This doctoral thesis consists of five self-contained essays.Common themes that unify the essays are the conditions for innovative engagements and the effort to endogenize innovations into the explanation of profitability, productivity and growthin manufacturing and service production. The purpose is to explore the importance of innovation in explaining heterogeneity in the performance of firms. The traditional analysis of the relationship between research and developmentand productivity is extended and developed by using, on the onehand, firm-level data not previously available and, on theother, a modern state-of-the-art econometric framework. Essay I. Methods and results are reviewed and stylized facts presented regarding the return on innovation. The limitations of the data and methods used in mainstream literature are discussed. A set of firm-level observations recently made available and a multiple knowledge production function analysis have been used to clarify the role of innovation in explaining performance heterogeneity among manufacturing firms inSweden. Essay II. The relationships between innovation and productivity among manufacturing firms in Finland, Norway and Sweden are studied. The main purpose is to investigate the contributions of firm-level innovation in creating the large observed differences in aggregated productivity growth between Norway on the one hand and Finland and Sweden on the other. Essay III. The focus of this essay is threefold. One, since innovation has been found to be a major contributor to productivity growth in manufacturing, we seek to find whether there is any evidence for the notion that service industrie shave a lower propensity to be innovative or that they are less efficient in deriving benefits from innovations. Second, we consider what real productivity growth does, and what the measurement methods do to produce the reported weak growthrates in services. Third, given that intermediate services have been found to be one of the fastest growing input factors inmanufacturing, largely reflecting the replacement of internally provided activities by externally produced outputs, we examine what the impact of outsourcing is on productivity growth in manufacturing. The essay brings a comparative perspective to these issues by analyzing the firm-level data on innovativeactivities and economic performance in knowledge-intensive manufacturing and service firms in Sweden. Essay IV.This essay investigates the sensitivity of estimated relationships between innovation and firm performance. The essay compares the sensitivity of results with regards to different types of models, estimation methods, measures of firm performance, classification of firms, type of innovations and data sources. The analyses are performed on both the level and growth rate of firm performance, and theinfluence of outliers is explored. Essay V. The role of capital structure and external financing in innovation and production is studied. Results from different model specifications are explored. A preferred dynamic model with flexible adjustment is used for an inter-country and an intra-country comparison of the determinants of the optimal mix between debt and equity as wellas the rate of change towards an optimal capital structure. / <p>QC 20100526</p>

本論文範圍為台灣供電系統可靠分析而審查長期電力消費發展，發展新供電可靠指標，而拿新指標來跟北美洲供電系統做比較。本論文以現有的台電公司電力調度處建立新分析架構來做跨國分析。然而本分析用新架構來審查現有的台灣各政府單位預期電力消費發展計劃。 / This thesis examines reliability and long term planning in Taiwan’s power system by developing new metrics to evaluate existing systems, and then comparing them with comparable data from North America. The study involved series of spreadsheets retrieved from Taipower’s Power Dispatch Office to determine historical reliability for all generation in Taiwan, deriving a new metric to analyze that data, and then comparing it to North America Generating Availability Data System figures. The study then uses those figures to evaluate existing long term electrical usage projections from different Taiwanese government bodies. The study concludes that while Taiwan’s existing power systems have comparably high reliability, excessive politicization of electricity and lack of political autonomy in energy administration hinder Taiwan’s long term electrical prospects. Additionally, existing evaluations of long-term needs are overly optimistic and do not account for political changes.

Cet article étudie la sensibilité des estimations de certaines variables explicatives de la croissance économique dans des régressions en coupe transversale sur un ensemble de pays. Il applique un modèle modifié de l’analyse de sensibilité de Leamer (1983, 1985). Mes résultats confirment la conclusion de Levine and Renelt (1992), toutefois, je montre que plus de variables sont solidement corrélées à la croissance économique. Entre 1990-2010, je trouve que huit sur vingt cinq variables ont des coefficients significatifs et sont solidement corrélées à la croissance de long terme, notamment, les parts de l’investissement et des dépenses étatiques dans le PIB, la primauté du droit et une variable dichotomique pour les pays subsahariens. Je trouve aussi une preuve empirique solide de l'hypothèse de la convergence conditionnelle, ce qui est cohérent avec le modèle de croissance néoclassique. / This paper examines the robustness of explanatory variables in cross-country growth regressions. It employs a variant of Leamer’s (1983, 1985) extreme-bounds analysis. My results confirm Levine and Renelt’s (1992) conclusion, but identify more variables to be robustly correlated with economic growth. Of 25 explanatory variables tested, I find 8 to be significantly and robustly correlated with long-term growth over the 1990-2010 period. The strongest evidence is for the investment ratio, government consumption share in GDP, the rule of law, and the Sub-Saharan dummy. I also find strong empirical evidence for conditional convergence, which is consistent with the neoclassical growth model.

