scholarly journals The origin and development of the technical efficiency analysis in the economy from an environmental viewpoint

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-410
Author(s):  
Jesús Lucindo Blasco ◽  
Marisa Feijóo
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Theoretical Modelling ◽  
Ecological Efficiency ◽  
Natural Factors ◽  
Proper Design ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Practical Implications

Objective: Determine the technically efficient behavior for any agent in the economy, being responsible for its environmental performance. Methodology: Review of the state of the art of the literature on the analysis of technical efficiency from an environmental perspective. Results: Determine a behavior for an economy and ecological efficiency in order to assume a sustainable development. Limitations: Given the theoretical modelling developed, the main drawbacks are: the non-presence in the predictive models of the cost of the environmental impact, the lack of tools to collect adequately those impacts that are delayed in time and, finally, the limitations to investigate the influence of the uncontrollable natural factors. Practical implications: Action guides for individuals, firms and states to meet their needs with the least impact on the environment. Special attention to supply to decision-makers with an adequate study for the proper design of environmental regulations.

Cost-driven motives to relocate manufacturing abroad among small- and medium-sized manufacturers

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Stentoft ◽  
Kent Adsbøll Wickstrøm ◽  
Anders Haug ◽  
Kristian Philipsen
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Perceived Barriers ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of how Industry 4.0 related technologies affect the relocation of manufacturing abroad by small and medium-sized enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThis paper contains an empirical analysis of how Industry 4.0 related technologies affect the cost-driven relocation of manufacturing abroad based on 191 comprehensive and full responses to a questionnaire survey distributed in 2018 among small- and medium-sized Danish manufacturers.FindingsThis paper builds upon data, which reveals that companies' pursuit of cost-focused competitive strategies is positively correlated with relocating manufacturing abroad. However, the data also shows that the more Industry 4.0-ready decision-makers are, the less cost-focused strategy drives manufacturing abroad. Furthermore, perceived barriers to Industry 4.0 related technologies promote the cost-driven relocation of manufacturing abroad whereas perceived drivers decrease this phenomenon.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is based on the answers given by a single respondent from each company and only on Danish respondents.Practical implicationsThe results indicate a need to invest resources to obtain a better knowledge of Industry 4.0 related technologies when used in processes involved in decisions about where to locate manufacturing.Originality/valueThis paper contains new, empirically founded information about how Industry 4.0 related technologies affect the cost-driven relocation of manufacturing abroad from the perspective of small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

Accounting historiography: looking back to the future

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Parker
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting History ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Looking Back ◽  
Prior State

Purpose – This paper aims to contextualise and critically evaluate the state of accounting historiography, its past and future agenda as a foundation for future scholars’ design and pursuit of accounting history research. Design/methodology/approach – Focussing on the historiographic accounting history literature, the paper draws on prior state-of-the-art reviews as well as a range of contemporary accounting history research studies to provide an overview of the accounting history community internationally, its emergence, institutions, theories and methodologies. Findings – Accounting history researchers are identified now as an established and growing international community of scholars, increasingly diverse in national origins and focus, yet still on the threshold of moving beyond its specialist literature into general accounting and history research literatures. Nonetheless, their historiography exhibits a vibrant theoretical and methodological discourse that has laid the foundations for expanding opportunities in both research subjects and approaches available for study. Research limitations/implications – Theoretical and methodological proliferation offers a wealth of options for further research in this field, in terms of subject matter focus and in terms of innovative and insightful approaches to their investigation. Practical implications – Findings already available in the accounting history literature offer useful foundational understandings that have the potential to better inform contemporary policy and practice decision-makers. Originality/value – The paper provides a reference point for emerging and established scholars in accounting history, presenting a summary of their underlying historical institutional and historiographic development contexts and offering a research agenda based on theoretical and methodological diversity.

scholarly journals Regional Coordination and Security of Water–Energy–Food Symbiosis in Northeastern China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1326
Author(s):  
Hongfang Li ◽  
Huixiao Wang ◽  
Yaxue Yang ◽  
Ruxin Zhao
Keyword(s):  
External Environment ◽  
Northeastern China ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Human Survival ◽  
A Value ◽  
Natural Factors ◽  
Regional Coordination ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Coordination Degree

The interactions of water, energy, and food, which are essential resources for human survival, livelihoods, production, and development, constitute a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus. Applying symbiosis theory, the economic, social, and natural factors were considered at the same time in the WEF system, and we conducted a micro-level investigation focusing on the stability, coordination, and sustainability of the symbiotic units (water, energy, and food), and external environment of the WEF system in 36 prefecture-level cities across three northeastern provinces of China. Finally, we analyzed the synergistic safety and coupling coordination degree of the WEF system by the combination of stability, coordination, and sustainability, attending to the coordination relationship and influences of the external environment. The results indicated that the synergistic safety of the WEF system in three northeastern provinces need to equally pay attention to the stability, coordination, and sustainability of the WEF system, since their weights were 0.32, 0.36 and 0.32, respectively. During 2010–2016, the synergistic safety indexes of the WEF system ranged between 0.40 and 0.60, which was a state of boundary safety. In the current study, the coupling coordination degree of the WEF system fluctuated around a value of 0.6, maintaining a primary coordination level; while in the future of 2021–2026, it will decline to 0.57–0.60, dropping to a weak coordinated level. The conclusion could provide effective information for decision-makers to take suitable measures for the security development of a WEF system.

