Determinants of Bank Performance in Transition Countries: A Data Envelopment Analysis

We analyze what drives bank efficiency in the transition countries of Central Europe and compare the results with those for the United States. This paper is one of the few that use data envelopment analysis for the computation of efficiency scores in transition countries, and, to our knowledge, it is the first to explore systematically how different specifications of data envelopment analysis affect the results. Our findings corroborate the common wisdom that foreign-owned banks operating in transition countries are more efficient than domestic banks. While in the United States large banks are in general more efficient, the result for transition countries depends on the design of data envelopment analysis.     

Description and Propagation of Uncertainty in Input Parameters in Environmental Fate Models

Today, chemical risk and safety assessments rely heavily on the estimation of environmental fate by models. The key compound‐related properties in such models describe partitioning and reactivity. Uncertainty in determining these properties can be separated into random and systematic (incompleteness) components, requiring different types of representation. Here, we evaluate two approaches that are suitable to treat also systematic errors, fuzzy arithmetic, and probability bounds analysis. When a best estimate (mode) and a range can be computed for an input parameter, then it is possible to characterize the uncertainty with a triangular fuzzy number (possibility distribution) or a corresponding probability box bound by two uniform distributions. We use a five‐compartment Level I fugacity model and reported empirical data from the literature for three well‐known environmental pollutants (benzene, pyrene, and DDT) as illustrative cases for this evaluation. Propagation of uncertainty by discrete probability calculus or interval arithmetic can be done at a low computational cost and gives maximum flexibility in applying different approaches. Our evaluation suggests that the difference between fuzzy arithmetic and probability bounds analysis is small, at least for this specific case. The fuzzy arithmetic approach can, however, be regarded as less conservative than probability bounds analysis if the assumption of independence is removed. Both approaches are sensitive to repeated parameters that may inflate the uncertainty estimate. Uncertainty described by probability boxes was therefore also propagated through the model by Monte Carlo simulation to show how this problem can be avoided.     

Sense of coherence and ill health among the unemployed and re-employed after closure of an assembly plant

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between employment status, ill health and sense of coherence(SOC). A cross-sectional sample of the former workers at the closed down Volvo Kalmar plant in Sweden was used. A questionnaire was mailed to all identified subjects 2 years after the closure of the plant. Responses were obtained from 344 persons, of whom 173 were re-employed and 92 were unemployed. They answered the questionnaire anonymously on background variables, SOC and ill health (physical and psychological symptoms). A notable difference was found between the re-employed and unemployed, where the unemployed reported symptoms significantly more often as well as a significantly weaker SOC. A main finding in a four cell model indicated that unemployment had a rather low impact on symptoms in the presence of a strong SOC. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed with simultaneous analysis of the unemployed and reemployed. The SEM analysis indicated that SOC seemed to have a greater impact on psychological symptoms among unemployed compared with re-employed persons. However, it should be noted that the present study does not allow for the determination of cause-effect relationships.     

Supplier Rationalization: A Sourcing Decision Model

We draw on extant literature on strategic sourcing and supply base rationalization to anchor our argument that measuring supplier performance diversity is germane to executing an effective supply base rationalization strategy. We explicate how a novel approach to data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficiency assessment can be utilized to measure this performance diversity. More specifically, our methods are anchored in cross efficiency analysis in DEA that allows for evaluating the efficiency of a supplier with respect to the optimal weights (strengths) of its peers. This methodology is applied to an actual supplier dataset of a large multinational telecommunications company in categorizing their supply base into groups for effective supplier rationalization. We conclude that measuring and analyzing the performance diversity within the framework of DEA provides a mechanism for firms to better balance a rationalized and diversified supply base with unique skills.     

Multidimensional Measurement and Comparison of China’s Educational Inequality

Social Indicators Research - Educational equity significantly supports the creation of a harmonious society, which has become one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations for...     

Remembering Vasco da Gama: Contested histories and the cultural politics of contemporary nation‐building in Lisbon,Portugal

The quincentennial year of Vasco da Gama's arrival in India, 1998, was pivotal in new efforts to reimagine and represent Portuguese national identity, as Lisbon hosted the country's first international exposition, Expo ‘98. The iconography of Da Gama and the golden age of the Portuguese maritime “Discoveries” permeated new urban development and official cultural events at the fair, calling attention to the relevance of Portugal's past to its present and future roles in emerging European and global economies, claiming special national expertise in brokering cross‐cultural exchanges, especially between Europe, Africa, and Asia, and highlighting cosmopolitan Lisbon's historic and continuing importance in such encounters. Newer liberal reinterpretations of Portuguese history were challenged by leftist and anti‐imperialist elements within Portugal, by critics in India, and by the Portuguese right wing. This controversy over historical commemoration also offered implicit commentary on the quality of Portuguese democracy, especially over how much Portugal has superseded the ideologies of the right‐wing Salazarist “New State,” which officially ended in 1974.