Period Of Technological Change Research Articles

Periods of Technological Change in Higher Education

Periods of Technological Change in Higher Education

The influence of ESG practices on domestic value-added to exports during the period of technological change.

Sustainable development and raising the domestic value-added rate of exports (DVARE) have become essential priorities in the pursuit of high-quality economic growth. An econometric spatial model is developed in this research using data on Chinese enterprises spanning 2008 to 2019. According to a study, exports' domestic value-added rate (DVAR) can be successfully increased using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. Spatial spillover analysis demonstrates that adopting ESG practices boosts export DVAR both within and between regions. According to heterogeneity analysis, the sample's overall increase in DVARE as a result of ESG practices is mostly attributable to the mix and processing trade organizations, the eastern area, and large firms. An examination of the underlying mechanisms shows that businesses that implement advanced technologies are able to reinforce the favorable impact of ESG practices on DVARE. This article gives evidence from real-world studies that show how ESG practices help boost Chinese exports and advance sustainable development. The findings hold significant implications for other developing nations as they make the transition towards a pattern of economic growth.

‘What they’re not telling you about ChatGPT’: exploring the discourse of AI in UK news media headlines

This study analyses the discursive representation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT in UK news media headlines from January to May 2023. A total of 671 headlines were collected and analysed using inductive thematic analysis, theoretically informed by Agenda-Setting theory and Framing theory. The results offer an initial picture of how recent technological advances in the fields of AI have been communicated to the public. The results show that there is a complex and at times paradoxical portrayal of AI in general and ChatGPT as well as other Large Language Models (LLMs), oscillating between promising potential for solving societal challenges while simultaneously warning of imminent and systemic dangers. Further to this, the analysis provides evidence for the claim that media representations of AI are often sensationalised and tend to focus more on warnings and caution to readers, as only a minority of headlines were related to helpful, useful, or otherwise positive applications of AI, ChatGPT, and other Large Language Models (LLMs). These findings underscore the pivotal role of media discourse in shaping public perceptions of AI. The study prompts reflections on news media practices in the United Kingdom and encourages future research to further examine the influence of social, cultural, and political contexts on AI representation during a period of technological change. This research provides relevant insights for policymakers, AI developers, and educators to support public engagement with AI technologies.

Ways to Reduce the Duration of Study at the University

At present, periods of technological change are becoming comparable to the duration of education in higher education. Therefore, along with the need to use the concept of lifelong education, there is a need to reduce the duration of obtaining basic higher education. Analysis and identification of possible ways to reduce the duration of study at a university while maintaining the required level of graduates' education is the subject of this article. The methodological basis of the work is the integration and generalization of previous studies to improve the effectiveness of training. The article discusses in detail the following complementary ways: changing the content of education and the use of new, more effective teaching methods. It is shown that the reduction of overall time of studying in university while maintaining the required level of education can only be achieved by the joint application of various approaches. The following complementary ways are proposed: changing (optimizing) the content of basic professional knowledge, using more effective teaching methods and individualized learning, reducing auxiliary (transactional) costs for students and increasing the level of motivation of students. More effective teaching methods, in particular, involve improving the lecture system, monitoring progress, and optimizing the speed of introducing new material in group classes. Taking into account the concept of continuous education, a certain fundamental educational background obtained at the university can subsequently be supplemented with short-term modules in the course of additional professional education.

Opportunity to reduce paediatric asthma in New South Wales through nitrogen dioxide control

ObjectiveThe main sources of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), road vehicles and electricity generation, are currently in a period of technological change. We assessed the number of cases of childhood asthma in New South Wales that could be avoided by lowering exposure to NO2 by 25% from current levels. MethodsHealth impact assessment calculations for each of the 128 local government areas were based on the population of children aged 2 to 14, the prevalence of asthma derived from the 2017 NSW health survey, NO2 exposure from a land‐use regression model using satellite data, and risk estimates derived from two meta‐analyses and one Australian study. ResultsA 25% reduction in NO2 below current exposure would lead to between 2,597 and 12,286 fewer children with asthma in NSW. The wide range in these estimates reflects the variation in concentration‐response functions used. ConclusionsEven the lowest of these estimates would be a worthwhile reduction in this common childhood illness. Implications for public healthA 25% reduction in NO2 is ambitious, but it is achievable through improved vehicle exhaust standards, increasing electric vehicle numbers, and reform of the electricity sector. Current Australian ambient air quality standards for annual NO2 should be revised downwards.

