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Simple Summary: An animal's genetic merit can govern its production potential and performance. This study used a bio-economic model informed by a large dataset of records from a commercial sheep-production-flock study to investigate the effects of selecting breeding females based on their maternal genetic merit for productivity, feed demand and gross margin. The results showed that selecting and using breeding females of high genetic merit will increase the gross margin of the flock, thus improving the profitability of the production system for the farmer. Our results provide insight for sheep-meat-production industries into the cumulative economic returns of using animals of high genetic merit. Our results also indicate potential outcomes from improving flock genetic merit, an important key performance indicator for the industry, and inform decision-making around production priorities of producers. The objective of this study was to simulate and assess the profitability of sheep production systems that varied in maternal genetic merit (high or low) and country of origin (New Zealand (NZ) or Ireland), using the Teagasc Lamb Production Model (TLPM). A production system study performed at Teagasc Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland, from 2016 to 2019, inclusive, provided key animal performance input parameters, which were compared across three scenarios: high maternal genetic merit NZ (NZ), high maternal genetic merit Irish (High Irish) and low maternal genetic merit Irish (Low Irish). Prior to the beginning of the study ewes and rams were imported from New Zealand to Ireland in order to compare animals within the same management system. Ewes were selected based on the respective national maternal genetic indexes; i.e., either the New Zealand Maternal Worth (NZ group) or the €uro-star Replacement index (Irish groups). The TLPM was designed to simulate the impact of changes in physical and technical outputs (such as number of lambs, drafting rates and replacement rates) on a range of economic parameters including variable costs, fixed costs, gross margin and net profit. Results showed that total farm costs (variable and fixed) were similar across the three scenarios, driven by the similar number of ewes in each scenario. The number of lambs produced and the cost of production per lamb was 14.05 lambs per hectare for the NZ scenario at a cost of EUR 82.35 per lamb, 11.40 lambs per hectare for the High Irish scenario at a cost of EUR 101.42 per lamb and 11.00 lambs per hectare for the Low Irish scenario at a cost of EUR 105.72 per lamb. The net profit of the three scenarios was EUR 514, EUR 299, and EUR 258 per hectare, for the NZ, High Irish and Low Irish scenarios, respectively. Overall, the NZ scenario had a lower cost of production in comparison to either Irish group, while the High Irish scenario had a 14% greater net profit than the Low Irish scenario, equating to an additional EUR 41 per hectare net profit. Output from this simulation model reiterates the importance, for overall farm profitability, of maximising the number of lambs weaned per hectare, particularly through maximising income and diluting the total farm costs. To conclude, the use of high-maternal-genetic-merit animals, regardless of their country of origin impacts farm profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the private economic value of biodiversity using original farm habitat data and farm household survey data from livestock farms in the hills and uplands of Ireland. Profit efficiency and biodiversity efficiency are estimated using a stochastic translog production frontier model. Results indicate that biodiversity plays a beneficial role in farm profitability but the effect is non-linear. Stocking rate and the perimeter to area ratio are found to have a negative effect on biodiversity while the number of plots per farm has a positive effect. Biodiversity efficiency is influenced by the number of livestock, habitat quality, spatial habitat patterns and arrangement, perimeter to area ratio, the number of plots, profit efficiency and farmer's education and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breeding objectives and selection indexes underpin the direction, the extent and the economic implications of selection in livestock populations under specific production systems. The objective of this study was to describe the methodology to calculate correlations between national selection indexes and gain a deeper understanding of the factors influencing responses in economically important traits in both the New Zealand and Irish sheep industries. Moderate to strong correlations were calculated among indexes within and between countries, with the strongest correlation (0.86) between the New Zealand and Irish maternal indexes. In both countries, responses to selection in the maternal indexes are largely driven by growth traits; each index, however, has a different balance of traits. Ewe mature weight also accounts for an important proportion of overall response and has significant emphasis in both maternal indexes. The majority of emphasis in terminal indexes of both countries is on growth and meat traits. Results from this study indicate that differences between national breeding objectives are unlikely to be a barrier to exchange of gene stocks among countries. Future research should investigate the extent to which genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions exist at the level of individual traits. The methodology presented in this study is robust and represents an opportunity to inform the potential merits of international exchange of germplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effectiveness of a government funded extension programme. Farm-level data are used to assess the economic impact of dairy discussion groups, a common participatory extension method. The evaluation focuses on whether discussion group participants have improved farm profits, which is estimated with an endogenous switching regression model. This method controls for self-selection bias due to unobserved characteristics, such as the farmer's ability, that may affect both participation and farm profitability. After controlling for this potential bias, we find that the economic returns to discussion group membership are positive, thus supporting government targets to enrol more farmers in discussion groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-home balance issues have become a very important challenge for both management and employees in the twenty-first century. The purpose of this article is to examine work-home balance practices from a management perspective in the Irish hotel industry. There is a dearth of research in relation to work-home balance practices in the hotel sector. The study included a sample of all hotels in Ireland. It found that the needs of the organization are paramount with profitability considerations being the main driver of work-home practices and benefits. While the majority of managers agree that people work best when they can balance their work and home life there is evidently a gap between theory and practice. Work-home balance is now a critical issue for the hospitality industry and it is imperative it comes to terms with the long working hours culture and related issues, which impact negatively on work-home balance. The interdependent relationship between home and work needs urgent attention as this not only impacts on the quality of working life but on the individual and on the greater good of society. Management would do well by broadening their perspective, not just considering the needs of the organization but also the employee's home life. Doing the latter will redound to the benefit of the organization, as happy employees result in greater productivity as shown by the literature. This study has also highlighted that trade unions can also be more proactive in relation to work-life balance practices. So far they have adopted a laissez-faire approach and they could provide leadership to both managers and employees on such a critical issue for both personal well-being and the well-being of the organization and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to compare the biological and economic efficiencies of 2 likely future pasture-based systems of milk production differing in overall stocking rate and concentrate supplementation level on a wetland drumlin soil in the Border Midlands Western region of Ireland. Physical performance data were obtained from a 3-yr systems comparison at Ballyhaise College, Co. Cavan, comparing 2 production systems: a high grass (HG) system (578 kg of concentrate/ cow at 2.45 livestock units per hectare) and a high intensity (HI) system (1,365 kg of concentrate/cow at 2.92 livestock units/ha). Animal production data were analyzed using a mixed model, with feed system, year, and parity included as fixed effects in the final model. Feed system had a significant effect on all yield variables with higher yields in the HI system. Production system had no significant influence on reproductive performance. The Moorepark Dairy Systems Model, a stochastic budgetary simulation model, was used to simulate a model farm integrating biological data from each feed system to identify the economic effect of each system at 3 future milk prices of 22, 27, and 33 euro cents per liter (€c/L). Two economic scenarios were investigated within the model: scenario 1 (S1) assumed fixed cow numbers (n = 55 cows) and scenario 2 (S2) assumed fixed land area (n = 40 ha). At a milk price of 27 or 33 €c/L, profit per cow, per kilogram of milk solids, and per hectare were similar for HG and HI in S1 and higher for HI in S2. At a milk price of 22 €c/L, all systems were unprofitable, with increased losses realized in the HI system (both S1 and S2) compared with the HG system. Pasture-based systems of milk production in the northern region of Ireland are capable of highly efficient and profitable milk production. Moreover, the efficacy of increased supplementation to remove the constraints of pasture seasonality will depend on the cost of supplementation and the price paid for additional milk produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of audit firm goals and the potential conflict between commercial and professional goals have been documented in the literature. Previous research points to the growing dominance of commercial goals in audit firms from the mid-1960s onwards. Major corporate collapses such as Enron focused public attention on commercialism and this study examines audit seniors' perceptions of the goals of audit firms and audit partners in 2005. The study highlights a difference between the lived experiences of audit seniors and the impression they felt audit partners were giving of the audit working environment to audit clients and/or prospective employees. Consistent with existing literature on the increasing commercial focus of the auditing profession, profitability was perceived to be the dominant goal in action of both partners and audit firms in the majority of interviews; however, the main goals rhetorically espoused in the marketplace were perceived to be quality and client satisfaction, while the main goals of audit firms espoused to enrol current and prospective employees were perceived to be staff satisfaction and development. Implications of the findings and areas for future research are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a comprehensive empirical analysis of the links between international services outsourcing, domestic outsourcing, profits, and innovation using plant-level data. We find a positive effect of international outsourcing of services on innovative activity at the plant level. Such a positive effect can also be observed for domestic outsourcing, but the magnitude is smaller. We also find that international services outsourcing has a positive effect on profitability, as predicted by theory, whereas this is not true for domestic sourcing. The results are robust to various specifications and an instrumental variables analysis. ( JEL F19, O31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the ideal characteristics of civil and public services based on the Irish context. In the case of Ireland, which line of competitors are knowledge-based economies such as Japan and Finland, intellectual flexibility and responsiveness to change matter in its competitiveness. A unified public service must have a flat hierarchical structure, and such structure must have internal competition and motivation. Irish people have the concept of people before profit and show appreciation for the performance of some public bodies and their dissatisfaction with others. Civil servants are said to be more politically attuned than ever before due to the competitive nature of the media and its presentation of stories and commentaries.

