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Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) play an important part in the economic growth of industrialized nations since they help to create jobs and act as a training ground for capable management. The significance and standing of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in relation to economic development are shown by this study. The main characteristics of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) and their current management practices are described in this work. The authors examine the management framework of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) and engage in the surveillance of management as a basic aspect of the process of organizational management.

RESUMEN: Nudo de tensión entre vida biológica e historicidad, la animalidad recorre la serie de mataderos que la crítica argentina ha indagado como ficción soberana, pautada por el dualismo político. La polarización de 1840 plasmada en El matadero de Echeverría, con titubeos narrativos frente a voces y cuerpos animalizados del sector popular, retorna desde mediados del siglo XX en versiones de la dicotomía civilización-barbarie, que mantienen la distinción naturaleza-cultura y las coordenadas de historicidad antropocéntrica, como la crónica de Walsh que en 1967 enmienda el reparto clasista de Echeverría. El umbral crítico de la vida (Agamben) emerge en reescrituras recientes del matadero, donde el flujo del capital atraviesa no solo el cuerpo del trabajador sino lo viviente. Un cuento de Kohan (2009) y una novela de Maia (2013) descubren bajo la dicotomía la complejidad de pasajes entre animales y humanos, donde indagan las economías de relaciones entre vidas protegidas y abandonadas. Confrontando las conflictividades culturales argentina y brasileña, marcadas por el peso de economías agroexportadoras y el dualismo como control de mezclas, estos relatos de trabajadores del ganado inquieren lo difuso del borde vida-muerte tras dos siglos de progreso humanista en América Latina. ABSTRACT: Animality, a knot of tension between biological life and historicity, runs through the series of slaughterhouses that Argentine critics have investigated as sovereign fiction, guided by political dualism. The 1840 polarization embodied in Echeverría´s El matadero (The Slaughterhouse), with narrative hesitations about voices and animalized bodies of popular sector, has returned since the middle of the 20th century in versions of the civilization-barbarity dichotomy, which maintain the nature-culture distinction and the coordinates of anthropocentric historicity, such as Walsh's chronicle that in 1967 amends the class distribution of Echeverría. The critical threshold of life (Agamben) emerges in recent rewritings of the slaughterhouse, where the flow of capital passes through not only the body of the worker but also the living being. A story by Kohan (2009) and a novel by Maia (2013) discover under dichotomy the complexity of passages between animals and humans, where they investigate the economies of relationships between protected and abandoned lives. By confronting Argentine and Brazilian cultural conflicts, both marked by the weight of agro-export economies and dualism as control of mixtures, these stories of cattle workers inquire about the diffuseness of the life-death border after two centuries of humanist progress in Latin America., Nudo de tensión entre vida biológica e historicidad, la animalidad recorre la serie de mataderos que la crítica argentina ha indagado como ficción soberana, pautada por el dualismo político. La polarización de 1840 plasmada en El matadero de Echeverría, con titubeos narrativos frente a voces y cuerpos animalizados del sector popular, retorna desde mediados del siglo XX en versiones de la dicotomía civilización-barbarie, que mantienen la distinción naturaleza-cultura y las coordenadas de historicidad antropocéntrica, como la crónica de Walsh que en 1967 enmienda el reparto clasista de Echeverría. El umbral crítico de la vida (Agamben) emerge en reescrituras recientes del matadero, donde el flujo del capital atraviesa no solo el cuerpo del trabajador sino lo viviente. Un cuento de Kohan (2009) y una novela de Maia (2013) descubren bajo la dicotomía la complejidad de pasajes entre animales y humanos, donde indagan las economías de relaciones entre vidas protegidas y abandonadas. Confrontando las conflictividades culturales argentina y brasileña, marcadas por el peso de economías agroexportadoras y el dualismo como control de mezclas, estos relatos de trabajadores del ganado inquieren lo difuso del borde vida-muerte tras dos siglos de progreso humanista en América Latina., Animality, a knot of tension between biological life and historicity, runs through the series of slaughterhouses that Argentine critics have investigated as sovereign fiction, guided by political dualism. The 1840 polarization embodied in Echeverría´s El matadero (The Slaughterhouse), with narrative hesitations about voices and animalized bodies of popular sector, has returned since the middle of the 20th century in versions of the civilization-barbarity dichotomy, which maintain the nature-culture distinction and the coordinates of anthropocentric historicity, such as Walsh's chronicle that in 1967 amends the class distribution of Echeverría. The critical threshold of life (Agamben) emerges in recent rewritings of the slaughterhouse, where the flow of capital passes through not only the body of the worker but also the living being. A story by Kohan (2009) and a novel by Maia (2013) discover under dichotomy the complexity of passages between animals and humans, where they investigate the economies of relationships between protected and abandoned lives. By confronting Argentine and Brazilian cultural conflicts, both marked by the weight of agro-export economies and dualism as control of mixtures, these stories of cattle workers inquire about the diffuseness of the life-death border after two centuries of humanist progress in Latin America.

