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Micro Level (micro + level)
Selected AbstractsModeling Micro-Spatial Employment Location Patterns: A Comparison of Count and Choice ApproachesGEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS, Issue 2 2008Hyungtai Kim This article studies employment location patterns in the Puget Sound Region of Washington State at a micro level of geography. Traditional discrete choice modeling using multinomial logit (MNL) models may be problematic at a micro level of geography due to the high dimensionality of the set of alternative locations and the likely violations of the independence from irrelevant alternatives (IIA) assumption. Count models are free from the IIA assumption and, unlike logit models, actually benefit from large numbers of alternatives by adding degrees of freedom. This study identifies the best-fitting count model as the zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model, because this model more effectively addresses the large number of cells with no jobs and reflects a dual process that facilitates the identification of threshold clustering effects such as those found in specialized employment centers. The estimation and prediction results of ZINB are compared with those of MNL with a random sampling of alternatives estimated on an equivalent data set. The ZINB and MNL models largely agree on major trends, with the ZINB model providing more insightful details, but with less capacity to predict large count situations. [source] Internal Auditing and Risk Assessment in Large Italian Companies: an Empirical SurveyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 3 2003Marco Allegrini This paper aims at achieving an overall view regarding the state of the art of internal auditing in large Italian companies. Mainly, it is focused on risk assessment practices and on the execution of a risk-based approach in the audit process. The research is based on a survey carried out on the ,Top100' companies listed at the Italian Stock Exchange. Survey results reveal that practices vary significantly among three different models: 1A few companies (25%) carry out mainly traditional compliance activities and they generally follow an audit-cycle approach for the annual audit planning; 2In most companies (67%), internal auditors adopt the COSO model and perform mainly operational auditing. Risk-based approach is applied predominantly at macro level. 3Finally, it is possible to identify a very few large companies (8%), in which auditors are applying a risk-based approach both at macro and micro level. [source] Enhancing the quality of hermeneutic research: decision trailJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2004Lisa Whitehead BSc MA RGN Background., Researchers have ethical and professional obligations to produce research of a high standard. The constituents of quality in research appear to differ between authors, leaving readers unsure about which pathway to follow. This can reflect inadequate consideration of the theoretical framework guiding the study. Many papers fail to consider the theoretical underpinnings of the methodology chosen and the link between these and the methods employed. These need to be accessible to readers in order to assess the trustworthiness of the research. Aim., This paper discusses the development of trustworthiness in hermeneutic phenomenological research. Discussion., Referring to a study on lived experience of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/myalgic encephalitis, I describe the decision trail and discuss the strengths and limitations of the choices made throughout the study. Conclusion., The methodology focused my approach more fully on the importance of recognizing the influences that I brought to the study and the impact of these in generating the data. It highlighted the fact that the process of setting out my horizon can never be complete, the importance of analysing the data at a macro and micro level, acknowledging the evolution of the data over time, and ensuring that analysis does not move beyond the data and out of the hermeneutic circle. In seeking to make the decision trail clear to others, researchers must distill the philosophical principles of the methodology and set these out in a way that is accessible and open to scrutiny. [source] Enterprise Risk Management: Theory and PracticeJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 4 2006Brian W. Nocco The Chief Risk Officer of Nationwide Insurance teams up with a distinguished academic to discuss the benefits and challenges associated with the design and implementation of an enterprise risk management program. The authors begin by arguing that a carefully designed ERM program,one in which all material corporate risks are viewed and managed within a single framework,can be a source of long-run competitive advantage and value through its effects at both a "macro" or company-wide level and a "micro" or business-unit level. At the macro level, ERM enables senior management to identify, measure, and limit to acceptable levels the net exposures faced by the firm. By managing such exposures mainly with the idea of cushioning downside outcomes and protecting the firm's credit rating, ERM helps maintain the firm's access to capital and other resources necessary to implement its strategy and business plan. At the micro level, ERM adds value by ensuring that all material risks are "owned," and risk-return tradeoffs carefully evaluated, by operating managers and employees throughout the firm. To this end, business unit managers at Nationwide are required to provide information about major risks associated with all new capital projects,information that can then used by senior management to evaluate the marginal impact of the projects on the firm's total risk. And to encourage operating managers to focus on the risk-return tradeoffs in their own businesses, Nationwide's periodic performance evaluations of its business units attempt to refl ect their contributions to total risk by assigning risk-adjusted levels of "imputed" capital on which project managers are expected to earn adequate returns. The second, and by far the larger, part of the article provides an extensive guide to the process and major challenges