| 1. |
- Alpfält, Tina, et al.
(författare)
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Scope of export varieties and innovation milieu of local economies
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Innovation by firms and industries requires that the individual firm can combine internal and external knowledge resources. This paper studies product innovations as they are reflected by product varieties and destination markets, combined into observations of firms’ destination-specific varieties(variety pairs). The number of varieties (identified in this way) measuresthe extensive margin of exportflows from industries in local economies, reflecting past product and market (destination) innovations made by industries in each local economy. The empirical analysis identifies for each industry and local economy (i) the intra-industry knowledge resources, (ii) the local access to the supply knowledge-intensive producer services, and (iii) the access to the supply of knowledge-intensive producer servicesoutside the local economy. Thepapercontributes to existing knowledgein several ways. First, it introduces a knowledge-supply accessibility measure to model the local innovation milieu. Second, it shows the joint contribution to product innovation from internal and external knowledge sources. The estimation results supports the hypothesis that innovations are generated in the conjunction of internal and external knowledge.
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| 2. |
- Dzansi, James
(författare)
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Essays on Financing and Returns on Investment
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation consists of an introductory chapter and three independent essays on financing investment and their returns. The first essay studies the impact of remittances on domestic investment. The analysis is carried out with a focus on the moderating roles of domestic financial development and institutional quality. The empirical results suggest that remittance inflows are associated with increased domestic investment spending, particularly under conditions of inadequate financial intermediation and poor institutional quality. The second essay evaluates whether remittance inflows into the developing world impedes or spurs manufacturing growth. This study uses manufacturing data on a sample of 40 remittance dependent economies over the period from 1991 to 2004. The results suggest that remittance inflows accelerate manufacturing growth. This evidence is robust to industry- and year-specific effects, a range of country level control variables, and a number of estimators. The final essay examines the monitoring role of large shareholders and returns on investment. Specifically, the paper investigates the relevance of intrinsic motives of the large shareholder to monitor management in order to induce optimal return on investment. The findings suggest that large shareholders are actuated by both intrinsic and extrinsic motives to minimize managerial opportunism and inefficiency.
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| 3. |
- Johansson, Börje, et al.
(författare)
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Internal and External Knowledge – Innovation of Export Varieties
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Firms in local industries maintain their capability to generate innovations by simultaneously exploiting internal and external knowledge resources. The paper introduces the notion variety triplet to distinguish individual export varieties, where a triplet is a unique combination of a firm, a product code and a destination country. For each date the set of variety triplets in each local industry records all remaining past product innovations. In view of this the paper examines how internal and external knowledge of local industries influence the industry’s scope and value of export varieties. The paper contributes to existing knowledge firstly by introducing variables that measure a local industry’s access to external supply of knowledge, divided into local and extra-local supply. Secondly, the paper sheds light on how internal and external knowledge influence the scope of product innovations in local industries, with firm-level data from Sweden. Thirdly, the paper compares the influence of knowledge on the entire set of variety triplets and on a separate set of recently introduced varieties.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Johansson, Sara, 1975-
(författare)
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Knowledge, Product Differentiation and Trade
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the influence of knowledge on the export performance of firms in different regions. More specifically, this study focuses on the impact of knowledge on the structure of regional export flows, in terms of horizontal and vertical product differentiation, as well as the geographical distribution of export flows. The thesis consists of four separate papers, which contribute to the overall analysis of knowledge, product differentiation and international trade in different ways. The second chapter presents a study of the effects of regional accessibility to R&D on the diversity of export flows with regard to goods, firms and destination markets. Chapter 3 provides an empirical analysis of vertical product differentiation, i.e. differentiation in terms of product quality, and examines the impact of educated labor and R&D on regional comparative advantages in goods of relatively high product quality. Chapter 4 contains a study of how the regional endowment of highly educated workers affects the structure of export flows, i.e. how the endowment of educated workers impacts on the number of product varieties exported, the average price per variety and the average quantity shipped out. The final chapter presents a micro-level analysis of firms’ propensity to participate in international markets and their propensity to expand export activities by introducing new export products or establishing export links with new destination countries. In summary, the empirical results of this thesis convey the message that regional accessibility to knowledge, embodied in highly educated labor and/or developed through R&D activities, plays a fundamental role in shaping the content and structure of regional export flows. More specifically, the present empirical observations suggest that the regional endowment of knowledge stimulates the size of the export base in terms of exporting firms and number of product varieties. The recurring significance of the accessibility variables in explaining spatial export patterns show that the knowledge endowment of a region must be defined in such ways that it captures sources of potential knowledge spillovers from inside as well as outside its own regional boundaries. This outcome shows that regional variations in knowledge endowments originate both in the actual spatial distribution of a nation’s knowledge labor across regions, and in regional differences in the geographical accessibility to internal and external knowledge labor.
