Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a well-established relative efficiency measurement technique, which has been widely applied to evaluate the technical efficiency of agricultural units in different countries by focusing on different aspects of agricultural production. This research deals with the evaluation of efficiency through DEA in non-homogeneous agricultural production, where units produce a wide range of different outputs. The objectives are threefold. Firstly, we propose a novel methodological approach of integrating the production trade-offs concept of DEA into non-homogeneous agricultural efficiency evaluation to prevent the overstatement of the efficiency of specialist farms and overcome the issue of insufficient discrimination due to large number of outputs in the models. Secondly, we aim to integrate this methodological perspective to the theory of elasticity measurement on DEA frontiers. The efficient frontiers of DEA are not defined in functional forms as in the classical economic theory, therefore obtaining elasticity measures on them require different considerations. We introduce the production trade-offs to the elasticity measurement and derive the necessary models to calculate the elasticities of response in the presence of production trade-offs. As a third objective, before moving to the introduction of the trade-offs in elasticity measurement, for theoretical completeness, we first consider the elasticity measurement on DEA frontiers of constant returns-to-scale (CRS) technologies. Our proposed methodology and all the developed elasticity theory are illustrated in a real world case of Turkish agricultural sectors. We provide extensive empirical applications covering all the proposed theory and methodology. Among the results of this research, we provide an elasticity measurement framework, which enables us to calculate elasticities of response measures in both VRS and CRS technologies, with or without production tradeoffs included. We observe that the integration of production trade-offs provide better discrimination of efficiency scores compared to the models without trade-offs included. We also investigate how changing production trade-offs affect the efficiency and elasticity measures of the evaluated units.

Taguchi defines quality loss as the loss imposed to the consumer for each unit of deviation from the target consumer requirements. In this thesis, the effects of inspection error and rework on quality loss are studied for a nominal-the-best type quality characteristic. The distribution of the quality characteristic in a production environment where there are inspection error and a separate rework facility is investigated. 100 % inspection policy is considered. After deriving the mean and variance of the resulting distribution of the quality characteristic, the true and simulated quality loss values for a number of scenarios are calculated. Furthermore, effects of deviation of the process mean from the target and variance of the rework are studied besides inspection error and process capability through a full factor factorial experimental design. Results are discussed for possible uses as quality improvement project selection criteria.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death around the world. Resting heart rate has been shown to be a strong and independent risk marker for adverse cardiovascular events and mortality, and yet its role as a predictor of risk is somewhat overlooked in clinical practice. With the aim of highlighting its prognostic value, the role of resting heart rate as a risk marker for death and other adverse outcomes was further examined in a number of different patient populations. A systematic review of studies that previously assessed the prognostic value of resting heart rate for mortality and other adverse cardiovascular outcomes was presented. New analyses of nine clinical trials were carried out. Both the original and extended Cox model that allows for analysis of time-dependent covariates were used to evaluate and compare the predictive value of baseline and time-updated heart rate measurements for adverse outcomes in the CAPRICORN, EUROPA, PROSPER, PERFORM, BEAUTIFUL and SHIFT populations. Pooled individual patient meta-analyses of the CAPRICORN, EPHESUS, OPTIMAAL and VALIANT trials, and the BEAUTIFUL and SHIFT trials, were also performed. The discrimination and calibration of the models applied were evaluated using Harrell’s C-statistic and likelihood ratio tests, respectively. Finally, following on from the systematic review, meta-analyses of the relation between baseline and time-updated heart rate, and the risk of death from any cause and from cardiovascular causes, were conducted. Both elevated baseline and time-updated resting heart rates were found to be associated with an increase in the risk of mortality and other adverse cardiovascular events in all of the populations analysed. In some cases, elevated time-updated heart rate was associated with risk of events where baseline heart rate was not. Time-updated heart rate also contributed additional information about the risk of certain events despite knowledge of baseline heart rate or previous heart rate measurements. The addition of resting heart rate to the models where resting heart rate was found to be associated with risk of outcome improved both discrimination and calibration, and in general, the models including time-updated heart rate along with baseline or the previous heart rate measurement had the highest and similar C-statistics, and thus the greatest discriminative ability. The meta-analyses demonstrated that a 5bpm higher baseline heart rate was associated with a 7.9% and an 8.0% increase in the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death, respectively (both p less than 0.001). Additionally, a 5bpm higher time-updated heart rate (adjusted for baseline heart rate in eight of the ten studies included in the analyses) was associated with a 12.8% (p less than 0.001) and a 10.9% (p less than 0.001) increase in the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death, respectively. These findings may motivate health care professionals to routinely assess resting heart rate in order to identify individuals at a higher risk of adverse events. The fact that the addition of time-updated resting heart rate improved the discrimination and calibration of models for certain outcomes, even if only modestly, strengthens the case that it be added to traditional risk models. The findings, however, are of particular importance, and have greater implications for the clinical management of patients with pre-existing disease. An elevated, or increasing heart rate over time could be used as a tool, potentially alongside other established risk scores, to help doctors identify patient deterioration or those at higher risk, who might benefit from more intensive monitoring or treatment re-evaluation. Further exploration of the role of continuous recording of resting heart rate, say, when patients are at home, would be informative. In addition, investigation into the cost-effectiveness and optimal frequency of resting heart rate measurement is required. One of the most vital areas for future research is the definition of an objective cut-off value for the definition of a high resting heart rate.

