873 publications from this institution
A general framework is oresented for communication behavior where contact decisions play an important role. The contact decision component of the conceptual framework is analyzed in detail and empirically tested using stated preference models of contact decision behavior. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in six universities representing classical schools, business schools, and technological schools in Austria and Switzerland. The empirical results indicate the importance of the contact decision context variables in general, and in particular the perceived attractiveness of specific contact places in different cultural regions, cost, and language skills of the potential contact partner.
Geocomputation may be viewed as the application of a computational science paradigm to study a wide range of problems in geographical systems contexts. This volume presents a clear, comprehensive and thoroughly state-of-the-art overview of current research, written by leading figures in the field. It provides important insights into this new and rapidly developing field and attempts to establish the principles, and to develop techniques for solving real world problems in a wide array of application domains with a catalyst to greater understanding of what geocomputation is and what it entails. The broad coverage makes it invaluable reading for resarchers and professionals in geography, environmental and economic sciences as well as for graduate students of spatial science and computer science.
Innovation networks of manufacturers are currently receiving much attention as a competitive strategy. The contribution represents a response to the growing recognition that there are very important reasons why we need a better understanding of the relationship between innovation and networking. This response is conceptual in form, but enriched with some empirical evidence from the metropolitan region of Vienna. The paper demonstrates unambiguously the importance of external network activities during the innovation process that are organized around five types of networks: customer networks, manufacturing supplier networks, producer service supplier networks, producer networks and co-operation with research institutions and departments of universities. The data clearly indicate that networking is not only and primarily a metropolitan phenomenon. Spatial proximity is just one, but evidently not the decisive criterion for innovation-oriented relationships. The geography of networking largely extends to national and international levels.
In this paper we view learning as an unconstrained non-linear minimization problem in which the objective function is defined by the negative log-li
No abstract is provided for this article.
The paper is concerned with the impact of market research prior to integration, on the structures of noncompetitive industries in integrated economy. The analysis focuses on separated, single commodity, monopolistic markets with stochastic demand. Monopolistic firms are considered in dynamic multiperiod model, where intertemporal links are determined by expenditures on market research in a present period and benefits from this activity (i.e., smaller variance of the prediction error) in the future. Assuming that each firm maximizes its total discounted expected utility from profit in indefinite time, we show that the optimal market research strategy is stationary and depends on market size. Consequently, in the period following integration firms operating prior to integration in small markets (such as Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary or Estonia) are expected to have much less information about the integrated market than their competitors operating before integration on European market. This informational asymmetry may affect the structure of the industry in integrated economy. In the extreme case, the firm operating before integration in the small market can be ruled out from the integrated market.
The multi-volume Handbook of Regional Science provides up-to-date knowledge in the field. Composed by renowned experts. 2nd updated edition.
Despite decades of effective implementation in Europe, the Green Care Farm (GCF) model of care has only recently arrived in the United States (US). In the US, differences in health care approaches, funding systems, liability issues, and societal attitudes toward older adults and individuals with disabilies create substantial challenges to replicating the GCF model. In this session, we will explore the past, present, and future of the GCF model in the US. First, a program director from the Netherlands will discuss his past five years of experience in transplanting and growing the GCF model in Montana. Next, a researcher will provide findings from a qualitative study (N = 19) exploring the views and experiences of participants, family members, farmers, and administrators involved with the Montana GCF program. Finally, both presenters will explore the practice and policy implications associated with expanding the GCF model in the US.
FISCHER M. M., FRöHLICH J. and GASSLER H. (1994) An exploration into the determinants of patent activities: some empirical evidence for Austria, Reg. Studies 28, 1-12. The recent computerization of the Austrian Patent Office in the mid-1980s has made it possible now to analyse the patenting behaviour at the firm level over a certain time period. This makes patents an easily accessible, quantitative indicator of patented inventions and, more generally, a proxy for the early stages of the innovation process. This paper attempts to analyse patenting activities and their determinants in the Austrian manufacturing sector. The data used are at the firm level which are based on a merger of the information provided by two data sources: patent data provided by the Austrian Patent Office, and company data from the statistical information system of the Austrian Research Centre, Seibersdorf. A conceptual framework for analysing patenting behaviour is developed. By using a mixture of simple cross-tabulations and multivariate logit analysis, differences between establishments in patent application are identified. FISCHER M. M., FRöHLICH J. et GASSLER H. (1994) Une examination des déterminants des activités relatives aux brevets: des preuves empiriques provenant de l'Autriche, Reg. Studies 28, 1-12. Le passage à l'informatique de l'institut national de la propriété industrielle en Autriche au milieu des années 80 a permis l'analyse du comportement des entreprises sur une période donnée dans le domaine des brevets. Cela rend les brevets un indicateur quantitatif des inventions brevetées facilement accessible et plus généralement une représentation des étapes initiales du processus d'innovation. Cet article cherche à analyser les activités relatives aux brevets et les facteurs déterminants au sein de