that arise when implementing ERM, along with an account of Nationwide's approach to dealing with them. Among other issues, the authors discuss how a company should assess its risk "appetite," measure how much risk it is bearing, and decide which risks to retain and which to transfer to others. Consistent with the principle of comparative advantage it uses to guide such decisions, Nationwide attempts to limit "non-core" exposures, such as interest rate and equity risk, thereby enlarging the firm's capacity to bear the "information-intensive, insurance- specific" risks at the core of its business and competencies. [source] Primacy effect or recency effect?JOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2010A long-term memory test of Super Bowl commercials The serial position effects for television commercials were tested within a naturalistic setting in this study, at both the micro level and the macro level. Television viewers' brand memory (recall and recognition) for the 2006 Super Bowl commercials were analyzed. At the micro level, the serial position of each commercial in a same commercial pod was measured. When the length of a commercial pod was controlled for, an earlier position for a commercial generated better brand recall. When the number of preceding ads was held constant, a commercial in a pod with fewer ads generated better brand recognition. At the macro level, the serial position of each commercial pod within the whole Super Bowl game broadcast was measured. The commercial pods at earlier positions generated better brand memory. Both findings confirmed a strong primacy effect. Managerial implications of the findings were also discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Dangerousness and mental health policyJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2008J. L. HEWITT rmn rgn rnt bsc (hons) pgce pgcert couns Mental health policy development in the UK has become increasingly dominated by the assumed need to prevent violence and alleviate public concerns about the dangers of the mentally ill living in the community. Risk management has become the expected focus of contemporary mental health services, and responsibility has increasingly been devolved to individual service professionals when systems fail to prevent violence. This paper analyses the development of mental health legislation and its impact on services users and mental health professionals at the micro level of service delivery. Historical precedence, media influence and public opinion are explored, and the reification of risk is questioned in practical and ethical terms. The government's newest proposals for compulsory treatment in the community are discussed in terms of practical efficacy and therapeutic impact. Dangerousness is far from being an objectively observable phenomenon arising from clinical pathology, but is a formulation of what is partially knowable through social analysis and unknowable by virtue of its situation in individual psychic motivation. Risk assessment can therefore never be completely accurate, and the solution of a ,better safe than sorry' approach to mental health policy is ethically and pragmatically flawed. [source] Labour Market in Motion: Analysing Regional Flows in a Multi-accounting SystemLABOUR, Issue 4-5 2007Anette Haas We develop a flexible flow approach system , a multi-accounting system (MAS) , dealing with flows and stocks on regional labour markets. Combining administrative data at the micro level with various macro data, the MAS describes the dynamic transition process of the 180 local labour market areas in Germany. We use a new algorithm, related to entropy optimization, to estimate unknown transitions. Compared with conventional methods, the main advantage of our proceeding is that additional information from different data sources can be included that is of an inherently fuzzy character. [source] Does It Take a Village?LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY, Issue 4 2006Fear of Crime in Latin America, Policing Strategies ABSTRACT How can policymakers reduce public fear of crime in Latin America? This study compares the effectiveness of "zero tolerance" and community-based policing strategies in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. At the micro level, it assesses the links between fear of crime and social identity characteristics, contextual factors, the media, community participation, and other insecurities. It finds that citizens' economic, political, and social insecurities are the main determinants of their fear of crime. At the macro level, the study compares levels of public insecurity and finds that cities that employ community-based strategies to fight crime register lower levels of public fear of crime. [source] An econometric study of the decisions of a town planning authority: complementary & substitute uses of industrial activities in Hong KongMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2002Lawrence W.C. Lai This is a contribution to the research on the interface between urban economics and urban planning at the micro level on the one hand and economic development at the macro level on the other hand by a study of the relationship between the performance of the development application mechanism and economic development. This study is conducted in the light that neither urban economics nor urban planning research has utilized useful development control information that can help better understand the spatial and linkage aspects of the industrial sector in economic development. A probit study of a relatively large population of statistics (with 1728 observations) concerning planning applications for uses in lands under industrial zoning in Hong Kong is conducted in terms of 5 refutable hypotheses about the role of the planning authority in respect of land uses that are neutral to, complementary to and substitutes of industrial uses in a local context where major structural changes are occurring in the economy. The hypotheses are derived from standard price theory. The test discovers that, consistent with the theory of substitute goods, that the probabilities of mixed industrial/office and pure office uses in industrial zones being approved were dependent on the rise and fall of the manufacturing sector (measured in terms of labor share). However, those for ancillary office use, a use that theoretically should be complementary to industrial activities, were independent of the state of the manufacturing sector. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An analytical approach to evaluate the coefficients of thermal expansion of textile composite materialsPOLYMER COMPOSITES, Issue 5 2000Yasser Gowayed An analytical approach is developed to evaluate the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of textile reinforced composites. At the micro level, a cylindrical composite model is employed to model the fiber/matrix thermal and mechanical interactions. The effects of voids and fiber coating on the thermal expansion coefficients of composites are considered at this level. The cylindrical model was then embedded in a macro hybrid finite element solutio structure to calculate the value of the CTE for textile composites. AS-4/epoxy balanced plain weave textile composites were manufactured. Five different fiber volume fractions were tested for CTE. Evaluatio of the thermal expansion coefficients using the current model was compared to experimental data for in-plane and out-of-plane directions. [source] Ethnic conflict without ethnic groups: a study in pure sociology1THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Mark Cooney Abstract Despite growing awareness of the limitations of group-level analyses in ethnic studies, research on ethnic conflict has paid virtually no systematic attention to variation at the individual or micro level. Addressing that gap, the present paper draws upon data from interviews conducted with members of two broadly-defined categories recently arrived in the Republic of Ireland, Muslims and Nigerians. Results indicate that while members of both immigrant categories experience a good deal of ethnic conflict or hostility, such conflict is rarely collective and invariably varies across individuals. The research data are consistent with Donald Black's theory of moralism. Black's theory, based on his theoretical system known as pure sociology, predicts that ethnic hostility increases with the social inferiority and cultural distance of the immigrant, and that higher status immigrants are more assertive in responding to hostility, though they experience less of it (the status paradox). [source] Errors of aggregation and errors of specification in a consumer demand model: a theoretical noteCANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2006Frank T. Denton Abstract Consumer demand models based on the concept of a representative or average consumer suffer from aggregation error. Misspecification of the underlying micro utility-maximizing model, which is virtually inevitable, also results in error. This note provides a theoretical investigation of the relationship between the two types of error. Misspecified expenditure support functions for demand systems at the micro level induce the same misspecified structure in the corresponding expenditure functions at the macro level, and the errors at the two levels are shown to be of similar order. Les modèles de demande du consommateur fondés sur le consommateur moyen ou représentatif souffrent d'une erreur d'agrégation. Une mauvaise spécification du modèle sous-jacent de micro maximisation de l'utilité, qui est à peu près inévitable, est aussi source d'erreur. Cette note propose un examen théorique de la relation entre ces deux types d'erreurs. La mauvaise spécification des fonctions de dépenses qui fondent les systèmes de demande au niveau micro induit la même mauvaise spécification dans les fonctions de dépenses au niveau macro, et les erreurs aux deux niveaux sont d'un ordre similaire. [source] Connecting photosynthesis and cellular respiration: Preservice teachers' conceptionsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 7 2009Mary H. Brown Abstract The biological processes of photosynthesis and plant cellular respiration include multiple biochemical steps, occur simultaneously within plant cells, and share common molecular components. Yet, learners often compartmentalize functions and specialization of cell organelles relevant to these two processes, without considering the interconnections as well as the significance of the plant as an independent biological system functioning as a nested component within local and global ecosystems. Understanding connections among biological systems at macro and micro levels is important to biological literacy. This study examined preservice elementary teachers' conceptions of photosynthesis and plant cellular respiration, with attention to interconnections and systems. Participants were limited in their understanding of the processes impacting multiple ecological levels, and they held inadequate representations of interconnections between the processes. Participants' views were laden with sociological and egocentric components. They often compared plant functions with analogous human functions. Most participants viewed plants as dependent on humans while having societal use. Justifications for views included nominal knowledge of the processes; experiential authoritarian reasoning; and anthropomorphism. We discuss instructional implications in light of the findings. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 791,812, 2009 [source] Cancer research with non-coding RNACANCER SCIENCE, Issue 12 2006Yasuhiro Tomaru Cancer research is not limited to medical research; it expands over several disciplines, incorporating molecular bioscience at both the macro and micro levels. All stages and aspects of cells, from development and differentiation, apoptosis, cell adhesion and many more, are research fields with a connection to cancer. Cancer research in itself is the research of cancer cures. Recently, not only cancer but also bioscience research has surfed on the new wave of RNA knowledge. Most of those RNAs are non-protein-coding RNAs and are connected to cell development and differentiation, and thereby with cancer differentiation and treatment. Here we would like to introduce the latest in cancer research that has emerged from the field of molecular biology research. (Cancer Sci 2006; 97: 1285,1290) [source] | ||||||||||||||||