933 research outputs found
Firm Entry and Institutional Lock-in: An Organizational Ecology Analysis of the Global Fashion Design Industry
No full textFew industries are more concentrated than the global fashion industry. We analyse the geography and evolution of the ready-to-wear fashion design industry by looking at the yearly entry rates following an organizational ecology approach. In contrast to earlier studies on manufacturing industries, we find that legitimation effects are local and competition effects are global. This result points to the rapid turnover of ideas in fashion on the one hand and the global demand for fashion apparel on the other hand. We attribute the decline of Paris in the post-war period to 'institutional lock-in', which prevented a ready-to-wear cluster to emerge as vested interested of haute couture designers were threatened. An extended organizational ecology model provides empirical support for this claim.Organizational ecology, fashion industry, creative industries, clusters, institutional lock-in
Accepting Optimally in Automated Negotiation with Incomplete Information (abstract)
No full textIntelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
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Episode #2: Interview with President Koen Lenaerts
No full textEpisode #2 of the Borderlines CJEU Series features CJEU President Koen Lenaerts in conversation with Professor Katerina Linos (Berkeley) and Professor Mark Pollack (Temple University). President Lenaerts has been re-elected to the Court’s top office by his peers three times since 2015, having served tirelessly since his nomination to the CJEU in 2003 by home country of Belgium. His interview traces the historic path to today’s Court of Justice, and illuminates differences from other courts, including the U.S. federal judicial system.Listeners will come away with an overview of the Court’s functions and structural methodology in interpreting the EU legal order, including the role of the President, the Judge rapporteur, and the Advocate General. Presidential responsibilities include assigning cases to Judges and presiding over the Grand Chamber to deal with the most important cases. New developments in case law, evolving technological access, and finding balance between unity and diversity, privacy and security, are addressed by the head of the EU’s judicial institution.President Lenaerts in total has spent 35 years as a European Union Judge, initially serving on the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (now the General Court) when it was established in 1989. He earned his legal degrees including a doctorate in Belgium and also obtained a Masters of Laws and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University. President Lenaerts is Professor of European Union Law at Leuven University in Belgium and a member of many legal and academic associations including the Academia Europaea, London; the Advisory Council of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law; the Advisory Board of the Centre of Law and Governance in Europe, University College London; the Governing Board of the Foundation of the Academy of European Law (ERA), Trier; and the Board of Trustees of the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Heidelberg. He is the recipient of numerous awards and author of a vast list of publications.</p
Figs 8–14 in Review of two Tonnoir moth fly species, overlooked for a century (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae)
No full textFigs 8–14. Pneumia vittata (Tonnoir, 1919) comb. nov., male and female (13‒14). 8 – maxilla and palpus maxillaris; 9 – wing; 10 – epandrium, dorsal view; 11 – hypoproct and epiproct, dorsal view, dissected; 12 – epandrial lobe, dorsal view; 13 – cercus, lateral view; 14 – subgenital plate and genital chamber, dorsal view. Scale bars: 9 = 1 mm; 8, 10, 12, 13 = 0.2 mm; 11 = 0.1 mm; 14 = 0.3 mm.Published as part of Ježek, Jan, Oboňa, Jozef, Grootaert, Patrick, Lock, Koen, Manko, Peter & Dekoninck, Wouter, 2020, Review of two Tonnoir moth fly species, overlooked for a century (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae), pp. 517-526 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 60 (2) on page 520, DOI: 10.37520/aemnp.2020.034, http://zenodo.org/record/517761
Correction to: Decisional Balance Inventory (DBI) Adolescent Form for Smoking: Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version
No full textCorrection After publication of the article [1], it has been brought to our attention that the first and last names of the third author were transposed in the original article. The author was published as “Ponnet Koen” where in fact the correct name is “Koen Ponnet”. The original article has been revised to reflect this
Acceptance conditions in automated negotiation
