No abstract

No abstract

It has often been suggested that economic diversity enhances economic performance, either by promoting higher levels of economic well-being or by improving the ability of regions to cushion the adverse effects of economic cycles. This is the conventional wisdom, but it has not been adequately tested. This study undertakes an investigation of the various aspects of economic diversity to determine whether support can be found for these assumptions by testing them with data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the ten-year period from 1972 to 1981. The results suggest that no strict assumptions should be made regarding a clear relationship between economic diversity and growth and stability of unemployment, and per capita incomebased measure of economic performance. I. IntroductionThe advantages of diversity have been argued and analyzed in the regional economics literature I1 I, 16]. Specifically, regional business cycle theorists have debated the thesis that as a region's industrial structure becomes more diversified, its economy becomes less responsive to fluctuation caused by changes in extra-regional economic factors [17,22]. This view is closely related to the widely-held assumption that economic diversity enhances economic performance, the latter being measured by growth rate,~ per capita income, unemployment rate, or other indicators.This assumption is the "conventional wisdom," but it has not been adequately tested, although some attempts have been made to relate the index of diversity to certain indicators of economic performance [15,23,3].The interest in economic diversification is a nationwide phenomenon. Planning agencies of local governments have attempted to reap the benefits of additional economic activities by adopting policies which stimulate the location of new or relocated activities within a specific region. These policies might This study undertakes an investigation of the various aspects of economic diversity to determine whether support can be found for some of the generallyheld assumptions regarding its value. These assumptions are tested with data from the states of the U.S. for the ten-year period, 1972-1981. Such an investigation should provide insight into the patterns of growth and sources of cyclical instability of the units (states) during the period of study. This, in turn, may offer both a conceptual and a historical perspective fordecisi0nmakers responsible for formulating policies for economic recovery.Section II presents the research methodology and summarizes the hypotheses. Section III presents an empirical investigation of the strength of relationships between employment-based diversity and levels, rates of growth and cyclical fluctuation of unemployment and income. Finally, a brief concluding section summarizes the results.

Purpose -The desire to cut supply chain costs has made RFID technology one of today's most discussed retail technologies. Given the current implementation pace, the objective of this paper is to go beyond the hype and explore basic issues related to RFID technology, including its promises as well as its pitfalls. Design/methodology/approach -The author provides a conceptual discussion of the evolution of RFID, addresses its capabilities and its application in various industries, discusses implementation challenges, identifies adoption phases, and reviews RFID's success factors. Findings -RFID is the most recent prolific technology that provides supply chain collaboration and visibility. An RFID systems solution will increase corporate ROI while at the same time improving retail supply chain communication. Handled properly, RFID technology can result in an evolutionary change incorporating legacy systems with the real-time supply chain management of tomorrow. Its stumbling point seems only to be a variety of issues outside the technology itself: marketing problems, false promises, security and privacy considerations, and a lack of standards.Research limitations/implications -The paper was constrained by empirical evidence of, for example, technology deployment, adoption drivers, and success factors. Practical implications -The paper confirms the power of RFID -a technology in its infancy with as yet untapped potential for supply chain collaboration. It also examines some of the popular RFID products and services. Originality/value -The paper discusses implementation challenges, identifies adoption phases, and reviews RFID's success factors. It identifies the biggest implementation challenge as the challenge for IT experts of determining how to integrate RFID with existing supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications.

Patients and healthcare practitioners are faced with the challenge of accessing, managing, integrating, and sharing health records securely. Patients should be able to manage their health records anywhere in the world, keep track of medical background, give access to data, and share those with any healthcare professional securely. Direct access to data for patients and a more robust data-sharing infrastructure could better prepare the healthcare system to manage public health threats during the emergence of deadly disease outbreak such as COVID-19. Current technologies in use by the healthcare industry do not adequately address these requirements due to limitations related to privacy, security, and full ecosystem interoperability. This paper conducted a literature review to find out the pivotal roles blockchain technology play in solving some of the most critical and challenging issues facing the healthcare industry. This paper identifies challenges and opportunities for implementing blockchain technology in healthcare and summarizes health-related blockchain products and key players offering solutions across different applications. In doing this, our research extends and complements existing blockchain research in healthcare.