Corporate Hedging and Productivity Shocks: Implications on Investment and Debt

This work compares two models of corporate hedging, to show how optimal investment, debt, and hedging strategy can be strongly dependent on the mechanism linking the firm’s internal funds to its return on investment. Approximated analytical solutions for hedging and a numerical example simulating the effects of a productivity shock are obtained to shed light on the different empirical implications associated to the two mechanisms. The latter appear to be distinguishable by observing the extent of hedging for equal values of the relevant parameters, and the correlation between investment and debt in a period of technological change.

Fiskarsin ruukin tuotannolliset vaiheet ja niiden vaikutus ruukkimiljööseen

Vuonna 1649 perustettu Fiskarsin rautaruukki on vuosisatojen varrella tullut tunnetuksi yhtenä suomalaisen raudan- ja kuparintuotannon ja –jalostuksen syntypaikoista. Myöhemmissä vaiheissa metallinjalostus muuttui konepaja- ja hienotaetuotteiden suunnitteluksi ja tuotannoksi. Monille tutut Fiskarsin sakset, veitset ja aurat ovat syntyneet siellä. Fiskarsin ruukki on kokenut viimeisen kolmenkymmenen vuoden aikana voimakkaan rakennemuutoksen. Teollinen rautaruukki hiljeni ja muuntui taiteilija- ja käsityöläisruukiksi, ja samalla myös matkailu- ja asumisruukiksi. Ruukki on elänyt monia teknologisten muutosten kausia; ollut välillä muutosten perässä kulkija, mutta usein myös uuden kehittäjä ja innovoinnin keskus. Tässä artikkelissa analysoidaan Fiskarsin ruukin tuotannollisia siirtymiä ja niiden vaikutusta ruukkimiljöön muotoutumiseen koko sen 370-vuotisen historian aikana. Artikkeli jakaantuu kolmeen osatehtävään: 1) Fiskarsin ruukin teollistuotannollisten vaiheiden ja siirtymien analyysi ulottaen tarkastelu viimeiseen siirtymään kulttuuri- ja matkailuruukiksi. 2) ’Ruukkimiljöön’ eli ruukkiyhdyskunnan fyysisen ja maankäytöllisen muotoutumisen vaiheet ja näiden suhde tuotannollisiin siirtymiin. 3) Analyysi muutoksissa vaikuttaneista muutosajureista ja alueen omista muutosresursseista ja sopeutumiskyvystä. Ruukin omat ja siellä kehittyneet resurssipohjat, kuten energia- ja luonnonvarat, liikenneyhteydet, osaaminen ja riittävä työvoima, ovat olleet olennaisia sopeutumisessa ympäröivän maailman muutoksiin. Viimeisissä muutoksissa menestyksen keskeisiä tekijöitä ovat olleet historiallisen miljöön säilyttäminen ja hyödyntäminen sekä matkailun, kulttuurialojen ja pysyvän asumisen kytkeminen toisiinsa.

Analisi archeometriche e statistiche per la caratterizzazione di produzioni di bucchero

The aim of this paper is to provide an update to the debate concerning the production technology of bucchero pottery, as well as presenting new data on the use of raw material for its manufacture and the temperatures of firing. This interdisciplinary research focused on a period of technological changes in bucchero production during the sixth century BC, by applying a quantitative analytical approach using X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Thermogravimetric Analysis and Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTG), and multivariate statistical analyses. A series of samples from northern Etruria (mainly the area of Volsinii) were compared with products from Veii, Ardea, Segni and Pompeii. XRF and XRD analyses provided quantitative results, statistically analysed, concerning the use of raw material, both calcareous and non-calcareous, and the technology of firing where temperatures reached 950°C or above. TG analysis proved that the black surface of bucchero was due to reduced iron oxides and the presence of carbonaceous material on the surface. However, XRD results demonstrated that firing occurred at a high temperature and the ratio between aluminium and iron in the samples led to the formation of hercynite, an iron-aluminate spinel. The results of the study show that during the sixth century BC the changes in technology to obtain a quality bucchero production were related to a sufficiently long soaking period at a high temperature in a reduced atmosphere, regardless of the presence of calcite in the source material.