Resumen La difícil realidad que viven los países del tercer mundo a causa de la insuficiencia de sus economías exige el desarrollo de nuevas tendencias y paradigmas de modelos económicos que complementen a las economías tradicionales. Las Economías Creativas constituyen un sistema de crecimiento económico y social que agrupa nuevas estrategias de calidad de vida y desarrollo. El patrimonio material e inmaterial de Cuba tiene un alto valor, y el Centro Histórico La Habana Vieja es un reconocido referente de conservación de identidad cultural, por sus exitosas formas de gestión del patrimonio y la puesta en valor de inmuebles olvidados. Teniendo en cuenta el contexto socioeconómico cubano y los objetivos manejados por la Oficina del Historiador de la ciudad de La Habana, este trabajo constituye una indagación de las posibilidades y ventajas de aplicación de las Economías Creativas en el panorama contemporáneo nacional, a partir de algunas experiencias llevadas a cabo en ese territorio. Abstract The difficult reality experienced by third world countries due to the insufficiency of their economies requires the development of new trends and paradigms of economic models that complement traditional economies. Creative Economies constitute a system of economic and social growth that groups new strategies for quality of life and development. The tangible and intangible heritage of Cuba has a high value, and the Historic Center of Old Havana is a recognized benchmark for the preservation of cultural identity, for its successful forms of heritage management and the enhancement of forgotten properties. Taking into account the Cuban socio-economic context and the objectives managed by the Office of the Historian of the city of Havana, this work constitutes an investigation of the possibilities and advantages of the application of Creative Economies in the contemporary national scene, starting from some experiences carried out in that territory. Résumé La réalité difficile vécue par les pays du tiers monde en raison de l'insuffisance de leurs économies exige le développement de nouvelles tendances et paradigmes de modèles économiques qui complètent les économies traditionnelles. Les économies créatives constituent un système de croissance économique et sociale qui regroupe des nouvelles stratégies de qualité de vie et de développement. Le patrimoine matériel et immatériel de Cuba a une grande valeur, et le centre historique de la vieille Havane est une référence reconnue pour la préservation de l'identité culturelle, pour ses formes réussies de gestion du patrimoine et la mise en valeur de biens oubliés. Compte tenu du contexte socio-économique cubain et des objectifs gérés par le Bureau de l'historien de la ville de La Havane, ce travail constitue une enquête sur les possibilités et les avantages de l'application des économies créatives sur la scène nationale contemporaine, à partir de quelques expériences menées sur ce territoire. Resumo A difícil realidade vivida pelos países do terceiro mundo, devido à insuficiência de suas economias requer o desenvolvimento de novas tendências e paradigmas de modelos económicos que complementem as economias tradicionais. As economias criativas constituem um sistema de crescimento económico e social que agrupa novas estratégias para qualidade de vida e desenvolvimento. O património tangível e intangível de Cuba tem um alto valor, e o Centro Histórico de Havana Velha é uma referência reconhecida pela preservação da identidade cultural, por suas formas bem-sucedidas de gestão do património e pelo aprimoramento de propriedades esquecidas. Levando em consideração o contexto socioeconómico cubano e os objetivos administrados pelo Escritório do Historiador da cidade de Havana, este trabalho constitui uma investigação das possibilidades e vantagens da aplicação das economias criativas no cenário nacional contemporâneo, a partir de algumas experiências realizadas naquele território.

Given increasing economic affluence, improvement in housing conditions and population decline in the last three decades, Romanians should be more likely to experience better housing than ever before, particularly in terms of the availability and affordability of space. But substantial improvement alongside numerous people still suffering poor conditions begs the important question of who has benefited and who has been excluded. Engaging the theoretical framework of diverse economies and drawing on 2007 and 2018 Eurostat-SILC micro-data, we examine the realignment between housing and income stratification across a proposed housing typology that reflects historically enduring arrangements of housing provisions and economic hierarchies. We find that residents’ socioeconomic profiles differ significantly by type of housing (e.g. showing surprising economic prosperity in urban flats and extreme poverty in some rural houses), which positions our typology as an expression of housing stratification. Furthermore, multivariate analyses highlight the increasingly stronger relationship between income and housing consumption over the decade. Of concern, a large share of the population (the bottom 40% of the income distribution) has fallen further into housing disadvantage after controlling for overall improvements in housing conditions. Conversely, the relative distance between middle- and higher-income households has decreased; given the dominance of small dwellings in the housing stock, higher-income groups seem unable to transfer their financial gains into space in their main residence except a minority engaged in the self-provision of ‘villas’. These patterns of housing stratification indicate a move towards a 40%/60% ‘hour-glass’ society if housing continues to remain outside the political agenda.

This study examines whether China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) has significantly improved African economies. Although endowed with vast natural resources, many African countries are primarily underdeveloped, with a substantial number of their people living below the poverty line. To build their economies, these countries have turned to China for support over the past few decades as the conditions attached to accessing loans from the West have become increasingly unattractive. These inflows of FDIs from China, along with aid, grants, and trade agreements, have helped to open many African countries’ economies and propel infrastructure development, social impact programs, and a reduction in poverty. Yet, critics question China’s motives and point to the burden facing African countries that may struggle to repay the loans. Using a case study of Ghana and Uganda, the thesis finds that China’s FDI has generally contributed to improved living conditions of the people, but this progress is tempered by trade imbalances, mounting debt, and failure to produce projected job opportunities. For their part, the Chinese have benefited from access to the continent’s resources and new markets for their merchandise. The findings also suggest African countries continue their robust economic ties with China but reduce their dependence on China by exploring other partners and new ways to leverage Africa’s own resources to fund growth and development on the continent. , Ghana Army MAJ, Uganda Land Forces Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

This study exploits a natural experiment to investigate the impact of land reform on the fertility outcomes of households in rural Ethiopia. Public policies and customs created a situation where Ethiopian households could influence their usufruct rights to land via a demographic expansion of the family. The study evaluates the impact of the abolishment of these pronatal property rights on fertility outcomes. By matching aggregated census data before and after the reform with administrative data on the reform, a difference-in-differences approach between reform and non-reform districts is used to assess the impact of the reform on fertility outcomes. The impact appears to be large. The study estimates that women in rural areas reduced their life-time fertility by 1.2 children due to the reform. Robustness checks show that the impact estimates are not biased by spillovers or policy endogeneity.

