The Essence of Dynamic Capabilities and their Measurement

The growing popularity of explaining firm performance through dynamic capabilities has motivated plenty of conceptual development in the field. However, empirical approaches to measuring dynamic capabilities have so far not been under comprehensive scrutiny. The authors; purpose is to assess the extent to which different ways of measuring dynamic capabilities in quantitative studies correspond to the theoretical essence of the concept, and develop recommendations for future research. They find that four types of operationalizations have been used: (1) managers’ evaluations; (2) financial data; (3) company's experience, actions and performance; and (4) managers’ or employees’ experience, actions and performance. Based on their analysis, the authors provide eight recommendations for future research that relate to identifying ordinary and dynamic capabilities, avoiding common method bias, taking into account the quality and fitness rather than the quantity of dynamic capabilities, and acknowledging the cumulativeness of dynamic capabilities through the use of longitudinal data. They conclude that refining the dynamic capability operationalizations would help to formulate competing hypotheses and to increase the theoretical precision of the field.     

Re‐storying the Business,Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Concepts: The Model‐Narrative Review Method

We propose a novel literature review method in order to systematically trace and reveal the dominant narratives of a body of literature: the model‐narrative review method. We apply this method to an ever‐growing literature on ecosystems in business studies, as it resembles a rich knowledge base with somewhat competing, overarching stories, replete with emplotted characters, systematic puzzles and embellished scientific drama. To interpret these unfolding storylines, we both separately engage with and connect seminal work on business, entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems. Through thematic reading we map the key themes and scientific puzzles in each ecosystem type. Through enstoried reading we identify how authors construct the plot, narrative setting, emplotted characters, narrative voices and moral lessons around ecosystems. Through rhetorical reading we explicate the rhetorical devices and strategies that claim the relevance of their work. Our findings expose a number of hidden meanings and underlying assumptions, adding transparency to ecosystem rhetorics and enhancing conceptual clarity. Altogether, this method offers a systematic construction of model‐narratives to synthesize and critically reflect upon similarities and differences between related concepts and opens up space for alternative research questions.     

Measurement and socio-demographic variation of social capital in a large population-based survey

Objectives The main objective of this study was to describe the variation of individual social capital according to socio-demographic factors, and to develop a suitable way to measure social capital for this purpose. The similarity of socio-demographic variation between the genders was also assessed. Data and methods The study applied cross-sectional data from the national Finnish Health 2000 survey (n = 8,028) which represents the adult population, aged 30 years and over. Several variables indicating social capital were condensed to dimensions on the basis of factor analysis. Participants were categorized into tertiles in each dimension of social capital by means of factor scores. The multinomial logistic regression model was used to produce the adjusted prevalences for the dimensions of social capital according to socio-demographic categories (age, gender, education, living arrangements, income, and type of region). Results Three dimensions of social capital were distinguished: social support, social participation and networks, and trust and reciprocity. Age had an inverse association with social support as well as participation and networks, and a curvilinear association between age and trust and reciprocity, the oldest age groups showing the highest level of trust. Married persons and those in the highest educational and income groups tended to have more social capital than other persons. Residents of urban and rural regions did not systematically differ from each other in their level of social capital although residents of urban regions participated less and showed less trust than people living in semi-urban or rural regions. Social support varied significantly with gender. The decline of social support by age was steeper in women than in men. Social participation and networks increased with education, the gradient appearing steeper among men. The difference between married and cohabiting men was substantial compared to women when it came to trust. Conclusions People who are young, married, educated, and well-off have plenty of social capital. This information might help various services to concentrate the actions on the people in danger of social exclusion. Our results also form a basis for the future by allowing the changes in social capital to be examined over time and over different studies.     