Business angels are widely acknowledged as being a key source of risk finance for growth-oriented enterprises. Their importance has become even more significant since the onset of the financial crisis. Research on business angels goes back some 30 years, focusing primarily on two themes: (i) their characteristics and (ii) the investment process. It has become clear that business angels are not a homogeneous population. Various studies have sought to develop typologies of business angels based on their personal characteristics, competence, motivations, investment approach and types of investment made. However, this stream of research remains limited and has not progressed beyond establishing typologies. Moreover, the possibility that typologies are dynamic, with angels shifting between categories over time remains largely unexplored. Neither has it been considered how different types of business angels approach the process of making investment decisions or managing the post-investment relationship. The aim of this research is to further develop this line of research on angel typologies to explore differences between types of angel investors in terms of their approach to investment, looking in particular, at their decision-making criteria. This dissertation starts by questioning the methodologies used in research on business angel decision making. In particular, how comparable are results that arise from different methodologies. Using a sample of 51 business angels (21 gatekeepers and 30 individual investors), the findings indicate that the results are methodologically dependent. The next stage used data collected through an online survey with 472 investment decisions made by 238 angel investors. These data were used in the subsequent analysis. Firstly, a two-step cluster analysis procedure was conducted to cluster the investment decisions by the criteria weights. Three clusters were identified. The investment experience and the level of influence of others are both helpful in explaining the differences across groups. Secondly, the cluster membership was used to evaluate if angel investors change their investment criteria. A logistic model was developed. The results indicate that the likelihood of a business angel’s change the investment criteria depend on three key areas: investment specific area (ISA), angel specific area (ASA) and group specific area (GSA).

Social Capital is considered an important asset for development, both at local and higher levels, and has been explored across the social sciences for decades. Attempts to define and measure it in increasingly precise ways continue in order to place it at the centre of policymaking. Indeed, it is considered a precious capital in times where resources are becoming scarce. This thesis investigates the dimensions of social capital and estimates them at small area level for England and Wales in 2011. The first step is the identification of three factors measuring membership, citizenship and politics and neighbourliness dimensions using survey data and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The second step is to test the hypothesis that other individual characteristics and geographical characteristics may influence levels of these factors. Complex Multilevel models with individual covariates and area-level covariates from the Census and administrative sources confirm the hypothesis: the factors depend on age, gender, ethnicity, religion, marital status, socio-economic class, employment, state of health and education at individual level and ethnic diversity and economic profile at area level. Lastly, Multilevel Model results have been used as a starting point for the final synthetic estimates at small area for all the Middle Super Output Areas of the average levels of the three factors. While Membership and Citizenship and Politics social capital show higher differentials, Neighbourliness seems to be more spread and, on average, higher than the other two factors across the two countries.

No description available.