The paper studies a general bidirectional public transport line along which demand varies by line section. The length of line sections also varies, and therefore their contribution to aggregate (line-level) user and operational costs might be different, even if demand levels were uniform. The paper proposes the Gini index as a measure of demand imbalances in public transport. We run a series of numerical simulations with randomised demand patterns, and derive the socially optimal fare, frequency and vehicle size variables in each case. We show that the Gini coefficient is a surprisingly good predictor of all three attributes of optimal supply. These results remain robust with inelastic as well as elastic demand, at various levels of aggregate demand intensity. In addition, we find that lines facing severe demand imbalances generate higher operational cost and require more public subsidies under socially optimal supply, controlling for the scale of operations. The results shed light on the bias introduced by the assumption of homogeneous demand in several existing public transport models.

This paper tests whether preferences over bundles of market goods are different for single persons and members of couples. We use a collective model which incorporates economies of scale in consumption. Detailed individual consumption data enable us to estimate a model that allows individual preferences for some goods to depend on household composition. The hypothesis that singles and couple members of the same gender have the same preferences is rejected. This suggests that preferences may change when household composition changes. We produce indifference scales for members of couples and a refined poverty line measure for couples. Indifference scales for women and men are respectively 81 and 59 percent of their household's expenditure. These measures are highly sensitive to the preference equality assumption.

In this paper we have worked on a number of documents and articles published to find a relationship between patents and the economic growth of countries. We have found that patents and their applications are important for economic growth. The patent is not always a global indicator of all the technological knowledge produced, since a considerable number of technological know-how remains in the form of business secrets or sometimes the technology is published in scientific articles. The patent can be an economic policy instrument to encourage investment in research and development. More patents lead to more innovations and vice versa. The patent is a vector of economic growth through the promotion of innovation.

The ability to measure, understand, manipulate, organize, engineer and control matter on the nanoscale has been opening up the wealth of possibilities that were otherwise non - existent at higher scales. At this scale, basic research principles and tools in biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering converge and have led to all-inclusive applications of nanotechnology. Despite the innovative applications and promising potentials of nanotechnology, there are concerns about its short and long-lasting impacts on humans, nature and the environment. In an attempt to address these concerns, a number of researches have been conducted. Evaluations of studies addressing the issues of nanotechnologies and their impacts are necessary to give insights for further studies that will advance the technology for the true benefit of mankind and nature. This study, thus, provides a detailed review of studies on nanotechnology applications and the positions of stakeholders on the impact of nanotechnology. Among other things, the outcome of this survey shows that there are numerous successful applications of nanotechnology. Public perceptions are pivotal in determining the extent of revolution and transformation that nanotechnology will have on the environment. Religious beliefs and moral concerns; trust in governmental regulatory agencies and the industry; the level of inclusion of the society in the product design, development, and commercialization process is critical to the extent of acceptance of nanotechnology inventions. Expression of objective views concerning the benefits, limitations & risks, and adequate education of the public, risk regulators & all stakeholders are crucial in determining the fate of nanotechnology.

Tarso Antioquia es un municipio del suroeste antioqueño caracterizado por sus innumerables actividades agrícolas, además de ser un municipio caficultor posee trapiches y grandes cimbras de cítricos. Aunque Tarso posee una gran producción y explotación de la tierra, no cuenta con espacios para la distribución y comercialización dentro del municipio perdiendo la apropiación y sentido de pertenencia por los productos que ellos mismos producen. Por esto y atendiendo a las necesidades expuestas en el EOT vigente del municipio se plantea un espacio dispuesto para el comercio donde los campesinos puedan desde recibir capacitaciones sobre la tierra y su manejo, hasta espacios para la activación económica que además se convierta en un referente turístico, respondiendo a las nuevas dinámicas a las que le apunta el Suroeste Antioqueño con el Plan vial pacifico 2 Tarso Antioquia is a municipality in the southwest of Antioquia characterized by its innumerable agricultural activities, in addition to being a coffee-growing municipality, it has sugar mills and large citrus shafts. Although Tarsus has a large production and exploitation of the land, it does not have spaces for distribution and commercialization within the municipality, losing ownership and sense of belonging for the products that they produce. For this reason, and in response to the needs set forth in the municipality's current EOT, a space available for trade is proposed where peasants can from receiving training on the land and its management, to spaces for economic activation that also becomes a tourist reference. , responding to the new dynamics that the Southwest of Antioquia is targeting with the Pacific Road Plan 2 Pregrado

There is now strong evidence that “soft” institutions are interrelated with the working of the economy. For example, in a geographical setting there is evidence that language borders affect interpersonal relationships, but there is no equivalent evidence regarding the effects of language borders on agglomeration or competition spillovers. This paper examines whether language affects the geographical extension of agglomeration and competition spillovers by observing the geography of employment patterns in a linguistically discontinuous setting. Our findings, for the first time, provide empirical evidence that language borders shape the distance decay of competition spillovers, independent of governance, and institutional issues.

The World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT) Research and Ethics Commission conducted a scoping project to gather information about music therapy practices in international development contexts. Seventeen music therapists with experience in international development projects (out of 55 approached) responded to 14 questions about their work. Their responses indicated that work is generally short-medium term project work, often with follow up visits or online contact when possible to support sustainability. Work is commonly in the areas of disability or with refugees/displaced persons and often has a strong skills-sharing component to support ongoing project impact.