No full textIn every negotiation with a deadline, one of the negotiating parties has to accept an offer to avoid a break off. A break off is usually an undesirable outcome for both parties, therefore it is important that a negotiator employs a proficient mechanism to decide under which conditions to accept. When designing such conditions one is faced with the acceptance dilemma: accepting the current offer may be suboptimal, as better offers may still be presented. On the other hand, accepting too late may prevent an agreement from being reached, resulting in a break off with no gain for either party. Motivated by the challenges of bilateral negotiations between automated agents and by the results and insights of the automated negotiating agents competition (ANAC), we classify and compare state-of-the-art generic acceptance conditions. We focus on decoupled acceptance conditions, i.e. conditions that do not depend on the bidding strategy that is used. We performed extensive experiments to compare the performance of acceptance conditions in combination with a broad range of bidding strategies and negotiation domains. Furthermore we propose new acceptance conditions and we demonstrate that they outperform the other conditions that we study. In particular, it is shown that they outperform the standard acceptance condition of comparing the current offer with the offer the agent is ready to send out. We also provide insight in to why some conditions work better than others and investigate correlations between the properties of the negotiation environment and the efficacy of acceptance conditions.MediamaticsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Measuring Safety Culture Using an Integrative Approach: The Development of a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework and an Applied Safety Culture Assessment Instrument
No full textAn exponential amount of academic research has been dedicated to the safety culture concept, but still, no consensus has been reached on its definition and content. In general, safety culture research lacks an interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, although the concept of safety culture is characterised by complexity and multifacetedness, the safety culture concept has been characterised by reductionism, where models and theories simplify the concept in order to better grasp it, leading to confined approaches. In this article, the multifacetedness of safety culture is acknowledged, and the topic is addressed from a safety science perspective, combining insights from multiple academic disciplines. An integrative and comprehensive conceptual framework to assess safety culture in organisations is developed, taking into account the limitations of existing models, as well as the needs of the work field. This conceptual framework is called the ‘Integrated Safety Culture Assessment’ (ISCA), where the ‘assessment’ refers to its practical usability. The practical rendition of ISCA can be used to map the safety culture of an organisation and to formulate recommendations in this regard, with the ultimate goal of bringing about a change towards a positive safety culture. The comprehensiveness of ISCA lies in the inclusion of technological factors, organisational or contextual factors and human factors interacting and interrelating with each other, and in considering both observable or objective safety-related aspects in an organisation, and non-observable or subjective safety-related aspects. When using ISCA, organisational safety culture is assessed in an integrative way by using a variety of research methods involving the entire organisation, and by taking into account the specific context of the organisation
Impact assessment of alien macroinvertebrates in Flanders (Belgium)
No full textBesides habitat fragmentation, the introduction of invasive species is considered to be one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Due to increased global trade, habitat degradation and climate change the number of species introductions has increased spectacularly during the last decades. This has led to changes in structure and functioning of ecosystems worldwide. In this study, the impact and spread of alien macroinvertebrates in surface waters in Flanders was investigated. To this end, a large database consisting of biological and physical-chemical data was used, which was collected by the Flemish Environment Agency and supplemented with own sampling campaigns. An integrated approach was aimed for, where the results from laboratory studies, long-term field data analysis and data-driven modelling were combined in order to gain insight in the ecology of alien macroinvertebrate species and the drivers that cause changes in macroinvertebrate community composition. A detailed study on the distribution of alien macroinvertebrates in Flanders revealed that in total, 65 alien macroinvertebrates are established of which 40 are regularly encountered in fresh and slightly brackish inland waters. Most alien taxa belonged to the crustaceans and molluscs originating from North America and the Ponto-Caspian region. Many alien species were first discovered in the east of Flanders from where they started the colonisation of the central and western parts of Flanders. Changes in the macroinvertebrate composition were discovered during the last two decades as a result of changing environmental conditions and the introduction of alien species. When analysing the factors that favoured the establishment and spread of alien macroinvertebrates it was found that shipping, hydro-morphological and physical-chemical factors were detrimental for the success of alien macroinvertebrates. Canals, harbours and the polder waters were hot spots for alien species introductions. Small streams were less invaded by alien macroinvertebrates probably because of a higher biotic resistance and the lack of proper vectors. Case studies of different aquatic ecosystems helped understanding the different