scholarly journals Costs and Benefits of Autonomous Shipping—A Literature Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4553
Author(s):  
Ewelina Ziajka-Poznańska ◽  
Jakub Montewka
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Financial Models ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Benefit Estimation ◽  
Autonomous Ship ◽  
The Cost

The development of autonomous ship technology is currently in focus worldwide and the literature on this topic is growing. However, an in-depth cost and benefit estimation of such endeavours is in its infancy. With this systematic literature review, we present the state-of-the-art system regarding costs and benefits of the operation of prospective autonomous merchant ships with an objective for identifying contemporary research activities concerning an estimation of operating, voyage, and capital costs in prospective, autonomous shipping and vessel platooning. Additionally, the paper outlines research gaps and the need for more detailed business models for operating autonomous ships. Results reveal that valid financial models of autonomous shipping are lacking and there is significant uncertainty affecting the cost estimates, rendering only a reliable evaluation of specific case studies. The findings of this paper may be found relevant not only by academia, but also organisations considering to undertake a challenge of implementing Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships in their operations.

scholarly journals A review on the properties, reinforcing effects, and commercialization of nanomaterials for cement-based materials

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhifang Zhao ◽  
Tianqi Qi ◽  
Wei Zhou ◽  
David Hui ◽  
Cong Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cement Hydration ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Market Survey ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
Nano Silica ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Cement Based Materials ◽  
The Cost

AbstractThe behavior of cement-based materials is manipulated by chemical and physical processes at the nanolevel. Therefore, the application of nanomaterials in civil engineering to develop nano-modified cement-based materials is a promising research. In recent decades, a large number of researchers have tried to improve the properties of cement-based materials by employing various nanomaterials and to characterize the mechanism of nano-strengthening. In this study, the state of the art progress of nano-modified cement-based materials is systematically reviewed and summarized. First, this study reviews the basic properties and dispersion methods of nanomaterials commonly used in cement-based materials, including carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, graphene, graphene oxide, nano-silica, nano-calcium carbonate, nano-calcium silicate hydrate, etc. Then the research progress on nano-engineered cementitious composites is reviewed from the view of accelerating cement hydration, reinforcing mechanical properties, and improving durability. In addition, the market and applications of nanomaterials for cement-based materials are briefly discussed, and the cost is creatively summarized through market survey. Finally, this study also summarizes the existing problems in current research and provides future perspectives accordingly.

scholarly journals Performance vs. hardware requirements in state-of-the-art automatic speech recognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandru-Lucian Georgescu ◽  
Alessandro Pappalardo ◽  
Horia Cucu ◽  
Michaela Blott
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Automatic Speech Recognition ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Computing Power ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Speech Features ◽  
Commercial Applications ◽  
Guided Tour ◽  
Embedded Applications

AbstractThe last decade brought significant advances in automatic speech recognition (ASR) thanks to the evolution of deep learning methods. ASR systems evolved from pipeline-based systems, that modeled hand-crafted speech features with probabilistic frameworks and generated phone posteriors, to end-to-end (E2E) systems, that translate the raw waveform directly into words using one deep neural network (DNN). The transcription accuracy greatly increased, leading to ASR technology being integrated into many commercial applications. However, few of the existing ASR technologies are suitable for integration in embedded applications, due to their hard constrains related to computing power and memory usage. This overview paper serves as a guided tour through the recent literature on speech recognition and compares the most popular ASR implementations. The comparison emphasizes the trade-off between ASR performance and hardware requirements, to further serve decision makers in choosing the system which fits best their embedded application. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide this kind of trade-off analysis for state-of-the-art ASR systems.

scholarly journals Healthcare Expenditures Associated with Heart Failure in Saudi Arabia: A Cost of Illness Study

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 988
Author(s):  
Ahmed Alghamdi ◽  
Eman Algarni ◽  
Bander Balkhi ◽  
Abdulaziz Altowaijri ◽  
Abdulaziz Alhossan
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Cost Of Illness ◽  
Economic Burden ◽  
Indirect Costs ◽  
Health Care Expenditures ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Hospitalization Costs ◽  
Illness Study ◽  
The Cost