Technology Effects on Wages in Finnish Manufacturing

In this paper we study the effect of technology on establishment‐level wages using a classification of manufacturing industries based on four technology levels. The technology wage premiums are estimated separately for non‐manual and manual workers using wage equations with available control variables for plant and workforce characteristics (human capital) over the time period 1974–93. The results do not show a straightforward increasing relationship between a plant’s average wages and its technology at higher technology levels. However, establishments with the lowest technology level paid the lowest wages during the whole period. We also find that the relative non‐manual to manual wage ratio increased over the time period in the highest technology levels. These findings are consistent with technology wage premiums and skill‐biased technological change found in studies for other countries     

Comparative evaluation of aesthetic, biological, and economic effectiveness of different lawn management programs

We evaluated aesthetic (lawn quality), biological (weeds and insect pests), and economic (management costs) effectiveness of a commercial (managed by a professional company), consumer (managed using consumer lawn care products following labeled instructions), integrated pest management (IPM) (pesticide applications based on monitoring and thresholds), organic (monitoring and need-based organic and natural product applications), and an untreated lawn care program. Percent weed cover was the lowest in the commercial followed by IPM, organic, and consumer programs. The commercial program had lower white grub density than all other programs, and the organic program had lower white grub density than the untreated program. The commercial program had the highest lawn quality while the untreated program had the lowest. The IPM and organic programs did not differ significantly in lawn quality, but both rated significantly higher than the consumer program. Annual costs were highest in the commercial ($382/0.05 ha) followed by the organic ($305/0.05 ha), IPM ($252/0.05 ha), and consumer program ($127/0.05 ha), respectively. We conclude that the commercial program produced the highest lawn quality, and weed and insect control, and was the most expensive. The IPM and organic programs were cheaper than the commercial program and produced slightly lower lawn quality. Although the consumer program was the cheapest, it produced the lowest weed control and lawn quality among treated lawns.     

Alternative imputation techniques for complex metric variables

This paper deals with imputation techniques and strategies. Usually, imputation truly commences after the first data editing, but many preceding operations are needed before that. In this editing step, the missing or deficient items are to be recognized and coded, and then it is decided which of these, if any, should be substituted by imputing. There are a number of imputation methods and their specifications. Consequently, it is not clear what method finally should be chosen, especially when an imputation method may be best in one respect, and another method in the other. In this paper, we consider these questions through the following four imputation methods: (i) random hot decking, (ii) logistic regression imputation, (iii) linear regression imputation, and (iv) regression-based nearest neighbour hot decking. The last two methods are applied with the two different specifications. The two metric variables have been used in empirical tests. The first is very complex, but the second is more ordinary, and thus easier to handle. The empirical examples are based on simulations, which clearly show the biases of the various methods and their specifications. In general, it seems that method (iv) is recommendable although the results from it are not perfect either.     

TMJ-Dysfunction Symptoms among Finnish University Students

Abstract

“Recurrent Vaginal and Cervical Ulcers Associated With Tampon Use,” Steven M. Weissberg, Melvin G. Dodson. Three cases of recurrent vaginal and cervical ulcers were associated with tampon use. We review the diagnosis, treatment, and management and discuss the possible etiologic mechanisms. Prevention of recurrent ulceration may be best approached by discontinuation of tampon use. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1983;250:1430–1431)     

Differences in mortality by marital status in Finland from 1976 to 2000: analyses of changes in marital-status distributions, socio-demographic and household composition, and cause of death

Being currently not married is more common today than 25 years ago. Over this period relative differences in mortality by marital status have increased in several countries, mainly as a result of a sharp decline in mortality among the married. Using Finnish census data linked with death certificates, we show that these increases are not explained by the non-married population becoming more marginalized in socio-economic status or household composition. However, the increases in marital-status differences in mortality from accidental, violent, and alcohol-related causes of death in the 30-64 age group indicate that changes in the health-related behaviour of the non-married population may play a role. The public-health burden associated with not being married has also grown. At the end of the 1990s about 15 per cent of all deaths above the age of 30 would not have occurred if the non-married population had had the same age-specific mortality rates as the married population.