You're using an outdated browser. Please upgrade to a modern browser for the best experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Privatization in Australia
Privatization in Australia is the process of transiting a public service or good to the private sector through a variety of mechanisms that was commenced by the Federal Government in the 1990s, receiving bipartisan support. More generally, privatization is a set of economic policies that is part of a broader system of deregulation of government services, underpinned by the ideology of neoliberalism, in order to achieve economic outcomes of growth, efficiency and productivity. Some examples of sectors that have been privatized include finance, telecommunications and infrastructure. Australia's public service has also transformed with the introduction of New Public Management (NPM) in the late twentieth century which altered public administration models to appear more "business-like" through performance evaluations that emphasize efficiency, productivity and service delivery. Another definition of privatization is reliance on "more on private institutions and less on government, to satisfy people’s needs”. The concept of privatization can be construed in a narrow or broad sense. The narrow scope of privatization is portrayed as the sale of public goods, while the broader understanding of privatization involves the transfer of "ownership, management, finance and control" of public goods to private actors. Historically, the Australian government played an influential role in society as the idea of a strong state was prevalent to the Australian story since Federation. This changed in the twentieth-century, as Australia’s adoption of privatization as a set of government policies, reflected the rise of privatization across the Western world, specifically in the United States and United Kingdom. The Australian experience of privatization involves substituting government ownership, provision and funding to the private sector, in an attempt to liberalize the economy. The effectiveness of such policies is contested, as the motivations of privatization are widely debated.
  • 3.1K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
1998–99 Ecuador Economic Crisis
The 1998–99 Ecuador economic crisis was a period of economic instability that resulted from a combined inflationary-currency crisis, financial crisis, fiscal crisis, and sovereign debt crisis. Severe inflation and devaluation of the Ecuadorian sucre lead to President Jamil Mahuad announcing on January 9, 2000 that the US dollar would be adopted as the national currency. Poor economic conditions and subsequent protests against the government resulted in the 2000 Ecuadoran coup d’état in which Jamil Mahuad was forced to resign and was replaced by his Vice President, Gustavo Noboa.
  • 3.1K
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Herfindahl Index
The Herfindahl index (also known as Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, HHI, or sometimes HHI-score) is a measure of the size of firms in relation to the industry and an indicator of the amount of competition among them. Named after economists Orris C. Herfindahl and Albert O. Hirschman, it is an economic concept widely applied in competition law, antitrust and also technology management. It is defined as the sum of the squares of the market shares of the firms within the industry (sometimes limited to the 50 largest firms), where the market shares are expressed as fractions. The result is proportional to the average market share, weighted by market share. As such, it can range from 0 to 1.0, moving from a huge number of very small firms to a single monopolistic producer. Increases in the Herfindahl index generally indicate a decrease in competition and an increase of market power, whereas decreases indicate the opposite. Alternatively, if whole percentages are used, the index ranges from 0 to 10,000 "points". For example, an index of .25 is the same as 2,500 points. The major benefit of the Herfindahl index in relationship to such measures as the concentration ratio is that it gives more weight to larger firms. The measure is essentially equivalent to the Simpson diversity index, which is a diversity index used in ecology; the inverse participation ratio (IPR) in physics; and the effective number of parties index in politics.
  • 2.9K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Panama Papers (Europe)
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source. This page details related allegations, reactions, and investigations, in Europe.
  • 2.9K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Computer Reservation System
A computer reservation system or central reservation system (CRS) is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSs were later extended for the use of travel agencies. Global distribution systems (GDS) book and sell tickets for multiple airlines. Most airlines have outsourced their CRSs to GDS companies, which also enable consumer access through Internet gateways. Modern GDS's typically allow users to book hotel rooms, rental cars, airline tickets as well as other activities and tours. They also provide access to railway reservations and bus reservations in some markets, although these are not always integrated with the main system. These are also used to relay computerized information for users in the hotel industry, making reservation and ensuring that the hotel is not overbooked. Airline reservations systems may be integrated into a larger passenger service system, which also includes an airline inventory system and a departure control system.
  • 2.9K
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market (/ˈnæzˌdæk/ (listen), also known simply as Nasdaq) is an American stock exchange. It is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, behind only the New York Stock Exchange located in the same city. The exchange platform is owned by Nasdaq, Inc., which also owns the Nasdaq Nordic (formerly known as OMX) and Nasdaq Baltic stock market network and several U.S. stock and options exchanges
  • 2.9K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Travel Website
A travel website is a website on the world wide web that is dedicated to travel. The site may be focused on travel reviews, trip fares, or a combination of both. Approximately 587.3 million consumers are expected to book travel plans online in 2018.
  • 2.9K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Household
A household consists of one or several persons who live in the same dwelling and share meals. It may also consist of a single family or another group of people. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is important to economics and inheritance. Household models include families, blended families, shared housing, group homes, boarding houses, houses of multiple occupancy (UK), and single room occupancy (US). In feudal societies, the royal household and medieval households of the wealthy included servants and other retainers.
