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Large-scale farm management in China has developed rapidly in recent years. Large-scale farmers face substantial operating risks, requiring extensive price risk management. However, the agricultural insurance and futures markets in China are incomplete. This study aims to analyze the price-risk-management behaviors of large-scale farmers under incomplete market conditions, with a focus on the interconnections between large scale farmers' subjective preferences (risk preferences, time preferences), liquidity constraints and their price risk management.

The authors construct an analysis framework to reveal the impact of large-scale farmers' risk preferences, time preferences and liquidity conditions on their price-risk-management behaviors under incomplete market conditions. Using data from field surveys and subjective preference experiments involving 409 large-scale grain farmers in China, an empirical analysis was conducted using the bivariate probit model.

The results show that risk-averse farmers will use risk transfer (such as contract farming) and risk diversification (such as multi-period sales) to avoid price risk. However, farmers subject to liquidity constraints and strong time preferences will not choose risk diversification, and the interaction between time preferences and liquidity constraints will strengthen this decision. The larger the farm-management scale, the greater the impact.

The authors focus on rapidly developed large-scale farm management in China. Appropriate price risk management is required by large-scale farmers due to their substantial operating risks. Considering the incomplete conditions of agricultural insurance and futures markets, the results of this study will help identify behavioral characteristics of large-scale farmers and optimize their price-risk-management strategies, further stabilizing large-scale farm management.

How do large-scale protest events differ across nation-states? Do social networks play different roles in different places and, if so, how do they matter? This paper compares the role that social networks play in mobilizing participants in large-scale domestic protest. Employing a paired comparison of large-scale domestic protests in the United States and France, I find that social ties play a differing role in each country. Although personal and organizational ties played almost equal roles in mobilizing participants at the protest-event in the United States, organizational ties played a much more significant role in mobilizing participants to protest in France. In addition, participants in these two events reported having very different levels of civic engagement at these two protests. I conclude by discussing how these differences are related to the characteristics of the mobilizations themselves.

Purpose — The Regional Household Travel Survey (RHTS) was a large-scale regional household travel survey that covered 28 counties in the New York, North New Jersey, and Connecticut regions (i.e., the New York City “megaregion”). Data collection for the survey began in October 2010 and concluded in November 2011.

The chapter discusses the multiple modes and methodologies used in the RHTS, and presents the participation rates and trip rates obtained using this multimodal approach.

Methodology/approach — This survey used a combination of web, telephone, and mail-out/mail-back methods to collect household and travel information from approximately 18,800 households. Ten percent of the sampled households participated in the survey by using wearable global positioning system (GPS) devices that collected detailed travel data which, in turn, were processed and presented back to the households in a GPS-based prompted recall interview administered by web or telephone. The GPS component was used to generate trip rate correction factors for the other 90% diary-based households.

Findings — This large regional survey was the first to use this specific combination of methods and technologies, and provides many insights into the success of targeted survey modes and methods for different population groups.

Purpose — In order to analyse applicability, comparability and limitations of GPS technology in travel surveys, different mobility survey techniques were tested in an Austrian pilot study.

Methodology/approach — Four groups of voluntary respondents recorded their travel behaviour over a time period of three consecutive days. The groups were assigned to three different and combined methods of data collection: Paper–pencil trip diaries, passive GPS tracking, active GPS tracking and prompted recall interviews.

Findings — The resulting mobility parameters show that self-reported paper– pencil surveys yield accurate sociodemographic information on the respondents as well as trip purposes and modes of transportation, although too few trips are reported. Passive GPS-based methods minimize the strain for respondents. Methods that combine GPS-based data collection and questionnaire provide the most reliable mobility data at the moment.

Research limitations/implications — Due to funding restrictions the sample sizes had to be relatively small (235 participants). Further development in research methodology will increase the effectiveness of automated data analysis, for example more accurate detection of activities and transport modes. The usefulness of GPS-based data collection in a large-scale surveys is planned to be tested in the next Austrian national travel survey.

Originality/value of paper — The pilot study allows a detailed comparison of traditional and GPS-based travel survey methods for the first time, due to data collection combined with prompted recalls.

The purpose of this paper is to review options for measuring innovation in the informal sector and proposes an agenda for future work.

It starts with a review of surveys of innovation in the formal business sector, and related definitions, as sources of questions and definitions which could be applied to the informal sector. Then, labor force surveys, and those that are combined with establishment surveys to measure informal sector activities, are examined with a view to adding questions, or modules, on the measurement of innovation in the informal sector. In addition, the advantages of using semi-structured interviews and ad hoc questionnaires in specific sub-sectors of the informal sector are explored.

The discussion leads to a possible agenda for future work on the development of policy relevant indicators of innovation in the informal economy. Two viable scenarios emerge: first, adding innovation questions to existing large-scale surveys of the informal economy; and/or second, conducting ad hoc questionnaire- and interview-based sectoral studies in selected countries.

The proposed course of actions suffers from a few shortcomings: first, amending existing surveys as proposed here is always a challenging undertaking. A new survey questions have to be tested (cognitive and other testing); their deployment also depends on the willingness of countries to include new questions. Second, surveying the informal economy and applying proper sampling will remain an issue, no matter how good the survey design, and not matter how sincere the effort. Third, and finally, conducting these new survey techniques will require substantial resources over time.

