The pollution release and transfer register system in the U.S. and Japan : an analysis of productivity

This study analyzes Total Factor Productivity (TFP), which includes all categories of productivity. Our measure investigates productivity in the context of the provision and dissemination of environmental information policies. We investigated data on the emission of toxic chemical substances for the U.S. and Japanese manufacturing firms, including 386 firms for the period 1999-2007 and 466 firms for the period 2001-2008. The results show that productivity improved in all nine industrial sectors and that pollution levels were high in the U.S. and Japan from 2001 to 2007. In particular, the electronics industry improved rapidly after 2002 in both countries, which may be attributed to the enforcement of RoHS and the REACH directive in Europe. As a result of these stringent policies on toxic chemical emissions, the U.S. and Japanese firms, many of which export to the European market, have strong incentives to reduce their toxic chemical emissions.

Productivity measures and effects from subsidies and trade : an empirical analysis for Japan's forestry

Several techniques have been proposed in the literature to measure productivity. While allowing for inefficiency of the production unit, we provide a methodological comparison of alternative approaches to measure total factor productivity. This article evaluates the effects of unintended policy outcomes such as government subsidies and foreign trade. Empirically, we analyse the forest productivity of timber in Japan by using panel data on 46 regions. The results suggest substantial variation in productivity between these two techniques although average trends are similar. We find that subsidies impede competition since the government is ready to rescue a loss-making firm with subsidies rather than allow it to close. In contrast, trade is shown to have positive effects on productivity.

Regulatory reforms and productivity : an empirical analysis of the Japanese electricity industry

The Japanese electricity industry has experienced regulatory reforms since the mid-1990s. This article measures productivity in Japan's steam power-generation sector and examines the effect of reforms on the productivity of this industry over the period 1978-2003. We estimate the Luenberger productivity indicator, which is a generalization of the commonly used Malmquist productivity index, using a data envelopment analysis approach. Factors associated with productivity change are investigated through dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation of panel data. Our empirical analysis shows that the regulatory reforms have contributed to productivity growth in the steam power-generation sector in Japan.

Nigeria's power sector: Analysis of productivity

Nigerian electricity market is characterized by inadequate electricity generation framework, compounded by lack of timely routine maintenances. This results in significant deterioration in plant electricity output. This study analyzes the productivity changes in the Nigerian power sector. Productivity increased on average in the power sector by the adoption of new technologies from best-practice power plants. The assumption of Hicks neutral technological change is found not to be suitable for the Nigerian power sector. This study finds that the plants are not using their capacity meaningfully, instead, there is a tendency to use labor.

EUF-analysis of tea soils of Southern India and tea productivity

The relationship between EUF extractable nutrients and conventional soil test extractable nutrients in the acid soils of Southern India on one hand and that between EUF values and tea productivity on the other are described. Close correlation exists between EUF-NO3–N at 20°C and CuSO4–Ag2SO4-extractable NO3–N (r=0.98***), EUF-Norg and Morgan's reagent extractable NH4–N (r=0.97***), total EUF-N and CuSO4–Ag2SO4-extractable NO3–N plus Morgan's reagent NH4–N (r=0.96***), EUF-P at 20°C and modified Bray II-P (r=0.93***) and EUF-P at 20°C plus that at 80°C and modified Bray II-P (r=0.91***). The EUF-K at 20°C shows close correlation with NH4OAc–K (r=0.80***), Ag-thiourea-K (r=0.86***) and Morgan's reagent-K (r=0.84***) whereas the EUF-K at 80°C shows close correlation with the difference in K contents of NH4OAc–K and Ag-thiourea-K (r=0.92***) or of NH4OAc–K and Morgan's reagent-K (r=0.93***) and fixed NH4–N (r=0.89***). EUF-Ca, EUF-Mg and EUF-Mn do not show any relationship with conventional soil test values. Tea productivity is strongly associated with EUF-N and EUF-P extracted at 20°C.

Boosting the productivity and profitability of northern Australian beef enterprises: Exploring innovation options using simulation modelling and systems analysis

The financial health of beef cattle enterprises in northern Australia has declined markedly over the last decade due to an escalation in production and marketing costs and a real decline in beef prices. Historically, gains in animal productivity have offset the effect of declining terms of trade on farm incomes. This raises the question of whether future productivity improvements can remain a key path for lifting enterprise profitability sufficient to ensure that the industry remains economically viable over the longer term. The key objective of this study was to assess the production and financial implications for north Australian beef enterprises of a range of technology interventions (development scenarios), including genetic gain in cattle, nutrient supplementation, and alteration of the feed base through introduced pastures and forage crops, across a variety of natural environments. To achieve this objective a beef systems model was developed that is capable of simulating livestock production at the enterprise level, including reproduction, growth and mortality, based on energy and protein supply from natural C4 pastures that are subject to high inter-annual climate variability. Comparisons between simulation outputs and enterprise performance data in three case study regions suggested that the simulation model (the Northern Australia Beef Systems Analyser) can adequately represent the performance beef cattle enterprises in northern Australia. Testing of a range of development scenarios suggested that the application of individual technologies can substantially lift productivity and profitability, especially where the entire feedbase was altered through legume augmentation. The simultaneous implementation of multiple technologies that provide benefits to different aspects of animal productivity resulted in the greatest increases in cattle productivity and enterprise profitability, with projected weaning rates increasing by 25%, liveweight gain by 40% and net profit by 150% above current baseline levels, although gains of this magnitude might not necessarily be realised in practice. While there were slight increases in total methane output from these development scenarios, the methane emissions per kg of beef produced were reduced by 20% in scenarios with higher productivity gain. Combinations of technologies or innovative practices applied in a systematic and integrated fashion thus offer scope for providing the productivity and profitability gains necessary to maintain viable beef enterprises in northern Australia into the future.