l'industrie manufacturiére en Autriche. Les données concernent les entreprises et proviennent de deux sources de données: des données relatives aux brevets fournies par l'institut national de la propriété industrielle en Autriche et des données sur les entreprises provenant du systéme d'information statistique du Centre de recherche autrichien, à Seibersdorf. Un cadre conceptuel visant l'analyse du comportement relatif aux brevets se voit développer. En utilisant à la fois des trois combinés et une analyse ‘logit’ à plusiers variables on identifie des différences dans la demande de brevets suivant les entreprises. FISCHER M. M., FRöHLICH J. und GASSLER H. (1994) Eine Analyse der Determinanten des Patentierverhaltens: Empirische Evidenz fur die industrielle Produktion in Österreich, Reg. Studies 28, 1-12. Die kürzlich absgeschlossene Computerisierung des Österreichischen Patentamtes Mitte der achtziger Jahre ermöglicht es, das Patentierver-halten auf Firmenebene über einen bestimmten Zeitraum hinweg zu analysieren. Dies macht Patente zu einem leicht zugänglichen, quantitativen Indikator patentierter Erfindungen, und, allgemeiner gesehen, zu einer Hilfsvariablen zur Beschreibung der frühen Phasen des Innovationsprozesses. Die vorliegende Studie unternimmt den Versuch, Patentaktivitäten und ihre Determinanten im herstellenden Sektor der österreichischen Industrie zu analysieren. Die verwendeten Daten beziehen sich auf die Firmenebene und stammen aus zwei Datenquellen: die Patentdaten vom Österreichischen Patentamt und die Firmendaten vom statistischen Informationssystem des Österreichischen For-schungszentrums in Seibersdorf. Ein konzeptioneller Ansatz zur Analyse des Patentierungsverhaltens wird entwickelt. Unterschiede im Patentierverhalten werden mit Hilfe einfacher Kreuztabellen wie mit Hilfe der multivariaten Logitanalyse identifiziert.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Time-varying parameter (TVP) regressions commonly assume that time-variation in the coefficients is determined by a simple stochastic process such as a random walk. While such models are capable of capturing a wide range of dynamic patterns, the true nature of time variation might stem from other sources, or arise from different laws of motion. In this paper, we propose a flexible TVP VAR that assumes the TVPs to depend on a panel of partially latent covariates. The latent part of these covariates differ in their state dynamics and thus capture smoothly evolving or abruptly changing coefficients. To determine which of these covariates are important, and thus to decide on the appropriate state evolution, we introduce Bayesian shrinkage priors to perform model selection. As an empirical application, we forecast the US term structure of interest rates and show that our approach performs well relative to a set of competing models. We then show how the model can be used to explain structural breaks in coefficients related to the US yield curve.
The EPR implements an additional, fourth level of defense-in-depth that aims at limiting and restricting the consequences of a postulated severe accident with core melting to the immediate vicinity of the plant. As this requires an intact confinement, it is necessary, among others, to avoid an attack of the molten core on the basemat. For that purpose, the EPR includes a large ex-vessel core catcher. It increases the surface-to-volume ratio of the melt after its release from the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and allows the effective quenching and stabilization of the melt before it can attack the structural concrete. The bottom and sides of the core catcher are cooled by a system of horizontal water-filled channels. The water is provided either passively, by overflow from an internal reservoir, or actively by the containment heat removal system (CHRS). To quantify the heat removing capability of the horizontal part of the proposed cooling structure, a set of experiments in a full-scale, horizontal, 5m long cooling channel have been performed. To simulate decay heat, the channel was electrically heated from the top. The experiment was integrated in the BENSON test rig, a highly flexible, separate-effect test facility operated by Framatome ANP. In accordance with the potential later modes of operation, both co-current and counter-current flow of the water/steam mixture have been investigated. The tests demonstrated the good-natured behavior of the system, even for induced heat fluxes that significantly exceed realistically expectable maximum values. Although, at high heat fluxes, a local dry-out occurred at the top of the channel, structural temperatures remained in a safe range. This excellent performance is attributed to the fact that heat can enter the water through both the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the cooling channel. As a result a high, effective critical heat flux (CHF) level is achieved. The performed tests yield a valuable contribution to the validation of the function of the EPR core catcher concept.
The need to account for spatial autocorrelation is well known in spatial analysis. Many spatial statistics and spatial econometric texts detail the way spatial autocorrelation can be identified and modelled in the case of object and field data. The literature on spatial autocorrelation is much less developed in the case of spatial interaction data. The focus of interest in this paper is on the problem of spatial autocorrelation in a spatial interaction context. The paper aims to illustrate that eigenfunction-based spatial filtering offers a powerful methodology that can efficiently account for spatial autocorrelation effects within a Poisson spatial interaction model context that serves the purpose to identify and measure spatial separation effects to interregional knowledge spillovers as captured by patent citations among high-technology-firms in Europe.
No abstract is provided for this article.
This chapter discusses various aspects of travel demand models, mainly passenger travel models, and offers some views on outstanding research issues. Developments are described in the following three broad classes of travel demand models: (1) traditional four-stage transport models, associated with large urban transport studies and characterised by aggregate and descriptive uses of data; (2) the microeconomic approach of travel choice behaviour, based on random utility theory and emphasising the explanation of behaviour at the individual level; and (3) the activity-oriented approach, based on more holistic research styles and viewing travel behaviour as patterns of behaviour occurring once a day or several times a day, related to differences in people's life styles and participation in activities. Two major priorities are indicated, on which research and development should concentrate during the 1990s. For the covering abstract see IRRD 874715.
