Rainwater harvesting in the UK: Socio-technical theory and practice

There is currently a window of opportunity in the UK, with respect to promoting sustainable water management (SWM). Periods of alternating drought and flooding have brought water management issues to the fore of UK media coverage and policy development. Unchallenged reliance on the historic legacy of piped infrastructure is declining, as its resilience and adaptability in the face of climate change become increasingly questioned. Despite its prevalence in other countries and a recent surge in sales, rainwater harvesting (RWH) has yet to transition from niche to mainstream in the UK. This paper provides an overview of the development of a strategic framework for enabling RWH to transition from novel to mainstream, informed by a number of evidence bases and devised using insight gained through the application of a number of theories. Identified strategic areas for action include (i) Technical Relevance (product development); (ii) Social Receptivity (capacity building) and (ii) Institutional Commitment (support services).     

A cost-plus trap: Pricing heuristics and demand identification

Cost plus pricing is a common pricing heuristic. We investigate whether a firm, following cost plus pricing in a simple environment, will eventually have enough information about demand conditions to switch to an optimization-based pricing approach. We find that with unsophisticated statistical approaches this is unlikely, and even with a Bayesian decision theoretic approach there can be what we call a cost plus trap.     

Stock price effect of high-yield debt issues

This paper investigates the common stock price reaction at the announcement of the issuance of high-yield straight debt. The two-day announcement period abnormal returns are not different from zero for the 164 bond issues in the sample. No difference is found between announcement period abnormal returns of firms with bonds that default and firms with bonds that do not default. Results from statistical tests indicate that the announcement period abnormal returns are not explained by issuance year, bond-rate class, underwriter, issuance size, takeover activity or prior high-yield debt issuance experience. The findings are not consistent with the models by Miller and Rock (1985), Jensen (1986), Myers and Majluf (1984) and Krasker (1986). However, results indicate that existing stockholders are not harmed or helped by the issuance of the high-yield straight debt.     

Some reflections on the 1968–93 SNA revision

The 1968 System of National Accounts (SNA 68) represented an important milestone in national accounting. In providing a more detailed structuring of the economy and integrating a correspondingly more relevant system of basic, producer and purchasers' prices by commodities and industry sectors, it helped lay to rest the early schism that developed between Keynes and Tinbergen over the question of the legitimacy of empirical economic modeling. The system was readily embraced by the advanced countries of Western Europe because it responded directly to the contemporary political imperatives of development planning and the need for economic forecasting models. But a large part of the non-Western "free world" encountered almost insurmountable difficulties in the full implementation of the system and became quickly bogged down in the quagmire of inter-industry statistics and valuation problems. Nancy and Richard Ruggles pressed for a revision providing workable solutions that would make the system more adaptable to the policy needs and statistical capacities of the majority of UN member countries. What actually happened took very much longer to reach fruition than was ever intended. The SNA 93 now represents the "gold standard" for national accounts, covering every aspect of economic activity. It is a masterpiece of conceptual coherence. Its encyclopedic character allows analysts and practitioners alike to dip into its voluminous pages for reasoned answers to why certain valuation questions and estimation procedures should be dealt with in a particular way. But SNA 93 remains a formidable document and it is not the operational data friendly framework that the Ruggles initially had envisaged.     

Approaches to the factory of the future. An empirical taxonomy

An empirical analysis of the patterns in which companies invest in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) such as computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, and flexible manufacturing systems is presented. Data for this analysis are gathered from 202 manufacturing plants chosen from industries generally considered to have relatively high investments in technology.Three general types of AMTs are identified from the literature: design, manufacturing, and administrative. Multiple item scales are developed to measure each type of AMT. These scales are shown to be reliable instruments, and are used to develop an empirical taxonomy which validates existing conceptual typologies of AMTs. A cluster analysis reveals four distinct groups of companies with respect to their approaches toward investing in AMTs. TRADITIONALISTS do not invest heavily in any of the three types of AMTs. GENERALISTS have moderate investments in each technology type. HIGH INVESTORS have the highest investment in each of the three technology types. The most interesting group may well be the DESIGNERS, which have low investments for manufacturing and administrative AMTs, but have the second highest investment in design-related AMTs.An analysis of the four technology groups reveals that while plants do differ in terms of plant size and integration, they do not differ significantly in terms of industry membership or performance. This suggests that successful firms can be found in each of the groups and that good strategies may be found that are consistent with each of these approaches. Therefore, the taxonomy is fairly robust, and further research must analyze companies within these groupings in order to identify the contingencies or other factors that may act in conjunction with technology to separate high and low performing firms. The data from our study clearly suggest that investments in technology alone are not a causal factor for performance improvement.     

