A Generalized Estimating Equation in Longitudinal Data to Determine an Efficiency Indicator for Football Teams

Over the years football has attracted enormous interest from various fields of study, attracting attention both for its sporting and social aspects. Professional business operators consider football an important industry with enormous potential both in terms of its size and growth, and also because of indirect benefits due to the popularity gained by investors and management of football teams. The focus of the analysis has been on what characterizes most football clubs, and determines their particular economic and financial needs. The aim of this paper is to establish an efficiency measurement for football team financial resource allocation. In particular, we analysed the impact that the income statement, Net equity and Team value variables have on the points achieved by football teams playing in “Serie A” championship (Italian league). The method used in our study is a generalized estimating equation (GEE) for longitudinal count data. In addition we consider a coefficient of determination in the GEE approach based on Wald Statistics, and we propose a modified Mallow’s Cp for choosing the best model. Finally we propose an AFRSport index based on the differences between observed and theoretical points, in order to identify those teams that efficiently employ their financial resources.

     

Loud callings limit human tolerance towards invasive parakeets in urban areas

Biological invasions represent today one of the main cause of the global biodiversity crisis, particularly in urban and suburban areas. Research on this topic have traditionally focused on ecological impacts, with poor regards to the social components. The ring-necked parakeet Psittacula krameri is one of the most successful invaders and it is widely appreciated by the general public, being introduced through the pet trade. In this work we assessed whether long-term introduction, total population size and number of loud flight-calls affected social perception of this species in three populations from Italian cities. We used a visual survey (N?=?414 questionnaires), which has been proven to be successful for testing attitudes on ring-necked parakeets. Tolerance towards this invasive species declined sharply with increasing number of loud calls by this species, thus providing support to the hypothesis of involvement of the ring-necked parakeet in noise pollution. Conversely, total population size and years since the first local introduction were not found out to be important variable determining social attitudes. Awareness on invasive species impacts is mostly obtained only when invasive populations are already affecting native biodiversity and human wellness, thus when management becomes challenging. Thus, at early invasion stages, intervention towards invasive species, particularly if charismatic, are often hampered by social public and animal right movements, especially in urban ecosystems. Educational campaigns on ecological and social impact by invasive alien species in urban ecosystems are therefore strongly recommended to implement effective management actions.

     

Efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge management systems in SMEs

This paper proposes a 3D fuzzy logic methodology to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge management systems (KMSs) adopted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and identifies a classification bringing together the behaviour of SMEs when adopting KMSs. The proposed methodology was previously tested on an individual SME and then implemented on a sample of SMEs. The results highlight that there is an ample variety of behaviours related to the nature of knowledge and the KMSs used. Specifically, four typologies of behaviour are identified: the efficient and effective SME, the effective but inefficient SME, the efficient but ineffective SME, and the inefficient and ineffective SME. The results show that only 18% of surveyed SMEs are efficient and effective for both KM-Tools and KM-Practices, the remaining 82% are inefficient or ineffective for KM-Tools and/or KM-Practices. Lastly, the paper shows how this methodology may be used by an SME as a managerial tool to suggest appropriate changes to improve the efficient and effective adoption of KMSs supporting SMEs in the knowledge management processes.     

DESENSITIZING HERBERT BLUMER'S WORK ON RACE RELATIONS

Recent applications of Herbert Blumer's group position model to the study of contemporary race prejudice have misrepresented the ongoing process of definition and accommodation that, according to Blumer, mediates race relations. By conforming to the canons of research design and using standard sample surveys, public opinion polls, variables analysis, and statistical techniques to study perceptions of group threat, group hostility, and prejudicial attitudes, Blumer's dynamic social imagery, as well as the socially grounded methodology he sought to promote, are undermined. The result is a static depiction of race relations that has nothing to do with the variegated experiential complexities that Blumer claimed underlie all human group life.     

Testing for cointegration at any frequency using spectral methods

Summary In this paper a new simple test for cointegration at any frequency is presented. This method can thus be applied to test for cointegration both at the zero and at the seasonal frequencies. It requires the estimation of the coherency spectrum of weakly stationary processes, therefore only standard spectral theory is involved. The testing procedure is similar to the one suggested by Phillips and Ouliaris (1988) and recently generalized by Joyeux (1992) to frequencies different from zero, but it does not suffer of some problems connected with the use of principal components methods in the frequency domain. Invited paper at the Conference held in Bologna, Italy, 27–28 May 1993, on ?Statistical Tests: Methodology and Econometric Applications?.     

Long-term Growth Perspectives and Economic Convergence of CEE and SEE Countries

The paper first investigates the main drivers of economic growth and real convergence in CEE and SEE Countries. In the theoretical framework provided by the growth-accounting approach, both are shown to be driven by capital accumulation and total factor productivity changes, with the latter making however a major contribution. The nominal convergence path towards the Eurozone is then analysed. Despite considerable results obtained in the last decade, most EU new members are still found to face severe challenges in the process of converging towards Maastricht criteria. The need to reconcile exchange rate stability with inflation convergence is in particular seen to be at the heart of their de facto decision to delay the EMU entry date until a higher degree of real convergence will have been achieved.

New perspectives on a more-or-less familiar poverty index

In this article, we examine some properties and extensions of a particular poverty index, which is already passingly familiar to poverty analysts. Our investigation leads to a new perspective on the family of additively decomposable and scale-invariant poverty indices and provides new insights into the class of poverty measures proposed by Foster et al. (Econometrica 52:761–766, 1984). Finally, our work leads to a clarification of the different roles of transfer properties and distribution sensitivity in poverty measurement.     

ANOTHER STEP IN THE STUDY OF RACE RELATIONS

Recent qualitative researchers have argued the need for a more sensitizing approach to race research that elevates in importance the concerns and interests of those under study. This article illustrates how Herbert Blumer's work on race relations, critical race theory, and participatory action research may help this objective. These projects' similar epistemologies advance a type of social imagery that has powerful emancipatory implications in regard to racial oppression. Simply put, dominant renditions of social reality–including structural imperatives and racial identities–are illustrated to be socially constructed and hence open to negotiation. As a result of this shift, sensitizing methodologies (e.g., storytelling and collaboration) are employed that allow minorities an opportunity for self-representation. The liberating potential of all these projects can be further enhanced by relating their conceptual links to recent developments in contemporary social theory. Specifically, the typical concerns with process, interaction, and experiential meanings are intersubjectively mediated and not reducible to an objective subjective theoretical framework. Rather than simply personal or external, all knowledge is recognized to be fluid and coproduced. By grounding research on this intersubjective region, equitable exchanges are possible.