University business models in disequilibrium – engaging industry and end users within university technology transfer processes

This article explores how greater engagement with industry and end users has influenced the University Technology Transfer Business Model. In order to achieve this, they adopted a qualitative methodology which draws upon case study evidence of two case universities located in a particular region. The findings, represented in a conceptual framework depict a hybrid University Technology Transfer Business Model which is in a state of permanent disequilibrium as a result of path dependency and organisational culture. This permanent disequilibrium was found to cause challenges in relation to scarce resource allocation and also impacted upon the willingness and ability of academics to engage with industry and end users throughout the technology transfer process. This article contributes to an emerging stream of research on hybrid business models by identifying the challenges of permanent disequilibrium where multiple and conflicting stakeholder goals compete for legitimacy and scarce resources. From a policy and practitioner viewpoint, this research draws attention to the complexities of university, government, industry and end user (Quadruple Helix stakeholders) engagement and the implications of such on university strategy where conflicting dominant logics can cause challenges with alignment of organisational processes and mechanisms.     

Automatic adjustment clauses and allocative efficiency in public utilities

This paper presents a formal analysis of the efficiency effects of automatic adjustment clauses (AACs) is regulated industries. Using a two-input model of ex ante/ex post input choice and a general putty-clay technology, we analyze the relative extent of allocative distortions due to each of three alternative regulatory policies—periodic rate review with and without an AAC, and an AAC without any rate review—for the case of a regulated firm that chooses an ex post technology to maximize the present value of future profits.Our results indicate that the economic rationale for using AACs in industries already subject to intermittent rate review is not unambiguous, even in the face of severe cost inflation, and is particularly sensitive to the magnitude of the price elasticity of demand for output and the rate and direction of input price changes. We are forced to conclude that the use of AACs in regulated industries such as electric power, while originally justified on the basis of financial viability, may well carry significant economic costs in the form of allocative inefficiency that may outweigh the benefits.     

The middle east and the EEC: An analysis of trade flows

The Middle East has become the largest external supplier of imports to the European Community, and is also the EC's largest export market. Rising oll prices have not only affected the value of EC imports from the Middle East, but have also ultimately determined the ability of the Middle Eastern states to pay for Community exports. What are the prospects for the continuing growth of trade between the Community and the Middle East? What would be the effect of a fall in oil prices or of a decline in the EC's dependence on Middle Eastern oil?     

Commercial policy and intra-industry trade

This paper constructs a model of intra-industry trade within a multi-product industry whose output range is limited to that obtainable from a particular type of capital. Intra-industry trade is a natural outcome in this structure, without requiring increasing returns to scale or imperfectly competitive markets, and with its pattern determined along traditional (relative factor abundance) lines. The volume of this trade will vary inversely with the level of trade restrictions, as observed empirically. Other policies are then considered for their influence on the range, rather than the level, of domestic production, since the former is the more likely policy objective under these circumstances.     

The future of walking in Europe: a Delphi project to identify expert opinion on future walking scenarios

There is increasing recognition of the importance of walking to the sustainability of cities, set against a continuing decline in everyday walking. This paper reports on a research project, which predicts trends in walking in Europe by 2010 by seeking opinion of experts who are knowledgeable about non-motorised transport. There is a consensus that there will be more walking for leisure and health, but less everyday walking. This will happen despite walking being seen as more important and there being more facilities, infrastructure, information and funding for walking.     

Attendance and the Uncertainty-of-Outcome Hypothesis in Baseball

Sports offer interesting insights into demand due to the added twist of fan preferences for outcome uncertainty. We add to and amend previous work by analyzing the time series behavior of Major League Baseball attendance (1901–2003) using break point analysis, exploring a wide variety of measures of game uncertainty, playoff uncertainty, and consecutive season uncertainty. Only playoff uncertainty is statistically significant, and it is economically significant only for (1) truly ambitious intervention and (2) recent history. The policy implication is that actual league choices may be motivated by wealth redistribution rather than concerns over competitive balance.      

NGOs Address Structural Racism: After the Storm in New Orleans

The long history of institutional and historical racism found an explosive expression in the events around Katrina in New Orleans. Racial inequalities were evident in the actual destruction caused by the hurricane and even more significantly in the government response to the disaster. The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) sector provided alternative approaches to recovery and reconstruction, but such alternatives were inadequate to counter the formidable forces of capitalism arrayed against them. NGOs provided substantial direct service to the most distressed residents of the city and, in some cases, provided important advocacy roles in addressing the inequities caused by government action and/or inaction. The specific initiatives of six NGOs are reviewed here, including the work of the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Common Ground Collective, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition, and the People’s Organizing Committee. NGO initiatives were not structurally capable of generating a broad militant anti-racist mass movement of New Orleans’ working class for social change. Five years after the storm the working class of New Orleans faces deepened racial and economic distress. A return to the strategy of bold anti-racist mass movements confronting capital and the state would seem to be in order for the coming period of time.