Name: Complex Evaluation of Primary School Ski Courses in the Czech Republic Objective: The objective of this diploma thesis is a complex evaluation of a representative primary school ski courses in the Czech Republic according to the five following criteria, which are staffing of the course, content and organisation of the course, health and safety of the pupils, methodology of the training and economic side. The crucial aspect of the evaluation is the fact whether the working hypotheses will be proved or disproved. Methodology: Our thesis has the character of a qualitative research. Data that refer to the topic are collected in the form of non anonymous survey of at random chosen primary schools in all regions of the Czech Republic. For this purpose, a non-standardized questionnaire is used. It consists of open-ended, semi close-ended and close-ended questions. The questionnaire is compiled to enable a complex evaluation of ski courses in accordance with the areas of interest, which are staffing of the course, content and organisation of the course, health and safety of the pupils, methodology of the training and economic safeguarding. Collected data are analysed in Survio and Microsoft EXCEL® programmes; they are supplemented with graphs and commentaries. Results: Primary school ski courses were...

Diploma thesis aims to explore the representation of compensation methods and tools in ATC with representatives of Slovakia in cross - country skiing. Then obtain data on the state of theirs motor system especially the shortened muscle groups. After processing this data to compare them and create a design of supplement the compensation an individual plan. Key words: body burden, compensation, annual training cycle,locomotor system, shortened muscle groups, cross country skiing

Title: Occurrence and Prevention of Asthma in Youth Division Cross-country Skiers Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to determine the incidence of asthma in youth division cross-country skiers and its prevention. Methods: This thesis will comprise the method of survey and content analysis of documents. Hypotheses: No.1 Assume that asthma will have lower prevalence in youth division cross- country skiers than in adult cross-country skiers. No.2 Assume that the majority of the surveyed cross-country skiing coaches met with asthmatic symptoms in their athletes. Results: We found that 12% of youth division athletes suffer from asthma and 24% from allergies. Keywords: cross country skiing, respiratory diseases, bronchial asthma, exercise-induced asthma, allergy prevention.

Title: Sport event management: Jizerská 50 Goal: The aim of the master thesis is to create proposal and suggestions for the 50th Jizerska 50 and the next upcoming event. Methods: In this thesis was used the qualitative analysis of Jizerska 50 - form of case study, participant observation, semi-structured interview and complemented by the SWOT analysis. Results: The result of master thesis is the set of proposals, which are based on the knowledge and results of Jizerska 50 in previous years and its SWOT analysis. Analysis revealed the possibility of applying new variations for the 50th Jizerska 50 and the next upcoming event. Also suggestions for project management effectiveness, sponsorship and event program. Key words: project management, cross-country skiing, organization, sport sponsorship, SWOT analysis, marketing mix.

Title: The training process analysis of Martin Jakš in 2010 - 2016 Objectives: The purpose of this study is to pedagogically evaluate the training process of Martin Jakš, the member of the Czech cross-country skiing team. Methods: This study is designed as a case study. The study addresses a qualitative research, which was based on an analysis of training process of an elite cross-country skier. Training indicators and sport physical examination were analyzed and assessed with regard to racer's performance in the studied term. Results: The results of this study showed a tendency to decrease of athlete's performance in the studied term. Key terms: cross-country skiing, yearlong training cycle, training indicators, sport physical examination, performance

