The causal relationship between information and communication technology and foreign direct investment

This paper investigates the simultaneous causal relationship between investments in information and communication technology (ICT) and flows of foreign direct investment (FDI), with reference to its implications on economic growth. For the empirical analysis we use data from 23 major countries with heterogeneous economic development for the period 1976-99. Our causality test results suggest that there is a causal relationship from ICT to FDI in developed countries, which means that a higher level of ICT investment leads to an increase inflow of FDI. ICT may contribute to economic growth indirectly by attracting more FDI. Contrarily, we could not find significant causality from ICT to FDI in developing countries. Instead, we have partial evidence of opposite causality relationship: the inflow of FDI causes further increases in ICT investment and production capacity. © United Nations University 2006.

Mapping causal knowledge: how people consider their environment during meetings

Causal mapping can help managers to think through the causal influence between issues, enabling them to base a decision on a more structured consideration. Even in regular meetings, learning and the integration of knowledge from diverse stakeholders can benefit from causal mapping. Four causal mapping meetings with management teams are analysed to assess how managers thought causally about their environment when strategy-making. We found that although managers can use other views to expand their environmental knowledge, some prefer to use familiar information rather than less familiar information. Despite this preference, many managers thought systemically about a raft of related issues. We discuss our findings in the context of regular meetings and offer improvements to the facilitation of group causal mapping.

Creativity and learning through electronic group causal mapping

This paper proposes, and begins to evaluate, a format of brainstorming-type activity which aims to release the creativity of participants and encourage them to learn about a wider range of issues in more detail. The format does this through providing a two-stage brainstorming session. After the first brainstorm, participants have an opportunity to both piggy-back off other peoples ideas (i.e. create new ideas by synthesising other peoples' ideas into their own perspectives), and share causal links to build a causal map with the brainstormed ideas. Five causal mapping sessions with organisations have been analysed. Findings suggest that ideas shared when piggy-backing are often highly creative and unique for the participant who shared them. Also piggy-backing and causal linking seem to provide effective opportunities for individual learning as participants have time to reflect upon other peoples' perspectives and share their own views on those.

FDI, trade and growth, a causal link?

. FDI, Trade and Growth, a Causal Link? (RP0710) Prof Nigel DRIFFIELD Dr Rakesh BISSOONDEEAL Mayang Pramadhani Non-technical Summary This paper explores the relationship between imports, exports, foreign direct investment and growth. For some time there has been a good deal of debate whether trade and foreign direct investment) FDI are substitutes and complements, with the existing literature generating some rather contradictory findings. We show, for Indonesia that inward FDI and both imports and exports are complementary, and further that FDI causes an increase in trade. This is of particular interest for a country such as Indonesia, that has attracted a high proportion of export-orientated inward investment. This, theoretically at least is associated with an increase in imports, in the form of capital goods and components, but a reduction in imports. We show that the previous literature that fails to find such a relationship does so because both trade and FDI are associated with growth, and previous work ignores these growth effects when seeking to isolate the relationship between trade and FDI.

Solid-phase combinatorial chemistry and scintillation proximity assays

The Scintillation Proximity Assay (SPA) is a method that is frequently used to detect and quantify the strength of intermolecular interactions between a biological receptor and ligand molecule in aqueous media. This thesis describes the synthesis of scintillant-tagged-compounds for application in a novel cell-based SPA. A series of 4-functianlised-2,5-diphenyloxazole molecules were synthesised. These 4-functionalised-2,5-diphenyloxazoles were evaluated by Sense Proteomic Ltd. Accordingly, the molecules were evaluated for the ability to scintillate in the presence of ionising radiation. In addition, the molecules were incorporated into liposomal preparations which were subsequently evaluated for the ability to scintillate in the presence of ionising radiation. The optimal liposomal preparation was introduced into the membrane of HeLa cells that were used successfully in a cell-based SPA to detect and quantify the uptake of [14C]methionine. This thesis also describes the synthesis and subsequent polymerisation of novel poly(oxyethylene glycol)-based monomers to form a series of new polymer supports. These Poly(oxyethylene glycol)-polymer (POP) supports were evaluated for the ability to swell and mass-uptake in a variety of solvents, demonstrating that POP-supports exhibit enhanced solvent compatibilities over several commercial resins. The utility of POP-supports in solid-phase synthesis was also demonstrated successfully. The incorporation of (4’-vinyl)-4-benzyl-2,5-diphenyloxazole in varying mole percentage into the monomer composition resulted in the production of chemically functionalised scintillant-containing poly(oxyethylene glycol) polymer (POP-Sc) supports. These materials are compatible with both aqueous and organic solvents and scintillate efficiently in the presence of ionising radiation. The utility of POP-Sc supports in solid-phase synthesis and subsequent in-situ SPA to detect and quantify, in real-time, the kinetic progress of a solid-phase reaction was exemplified successfully.In addition, POP-Sc supports were used successfully both in solid-phase combinatorial synthesis of a peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-library and subsequent screening of this library for the ability to hybridise with DNA, which was labelled with a suitable radio-isotape. This data was used to identify the dependence of the number and position of complimentary codon pairs upon the extent of hybridisation. Finally, a further SPA was used to demonstrate the excellent compatibility of POP-Sc supports for use in the detection and quantification of enzyme assays conducted within the matrix of the POP-Sc support.

