Some asymptotic behaviour of the bootstrap estimates on a finite sample

Bootstrapping the mean, variance, standard error of the mean, regression coefficient and its standard error is considered. It is shown that at a fixed sample size bootstrap estimates converge to classical sample estimates as the number of bootstrap replications tends to infinity. For the mean, variance and regression coefficient, convergence almost everywhere is proven; for the standard error of the mean and standard error of the regression coefficient, weak convergence is proven. The speed of convergence is illustrated by simulation results.     

You don’t forget where you come from: linking formation and operations in publicly funded innovation networks

Abstract

Publicly funded innovation networks (PFINs) are an increasing form of organizing joint innovation activities. Yet, little is known about this form of organization which mixes characteristics of centralized and de-centralized innovation networks. This research investigates how processes of network formation affect its operation in PFINs as a hybrid form between centralized and de-centralized networks. Presenting rich data from a PFIN in the Scandinavian maritime industry, the findings show three patterns linking network formation and operation. The first pattern – well-aligned centralized and de-centralized approaches – in network formation resulted in well-functioning network operation. The second pattern – misalignment between centralized and de-centralized approaches in network formation resulted in stagnating innovation activities during network operation. The third pattern – a pre-dominant de-centralized approach during network formation resulted in unconnected sub-activities during network operation. This research contributes by showing the importance of utilizing both centralized and de-centralized approaches and aligning them to enable well-functioning network formation and operation.     

On MLEs of the parameters of a modified Weibull distribution based on record values

The modified Weibull distribution can be used quite effectively to model complex data from mechanical engineering or survival analysis studies that posses a monotonic or a bathtub-shape hazard rate. In this paper, we study the MLEs of the parameters of a modified Weibull distribution model in the presence of upper kth record values. The existence and uniqueness of the MLEs are proven in this case. Real data analysis is performed for illustrative purposes.     

An analysis of vendor innovation capability in the contract electronics manufacturing industry

Limited academic research has been given to analysing the innovation capabilities of vendors in outsourcing contracts. This paper seeks to address this gap in the literature by enhancing our understanding of how the innovation capability of vendors is deployed to win, run and renew outsourcing contracts with their customers. Employing the resource-based view as a theoretical basis and undertaking in-depth case study analysis of three vendors in the electronic manufacturing services industry, the research shows that to achieve the outsourcing objectives of winning, running and renewing the contract, vendors can use different configurations of the competitive priorities of cost, quality, delivery and flexibility. The research aggregates the capabilities that influence the innovative capability of a vendor into the innovation-related capabilities (IRCs) of design, new product introduction and manufacturing. Three strategies are identified for vendors on how to deploy these IRCs, and a number of propositions are developed to indicate the suitability of the three deployment strategies for different operational contexts.     

Adaptive Flood Risk Management Under Climate Change Uncertainty Using Real Options and Optimization

It is well recognized that adaptive and flexible flood risk strategies are required to account for future uncertainties. Development of such strategies is, however, a challenge. Climate change alone is a significant complication, but, in addition, complexities exist trying to identify the most appropriate set of mitigation measures, or interventions. There are a range of economic and environmental performance measures that require consideration, and the spatial and temporal aspects of evaluating the performance of these is complex. All these elements pose severe difficulties to decisionmakers. This article describes a decision support methodology that has the capability to assess the most appropriate set of interventions to make in a flood system and the opportune time to make these interventions, given the future uncertainties. The flood risk strategies have been explicitly designed to allow for flexible adaptive measures by capturing the concepts of real options and multiobjective optimization to evaluate potential flood risk management opportunities. A state‐of‐the‐art flood risk analysis tool is employed to evaluate the risk associated to each strategy over future points in time and a multiobjective genetic algorithm is utilized to search for the optimal adaptive strategies. The modeling system has been applied to a reach on the Thames Estuary (London, England), and initial results show the inclusion of flexibility is advantageous, while the outputs provide decisionmakers with supplementary knowledge that previously has not been considered.     