This thesis is devoted to the optimization of pacing strategies in two locomotive endurance sports; cross-country skiing and road cycling. It has been established that constant pace and variable power distributions are optimal if purely mechanical aspects of locomotion are considered in these sports. However, there is a lack of research that theoretically investigates optimal pacing for real world athletes who are constrained in their ability to generate power output through the bioenergetics of the human body. The aims of this thesis are to develop numerical pacing strategy optimization models and bioenergetic models for locomotive endurance sports and use these to assess objectives relevant in optimal pacing. These objectives include: Investigate the impact of hills, sharp course bends, ambient wind, and bioenergetic models on optimal pacing and assess the effect of optimal pacing strategies on performance. This thesis presents mathematical models for optimization of pacing strategies. These models are divided into mechanical locomotion, bioenergetic, and optimization models that are connected and programmed numerically. The locomotion and bioenergetic models in this thesis consist of differential equations and the optimization model is described by an iterative gradient-based routine. The mechanical model describes the relation between the power output generated by an athlete and his/her locomotion along a course profile, giving the finishing time. The bioenergetic model strives to mimic the human ability to generate power output. Therefore, the bioenergetic model is set to constrain the power output that is used in the mechanical locomotion model. The optimization routine strives to minimize the finishing time in the mechanical locomotion model by varying the distribution of power output along the course, still satisfying the constraints in the bioenergetic model. The studies contained within this thesis resulted in several important findings regarding the general application of pacing strategies in cross-country skiing and road cycling. It was shown that the constant pace strategy is not optimal if ambient conditions change over the course distance. However, variable power distributions were shown beneficial if they vary in parallel with course inclination and ambient winds to decrease variations in speed. Despite these power variations, speed variations were not eliminated for most variable ambient conditions. This relates to the athlete’s physiological restrictions and the effect of these are hard to predict without thorough modeling of bioenergetics and muscle fatigue. Furthermore, it vi was shown that substantial differences in optimal power distributions were attained for various bioenergetic models. It was also shown that optimal braking and power output distributions for cycling on courses that involve sharp bends consisted of three or four phases, depending on the length of the course and the position of the bends. The four phases distinguished for reasonably long courses were a steady-state power phase, a rolling phase, a braking phase, and an all-out acceleration phase. It was also shown that positive pacing strategies are optimal on relatively long courses in road cycling where the supply of carbohydrates are limited. Finally, results indicated that optimal pacing may overlook the effect of some ambient conditions in favor of other more influential, mechanical or physiological, aspects of locomotion. In summary, the results showed that athletes benefit from adapting their power output with respect not only to changing course gradients and ambient winds, but also to their own physiological and biomechanical abilities, course length, and obstacles such as course bends. The results of this thesis also showed that the computed optimal pacing strategies were more beneficial for performance than a constant power distribution. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates the feasibility of using numerical simulation and optimization to optimize pacing strategies in cross-country skiing and road cycling. / Avhandlingen handlar om optimering av farthållningsstrategier inom längdskidåkning och landsvägscykling. Det finns ett utbrett stöd för att konstant fart och varierande effektfördelningar är optimala om endast mekaniska aspekter beaktas i dessa sporter. Ändå saknas teoretiska studier som undersöker optimal farthållning för verkliga idrottsutövare som är begränsade i sin förmåga att generera effekt genom kroppens bioenergetiska system. Målen med den här avhandlingen är att utveckla metoder för bioenergetik och optimering av farthållningsstrategier i uthållighetsidrott. Dessutom är målet att undersöka påverkan av backar, svängar, omgivande vind och bioenergetisk modellering på den optimala farthållningsstrategin samt att utreda potentialen till prestationsförbättring med optimala farthållningsstrategier. Avhandling presenterar matematiska modeller för optimering av farthållningsstrategier. Dessa modeller delas in i en mekanisk modell för förflyttning, en bioenergetisk modell och en optimeringsmodell. De mekaniska och bioenergetiska modellerna som presenteras i avhandlingen består av differentialekvation och optimeringsmodellen utgörs av en gradient-baserad algoritm. Den mekaniska modellen beskriver förhållandet mellan utövarens effekt och den resulterande rörelsen längs banan som ger tiden mellan start och mål. Den bioenergetiska modellen beskriver människokroppens olika energisystem och dess begränsningar att generera effekt. Den bioenergetiska modellen interagerar med optimeringsmodellen genom att utgöra dess begränsningar för vad den mänskliga kroppen klarar av. Sammanfattningsvis försöker optimeringsmodellen minimera tiden mellan start och mål i den mekaniska modellen genom att variera effekten längs banan. Samtidigt ser optimeringsmetoden till att denna effektfördelning inte kränker den bioenergetiska modellen. Studierna som ingår i avhandlingen resulterade i flera viktiga upptäckter om generella tillämpningar av farthållningsstrategier inom längdskidåkning och landsvägscykling. Det visade sig att konstant fart inte är optimalt om omgivande betingelser varierade längs banans sträckning. Däremot var varierande effektfördelning fördelaktig om den varierar parallellt med banlutning och omgivande vindpåverkan för att minska fartens variationer. Trots denna variation, visade resultaten att fartvariationerna inte eliminerades helt. Detta har att göra med utövarens fysiologiska begränsningar, vars påverkan är svår att förutspå utan genomgående modellering av bioenergetik relaterat till muskeltrötthet. Dessutom viii visade resultaten att olika bioenergetiska metoder gav upphov till betydande skillnader i de optimala farthållningsstrategierna. Resultaten i avhandlingen visade också att optimal effektfördelning vid kurvtagning i landsvägscykling innehåller tre eller fyra faser. The fyra faser som var utmärkande på relativt långa banor var en tröskelfas, en rullfas, en bromsfas och en maximal accelerationsfas. Resultaten visar också att positiv farthållning är optimal på relativt långa banor i landsvägscykling där tillgången på kolhydrater är begränsad. Samtidigt visade resultaten på optimala farthållningsstrategier ibland att inverkan av omgivande betingelser förbisågs till fördel för med inflytelserika betingelser som påverkar framdrivningen. Sammantaget visar resultaten i denna avhandling att utövare gagnas av att anpassa effekten med hänsyn till varierande terräng, omgivande vind, atletens egen fysiologiska och biomekaniska förmåga, banans längd och hinder såsom kurvor. Resultaten visar också att de optimala farthållningsstrategier med varierande effektfördelning som beräknats i denna avhandling förbättrar prestationen jämfört med konstanta effektfördelningar. Sammanfattningsvis visar denna avhandling på möjligheterna att använda numerisk simulering och optimering för att optimera farthållningsstrategier i längdskidåkning och landsvägscykling. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 5 accepterat, delarbete 6 manuskript.</p><p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 5 accepted, paper 6 manuscript.</p>

