Lessons from Community Entrepreneurship: The Concept of Spawning

Capital-constrained cooperatives are being challenged by producer-members to provide vertical integration opportunities. We find evidence producer groups are utilizing an investment strategy described as spawning. Producer-investors familiar with a particular organizational form and who have developed joint investment networks were more apt to invest in newly spawned ventures.Spawning, Collective Entrepreneurship, Cooperative Development, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

A Primer On Collective Entrepreneurship: A Preliminary Taxonomy

We document an increasing prevalence of the term ―collective entrepreneurship‖ in scholarly research. By examining the context in which the term is utilized, we present a framework through which to understand motivations for research in collective entrepreneurship and the variety of entrepreneurial endeavors described as collective entrepreneurship. We identify five primary motivations for research: advancement of theory, intra-organizational efficiency, inter-organizational gains, economic growth and development, and socio-political change. We find preliminary evidence collective entrepreneurs may be able to generate rents inaccessible to the sole entrepreneur. In addition, we propose mechanisms which foster entrepreneurship may differ for sole and collective entrepreneurs.International Relations/Trade,

Habit and Heterogeneity in the Youthful Demand for Alcohol

Observed patterns of youthful drinking indicate substantial persistence. This paper analyzes how much of that persistence reflects the actual development of a habit, and how much is due to unobserved aspects of the individual and the environment. The role of restrictions on alcohol availability, both in the current period and in adolescence, is also explored. We find that much of the observed persistence represents habit formation, and not unobserved characteristics. Consequently, restrictions on availability, particularly at an early age, alter subsequent patterns of alcohol consumption and abuse.

New Producer Strategies: The Emergence of Patron-Driven Entrepreneurship

Abstract—Existing research treats the cooperative structure as relatively homogeneous. The proposed paper argues that all cooperatives are not created equal – and consideration of organizational structure is critical when analyzing the economic impact of cooperation. In recent empirical work, we observe cooperatives forming as single- or multi-purpose; generating equity capital passively, quasi-passively, or proactively; vertically integrating in a centralized, federated, or a hybrid fashion; governing through fixed or proportional control rights; and instituting open, closed or class-varying membership criteria. The emergence of multiple-level rent-seeking cooperatives challenges our traditional rent dispersion models of collective action. We call these multi-level, patron, rent-seeking entities a form of collective entrepreneurship. This paper develops a set of criteria enabling us to distinguish between traditional forms of cooperation and collective entrepreneurship. We employ these characteristics to analyze and contrast these two extreme forms of collective action. We propose a continuum from single-level rent seeking, traditional, patron, user-driven cooperative forms; through forms of hybrids and macrohierarchies; to multiple-level rent seeking, patron, user-investor-driven collective entrepreneurship.Collective entrepreneurship, Agribusiness, Property Rights, Agribusiness,

The Clustering of Organizational Innovation: Developing Governance Models for Vertical Integration

This case explores a cluster of firms that emerged sharing a particular ownership structure. Typically, clusters are thought of as interrelated firms that produce similar products and services. However, we document the emergence and evolution of a cluster of entrepreneurial ventures that developed using a unique governance structure. We explore the deviant case of Renville, MN because of its notable success in developing a series of entrepreneurial ventures that provided producers with the opportunity to vertically integrate.collective entrepreneurship, organizational innovation, joint vertical innovation, cluster, Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q10, Q13, Q16,

Exotic Meson Decay Widths using Lattice QCD

A decay width calculation for a hybrid exotic meson h, with JPC=1-+, is presented for the channel h->pi+a1. This quenched lattice QCD simulation employs Luescher's finite box method. Operators coupling to the h and pi+a1 states are used at various levels of smearing and fuzzing, and at four quark masses. Eigenvalues of the corresponding correlation matrices yield energy spectra that determine scattering phase shifts for a discrete set of relative pi+a1 momenta. Although the phase shift data is sparse, fits to a Breit-Wigner model are attempted, resulting in a decay width of about 60 MeV when averaged over two lattice sizes.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, RevTex4, minor change to Fig.

Lessons from Community Entrepreneurship: The Concept of Spawning

Capital-constrained cooperatives are being challenged by producer-members to provide vertical integration opportunities. We find evidence producer groups are utilizing an investment strategy described as spawning. Producer-investors familiar with a particular organizational form and who have developed joint investment networks were more apt to invest in newly spawned ventures

Tyrosine dephosphorylation of H2AX modulates apoptosis and survival decisions.

Life and death fate decisions allow cells to avoid massive apoptotic death in response to genotoxic stress. Although the regulatory mechanisms and signalling pathways controlling DNA repair and apoptosis are well characterized, the precise molecular strategies that determine the ultimate choice of DNA repair and survival or apoptotic cell death remain incompletely understood. Here we report that a protein tyrosine phosphatase, EYA, is involved in promoting efficient DNA repair rather than apoptosis in response to genotoxic stress in mammalian embryonic kidney cells by executing a damage-signal-dependent dephosphorylation of an H2AX carboxy-terminal tyrosine phosphate (Y142). This post-translational modification determines the relative recruitment of either DNA repair or pro-apoptotic factors to the tail of serine phosphorylated histone H2AX (gamma-H2AX) and allows it to function as an active determinant of repair/survival versus apoptotic responses to DNA damage, revealing an additional phosphorylation-dependent mechanism that modulates survival/apoptotic decisions during mammalian organogenesis

Predictors and outcomes of sustained, intermittent or never achieving remission in patients with recent onset inflammatory polyarthritis:Results from the Norfolk Arthritis Register

Objectives: Early remission is the current treatment strategy for patients with inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) and RA. Our objective was to identify baseline factors associated with achieving remission: sustained (SR), intermittent (IR) or never (NR) over a 5-year period in patients with early IP.  Methods: Clinical and demographic data of patients with IP recruited to the Norfolk Arthritis Register (NOAR) were obtained at baseline and years 1, 2, 3 and 5. Remission was defined as no tender or swollen joints (out of 51). Patients were classified as NR or PR, respectively, if they were in remission at: no assessment or ⩾3 consecutive assessments after baseline, and IR otherwise. Ordinal regression and a random effects model, respectively, were used to examine the association between baseline factors, remission group and HAQ scores over time.  Results: A total of 868 patients (66% female) were included. Of these, 54%, 34% and 12% achieved NR, IR and SR, respectively. In multivariate analysis, female sex (odds ratio, OR 0.47, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.63), higher tender joint count (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.96), higher HAQ (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.74), being obese (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.99), hypertensive (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.90) or depressed (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55, 1.00) at baseline were independent predictors of being in a lower remission group. IR and SR were associated with lower HAQ scores over time and lower DAS28 at year 5.  Conclusion: Women with higher tender joint count and disability at baseline, depression, obesity and hypertension were less likely to achieve remission. This information could help when stratifying patients for more aggressive therapy