The ability of investors to implement seasonal strategies implied by academic papers has been widely criticized, most recently by Hudson et al. ( Applied Financial Economics , 12 , 681-86, 2002). This paper addresses these concerns, and provides an example of a strategy derived from academic papers that indicates how and to what profitability such a strategy can be implemented. In particular, the pre-holiday anomaly is examined, where returns tend to be higher on the day before a holiday. After checking that the pre-holiday return compensates market frictions, the existence and the changing nature of such anomaly is tested. Finally, the profitability of the pre-holiday trading strategy in an out-of-the-sample period is assessed by checking that the pre-holiday profit is clearly different from the result an investor would obtain on a set of randomly selected days. This evidence is provided for three large stocks and an index in two different markets, Spain and Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the cumulative impact of government support on Northern Ireland manufacturing, using a combination of company accounts and government expenditure data. The starting point is the observation that Northern Ireland manufacturing companies were significantly more profitable than their counterparts in Great Britain. Government assistance can raise company profit rates either by increasing growth or competitiveness. In this respect the scale and duration of government support for manufacturing firms in Northern Ireland make the region an ideal test-bed for assessing the effects of long-term government subsidization of firms. As such the experience of Northern Ireland offers insights into the wider applicability of regional development strategies based on the direct subsidization of companies. Ideally, the analysis would consider the effect of government assistance on individual companies. If all government assistance had acted to encourage extra activity, Northern Ireland manufacturing output would have been expected to grow significantly faster than that in Great Britain as a whole. Similarly, if government assistance (through subsidies) was lowering operating costs, an increase in value added per employee or faster output growth might have been expected.

