Private efficiency improvement

Besides the economic reasons behind this priority setting of companies, public administrations and private households, there are also psychosocial, motivational and behavioural aspects, which have rarely been analysed except by some sociologists and psychologists in the 1990s (e.g., Jochem et al, 2000 Stern, 1992). Social relations, such as competitive behaviour, mutual estimation and acceptance, not only play a role between, but also within companies. Efforts to improve energy efficiency... 

Since the characteristics of vaccines can be well specihed, quality can be (and is) monitored, and the potential for quality improvement is high, their model implies that private enterprise is likely to be more efficient in the vaccine industry too. Indeed, in a later paper, Shleifer (1998) concluded that private ownership should generally be preferred to public ownership when the incentives to innovate and to contain costs must be strong— A good government that wants to further social goals would rarely own producers to meet its objectives. ... 

Finally, Megginson and Netter (2001) concluded from their comprehensive survey of the extensive literature on privatization that privately owned hrms are more efficient and more prohtable than otherwise-comparable state-owned hrms. They cited limited empirical evidence, especially from China, that suggests that nonprivatizing reform measures, such as price deregulation, market liberalization, and increased use of incentives, can improve the efficiency of state-owned enterprises, but it also seems likely that these reforms would be even more effective ifcoupled with privatization. 

Use fuel cells as a search keyword and you willfind a number of private companies and organizations, such as the two named here, that are dedicated to improving the efficiency offhel cells andpublicizing their use. Fuel cells are certainly a wave of thefuture. 

This philosophy was incorporated into the participation agreements between ER E and project sponsors. Potential process improvements are being brought into the project from Exxon s privately funded research, and are also being identified within the project. In addition, sponsors are suggesting improvements based on non-confidential information. Currently active process improvements are directed toward improving product yields, process operability and process efficiency. 

Since keratinase is a versatile protease that digests all kinds of proteins, it is possible that supplementation of the enzyme in feed may improve the feed digestibility. In 2001 keratinase was tested as a feed additive. The first test in young chicks was positive, and reproduced by many more experiments 0.1% of crude keratinase in a regular corn-soy diet improved the body weight gain, the feed conversion ratio (FCR), or feed efficiency in broiler chickens. Numerous experiments included the cage tests of chicks to 3-4 weeks of age (Odetellah et al., 2003), pen trials on a research farm to 6 week market age (Odetellah et al, 2005), and the commercial tests conducted by private com-... 

The World Development Report 2004 reviews traditional approaches to public service delivery and discusses how they have often failed the poor. Whether in health, education, or infrastructure, supply-side subsidy strategies to fund inputs—such as staff costs, equipment, and buildings used in delivery—have not improved the access to quality services among the poor. An important question remains for developing countries and the international development community on how to deliver and target public subsidies in ways that promote efficiency and innovation, increase accountability for performance, and leverage public resources with private participation and financing. 

Profile Cellomics Inc., formerly BioDx Inc., is a privately held corporation founded in October 1996. Cellomics mission is to improve the efficiency of the drug discovery process by delivering a cell-based screening platform that automates target validation and lead optimization using fluorescence-based assays. 

The use of market mechanisms by outsourcing placement services to external providers through placement vouchers or via subsidised temporary work (PSA) has been implemented as a complementary option to improve efficiency and effectiveness of core employment services (Konle-Seidl 2005a). The need for more individualised services for hard-to-place unemployed persons, however, opens up broader options for contracting out employment and welfare service provision. In this sense the BA started a new pilot in July 2007 to test successful context criteria for a better involvement of private agencies. The step to a further privatisation of the German PES takes the British Employment Zones as an example. 

Thirdly, engaging small-scale producers in rural areas living within the most deficient populations is vital. The formation of business alliances and associations, particularly among small-scale producers, is one way to strengthen quality and improve sales. Collectively, these associations may purchase potassium iodate and package iodized salt at a more efficient scale. Technical assistance and equipment from public and private partners would assure a quality product reaches a larger number of people. 

Traditionally, the nation s farm productivity improvements have largely originated in university-based agricultural experiment stations as coordinated by USDA s Cooperative States Research Service. Complemented by the USDA s Agricultural Research Service as well as private sector laboratories, this system has made U.S. agriculture the most productive and efficient in the world (40). 

In market economies, natural gas imports are the responsibility of business enterprises, and the state has no particular role to play therein. In the European Commission Green Paper A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy (EC, 2006, Part 3), it is suggested that the EU should improve the conditions for European companies seeking access to global resources . It is not clear what this implies in practice, for example, what the limits of a European energy company are, and how this state support to the business companies would work without discrimination. An efficient policy would be to create conditions conducive to business deals for the private sector, but to refrain from interventionist action. 

As in the case of hedge funds, managers are increasingly investing in private equity to improve portfolio efficiency. Although there is much less conclusive research on private equity and investing, the recent performance record of such investments is strong. 

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