Entrepreneurship and Economic Liberalization in the OECD Countries

Entrepreneurship displays remarkable differences across countries because of diverse factors. In this sense, it is frequently argued that economic liberalization encourages entrepreneurship. In this paper we address the extent to which economic freedom, understood as market economy oriented institutions and policies, matters for entrepreneurial activity through a panel data analysis for 78 countries during the period 2001-2012. We examine the relationship between the Fraser Institute’s economic freedom index and its five areas, and three entrepreneurial activity indicators from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, namely total entrepreneurial activity, necessity entrepreneurship and opportunity entrepreneurship. Economic freedom seems to increase opportunity entrepreneurship and decrease necessity entrepreneurship. Focusing on the OECD countries, we highlight that economic freedom is positively associated with entrepreneurship. In terms of entrepreneurship motivation, we find that a more flexible regulation of credit, labor and business, as well as entrepreneurial attitudes, may contribute to enhance opportunity entrepreneurship

Does therapeutic writing help people with long-term conditions? Systematic review, realist synthesis and economic considerations

Background Writing therapy to improve physical or mental health can take many forms. The most researched model of therapeutic writing (TW) is unfacilitated, individual expressive writing (written emotional disclosure). Facilitated writing activities are less widely researched. Data sources Databases including: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, AMED, and CINHAL were searched from inception to March 2013. Review methods Four TW practitioners provided expert advice. Study procedures were conducted by one reviewer and checked by a second. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomised comparative studies were included. Quality was appraised using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Unfacilitated and facilitated TW studies were analysed separately under ICD-10 chapter headings. Meta-analyses were performed where possible using Revman 5.2. Costs were estimated from an NHS perspective and three cost-consequence case studies were prepared. Realist synthesis followed RAMESES guidelines. Objectives To review the clinical and cost-effectiveness of TW for people with long-term health conditions (LTCs) compared to no writing, or other controls, reporting any relevant clinical outcomes. To conduct a realist synthesis to understand how TW might work, and for whom. Results From 14,658 unique citations, 284 full text papers were reviewed and 64 studies (58 RCTs) were included in the final effectiveness reviews. Five studies examined facilitated TW, these were extremely heterogeneous with unclear or high risk of bias, but suggested that facilitated TW interventions may be beneficial in individual LTCs. Unfacilitated expressive writing was examined in 59 studies of variable, or unreported, quality. Overall there was very little or no evidence of any benefit reported in the following conditions (number of studies): HIV (six); breast cancer (eight); gynaecological and genitourinary cancers (five); mental health (five); asthma (four); psoriasis (three); chronic pain (four). In inflammatory arthropathies (six) there was a reduction in disease severity (n= 191, standardised mean difference (SMD) - 0.61 [95% confidence intervals (95% CI) -0.96, -0.26]) in the short term on meta-analysis of four studies. For all other LTCs there was either no, or sparse, data with no, or inconsistent, evidence of benefit. Meta-analyses conducted across all the LTCs provided no evidence that unfacilitated EW had any effect on depression at short term (n= 1,563, SMD -0.06, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.17, substantial heterogeneity), or long term (n= 778, SMD-0.04 95% CI -0.18 to 0.10, little heterogeneity) follow up, or on anxiety, physiological or biomarker-based outcomes. One study reported costs, none reported cost-effectiveness, twelve reported resource use; meta-analysis suggested reduced medication use but no impact on health centre visits. Estimated costs of intervention were low, but there was insufficient evidence to judge cost-effectiveness. Realist review findings suggested that facilitated TW is a complex intervention and group interaction contributes to the perception of benefit. It was unclear from the available data who might benefit most from facilitated TW. Limitations Difficulties with developing realist review programme theory meant that mechanisms operating during TW remain obscure. Conclusions Overall there is little evidence to support the effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of unfacilitated expressive writing interventions in people with LTCs. Further research focussed on facilitated TW in people with LTCs could be informative.

Timing and economic value of mergers and acquisitions

Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Business Administration

Tracheostomy in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: When and Where?

Background: Tracheostomy was first observed in Egyptian drawings in 3600 BC and performed frequently during the 1800’s diphtheria epidemic. Objectives: The aim of this study was to elucidate the indications, complications, mortality rate, and the effect of pediatric tracheostomy on length of PICU or hospital stay. Materials and Methods: Demographic characteristics, diagnosis at admission, duration of ventilation of 152 patients were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The most common tracheostomy indication was prolonged intubation. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation before tracheostomy was 23.8 days. Forty five percent of the tracheostomy procedures were performed at bedside. Neither the place nor the age had any effect on the development of complications (P = 0.701, P = 0.622). The procedure enabled 62% of the patients to be discharged from hospital. Conclusions: Tracheostomy facilitates discharge and weaning of mechanical ventilation. Although the timing of tracheostomy has to be determined for each individual patient, three weeks of ventilation seems to be a suitable period for tracheostomy. Tracheostomy can be performed at bedside safely but patient selection should be made carefully.

