The latest decade turned to be critical for the Nonproliferation regime. The crisis of the security assurances, the growing role of nuclear weapons in politics as well as the emergence of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, trying to present the alternative to the NPT: all these trends threaten the stability of the Treaty and the integrity of the regime in general. ; Останнє десятиліття стала критичною для режиму нерозповсюдження ядерної зброї. Очевидні три основні тенденції, які помітно підривають стабільність режиму ДНЯЗ на сучасному етапі. По-перше, це криза гарантій безпеки, що даються державам в обмін на їх ядерне роззброєння або утримання від ядерного вибору. З 2014 року така тенденція наростає. З одного боку, в 2014 році світ став свідком порушення Будапештського меморандуму Росією шляхом анексії Криму і продовження гібридної війни на Донеччині. З іншого, вихід США зі Спільного плану дій з Іраном фактично поклав кінець існуванню СВПД і відповідно в черговий раз продемонстрував хиткість гарантій, даних державі з метою її денуклеаризації під егідою режиму ДНЯЗ. По-друге, зростання ролі ядерної зброї як елемента політичного тиску на прикладі Російської Федерації, для якої даний вид озброєнь сьогодні це не атрибут війни, а елемент повернення політичного престижу шляхом шантажу й утримання НАТО від відновлення порушеного Москвою status quo. Своєрідно російський шлях намагається повторити КНДР, розуміючи, що ядерний козир може стати не тільки запорукою виживання політичного режиму Пхеньяну, але і в подальшому створити основу для об'єднання Корейського півострова під егідою одного центру сили. Як результат, ядерна зброя набуває роль ключового елемента діалогу між КНДР і США, що, врешті-решт, здатне спонукати Вашингтон на розгортання своїх ядерних озброєнь в регіоні. По-третє, поява Договору про заборону ядерної зброї (ДЗЯЗ), який пропонує шлях, альтернативний ДНЯЗ, що не тільки безпосередньо заявляє про неефективність останнього, а й загрожує розколоти його шляхом відвертої демонстрації дискримінаційного характеру документа. Як результат, очікувано зниження довіри до ДНЯЗ на тлі недостатнього підтримання ДЗЯЗ, що зрештою призведе до делегітимізації обох і вакууму договірної бази в сфері обмеження розповсюдження ядерної зброї і технологій. ; Нынешнее десятилетие представляет собой достаточно критическое кремя для режима нераспространения ядерного оружия. Очевидны три основные тенденции, которые заметно подрывают стабильность режима ДНЯО на современном этапе. Во-первых, это кризис гарантий безопасности, дающихся государствам в обмен на их ядерное разоружение либо воздержание от ядерного выбора. С 2014 года такая тенденция нарастает. С одной стороны, в 2014 году мир стал свидетелем нарушения Будапештского меморандума Российской Федерацией путём аннексии Крыма и продолжения гибридной войны на Донбасе. С другой, выход США из Совместного плана действий с Ираном фактически положил конец существованию СВПД и соответственно в очередной раз продемонстрировал шаткость гарантий, данных государству с целью его денуклеаризации под эгидой режима ДНЯО. Во-вторых, возрастание роли ядерного оружия как элемента политического давления на примере Российской Федерации, для которой данный вид вооружений сегодня это не атрибут войны, а элемент возвращения политического престижа путём шантажа и удержания НАТО от восстановления нарушенного Москвой status quo. Своеобразно российский путь пытается повторить КНДР, понимая, что ядерный козырь может стать не только залогом выживания политического режима Пхеньяна, но и в дальнейшем стать основой для объединения Корейского полуострова под эгидой одного центра силы. Как результат, ядерное оружие приобретает роль ключевого элемента диалога между КНДР и США, что, в конце концов, способно побудить Вашингтон к развёртыванию своих ядерных вооружений в регионе. В-третьих, появление Договора о запрещении ядерного оружия (ДЗЯО), который предлагает путь, альтернативный ДНЯО, не только напрямую заявляет о неэффективности последнего, но и угрожает расколоть его путём откровенной демонстрации дискриминационного характера документа. Как результат, ожидаемо снижение доверия к ДНЯО на фоне недостаточного пиетета к ДЗЯО, что в конце концов приведёт к делегитимизации обоих и вакууму договорной базы в области ограничения распространения ядерного оружия и технологий.
2008/2009 ; Privacy and data protection concern everyone and are issue of profound importance around the World. Privacy has been hailed as "an integral part of our humanity" the "hart of our liberty" and "the beginning of all freedoms" (Solove, 2008). Given its importance, privacy is recognized as a fundamental human right according to many International Instruments such as: the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (Article 12), International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights (Article 17) The European Convention of Human Rights of 1950 (Article 8), the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 2007 (Article 8) and the Treaty of Lisbon of 2008 (Article 16 of the TFEU). However, beyond this worldwide consensus about the importance of privacy and the need for its protection, there is difficulty to conceptualize the privacy. Privacy is a contested legal concept, with several understandings and more misunderstandings. Privacy is actually shorthand for a complex bundle of issues, ranging from dignity to discrimination, and rooted in our need to control what we tell others about ourselves. The main difficulty to reach a satisfying conceptualization of the privacy is that there are some eternal privacy tensions, namely, the interests protected by privacy and data protection laws are inherently in conflict with other legitimate interests such as the freedom of speech, public security and the free flow of information. While, it is impossible to belong to a community and withhold all data, the collection and the processing of our data carry with it many risks and dangers. One such risk is that the data will be abused by those who access it, either by authorization or not. Data which was consensually provided for one purpose might be used against us in a different context. Other privacy tensions are driven by technology which gave rise to the emergence of the data protection law: the falling cost of data storage and communication makes it easier for merchants and governments to collect more data on people and thus to become more efficient to violate the privacy. The development of the Computer technology in the 1960's and 1970's and the enormous potential of the digital revolution made the civil libertarians worry. The nightmare of all-seeing, all-knowing "Big Brother" of George Orwell's "1984" did not belong anymore to the realm of the fiction, but was a reality. And as the enormous potential of the digital revolution became more apparent and together with it the dangers posed to privacy, so the calls for the specific measures to protect individuals became louder. The data protection rules originally developed, at national level in the 1970s, as a response to the threats posed to the privacy by the technological developments of the 1960s and 1970s. It emerged as a new legal field, separate from the privacy law but dependent upon it. The task of the personal data law is to provide a legal framework which is capable of reconciling the needs and interests of those who make use of personal data (data controllers or data processors) with those of persons to whom these data relate (data subjects). Europe has proven to be the leader in protecting privacy and personal data of the individuals in the digital age. At the EU level, the first legal instrument in this field was Data Protection Directive, which was passed in 1995 to harmonize national data protection laws within the European Community, with the aim of protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals including their privacy and personal data. After 15 years the question is whether the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC fit the objectives for which it was adopted in 1995. The European Commission considers that the Directive 95/46/EC fulfils its original objectives and therefore does not need to be amended. This thesis questions this static approach of the European Commission to the data protection regime and argues that the increasing pressure on privacy due to the development of privacy destroying technologies and the growing use of and demand for personal information by public and private sectors, requires quick legal answer and constant change of the data protection legislation. The research carried out for this thesis shows that, over time the social and regulatory environment surrounding the creation, management and the use of personal data has evolved significantly since the adoption of the Directive 95/46/EC. The Directive is showing its age and is failing to meet the new challenges posed to privacy by factors such as the huge growth of personal information on line and the growing availability and ability of the new technologies to process, use and abuse personal information in many ways. These factors have challenged the means and the methods used by Directive to protect personal data and have altered the environment for the implementation of the Directive. Thus, it is clear that the context in which the data protection Directive was created has been changed fundamentally and certain basic assumptions of the Directive have already been challenged in approach, in law and in practice. All these factors show that the Directive is out of touch to meet the technological, social and legal challenges of 21st century and therefore need to be reviewed and amended. ; XXI Ciclo ; 1975
