Applying Survival Analysis Research Articles

Genetic and Environmental Effects on Tonic Immobility Duration of Red-Winged Tinamou Applying Survival Analysis

ABSTRACT Fear behavioral studies provide knowledge on animal welfare, and fearful behaviors can be used as selection criteria of individuals adapted to intensive rearing system. The survival analysis methodology was applied to estimate tonic immobility (TI) duration, as an indicator of fear, of red-winged tinamous (Rhynchotus rufescens) reared in captivity and to determine if TI is genetically influenced. A number of 539 birds born between 2006 and 2010 were evaluated. The exploratory data analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier estimate (KM), and the covariates were then fit to a Cox model, considering month of observation nested within year of birth and body weight as fixed effects and the random effect of sire as frailty term. In order to predict genetic values and to estimate heritability, the model of proportional hazards was applied, using a Weibull distribution as the baseline hazard. Birds born in the last year presented shorter TI duration than those born in the previous year, as shown by the survival KM curves, indicating a decline in fearfulness from one year to the next. The Cox analysis detected that hazard function was reduced as body weight increased. The frailty term was significant (p<0.05), showing that sires induced variation in the TI duration of the offspring. Heritability estimated as 0.37, indicating the influence of additive genes. These findings suggest that the selection of for short TI duration may allow reducing fearfulness of a red-winged tinamou population after some generations.

Risk factors associated with rural water supply failure: A 30-year retrospective study of handpumps on the south coast of Kenya

An improved understanding of failure risks for water supplies in rural sub-Saharan Africa will be critical to achieving the global goal of safe water for all by 2030. In the absence of longitudinal biophysical and operational data, investigations into water point failure risk factors have to date been limited to cross-sectional research designs. This retrospective cohort study applies survival analysis to identify factors that predict failure risks for handpumps installed on boreholes along the south coast of Kenya from the 1980s. The analysis is based on a unique dataset linking attributes of >300 water points at the time of installation with their operational lifespan over the following decades. Cox proportional hazards and accelerated failure time models suggest water point failure risks are higher and lifespans are shorter when water supplied is more saline, static water level is deeper, and groundwater is pumped from an unconsolidated sand aquifer. The risk of failure also appears to grow as distance to spare part suppliers increases. To bolster the sustainability of rural water services and ensure no community is left behind, post-construction support mechanisms will need to mitigate heterogeneous environmental and geographical challenges. Further studies are needed to better understand the causal pathways that underlie these risk factors in order to inform policies and practices that ensure water services are sustained even where unfavourable conditions prevail.

Progression of the first stage of spontaneous labour: A prospective cohort study in two sub-Saharan African countries.

BackgroundEscalation in the global rates of labour interventions, particularly cesarean section and oxytocin augmentation, has renewed interest in a better understanding of natural labour progression. Methodological advancements in statistical and computational techniques addressing the limitations of pioneer studies have led to novel findings and triggered a re-evaluation of current labour practices. As part of the World Health Organization's Better Outcomes in Labour Difficulty (BOLD) project, which aimed to develop a new labour monitoring-to-action tool, we examined the patterns of labour progression as depicted by cervical dilatation over time in a cohort of women in Nigeria and Uganda who gave birth vaginally following a spontaneous labour onset.Methods and findingsThis was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study of 5,606 women with singleton, vertex, term gestation who presented at ≤ 6 cm of cervical dilatation following a spontaneous labour onset that resulted in a vaginal birth with no adverse birth outcomes in 13 hospitals across Nigeria and Uganda. We independently applied survival analysis and multistate Markov models to estimate the duration of labour centimetre by centimetre until 10 cm and the cumulative duration of labour from the cervical dilatation at admission through 10 cm. Multistate Markov and nonlinear mixed models were separately used to construct average labour curves. All analyses were conducted according to three parity groups: parity = 0 (n = 2,166), parity = 1 (n = 1,488), and parity = 2+ (n = 1,952). We performed sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of oxytocin augmentation on labour progression by re-examining the progression patterns after excluding women with augmented labours. Labour was augmented with oxytocin in 40% of nulliparous and 28% of multiparous women. The median time to advance by 1 cm exceeded 1 hour until 5 cm was reached in both nulliparous and multiparous women. Based on a 95th percentile threshold, nulliparous women may take up to 7 hours to progress from 4 to 5 cm and over 3 hours to progress from 5 to 6 cm. Median cumulative duration of labour indicates that nulliparous women admitted at 4 cm, 5 cm, and 6 cm reached 10 cm within an expected time frame if the dilatation rate was ≥ 1 cm/hour, but their corresponding 95th percentiles show that labour could last up to 14, 11, and 9 hours, respectively. Substantial differences exist between actual plots of labour progression of individual women and the ‘average labour curves’ derived from study population-level data. Exclusion of women with augmented labours from the study population resulted in slightly faster labour progression patterns.ConclusionsCervical dilatation during labour in the slowest-yet-normal women can progress more slowly than the widely accepted benchmark of 1 cm/hour, irrespective of parity. Interventions to expedite labour to conform to a cervical dilatation threshold of 1 cm/hour may be inappropriate, especially when applied before 5 cm in nulliparous and multiparous women. Averaged labour curves may not truly reflect the variability associated with labour progression, and their use for decision-making in labour management should be de-emphasized.