Performance and economic indicators of a large scale fish farming in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Performance and economic indicators of a large scale fish farm that produces round fish, located in Mato Grosso State, Brazil, were evaluated. The 130.8 ha-water surface area was distributed in 30 ponds. Average total production costs and the following economic indicators were calculated: gross income (GI), gross margin (GM), gross margin index (GMI), profitability index (PI) and profit (P) for the farm as a whole and for ten ponds individually. Production performance indicators were also obtained, such as: production cycle (PC), apparent feed conversion (FC), average biomass storage (ABS), survival index (SI) and final average weight (FAW). The average costs to produce an average 2.971 kg.ha-1 per year were: R$ 2.43, R$ 0.72 and R$ 3.15 as average variable, fixed and total costs, respectively. Gross margin and profit per year per hectare of water surface were R$ 2,316.91 and R$ 180.98, respectively. The individual evaluation of the ponds showed that the best pond performance was obtained for PI 38%, FC 1.7, ABS 0.980 kg.m-2, TS 56%, FAW 1.873 kg with PC of 12.3 months. The worst PI was obtained for the pond that displayed losses of 138%, FC 2.6, ABS 0.110 kg.m-2, SI 16% and FAW 1.811 kg. However, large scale production of round-fish in farms is economically feasible. The studied farm displays favorable conditions to improve performance and economic indicators, but it is necessary to reproduce the breeding techniques and performance indicators achieved in few ponds to the entire farm.

MIGRATION PATTERNS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES: ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC EXPLANATIONS

Young adult migration is a key factor in community development. The goal of this paper is to study what kinds of places attract young adults and what kinds are losing them. Linear regression is conducted to analyze what place-specific factors explain migration patterns among young adults. These factors include economic, social, and environmental variables. This study finds that social and environmental factors are just as important as economic ones. Specifically, employment in the arts increases young adult net migration. Environmental variables, for example, natural amenities and protected federal lands are particularly important in rural settings in attracting young adults. These findings suggest that policy makers interested in attracting and retaining young adults should pay closer attention to social and environmental factors and consider creating more opportunities for arts employment in general. For rural areas, improving the attractiveness of natural amenities and better protection of federal lands is also recommended.

Application of the UK Foresight Obesity Model in Ireland: The Health and Economic Consequences of Projected Obesity Trends in Ireland

Given the scale of the current obesity epidemic and associated health consequences there has been increasing concern about the economic burden placed on society in terms of direct healthcare costs and indirect societal costs. In the Republic of Ireland these costs were estimated at €1.13 billion for 2009. The total direct healthcare costs for six major obesity related conditions (coronary heart disease & stroke, cancer, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and knee osteoarthritis) in the same year were estimated at €2.55 billion. The aim of this research is to project disease burden and direct healthcare costs for these conditions in Ireland to 2030 using the established model developed by the Health Forum (UK) for the Foresight: Tackling Obesities project.

Buckwheat as a Cover Crop in Florida: Mycorrhizal Status, Soil Analysis, and Economic Assessment

This thesis analyses buckwheat as a cover crop in Florida. The study was designed to demonstrate: soil enrichment with nutrients, mycorrhizal arbuscular fungi interactions, growth in different soil types, temperature limitations in Florida, and economic benefits for farmers. Buckwheat was planted at the FIU organic garden (Miami, FL) in early November and harvested in middle December. After incorporation of buckwheat residues, soil analyses indicated the ability of buckwheat to enrich soil with major nutrients, in particular, phosphorus. Symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi increased inorganic phosphorus uptake and plant growth. Regression analysis on aboveground buckwheat biomass weight and soil characteristics showed that high soil pH was the major limiting factor that affected buckwheat growth. Spatial analysis illustrated that buckwheat could be planted in South Florida throughout the year but might not be planted in North and Central Florida in winter. An economic assessment proved buckwheat to be a profitable cover crop.