During the fall of 2006, the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) celebrates its 20th birthday. Linköping has a long tradition of health education; our nursing programme started already in 1895 and occupational therapy began in 1965. From the late 1960's, medical students from Uppsala spent their last seven semesters in Linköping, mainly for clinical studies. After some years, academic and teachers from the young faculty, together with the county council, realized the enormous potential benefits of a complete undergraduate medical programme at Linköping University. Inspired by apparent innovations from McMaster University in Canada, Maastricht in Holland, Ben Gurion in Israel and Tromsø in Norway, these ideas and ideals were gradually turned into reality. In a complicated process, concerning the life or death of the medical faculty, a close co-operation between the University and the County Council of Östergötland was extremely fruitful. A proposal regarding a complete medical programme, and study periods integrated between the other health education programmes, was forwarded to the Swedish government in December 1982 and approved in 1984. The new FHS at Linköping University was launched in 1986, and by the end of August the first students began their studies. Already at the start, FHS included several programmes for health professionals: nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, medicine, social welfare and laboratory technology. Speech and language pathology was added in 2003 and the education curriculum for laboratory technicians was developed into a master's programme in medical biology. A number of important concepts were included in the new programmes. Problem based learning (PBL) was chosen as the fundamental basis for organising studies; using small tutorial groups with supervisors as "coaches" and real patient histories as triggers for learning. Since 2001, realistic cases/scenarios are made available on the Intranet. PBL is highly appreciated by the majority of students and teachers. This method of learning focused in contexts, according to pedagogic research, leads to a higher retention of knowledge than in traditional teacher-centered approaches toward learning. Important PBL spin-off effects are in educating students to cooperate in groups, to communicate and argue, to listen to other students' opinions, to evaluate their own efforts and to identify learning needs. Furthermore, the method implies that students' learn to independently find and evaluate scientific information, thereby realizing that the truth is somewhat "relative," since what they find may differ depending on the sources used. Perhaps the most important characteristic of PBL is that it moves the main responsibility for obtaining goals and new knowledge from the teacher to the student. Other important elements of the various curricula at the FHS are vertical and horizontal integration. In vertical integration, e.g. between clinical and basic science, different sections are interwoven with clear progressive shifts over phases and semesters. This has shown to stimulate profound rather than superficial learning, and probably stimulates better understanding. Horizontal integration focuses on the simultaneous learning of several subjects needed to understand and explain the scenarios used. In PBL, teachers are expected to cooperate over departmental borders, a process that often produces positive spin-off effects extending further to research. They take on many different roles as e.g. planners, semester coordinators, tutors, lecturers and clinical supervisors. As such, newcomers may encounter certain frustration. Continuous staff development is critical to assure pedagogical selection and excellence, and thereby the quality of the programmes. In PBL, teachers are expected to cooperate over departmental borders, a process that often produces positive spin-off effects extending further to research. They take on many different roles as e.g. planners, semester coordinators, tutors, lecturers and clinical supervisors. As such, newcomers may encounter certain frustration. Continuous staff development is critical to assure pedagogical selection and excellence, and thereby the quality of the programmes. The aim to be a medical faculty with a standing among the most progressive worldwide implies continuous evaluation and development. Our mission is to foster the very best in health care; health care extending consideration toward educating competent professionals and conducting quality research with a focus on societal needs and welfare. To fulfil this mission, we need to advance teaching models based on evidence, and continuously improve and develop our educational methods. This process requires cooperation between departments, teachers and students within the university and indeed, throughout the world. Such contacts and collaborations are as important in education as they are in research, and extend an endless source of inspiration. Communication between the different undergraduate programmes at FHS has been extremely fruitful and should further be stimulated. At the faculty level, it is important to provide teachers with credit for efforts and development toward education. To keep integration and innovation at a high level, it is very important to balance the decision power and the distribution of money between departments and programmes. The aim of this book is to provide a general overview, in glimpses, of some of the important developments in FHS education; to describe new ideas in progress or those already turned to reality and also, to extend some consideration of publications regarding our educational innovations. We hope these examples provide the essence of inspiration for future work, contributing to improved education and better health for all. ; Produced by the Department of External Relations, Linköping university Coordinator: Åke Hjelm. Editorial translation: Bohdan Sklepkovych. Design: Peter Modin. Photographers: Göran Billeson. Ida Lagstam, Jan Christer Persson
La cura d'altres i les relacions a llarga distància poden estar vinculats a l'esgotament emocional i psicològic, però també a la gratificació i l'apoderament; sobretot, tenen importants implicacions en termes de justícia social, igualtat i ciutadania. L'expressió "famílies globals" (Beck i Beck-Gernsheim, 2014) abasta un conjunt d'actors socials, heterogenis i carregats de tensions, que tenen en comú el potencial de superar les distincions tradicionals entre allò públic i allò privat, el centre i la perifèria, el nacional i l'internacional, les persones sanes i aquelles amb discapacitats físiques / cognitives, els heterosexuals i els homosexuals, eludint les idees dicotòmiques d'inclusió / exclusió que en general caracteritzen el concepte de ciutadania. Aquestes famílies constitueixen un grup d'actors socials molt diversos, entre d'altres, parelles de cultures i ètnies mixtes, treballadors migrants mal remunerats, treballadors migrants qualificats, sol·licitants d'asil, refugiats, famílies distants, etc. que desafien la nostra comprensió culturalment homogènia de la família i la societat i que es defineixen, per tant, com a "pioners del cosmopolitisme" i la diversitat cultural.Partint de treballs recents sobre les famílies, les relacions, les intimitats i la cura d'altres residents en ubicacions distants i contextualitzant aquests treballs en l'àmbit específic, i encara inexplorat, de les parelles del mateix sexe que estan juntes però viuen separades (LAT, per les sigles en anglès), aquest article examina les geografies morals, sociològiques i institucionals d'aquestes cadenes, menys visibles, de cura i afecte, així com la seva desigualtat en termes de drets i visibilitat. La revisió de la bibliografia es combina amb un treball autoetnogràfic on s'analitza i discuteix el cas d'una parella LAT casada, transnacional i del mateix sexe.Aquest article suggereix que en examinar el que succeeix en un nivell micro de les interaccions basades en emocions, podem obtenir algunes idees essencials sobre la naturalesa canviant de les famílies, les intimitats i les relacions, així com sobre les seves múltiples implicacions en termes d'inclusió social , accés a drets / ciutadania i canvi social. És una forma d'inclusió social i adquisició de drets / ciutadania, relacional, basada en l'emoció i situada en un nivell micro, que està passant diàriament en els intersticis de les interaccions entre les persones, tot i que aquest canvi segueix trobant diversos obstacles estructurals, polítics i institucionals. ; Long distance relationships and caring at a distance may be connected with emotional and psychological exhaustion but also gratification, reward and empowerment; above all, they possess important implications in terms of social justice, equality and citizenship. The expression 'world families' (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2014) includes a heterogeneous and tension-filled set of social actors who have in common the