Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Relative Decline (relative + decline)
Selected AbstractsPolicy Reform and Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: Absolute Progress but Relative DeclineDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2004Elizabeth Asiedu Despite improvements in the policy environment, sub-Saharan Africa's share of foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries continues to decline. This article provides an explanation for the deterioration in SSA's FDI global position. It argues that, although SSA has reformed its institutions, improved its infrastructure and liberalised its FDI regulatory framework, the degree of reform has been mediocre compared with the reform implemented in other developing countries. As a consequence, relative to other regions, SSA has become less attractive for FDI. An important implication of these results is that in a competitive global economy, it is not enough just to improve one's policy environment: improvements need to be made both in absolute and relative terms. [source] Modelling the Influence of Age, Body Size and Sex on Maximum Oxygen Uptake in Older HumansEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Patrick J. Johnson The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of body size and sex on the decline in maximum oxygen uptake (V,O2,max) in older men and women. A stratified random sample of 152 men and 146 women, aged 55-86 years, was drawn from the study population. Influence of age on V,O2,max, independent of differences in body mass (BM) or fat-free mass (FFM), was investigated using the following allometric model: V,O2,max= BMb (or FFMb) exp(a + (c × age) + (d × sex)) [epsilon]. The model was linearised and parameters identified using standard multiple regression. The BM model explained 68.8% of the variance in V,O2,max. The parameters (± s.e.e., standard error of the estimate) for lnBM (0.563 ± 0.070), age (-0.0154 ± 0.0012), sex (0.242 ± 0.024) and the intercept (-1.09 ± 0.32) were all significant (P < 0.001). The FFM model explained 69.3% of the variance in V,O2,max, and the parameters (± s.e.e) lnFFM (0.772 ± 0.090), age (-0.0159 ± 0.0012) and the intercept (-1.57 ± 0.36) were significant (P < 0.001), while sex (0.077 +/, 0.038) was significant at P = 0.0497. Regardless of the model used, the age-associated decline was similar, with a relative decline of 15% per decade (0.984 exp(age)) in V,O2,max in older humans being estimated. The study has demonstrated that, for a randomly drawn sample, the age-related loss in V,O2,max is determined, in part, by the loss of fat-free body mass. When this factor is accounted for, the loss of V,O2,max across age is similar in older men and women. [source] Waterfall attractions in coastal tourist areas: the Yorkshire coast and Queensland's Gold Coast comparedINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 4 2003Brian J. Hudson Abstract A comparative study of tourism development on the Yorkshire coast and Queensland's Gold Coast illustrates the importance of waterfalls as attractions, even in beach orientated tourist areas catering mainly for seaside holidaymakers. A relative decline in the importance of the Yorkshire coast waterfall attractions whereas those of the Gold Coast hinterland continue to play a major role is attributed to differences in quantity and quality of these scenic resources, problems of access and the availability of other, and, for many, superior, waterfall attractions within easy reach. Appropriate levels of development at and access to waterfall sites are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd. [source] TIEBOUT DYNAMICS: NEIGHBORHOOD RESPONSE TO A CENTRAL-CITY/SUBURBAN HOUSE-PRICE DIFFERENTIAL,JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2007Paul Thorsnes ABSTRACT We take advantage of an unusual natural experiment,a high-quality 1920s subdivision split neatly in half by a central-city/suburban boundary,to study the response over 30 years to the relative decline in the quality of central-city services since the 1960s. As expected, a large sale price differential opens in the 1960s. Demographic characteristics are nevertheless similar across the boundary. Survey data indicate Tiebout sorting: the central city side attracts households who prefer alternatives to suburban public schools. Children attend parochial and public "magnet" schools. A neighborhood association supplements municipal services. Rigid service district boundaries inhibit closure of the house-price differential. [source] Declining health insurance access among US hispanic workers: Not all jobs are created equalAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010Kathryn E. McCollister PhD Abstract Introduction Approximately 18% of the U.S. population are uninsured, a proportion that may continue to rise, particularly among Hispanics, as the cost of medical care increases faster than the growth in wages. Methods Health insurance trends were analyzed by race,ethnic category, and among Hispanic workers by occupation type and industrial sector, using data on employed respondents ,18 years from 1997 to 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (mean annual n,=,17,392, representing 123 million US workers on average over this 11 year period). Results From 1997 to 2007, the relative decline in health insurance coverage for US workers was greatest among Hispanics (7.0%). Hispanic workers in the Construction and Services industries had the greatest overall decline in coverage (24.9% and 14.7%), as well as Hispanic blue collar workers (14.0%). Conclusion Hispanic workers in general, and those employed in blue collar, construction, and services sectors in particular, are at greater risk for poor access to health care due to a lack of health insurance coverage. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:163,170 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] From citadels to clusters: the evolution of regional innovation policies in AustraliaR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2004Sam Garrett-jones In Australia, the federal (central) and State (regional) governments share constitutional responsibility for aspects of science and innovation policy. In practice, the federal government has tended to overshadow the States both in funding and policy for research and innovation. It can be argued that we are now seeing the strong rebirth of regionalism (at least at the State level) as far as government support for science, technology and knowledge-based industries is concerned. The paper traces the growth of regional innovation policies through examples of initiatives from South Australia and other regions and examines the respective contributions of the State and federal governments. The character of State government support has evolved over the last 15 years, from sponsoring grand ,technology citadels' to today's strategies that take a more bottom-up approach to building intense innovation environments, local clusters and knowledge hubs. Some of these trends reflect the influence of the global knowledge economy on regional industries, while others (notably the relative decline of the federal government as an R&D performer) are peculiarities of the Australian innovation system. The outcome is a significant evolution in Australia's innovation system, one which parallels responses to globalisation in other countries and suggests a different , but not diminished , role for public sector innovation policy. [source] Age- and site-specific decline in insulin-like growth factor-I receptor expression is correlated with differential growth plate activity in the mouse hindlimbTHE ANATOMICAL RECORD : ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2007Maria A. Serrat Abstract The proximal and distal growth plates of the principal long bones do not contribute equally to longitudinal growth. Most forelimb elongation occurs at the shoulder and wrist, while most hindlimb growth occurs at the knee. This study examined whether insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), a potent growth regulator, could underlie this variation via differential receptor expression. The spatiotemporal distribution of the IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) was mapped in hindlimb growth plates (overall and within regional zones) from immature mice using immunohistochemistry. Growth activity was assessed by size/morphology of the growth plate and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression. Both IGF-IR and PCNA staining declined considerably with age in the proximal femur and distal tibia (hip and ankle), but expression remained high in the more active distal femur and proximal tibia (knee) throughout growth. Growth plate size decreased with age in all sites, but the absolute and relative decline in IGF-IR in the hips and ankles of older mice indicated a site-specific loss of IGF-I sensitivity in these less active regions. These results suggest that regulation of the IGF-IR may at least partially mediate differential long bone growth, thereby providing a local mechanism for altering skeletal proportions absent modification of systemic hormone levels. Anat Rec, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Formes de propriete et niveau d'efficacite technique des entreprises canadiennesCANADIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, Issue 2 2006Richard Bozec Abstract This paper seeks to further examine the ownership-performance relationship and to overcome some methodological dificulties encountered hitherto in this field of research. By and large, the results show a real or relative decline of privatized State-owned enterprises y (SOE) technical eficiency in the post-privatization period. While some analyses show no signijcant difference between the eficiency of SOEs and that of their private counterparts, others, on the contrary, suggest that SOEs are more eficient. As for our study, it came to the conclusion that SOEs have never seemed to be less efficient than private companies. Résumé La prénte étude vise à examiner plus en profondeur la relation entre la forme de propriété et la performance et à pallier certaines difficultés méthodologiques rencontrées jusqu'alors dans ce domaine de recherche. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats indiquent une baisse réelle ou relative de l'efficacité technique des entreprises privatisées suite au transfert de leur propriété. Si certaines analyses comparant l'efficacité entre les sociétés d'Etat et les entreprises privées du m,me secteur démontrent l'absence de différence entre les deux groupes, d'autres, au contraire, suggerent que les sociétés d'Etat sont plus efficaces. Notre étude démontre quant à elle que jamais les entreprises publiques ne sont globalement apparues comme moins efficaces par rapport aux entreprises privées. [source] Cropping patterns in the Canadian Prairies: thirty years of changeTHE GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002William J. Carlyle Changes in cropping patterns in the Canadian Prairies are examined from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s using census data. Patterns of change within the region are mapped by census division using averaged proportions of land in crops occupied by the main crops for three pairs of census years. Spring wheat and oat have undergone the most significant relative declines. Canola increased dramatically from being the sixth-ranked crop by area in the early 1960s to the third-ranked crop by area by the 1990s. The main change in the Brown soil zone has been a large decline in spring wheat and a compensatory gain in durum wheat. Increases in special crops, especially pulse crops, canola and durum wheat have offset a substantial decline in spring wheat in the Dark Brown soil zone. Barley, tame hay and especially canola have increased at the expense of spring wheat, oat and flaxseed in the Black and Gray soil zones. Prices, transportation costs, changing export markets, crop breeding and local processing all have contributed to these changes. [source] | ||||||||||||||||