A study of employee affective organisational commitment and retention in Pakistan:the roles of psychological contract breach and norms of reciprocity

Social exchange theory and notions of reciprocity have long been assumed to explain the relationship between psychological contract breach and important employee outcomes. To date, however, there has been no explicit testing of these assumptions. This research, therefore, explores the mediating role of negative, generalized, and balanced reciprocity, in the relationships between psychological contract breach and employees’ affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions. A survey of 247 Pakistani employees of a large public university was analyzed using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping techniques, and provided excellent support for our model. As predicted, psychological contract breach was positively related to negative reciprocity norms and negatively related to generalized and balanced reciprocity norms. Negative and generalized (but not balanced) reciprocity were negatively and positively (respectively) related to employees’ affective organizational commitment and fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and affective organizational commitment. Moreover, affective organizational commitment fully mediated the relationship between generalized and negative reciprocity and employees’ turnover intentions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Relationship between sport commitment and sport consumer behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sport commitment and three types of sport consumer behaviors: participation frequency, sporting goods and media consumption. A survey was conducted among sport participants of both individual and team sports, fitness and outdoor activities (n= 900). The survey included questions related to demographic information, measures of sport commitment and sport consumption behavior. The results analyzed trough structural equation modeling showed that the sport commitment influences positively the participation frequency, sporting goods consumption and media consumption. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research on sport consumers are provided.

Regional diversity and economic performance

This thesis consists of an introductory chapter and four individual papers. In each paper the relationship between some form of spatial diversity and economic performance is analyzed. Diversity is treated as a potential source of externality effects, mainly in the form of knowledge spillovers. The first paper studies the impact of a broad range of spatial externalities on the productivity of manufacturing plants. While finding positive effects of specialization and competition, there is no support for positive spillovers of either related or unrelated industry diversity. The second paper argues that relatedness should be framed at the level of individuals and consequently should be measured in terms of, for example, education and occupation rather than industry belonging. The results show that educational- and occupational related diversity matter for regional productivity growth, while related industry diversity is positively related to employment growth. The third paper analyzes the importance of neighborhood related diversity, in terms of both industries and education, and internal human capital for firms’ propensity to innovate. The findings support that education and skills are strongly related to firm innovation. Additionally, firms in metropolitan regions are more innovative in neighborhoods with more related diversity in industries, while firms in rural regions seem to benefit more from related diversity in education. In the fourth paper, the location factor of interest is segregation, which may be regarded as inverse diversity. The results show that neighborhood segregation has a negative effect on individual employment. However, it is not the spatial separation of individuals with different backgrounds that causes lower employment but rather the distress of segregated neighborhoods.

Relationship between sport commitment and sport consumer behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sport commitment and three types of sport consumer behaviors: participation frequency, sporting goods and media consumption. A survey was conducted among sport participants of both individual and team sports, fitness and outdoor activities (n= 900). The survey included questions related to demographic information, measures of sport commitment and sport consumption behavior. The results analyzed trough structural equation modeling showed that the sport commitment influences positively the participation frequency, sporting goods consumption and media consumption. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research on sport consumers are provided.

Conservation Agriculture and its contribution to the achievement of agri-environmental and economic challenges in Europe

Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystem approach to farming capable of providing solutions for numerous of the agri-environmental concerns in Europe. Certainly, most of the challenges addressed in the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) could be tackled through Conservation Agriculture (CA). Not only the agri-environmental ones, but also those concerning farmer and rural communities’ prosperity. The optimisation of inputs and similar yields than conventional tillage, make Conservation Agriculture a profitable system compared to the tillage based agriculture. Whereas this sustainable agricultural system was conceived for protecting agrarian soils from its degradation, the numerous collateral benefits that emanate from soil conservation, i.e., climate change mitigation and adaptation, have raised Conservation Agriculture as one of the global emerging agrosciences, being adopted by an increasing number of farmers worldwide, including Europe.

Black carbon trends in southwestern Iberia in the context of the financial and economic crisis. The role of bioenergy.

Since black carbon concentrations are useful to reveal changes in anthropogenic activities, measurements taken from 2007 to 2015 in a Portuguese city are used to assess to which extent the ambient air was impacted by the economic crisis. The average black carbon concentrations are representative of an urban area of small size (1.3 ± 1.3 μg m−3). The highest concentrations are observed in the heating season, being biomass combustion one of the causes for the high values. The daily cycle of black carbon concentrations presents both morning and evening peaks, mainly due to road traffic and, in the heating season, to domestic heating as well. The yearly averaged black carbon mass concentrations decreased 33 % from 2007 to 2015, possibly due to a combination of the economic recession and environmental legislation. The reduction in road traffic led to a decrease in the daily morning peak from 2007 to 2015. This reduction was not followed by a decrease in the evening peak, explained by an increase in biomass burning. Biomass is the cheapest heating fuel in Portugal, and its consumption increased in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The use of bioenergy is an alternative to fossil fuels and presents many advantages. However, energy policies should discourage inefficient biomass burning and promote better ways of exploiting the available energy resources and emission air pollution mitigation strategies.