potential to bridge traditional distinctions between public and private, centre and periphery, national and international, able-bodied and physically/cognitively impaired, heterosexual and homosexual, bypassing dichotomous ideas of inclusion/exclusion which typically characterise the concept of citizenship. These families represent a group of very different social actors, including couples of mixed cultures and ethnicities, low-paid migrant workers, skilled migrant workers, asylum seekers, refugees, distant families, etc. who challenge our culturally homogenous understanding of family and society and are defined therefore as 'pioneers of cosmopolitanism' and cultural diversity.Drawing on recent work on families, relationships, intimacies and caring for distant others and contextualising it within the specific and still unexplored context of Living Apart Together (LAT) same-sex couples, this article examines the moral, sociological and institutional geographies of these less visible chains of care and affection and their unequally entitled rights and visibility. The literature review is combined with auto-ethnographic work analysing and discussing the case of a married, same-sex, transnational, Living Apart Together (LAT) couple.This article suggests that by looking at what happens at the level of emotion-based, micro-situated interactions we can get some crucial insights into the changing nature of families, intimacies and relationships and their multiple implications in terms of social inclusion, entitlement to rights/citizenship and social change. It is a form of relational, emotion-based and micro-situated social inclusion and entitlement to rights/citizenship which is occurring, on a daily basis, in the interstices of people's interactions even when such change still meets several obstacles at the structural, political and institutional level. ; El cuidado de otros y las relaciones a larga distancia pueden estar vinculados al agotamiento emocional y psicológico, pero también a la gratificación y el empoderamiento; sobre todo, tienen importantes implicaciones en términos de justicia social, igualdad y ciudadanía. La expresión «familias globales» (Beck y Beck-Gernsheim, 2014) abarca un conjunto de actores sociales, heterogéneos y cargados de tensiones, que tienen en común el potencial de superar las distinciones tradicionales entre lo público y lo privado, el centro y la periferia, lo nacional y lo internacional, las personas sanas y aquellas con discapacidades físicas/cognitivas, los heterosexuales y los homosexuales, eludiendo las ideas dicotómicas de inclusión/exclusión que por lo general caracterizan el concepto de ciudadanía. Estas familias constituyen un grupo de actores sociales muy disímiles, entre otros, parejas de culturas y etnias mixtas, trabajadores migrantes mal remunerados, trabajadores migrantes calificados, solicitantes de asilo, refugiados, familias distantes, etc. que desafían nuestra comprensión culturalmente homogénea de la familia y la sociedad y que se definen, por lo tanto, como «pioneros del cosmopolitismo» y la diversidad cultural. Partiendo de trabajos recientes sobre las familias, las relaciones, las intimidades y el cuidado de otros residentes en ubicaciones distantes y contextualizando dichos trabajos en el ámbito específico, y todavía inexplorado, de las parejas del mismo sexo que están juntas pero viven separadas (LAT, por sus siglas en inglés), este artículo examina las geografías morales, sociológicas e institucionales de estas cadenas, menos visibles, de cuidado y afecto, así como su desigualdad en términos de derechos y visibilidad. La revisión de la bibliografía se combina con un trabajo autoetnográfico donde se analiza y discute el caso de una pareja LAT casada, transnacional y del mismo sexo.Este artículo sugiere que al examinar lo que sucede en un nivel micro de las interacciones basadas en emociones, podemos obtener algunas ideas esenciales sobre la naturaleza cambiante de las familias, las intimidades y las relaciones, así como sobre sus múltiples implicaciones en términos de inclusión social, acceso a derechos/ciudadanía y cambio social. Es una forma de inclusión social y adquisición de derechos/ciudadanía, relacional, basada en la emoción y situada en un nivel micro, que está ocurriendo a diario en los intersticios de las interacciones entre las personas, aun cuando dicho cambio sigue encontrando diversos obstáculos estructurales, políticos e institucionales.
The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza are different in kind and require different approaches. But debating the purpose and impact of U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine and Israel could not be more urgent. This is especially true in the case of Israel, given the immense human devastation its attack on Gaza is causing and the real danger of a wider Mideast war. Yet the Biden administration is striking a common theme in its efforts to persuade Congress to pass a $100 billion-plus emergency package that consists largely of military aid and arms transfers to Ukraine and Israel, as well as Taiwan: U.S. weapons supplies to war zones and regions of tension support U.S. jobs. President Biden kicked off this line of thinking in his Oval Office speech in which he announced the new emergency aid proposal, referring to the U.S. arms industry as the "arsenal of democracy" and making a not-too-subtle pitch for the economic benefits of U.S. military aid: "We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles. And when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores, our own stockpiles, with new equipment. Equipment that defends America and is made in America. Patriot missiles for air defense batteries, made in Arizona. Artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas. And so much more." As if that were not enough, Politico has reported that administration officials are now circulating talking points in Congress that argue that providing military aid is "good for American jobs." Using the jobs argument to sell weapons transfers is precisely backwards. Selling arms to combatant nations must be justified on the basis of their security and human rights consequences, not the jobs and profits they generate. Former President Donald Trump used the jobs card in touting arms deals with Saudi Arabia at the height of its brutal war in Yemen, even going so far as hailing the benefits of those sales as a reason not to hold the regime accountable for its murder of the U.S.-resident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This tactic was wrong then and it's wrong now. In the case of Ukraine, it is essential to keep supporting its ability to defend itself from Russia's invasion, although sending arms without an accompanying diplomatic strategy runs the risk of enabling a long grinding war that could even lead to escalation to a direct U.S.-Russian confrontation. Even given these risks, there's a strong argument to be made for supporting Kyiv's military effort. But the suggestion that this support should continue because it creates American jobs is misguided and dangerous. It can be applied to support any kind of conflict or any variety of weapons program, whether it is necessary or not, as indicated by Trump's use of it to enable the Saudi war in Yemen. Military aid to Israel for its war on Gaza, launched in response to Hamas's horrific attacks on Israeli civilians, is another matter. The assault has resulted in the deaths of 7,000 Gazans so far, including over 2,000 children, mostly due to an unprecedented campaign of air strikes. A ground war would have even more devastating consequences, and would increase the real and growing danger of a wider Mideast war. Providing an emergency arms package in this context while opposing a ceasefire is a far different matter than providing support for Ukraine. It's not clear that the jobs argument has come into play to the same degree in promoting U.S. policy towards Israel's military campaign in Gaza, given current, widespread support in Congress. But it could well enter the picture as opposition to public support for the slaughter in Gaza continues. A recent poll indicates that roughly two-thirds of Americans support a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, and those numbers may grow as heart-rending scenes of death and destruction continue to make their way back to America. While the jobs argument should take a back seat to strategic and human rights concerns, it's worth exploring its validity, since it has been introduced into the debate. There are many ways to create more and better jobs without resorting to increased weapons spending. Virtually any other form of government outlay, or even a tax cut, yields greater employment than military spending. Forging a less militarized foreign policy and rolling back a Pentagon budget that is soaring towards $1 trillion per year would open the way to building a more peaceful and sustainable economy. But the first priority — especially with respect to Israel/Gaza — must be to stop the killing and end the war, not debate the economic effects of arms spending. The jobs argument should have no place in this hugely consequential discussion.
In: Bergaentzlé , C & Gunkel , P A 2020 , Flexible and green transition of Danish private transport : Addressing market barriers and unlocking flexibility .