Материал, представленный в статье, посвящен вопросам, связанным с развитием потенциала, инновационного развития предприятий общественного питания в условиях нестабильной экономики. Целью этого исследования стал анализ деятельности предприятий общественного питания и поиск решений по её улучшению. Представлены данные о внедрении схем по улучшению работы ресторанов и прочих заведений общественного питания в условиях пандемии коронавируса. Показаны направления развития сферы питания согласно революции 4.0.

The aim of the paper is to identify which among the aspects that relate to the composition of the student body, school (district) size, management practices and the school principals' own characteristics are associated with the performance of Italian students at grade 8, measured through standardised test scores in reading and mathematics. The analysis makes use of a student-level efficiency model, and several school level variables are included as explanators for efficiency scores. The results show that, especially for reading, the most influential variables relate to the composition of the student body, while the students' performance in mathematics is partly correlated with the management practices adopted by the school principal/head teacher. Schools and schooling can only explain a minor part of the variance in achievement scores, however, and the characteristics of the students themselves play the most significant role. (c) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enseignement Cours – L’olivier et l’huile d’olive dans l’Antiquité Introduction Les olives et l’huile d’olive ont été parmi les principaux produits agricoles de l’Antiquité avec les céréales, les légumineuses, le vin et les produits de l’élevage. L’origine de leur emploi et de la domestication de l’olivier remonte au Néolithique au moins. Au fil du temps, ces produits ont fait l’objet de productions domestiques, palatiales ou artisanales, de trafics commerciaux, de prélèvements de tribut et d...

After World War II, wildlife recordists and bioacousticians took advantage of advances in electronics and acoustics to collect, store, and analyze recordings of animal vocalizations, leading to the establishment and expansion of numerous wildlife sound archives worldwide. This article traces the technological, organizational, and social arrangements that transformed a private collection of recordings by wildlife recordist Ludwig Koch in the 1930s into one of the largest sound archives of its kind. It argues that this sound archive was consolidated through the collective efforts of a recording community—an unlikely alliance of academic biologists, commercial and amateur hobby recordists, and the public service broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), each with a stake in the development, use, and popularization of wildlife recordings. Zooming in on the integration of British naturalists with the BBC, the article shows how, despite scientists' oft-noted suspicion of the media, these parties developed a mutually beneficial association.

This paper assesses the impact of the demobilization, reinsertion and reintegration program in post-war Burundi. Two major rebel groups benefited from cash and in-kind transfers, the CNDD-FDD from 2004, and the FNL from 2010. A panel data of households collected in 2006 and 2010 is combined with official records from the National Commission for Demobilization, Reinsertion and Reintegration. Regression analysis shows that the cash payments received by FNL demobilized households had a positive impact on consumption, nonfood spending and investments. The program also generated positive spillovers in the villages where FNL combatants returned. Ex-combatants indeed spent a large part of their allowance on consumption goods and clothing, thereby generating a short-run economic boom in villages. However, the long-run evolution of consumption indicators is negative for CNDD-FDD households, as well as for villages where CNDD-FDD combatants returned, suggesting that the direct impact and the spillovers of the program vanished in the long run.

In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, probes the generative potential of infrastructure at this historical juncture. Accounting for the conceptual and material capacities of infrastructure, the article argues for the importance of paradox in understanding infrastructure. Thematically the article is organized around three key points that speak to the study of infrastructure: ruin, retrofit, and risk. The first paradox of infrastructure, ruin, suggests that even as infrastructure is generative, it degenerates. A second paradox is found in retrofit, an apparent ontological oxymoron that attempts to bridge temporality from the present to the future and yet ultimately reveals that infrastructural solidity, in material and symbolic terms, is more apparent than actual. Finally, a third paradox of infrastructure, risk, demonstrates that while a key purpose of infrastructure is to mitigate risk, it also involves new risks as it comes to fruition. The article concludes with a series of suggestions and provocations to view the study of infrastructure in more contingent and paradoxical forms.

A theoretical framework is developed for decomposing partial factor productivity and measuring technical inefficiency when the underlying technology is characterized by factor non-substitution. With Farrell’s (1957) radial index of technical inefficiency being inappropriate in this case, Russell non-radial indices are adapted to measure technical inefficiency in a Leontief-type model. A system of factor demand equations with a regime specific technical inefficiency term is proposed and estimated allowing for dependence across inputs using a copula approach. Then the paper presents a complete decomposition of partial factor productivity changes using a dataset of US steam-power electric generation utilities.

A set of agents with possibly different waiting costs have to receive the same service one after the other. Efficiency requires to maximize total welfare. Fairness requires to treat equal agents equally. One must form a queue, set up monetary transfers to compensate agents having to wait, and not a priori arbitrarily exclude agents from positions. As one may not know agents waiting costs, they may have no incentive to reveal them. We identify the only rule satisfying Pareto-efficiency, equal treatment of equals in welfare or symmetry, and strategy-proofness. It satisfies stronger axioms, as no-envy and anonymity. Further, its desirability extends to related problems. To obtain these results, We prove that a rule, single-valued or not, satisfies queue-efficiency and strategy-proofness if and only if it always selects efficient queues and sets transfers A la Groves [Groves, T., 1973. Incentives in teams. Econometrica 41, 617-631]. This holds in other problems, provided the domain of quasi-linear preferences is rich enough.