Economic theories of fertility transition were the dominant paradigm during the second half of the twentieth century, but in more recent years their relevance has been questioned and sociological or cultural explanations have become more popular in the demographic literature. In many cases theoretical perspectives have been abandoned all together in favour of an empirical approach leaving economists and demographers isolated from each other. Using data collected in Nepal as part of the World Bank‟s Living Standards Measurement Study, which includes large amounts of economic information at the household and individual level, the feasibility of the economic approach to fertility transition is tested in the context of rural Nepal. In order to do this it was necessary to check the quality of the Nepali fertility data. This was done and it was concluded that higher parity births tend to be underreported, while childlessness tends to be over-reported. It was also found that the quality of urban fertility data is suspect – rural fertility is focussed on throughout since it relates to economic variables in a substantively different way to urban fertility. The relationships between fertility and the main components of income in rural Nepal – agriculture and remittances – are studied. It is hypothesised that fertility and landholding are related through the land-security hypothesis and the land-labour hypothesis. The land-security hypothesis holds that owned landholding and children are substitutes because they are both forms of security, while the land-labour hypothesis holds that cultivated landholding and fertility are complements since children can assist in tilling the land. Remittances are purported to affect fertility through increasing son preference. This is because remittances provide security and sons send remittances. Support is found for all the hypothesised relationships. This implies that the people of rural Nepal value children for the economic benefits they can bring. The economic value of sons vastly outweighs that of daughters and the findings of this thesis indicate that increasing remittances and high levels of functionally landless households mean that son preference is unlikely to disappear soon. Overall, this research highlights that economic theories of fertility transition have been unjustly neglected and are important for our understanding of fertility determinants – they are therefore extremely relevant for both demographers and policy makers

High-impact academic papers are not necessarily the most cited. For example, Einstein's 'Special Relativity' paper from 1905 received (and continues to receive) fewer citations from other papers than his 'Brownian Motion" paper of the same year, despite the former radically changing the course of an entire scientific discipline to a much greater extent. Similarly, 'impact' metrics using citation count alone are, it is argued, not adequate for determining the scientific influence of papers, authors or small groups of authors. Although valid, they remain controversial when used to determine influence of larger groups or journals. While the term 'impact' has become closely linked to a journal's citation-based Journal Impact Factor score, this thesis uses the term 'influence' to describe the wider effectiveness of research, combining citation and metadata analysis to allow richer calculations to be performed over large-scale document networks. As a result, more qualitative influence ratings can be determined and a broader outlook on scientific disciplines can be produced. These ratings are best applied using an ontology-based data source, allowing more efficient inference than under a traditional RDBMS system, and allowing easier integration between heterogeneous data sources. These metrics, termed 'Semantic Bibliometrics' or 'Semiometrics', can be applied at a variety of levels of granularity, allowing a compositional framework for impact and influence analysis. This thesis describes the process of data preparation, systems architecture, metric value and data integration for such a system, introducing novel approaches at all four stages, thereby creating a working semiometrics system for determining influence at different semantic levels of granularity.

No description available.

Drawing on research and theory (discussed in Chapter 1) emphasising cognitive-ecological interaction and sampling processes in judgment (e.g., Fiedler, 2000), the present research investigated the role of social sampling (Galesic, Olsson & Reiskamp, 2012) in preferences for wealth redistribution. Two studies (Ch. 2) provide evidence that social sampling leads wealthier people to oppose redistributive policies. Wealthier participants reported higher levels of wealth in their social circles (Studies 1a and 1b) and, in turn, estimated wealthier population distributions, perceived the distribution as fairer and were more opposed to redistribution. Study 2 (Ch. 2), drawing data from a nationally representative survey, revealed that neighbourhood-level deprivation – an objective index of social circle wealth – mediated the relation between income and satisfaction with the economic status quo. In Studies 3a and 3b (Ch. 3), participants experimentally presented with a low (high) wealth income sample subsequently estimated poorer (wealthier) population distributions, demonstrating reliance upon the novel samples. The effect of the manipulation on redistributive preferences was sequentially mediated via estimated population distributions and fairness, such that participants shown a high wealth sample estimated less unequal (3a) or wealthier (3b) distributions, perceived the distribution as fairer and were more opposed to redistribution. Studies 4a and 4b (Ch. 4) tested whether warning against social sampling, providing an alternative sample or both interventions together might serve to reduce social sampling. Whereas providing an alternative sample alone was sufficient to eliminate social sampling (4a and 4b), providing a warning had no effect (4a), and providing both an alternative sample and a warning lead to an increase in social sampling (4a and 4b). Taken together, the findings suggest that a) social sampling produces systematic differences in wealthier and poorer peoples’ perceptions of the income distribution, b) social sampling contributes to divergence in the economic preferences of wealthy and poor and c) social sampling is likely immune to deliberate control efforts.