With an electricity mix increasingly based on renewables, Electric Vehicles (EVs) can play a significant role in the decarbonization of the Danish transport sector and society. However, current EV market trends are too slow for electrified transport to play its part in the country's energy shift to reach the 70% CO2 reduction goal set forth by the Danish government. This report focuses on the role of public authorities in supporting the development of clean vehicles in general and EVs in particular. We consider the techno-economic characteristics of EVs in terms of purchase and use cost on the one hand, and in terms of battery charge and flexibility, on the other hand, to delimit the scope of actions for supporting policies and framework conditions. Using a benchmark analysis, the report derives good policy practices from EV pioneer world countries and compares them to the recent Danish policy framework for EV development. Successful incentive frameworks build on a combination of instruments and measures directed at offsetting the overcost of EV compared to substitutable vehicles. Especially, good practices show that direct subsidy schemes together with tax exemption on EV provide the main incentive leading to purchasing decisions. These incentive instruments should then be combined with targeted policy measures that will further diminish the cost of use of the vehicle during its life cycle. We show that, despite a certain delay in the application of supportive framework conditions for the market uptake of electric cars, the overall set of recently adopted targets and policy measures in Denmark is aligned in terms of diversity with the regulatory package set forth in leading countries. However, the incentive framework shows substantial limits, particularly with regard to the incentive scope of the economic incentive instruments (subsidies etc.). In the absence of higher support schemes aimed at significantly dropping the cost of EVs for the consumers, it is unlikely that market sales will follow the trends shown in fast-growing markets such as Norway. In the meantime, the roadmap published by Danish authorities and the allocated budget for the roll-out of charging infrastructure over the coming years sends strong signals to the industry and future EV owners, that adapted infrastructure is underway. This report also pays particular attention to the flexible integration of electric car batteries to the electricity system. More specifically, we identify the provision of multiple flexibility services to the electricity markets as an additional source of revenue for car owners and a way to save costs and optimize operation on the electricity networks. Current electricity market rules applying to Denmark are scrutinized and barriers to the participation of EV to day-ahead and balancing markets are identified. Multiple current features of market product design and technical requirements for ancillary services and flexibility in day-ahead markets critically prevent business opportunities for electric car batteries. The following adaptions of market designs are necessary if we want to support EV participation to flexibility. Reduction of minimum bid requirement for ancillary services; Relax pre-qualification requirements and technical requirements on measurement devices; Reduction of service duration; Adjustment of non-delivery penalty; Move gate-closure closer to operation hour; Intensify market framework harmonization in Europe. The lessons learned and recommendations made to facilitate small flexibility providers' participation at the TSO level can serve as backbone to develop suited rules at the decentralized level, too. EV should be eligible to the provision of grid services and penalties for non-delivery shall be fair and not represent an entry barrier. On the distribution level, unrestricted EV charging can lead to local system instabilities. To avoid the costly expansion of distribution systems, local markets emerge as a viable solution. Local markets should in priority provide signals reflecting congestions and voltage levels such that EV charging follows grid constraints in real-time. Additional transversal barriers to EV flexibility also arise from unsuited regulatory framework conditions. In particular, the current grid tariff scheme should be adjusted to better reflect local stresses on the network and further support the offer of new grid services. In the meantime, such a tariff would delay or avoid costly reinforcement on the distribution grid to accommodate the new load from EVs, and limit the electricity bill increase for all end-users. Finally, as Denmark does not have a domestic vehicle production, EV development also depends on decisions taken in the surrounding countries with an automotive industry, such as Sweden and Germany. Sweden seems to move towards an electrification of transport, while Germany is heavily investing in its hydrogen industry. It is likely that the respective outcomes of both strategy will affect future decisions in Danish transport sector, too.
Social media are a space for discussions, debates and deliberations about personality, culture, society, and actual experiences of social actors in South Africa. They offer an unexpected opportunity for the broader consideration and inclusion of community members' voices in governance decision making and policy processes. They also offer opportunities to engage, mobilise and change people and society in impressive scale, speed and effect: They have mobilising and transformative powers emanating from their interaction with the impetus of the agency of community members seeking better conditions of living. The magnitude of the effects of these powers makes it imperative to have a better understanding of their workings. Social media have been used in numerous social movements as the medium of communication to mobilise, coordinate, and broadcast protests. However, social media were never a guarantee of success as most movements using them did not achieve significant results. Yet, governments in developed and developing countries tend to engage inadequately with social media supported movements. The research problem is that the contribution of social media to the transformation of the social practice of discourse, which causes SSA community members' agential impetus (collective intentionality for action) to generate a discourse of resistance on social media during social movements, is not well understood. The main research question is: Why are South African community members using social media to enact online discursive resistance during social movements? The aim of the research is to explain, from a critical realism point of view, Sub-Saharan African community members' emergent usage of social media during social movements, by providing a contextualised social history (a tale) of South African community members' practice of online discursive enactment of resistance. The emergent usage of social media of concern is conceptualised as "discursive enactment of networked everyday resistance" within a dialectical space of interaction conceptualised as "space of autonomous resistance"; an instance of a communication space allowing for transformative negation to occur. The research follows Bhaskar's Critical Realism as a philosophical paradigm. Critical Realism seeks to explain phenomena by retroducing (retrospective inference) causal explanations from empirically observable phenomena to the generative mechanisms which caused them. The research was designed as a qualitative, processual and retroductive inquiry based on the Morphogenetic/Morphostasis approach with two phases: an empirical research developing the case of South African community members' emergent usage of social media during the #feesmustfall social movement, looking for demi-regularities in social media discourse; and a transcendental research reaching into the past to identified significant events, objects and entities which tendencies are responsible for the shape of observed discourse. In the first phase, a case study was developed from data collected on the social media platform Twitter™, documents, and in-depth interviews of South African community members. The data collected were analysed using qualitative content analysis (QCA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to unveil demi-regularities; moving from the observable individual strategic orientation of messages to discourses, thus to the tendencies of relational emergent properties of systemic magnitude which structure local discourses and are transformed by them. Then, the social mediainduced morphogenesis or transformation of South African community members' discursive action was postulated in an analytical history of emergence (or analytical tale) of their usage of social media within a "space of autonomous resistance" during social movements. The findings of the research suggest that South African community members authored 3 discourses of resistance on Twitter™: #feesmustfall discourses of struggle, identity and oppression. They identified as "student qua black-child" stepping into the "Freedom fighter" role against the hegemonic post-apartheid condition curtailing their aspirations. It was found that social media socio-cultural embeddedness and under-design (Western European socio-cultural globalising underpinning features and functional features of the platforms) which interaction with the local socio-cultural mix (postapartheid socio-cultural tendencies for domination/power, spiral of silence, and legitimacy/identification) resulted in misfits and workarounds enhancing individual emotional conflict and aligning towards a socio-cultural opportunistic contingent complementarity integration in the deployment of discourse. That integration was actualised as a mediatization emergent property through asignification/signification of mainstream discourses of liberal democracy, colonial capitalism, national democratic revolution, free and decolonised education, black consciousness and Fallism. That mediatization through re-signification of the struggle for freedom created a communication "space of autonomous resistance" where networked freedom fighters enacted discursive everyday resistance against the hegemonic forces of students' precariousness. The contribution of the research includes a realist model of social media discursive action (ReMDA); an explanation of South African community members' deployment of discourse over social media during social movement and telling the tale of the transformation of discursive practices with the advent of social media in South Africa.