Economic production and, more generally, most global societies, are overwhelmingly dependant upon depleting supplies of fossil fuels. There is considerable concern amongst resource scientists, if not most economists, as to whether market signals or cost benefit analysis based on today’s prices are sufficient to guide our decisions about our energy future. These suspicions and concerns were escalated during the oil price increase from 2005 – 2008 and the subsequent but probably related market collapse of 2008. We believe that Energy Return On Investment (EROI) analysis provides a useful approach for examining disadvantages and advantages of different fuels and also offers the possibility to look into the future in ways that markets seem unable to do. The goal of this paper is to review the application of EROI theory to both natural and economic realms, and to assess preliminarily the minimum EROI that a society must attain from its energy exploitation to support continued economic activity and social function. In doing so we calculate herein a basic first attempt at the minimum EROI for current society and some of the consequences when that minimum is approached. The theory of the minimum EROI discussed here, which describes the somewhat obvious but nonetheless important idea that for any being or system to survive or grow it must gain substantially more energy than it uses in obtaining that energy, may be especially important. Thus any particular being or system must abide by a “Law of Minimum EROI”, which we calculate for both oil and corn-based ethanol as about 3:1 at the mine-mouth/farm-gate. Since most biofuels have EROI’s of less than 3:1 they must be subsidized by fossil fuels to be useful.

It is well known that labour productivity growth in Europe is slowing down, against an increasing growth rate in the US. The Netherlands is one of the countries in Europe with the lowest growth rates of productivity. This article looks at this phenomenon from a regional perspective and presents the results of a growth accounting exercise applied to regional industry data of The Netherlands between 1995 and 2002. We find that slow productivity growth in The Netherlands is particularly situated in the economic core regions and is caused by slow multifactor productivity (mfp) growth. A substantial part of this slow mfp-growth can be explained by the fact that positive agglomeration advantages are overruled by negative congestion effects caused by traffic jams.

© 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd. The global carbon emissions budget over the next decades depends critically on the choices made by fast-growing emerging economies. Few studies exist, however, that develop country-specific energy system integration insights that can inform emerging economies in this decision-making process. High spatial- and temporal-resolution power system planning is central to evaluating decarbonization scenarios, but obtaining the required data and models can be cost prohibitive, especially for researchers in low, lower-middle income economies. Here, we use Nicaragua as a case study to highlight the importance of high-resolution open access data and modeling platforms to evaluate fuel-switching strategies and their resulting cost of power under realistic technology, policy, and cost scenarios (2014-2030). Our results suggest that Nicaragua could cost-effectively achieve a low-carbon grid (≥80%, based on non-large hydro renewable energy generation) by 2030 while also pursuing multiple development objectives. Regional cooperation (balancing) enables the highest wind and solar generation (18% and 3% by 2030, respectively), at the least cost (US$127 MWh-1). Potentially risky resources (geothermal and hydropower) raise system costs but do not significantly hinder decarbonization. Oil price sensitivity scenarios suggest renewable energy to be a more cost-effective long-term investment than fuel oil, even under the assumption of prevailing cheap oil prices. Nicaragua's options illustrate the opportunities and challenges of power system decarbonization for emerging economies, and the key role that open access data and modeling platforms can play in helping develop low-carbon transition pathways.

China’s non-interference policy has come under scrutiny in regards to its growing and deepening relations in Africa. The policy has come to represent an about-face from conditional assistance and investment associated with the Washington Consensus. Although often well received in much of the global South, this policy has drawn a lot of criticism from the West and others. These commentators have perceived non-interference as an opportunistic and often inconsistent instrument for enabling China’s increasing access to African resources and markets. This article suggests that despite some consistent support for the rhetoric of non-interference, China’s implementation of the policy has become increasingly varied and context-ualized in reaction to Africa’s ever-more diversified political and economic landscape since the early 2000s.

peer-reviewed Contemporary capitalism in Ireland took off in the late 1950s and affirmed itself as an inward investment-focused model of development. With enterprise development at the core of the policy (as a way of developing the economy and society and ending emigration), all other policy domains - financial, governance, industrial relations, welfare and education - became subservient to the industrialization-by-invitation' strategy. This article examines and characterizes the Irish model of development, using the lens of the varieties of capitalism literature (VoC) as a starting point. The article also examines whether a stage theory of capitalism perspective can capture changes which the VoC perspective might obscure. The collapse of the Irish banking system since 2008 and the subsequent recession raises major challenges for Ireland's variety of capitalism and may represent a critical juncture. ACCEPTED peer-reviewed

The paper studies the dynamic allocation effects of tax policy within the context of an overlapping-generations model of the Blanchard-Yaari type. The model is extended to allow for endogenous labour supply and three tax instruments, viz. a capital tax, labour income tax, and consumption tax. Both analytical expressions and simple diagrams are used to analyze the impact, transition, and long-run effects of tax policy changes. It is shown that a part of the long-run incidence of capital and consumption taxes falls on capital when households' horizons are finite whereas labour would fully bear the burden of these taxes in an infinite-horizon model.