It is time for a closer look: The demise of regional party branches

Traditionally, decentralization has been linked with the stability of the party system because it helps parties to succeed in national elections. Yet, previous research has frequently obviated the intertwined nature of multilevel party competition. This research takes a closer look at parties’ subnational electoral trajectories while arguing that decentralization increases the risk of new party demise by making subnational elections more attractive for all kinds of parties to compete in. The argument is tested applying survival analysis to the electoral trajectories of 1235 regional branches of political parties in 12 European countries. Results show that contrary to what has been stated previously on the literature, decentralization increases the risk of parties disappearing. This effect fades away the older and more consolidated the party becomes, and it is of particular relevance for regionalist parties. These findings have important implications for the literature on second-order elections and multilevel party competition.

Antiviral therapy reduces risk of haemorrhagic stroke in patients with HCV infection: a nationwide cohort study.

The tendency for haemorrhagic stroke in patients with chronic HCV infection has emerged recently but the finding may be confounded by comorbidities. Proving the causality between HCV infection and haemorrhagic stroke is mandatory. Our study was designed to investigate the incidence of intracranial haemorrhage in HCV-infected patients with and without treatment. In the 11-year and population-based retrospective study, we acquired data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The patients with major comorbidities were excluded and 97,198 HCV-infected patients were included for analysis. Treated and untreated cohorts were matched with propensity score to make the confounding factors in two groups comparable. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to evaluate the hazard ratio of haemorrhagic stroke in the cohorts. We applied survival analysis to compare the cumulative incidence of outcome events between the two cohorts. After matching, the incidence density (ID) of haemorrhagic stroke in the untreated cohort is significantly higher than in the treated cohort (ID: 1.0 versus 0.6 events per 1,000 person-years; P=0.0014). The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of haemorrhagic stroke is significantly reduced in the treated group (P<0.05). Cumulative incidence of haemorrhagic stroke is significantly lower in the treated group than in the untreated group (P=0.013). The study demonstrates that antiviral therapy significantly reduces the events of intracranial haemorrhage in HCV-infected patients and consolidates the novel concept that chronic HCV infection is a risk factor for haemorrhagic stroke.

Identifying Emerging Trends of Financial Business Method Patents

Financial technology has become an important part of the banking industry in recent times. This study attempts to propose a framework to identify emerging areas and trends using financial business method patents. Based on the abstracts of financial business method patents registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, this study first applies latent Dirichlet allocation to identify emerging topics. The probability of the annual occurrence of each topic is adjusted through the exponentially weighted moving average to reflect the importance of the recent probability of topics. Each topic is classified as “hot” or “cold” depending on whether the exponentially weighted moving average of the probabilities exceeds the threshold. We applied survival analysis to the time gap of recurrently becoming hot from a cold status with the associated factor of financial business method patents. The findings suggest that the topic with the short granted period and high forward citation is likely to become hot. In addition, the topic that is aged and specific in narrow areas is likely to continuously change into the hot or cold status. The approach proposed in this study contributes toward understanding topic emergence in the financial area and pursuing sustainable development.