Research Highlights This study investigates the antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and its dimensions (i.e. altruism, courtesy, civic virtue, conscientiousness, and sportsmanship) among Malaysia Public Hospital nurses. The operational definition of leader-member exchange (LMX) in this study is the quality of the exchange relationship between the leader and the nurses which are developed based on perceived contribution and affect dimensions. An operational definition of OCB in this study is a personal choice of extra-role behaviour among Malaysia public hospital nurses U29. This behaviour is not stated in job description, it is discretionary, and not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, but it can promote the organisational effectiveness. OCB compromises five dimensions which are altruism, courtesy, civic virtue, conscientiousness, and sportsmanship. Research Objectives The objectives of Wawasan 2020 have forced Malaysia organisations to confront unanticipated challenges. These challenges include changes in technological structure, shocks in economic trends, social changes, and structural transformations (Kim & Hunsaker, 2018). Meeting all these challenges is indispensable for an organisation's survival but it has become a tough trade to do (Baek-Kyoo & Sung, 2017; Chen & Jin, 2014). One possible way to survive in this unpredictable situation is to make the best use of available resources such as organisational human resources (Baek-Kyoo and Sung, 2017; Bitmis and Ergeneli, 2011). It is believed that the practise of OCB among employees can enable an organisation to cope with these challenges (Bitmis & Ergeneli, 2011; Chen & Jin, 2014; Wu & Lee, 2017). Considering all of the above statements, it is necessary to find out how to increase nurses' OCB in the workplace. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the direct effect of LMX on OCB as prior to the Social Exchange Theory. It is believed when subordinates have a high quality LMX, they will reciprocate the positive influence and perform OCB in the workplace. Methodology The data collection in this study was conducted through distribution of questionnaires. Multi-stage cluster sampling is used in this study because it involves a wide area and large population size which makes it difficult or impossible to list the subjects. There are more than 133 public hospitals all over Malaysia. Applying multi-stage cluster sampling method is useful because the researchers have no access to the entire population and it is geographically convenient. Hence, this study managed to get 539 respondents from four selected government hospitals with the return rate about 35.5 percent. In this study, the researchers adapted the Leader-member Exchange Scale by Bhal and Ansari (Bhal & Ansari, 1996, 2000) to measure LMX. While the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale by Podsakoff et al. (1990) was adapted to measure OCB. Structural Equation Modelling is employed in this research as a statistical approach to measure the comparative strength of the indirect and direct relationship between the variables. Results The result indicated the model has yielded a good fit with RMSEA = 0.05, GFI = 0.90, AGFI = 0.88, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, NFI = 0.90, and chisq/df = 2.01. Overall, the perceived contribution and affect found to explain 5.1 percent of altruism occurrence, 2.6 percent of courtesy occurrence, 5 percent of civic virtue occurrence, 1 percent of conscientiousness occurrence, and 4 percent on sportsmanship occurrence among Malaysia public hospital nurses. Specifically, perceived contribution was found to significantly give an effect to only sportsmanship (= 0.242, p < 0.001). That is, high quality of perceived contribution increases the occurrence of sportsmanship among nurses. However, perceived contribution has an insignificant effect on altruism, courtesy, civic virtue, and conscientiousness. The second dimension of LMX which is affect was found to significantly contribute to altruism (= 0.153, p < 0.05), courtesy (= 0.102, p < 0.05), civic virtue (= 0.228, p < 0.001), and sportsmanship (= -0.164, p < 0.001). That is, high quality affect relationship between the leader and the subordinate increases the occurrence of altruism, courtesy, civic virtue, and sportsmanship among nurses. However, affect was found to have no significant contribution to conscientiousness. Findings This study expanded the Social Exchange Theory by providing empirical evidence on the association of LMX on OCB. From the empirical evidence, it was found out that high-quality of work-based relationship has a valid influence on sportsmanship. The findings also revealed high-quality of personal-based relationship between the leader and the subordinate has a significant positive influence on altruism, courtesy, and civic virtue, while the negative influence on sportsmanship. It is suggested that personal-based relationship between the leader and the subordinate needs to be practiced with precaution since high-level personal relationships could manifest the occurrence of negative effect towards sportsmanship. Acknowledgement We are grateful for the opportunity provided by Quest International University and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to publish our research finding.
The construction industry is associated with problems such as low productivity and high costs. This has been highlighted in several government-funded reports in both Sweden and in the UK during the course of over two decades. The construction industry is a large industry sector employing hundreds of thousands and a large contributor to a country's GDP. The problems therefore have a large impact on society. Some of the problems are rooted in the organizational structure of the construction industry. Compared to other manufacturing industries, the construction industry is organized in temporary organizations. The temporary organizations cause temporary supply chains, fragmentation among construction industry actors and adversarial relationships between those actors. Partnering has been but forward as a solution to overcome the temporariness and the adversarial relationships in the construction. Another solution to mitigate the problems suggested in the reports is supply chain management (SCM). Both concepts have been taken from the manufacturing industries and partnering has been more successful compared to SCM in the construction industry. In the construction industry the progress towards SCM has focused on logistics. In recent years dedicated third-party logistics (TPL) solutions have emerged in the Swedish construction industry, where a company is hired to manage the logistics in a construction project. The purpose with the research presented in this licentiate thesis is to explore how client initiated TPL solutions and partnering can be facilitators for SCM in the construction industry. Being a new phenomenon in the construction industry TPL solutions provide a logistical competence not necessarily included in a traditional construction project. Therefore, TPL solutions are of particular interest when studying the realization of SCM in the construction industry. In the process of realizing SCM in the construction industry, the construction clients have been put forward as having a crucial and important role. The clients are the initiator and funder of construction projects and as such the client can influence the course of a construction project. Therefore, it is of interest to study how the client can take an active role in this process. Initiating a TPL solution in a construction project is one way for a client to take an active part in the realization of SCM in construction. However, in order to study how clients can take an active role towards the realization of SCM in the construction industry, there have to be an understanding of how SCM is to be adopted to the construction industry context. SCM that derives from the manufacturing industry is designed to be used in long-term relationships with permanent organizational structures. The construction industry on the other hand is associated with short-term relationships and a temporary organizational structure. Partnering that is designed to mitigate the temporariness and establish long-term relationships have been quite successful in the construction industry, and could therefore be used as a facilitator for SCM in construction. To study the use of client initiated TPL-solutions in construction and the realization of SCM in the construction industry the following research questions have been addressed: RQ1: To what extent can a third-party logistics solution be a facilitator for client driven SCM in the construction industry? RQ2: How will upstream and downstream tiers be affected when a thirdparty logistics provider is used in a construction project? RQ3: How can partnering be used a mean to facilitate the realization of SCM in the construction industry? To answer the research questions two main methodologies have been used; case study for the empirically grounded research and conceptual studies for the analysis of the case studies as well as for comparing the two concepts of partnering and SCM. All questions have been grounded in literature and previous research. The findings of this research is therefore grounded in both theory and in practice. The main findings of this research is that TPL solutions are not a quick fix for realizing SCM in the construction industry. However, if used right a TPL solution can be an effective tool to address logistical issues in a construction project and to establish an interface between the supply chain and the construction site. By initiating a TPL solution the client addresses the importance of logistical competence in a construction project. A TPL solution does not have a purpose of its own; a TPL solution is a service function to the construction project, providing expertise on logistics management. There are also a number of driving forces and concerns that have been identified, if they are addressed prior to a TPL solution is implemented, the likelihood of its success will increase. Furthermore, both partnering and SCM rely on high trust and share several key components and issues that have to be addressed. Partnering on strategic level with several suppliers included can even be hard to distinguish from SCM. Wherefore, partnering is considered a facilitator for the realization of SCM in construction. By addressing the necessary issues in both concepts a good foundation for SCM is established.
