Driving business performance: innovation complementarities and persistence patterns

Complementarities between technological and non-technological innovation are crucial determinants of firm performance. Although innovation complementarity has been extensively tested in the empirical literature, it has not been analysed in conjunction with innovation persistence. This fact is mainly due to the lack of data sets able to provide adequate longitudinal information. The capacities to develop market-oriented behaviour and introduce new organisational innovations, together with technological innovation, are the drivers of a firm’s productivity and profitability. We find that these activities complement technological innovation and that their impact is greater when they persist over time, thus introducing a more general concept of innovation persistence. We present an empirical model based on a large new panel of Italian manufacturing firms covering the period 2000–2012 which enables us to determine the precise impacts of a firm’s innovative attitude, in a broad definition that incorporates non-technological innovation and persistence, on its productivity and profitability.     

对设计做为生产力要素的思考

中国在改革开放以后,由"科技生产力"带领"中国制造"走向了世界。如今,在后工业时代背景下,对传统生产力重新反思并提出"设计生产力"的构思愈来愈显重要。笔者对设计作为生产力要素的多重属性和运行机制进行探索,并对设计生产力的社会意义进行归纳。     

Web-based Biometric Computer Mouse Advisory System to Analyze a User's Emotions and Work Productivity

This article describes the analysis of emotional state and work productivity using a Web-based Biometric Computer Mouse Advisory System to Analyze a User's Emotions and Work Productivity (Advisory system hereafter) developed by this paper's authors. The Advisory system determines the level of emotional state and work productivity integrally by employing three main biometric techniques (physiological, psychological and behavioral). By using these three biometric techniques, the Advisory system can analyze a person's eleven states of being (stress, work productivity, mood, interest in work) and seven emotions (self-control, happiness, anger, fear, sadness, surprise and anxiety) during a realistic timeframe. Furthermore, to raise the reliability of the Advisory system even more, it also integrated the data supplied by the Biometric Finger (blood pressure and pulse rates). Worldwide research includes various scientists who conducted in-depth studies on the different and very important areas of biometric mouse systems. However, biometric mouse systems cannot generate recommendations. The Advisory system determines a user's physiological, psychological and behavioral/movement parameters based on that user's real-time needs and existing situation. It then generates thousands of alternative stress management recommendations based on the compiled Maslow's Pyramid Tables and selects out the most rational of these for the user's specific situation. The information compiled for Maslow's Pyramid Tables consists of a collection of respondent surveys and analyses of the best global practices. Maslow's Pyramid Tables were developed for an employee working with a computer in a typical organization. The Advisory system provides a user with a real-time assessment of his/her own productivity and emotional state. This article presents the Advisory system, a case study and a scenario used to test and validate the developed Advisory system and its composite parts to demonstrate its validity, efficiency and usefulness.     

Bridging rigorous assessment of water availability from field to catchment scale with a parsimonious agro-hydrological model

While simple crop and hydrological models are limited with respect to the number and accuracy of the processes they incorporate, complex models have high demand for data. Due to the limitations of both categories of models, there is a need for new agro-hydrological models that simulate both crop productivity and water availability in agricultural catchments, with low data and calibration requirements. This study aimed at developing a widely applicable parsimonious agro-hydrological model, AquaCrop-Hydro, which couples the AquaCrop crop water productivity model with a conceptual hydrological model. AquaCrop-Hydro, simulating crop productivity, the daily soil water balance and discharge at the catchment outlet, performed well for an agricultural catchment in Belgium. The model can be used to investigate the effect of agricultural management and environmental changes from field to catchment scale in support of sustainable water management in agricultural areas.     

