| 1. |
- Newell, David
(författare)
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Locating Wind Power Policy : The Mechanics of Policy Subsystem Interactions
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation investigates the drivers behind political decision-making and the policy outcomes resulting from political decisions. It is proposed that in policy processes where political decisions are made at multiple levels or across multiple policy subsystems, policy outcomes can be understood in terms of the mechanisms (i.e. the processes or means) of interaction between multiple policy subsystems within which political decisions are made,resulting in more or less policy alignment between political decisions and policy outcomes. Policy network theory and policy subsystem theory are used separately as the basis forderiving two potential explanations for the mechanics of policy subsystem interactions. Because political decision-making authority in the wind power policy process in most Western democratic countries is spread across multiple policy subsystems, and because there has been significant variation between wind power policy outcomes between these countries, wind power policy processes in European Union countries are used as an empirical point-of-departure for exploring and illustrating the mechanics of policy subsystem interaction. A survey of the research on wind power development is used to illustrate and explore preliminary empirical indications of support for a framework derived from policy network theory. The case of political decisions made in Sweden over the past twenty years related to wind power development and production is used to illustrate and explore preliminary empirical indications of support for an explanation of policy subsystem interactions derived from the Advocacy Coalition Framework proposed here, as well as to explore the drivers of political decisions. This dissertation therefore contributes to understanding how policy subsystems interact. The dissertation contributes theoretically to the literature on policy processes generally, as well as to network/network management theory, and to the Advocacy Coalition Framework/policy subsystem theory. It also contributes to understanding two strategically chosen, embedded cases within the broader case study of political decision-making in the wind power policy process in Sweden.
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| 2. |
- Grafström, Jonas, 1985-
(författare)
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Technological Change in the Renewable Energy Sector : Essays on Knowledge Spillovers and Convergence
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to investigate the determinants of technological change in the renewable energy sector, with a special emphasis on the role of knowledge spillovers and convergence across countries. The thesis consists of a preface and five self-contained papers. In Paper I technological change is broken down into the three major development stages laid out by Joseph Schumpeter: invention, innovation and diffusion. Econometric models of each of these stages are specified in the empirical context of wind power. The models are estimated employing a panel dataset consisting of eight western European countries over the time period 1991-2008. The results display evidence of national and international knowledge spillovers in the invention (i.e., patenting) model. The results from the technology learning models indicate evidence of global learning-by-doing, and that the prices of input factors have been important determinants of wind power costs. In line with previous research, the diffusion model results show that investment costs have influenced the development of installed wind power capacity. Paper II investigates how wind power inventions in European countries have affected the technological development achievements in neighboring countries. Data on the number of patents granted at the European Patent Office (EPO) during the period 1978-2008 in the eight technologically leading wind power countries in Europe are employed in a patent production function framework. The presence of international knowledge spillovers is found to constitute a statistically significant determinant of a country’s patent production. Geographical distance is also taken into consideration, and the results suggest that knowledge spillovers are subject to spatial transaction costs: with longer distances the role of international spillovers becomes weaker. Paper III investigates the convergence of inventive capabilities in the EU. Data on total patents per capita in 13 EU countries over the period 1990-2011 are analyzed using both parametric and non-parametric techniques. Converging inventive abilities may be important for the future of the EU given that rapid technological change has resulted in major structural changes in the Member States’ economies during the last decades. The β-convergence and σ-convergence tests suggest convergence in inventive capabilities, and this finding gains some support when analyzing the intra-distributional dynamics of the invention capabilities. Paper IV specifically investigates whether the generation of renewable energy patents per capita has converged or diverged across 13 EU countries over the period 1990-2012. The results indicate the presence of conditional β- and σ-divergence in renewable energy invention abilities. This could be critical for assessing the future prospects of EU policy in the renewable energy field; divergence in terms of invention outcomes could imply a less rapid and yet more expensive goal fulfillment due to free-rider behavior and sub-optimal investment levels. Finally, Paper V tests for convergence/divergence based on countries’ public spending to renewable energy R&D. The empirical analysis focuses on the presence of conditional β-convergence across 13 EU countries over the period 1990-2012. The results suggest divergence in public R&D-based knowledge accumulation, and this is consistent with free-riding behavior on the part of some EU Member States. Energy import dependence and electricity deregulation also affect this divergence pattern. For instance, the higher the energy import dependence, the lower is the speed of divergence across the EU countries in terms of public R&D support. Overall, the diverging pathways in terms of both public R&D and private patenting efforts may raise concerns about an unfair burden-sharing in terms of renewable energy development efforts.