The role of therapeutic mentoring in enhancing outcomes for youth in foster care

Effective service interventions greatly enhance the well-being of foster youth. A study of 262 foster youth examined one such intervention, therapeutic mentoring. Results showed that mentored youth improved significantly in the areas of family and social functioning, school behavior, and recreational activities, as well as in the reduction of expressed symptoms of traumatic stress. Study results suggest that therapeutic mentoring shows promise for enhancing treatment interventions.     

Reasons Why Adolescents and Young Adults Have Sex: Associations With Psychological Characteristics and Sexual Behavior

We critically review the concepts of sexual addiction, sexual compulsivity, and sexual impulsivity and discuss their theoretical bases. A sample of 31 self‐defined sex addicts was assessed by means of interview and questionnaires and compared with a large age‐matched control group. A tendency to experience increased sexual interest in states of depression or anxiety was strongly characteristic of the sex addict group. Dissociative experiences were described by 45% of sex addicts and may have some explanatory relevance. Obsessive‐compulsive mechanisms may be relevant in some cases, and the addiction concept may prove to be relevant with further research. Overall, results suggested that out of control sexual behavior results from a variety of mechanisms. We propose an alternative theoretical approach to investigating these mechanisms based on the dual control model and recent research on the relation between mood and sexuality.     

Sexual addiction, sexual compulsivity, sexual impulsivity, or what? Toward a theoretical model

We critically review the concepts of sexual addiction, sexual compulsivity, and sexual impulsivity and discuss their theoretical bases. A sample of 31 self-defined sex addicts were assessed by means of interview and questionnaires and compared with a large age-matched control group. A tendency to experience increased sexual interest in states of depression or anxiety was strongly characteristic of the sex addict group. Dissociative experiences were described by 45% of sex addicts and may have some explanatory relevance. Obsessive-compulsive mechanisms may be relevant in some cases, and the addiction concept may prove to be relevant with further research. Overall, results suggested that out of control sexual behavior results from a variety of mechanisms. We propose an alternative theoretical approach to investigating these mechanisms based on the dual control model and recent research on the relation between mood and sexuality.     

Implementation guidelines for mass customization: current characteristics and suggestions for improvement

Interest in mass customization (MC) is increasing in both industry and academia. Academic research on MC implementation guidelines (IGs) has, however, lagged behind other research streams in the MC literature. The present article reviews the existing literature on MC-IGs and inductively derives a classification scheme for prior research findings to identify potential areas for further research. While the issue of what enables MC has been intensively researched, investigation of several questions is still required, such as which enablers should be implemented and in what sequence, depending on the specific context in which MC is pursued. Other areas for future study of MC-IGs include applicability context specifications, as-is analysis tools, hindrance factors and required resources. This article complements previous MC literature reviews by providing an overview of MC-IGs available in the literature, identifying the building blocks of MC-IGs and proposing a definition of MC-IGs that can be used as a basis for future research in MC implementation.     

MCMC implementation for Bayesian hidden semi-Markov models with illustrative applications

Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are flexible, well-established models useful in a diverse range of applications. However, one potential limitation of such models lies in their inability to explicitly structure the holding times of each hidden state. Hidden semi-Markov models (HSMMs) are more useful in the latter respect as they incorporate additional temporal structure by explicit modelling of the holding times. However, HSMMs have generally received less attention in the literature, mainly due to their intensive computational requirements. Here a Bayesian implementation of HSMMs is presented. Recursive algorithms are proposed in conjunction with Metropolis-Hastings in such a way as to avoid sampling from the distribution of the hidden state sequence in the MCMC sampler. This provides a computationally tractable estimation framework for HSMMs avoiding the limitations associated with the conventional EM algorithm regarding model flexibility. Performance of the proposed implementation is demonstrated through simulation experiments as well as an illustrative application relating to recurrent failures in a network of underground water pipes where random effects are also included into the HSMM to allow for pipe heterogeneity.