factors contributing to successful invasions. The case study on the harbour of Ghent indicated that previously degraded ecosystems are favourable for the early establishment by alien macroinvertebrates. With improving chemical water quality due to the installation of wastewater treatment plants and a stricter environmental legislation not only indigenous, but also alien macroinvertebrates colonised the harbour of Ghent. In the polder waters the indigenous brackish water species decreased in abundance, whereas the American amphipod Gammarus tiginus quickly took in a dominant position after its establishment. These observed changes are probably caused by a decrease in salinity which coincided with an increase of freshwater asselids and the euryhaline species G. tigrinus. It was not only the introduction of the invasive amphipod, but the combination with changing environmental conditions that caused the changes in macroinvertebrate composition. The case study on the Belgian coastal harbours confirmed earlier findings that brackish waters are characterised by a low natural species diversity and a relatively high number of alien species. The harbour of Zeebrugge, which received most international ships, had the highest diversity of alien macroinvertebrates and was also characterised by a high site specific biocontamination index. The knowledge gathered during the case studies was used when making predictions on the future distribution of alien macrocrustaceans in Flanders. Based on data-driven classification and regressions trees it was found that alien macrocrustaceans prefer large rivers and canals with a good chemical water quality and that with increasing conductivity the abundance and species richness of alien macrocrustaceans increases in the brackish water environment. When incorporating the improvements in water quality, it was found that the number of alien species (alien species diversity) will increase in the future, but that the fraction of alien species (alien species abundance) will remain stable. In the last step, an integrated model coupling a habitat suitability model, a water quality model and a migration model was developed to predict the future distribution of a highly invasive alien amphipod species, Dikerogammarus villosus. It was found that D. villosus will invade more large watercourses in Flanders during the next fifteen years as a result of decreases in COD, nitrogen and phosphorous loads and an increase in oxygen concentration. It was calculated that D. villosus spreads with an average speed of five km per year and that given the relatively small size of Flanders, migration speed will not limit its maximal dispersal. The here developed model could be applied as an efficient tool by decision makers to perform risk analysis for (potential) invasive macroinvertebrate species to determine the future distribution range as this could help to reduce the number of species introductions and the impact they have on ecosystem functioning. Besides performing risk assessment several management measures, such as ballast water control, regulations regarding the trade of aquatic alien species and further insight in invaded ecosystems are necessary to reduce the further spread and minimise the impact of invasive alien species
Nudging as a crime prevention strategy: the use of nudges to improve cyclists’ locking behavior and reduce the opportunities for bicycle theft
No full textAs policy makers are developing new alternative strategies to prevent bicycle theft, a nudging approach could provide useful insights in this field. In the current study, two different nudges were implemented at a selection of bicycle parking facilities in the neighborhood of a Belgian university campus. To measure the effectiveness of the nudges, a multi-method approach was used with a combination of observations (n = 3963) and questionnaires (n = 197). The results showed that both nudges had a positive impact on cyclists’ locking behavior. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that nudging can be a rather cheap and easy way to improve secure behavior. However, concerns such as the limitations of increased awareness on behavior and the excessive focus on the victim need to be taken into account when implementing nudges in the field of security.Safety and Security Scienc
Firm Entry and Institutional Lock-in: An Organizational Ecology Analysis of the Global Fashion Design Industry.
No full textFew industries are more concentrated than the global fashion industry. We analyse the geography and evolution of the ready-to-wear fashion design industry by looking at the yearly entry rates following an organizational ecology approach. In contrast to earlier studies on manufacturing industries, we find that legitimation effects are local and competition effects are global. This result points to the rapid turnover of ideas in fashion on the one hand and the global demand for fashion apparel on the other hand. We attribute the decline of Paris in the post-war period to 'institutional lock-in', which prevented a ready-to-wear cluster to emerge as vested interested of haute couture designers were threatened. An extended organizational ecology model provides empirical support for this claim.Organizational ecology, fashion industry, creative industries, clusters, institutional lock-in Length 22 pages
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