北部湾盆地流沙港组湖相烃源岩的差异

北部湾盆地是中国近海重要的富油盆地,油气发现主要集中于涠西南凹陷、乌石凹陷和福山凹陷,探明原油地质储量约为4.05×10⁸t,但各个主要凹陷的探明油气地质储量存在显著差异。北部湾盆地各凹陷的油气富集程度与其湖相烃源岩的差异密切相关,从涠西南凹陷到乌石凹陷,再到迈陈凹陷和福山凹陷,古近系流沙港组烃源岩的品质总体下降,烃源岩的有机质丰度降低,有机质类型从以腐泥型为主变成以混合型占优势,烃源岩的生烃潜力下降。分析表明,尽管北部湾盆地流沙港组烃源岩在形成期各凹陷普遍具有较高的古湖泊有机质生产力,但各凹陷的有机质来源仍然存在差异,有机质保存条件也存在差异,从涠西南凹陷到乌石凹陷,再到迈陈凹陷、福山凹陷和海中凹陷,湖相藻类来源的有机质减少,陆生高等植物来源的有机质增加,有机质保存条件具有变差的趋势。     

Transjurisdictional Water Pollution Management in China: The Legal and Institutional Framework

The current study shows that the recent diesel price hike had an insignificant impact on irrigation costs incurred by diesel well owners in eastern India. Further, analysis of the farming enterprises of diesel well owners and water buyers from both diesel and electric wells confronted with a differential cost of irrigation water showed that farmers would be able to cope with a very high rise in irrigation costs through irrigation efficiency improvements and allocating more area to crops that give higher returns per unit of land and water. By doing this, they are able to maintain the farm returns.     

Drivers of change in agricultural water productivity and its improvement at basin scale in developing economies

We approach the issue of water productivity in agriculture by identifying five sets of drivers of change. We find that irrigation efficiencies at the field level can result in real water savings under certain conditions, but that small farmers in most of South Asia and Africa have little incentive to adopt the appropriate measures. Although water productivity improvement and water savings at the regional level are possible through a shift to economically efficient crops, such changes may be constrained by concerns with respect to domestic and regional food security, rural employment, and farming system resilience.     

Improving Water Supply Outlook in Korea with Ensemble Streamflow Prediction

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative forecasting approach for improving the current water supply outlook in Korea. Using a rainfall-runoff model, the existing technique for the water supply outlook in Korea produces monthly low, average, and high runoff forecasts. The proposed technique is called Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP), and is currently implemented by the National Weather Service in the U.S.A. ESP appears particularly valid in Korea where the historical rainfall record is much more comprehensive than the historical streamflow record. This study applies ESP to runoff forecasting for a river basin in Korea to examine its applicability. An ensemble of one-month ahead runoff forecasts at the Gongju gauging station in the Keum River basin, Korea, was generated for each month. The resulting ESP forecasts were compared with the corresponding observed runoff data as well as the existing forecasts. Although this study is limited to one case study, the following conclusions can be made: (1) the ESP technique dominates the existing forecasting techniques in terms of both systematic and random errors; and (2) ESP is more accurate when high flows occur.     

Water productivity and water footprint: misguided concepts or useful tools in water management and policy?

Water productivity (WP) and water footprint (WFP) are popular concepts in research and discourses on water management. Yet there are concerns about their theoretical validity and practical value. This paper shows that the water production function, the concept with a sound theoretical foundation, is the basis for WP. Total WFP is the reciprocal of WP. The practical value of WP and WFP depends on the context of water use and stress. Maximizing WP, not a panacea to all water problems, mainly suits arid rainfed areas. In other regions, economic and marginal WP for increasing overall production should take precedence in water management and policy decisions.     

河南省农业水土资源空间匹配格局对产能的影响

通过对河南省农业水资源与耕地资源的利用态势进行模拟分析,构建区域水土资源匹配测算模型,将匹配结果与产能分布情况做相关性分析,探讨河南省农业水土资源匹配格局对粮食产能的影响．结果表明,河南省耕地资源优势明显,水资源匮乏,水土资源匹配较差;水土资源匹配程度与耕地产能的空间分布呈现出明显的错位现象,这是由于产能高产区垦殖率高,灌溉条件好,过度利用水资源引起的．