„Musikalische Denkmäler der Steinätzkunst“oder die Säulen des Jubal

The musical life of the sixteenth century was influenced by a major technological shift. In this period of technological change, o ne can observe some interesting experiments with the materials on which music was notated. One particularly interesting group of objects are large stone tables with cauterized staves made in late sixteenth century upper Germany. They are most frequently seen as unusual byproducts of the regular musical life. This contribution investigates the concepts and ideas behind these objects focussing their materiality. It becomes clear that they are part of a larger discourse, asking for the origins and foundation of music itself.

Piracy and new product creation: A Bollywood story

While copyright research in the decade following Napster focused mostly on whether file sharing undermines demand, research has more recently asked how piracy and other aspects of digitization affect the supply of new products. Although revenue has declined sharply, evidence that weakened effective copyright protection undermines creation has been elusive. Instead, because of cost-reducing effects of digitization, the number of new recorded music products – and their apparent quality – has increased. This study examines movie production in India during a period of technological change that facilitated large-scale piracy. The diffusion of the VCR and cable television in India between 1985 and 2000 created substantial opportunities for unpaid movie consumption. We undertake a case study of this episode to shed light on possible impacts of piracy on supply. We first document, from narrative sources, conditions conducive to piracy as these technologies diffused. We then provide strong circumstantial evidence of piracy in diminished appropriability: movies’ revenues fell by a third to a half, conditional on their ratings by movie-goers and their ranks in their annual revenue distributions. Weaker effective demand undermined creative incentives. While the number of new movies released had grown steadily from 1960 to 1985, it fell markedly between 1985 and 2000, suggesting a supply elasticity in the range of 0.2–0.7. Thus, our study provides suggestive evidence on a central tenet of copyright policy, that stronger effective copyright protection effects more creation. We contrast our findings with evidence from other contexts.

Technology change or resistance to changing logics: The demise of Digital Equipment Corporation

Why market-leading incumbent firms falter and even fail during periods of technological change is a question of great interest to many scholars in a variety of disciplines including organizational behavior, management, technology management, and strategy. While there have been significant contributions towards this question made in the literature, much of the focus has been on the technology itself as a force that can put incumbent firms at risk. This case study explores the rise and fall of a single firm, Digital Equipment Corporation, to explore deeply the relationship between organizational failure and technology change. Digital invented the minicomputer in the early 1960s and quickly became a market leader. It created a strong reputation for innovation and engineering excellence. When new technology of the personal computer emerged in the early 1980s, Digital Equipment Corporation never could find success in this market and eventually was acquired by Compaq Computer, Inc. in 1998. The history of Digit...

More than microphoning

A review of literature in the field of record production shows the recording engineer as being under represented and possibly, due to the enigmatic nature of the role, misunderstood. This paper examines the engineer’s role and influence in the creation of recordings from the 1980s to the 1990s through the autoethnographic approach undertaken by Steven Parker who worked as an engineer during this time. Parker’s narrative allows us to reflect not only on the roles of the engineer during a period of technological change, but the way that the engineer contributed to the creative process and in particular to what we term the sonic signature of a recording. Our suggestion is that the role of the engineer should be understood as more than microphoning (the art of capturing sound) and re-evaluated as an integral component of the creative process.

Piracy and New Product Creation: A Bollywood Story

While copyright research in the decade following Napster focused mostly on whether file sharing undermines demand, research has more recently asked how piracy and other aspects of digitization affect the supply of new products. Although revenue has declined sharply, evidence that weakened effective copyright protection undermines creation has been elusive. Instead, because of cost-reducing effects of digitization, the number of new recorded music products – and their apparent quality – has increased. This study examines movie production in India during a period of technological change that facilitated large-scale piracy. The diffusion of the VCR and cable television in India between 1985 and 2000 created substantial opportunities for unpaid movie consumption. We use this episode to study possible impacts of piracy on supply. We first document, from narrative sources, conditions conducive to piracy as these technologies diffused. We then provide strong circumstantial evidence of piracy in diminished appropriability: movies’ revenues fell by a third to a half, conditional on their ratings by movie-goers and their ranks in their annual revenue distributions. Weaker effective demand undermined creative incentives. While the number of new movies released had grown steadily from 1960 to 1985, it fell markedly between 1985 and 2000, suggesting a supply elasticity in the range of 0.2-0.7. Thus, our study provides affirmative evidence on a central tenet of copyright policy, that stronger effective copyright protection effects more creation. We contrast our findings with evidence from other contexts.