Using Survival Models to Estimate Invertebrate Prey Identification Times in a Generalist Stream Fish

AbstractEstimates of predator feeding rates are important for understanding trophic dynamics. One common method for quantifying feeding rates in fishes combines mass‐based diet data with gastric evacuation times to estimate prey mass consumed per predator. An alternative approach is to estimate the rates of prey individuals consumed using prey identification time—the time period over which prey remain identifiable in a predator's stomach. One challenge with the analysis of prey identification times, however, is that the response variable is likely to be censored because the “true” prey identification time cannot be observed directly. Here, we applied survival analysis that can incorporate censored data to estimate the effects of predator body size, water temperature, and prey characteristics (type, count, and body size) on identification times in Reticulate Sculpin Cottus perplexus. We focused on seven types of prey that are common in this generalist predator's diet: mayflies (Ephemeroptera), caddisflies (Trichoptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), true flies (Diptera), beetles (Coleoptera), worms (Annelida), and sculpin eggs. An information‐theoretic model comparison approach indicated that an accelerated failure time Weibull model with all five covariates provided the best relative fit to the full data set. Prey type had a strong effect on prey identification time, with annelid worms having the shortest times (&lt;1 h) and caddisflies having the longest times (&gt;15 h). Water temperature decreased prey identification time (7.5% per 1°C increase), whereas prey count (i.e., meal size) increased prey identification time (15.5% per additional prey item). Predator body size had a weak negative effect on prey identification time (0.04% per 1‐mm increase). Body sizes of some prey taxa, including mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies, increased prey identification times, leading to an interaction between prey type and prey size. Our study highlights the utility of survival analysis for quantifying variation in prey identification times in the diets of generalist predators.

Who is most likely to offend in my store now? Statistical steps towards retail crime prevention with Auror

Auror is establishing itself both locally and internationally as a leader in retail crime solutions. In mid-2015 a study group of mathematicians and statisticians teamed up with Auror to analyse data from the first two and a half years of their venture to identify and prevent retail theft. The aim was to explore methods for nominating the top ten individuals most likely to offend in a particular store at a particular time. Various methods were employed to explore the relationships between retail crime incidents, including generalised linear models, regression trees and similarity matrices. The relationships identified were then used to inform predictions on individuals most likely to reoffend. The focus of the current analysis is to model the behaviour of reoffenders. At the time of the study group the project was still in the early phases of data collection. As data collection proceeds, prediction methods will likely give better and better intelligence to aid crime prevention efforts. References http://www.auror.co/we-have-exciting-news/ (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9806920/High-tech-blitz-on-2m-a-day-shoplifters (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://theregister.co.nz/news/2015/06/retail-crimewatch (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.saynotoshoplifting.org/the-issue-why-care (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.auror.co/the-global-picture-of-shoplifting/ (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1410/S00104/connecting-the-dots-on-retail-theft.htm (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.auror.co/two-at-a-time-is-great-prevention/ (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.auror.co/collaboration_success/ (Accessed 9 Apr 2017). http://www.innovators.org.nz/winners-a-finalists/winners-2015 (Accessed 9 Apr 2017) Seni, G. and Elder J. F. (2010) Ensemble Methods in Data Mining: Improving Accuracy Through Combining Predictions Morgan and Claypool, California. doi:10.2200/S00240ED1V01Y200912DMK002 Powers, D. M. W. (2011). Evaluation: From Precision, Recall and F-Measure to ROC, Informedness, Markedness and Correlation. Journal of Machine Learning Technologies 2 (1) 37–63. Ricci F., Rokach, L. and Shapira, B. (2015) Recommender Systems Handbook . Springer, New York. ISBN 978-1-4899-7637-6 McGloin J. M. and Kirk D. S. (2010) An Overview of Social Network Analysis Journal of Criminal Justice Education 21 (2) 169–181 doi:10.1080/10511251003693694 McCullagh, P. and Nelder, J. A. (1989) Generalized Linear Models (second edition) Chapman and Hall/CRC London. ISBN 9780412317606 Akaike, H. (1974), A new look at the statistical model identification IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control 19 (6) 716–723. doi:10.1109/TAC.1974.1100705 Moore, D. F. (2016) Applied Survival Analysis Using R Springer International, Switzerland. eBook ISBN 9783319312453 Hand, D. J. and Yu K. (2001) Idiot's Bayes: Not So Stupid after All? International Statistical Review 69 385–398