In the coming years, new efforts are planned to gather data and better measure innovation in developing countries, such as the third edition of the African Innovation Outlook. This will widen the scope of reporting and analysis to include coverage of innovations in the informal sector (AU-NEPAD 2014). The suggestions in this chapter are intended to lay important groundwork for future empirical work, to help develop appropriate indicators and support new approaches to innovation policy in developing countries. Pragmatic suggestions are formulated, pointing to potential opportunities and challenges.

The informal economy is a hugely important contributor to economic growth and social well-being in Africa and other developing countries. Better measurement and contributing to a better understanding of innovation in the informal economy will be important progress.

The contribution of the paper lies in the novel combination of tested approaches in informal sector surveys, on the one hand, and innovation surveys in the formal sector, on the other hand. The approaches provide ways forward to gain better understanding of the innovation in the informal economy, and to support innovation policy in African countries and beyond.

Purpose — Fare validation data from transit smart card automatic fare collection (AFC) systems have properties that align with the direction of large-scale mobility surveys and the evermore demanding data needs of the transit industry. In addition to applications in transit planning and service monitoring, travel patterns and behaviour can effectively be studied by exploiting the continuous stream of observations from the same card. The paper proposes a methodology to enrich fare validation data in order to generate information that is hard to obtain with traditional travel surveys.

Methodology/approach — The methodology aims to synthesize individual-level attributes by summarizing multi-day validation records from each card. These new dimensions are then transposed to various levels of aggregation and studied simultaneously in multivariate analysis. The methodology can also be applied to synthesize other multi-day attributes and is transferable to other modes and other travel behaviour studies.

Findings — Results show that validation data can effectively be used to measure the distribution of travel patterns in time and space as well as the variation of those phenomena over time. The paper provides several examples based on millions of validation records from the metro sub-network of Montréal, along with interpretations and some practical implications.

Research limitations/implications — Limitations and bias regarding the data and the methodology as well as the strategies to handle them are discussed within the context of passive travel survey and travel behaviour studies.

Practical implications — Practitioners in transit planning, operations, marketing and modelling can benefit from studying the increasingly accessible and massive smart card datasets through a deeper understanding of multi-day travel patterns and behaviour of transit users.

Originality/value — This paper outlines a data modelling approach and simple-to-implement methodology which exploit the multi-day property of fare validation data from a smart card AFC. The concept of multi-day attributes is introduced. The analyses show that the approach is effective for extracting information on travel behaviour and its variation which would otherwise be hard to obtain through traditional travel surveys, opening up another dimension of this data source for practitioners and transport modellers alike.

The purpose of this paper is to provide details of a survey conducted into 300 manufacturing SMEs from a range of different industrial sectors. The survey investigates, over a three‐year period, the attitudes towards and benefits obtained by SMEs through the adoption of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT). Its purpose is to analyse and disseminate these survey data to academics and industrialists.

The paper uses a research survey of 300 manufacturing SMEs. Analysis of the findings is provided and SME characterisation tables are developed.

The paper finds that characterisation, compatibility and innovativeness of SMEs towards AMT implementation were found to vary considerably with the SMEs surveyed. From the survey information, the paper develops a classification system based on the capabilities of these companies to implement Advanced Manufacturing Technologies. The paper will then characterise SME attitudes towards the development of AMT. The paper finally proposes a strategic model for the effective introduction and application of AMT in SMEs.

The survey is limited to SMEs and provides a strong body of evidence relating to AMT development with these companies.

The paper proposes a strategic model for the effective introduction and application of AMT in SMEs. The creation of a generic AMT implementation model provides a framework for a wider number of SMEs to introduce AMT into their respective organisations, since it provides for a systematic approach for SMEs to introduce AMT in an efficient and effective manner, thus reducing implementation costs, minimises risk of project failure and improves project management efficiency.

This paper is the first to explore in depth the AMT implementation issues within SMEs from large‐scale survey data. It not only analyses the survey data but also proposes a model for change, which aims to develop a more structured approach to AMT implementation in SMEs. Therefore, this work will make a contribution to this under‐researched area.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate non-technical barriers for smart services in the capital goods industry.

A multiple methodology approach is adopted. First, qualitative workshops and interviews were conducted with 14 experts from five companies. The findings generated subsequently provided a basis for a large-scale quantitative survey of manufacturing company service representatives in the capital goods industry, the data from which were analyzed using explorative factor analysis.

In total, 25 items that represent barriers to smart service businesses were identified, using qualitative research. Large-scale quantitative research revealed 24 items structured into four factors. Additionally, the respondents’ assessment of the individual barriers’ impact on their smart service businesses is presented.

The study focuses on manufacturing companies in the capital goods industry, mainly, in the European countries. Caution should be exercised in seeking to generalize the results to other industries. The findings should be confirmed with subsequent confirmatory analyses using additional data.

The authors’ findings provide a comprehensive list and classification of barriers, as well as an assessment of their severity, serving as a practical guideline for managers.

This paper explores the barriers to smart services from a provider’s perspective. Its holistic approach and use of large-scale quantitative data qualify it as one of the first studies of this kind.