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| 3. |
- Lundkvist, Hans, 1956-
(författare)
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Genusmedveten utveckling av arbetsgivarvarumärket för hållbar kompetensförsörjning
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Tillgång till mänskliga resurser är avgörande för många företags långsiktiga utveckling och överlevnad. Demografiska förändringar och tecken på ökade svårigheter att rekrytera personal leder till att allt fler verksamheter måste reflektera över sitt arbetsgivarvarumärke i syfte att behålla och attrahera rätt personal. Inte bara demografiska förändringar utan även könssegregerade strukturera kan försvåra detta. Segregering, traditioner och stereotypa förhållningsätt påverkar individers utbildnings- och yrkesval vilket begränsar tillgången till kompetens.Med finansiering från VINNOVA för tillämpad genusforskning inledde en forskargrupp och ett ingenjörsföretag i Dalarna, 2009, ett samarbete för att gemensamt utveckla kunskap om hur en verksamhet kan bli mer attraktiv i syfte att underlätta framtida kompetensförsörjning utifrån ett genusperspektiv. De erfarenheter och frågeställningar som samarbetet genererade lade grund till denna avhandling. Syftet med avhandlingen är att öka den vetenskapliga kunskapen om hur begreppet arbetsgivarvarumärke kan utvecklas ur ett genusperspektiv för att öka arbetsgivares förmåga att rekrytera och behålla kompetent personal oavsett kön.För att besvara avhandlingens frågeställningar har olika vetenskapsområden kombinerats: Teorier om varumärke, arbetsgivarvarumärke, genusvetenskap och förändringsprocesser har varit grundläggande. Från det genusvetenskapliga fältet har främst begreppet ”doing gender” (göra kön) varit centralt för att förstå hur genus kan ses som ett vardagligt görande i organisationer. Även teorier om hållbara förändringsprocesser och utvecklingsprogram har använts för att öka förståelsen för organisering, ansvarsfördelning och utveckling av ett långsiktigt hållbart arbetsgivarvarumärke. Metoden för samverkan med det studerade företaget byggde på aktionsforskning med en abduktiv ansats där parterna gemensamt planerade och genomförde insatser. För att besvara de frågeställningar som uppstod i samarbetet med företaget användes forskningsdatabaser för att ta fram underlag för litteraturstudier.Avhandlingen bidrar med en vetenskaplig analys av hur ett genusperspektiv praktiskt och teoretiskt kan integreras i processen för utveckling av ett attraktivt arbete. Dessutom analyseras förslag på hur ansvarsfördelning och organisering kan utformas i en långsiktigt hållbar utvecklingsprocess för ett arbetsgivarvarumärke.
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| 4. |
- Näslund, Rebecka, 1971-
(författare)
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“The World at Your Fingertips if You Know the Computer”: Agency, Information and Communication Technologies and Disability
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on the relationships between agency, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and people with disability (in various ages). The aim has been to create an understanding by describing and analysing, and as such, to develop knowledge of how people with disabilities experience agency, ICT, and disability in their everyday lives. The frame of reference is inspired by disability studies, feminist studies and science and technologies studies (STS). The empirical material was collected in, Norrbotten (Sweden’s northernmost region) and Muscat (the capital area of the Sultanate of Oman) by an autobiographical account, audio-visual material, drawings, interviews, observations, and reading of textual documents. The thesis consists of six papers. The main findings outline that agency, ICT, disability, and gender are part of intra-actions between material entities (such as bodies, technologies, etc.) and practices. The thesis also explores that disability in Sweden and Oman are understood in a variety of ways. Additionally, it presents that the combination of the notions of interference with situated knowledges can contribute with alternative methodological insights about the interference of disability, gender, ICT, the participants’ and researchers’ experiences and understandings to make accountable knowledge claims. Moreover, the thesis presents that material entities (bodies and technologies) and practices are part of different modes of ordering disability which bear effects on the lives of people with disabilities. It additionally disentangles that materialities such as the Internet intra-act with other material entities (for instance, bodies) and practices which enact various forms of agency which bear effects on the everyday lives of people with disability and their ways to participate. Finally, the thesis outlines some implications that an intra-acting understanding of the use of Internet can contribute with in research which focuses on disability, participation, and agency.
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| 5. |
- Prpic, John, 1973-
(författare)
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Specifying and Operationalizing an Organizational Theory of Crowdsourcing
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction: Despite rapid developments across multiple areas of research and practice, an organizational-level theory of Crowdsourcing has yet to emerge.Objectives: Therefore, this thesis has two major objectives; 1) specify the boundaries, constructs, and relationships of an organizational-level theory of Crowdsourcing, and 2) begin the theoretical validation process by operationalizing the theory for new exploratory, explanatory, and conceptual research.Methods: In respect to the first objective, an organizational-level theory of Crowdsourcing is created through inductive processes based upon observations of the real-world, and the extant organizational literature. In respect to the second objective, a mixed-methods research design is implemented to present three separate studies that use the theoretical perspective as a lens to operationalize new exploratory, explanatory, and conceptual Crowdsourcing research.Results: The Crowd Capital perspective is introduced, and defines three new constructs for the Crowdsourcing research; Dispersed Knowledge, Crowd Capability, and Crowd Capital. Crowd Capital theory is shown to be a valid theoretical contribution in the management research by illustrating the perspective’s incremental originality and scientific utility.Conclusion: The thesis develops and validates an organizational-level theory explaining how and why organizations implement Crowdsourcing, and through the exploratory and explanatory operationalizations of the Crowd Capital perspective, this work contributes to the empirical knowledge-base in the Crowdsourcing research. Further, this thesis contributes methodologically by illustrating and implementing a mixed-methods research design for theory validation in the Crowdsourcing research, while also supplying managers and executives with detailed guidance on the trade-offs inherent to the different modalities of Crowdsourcing.Thesis Organization: This thesis is organized in a monograph format comprised of eight chapters; 1) Introduction, 2) Literature review, 3) Theoretical model, 4) Methodology, 5) Exploratory research, 6) Explanatory research, 7) Conceptual research, and 8) Conclusion. As an outcome of this thesis, three journal articles and five conference proceedings have been accepted in peer-reviewed outlets1, and the author has been awarded a mini-track about Crowdsourcing at one of the most prestigious conferences in the field. The articles and the conference mini-track details are listed in Appendix A & B at the end of the dissertation.
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