Rural development has received renewed attention, particularly in the West, where there are opportunities for enhancing tourism in communities once reliant on extractive resources. The historical focus of rural development has been on economic growth, with little concern about the sustainability or socioeconomic impacts of such growth. This study analyzes and discusses the employment dynamics of rural economies with varying employment bases to illustrate some possible impacts of targeting specific employment sectors as part of a rural economic development strategy. The empirical research focuses on the rural counties of Utah, where the trade and service sectors associated with increased tourism and retirement communities have been rapidly expanding throughout the past two decades. Copyright 1998, Oxford University Press.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on informal patient payments have mostly focused on the magnitude and determinants of these payments while the attitudes of health care actors towards these payments are less well known. This study aims to reveal the attitudes of Hungarian health care consumers towards informal payments to provide a better understanding of this phenomenon.METHODS: For the analysis, we use data from a survey carried out in 2010 in Hungary involving a representative sample of 1037 respondents. We use cluster analysis to identify the main attitude groups related to informal payments based on the respondents' perception of and behavior related to informal payments. Multinomial logistic regression is applied to examine the differences between these groups in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, as well as past utilization and informal payments paid for health care services.RESULTS: We identified three main different attitudes towards informal payments: accepting informal payments, doubting about informal payments and opposing informal payments. Those who accept informal payments (mostly young or elderly people, living in the capital) consider these payments as an expression of gratitude and perceive them as inevitable due to the low funding of the health care system. Those who doubt about informal payments (mostly respondents outside the capital, with higher education and higher household income) are not certain whether these payments are inevitable, perceive them as similar to corruption rather than gratitude, and would rather use private services to avoid these payments. We find that the opposition to informal payments (mostly among men from small households and low income households) can be explained by their lower ability and willingness to pay.CONCLUSIONS: A large share of Hungarian health care consumers has a rather positive attitude towards informal payments, perceiving them as "inevitable due to the low funding of the health care system". From a policy point-of-view, the change of this consumer attitude will be essential to deal with these payments in addition to other policy strategies.

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team and other international Entrepreneurship researchers. In this vignette, we summarise the findings from a paper written by Mirjam van Praag and Peter Versloot that examines the research relating to the value of entrepreneurship.

Single-plateaued preferences generalize single-peaked preferences by allowing for multiple best elements. These preferences have played an important role in areas such as voting, strategy-proofness and matching problems. We examine the notion of single-plateauedness in a choice-theoretic setting. Single-plateaued choice is characterized by means of a collinear interval continuity property in the presence of independence of irrelevant alternatives. Further results establish that our notion of single-plateauedness conforms to the motivation underlying the term and we analyze the consequences of alternative continuity properties. The importance of basic assumptions such as closedness and convexity is discussed. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Nos.: D11, D71.

A fundamental characteristic of human interaction is the manifestation of ideology, which, as we define it, transcends religious, political, cultural, and national realms. Differing ideologies among groups can create friction, and often incite violence. This study seeks to understand how groups adhering to particular ideologies grow, for understanding ideological promulgation is an imperative step in understanding conflicts arising from conflicting ideological principles. We accomplish this by exploring one of the fastest growing ideologically distinct organizations today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). In doing so, we propose that the LDS's institutional framework enables not only efficient resource collection, but also frames and promotes a socialization structure that enables ideological growth. This supports empirical evidence which suggests that ideology plays a secondary role in an ideological organization's growth. Implicit in this argument is that to promote an ideology, one should focus on socialization rather than the ideology itself; likewise, effectively countering an ideology requires a focus on social bonds and not necessarily a counter-ideological message. http://archive.org/details/growingnideology1094510576 US Air Force (USAF) authors

de Vries, Gaaitzen J., Erumban, Abdul A., Timmer, Marcel P., Voskoboynikov, Ilya-Deconstructing the BRICs: Structural transformation and aggregate productivity growthThis paper studies structural transformation and its implications for productivity growth in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) from the 1980s onwards. Based on a critical assessment of the reliability and consistency of various primary data sources, we bring together a new database that provides trends in value added and employment at a detailed 35-sector level. Structural decomposition analysis suggests that for China, India and Russia reallocation of labor across sectors is contributing to aggregate productivity growth, whereas in Brazil it is not. This confirms and strengthens the findings of McMillan and Rodrik [NBER Working Paper 17143, 2011]. However, this result is overturned when a distinction is made between formal and informal activities within sectors. Increasing formalization of the Brazilian economy since 2000 appears to be growth-enhancing, while in India the increase in informality after the reforms is growth-reducing. Journal of Comparative Economics 40 (2) (2012) 211-227. Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan; The Conference Board China Centre, Beijing, China; Laboratory for Inflation Problems and Economic Growth, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia. (C) 2012 Association for Comparative Economic Studies Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The objective of this article is to identify typical tobacco farms according to determinants of diversification that can be used to explore possibilities of diversification in the province of Salta (Northwest of Argentina). National Agriculture Census data of 278 farms in the main tobacco production area of Salta were used for the analysis. The variables selected concerning determinants of diversification were: land area, irrigation, general capital goods and specific capital goods, ownership of land, education, off-farm work, and labour availability. The analysis of the principal components applied to 16 selected variables allowed to reduce the dimensionality of the data to four components. Those components were used to apply K-means cluster approach to classify the farms. Four clusters were determined. Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 are the largest clusters. These concern highly specialized tobacco farms. They differ regarding determinants for diversification due to different levels of education of the farmer and different levels of off-farm work. Both clusters are interesting for further analysis regarding diversification alternatives to maintain or improve income and to reduce soil degradation. Cluster 3 concerns large tobacco farms being somewhat less specialized than the farms in clusters 1 and 2. Intensive tobacco production makes this group interesting for exploring diversification alternatives to improve soil conditions. Farms in cluster 4 already have a high level of diversification with substantial livestock production. The presence of perennial pastures suggests a better soil management than the other clusters. This cluster looks appealing to investigate what can be done regarding diversification. El objetivo de este artículo es identificar explotaciones de tabaco de acuerdo a determinantes de diversificación para ser utilizadas en la exploración de posibilidades de diversificación en la provincia de Salta (Noroeste de Argentina). Se utilizaron para el análisis datos del Censo Nacional Agropecuario correspondientes a 278 explotaciones de la principal área de producción de tabaco de Salta. Las variables seleccionadas como determinantes de la diversificación fueron: superficie de tierra, capital general, capital específico, propiedad de la tierra, educación, trabajo extra predial y mano de obra. Se aplicó análisis de componentes principales a 16 variables seleccionadas y así se redujo la dimensión de los datos a cuatro componentes, que fueron utilizados en el análisis de conglomerados (K-means) para clasificar las explotaciones. Se determinaron cuatro conglomerados. Los conglomerados 1 y 2 son los más numerosos; están compuestos por explotaciones altamente especializadas en tabaco y difieren entre sí por el nivel de educación del productor y por el grado de trabajo extra predial que el mismo posee. Ambos grupos son interesantes para posteriores análisis relacionados a alternativas de diversificación para mantener o mejorar el ingreso y reducir la degradación del suelo. El conglomerado 3 consiste en grandes explotaciones tabacaleras menos especializadas que las anteriores. La intensa producción de tabaco hace a este grupo interesante para la exploración de alternativas de diversificación tendientes a mejorar las condiciones de suelo. Las explotaciones del conglomerado 4 tienen un nivel alto de diversificación con importante producción de ganado. Este grupo es atractivo para investigar lo que puede hacerse en relación a la diversificación.