The University in periods of technological change: a historically grounded perspective

The University has a remarkably enduring history that is due in no small part to its ability to adapt itself whenever intellectual, political, or technological change has occurred. Today’s technology revolution, however, presents the University with one of the greatest adaptation challenges it has ever faced in its lengthy history, and the Institution will either adjust to this new reality or will risk losing its status as a premier educational institution. Instructional technology can play a critical role in helping the University meet these new challenges, but how should instructional technology be effectively leveraged to do so? Key recommendations are presented and discussed.

Fine Indian jewelry of the Southwest: the Millicent Rogers Museum Collection

A Testament of Diversity: Southwest Indian Jewellery at the Millicent Rogers Museum In Pursuit of the Extraordinary: Millicent Rogers the Collector The Origins of Indian Jewellery in the Southwest The Beginning of Silverwork Classic Period: A Period of Technological Change and Refinement Transitional Period: The Commercialisation of Southwest Indian Jewellery and the Development of Recognisable Tribal Styles Innovation Period: Pushing Boundaries and the Emphasis on the Individual Artist Millicent Rogers: Artist and Designer Glossary Index.

Labour Market Formation Patterns in Nineteenth Century Catalonia

In this paper we portray the features of the Catalan textiles labour market in a period of technological change. Labour supply and demand and a gendered view of living standards are presented. A first set of results shows that labour supply adjusts to changes in labour demand through the spread of new demographic attitudes. In this respect we suggest that the labour economic agents (or labour population) were able to modify the economic conditions of their children. A second set of results refers to living standards and income distribution inequality. In this respect we see that unemployment and protectionism were the main sources of income inequality. A third set of results deals with the extreme labour market segmentation according to gender. Since women’s real wages did not obey to an economic rationale we conclude that women were outside the labour market.

Webbing the Pacific—Teaching an Intercontinental Legal History Course

Legal education has always responded to, perhaps even been driven by, available technologies of information dissemination. At the start of the twenty-first century law teachers find themselves in an unprecedented period of technological change: available means of presenting and distributing information are daily transforming. The “information age” seems, genuinely, to be upon us. The present is difficult to comprehend, the future beyond imagination.

Institutions, Inertia and Changing Industrial Leadership

Institutional factors, especially those embodied in capabilities and routines, can both improve the ability of a firm to exploit an existing technology and make it more difficult to innovate by generating an inertia that is hard to overcome. As a result, periods of technological change are often relatively short and dynamic in comparison to lengthy periods of consolidation in which firms gain full mastery over innovations. Not all organizations are equally well equipped to adapt to change, however, and firms that are adept at using an existing technology may have fewer of the capabilities required to cope with innovation than a new entrant or a firm that was less successful under the old regime. When this is true, a change in industrial leadership is probable, with the hitherto dominant firms becoming either followers or leaving the industry altogether because they are no longer competitive.

Technological discontinuities and flexible production networks: The case of Switzerland and the world watch industry

The twentieth-century history of the Swiss watch industry illustrates how cultures and industrial production systems experience great difficulty adapting to external change at different points in time. The current emphasis on production networks - unique reservoirs of potential technological innovation realized through cooperation rather than competition among firms - lacks a detailed appreciation of historic networks, and in particular their fragile character in times of economic turmoil. While networks can and do promote innovation within an existing technological framework, historical experience suggests their fragmented, atomistic structure is subject to disorganization and disintegration during periods of technological change. An exclusive focus on “production” ignores other constraints that are powerful forces governing the reaction abilities of regions. Previous research has largely relied on a model of oligopolistic competition to explain how the Swiss lost control of the world watch industry. I conclude, on the contrary, that the Swiss experience must be understood from the standpoint of how technological change challenges previous ways of organizing production, industry, culture, and society. Technology shifts present a series of strategic turning points that industrial leaders must navigate during a period of technological change.

Computerization and Job Satisfaction in the Newsroom: Four Factors to Consider

A review of the literature indicates a participative style of management is important to job satisfaction during periods of technological change in the newsroom. Studies suggest the relationship between job satisfaction and computerization of newsrooms is a combination of four factors: method of introduction, types of positions using the equipment, individual characteristics of the users and environment into which computers are introduced. Based on past research, newspaper managers are advised to allow employee participation during the planning stage of computerization and managers are warned to plan carefully.