Water and wastewater treatment worldwide: the industry and the market for equipment and chemicals

Water is and will continue to be the key natural resource of the twenty-first century in all nations, large and small. While the agricultural sector is the largest user of water, its use for human consumption and in industrial processes is truly vital. A wide variety of equipment and chemicals are involved in cleansing water and wastewater; the global market is estimated at $84 billion in 2017 and at $123 billion in 2022. This study analyzes the specific categories of equipment and chemicals, the nature of end-use markets, and the creative business strategies involved. Comments on competition and marketing practices as well as two brief case studies provide further insights on this important industrial sector     

Qualitative methods and the pursuit of economic understanding

In this paper, I describe the qualitative methods deployed in a series of investigations examining post-disaster recovery following Hurricane Katrina. I argue that qualitative methods, particularly ethnographic field interviews, are essential tools in contexts that the interpretive frameworks (mental models) of the research subjects play a dominant role in shaping broader patterns of social coordination. Given the importance, Austrian economists attribute to non-deterministic learning as the source of endogenous change and discovery in contexts of genuine uncertainty; I argue that this underutilized set of tools ought to be considered particularly valuable.     

Revisiting the UNICEF malnutrition framework to foster agriculture and health sector collaboration to reduce malnutrition: A comparison of stakeholder priorities for action in Afghanistan

High rates of undernutrition persist in Afghanistan, but community-level information is scarce on its underlying causes. Developing policy in such situations is affected by varying stakeholder perspectives on the issues. This study uses the UNICEF malnutrition framework and a rapid assessment methodology to compare how stakeholders at community, provincial and national levels describe the food and nutrition situation. Consistent differences in problem definition by administrative level and between agriculture and health sectors were apparent. Stakeholders at all administrative levels widely agreed on the need to improve incomes and employment to ensure food security because of the many constraints to agricultural production. Provincial and national level stakeholders further agreed on the need for nutrition education at all levels of society. The research illustrates how local adaptation and application of the UNICEF malnutrition framework can reveal divergent perspectives, as a first step toward finding common ground and an appropriate policy response.     

Do going concern opinions provide incremental information to predict corporate defaults?

Review of Accounting Studies - Investors, regulators, and academics question the usefulness of going concern opinions (GCOs). We assess whether GCOs provide incremental information, relative to...     

Fulfilling its promise? Strategic public procurement and the impact of equality considerations on employers’ behaviour in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Public administration is an important force influencing equality in today’s society. Like budgetary choices, public procurement has increasingly gained attention as a means to promote equality. Yet, there are important gaps in knowledge, especially regarding how equality requirements in public procurement affect company behaviour. This paper sheds first light on the impact strategic public procurement has on employers’ behaviour. Based on empirical research, this paper highlights that companies perceive a limited prevalence of equality stipulations in Scottish public procurement practices and raises doubts about the impact of public procurement practices to create a successful business case for equality.     

Identifying design values across countries through adaptive comparative judgment

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Adaptive comparative judgment (ACJ) has proven to be a valid, reliable, and feasible method for assessing student performance in...     

Dissecting Foreign Bank Lending Behavior During the 2008–2009 Crisis

This paper analyzes the lending behavior of foreign‐owned banks during the recent global crisis. Using bank‐level panel data for 51 countries, the paper explores the role of affiliate and parent financial characteristics, host location, as well as the impact of parent geographic origin and reach on foreign banks’ credit growth. Overall, the analysis finds robust evidence that foreign banks curtailed the growth of credit relative to other banks, independent of the host region in which they operate. Banks from the United States reduced loan growth less than other parent banks. Neither the global nor regional reach of parent banks influenced the lending growth of foreign affiliates. Parent capitalization and not parent funding explained the behavior of foreign bank credit growth during the global crisis. However, funding did affect the lending behavior of domestic and foreign banks in host countries, with those relying more heavily on deposits suffering a smaller decline in bank lending. Although not the focus of the paper, we also find that government‐owned banks played a countercyclical role in all regions.     

Discovery and social learning in non-priced environments: An Austrian view of social network theory

Our purpose here is to engage in a cross-disciplinary discussion between Austrian economics and social network theory. In particular, we ask what role social networks play in the extended order in regard to both individual discovery and whether social networks can be the source of widespread unintended cooperation among individuals unknown to one another. Although Austrians have examined the function that market prices play in generating social cooperation, such discussions tend to steer clear of non-priced environments, such as interaction within social networks. We seek to explore this gap. While we acknowledge that non-price information feedback mechanisms such as status and reputation lack the calculability so crucial to market coordination, we argue that they can nonetheless mimic other important qualities of market prices and generate widespread unintended social cooperation among people unknown to one another. After a general discussion, we apply these ideas to online philanthropic communities.     

British corporate networks, 1976–2010: Extending the study of finance–industry relationships

Abstract

Using an extensive and unique data set that has been created to record the composition of the boards of directors of the top 250 British firms between 1904 and 2010, this article builds upon a previous study by the authors on the corporate network to 1976 by extending the study to 2010. The analysis revolves around three key observations: the nature and depth of the corporate network; the distinct stages in corporate connectivity between 1976 and 2010; and the 1980s watershed in the relationship between financial and other sectors, following which financial institutions withdrew from the corporate network. The article concludes with an analysis of how the data set has changed our perceptions of British corporate networks, wider changes in British business, and a discussion of implications for future research.