  • 2.7K
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
California Electricity Crisis
The California electricity crisis, also known as the Western U.S. energy crisis of 2000 and 2001, was a situation in which the United States state of California had a shortage of electricity supply caused by market manipulations and capped retail electricity prices. The state suffered from multiple large-scale blackouts, one of the state's largest energy companies collapsed, and the economic fall-out greatly harmed Governor Gray Davis's standing. Drought, delays in approval of new power plants,:109 and market manipulation decreased supply. This caused an 800% increase in wholesale prices from April 2000 to December 2000.:1 In addition, rolling blackouts adversely affected many businesses dependent upon a reliable supply of electricity, and inconvenienced many retail consumers. California had an installed generating capacity of 45 GW. At the time of the blackouts, demand was 28 GW. A demand-supply gap was created by energy companies, mainly Enron, to create an artificial shortage. Energy traders took power plants offline for maintenance in days of peak demand to increase the price. Traders were thus able to sell power at premium prices, sometimes up to a factor of 20 times its normal value. Because the state government had a cap on retail electricity charges, this market manipulation squeezed the industry's revenue margins, causing the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and near bankruptcy of Southern California Edison in early 2001.:2–3 The financial crisis was possible because of partial deregulation legislation instituted in 1996 by the California Legislature (AB 1890) and Governor Pete Wilson. Enron took advantage of this deregulation and was involved in economic withholding and inflated price bidding in California's spot markets. The crisis cost between United States dollar 40 and $45 billion.:3–4
  • 2.7K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Sustainable food consumption in marketing
Lizbeth Salgado-Beltrán & Luis Felipe Beltrán-Morales The objetive is to define the Sustainable food consumption in marketing 
  • 2.7K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
First-Price Sealed-Bid Auction
A first-price sealed-bid auction (FPSBA) is a common type of auction. It is also known as blind auction. In this type of auction, all bidders simultaneously submit sealed bids, so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bidder pays the price they submitted.:p2
  • 2.7K
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Human Remains Detection Dogs
Human remains detection dogs (HRDDs) are powerful police assets to locate a corpse. However, methods used to select and train them are as diverse as the number of countries with such a canine brigade. First, a survey was sent to human remains searching brigades (N Countries = 10; N Brigades = 16; N Handlers = 50; N questions = 9), to collect their working habits. It confirmed the lack of optimized selection and training procedures. Second, a literature review was performed in order to outline the strengths and shortcomings of HRDDs training. A comparison between the scientific knowledge and common practices used by HRDDs brigade was then conducted focusing on HRDDs selection and training procedures. We highlighted that HRDD handlers explained to select their dogs by focusing on behavioral traits while neglecting anatomical features, which have shown their importance. Most HRDD handlers reported to use a reward-based training, which is in accordance with training literature for dogs. Olfactory training aids should be representative of the odor target to allow a dog to reach optimal performances. The survey highlighted the wide diversity of homemade olfactory training aids, and the need to optimize their composition. In the present document, key research topics to improve HRDD works are also provided.
  • 2.7K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Private Equity Fund
A private equity fund is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity. Private equity funds are typically limited partnerships with a fixed term of 10 years (often with annual extensions). At inception, institutional investors make an unfunded commitment to the limited partnership, which is then drawn over the term of the fund. From the investors' point of view, funds can be traditional (where all the investors invest with equal terms) or asymmetric (where different investors have different terms). A private equity fund is raised and managed by investment professionals of a specific private equity firm (the general partner and investment advisor). Typically, a single private equity firm will manage a series of distinct private equity funds and will attempt to raise a new fund every 3 to 5 years as the previous fund is fully invested.
  • 2.6K
  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Point of Sale
The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place where a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice for the customer (which may be a cash register printout), and indicates the options for the customer to make payment. It is also the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of a service. After receiving payment, the merchant may issue a receipt for the transaction, which is usually printed but is increasingly being dispensed with or sent electronically. To calculate the amount owed by a customer, the merchant may use various devices such as weighing scales, barcode scanners, and cash registers. To make a payment, payment terminals, touch screens, and other hardware and software options are available. The point of sale is often referred to as the point of service because it is not just a point of sale but also a point of return or customer order. POS terminal software may also include features for additional functionality, such as inventory management, CRM, financials, or warehousing. Businesses are increasingly adopting POS systems, and one of the most obvious and compelling reasons is that a POS system does away with the need for price tags. Selling prices are linked to the product code of an item when adding stock, so the cashier merely needs to scan this code to process a sale. If there is a price change, this can also be easily done through the inventory window. Other advantages include the ability to implement various types of discounts, a loyalty scheme for customers, and more efficient stock control.