This article investigates the impact of financial liberalization on bank efficiency, using data for a sample of over 4000 bank-year observations from ten emerging economies for the period 1991-2000. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate bank efficiency at the individual bank level. Bank efficiency measures are then aggregated at the country level to investigate the relationship between financial liberalization and bank efficiency, using a panel least square fixed-effects model. Overall, we find strong support for the positive impact of financial liberalization programmes on bank efficiency.

This paper explores the interrelations between pricing, capacity choice and financingin transportation networks. It builds on the famous Mohring-Harwitz result on self-financing ofoptimally designed roads under optimal congestion pricing, and specifically investigates itsins and outs in a network environment and under various types of second-best regulation. Thepaper develops a small network model, with endogenous car-ownership, in order to study thesequestions both from an analytical and a numerical viewpoint. It is for instance shown thatapplication of the principle over an entire network may cause user prices to increase morestrongly in initially mildly congested areas compared to heavily congested areas, and that aflat kilometre charge, provided accompanied with optimal capacity policies, may result infirst-best efficiency gains.

An integrative framework is proposed to advance management research on technological platforms, bridging two theoretical perspectives: economics, which sees platforms as double-sided markets, and engineering design, which sees platforms as technological architectures. While the economic perspective informs our understanding of platform competition, the engineering design perspective informs our view of platform innovation. The article argues that platforms can be usefully conceptualized as evolving organizations or meta-organizations that: (1) federate and coordinate constitutive agents who can innovate and compete; (2) create value by generating and harnessing economies of scope in supply or/and in demand; and (3) entail a modular technological architecture composed of a core and a periphery. In support of this conceptualization, a classification system is presented, indicating that technological platforms appear in a variety of organizational forms: within firms, across supply chains, and across industry innovation ecosystems. As an illustration, the framework is then applied to derive a simple model highlighting patterns of interaction between platform innovation and competition, yielding hypotheses that could be tested empirically by future scholars.

Efficiency in public education is a significant issue in the United States. Nationwide, real expenditure per student increased 8% per year between 1960 and 1993, but output as measured by standardized test scores has not increased and in some cases (i.e., the verbal SAT [Scholastic Achievement Test] score) has declined. One explanation is that resources are not being utilized efficiently either in the technical or allocative sense. Also, the issue is important because substantial savings are possible by consolidation of schools and/or districts. This dissertation explores efficiency by measuring technical efficiency at the school district level from four perspectives. The first essay (Chapter 2) explores whether the cost efficient production units are the bigger schools or the bigger districts, using the concept of a standard education cost function (the dual of neoclassical production function). The empirical analysis uses panel data from Utah school districts and estimates the cost and expenditure functions using the covariance and error component models after making corrections for heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. The evidence indicates scale economies associated with school size but not district size. In the second essay (chapter 3), technical efficiency of individual school districts is measured using an educational production function and stochastic frontier methodology. The empirical analysis shows substantial variation in efficiency among school districts. An extension of the second essay (Appendix B) estimates technical efficiency and total factor productivity using school districts as multi-output producing units. A deterministic nonparametric approach, known as data envelopment analysis (DEA), is applied to a panel data. The empirical results provide provide pure technical efficiency disaggregating the components of scale, congestion, and technical innovation. Most studies of technical efficiency using a stochastic production function are estimated using cross-section data. Technical inefficiency effects are assumed (1) to be a function of the district-specific variables (i.e., dropout rate, socioeconomic status of the students, etc.) and time, and (2) to be independently distributed as truncated normal with constant variance and with means dependent on the firm-specific variables and time. The empirical results suggest that technical inefficiency increased over time for Utah school districts, and that inefficiency effects are stochastic.

AMS classifications: 90A15, 90D12.