用于在芯片直接贴装工艺中使用的连接和保护材料

在电子工业中，人们已经充分地认识到器件封装的发展趋势是引脚的间距会越来越小，最终的结果将是采用芯片直接贴装。为了便于转到使用裸芯片进行装配，连接和保护芯片的材料应当适合于装配可靠性要求甚高的集成电路，提供这种材料乃是材料供应商当仁不让的工作。     

Oh the places they’ll go. Examining the early career path of hospitality alumni

ABSTRACT

This research adds to the overall literature and academic understanding of early career progression of hospitality professionals. The results of an analysis of the career profiles of graduates of an undergraduate business school majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management indicate that there are five potential career paths for hospitality professionals graduating from this program. The groups are (1) Traditional Hospitality; (2) Stallers; (3) Nonhospitality; (4) Loyalists; and (5) Entrepreneurs. The findings indicate that there is substantial job movement in the first three years after graduation. Further, if promotion happens within the first 6 months to a year, graduates are more likely to stay with the organization. Finally, those that leave hospitality are likely to go into highly related fields such as health care and real estate.     

Willingness-to-Pay for Fresh Brand Name Beef

Willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for hypothetical brand name fresh beef products was measured using the Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak experimental auction procedure. Auctions were conducted in a field setting in and around Winnipeg, Manitoba during the summer of 2006. Four hypothetical brands were developed to individually represent local/Canadian, natural, guaranteed tender, and Angus attributes, respectively. It was found that WTP was highest, approximately $1.31 per 12 ounce steak, for branded steaks associated with the natural, guaranteed tender, and Angus attributes. It was further discovered that WTP is positively affected by preference for the brand name, frequency with which beef is consumed, and the male gender. Conversely, confidence in selecting beef tended to reduce WTP, while effects of age, education, and income were uncertain. It is concluded that the industry should explore opportunities to market higher value products both domestically and abroad if the cost of doing so does not exceed WTP premiums. Nous avons évalué, à l'aide de la procédure d'enchères expérimentales Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak, la volonté de payer (VdP) des consommateurs pour des produits de b?uf frais de marques hypothétiques. Nous avons organisé des enchères à, et aux alentours de, Winnipeg au Manitoba, au cours de l'été 2006. Quatre marques hypothétiques ont étéélaborées pour représenter respectivement les caractéristiques suivantes: b?uf canadien ou local, b?uf naturel, b?uf à tendreté garantie et b?uf Angus. Nous avons noté une VdP plus élevée, soit d'environ 1,31 $ par bifteck de 12 onces, pour le b?uf naturel, le b?uf à tendreté garantie et le b?uf Angus. Nous avons également observé que la préférence pour la marque, la fréquence de consommation de b?uf et le sexe masculin avaient une influence favorable sur la VdP. Réciproquement, la confiance dans le choix du b?uf avait tendance à diminuer la VdP, tandis que l'influence de l'âge, de la scolarité et du revenu était incertaine. Nous avons conclu que l'industrie devrait examiner les possibilités de vendre des produits à plus grande valeur, tant au pays qu'à l'étranger, si le coût n'excède pas les bonifications que les consommateurs sont prêts à payer.     

Afforestation and forestry land allocation in northern Vietnam: Analysing the gap between policy intentions and outcomes

Many tropical countries have recently implemented similar forest policies including large-scale afforestation programmes and the devolution of land-use rights. Their success in enhancing livelihoods and contributing to improved environmental services has been widely questioned. This paper discusses the impacts of state afforestation efforts and forestry land allocation on farmers’ land-use decisions in northern Vietnam. It links policy outcomes with factors located beyond the local level by analysing the decision-making process at the policy implementation stage. Our study suggests that the current national afforestation campaign has not successfully involved households in the forestry sector and that forestry land allocation to households has often disrupted existing land-use systems with little impact on afforestation. These discrepancies between policy intentions and outcomes are partly linked to the relative freedom provinces have to interpret and adapt policies during the implementation stage. In this respect, the political and economic context has played a significant role in providing particular financial and bureaucratic incentives to the former State Forest Enterprises and to civil servants. However, we argue that these actors have been allowed or even encouraged to take advantage of these incentives by national policy-makers thanks to: (1) the lack of clarity or the poor adequacy of the policies designed at the central level, and (2) the blurred character of prevailing national discourses promoting afforestation and community-based forest management. We recommend that national policy-makers allow flexibility in policy implementation but develop mechanisms of accountability and control between the provincial and the central authorities.     

Information processing strategies and framing effects in developing country choice experiments: results from rice farmers in India

This study explores the effect of various information processing strategies specifically related to attribute nonattendance in stated choice experiments. Our approach includes two forms of stated choice task nonattendance, each derived from separately framed questions asked immediately following the completion of each choice task. We also evaluate a measure of inferred serial nonattendance based on the posterior distributions of random coefficient estimates. We find that choice task nonattendance question framing statistically impacts marginal utility coefficients and, to a lesser degree, willingness‐to‐pay estimates. While direct questions addressing attribute attendance or nonattendance affect these estimates, inferred indicators of serial nonattendance suggest that many attributes are not likely ignored as often as respondents may indicate. Further research is needed to assess inferred versus stated approaches to modeling respondent information processing strategies.