Estimation of failure criteria in multivariate sensory shelf life testing using survival analysis

For most food products, shelf life is determined by changes in their sensory characteristics. A predetermined increase or decrease in the intensity of a sensory characteristic has frequently been used to signal that a product has reached the end of its shelf life. Considering all attributes change simultaneously, the concept of multivariate shelf life allows a single measurement of deterioration that takes into account all these sensory changes at a certain storage time. The aim of the present work was to apply survival analysis to estimate failure criteria in multivariate sensory shelf life testing using two case studies, hamburger buns and orange juice, by modelling the relationship between consumers' rejection of the product and the deterioration index estimated using PCA. In both studies, a panel of 13 trained assessors evaluated the samples using descriptive analysis whereas a panel of 100 consumers answered a “yes” or “no” question regarding intention to buy or consume the product. PC1 explained the great majority of the variance, indicating all sensory characteristics evolved similarly with storage time. Thus, PC1 could be regarded as index of sensory deterioration and a single failure criterion could be estimated through survival analysis for 25 and 50% consumers' rejection. The proposed approach based on multivariate shelf life testing may increase the accuracy of shelf life estimations.

Consumer motivation in providing high-quality information: building toward a novel design for travel guide websites

ABSTRACTGiven the ever-growing information overload among users of online review websites, understanding the manner in which cognitive costs are reduced has become increasingly important. Despite the emergence of literature that focused on studying consumer motivation to publish high-quality reviews, the effect of direct intervention on this motivation remains relatively unclear. This study targets a unique design based on data from Qunar.com, one of the most popular Chinese travel websites. By developing a conceptual framework and applying survival analysis methods, our results suggest that both the immediate and cumulative effects of expert reviews positively motivate users to post additional eligible reviews; however, their motivation to further improve the quality of their evaluations diminish as they accumulate more expert reviews. Based on the study results, important implications for travel-related websites are presented.

The drivers of firm longevity: Age, size, profitability and survivorship of Australian corporations, 1901–1930

Why do some firms last longer than others? This question has attracted considerable interest among scholars from business history, management and economics. Our article combines the business historian’s macro view of the relationship between size, longevity, and economic development with quantitative modelling. We apply survival analysis to data relating to size, age and profitability, three first-order explanations of longevity, for Australian stock exchange (ASX) listed corporations from 1901 to 1930. The novelty of the article is twofold: we find that firm size is a poor predictor of longevity for the full sample but its age and profitability are highly significant; our data covers a longer time frame and relates to a rich mid-sized and non-industrialised country.

The Operational Determinants of Utility Pole Decay and Optimal Replacement in the Pacific Northwest

Wood utility poles are central to many electrical distribution networks, yet there have been no published studies to determine what operational characteristics of utility poles are indicative of decay in the field. We apply survival analysis to a database of more than 17 $\thinspace$ 000 utility poles in the Pacific Northwest, and find that larger circumference poles decay sooner, that Douglas fir poles do not last as long as western red cedar poles, that a split top has a large negative impact, and that the presence of a transformer makes decay more likely. We use our estimates for the size of these effects to calculate a pole-specific optimal replacement time that minimizes the cost of the pole. Our results are regional, and may not apply generally, but we document how our approach can be adapted to any electrical distribution network.

Using Survival Analysis to Evaluate Medical Equipment Battery Life.

As hospital medical device managers obtain more data, opportunities exist for using the data to improve medical device management, enhance patient safety, and evaluate costs of decisions. As a demonstration of the ability to use data analytics, this article applies survival analysis statistical techniques to assist in making decisions on medical equipment maintenance. The analysis was performed on a large amount of data related to failures of an infusion pump manufacturer's lithium battery and two aftermarket replacement lithium batteries from one hospital facility. The survival analysis resulted in statistical evidence showing that one of the third-party batteries had a lower survival curve than the infusion pump manufacturer's battery. This lower survival curve translates to a shorter expected life before replacement is needed. The data suggested that to limit unexpected failures, replacing batteries at a two-year interval, rather than the current industry recommendation of three years, may be warranted. For less than $5,400 in additional annual cost, the risk of unexpected battery failures can be reduced from an estimated 28% to an estimated 7%.

