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Local Competition (local + competition)
Selected AbstractsWaiting for Broadband: Local Competition and the Spatial Distribution of Advanced Telecommunication Services in the United StatesGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2004TONY H. GRUBESIC ABSTRACT With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission and all fifty U.S. states to encourage the deployment of advanced telecommunication capability in a reasonable and timely manner. Today, with the rollout of advanced data services such as digital subscriber lines (xDSL), cable modems, and fixed wireless technologies, broadband has become an important component of telecommunication service and competition. Unfortunately, the deployment of last-mile infrastructure enabling high-speed access has proceeded more slowly than anticipated and competition in many areas is relatively sparse. More importantly, there are significant differences in the availability of broadband services between urban and rural areas. This paper explores aspects of broadband access as a function of market demand and provider competition. Data collected from the Federal Communications Commission is analyzed using a geographic information system and spatial statistical techniques. Results suggest significant spatial variation in broadband Internet access as a function of provider competition in the United States. [source] The Temporary Staffing Industry: Growth Imperatives and Limits to Contingency,ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2002Nik Theodore Abstract: The temporary staffing industry (TSI) in the United States has enjoyed explosive growth since the 1970s, during which time the market for temporary labor has become increasingly complex and diverse. Rather than focus, as has typically been done, on the wider labor market effects of this sustained expansion in temporary employment, this article explores patterns and processes of industrial restructuring in the TSI itself. The analysis reveals a powerfully recursive relationship among evolving TSI business practices, the industry's strategies for building and extending the market, and urban labor market outcomes as the sector has grown through a series of qualitatively differentiated phases of development or "modes of growth." Moreover, the distinctive character of the TSI's geographic rollout raises a new set of questions concerning, inter alia, the links between temping and labor market deregulation, the nature of local competition, the scope for and limits of value-adding strategies, and the emerging global structure of the temp market. This idiosyncratic industry,which has been a conspicuous beneficiary of growing economic instability,has, throughout the past three decades, restructured continuously through a period of sustained but highly uneven growth. In so doing, it has proved to be remarkably inventive in extending the market for contingent labor, but has encountered a series of (possibly structural) obstacles to further expansion in its domestic market. These obstacles, in turn, have triggered an unprecedented phase of international integration in the TSI, along with a new mode of development,global growth. [source] LIMITED DISPERSAL, BUDDING DISPERSAL, AND COOPERATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDYEVOLUTION, Issue 4 2009Rolf Kümmerli Numerous theoretical studies have investigated how limited dispersal may provide an explanation for the evolution of cooperation, by leading to interactions between relatives. However, despite considerable theoretical attention, there has been a lack of empirical tests. In this article, we test how patterns of dispersal influence the evolution of cooperation, using iron-scavenging in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa as our cooperative trait. We found that relatively limited dispersal does not favor cooperation. The reason for this is that although limited dispersal increases the relatedness between interacting individuals, it also leads to increased local competition for resources between relatives. This result supports Taylor's prediction that in the simplest possible scenario, the effects of increased relatedness and local competition exactly cancel out. In contrast, we show that one way for cooperation to be favored is if individuals disperse in groups (budding dispersal), because this maintains high relatedness while reducing local competition between relatives (relatively global competition). [source] THE EVOLUTION OF DISPERSAL IN A LEVINS' TYPE METAPOPULATION MODELEVOLUTION, Issue 10 2007Vincent A.A. Jansen We study the evolution of the dispersal rate in a metapopulation model with extinction and colonization dynamics, akin to the model as originally described by Levins. To do so we extend the metapopulation model with a description of the within patch dynamics. By means of a separation of time scales we analytically derive a fitness expression from first principles for this model. The fitness function can be written as an inclusive fitness equation (Hamilton's rule). By recasting this equation in a form that emphasizes the effects of competition we show the effect of the local competition and the local population size on the evolution of dispersal. We find that the evolution of dispersal cannot be easily interpreted in terms of avoidance of kin competition, but rather that increased dispersal reduces the competitive ability. Our model also yields a testable prediction in term of relatedness and life-history parameters. [source] No experimental evidence for local competition in the nestling phase as a driving force for density-dependent avian clutch sizeJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Marion Nicolaus Summary 1In birds, local competition for food between pairs during the nestling phase may affect nestling growth and survival. A decrease in clutch size with an increase in breeding density could be an adaptive response to this competition. To investigate whether breeding density causally affected the clutch size of great tits (Parus major), we manipulated breeding density in three out of eight study plots by increasing nest-box densities. We expected clutch size in these plots to be reduced compared to that in control plots. 2We analysed both the effects of variation in annual mean density (between-year comparisons) and experimental density (within-year comparison between plots) on clutch size variation, the occurrence of second broods and nestling growth. We examined within-female variation in clutch size to determine whether individual responses explain the variation over years. 3Over the 11 years, population breeding density increased (from 0·33 to 0·50 pairs ha,1) while clutch size and the occurrence of second broods decreased (respectively from 10·0 to 8·5 eggs and from 0·39 to 0·05), consistent with a negative density-dependent effect for the whole population. Nestling growth showed a declining but nonsignificant trend over years. 