Impact Of Local Competition Research Articles

Identifying potential barriers to community participation and use of telecentres: A Survey-based Study

Introduction: Telecentres have been set up in most developing countries to bring digital access to as many people as possible. The main issues associated with these telecentres' sustainability include cultural, technical, financial, social, political, and programmatic issues that directly affect these centres' sustainability. Therefore, the present study adopts a community-centred approach by discussing users' views and perceptions and non-users from the local community. Method: The study proceeded by conducting a qualitative exploratory semi-structured interview that was administered to 13 telecentre operators. Analysis: Thematic content analysis was used for analysing interview data and identify common themes, which were applied in an affinity diagram for confirmation and reveal of sub-issues within each central theme. Results: The significant findings of this study showed that there are several issues either encouraging or inhibiting individual use of a telecentre, which further affects the sustainability of telecentre projects. Individual community member demographics moderates all the issues experienced by telecentres. Conclusion: The study concluded that the issues affecting telecentres' sustainability include the physical characteristics of the centre, operational and management approach, service availability, the nature and impact of local competition, and participation of stakeholder and community groups.

LOCAL ECONOMIC STRUCTURE AND SECTORAL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN GERMAN CITIES

ABSTRACTThis study systematically examines the impact of fundamental elements of urban economic structure on sectoral employment growth in German cities (“urban growth”). We test four elements simultaneously – sectoral specialisation, diversification of economic activities, urban size and the impact of local competition. To account for the effect of varying spatial delimitations in the analysis of urban growth, we further differentiate between cities and planning regions as geographical units. Our regression results show a U‐shaped relationship between localisation economies and urban growth and positive effects of local competition on urban growth. With respect to diversification, we find positive effects on urban growth on the city level, but insignificant results on the level of the planning regions. The impact of urban size also differs between free cities and planning regions; in the former, a U‐shaped relationship is found, whereas the effect is inversely U‐shaped for the latter.

Alternative reproductive tactics and the impact of local competition on sex ratios in the ant Hypoponera opacior

The ant Hypoponera opacior exhibits alternative reproductive morphs of males and females associated with distinct sexual behaviours. Our long-term study reports strong seasonality in sexual production with a mating season in early and one in late summer. Winged (alate) reproductives emerge in June, swarm during the monsoon season and establish new colonies independently. In contrast, wingless worker-like (ergatoid) reproductives that appear in late August mate within their natal or adjacent nests and either do not disperse or establish new nests close by. These divergent dispersal patterns allowed us to analyse the impact of local factors on investment strategies by comparing sex allocation between and within the two reproductive events. The optimal sex ratio for ergatoid reproductives should be influenced both by competition for matings between brothers (local mate competition) and rivalry among young locally dispersing queens for workers, nest sites or food (local resource competition). The greater importance of local resource competition was demonstrated both by a male-biased sex ratio for wingless sexuals and a stronger increase in the number of males with total sexual production than for the number of queens. Microsatellite analysis revealed that inter-nest variation in relatedness asymmetry cannot explain split sex ratios in the August generation. Instead, nests with related ergatoid males raised a male-biased sex ratio contrary to the expectations under local mate competition. In conclusion, male bias in wingless H. opacior indicates that local mate competition is less strong than local resource competition among ergatoid queens over the help of workers during nest foundation.

Knowledge Spillovers and Economic Growth: An Analysis Using Data of Dutch Regions in the Period 1987–1995

Van Stel A. J. and Nieuwenhuijsen H. R. (2004) Knowledge spillovers and economic growth: an analysis using data of Dutch regions in the period 1987–1995, Reg. Studies 38, 393–407. The importance of knowledge spillovers for achieving innovation and economic growth is widely recognized. It is not straightforward which types of spillover are most effective: intra-sectoral spillovers or inter-sectoral spillovers. We investigate this controversy using a model of regional growth. The model also deals with the impact of local competition on innovation and growth. The model is estimated using sectoral data for 40 Dutch regions. We find that local competition is important particularly for economic growth in industry sectors (manufacturing and construction), while diversity, a proxy for inter-sectoral spillovers, is important particularly for growth in service sectors. We find no effect for specialization (a proxy for intra-sectoral spillovers).

Intracolonial Sex Ratio Variation With and Without Local Mate Competition in an Ant

Previous articleNext article No AccessNotes and CommentsIntracolonial Sex Ratio Variation With and Without Local Mate Competition in an AntKazuki Tsuji and Katsusuke YamauchiKazuki Tsuji Search for more articles by this author and Katsusuke Yamauchi Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The American Naturalist Volume 148, Number 3Sep., 1996 Published for The American Society of Naturalists Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/285941 Views: 4Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1996 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:S. FOITZIK, M. H. RÜGER, I. M. KURECK, D. METZLER Macro- and microgeographic genetic structure in an ant species with alternative reproductive tactics in sexuals, Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24, no.1212 (Oct 2011): 2721–2730.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02397.xSusanne Foitzik, Ilka Maria Kureck, Markus Hannes Rüger, Dirk Metzler Alternative reproductive tactics and the impact of local competition on sex ratios in the ant Hypoponera opacior, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 64, no.1010 (May 2010): 1641–1654.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0977-1Stuart A. West, David M. Shuker, Ben C. Sheldon SEX-RATIO ADJUSTMENT WHEN RELATIVES INTERACT: A TEST OF CONSTRAINTS ON ADAPTATION, Evolution 59, no.66 (Jun 2005): 1211–1228.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01772.xL. Walin, P. Seppä Resource allocation in the red ant Myrmica ruginodis - an interplay of genetics and ecology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology 14, no.55 (Jul 2008): 694–707.https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1420-9101.2001.00332.xKazuki Tsuji Queen-male conflict over sperm use in social insects, Trends in Ecology & Evolution 11, no.1212 (Dec 1996): 490–491.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(96)30052-9