Inverse association between urbanicity and treatment resistance in schizophrenia

BackgroundLiving in a larger city is associated with increased risk of schizophrenia; and world-wide, consistent evidence shows that the higher the degree of urbanicity the higher the risk of schizophrenia. However, the association between urbanicity and treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) as a more severe form of schizophrenia or separate entity of schizophrenia has not been fully explored yet. We aimed to investigate the association between urbanicity and incidence of TRS. MethodsA large Danish population-based cohort of all individuals with a first schizophrenia diagnosis after 1996 was followed until 2013 applying survival analysis techniques. TRS was assessed using a treatment-based proxy, defined as the earliest observed instance of either clozapine initiation or hospital admission due to schizophrenia after having received two prior antipsychotic monotherapy trials of adequate duration. ResultsAmong the 13,349 schizophrenia patients, 17.3% experienced TRS during follow-up (median follow-up: 7years, inter-quartile range: 3–12years). The 5-year risk of TRS ranged from 10.5% in the capital area to 17.6% in the rural areas. Compared with individuals with schizophrenia residing in the capital area, hazard ratios were 1.44 (1.31–1.59) for provincial areas and 1.60 (1.43–1.79) for rural areas. ConclusionHigher rates of TRS were found in less urbanized areas. The different direction of urban-rural differences regarding TRS and schizophrenia risk may indicate urban-rural systematic differences in treatment practices, or different urban-rural aetiologic types of schizophrenia.

Survival analysis of supply chain financial risk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply survival analysis, using Cox proportional hazards regression (CPHR), to the problem of predicting if and when supply chain (SC) customers or suppliers might file a petition for bankruptcy so that proactive steps may be taken to avoid a SC disruption. Design/methodology/approach CPHR is first compared to multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) and logistic regression (LR) to assess its suitability and accuracy to SC applications using three years of financial quarterly data for 69 non-bankrupt and 74 bankrupt organizations. A k-means clustering approach is then applied to the survival curves of all 143 organizations to explore heuristics for predicting the timing of bankruptcy petitions. Findings CPHR makes bankruptcy predictions at least as accurately as MDA and LR. The survival function also provides valuable information on when bankruptcy might occur. This information allows SC members to be prioritized into three groups: financially healthy companies of no immediate risk, companies with imminent risk of bankruptcy and companies with intermediate levels of risk that need monitoring. Originality/value The current paper proposes a new analytical approach to scanning and assessing the financial risk of SC members (suppliers or customers). Traditional models are able to predict if but not when a financial failure will occur. Lacking this information, it is impossible for SC managers to prioritize risk mitigation activities. A simple decision rule is developed to guide SC managers in setting these priorities.

Working Conditions and Factory Survival: Evidence from Better Factories Cambodia

A large and growing literature has identified several conditions, including exporting, that contribute to plant survival. A prevailing sentiment suggests that anti-sweatshop activity against plants in developing countries adds the risk of making survival more difficult by imposing external constraints that may interfere with optimizing behavior. Using a relatively new plant-level panel dataset from Cambodia, this paper applies survival analysis to estimate the relationship between changes in working conditions and plant closure. The results find little, if any, evidence that improving working conditions increases the probability of closure. In fact, some evidence suggests that improvements in standards relating to compensation are positively correlated with the probability of plant survival.

Determinants of immigrants’ entry to homeownership in three nordic capital city regions

The extent of homeownership among immigrants may be seen as an indicator of integration and as a determinant of ethnic residential segregation. Studies have shown differences in the determinants of homeownership between immigrants and natives, indicating that variation in homeownership is not only a function of differences in economic resources. These studies have largely focused on Anglo‐American contexts, using mostly cross‐sectional data. We apply survival analysis methods to analyse the determinants of entry to homeownership in the capital regions of three Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland and Sweden – utilizing longitudinal individual‐level register‐based datasets. We find that differences in entry to homeownership between natives and different immigrant groups cannot be explained by differences in socio‐economic background factors. We also find differences in the effects of these factors. Effects of income are generally weaker among non‐Western immigrants and immigrants are less responsive to changes in household composition. The share of non‐Western immigrants in the neighbourhood is only weakly related to entry to homeownership, while immigrants and natives living in public rental housing tend to be slightly less inclined to move to homeownership. Weaker income effects among immigrants, weak effects of ethnic segregation and the importance of the public rental sector differentiate our results from earlier findings. Weaker income effects may indicate that uncertainty about the future also affects middle‐income immigrants. Differences between the three contexts in housing markets and policies do not seem to matter much, although the results indicate that difficult access to the private rental sector may push immigrants to homeownership.