4The decline in population clutch size over years was primarily explained by changes occurring within individuals rather than selective disappearance of individuals laying large clutches. 5Within years, breeding density differed significantly between manipulated plots (0·16 pairs ha,1 vs. 0·77 pairs ha,1) but clutch size, occurrence of second broods and nestling growth were not affected by the experimental treatment, resulting in a discrepancy between the effects of experimental and annual variation in density on reproduction. 6We discuss two hypotheses that could explain this discrepancy: (i) the decline in breeding performance over time was not due to density, but resulted from other, unknown factors. (ii) Density did cause the decline in breeding performance, but this was not due to local competition in the nestling phase. Instead, we suggest that competition acting in a different phase (e.g. before egg laying or after fledgling) was responsible for the density effect on clutch size among years. [source] A conceptual framework for siting biorefineries in the Canadian PrairiesBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 4 2010Jason Luk Abstract Ethanol is increasingly used as a means to reduce gasoline consumption. As a result, it has also attracted analysis of its economic, social, and environmental merit. In order for the ethanol production industry to continue to expand, these issues must be confronted in future development. Although technological development is often relied upon, carefully considered ethanol refinery siting also mitigates some of these concerns. Five alternative siting locations were selected in the western Canadian Prairies. These were evaluated using 12 criteria which represent regional resources, economic conditions, government support, or social indicators. The criteria were weighted to represent the perspectives of two stakeholders. The Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment and Evaluations (PROMETHEE) method was applied to this data, ranking the alternative sites. Several future scenarios were created to analyze the sensitivity of the results to both statistical data and subjective inputs. The rankings proved to be robust, and varied little in the different scenarios. Southern Alberta had an advantage with a high ethanol byproduct demand, education level, and ethanol demand. Southern Manitoba benefitted from the lowest labor and miscellaneous costs, due to higher unemployment. Saskatchewan suffers from low byproduct demand and a decrease in water availability while having a heated economy which increases costs. In addition, Saskatchewan as a whole is currently the leader in ethanol production, resulting in less net demand, reduced access to government incentives, and more local competition. Southern Alberta and Southern Manitoba are the optimal regions for future ethanol biorefinery, where as the Saskatchewan locations are the least attractive. © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] Effect of Inoculum Composition and Low KCl Supplementation on the Biological and Rheological Stability of an Immobilized-Cell System for Mixed Mesophilic Lactic Starter ProductionBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 6 2001L. Lamboley Two strains of Lactococcus lactissubsp. lactis (L. lactis KB and KBP) and one of L. lactissubsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis (L. diacetylactis MD) were immobilized separately in ,-carrageenan-locust bean gum gel beads. Continuous fermentations were carried out in supplemented whey permeate in a 1-L pH-controlled stirred tank reactor inoculated with a 30% (v/v) bead inoculum and a bead ratio of 55:30:15 for KB, KBP, and MD, respectively. The process demonstrated a high productivity and microbial stability during the 7-week continuous culture. Compared with previous experiments carried out with an inoculum bead ratio of 33:33:33 for KB, KBP, and MD beads, respectively, the modification of the inoculum bead ratio had apparently little effect on free and immobilized, total and specific populations. A dominant behavior of L. diacetylactis MD over the other strains of the mixed culture was observed both with free-cell populations in the effluent and with immobilized-cell populations. Additional experiments were carried out with other strain combinations for continuous inoculation-prefermentation of milk. The data also confirmed the dominance of L. diacetylactis during long-term continuous immobilized-cell fermentations. This dominance may be tentatively explained by the local competition involved in the development of the bead cross-contamination and in citrate utilization by L. diacetylactis strains. The gel beads demonstrated a high rheological stability during the 7-week continuous fermentation even at low KCl supplementation of the broth medium (25 mM KCl). [source] Price Relationships in Processors' Input Market Areas: Testing Theories for Corn Prices Near Ethanol PlantsCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2-3 2005Paul Gallagher This study examines corn pricing in the vicinity of processing plants. We develop and test several price-distance models for cargo, insurance and freight (CIF) plant pricing in the presence of varying degrees of exporter competition, and for discriminatory free-on-board (FOB) pricing at the farm. The price-distance functions describing spatial prices near processing plants all depend on local transport costs. But the pricing system (CIF or FOB) and the extent of local competition define the level and spatial rate of change in prices.Estimations of an empirical price-location function for Iowa during the spring of 2003 suggest that prices near the plants of four conventional businesses conform to the CIF pricing model. But prices near producer-owned firms or farmer cooperatives failed to show any statistically significant effect on nearby prices. One plant had a price-distance function that resembled FOB pricing. Cet article étudie la tarification du maïs aux environs des usines agro-alimentaire utilisant cette céréale. Nous développons et testons plusieurs modèles de tarification CIF en présence de different niveaux de pressions compétitive à l'exportation. Nous testons aussi l'existence d'une tarification discriminatoire FOB au niveau de l'exploitation agricole. Les fonctions distance-prix décrivant les distributions spatiales des prix aux environs des usines agro-alimentaire dépendent toutes des coûts de transport local. Cependant le système de tarification (CIF ou FOB) et l'intensité de la compétition locale définissent le niveau et la sensibilité des prix en fonction de la distance.Les estimations des fonctions empiriques prix-situation geographique dans l'Iowa durant le printemps 2003 suggèrent que les prix aux alentours de quatre producteurs agro-alimentaire sont conformes à un modèle de tarification CIF. En revanche, les prix pratiques près des cooperatives ou des usines possedées par les exploitants agricole ne semblent pas affectés par des tarifications particulières. Un plan possède cependant une fonction prix-distance dont la forme à une tarification FOB. [source] | |||||||||||||