The Curious Case for Media Monopoly in Technology-Driven Sports

2015 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Potts ◽  
Stuart Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Surprising Result ◽  
Sports Media ◽  
Simple Economic

This article examines the effect of technological change (innovation) on sports. We argue that innovation affects a sport through two pathways: sports equipment and sports media. We propose a simple economic model with positive feedback, which predicts that technology-enhanced sports will dominate the sports ecology. There is also the opposite phenomenon of technological overshooting that causes the elite end of a sport to develop much faster than the beginner's end, damaging entry into the sport. We present this model through a case study on windsurfing, illustrating the role of sports media. A surprising result is that the case study suggests a welfare-maximising case for monopoly licensing of sports media in newly emerging sports, or sports with rapidly changing equipment technologies.

scholarly journals Storytelling and `Character': Victims, Villains and Heroes in a Case of Technological Change

Organization ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Whittle ◽  
Frank Mueller ◽  
Anita Mangan
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Moral Status ◽  
The Self ◽  
Routine Work ◽  
Social Positioning ◽  
Face Saving ◽  
Positive Light

In this article we examine the role of stories in the temporal development of images of the self at work. Drawing on an in-depth case study of technological change in a UK public-private partnership, we highlight the role of stories in the construction, maintenance and defence of actors' moral status and organizational reputation. The analysis focuses on the development of one `character' as he shifted from the role of innocent victim to implied villain to heroic survivor within the stories constructed during routine work conversations. We argue that stories are intimately linked to the forms of `moral accounting' that serve to deal with the challenges to `face' and social positioning that accompany `failed' organizational change. Stories, we suggest, are likely to be invoked when an interactional encounter threatens the participants' sense of social worth. Stories in which we present ourselves in a positive light—for instance as virtuous, honourable, courageous, caring, committed, competent— comprise a key component of face-saving strategies designed to maintain our social positioning: processes that are often intensified during periods of organizational change.

scholarly journals Education and Energy Intensity: Simple Economic Modelling and Preliminary Empirical Results

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Sequeira ◽  
Marcelo Santos
Keyword(s):  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Economic Model ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Modelling ◽  
Empirical Application ◽  
Primary Schooling ◽  
Simple Economic

The ratio of energy use to Gross Domestic Product (defined as energy intensity) is a major determinant of environmental hazard and an indicator of eco-efficiency. This paper explains why education can have an effect in reducing the energy intensity thus affecting eco-efficiency. We devise a stylized economic model with simple and widely accepted assumptions that highlights the role of education in decreasing energy intensity worldwide. In an empirical application that is robust to the features of the data, we show that primary schooling contributes to a decrease in energy intensity which has a very significant effect, even accounting for the other well-known determinants of energy intensity. Additionally, when schooling is taken into account, income is no longer a negative determinant of energy intensity.

scholarly journals Managing Technological Change in the Digital Age: The Role of Architectural Frames

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ola Henfridsson ◽  
Lars Mathiassen ◽  
Fredrik Svahn
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
Powerful Approach

Inspired by Herbert Simon's notion of nearly decomposable systems, researchers have examined modularity as a powerful approach to manage technological change in product innovation. We articulate this approach as the hierarchy-of-parts architecture and explain how it emphasizes decomposition of a design into loosely coupled parts and subsequent aggregation of these into an industrial product. To realize the scale benefits of modularity, firms successively freeze design specifications before production and therefore only allow limited windows of functionality design and redesign. This makes it difficult to take advantage of the increased speed by which digitized products can be developed and modified. To address this problem, we draw on Christopher Alexander's notion of design patterns to introduce a complementary approach to manage technological change that is resilient to digital technology. We articulate this approach as the network-of-patterns architecture and explain how it emphasizes generalization of ideas into patterns and subsequent specialization of patterns for different design purposes. In response to the increased digitization of industrial products, we demonstrate the value of complementing hierarchy-of-parts thinking with network-of-patterns thinking through a case study of infotainment architecture at an automaker. As a result, we contribute to the literature on managing products in the digital age: we highlight the properties of digital technology that increase the speed by which digitized products can be redesigned; we offer the notion of architectural frames and propose hierarchy-of-parts and network-of-patterns as frames to support innovation of digitized products; and, we outline an agenda for future research that reconsiders the work of Simon and Alexander as well as their followers to address key challenges in innovating digitized products.

Technology and Society in Classical Athens: A Study of the Social Context of Mining and Metallurgy at Laurion

2018 ◽  
pp. 529-557
Author(s):  
Kim Van Liefferinge
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Research Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Tools And Techniques

Technology is a ubiquitous aspect of the everyday world. Although hard to ignore in this day and age, Classical scholars have shown little awareness of this observation in their research. Technology has primarily been studied from a restricted angle, most notably a technical or economic one. The former perspective views technology as a purely technical force, concentrating principally on tools and techniques. The latter focuses on innovation, and its capability to increase production outputs and trigger economic growth. Both approaches, however, neglect the complex range of factors that actually contribute to technological change, inevitably leading to misconceptions about the role of technology in the ancient world. This chapter presents a different way of approaching Classical technology. Using the sociological theory of Social Construction of Technological Systems, it argues that technological change always occurs against the backdrop of interdependent environmental, social, economic and political factors. It applies this approach to the case study of the Athenian silver mines in the Laurion. The focus is on the practice of silver production, with special attention to social groups and their interaction in a broader environmental, political and economic context. This framework enables a more contextualized and thorough understanding of technological change in Athenian society.

scholarly journals The Value Added Properties Of Local Historical Preservation Districts

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gordon ◽  
Richard Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Model ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Hedonic Regression ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Real Property ◽  
Simple Economic

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-pagination: none;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This paper explains what is meant by having real property or entire districts designated as historically significant. The economic and social significance of such a designation is explored. The role of a local historic preservation commission is addressed. It is shown that such an organization enhances the benefits of a historical designation by eliminating informational asymmetries. A simple economic model is developed demonstrating the valuation changes arising from the benefits of the historical designation. Difference in difference models along with hedonic regression models are explained. Empirical results from these models are surveyed. The topic of sustainability and how it increases social value is also approached.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>

The role of multiplicity in a cult: A case study

1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Worrall ◽  
Ann W. Stockman

The Role of Technological Change in the Long-run Global Economy Forecasting

2013 ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Apokin
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The World ◽  
National Economies

The author compares several quantitative and qualitative approaches to forecasting to find appropriate methods to incorporate technological change in long-range forecasts of the world economy. A?number of long-run forecasts (with horizons over 10 years) for the world economy and national economies is reviewed to outline advantages and drawbacks for different ways to account for technological change. Various approaches based on their sensitivity to data quality and robustness to model misspecifications are compared and recommendations are offered on the choice of appropriate technique in long-run forecasts of the world economy in the presence of technological change.

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