Got milk? Workplace factors related to breastfeeding among working mothers

SummaryThe American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that women breastfeed because of improved health outcomes for mothers and children. Because maternal employment during the first year of the child's life has been identified as a reason for breastfeeding cessation, we develop and test a role‐theory‐based framework to explain women's continuation of breastfeeding after return to work (Study 1) and report results of an exploratory study linking breastfeeding at work with job attitudes and well‐being (Study 2). Applying survival analysis to a longitudinal dataset gathered by the Centers for Disease Control (Study 1), we identify pregnant women's perceived employer support for breastfeeding as a predictor of women's breastfeeding goal intentions. Supervisors' negative workplace remarks about breastfeeding related to an eightfold increase of women's likelihood to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding and perceived support for breastfeeding after return to work predicted exclusive breastfeeding continuation. Results of Study 2 suggest that women who return to work and continue breastfeeding experience more family‐to‐work conflict and overload than women who do not reconcile work and breastfeeding. Further, results of Study 2 provide preliminary evidence suggesting that perceptions of supervisor and coworker support for breastfeeding relate positively to general perceptions of organizational support and negatively to depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Survival analysis: A consumer-friendly method to estimate the optimum sucrose level in probiotic petit suisse

For years, just-about-right (JAR) scales have been among the most used techniques to obtain sensory information about consumer perception, but recently, some researchers have harshly criticized the technique. The present study aimed to apply survival analysis to estimate the optimum sucrose concentration in probiotic petit suisse cheese and compare the survival analysis to JAR scales to verify which technique more accurately predicted the optimum sucrose concentration according to consumer acceptability. Two panels of consumers (total=170) performed affective tests to determine the optimal concentration of sucrose in probiotic petit suisse using 2 different methods of analysis: JAR scales (n=85) and survival analysis (n=85). Then an acceptance test was conducted using naïve consumers (n=100) between 18 and 60 yr old, with 2 samples of petit suisse, one with the ideal sucrose determined by JAR scales and the other with the ideal sucrose content determined by survival analysis, to determine which formulation was in accordance with consumer acceptability. The results indicate that the 2 sensory methods were equally effective in predicting the optimum sucrose level in probiotic petit suisse cheese, and no significant differences were detected in any of the characteristics related to liking evaluated. However, survival analysis has important advantages over the JAR scales. Survival analysis has shown the potential to be an advantageous tool for dairy companies because it was able to accurately predict the optimum sucrose content in a consumer-friendly way and was also practical for researchers because experimental sensory work is simpler and has been shown to be more cost effective than JAR scales without losses of consumer acceptability.

Prior to reshoring: A duration analysis of foreign manufacturing ventures

This paper throws light on the determinants of the duration of manufacturing offshore experiences by US and European firms prior to reshoring. By applying survival analysis to a dataset of 249 offshoring experiences terminated with a relocation to the home country/region, we estimate the effects of different groups of survival determinants. Results highlight that contextual factors such as the industry, the home country, the host country, and the size of the firm significantly affect the duration of offshoring experiences. The likelihood of termination is in fact higher for the electronics and automotive industries, for small firms, for firms headquartered in Europe, and for offshoring to Asia. The analysis of the motivations for reshoring shows that quality issues experienced offshore emerge as the key factor giving rise to shorter offshore stays. Based on these empirical findings, a set of testable propositions is developed. In particular, we conjecture that the likelihood of termination of offshore manufacturing and the return to the home country may be accelerated by technology-based industries, small firm sizes, shrinking cost differentials and the psychic distance between home and host country, the organizational archetypes, and quality related motivations.