The provision of electronic participation services (e-participation) is a complex socio-technical undertaking that needs comprehensive design and implementation strategies. E-participation service providers, in the most cases administrations and governments, struggle with changing requirements that demand more transparency, better connectivity and increased collaboration among different actors. At the same time, less staff are available. As a result, recent research assesses only a minority of e-participation services as successful. The challenge is that the e-participation domain lacks comprehensive approaches to design and implement (e-)participation services. Enterprise Architecture (EA) frameworks have evolved in information systems research as an approach to guide the development of complex socio-technical systems. This approach can guide the design and implementation services, if the collection of organisations with the commonly held goal to provide participation services is understood as an E Participation Enterprise (EE). However, research & practice in the e participation domain has not yet exploited EA frameworks. Consequently, the problem scope that motivates this dissertation is the existing gap in research to deploy EA frameworks in e participation design and implementation. The research question that drives this research is: What methodical and technical guides do architecture frameworks provide that can be used to design and implement better and successful e participation? This dissertation presents a literature study showing that existing approaches have not covered yet the challenges of comprehensive e participation design and implementation. Accordingly, the research moves on to investigate established EA frameworks such as the Zachman Framework, TOGAF, the DoDAF, the FEA, the ARIS, and the ArchiMate for their use. While the application of these frameworks in e participation design and implementation is possible, an integrated approach is lacking so far. The synthesis of literature review and practical insights in design and implementation of e participation services from four projects show the challenges of adapting architecture frameworks for this domain. However, the research shows also the potential of a combination of the different approaches. Consequently, the research moves on to develop the E-Participation Architecture Framework (EPART-Framework). Therefore, the dissertation applies design science research including literature review and action research. Two independent settings test an initial EPART-Framework version. The results yield into the EPART-Framework presented in this dissertation. The EPART-Framework comprises of the EPART-Metamodel with six EPART-Viewpoints, which frame the stakeholder concerns: the Participation Scope, the Participant Viewpoint, the Participation Viewpoint, the Data & Information Viewpoint, the E-participation Viewpoint, and Implementation & Governance Viewpoint. The EPART-Method supports the stakeholders to design the EE and implement e participation and stores its output in an architecture description and a solution repository. It consists of five consecutive phases accompanied by requirements management: Initiation, Design, Implementation and Preparation, Participation, and Evaluation. The EPART-Framework fills the gap between the e participation domain and the enterprise architecture framework domain. The evaluation gives reasonable evidence that the framework is a valuable addition in academia and in practice to improve e-participation design and implementation. The same time, it shows opportunities for future research to extend and advance the framework. ; Die Bereitstellung elektronischer Beteiligungsverfahren (E-Partizipation) ist ein komplexes sozio-technisches Unterfangen, das eine sorgfältige Vorgehensweise erfordert. Die Herausforderung ist, dass Regierungen oder Kommunalverwaltungen, als häufigste Anbieter, bei der ganzheitlichen Planung und Umsetzung nur unzureichend unterstützt werden. Infolgedessen beschreibt die Literatur nur wenige E-Partizipationsangebote als erfolgreich. Die Wirtschaftsinformatik entwickelte das Konzept der Enterprise Architectures um die Entwicklung komplexer sozio-technischer Systeme zu unterstützen. Versteht man die Gruppe an Organisationen, die E-Partizipationsverfahren bereitstellt nun als Enterprise, so können die Prinzipien von Enterprise Architectures angewendet werden. Nichtsdestotrotz wurde dieser Ansatz in der E-Partizipationspraxis und –Forschung bisher kaum beachtet. Motiviert durch diese Forschungslücke, untersucht die Dissertation bestehende Ansätze aus der E-Partizipationspraxis und –Forschung auf Besonderheiten und Schwachstellen, um anschließend den Nutzen bestehender Rahmenwerke für Enterprise Architectures im Kontext von E-Partizipation zu analysieren. Die Literaturstudie überprüft sowohl konzeptionelle als auch prozedurale Ansätze aus Praxis und Wissenschaft auf ihre Ganzheitlichkeit und identifiziert die Herausforderungen. Im Rahmen von vier Projekten wird das Vorgehen beim Entwurf und der Umsetzung von elektronisch unterstützten Beteiligungsverfahren dokumentiert und ausgewertet sowie Verbesserungspotenziale aufgezeigt. Enterprise Architecture Frameworks (Zachman Framework, TOGAF, DoDAF, FEA, ARIS, und ArchiMate) werden auf Anforderungen und Nützlichkeit für E-Partizipation untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen die Herausforderungen bei der Übernahme existierender Enterprise Architecture Frameworks, aber auch das Potential einer Kombination aus speziellen Ansätzen für E-Partizipation mit Enterprise Architectures auf. Folglich ist das Ziel der weiteren Forschung die Entwicklung eines Architekturrahmenwerks für E-Partizipation. Die vorliegende Dissertation führt die Ergebnisse der Literaturstudien und Aktionsforschung zusammen und wendet dementsprechend Konstruktionsforschung (Design Science Research) bei der Entwicklung des E-Participation Architecture Framework (EPART-Framework) an. Die initiale Version dieses Rahmenwerks wird in zwei unterschiedlichen Umgebungen angewandt und getestet. Die Erkenntnisse führen zu dem EPART-Framework, das in dieser Dissertation vorgestellt wird. Es besteht aus dem EPART-Metamodel, das E Partizipation aus sechs verschiedenen Perspektiven unterschiedlicher Akteure (den sog. EPART-Viewpoints) betrachtet. Die EPART-Method unterstützt den Entwurf und die Umsetzung von E-Partizipation mit Hilfe des EPART-Frameworks. Sie beschreibt fünf, durch Anforderungsmanagement begleitete, Phasen: Initiierung, Entwurf, Umsetzung, Partizipation und Evaluation. Die Ergebnisse während diesen Phasen werden in der Architekturbeschreibung (Architecture Description) und dem Solution Repository gespeichert. Das finale EPART-Framework wird im Rahmen der Arbeit evaluiert, um Empfehlungen für die Anwendung sowie weiteren Forschungsbedarf aufzuzeigen. Die Ergebnisse geben Grund zur Annahme, dass das EPART-Framework die Lücke zwischen E-Partizipation und Enterprise Architectures füllt und Forschung und Praxis in dem Feld wertvoll ergänzt.
Increasing pressure mandated by different government policies, for developing sustainable chemical processes for the synthesis of optically pure compounds, has resulted in increased considerations of biocatalysis as a viable option by many industries. Biocatalysis, with its exquisite selective properties and potential 'green' attributes, presents it as a sustainable alternative. Today, the role of biocatalysis is most evident in the pharmaceutical industry and is currently extending towards fine and bulk chemical production as well. The use of hydrolytic enzymes (lipases) is well established in several chemical industries, though certain challenges persist in other types of enzymes (transferases and ketoreductases), thus limiting their implementation in industry. Inhibition by substrate and product as well as low aqueous solubility of substrates has constrained the full potential of these enzymes to be harnessed. Porous resins as opposed to other auxiliary phases, for example organic solvents, are nonbioavailable, biocompatible and offer simpler operational handling (no foaming and emulsification). This strategy has been applied effectively to single substrate – single product systems (oxidation, V microbial degradation and hydrolysis). However, this concept has not been extended to other industrially relevant reactions which are two substrate – two product systems. In this thesis, a methodological framework has been successfully developed to aid in implementing the strategy of integrating porous resins for multi-component systems. In this manner, a generic platform has been established for biocatalytic reactions that require the integration of this strategy. The framework identifies the key information about the reaction and the process using a step-wise protocol with the required tools. It includes the use of kinetic modelling in characterizing the reaction kinetics, a heuristic approach for screening resins and a model based approach for evaluating the process. Greater knowledge about the enzymatic processes with integrated porous resins can therefore be gained and thus the efficiency of process development with respect to time and resources required (reduced number of experiments) could be increased. Estimating kinetic model parameters for enzymatic reactions is quite complex and frequently leads to identifiability issues. In order to understand the different techniques to estimate the parameters, a number of concepts are discussed in chapter four of this thesis. This knowledge has contributed to the development of a robust methodology for the estimation of kinetic model parameters for biocatalytic reactions, which has also been published in a peer reviewed journal. Screening resins for moderately hydrophobic multi-component systems is challenging. Often it is found that the capacity of the resin is inversely related with product selectivity. Therefore a tradeoff has to be made between these parameters which can be crucial from an economic point of view. A low resin capacity points towards the need for higher resin loading, which in turn determines the equilibrium concentration of the substrate in the reactor and the type of reactor that can be used (stirred tank reactor or packed bed reactor). Similarly low product selectivity would result in higher product concentration in the reactor and thus not aid in alleviating inhibition. Further considerationsProcess modelling is a very effective tool in evaluating a process. Critical information about the process can be gained by means of simulations, which can further be re-used to tune the reaction or process conditions to harness the full potential of the enzyme. State-of-the-art mathematical techniques for model quality evaluation, such as uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, have been included in this analysis in order to identify the key model parameters for better understanding of the process. Three case studies were used to illustrate the applicability of the methodology to fulfil different objective requirements. The case studies were selected for not only being industrially relevant but as well as having certain limitations which contributed in developing the tools and strategies to overcome them. The asymmetric synthesis of 1-phenylethylamine using Ȧ-transaminse, the asymmetric synthesis of 1-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine using Ȧ-transaminse and enantioselective synthesis of 2-octanol using alcohol dehydrogenase were selected. VI of resin stability and cost also have to be taken into account in the screening procedure. The screening therefore becomes a multi-objective task that has to be solved simultaneously. Such an approach has been applied in the method formulated in this framework. To overcome these challenges, different process strategies are required to obtain high yields. A number of different challenges and proposed solutions are discussed in chapter one of this thesis and have also been published as a review. In recent years, integrating porous resins as an auxiliary phase in enzymatic processes, to non-selectively bind the substrate and product as a means to alleviate substrate and product inhibition, has gained considerable recognition. The resins act as a reservoir for the inhibitory substrate and a sink for the inhibitory product and simultaneously attain the required high substrate loading to make the process economically feasible. In this way the potential benefit of the enzyme can be exploited.