  • 2.6K
  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Luxembourg Leaks
Luxembourg Leaks (sometimes shortened to Lux Leaks or LuxLeaks) is the name of a financial scandal revealed in November 2014 by a journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It is based on confidential information about Luxembourg's tax rulings set up by PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2002 to 2010 to the benefits of its clients. This investigation resulted in making available to the public tax rulings for over three hundred multinational companies based in Luxembourg. The LuxLeaks' disclosures attracted international attention and comment about tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg and elsewhere. This scandal contributed to the implementation of measures aiming at reducing tax dumping and regulating tax avoidance schemes beneficial to multinational companies. The judicial aspects of this case concern the persons charged by Luxembourg justice for participating in the revelations. No multinational company was charged. The LuxLeaks trial took place in spring 2016 and led to the condemnation of the two whistleblowers. The appeal trial's judgment was delivered in March 2017, upholding monetary fines and reducing the suspended jail sentence for Deltour.
  • 2.6K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Depression of 1920–21
The Depression of 1920–21 was a sharp deflationary recession in the United States and other countries, beginning 14 months after the end of World War I. It lasted from January 1920 to July 1921. The extent of the deflation was not only large, but large relative to the accompanying decline in real product. There was a two-year post–World War I recession immediately following the end of the war, complicating the absorption of millions of veterans into the economy. The economy started to grow, but it had not yet completed all the adjustments in shifting from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Factors identified as contributing to the downturn include returning troops, which created a surge in the civilian labor force and problems in absorbing the veterans; a decline in labor union strife; changes in fiscal and monetary policy; and changes in price expectations. Following the end of the depression, the Roaring Twenties brought a period of economic prosperity.
  • 2.6K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Viral Video
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email. Viral videos may be serious, and some are deeply emotional, but many more are centered on entertainment and humorous content. They may include televised comedy sketches, such as The Lonely Island's "Lazy Sunday" and "Dick in a Box", Numa Numa videos, The Evolution of Dance, Chocolate Rain on YouTube; and web-only productions such as I Got a Crush... on Obama. Some eyewitness events have also been caught on video and have "gone viral" such as the Battle at Kruger. One commentator called the Kony 2012 video the most viral video in history (about 34,000,000 views in three days and 100,000,000 views in six days), but "Gangnam Style" (2012) received one billion views in five months and was the most viewed video on YouTube from 2012 until "Despacito" (2017).
  • 2.5K
  • 21 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Panama Papers (Africa)
The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source. This page details related allegations, reactions, and investigations, in Africa. Former South African president Thabo Mbeki, head of the African Union's panel on illicit financial flows, on April 9 called the leak "most welcome" and called on African nations to investigate the citizens of their nations who appear in the papers. His panel's 2015 report found that Africa loses $50 billion a year due to tax evasion and other illicit practices and its 50-year losses top a trillion dollars. Furthermore, he said, the Seychelles, an African nation, is the fourth most mentioned tax haven in the documents.
  • 2.5K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Electricity Demand Forecasting
With the globally increasing electricity demand, its related uncertainties are on the rise as well. Therefore, a deeper insight into load forecasting techniques for projecting future electricity demands becomes imperative for business entities and policymakers. The electricity demand is governed by a set of different variables or “electricity demand determinants”. These demand determinants depend on forecasting horizons (long term, medium term, and short term), the load aggregation level, climate, and socio-economic activities. In this paper, a review of different electricity demand forecasting methodologies is provided in the context of a group of low and middle-income countries. The article presents a comprehensive literature review by tabulating the di fferent demand determinants used in di fferent countries and forecasting the trends and techniques used in these countries. A comparative review of these forecasting methodologies over di fferent time horizons reveal that the time series modeling approach has been extensively used while forecasting for long and medium terms. For short term forecasts, artificial intelligence-based techniques remain prevalent in the literature. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the demand determinants in these countries indicates frequent use of determinants like the population, GDP, weather, and load data over di fferent time horizons.
  • 2.5K
  • 05 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Template:Infobox Law Firm Pillsbury is a full-service law firm with an industry focus on the energy and natural resources, financial services including financial institutions, real estate and construction, technology, and travel and hospitality. Based in the world's major financial, technology and energy centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on global business, regulatory and litigation matters. It has approximately 700 attorneys operating from 20 offices in the U.S., London, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm has connections to the two main political parties in the United States. The law firm's two oldest predecessor firms were founded in New York City in 1868 and in San Francisco in 1874, following the California Gold Rush. The San Francisco firm helped create a number of new West Coast businesses including Chevron and Pacific Bell (now known as AT&T). In the 2000s, Pillsbury has become an advocate of labor outsourcing as a means of firms cutting costs by offering services to both buyers and providers of outsourcing services.
  • 2.5K
  • 15 Nov 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 15
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Academic Video Service
Feedback