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| 6. |
- Lagerkvist, Anna-Lena, 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Obstetric brachial plexus palsy: a prospective, population-based study of incidence, recovery, and residual impairment at 18 months of age.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Dev Med Child Neurol. - : Wiley. - 1469-8749 .- 0012-1622. ; 52:6, s. 529-34
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim The aim of this investigation was to study the incidence of obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP), to prospectively follow the recovery process, to assess the functional outcome at 18 months of age, and to find early prognostic indicators. Method Of the 38 749 children born between 1999 and 2001 in western Sweden, 114 (70 males, 44 females) had an OBPP. Ninety-eight children were examined on six occasions at up to 18 months of age. Muscle strength, range of motion, hand preference, and functional abilities were noted, and the severity of the OBPP was classified. Results The incidence of OBPP was 2.9 per 1000 live births, and the incidence of persisting OBPP was 0.46 per 1000. At 3 months of age, the predictive value of regained elbow flexion for complete recovery was 100%, 99% of shoulder external rotation, and 96% of forearm supination. Most of the 18 children with persisting OBPP could perform functional activities but asymmetries were noted. Five children had a mild, 11 had a moderate, and two had a severe impairment. Three had undergone nerve surgery, one with a mild and two with a severe persisting impairment. Interpretation Most children with an OBPP recover completely. Muscle strength at 3 months of age can be used to predict outcome.
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| 7. |
- Nyberg, Jan, 1960-, et al.
(författare)
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Single-dose irradiation followed by implant insertion in rat bone : An investigative study to find a critical level for osseointegration
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Osseointegration. - Carimate, Italy : Ariesdue. - 2036-4121. ; 2:2, s. 52-60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: No general consensus exists regarding the ideal time to insert implants in bone after irradiation or how the various irradiation doses influence implant success. This study aims at investigating integration of implants in pre-irradiated rat bone and find a critical level doses that cause disturbed osseointegration.Materials and methods: Single irradiation doses of 2, 5, 10, 20 and 30 Gy were given to one leg of adult rats 3 days prior to insertion of screw-shaped implants whereas the other leg served as a non-irradiated control. The follow up was 5 weeks. Bone implant contact (BIC) and bone area (BA) were measured on undecalcified cut and ground sections in the light microscope. The tissue quality was also examined in the light microscope.Results: Doses of 5 and 10 Gy resulted in 25% higher contact values for the irradiated samples compared to non-irradiated controls. The most impaired integration occurred when doses of 20 Gy were given, revealing a 50% difference between the irradiated (25%) and the non irradiated samples (50%). The bone area demonstrated no major quantitative differences albeit the qualitative observations differed substantially being most pronounced in the 20 and 30 Gy irradiated samples.Conclusions: The osseointegration was substantially impaired after radiation doses of 20 and 30 Gy. Quantitative data alone are insufficient to describe implant integration in situation like this. Qualitative observations are of utmost importance and require great attention. The importance of judging and describing various grades of tissue damage is complicated but necessary. Based on the results obtained in this study, full scale experiments are now ongoing.
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| 8. |
- Vitos, Levente, et al.
(författare)
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Stainless steel alloys from first-principles theory
- 2011
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Ingår i: 7th European Stainless Steel Conference. - : Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia. - 9788885298842
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gaining an accurate description of materials obviously requires the most advanced atomic-scale techniques from both experimental and theoretical areas. In spite of the vast number of available techniques, however, the experimental study of the atomic-scale properties and phenomena even in simple solids is rather difficult. In steels the challenges become more complex due to the interplay between the structural, chemical and magnetic effects. On the other hand, advanced computational methods based on density functional theory ensure a proper platform for studying the fundamental properties of steel materials from first-principles. Our group at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has an international position in developing and applying computational codes for such applications. Using our ab initio tools, we have presented an insight to the electronic and magnetic structure, and micromechanical properties of austenitic stainless steel alloys. In the present contribution, we review the most important developments within the ab initio quantum-mechanics-aided steel design with special emphasis on the role of magnetism on the fundamental properties of alloy steels.
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| 9. |
- Airiskallio, E., et al.
(författare)
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High temperature oxidation of Fe-Al and Fe-Cr-Al alloys : The role of Cr as a chemically active element
- 2010
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Ingår i: Corrosion Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0010-938X .- 1879-0496. ; 52:10, s. 3394-3404
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Good high-temperature corrosion resistance of Fe-Al alloys in oxidizing environments is due to the alpha-Al2O3 film which is formed on the surface provided temperature is above 900 degrees C and the Al-content of the alloy exceeds the critical value. Ab initio calculations combined with experiments on Fe-13Al, Fe-18Al, Fe-23Al and Fe-10Cr-10Al alloys show that the beneficial effect of Cr on the oxidation resistance is significantly related to bulk effects. The comparison of experimental and calculated results indicates a clear correlation between the Fe-Cr chemical potential difference and the formation of the protective oxide scales. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 10. |
- Airiskallio, E., et al.
(författare)
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Third element effect in the surface zone of Fe-Cr-Al alloys
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review B. Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. - 1098-0121 .- 1550-235X. ; 81:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The third element effect to improve the high temperature corrosion resistance of the low-Al Fe-Cr-Al alloys is suggested to involve a mechanism that boosts the recovering of the Al concentration to the required level in the Al-depleted zone beneath the oxide layer. We propose that the key factor in this mechanism is the coexistent Cr depletion that helps to maintain a sufficient Al content in the depleted zone. Several previous experiments related to our study support that conditions for such a mechanism to be functional prevail in real oxidation processes of Fe-Cr-Al alloys.
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