Heart failure (HF) is considered to be a global health problem that generates a significant economic burden. Despite the growing prevalence in Saudi Arabia, the economic burden of HF is not well studied. The aim of this study was to estimate the health care expenditures associated with HF in Saudi Arabia from a social perspective. We conducted a multicenter cost of illness (COI) study in two large governmental centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using 369 HF patients. A COI model was developed in order to estimate the direct medical costs associated with HF. The indirect costs of HF were estimated based on a human capital approach. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed. The direct medical cost per HF patient was $9563. Hospitalization costs were the major driver in total spending, followed by medication and diagnostics costs. The cost significantly increased in line with the disease progression, ranging from $3671 in class I to $16,447 in class IV. The indirect costs per working HF patient were $4628 due to absenteeism, and $6388 due to presenteeism. The economic burden of HF is significantly high in Saudi Arabia. Decision makers need to focus on allocating resources towards strategies that prevent frequent hospitalizations and improve HF management and patient outcomes in order to lower the growing economic burden.

scholarly journals Stochastic methods defeat regular RSA exponentiation algorithms with combined blinding methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 408-433
Author(s):  
Margaux Dugardin ◽  
Werner Schindler ◽  
Sylvain Guilley
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Stochastic Methods ◽  
Rsa Algorithm ◽  
Montgomery Ladder ◽  
Channel Information ◽  
Probability Mass ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Noisy Measurements ◽  
Mass Functions ◽  
Larger Sample

Abstract Extra-reductions occurring in Montgomery multiplications disclose side-channel information which can be exploited even in stringent contexts. In this article, we derive stochastic attacks to defeat Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) with Montgomery ladder regular exponentiation coupled with base blinding. Namely, we leverage on precharacterized multivariate probability mass functions of extra-reductions between pairs of (multiplication, square) in one iteration of the RSA algorithm and that of the next one(s) to build a maximum likelihood distinguisher. The efficiency of our attack (in terms of required traces) is more than double compared to the state-of-the-art. In addition to this result, we also apply our method to the case of regular exponentiation, base blinding, and modulus blinding. Quite surprisingly, modulus blinding does not make our attack impossible, and so even for large sizes of the modulus randomizing element. At the cost of larger sample sizes our attacks tolerate noisy measurements. Fortunately, effective countermeasures exist.

scholarly journals The Adoption of Robotic Process Automation Technology to Ensure Business Processes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8020
Author(s):  
Julia Siderska
Keyword(s):  
Technology Implementation ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Process Automation ◽  
Robotic Process Automation ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Automation Technology ◽  
Practical Implications

The study provides knowledge on the adoption of the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in 110 Polish service companies. As this research was the first of its kind in Poland, the objectives of the CAWI survey were to identify the technology features of the RPA technology and the related determinants and barriers influencing the adoption of the RPA as well as to determine correlations between them. Moreover, the statistical analyses involved considering whether there were differences in the evaluation of individual RPA technology features, mainly in terms of perceived usefulness, ease of use, security and functionality. The results of the study show that almost 60% of the respondents indicated that robotization tools allowed maintaining continuity of business processes during the pandemic. The highest rated were features related to usefulness of the RPA technology. Furthermore, the analysis pointed to the most frequently indicated barriers to technology implementation that were related to nonoptimized, nonstandardized and non-digitized processes with a large number of exceptions. The study contributes to scientific knowledge and has practical implications for process automation decision-makers concerned with the adoption of the Robotic Process Automation technology. The obtained results can help them to understand the potential drivers of and barriers to the adoption of software robots by enterprises and may be an important determinant for companies’ managers in the field of implementing such solutions.

Analysis of Overweight Truck Permit Policy in New Jersey

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110266
Author(s):  
Sami Demiroluk ◽  
Hani Nassif ◽  
Kaan Ozbay ◽  
Chaekuk Na
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Actual Cost ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Heavy Weight ◽  
Vehicle Route ◽  
Heavy Trucks ◽  
Maintenance And Rehabilitation ◽  
The Cost

The roadway infrastructure constantly deteriorates because of environmental conditions, but other factors such as exposure to heavy trucks exacerbates the rate of deterioration. Therefore, decision-makers are constantly searching for ways to optimize allocation of the limited funds for repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation of New Jersey’s infrastructure. New Jersey legislation requires operators of overweight (OW) trucks to obtain a permit to use the infrastructure. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) issues a variety of permits based on the types of goods carried. These permits allow OW trucks to use the infrastructure either for a single trip or for multiple trips. Therefore, one major concern is whether the permit revenue of the agency can recoup the actual cost of damage to the infrastructure caused by these OW trucks. This study investigates whether NJDOT’s current permit fee program can collect enough revenue to meet the actual cost of damage to the infrastructure caused by these heavy-weight permit trucks. The infrastructure damage is estimated by using pavement and bridge deterioration models and New Jersey permit data from 2013 to 2018 containing vehicle configuration and vehicle route. The analysis indicates that although the cost of infrastructure damage can be recovered for certain permit types, there is room for improvement in the permit program. Moreover, based on permit rules in other states, the overall rank of the New Jersey permit program is evaluated and possible revisions are recommended for future permit policies.

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