Scintillation proximity assays for the real-time detection and quantification of the progress of reactions upon solid supports

A scintillation proximity assay (SPA) has been used successfully to detect and quantify, in real-time, the kinetic progress of hydrolysis of [ H]acetate esters from scintillant-containing styrenic and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based polymer supports in both organic and aqueous media.

Negotiating proximity:expert testimony and collective memory in the trials of environmental activists in France and the United Kingdom

This article analyzes the role of expert witness testimony in the trials of social movement actors, discussing the trial of the "Kingsnorth Six" in Britain and the trials of activists currently mobilising against airport construction at Notre Dame des Landes in western France. Though the study of expert testimony has so far overwhelmingly concentrated on fact-finding and admissibility, the cases here reveal the importance of expert testimony not simply in terms of legal argument, but in "moral" or political terms, as it reflects and constitutes movement cognitive praxis. In the so-called climate change defence presented by the Kingsnorth Six, I argue that expert testimony attained a "negotiation of proximity," connecting different types of contributory expertise to link the scales and registers of climate science with those of everyday understanding and meaning. Expert testimony in the trials of activists in France, however, whilst ostensibly able to develop similar bridging narratives, has instead been used to construct resistance to the airport siting as already proximate, material, and embedded. To explain this, I argue that attention to the symbolic, as well as instrumental, functions of expert testimony reveals the crucial role that collective memory plays in the construction of both knowledge and grievance in these cases. Collective memory is both a constraint on and catalyst for mobilisation, defining the boundaries of the sayable. Testimony in trials both reflects and reproduces these elements and is a vital explanatory tool for understanding the narrativisation and communication of movement identities and objectives. © 2013 The Author. Law & Policy © 2013 The University of Denver/Colorado Seminary.

Dynamic causal modeling of load-dependent modulation of effective connectivity within the verbal working memory network

Neuroimaging studies have consistently shown that working memory (WM) tasks engage a distributed neural network that primarily includes the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the parietal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex. The current challenge is to provide a mechanistic account of the changes observed in regional activity. To achieve this, we characterized neuroplastic responses in effective connectivity between these regions at increasing WM loads using dynamic causal modeling of functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from healthy individuals during a verbal n-back task. Our data demonstrate that increasing memory load was associated with (a) right-hemisphere dominance, (b) increasing forward (i.e., posterior to anterior) effective connectivity within the WM network, and (c) reduction in individual variability in WM network architecture resulting in the right-hemisphere forward model reaching an exceedance probability of 99% in the most demanding condition. Our results provide direct empirical support that task difficulty, in our case WM load, is a significant moderator of short-term plasticity, complementing existing theories of task-related reduction in variability in neural networks. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Causal relationship between HRM policies and organisational performance:evidence from the Greek manufacturing sector

Blending insights from the contingency theory, the resource-based view, and the AMO theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the HRM-performance causal relationship in the Greek context. The empirical research is based on a sample of 178 organisations operating in the Greek manufacturing sector. Using structural equation modelling the results of the study revealed that the ability to perform (resourcing and development), motivation to perform (compensation and incentives), and opportunity to perform (involvement and job design) HRM policy domains are moderated by business strategies (cost, quality, innovation), and additionally, the motivation to perform is further moderated by managerial style and organisational culture. Further, the results indicate that the impact of HRM policies on organisational performance is fully mediated by employee skills, attitudes, and behaviour. The paper concludes that although the motivation to perform HRM policy domain causes organisational performance, through employee attitudes, it may be supported that organisational performance positively moderates the effectiveness of this HRM policy domain, raising thus the question of reverse causality.

Causal attributions in King-Kopetzky syndrome

At least 10% of people who present for help with hearing difficulties will be found to have normal hearing thresholds. These cases are clinically categorized as King-Kopetzky syndrome (KKS), obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD), or auditory processing disorder (APD). While recent research has focussed on the possible mechanistic basis for these difficulties, the perceptions of the hearing difficulties that lead people to seek help have not hitherto been identified. This study presents findings from an observational survey of causal attributions of hearing difficulties from 100 people with KKS. The findings suggest that participants regard immunity and risk related causes of hearing difficulties as pre-dominant. Psychological factors were not considered to be causal for hearing difficulties. These factors were not affected by diagnostic classification. These findings inform audiologists about their patient beliefs for the first time. The authors suggest that clinicians take care to ensure that their counselling is responsive to these beliefs. © 2010 British Society of Audiology, International Society of Audiology, and Nordic Audiological Society.

Person-organization fit and incentives:a causal test

We investigate the effects of organizational culture and personal values on performance under individual and team contest incentives. We develop a model of regard for others and in-group favoritism that predicts interaction effects between organizational values and personal values in contest games. These predictions are tested in a computerized lab experiment with exogenous control of both organizational values and incentives. In line with our theoretical model we find that prosocial (proself) orientated subjects exert more (less) effort in team contests in the primed prosocial organizational values condition, relative to the neutrally primed baseline condition. Further, when the prosocial organizational values are combined with individual contest incentives, prosocial subjects no longer outperform their proself counterparts. These findings provide a first, affirmative, causal test of person-organization fit theory. They also suggest the importance of a 'triple-fit' between personal preferences, organizational values and incentive mechanisms for prosocially orientated individuals.