There is no doubt now that energy is fundamental to our development. Global energy trends such as higher energy demand and prices, big differences across regions, structural changes in an oil and gas industry increasingly dominated by national companies, the prospect of irreversible climate change, as well as demand for energy security all highlight the need for a rapid transition to a low-carbon, efficient and environmentally benign energy system. The search for energy alternatives involving locally available and renewable resources is one of the main concerns of governments, scientists and business people worldwide. As researchers tackle problems according to global trends, an overwhelming body of research focusing on bioenergy in relation to other types of renewable energy might illustrate the role bioenergy has as the most important renewable energy source for the near and medium-term future. Thus, analyzing the amount of existing research, we found that about 50% (4,911 records) of 9,724 renewable energy records available were bioenergy records. We also found that publications on each of the four main sources of biomass (agriculture, forest, waste and other) represent about one quarter of the 4,911 bioenergy records retrieved. Biomass – the fourth largest energy source after coal, oil and natural gas - is the largest and most important renewable energy option at present and can be used to produce different forms of energy. As a result, it is, together with the other renewable energy options, capable of providing all the energy services required in a modern society, both locally and in most parts of the world. Renewability and versatility are, among many other aspects, important advantages of biomass as an energy source. Moreover, compared to other renewables, biomass resources are common and widespread across the globe. The sustainability potential of global biomass for energy is widely recognized. For example, the annual global primary production of biomass is equivalent to the 4,500 EJ of solar energy captured each year. About 5% of this energy, or 225 EJ, should cover almost 50% of the world's total primary energy demand at present. These 225 EJ are in line with other estimates which assume a sustainable annual bioenergy market of 270 EJ. However, the 50 EJ biomass contributed to global primary energy demand of 470 EJ in 2007, mainly in the form of traditional non-commercial biomass, is only 10% of the global primary energy demand. The potential for energy from biomass depends in part on land availability. Currently, the amount of land devoted to growing energy crops for biomass fuels is only 0.19% of the world's total land area and only 0.5-1.7% of global agricultural land. Although the large potential of algae as a resource of biomass for energy is not taken into consideration in this report, there are results that demonstrate that algae can, in principle, be used as a renewable energy source. From all of these perspectives, the evidence gathered by the report leads to a simple conclusion: Biomass potential for energy production is promising. In most cases, shifting the energy mix from fossil fuels to renewables can now be done using existing technology. Investors in many cases have a reasonably short pay-back because of good availability of lowcost biomass fuels. The latter is of course dependant on local incentives, however. Overall, the future of bioenergy is also to a large extent determined by policy. Thus, an annual bioenergy supply covering global energy demand in 2050, superseding 1,000 EJ, should be possible with sufficient political support. Global production of biomass and biofuel is growing rapidly due to the increasing price of fossil fuels, growing environmental concerns, and considerations regarding the security and diversification of energy supply. There are many scenarios that predict a high potential for biomass in the future. There have also been many studies performed in recent decades to estimate the future demand and supply of bioenergy. Overall, the world's bioenergy potential seems to be large enough to meet the global energy demand in 2050. The current stock of standing forest is a large reservoir of bioenergy and in line with the theoretical potential of biomass energy. However, most of the research studies on biomass potentials ignore existing studies on demand and supply of wood, despite the extensive literature and data on the subject. Taking into account data from a variety of international sources, rough estimates of the energy production potential of woody biomass from forestry show that, in theory, the demand for wood fuel and industrial roundwood in 2050 can be met, without further deforestation, although regional shortages may occur. However, the shift in the energy mix requires much more investment in infrastructure, equipment and in some cases R&D. Moreover, a prerequisite for achieving bioenergy's substantially high potential in all regions is replacing current inefficient and low-intensive management systems with best practices and technologies.
Despite the substantial transformative impact wars have on people's lives, the social and institutional consequences of war remain the least understood. This dissertation adds to a sparse, but growing body of literature on the micro-level consequences of war and advances our understanding of its societal legacy by analyzing how war influences individual attitudes in post-war societies. It contributes to the study of peace and conflict by drawing attention to the micro level and exploring how both interstate and internal wars may shape individual attitudes relevant for building long-lasting peace. Further, it expands the general literature on political science on the determinants of social and political attitudes and behavior by exploring the hitherto largely ignored impact of war on such attitudes. The impact of war on individual attitudes is analyzed empirically in three chapters. Chapter 2 (co-authored with Markus Freitag) scrutinizes the impact of individual and contextual war exposure on social trust in post-war Kosovo. Drawing from the psychological literature on war-related distress and posttraumatic growth, this study is motivated by the question whether the consequences of war for social attitudes always are negative, or whether war also can contribute to growth in social trust. Combining both individual and municipal data on war exposure in a multilevel framework, it further explores which of these types of war exposure have the strongest impact on individual attitudes. The findings of this chapter indicate that individual war experience has had a consistent, negative impact on social trust more than 10 years after the end of the war. The effect of municipal war exposure is not robust and is sensitive to the exclusion of specific municipalities. The second study in Chapter 3 takes a step back and examines the long-term impact of war exposure by studying the role that experiences during World War II have on people's level of satisfaction with life in a comparative study of 34 countries. Motivated by the findings from related academic disciplines on the intergenerational transmission of the consequences of trauma exposure, this chapter not only scrutinizes the effect of war on directly affected individuals but also analyzes how family members' experiences with war affect the well-being of members of the subsequent generations. The empirical findings are twofold. First, injury to oneself or injury or death of parents or grandparents has a lasting negative influence on individuals' level of life satisfaction more than sixty years after the end of the war. This effect is remarkably robust and suggests that war experiences or their consequences become transmitted to subsequent generations. Second, the effect of war experiences is stronger for older respondents. Individuals reporting experiences from World War II are thereby less likely to experience the general upward trend in life satisfaction with age. Trying to understand the possible mechanisms through which the transmission of war experiences takes place, the study finds that war exposure is significantly related to lower self-reported health and a lower paternal level of education among relevant age cohorts. Finally, Chapter 4 (co-authored with Carolin Rapp) analyzes in detail how war affects political tolerance of the Sinhalese and Tamil populations toward each in post-war Sri Lanka. Using unique, all-island survey data collected after the 26-year-long civil war the chapter devotes special attention to the mechanism that may drive the relationship between war and individual attitudes. With structural equation modeling techniques, the chapter closely studies the role played by intergroup forgiveness and ethnic prejudice in the relationship between war experience and granting civil liberties. The analyses reveal that the likelihood to grant civil liberties in both ethnic groups depends on the civil liberty in question. Whereas a majority from both ethnic groups are willing to grant the right to vote, hold a speech, and to hold a government position, the right to demonstrate is highly contested and is only granted to the other group by very low shares of both ethnic groups. Further, the empirical findings show that the direct impact of war experience is less powerful than expected and, again, depends on the right in question. Instead, not being willing to forgive the other group, driven by war experience and ethnic prejudice, is a more consistent predictor of intolerance. These studies together imply that wars may have lasting, negative societal consequences. The effect may stretch across generations and have important implications for post-war peacebuilding and recovery policies. The finding that the impact of war on individual attitudes is not necessarily a direct result of war exposure but is driven by psychological responses to such events, in this case, the willingness to forgive, suggests that there are ways in which societies can promote positive social attitudes by focusing on the mechanisms at work. Further research on the mechanisms at work is needed to develop the most efficient policies for peaceful intergroup relations and thereby lasting peace.
