Search results

This chapter shows how different recycling locations influence closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) cost and carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e), as well as reveal competitive recycling and manufacturing locations, including relevant distance- and location-related factors, for achieving very low cost and CO₂e CLSCs supporting circular economy. Exploratory data analysis is used to analyze results from simulations based on empirical data and market rates relating to textile and clothing CLSCs. The results show that most very low-cost and CO₂e CLSCs consist of fabric and garment manufacturing located at the same or nearby locations, and whose labor costs and electricity CO₂e are low, whether fiber recycling facilities are located in proximity to used garment sorting facilities or not. Scenario and sensitivity analyses of important cost and CO₂e factors for recycling location competitiveness reveal that increasing used garment prices makes locations with high import duties lose competitiveness, and that varying water freight CO₂e changes comparative location competitiveness.

The latest financial crisis has stressed the need of understanding the world financial system as a network of interconnected institutions, where financial linkages play a fundamental role in the spread of systemic risks. In this paper we propose to enrich the topological perspective of network models with a more structured statistical framework, that of Bayesian Gaussian graphical models. From a statistical viewpoint, we propose a new class of hierarchical Bayesian graphical models that can split correlations between institutions into country specific and idiosyncratic ones, in a way that parallels the decomposition of returns in the well-known Capital Asset Pricing Model. From a financial economics viewpoint, we suggest a way to model systemic risk that can explicitly take into account frictions between different financial markets, particularly suited to study the ongoing banking union process in Europe. From a computational viewpoint, we develop a novel Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm based on Bayes factor thresholding.

Innovation is critical to organizational survival, competitive advantage, and economic development. Yet the process by which innovative strategic behavior occurs is not well understood. This paper takes advantage of rapidly changing corporate governance structures and environmental conditions during China's economic transition to explore the role of corporate ownership in shaping firm innovation. We argue that managers draw on internal strengths within external constraints to develop strategies and that the nature of corporate ownership determines the degree to which internal or external factors are salient. We capitalize on differences between Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and collective enterprises and other non-state firms (CNFs) in the adoption of firm strategies during transition. Analyzing data from 1994 to 1999 on 800 Chinese firms, we study the effect of ownership type on the adoption of four key organizational innovations and identify major strategic groups that developed during reform. The findings provide important insight into the role of corporate governance in influencing strategy formation and adaptation, outcomes that are increasingly important in all economies.

To identify research work on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the context of young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT in developing countries.

A literature search covering the period from early 1990s to date in fields of information science, human–computer interaction, ICT, and educational technologies was performed using relevant databases and Google Scholar. Related literature in the context of specific theoretical frameworks was retrieved and analyzed.

Abundant research exists on ICT in developing countries. However, little empirical work was found on young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT. The gendered digital divide in relation to ICT showed differing perspectives on this issue. Generally, affective information behavior is much less observed in empirical research than the cognitive behavior, regardless of age, gender, or culture.

Young girls’ affective responses to access and use of ICT in these countries warrant additional research in this area of study. Findings from research on youth information behavior in Western countries may have little or no bearings on youth in developing countries. The study of young girls’ access and use of ICT in developing countries should account for cultural, socioeconomic, and institutional differences among countries and between societies or communities in a given developing country.

Minimal research exists on young girls’ affective responses to accessing and using ICT in developing countries. The literature review covered in this chapter is grounded in theoretical frameworks derived from varied disciplines, including the field of library and information science.

Beliefs about teaching influence practice and can play a powerful role in the day-to-day decision-making of teachers. Pre-service teachers commonly accrue their original set of beliefs on teaching from teacher preparation programs or personal experiences, but unlike teachers with more experience, new teachers are more susceptible to changing their beliefs on teaching once they become official teachers of record. If these beliefs change in a negative way, such as by adopting a set of beliefs that views students through a deficit lens, or capable of achieving less than their privileged counterparts, then schools will continue to foster tendencies for social reproduction instead of tendencies for social justice. In urban schools, this increase in negative perceptions of students is even more common as new teachers face challenges that are less likely to occur in non-urban schools. Findings suggest that new teachers do change their beliefs during their first year, and that these beliefs often reflect the beliefs of trusted and close colleagues within their social networks. While some teachers experienced positive changes in their beliefs and teaching practices, other teachers experienced negative changes in their beliefs that unfavorably affected students. Most teachers were unaware of their belief changes, but offered explanations for how and why their beliefs could have changed without their noticing over the course of the study. Implications and possible directions for future research are discussed.