Productivity gains from migration: An analysis of Cape Verdean return migrants

Are return migrants more productive than non-migrants? If so, is it a causal effect or simply self-selection? Existing literature has not reached a consensus on the role of return migration for origin countries. To answer these research questions, an empirical analysis was performed based on household data collected in Cape Verde. One of the most common identification problems in the migration literature is the presence of migrant self-selection. In order to disentangle potential selection bias, we use instrumental variable estimation using variation provided by unemployment rates in migrant destination countries, which is compared with OLS and Nearest Neighbor Matching (NNM) methods. The results using the instrumental variable approach provide evidence of labour income gains due to return migration, while OLS underestimates the coefficient of interest. This bias points towards negative self-selection of return migrants on unobserved characteristics, although the different estimates cannot be distinguished statistically. Interestingly, migration duration and occupational changes after migration do not seem to influence post-migration income. There is weak evidence that return migrants from the United States have higher income gains caused by migration than the ones who returned from Portugal.

Journal Productivity in Fishery Science - An Informetric Analysis

This thesis Entitled Journal productivity in fishery science an informetric analysis.The analyses and formulating results of the study, the format of the thesis was determined. The thesis is divided into different chapters mentioned below. Chapter 1 gives an overview on the topic of research. Introduction gives the relevance of topic, define the problem, objectives of the study, hypothesis, methods of data collection, analysis and layout of the thesis. Chapter 2 provides a detailed account of the subject Fishery science and its development. A comprehensive outline is given along with definition, scope, classification, development and sources of information.Method of study used in this research and its literature review form the content of this chapter. Chapter 4 Details of the method adopted for collecting samples for the study, data collection and organization of the data are given. The methods are based on availability of data, period and objectives of the research undertaken.The description, analyses and the results of the study are covered in this chapter.

An analysis of the impact of R&D on productivity using Bayesian model averaging with a reversible jump algorithm.

A Bayesian Model Averaging approach to the estimation of lag structures is introduced, and applied to assess the impact of R&D on agricultural productivity in the US from 1889 to 1990. Lag and structural break coefficients are estimated using a reversible jump algorithm that traverses the model space. In addition to producing estimates and standard deviations for the coe¢ cients, the probability that a given lag (or break) enters the model is estimated. The approach is extended to select models populated with Gamma distributed lags of di¤erent frequencies. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that R&D positively drives productivity. Gamma lags are found to retain their usefulness in imposing a plausible structure on lag coe¢ cients, and their role is enhanced through the use of model averaging.

What do unions do to productivity? A meta-analysis

The impact of unions on productivity is explored using meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis. It is shown that most of the variation in published results is due to specification differences between studies. After controlling for differences between studies, a negative association between unions and productivity is established for the United Kingdom, whereas a positive association is established for the United States in general and for U.S. manufacturing.

The impact of U.S. unions on productivity : a bootstrap meta-analysis

Resampling methods are used to calculate confidence limits in a metaanalysis of the association between unions and productivity for the population of U.S. studies. The available evidence points to a positive and statistically significant association between unions and productivity in the U.S. manufacturing and education sectors, of around 10% and 7%, respectively

A comparative analysis of opinions of Americans, Australians and Malaysians on the use of biometric devices in workplaces for security and monitoring of worker productivity

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, the use of biometric devices such as fingerprint scans, retina and iris scans and facial recognition in everyday situations for national security and border control, have become commonplace. This has resulted in the biometric industry moving from being a niche technology to one that is ubiquitous. As a result. more and more employers are using biometrics to secure staff access to their facilities as well as for tracking staff work hours, maintaining 'discipline' and carry out surveillance against thefts. detecting work hour abuses and fraud. However, the data thus collected and the technologies themselves are feared of having the potential for and actually being misused - both in terms of the violating staff privacy and discrimination and oppression of targeted workers. This paper examines the issue of using biometric devices in organisational settings their advantages, disadvantages and actual and potential abuses from the point of view of critical theory. From the perspectives of Panoptic surveillance and hegemonic organisational control, the paper examines the issues related to privacy and identification, biometrics and privacy, biometrics and the 'body', and surveillance and modernity. The paper also examines the findings ofa survey carried out in Australia. Malaysia and the USA on respondents' opinions on the use of biometric devices in everyday life including at workplaces. The paper concludes that along with their applications in border control and national security, the use of biometric devices should be covered by relevant laws and regulations. guidelines and codes of practice. in order to balance the rights to privacy and civil liberties of workers with employers' need for improved productivity, reduced costs, safeguards related to occupational health and safety, equal opportunity, and workplace harassment of staff and other matters, that employers are legally responsible for.

Productivity and efficiency analysis of Australia banking sector under deregulation

This paper conducts productivity and efficiency analysis of banks operating in Australia since the deregulation of the Australian financial system in early 1980s. Applying data envelopment analysis (DEA), with a moving window, the Malmquist indices are determined in order to investigate the levels of and the changes in the efficiency of Australian banks over the period from 1983 to 200 I. The DEA window analysis is adopted in order to relieve the small sample problem that in previous studies has proved problematic in the study of the Australian banking sector. The pal1icular window used in this case has been carefully designed to ensure the robustness of the efficiencies scores to changes in the window width. A second-stage regression is conducted by using the unconditional bootstrap approach suggested by Xue and Harker (1999) to overcome the dependency and heteroskedasticity of DE A efficiency scores. The empirical results demonstrate the effect of deregulation on the performance of individual banks, banks of different organizational types and the entire Australian banking sector.