Better market linkages and higher farm benefits for smallholder farmers in emerging and developing economies have received remarkable attention worldwide (Minot and Roy, 2007; Kumar et al., 2011). In this regard, contract farming (CF) is proposed as a better solution to the fact that smallholders are otherwise potentially dropped out of the modern marketing channels because of small-scale production and farmers from emerging and developing countries are to earn more farm benefit by getting closely linked to modern, in many cases global food value chains markets (Bacon, 2005; Mangala and Chengappa, 2008; Minten et al., 2009; Rao et al., 2012; Jia and Bijman, 2013). Furthermore it is expected that the challenges of a sharply increasing world population, the overuse of natural resources, and the reduction of overall agricultural land size can be met by contracting smallholder farmers (Sartorius, 2013). However, the circumstances of farmers' decision in contracting and its influences on farm performances have remained uncertain so far for many specific countries and products (Rao et al., 2012). Among the major rice farming countries in Southeast Asia, i.e. Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and Thailand, Vietnam is characterized by very favorable natural and social conditions for irrigated rice production in bulk. Irrigated rice production in the country is based on high soil quality, tropical monsoon weather, numerous water-flows and a large share of the population working in the agricultural sector (more than 66%) (Ya'kub et al., 2012). However, low quality and a lack of professionalism are dramatic problems of the Vietnamese rice export sector (Reardon et al., 2014). Vietnam is still known as a low-quality rice supplier; as a result the Vietnamese rice price is 20% to 30% lower than the Thai rice price (Kubo, 2013). The Vietnamese rice has also lately entered the world export market while the prices were already steadily declining (Nielsen, 2003; Dechachete, 2011; Ramberg, 2011). Currently, the Vietnamese rice sector is characterized by a lack of information with short technical assistances, and low input qualities. It is assumed that there is still a large potential to increase the ability of smallholders to improve production and increase rice yields, overcome existing market barriers, access export markets and increase farm benefits and improve the livelihood of farmers' families. By further promoting the CF scheme in 2002, the Vietnamese government proposed a better frame for the agricultural sector, especially, for the rice sector in the country (Kompas, 2002; Hoang and Yabe, 2012; Vu, 2012). By farmers' participation in the CF scheme, the production of high-quality products due to improved farmer training and better quality of input factors is a possible solution for Vietnamese rice to more successfully compete on the world market (Dawe, 2004). Furthermore, farmers can expect a price differential due to improved quality and competitiveness. Thus, this scheme is assumed to support smallholders to increase farm benefits. In addition, the CF scheme has been implemented to improve farmers' bargaining power and to create an official ground for smallholders to directly deal with private sectors in the Vietnamese economy. In terms of firm benefits, these decisions also clarify the government's efforts to support the private sector in supplying agricultural inputs to farmers such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, credit, and extension services (Ya'kub et al., 2012). Furthermore, this step is also an important procedure to secure national food demand, improve international competitiveness, and upgrade the position of export-oriented rice farmers (Goletti et al., 1997; ADB, 2005). However, in terms of empirical research, up to this date, there are only very few studies that explore the benefits of CF for exporters of rice farmers in Vietnam, especially with regard to the Mekong River Delta (MRD) where about 90% of the national export rice quantity is produced (Loc and Son, 2011). Therefore, there is a lack of in-depth quantitative studies analyzing the effects of CF participation with regard to farmers' marketing decisions, farm performance and technical efficiency, especially, in the export-oriented rice production segment. Against this background it is the objective of this dissertation to close this research gap by providing a better understanding of farmers' decision making with regard to the CF scheme and providing more in-depth insights into the effects of contract farming on efficiency and farm performance. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the New Institutional Economics perspective proposed by Coase (1937) and Williamson (1975). The underlying ideas about the contract concept explained in the following basically refer back to the three major sub-strands, i.e. agency theory (Ross, 1973), transaction cost theory (Benjamin et al., 1978; Williamson, 1979), and property rights theory (Alchian and Demsetz, 1973; Grossman and Hart, 1986). Thereof, the transaction cost theory is particularly suitable for this study since it describes "uncertainty" as a main dimension (together with "asset specificity" and "frequency") influencing the appropriateness of governance mechanisms in (food) supply chains (Williamson, 1979). The market imperfections due to a lack of information, a limited accessibility of inputs, and a shortage of technical assistance all contribute to "uncertainty" and are related to the research topic and objective of this study. In spite of increasing pressure to deliver high quality export products at competitive prices to enter the up-market domestic and global value chains, the CF scheme still faces some constraints in emerging and developing economies. This can be explained by reference to the poor coordination among parties, unfavorable contracts, and specified socio-demographic characteristics (Da Silva, 2005; Simmons et al., 2005; Hongdong, 2007; Wang et al., 2014). Nonetheless, these aspects have only been poorly analyzed so far and are not well understood, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. This dissertation seeks to overcome this weakness by building up the conceptual framework and empirical methodology to capture these aspects of the export-oriented rice sector in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. We address these research objectives by using primary data collected in early 2016 in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) of Vietnam, where nearly 90% of the country's export rice is produced. The target population of 250.000 households lives in the three main export-oriented rice production regions namely Kien Giang, Can Tho, and An Giang provinces, in the MRD (USDA, 2015). Using a structured questionnaire, 250 households were randomly chosen from the aforementioned provinces. To thereby ensure the comparability of contract and non-contract farmers, we randomly selected 134 contract farmers from contractor lists and 116 non-contract farmers from village official lists of 12 villages. The surveyed households had to meet two criteria: Firstly, they had to be located in the same area as the contract participants, and secondly, they also had to produce export-oriented rice. These selected farmers cumulate rice under written contracts. The contracting company is in charge of specifying the production practices, including input supply (seeds, fertilizer, pesticides), extension services, and the commitment of buying the products (Simmons et al., 2005; Bijman, 2008). In this study, the export-oriented rice farmers were interviewed regarding the information about three types of export-oriented rice producing seasons between November 2014 and October 2015. In the first paper, we explore the factors that determine smallholder farmers' probability in developing and emerging economies to participate in CF scheme. We particularly focus on the accessibility of market information. A binary probit model is applied to examine the probability to participate in the CF scheme. We follow Heckman's (1979) method to compare the probit results with the maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) in order to control any sample selection bias (Wynand and Bernard, 1981). Results reveal that farmers' contracting decisions are strongly affected by farm characteristics, market information access, and household characteristics. Remarkably, the accessibility of world market price information significantly increases smallholders' likelihood to participate in CF. Moreover, the extension service offered by the contractors is considered to be an important motivator for rice smallholders to participate in CF. The availability of price information should be taken into account by the government to motivate the active participation of smallholders in contractual arrangements. The second paper provides the evidence about how the CF scheme influences household income and rice profit within the export-oriented rice sector in Vietnam. We employ the Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) estimation in combination with propensity score matching (PSM) procedure to control any sampling bias. The result confirms a positive effect of contract participation status on farming households' performance. Particularly, together with "farming size" and "the accessibility of extension services", "the accessibility of world price information" is found as a positive determinant. Moreover, CF participation is considered to be an important influencer for rice smallholders to increase their income and rice profit. In addition, it becomes evident that not only larger-scale farmers but also small-scale farmers can benefit from contract participation. In this connection, the OLS regression in combination with PSM gives noticeable evidence for the role of CF in improving household income of smallholders by 20.87% and rice profit by 30.54% in Vietnam. In the third paper, we investigate how CF improves the technical efficiency of farming and the technical inefficiency determinants of export-oriented rice production in the country. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) is applied to measure the production frontier and the farming technical inefficiency determinants, and PSM is again applied to control for self-selection bias. The results show that the average technical efficiency is of 87.33% with a range between 56.48% and 96.47%. The results suggest convincible opportunities for farmers to increase the productivity of export-oriented rice production in the country by nearly 13% without raising the current resource levels. Land, seed, fertilizer, machine, and labor are identified as the major inputs of the production frontier. Moreover, the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample also slightly influence the TE of rice farming, however their influence is non-significant. Based on the findings, "educational level", "rice farming experience" and "off-farm income" are found as determinants positively influencing rice farming TE. In contrast, there is a low negative effect of credit accessibility. In addition, CF participation is considered to have an influence (even though not a significant one) for rice smallholders to increase their farm TE. In this connection, contract participation could support not only larger-scale farmers but also small-scale farmers from developing and emerging economies in improving their production patterns.
