University of Minnesota

About: University of Minnesota is a education organization based out in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 117432 authors who have published 257986 publications receiving 11944239 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities & University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Using Paradox to Build Management and Organization Theories

Abstract: Most contemporary theory construction methodologies attempt to build internally consistent theories of limited scope. Relatively little attention has been paid to the opportunities offered by tensions, oppositions, and contradictions among explanations of the same phenomenon. This essay attempts to spell out a set of theory-building strategies to help researchers take advantage of theoretical tensions. Such tensions can be regarded as paradoxes of social theory, and four different modes of working with paradoxes can be distinguished: (1) accept the paradox and use it constructively; (2) clarify levels of analysis; (3) temporally separate the two levels; and (4) introduce new terms to resolve the paradox. These four modes of paradox resolution are illustrated by application to the action:.-structure paradox in organizational theory.

Forecasting and conditional projection using realistic prior distributions

Abstract: This paper develops a forecasting procedure based on a Bayesian method for estimating vector autoregressions. The procedure is applied t o 10 macroeconomic variables and is shown to improve out-of-sample forecasts relative to univariate equations. Although cross-variable responses are damped by the prior, considerable interaction among the variables is shown to be captured by the estimates We provide unconditional forecasts as of 1982:12 and 1983:3. We also describe how a model such as this can be used to make conditional projections and to analyze policy alternatives. As an example, we analyze a Congressional Budget Office forecast made in 1982: 12 Although no automatic causal interpretations arise from models like ours, they provide a detailed characterization of the dynamic statistical interdependence of a set of economic variables, information that may help in evaluating causal hypotheses without containing any such hypotheses.

Environmental Influences on Eating and Physical Activity

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Obesity has increased dramatically over the past two decades and currently about 50% of US adults and 25% of US children are overweight. The current epidemic of obesity is caused largely by an environment that promotes excessive food intake and discourages physical activity. This chapter reviews what is known about environmental influences on physical activity and eating behaviors. Recent trends in food supply, eating out, physical activity, and inactivity are reviewed, as are the effects of advertising, promotion, and pricing on eating and physical activity. Public health interventions, opportunities, and potential strategies to combat the obesity epidemic by promoting an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity are discussed.