The article focuses on the monitoring programmes for dairy herd fertility in Ireland. Topics discussed include the herd health cycle, herd reproductive performance level measurement, and herd fertility performance improvement. The profitability of improved herd fertility monitoring improvement is also noted.

The seasonality of grass-based, seasonal-calving dairy systems results in disproportionately higher labor demands during the spring, when cows are calving, than in the remaining seasons. This study aimed to (1) examine the relationship between labor efficiency and profitability; (2) investigate strategies to reduce the hours worked per day by the farmer, family, and farm staff in the spring by having certain tasks outsourced; and (3) quantify the economic implications of those strategies. Data from an existing labor efficiency study on Irish dairy farms were used in conjunction with economic performance data from the farms. Tasks that required the highest level of farm labor per day in the spring were identified and hypothetical strategies to reduce the farm hours worked per day were examined. A stochastic budgetary simulation model was then used to examine the economic implications of employing these strategies and the effects of their use in conjunction with a proportionate increase in cow numbers that would leave the hours worked per day unchanged. The strategies were to use contractors to perform calf rearing, machinery work, or milking. Contracting out milking resulted in the greatest reduction in hours worked per day (5.6 h/d) followed by calf rearing (2.7 h/d) and machinery work (2 h/d). Reducing the hours worked per day by removing those tasks had slight (i.e., <5%) negative effects on profitability; however, maintaining the farm hours worked per day while utilizing the same strategies and increasing herd sizes resulted in profitable options. The most profitable scenario was for farms to increase herd size while contracting out milking., (Copyright © 2019 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Bovine leprospirosis is a highly infectious bacterial disease and is widespread in Ireland with over 70% of dairy herds1 in Ireland infected and appdoximately 80% if Iris beef herds2 infected. If leptospirosis gets into a herd it can have serious effects on productivity and profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A list of unpublished research memoranda related to econometrics is presented. The unpublished research memoranda includes "Model Comparison Under First Order Autoregressive Transformations Using the Residual Variance Criterion," by John D. Jackson and David J. Smyth and "Profitability, Size and Ownership of Irish Industrial Companies," by David J. Smyth.

The author advises dentists in Ireland to prepare for additional change in 2010. He cites trends that posed challenges to several dentists in 2009, including patient attendances. He notes the importance of preparing forecasts for the coming year aimed at assessing the effect of any change in the key income or expense categories on the profitability of the practice. He also encourages the preparation of internal management accounts by practices to keep track of how they are performing.

The article reports on the practice management training day offered by the Irish Dental Association to dental practitioners at the Clarion Hotel in Dublin Airport in Ireland on June 12, 2009. Increasing competitiveness, productivity and profitability of dentists was the aim of the programme. Topic discussed during the event include the management of customer relations and work-life balance.