The Artenac Culture of late Neolithic was recognized first in Middle- and South-West France ; now it occupies a large area in Central France : Limousin, Auvergne, Paris Basin, Saône-Rhône. The main features of the material culture, lithic and ceramic, will be approached. Systematic exploitation of stone resources (especially Grand Pressigny flint), in « factories », showing technological innovations and the rise of productivity, causes widely traded surpluses. Great earthworks (ramparts, terraces) and hierarchization of space show a strongly organized society. The territorial spread of the Artenacians needs not a warlike explanation. It better represents a process of cultural integration. The structuration of funeral space and the diffusion of some architectural forms of megalithic or paramegalithic building will be considered. One shall try to identify the origins and posterity of Artenac culture and the same will be done for the connections with other Late Neolithic cultures : S.O.M., C.S.R., Languedoc, Grands Causses and Bell Beaker cultures., Au Néolithique final, la culture d'Artenac, d'abord reconnue dans le Centre-Ouest et le Sud-Ouest de la France, occupe une vaste zone en France centrale, Limousin, Auvergne, intégrant aussi dans sa zone d'influence le Bassin parisien et une partie de la région Saône-Rhône. On précise ici les caractères de sa culture matérielle, lithique et céramique, véritable récapitulation technologique. L'exploitation systématique de certains matériaux lithiques, en ateliers, s'assortit d'innovations technologiques et d'un accroissement de la productivité, engendrant des surplus largement diffusés. L'exécution de grands travaux (remparts), la hiérarchisation de l'espace habité, font entrevoir une société organisée, capable d'une expansion territoriale, non belliqueuse mais représentant l'intégration de groupes préexistants dans un ensemble plus vaste. On examine la structuration de l'espace funéraire et la diffusion de types de sépultures mégalithiques et para-mégalithiques. On envisage enfin la répartition, les origines possibles et la postérité de l'Artenacien et ses corrélations avec la S.O.M., la C.S.R., le Néolithique final méridional et les Campaniformes., Roussot-Larroque Julia. Artenac aujourd'hui : pour une nouvelle approche de l'énéolithisation de la France. / Artenac revisited : for a new approach of the eneolithization of France. In: Revue archéologique du Centre de la France, tome 23, fascicule 2, 1984. pp. 135-196.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the economies of size in farming in the Roosevelt- Myton area of the Uintah Basin and to assess their impact on the financial viability of different size farms . This information will be useful in recommending changes to reclamation law. Farmer interviews were used to obtain cos t s of production for 160 , 320, 640 , and 1280 acre farms . The field data were entered into the Oklahoma State Budget Generator to provide the necessary cost breakdown . This in formation was used to derive a curve approximat ing the long run average cost curve and to determine the viability of different farm sizes. Cash flow problems of beginning farmers are discussed. Conclusions are drawn and implications for existing reclamation law are discussed.

Five long-run average cost curves were derived from questionnaire and interview data by connecting points corresponding to the per unit production costs and levels of beef output for four cattle ranch sizes (50, 150, 300, and 500 head of breeding cows). Analysis of the long-run average cost curves in combination with the 1968 weighted Utah beef price revealed that all four ranch sizes studied are capable of meeting cash costs. If the goal of the ranch operator is to meet both cash costs and depreciation, a cattle ranch supporting 105 breeding cows is the minimum size necessary. If provision is made to cover cash costs and depreciation in addition to receiving a fair return for operator and family labor, the ranch must support at least 360 breeding cows. None of the four ranch sizes studied were capable of meeting all production costs including five per cent interest on investment. The minimum ranch size necessary to cover all production costs including 1 . 4 per cent interest on investment is 500 head of breeding cows. Farmer questionnaires and the machine capacity technique provided data from which five long-run average cost curves were derived by connecting points representing average production costs and levels of wheat output for four sizes of wheat farms (500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 acres). The long-run average cost curves were analyzed in combination with the 1968 Utah wheat price. All four wheat farm sizes studied are capable of meeting cash costs. In order to cover both cash costs and depreciation a wheat farm of at least 940 acres is required. The minimum wheat farm size necessary to meet cash costs and depreciation as well as provide a fair return to operator and family labor is 2430 acres. None of the four sizes of wheat farms studied was large enough to cover all costs including interest on investment at five per cent. In order to cover all production costs including 0,64 per cent interest on investment a wheat farm of at least 3000 acres is required, Costs and returns to five management alternatives for marginal Utah cropland ( (1) wheat production by owner-operator, (2) leasing crop.. land to tenants for dryland wheat production, (3) leasing forage on an AUM basis, (4) leasing of forage on a livestock gain basis, and (5) stocker cattle production by the land owner) were compared in the shortrun, in the long-run assuming that all inputs were variable, and in the long-run assuming that land and operator and family labor were fixed, For the marginal cropland owner who also owns wheat production factors, wheat production on an owner-operator basis is the most favorable short-run alternative. Wheat production on a tenant basis is the only short-run alternative open to cropland owners who own neither wheat production factors nor the improvements necessary for grazing enterprises. Leasing forage on a livestock gain basis is the most favorable short-run alternative for cropland owners whose holdings are equipped with grazing improvements. For the long-run situation in which all inputs were considered variable, all five management alternatives yielded negative returns. Under such conditions a rational land owner would refuse to choose from among the five alternatives studied and would instead liquidate his land holdings. When operator and family labor and land were considered fixed, leasing cropland to tenants for dryland wheat production proved to be the most favorable long-run management alternative. Showing the second highest internal rate of return was leasing forage on a livestock gain basis followed ~ stocker cattle production by the land owner. Wheat production ~ the land owner and leasing forage on an AUM basis proved to be the least favorable long-run management alternatives on marginal cropland.

The Africa Competitiveness Report 2015 comes out at a promising time for the continent: for 15 years growth rates have averaged over 5 percent, and rapid population growth holds the promise of a large emerging consumer market as well as an unprecedented labor force that - if leveraged - can provide significant growth opportunities. Moreover, the expansion of innovative business models, such as mobile technology services, is indicative of the continents growth potential. However, Africa continues to be largely agrarian, with an economy that is underpinned by resource-driven growth and a large and expanding informal sector. Indeed, more than a decade of consistently high growth rates have not yet trickled down to significant parts of the population: nearly one out of two Africans continue to live in extreme poverty, and income inequality in the region remains among the highest in the world. What is more, across sectors - from agriculture to manufacturing and services - productivity levels remain low. It will be necessary to raise productivity across all sectors of the economy to achieve higher growth and create quality employment, and turn this progress into sustainable inclusive growth.