Bakgrunden till denna rapport är att det sportvarumärke jag samarbetat med ville utveckla en modell av längdskidåkningsjacka som fanns i deras sortiment. Undersökningen gällde att identifiera förbättringspunkter på en dam- och herrvariant av denna jacka. Avsikten var att bevara plaggens design och genom förändringar i mönstrens konstruktion förbättra passform och rörelsefrihet, och därigenom plaggets funktion. Genom att konstruera, sy toiler och prova av dessa på provmodeller, har rörelsefrihet och passform kunnat utvärderas. Resultatet visade att viktiga punkter var raglanärmens konstruktion, böjningen av ärmen, kragens form, ärmhålsdjup och placering av skärlinjer. Det blev också tydligt att kombinationen av designerns och konstruktörens kunskaper tidigt i processen är a och o för ett lyckat resultat. En tydlig kommunikation mellan dessa parter kan minska antalet provplagg under produktutvecklingen.Ämnen som också behandlats under arbetet är gradering, produktspecificering och deras betydelse för plagg och produktion. I undersökningen har jag även tittat på möjligheter till ytterligare utveckling av jackornas funktion om designen kan förändras, till exempel genom att flytta skärningar och på så vis ändra modellens utseende.This study was made due to a sports brand wanting me to develop a style of cross country ski jacket that are currently part of their collection. The study contained identifying areas of possible improvement in both a men and women´s jacket. The mission was to keep the design of the jacket and on the same time improve the fit and ease of movement in the garment (and thereby the function). Through analysis of style samples, pattern construction, sewing of proto samples and fittings on models, the fit and ease of movement has been evaluated. The results are that important garment elements are the neck width, scye depth, construction of the raglan sleeve, the pre-bent sleeve and the placement of cut lines. A conclusion is that to reach a functional and nice looking garment, the designer and the pattern constructor need to cooperate in the product development phase. Good communication between these two departments can reduce the number of proto samples that has to be made.Pattern grading, product specifications and their impact on the style and production process are subjects that are also presented and discussed in this report. During the project I have also studied the possibilities of further development through style design changes. / Program: Designteknikerutbildningen