanding of the resource‐performance link in two main ways. Based on a careful measurement of resources and capabilities in a well‐defined functional area (sales and distribution), we first show how these resources and capabilities contribute to performance in that functional area. Second, we identify four clusters of firms that deploy different configurations of resources and capabilities. Among the four configurational solutions, two are associated with superior (equifinal) performance outcomes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The social implications of new technology: an unpredictable future

Here the authors summarise the responses to new technology by employers, trade unions and governments from an international perspective and they identify the emerging trends on job displacement, workforce adjustment and new skill requirements in Western industrialised countries.     

The use of modelling in an economic appraisal of a new technology

This paper deals with the problem of identifying the major economic sensitivities of an unusual mineral extraction project when the project is based on a radically new technology which is still at the research and development phase. On the timescale for development of the technology major external uncertainties such as the future level of metal prices are critical, as well as internal uncertainties such as cost and time. The possible outcomes are explored using CASPAR, a computer-based network program with integral financial analysis features which allow use from pre-feasibility phases right through to eventual project management.     

加快推进生物医药产业技术路线图的研制

产业技术路线图是一种新兴的技术预见方法和科技战略管理工具,生物医药产业作为我国重点发展的高技术行业,应高度重视产业技术路线图的应用。     

Temporality,space and technology: time‐space discourses of call centres

This paper considers time‐space discourses within grand theories that have shaped the trajectory of research on call centres. A critical approach to telework needs to consider temporal and spatial configurations and space creation as a negotiation between a multitude of factors including capital, culture and human agency.     

煤矿开采技术现状和趋势

本文重点介绍了我国煤矿开采技术现状,概述常见采矿技术以及未来的新技术趋势,指明采矿技术必将走向大型化、集中化、系统化和自动化相结合的综合一体化的道路。     

中国工业化的基本思路和政策取向

中国发展近代工业,是从19世纪60年代开始的。由于受到帝国主义和封建主义的压迫,经过将近一个世纪的时间,到1949年新中国成立的时