Suchergebnisse

The aim of this paper is to review the European Monetary Union's history and development and to describe its advantages and disadvantages. I chose this topic because the EMU is one of the highest levels of integration forms and still unique in history. The member states adopted a single currency, the Euro, a single monetary policy, and coordinated their macroeconomic policies. Due to this high integration, the Euro may yet become a rival for the U.S. dollar. The size of the EMU's geographical area is vast and still expanding. As it spreads, the Euro becomes a more and more relevant currency for international trade, causing a big change in the world's economy. Aside from projecting the Euro's spread, I analyze the special convergence criteria that must be observed by its member states, demonstrating why these criteria are inadequate and why they are so difficult to observe for some countries. It is important to understand the issues facing the Euro and the countries that use or are considering using it as more and more economists discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the European Monetary Union. Many arguments exist for the EMU and many exist against it. Since Hungary, my home country is an EU member state and we intend to join the EMU--although the accession date was postponed several times because our economic indicators did not meet the criteria of the EMU--it is important for us to be knowledgeable about the current situation. Keywords: European Monetary Union, currency, monetary policy

After discussing determinants and principles of Japan's foreign policy, the article examines its relations with Latin America, Japanese investment and trade with Latin American countries, and Japanese migration and aid to the region. Japan's special interest in Brazil, Mexico and Panama is scrutinized

An influential paper by Caughey and Sekhon (2011a) suggests that the outcomes of very close US House elections in the postwar era may not be as-if random, thus calling into question this application of regression discontinuity for causal inference. We show that while incumbent party candidates are more likely to win close House elections, those who win are no different on observable characteristics from those who lose. Further, all differences in observable characteristics between barely winning Democrats and barely winning Republicans vanish conditional on which party is the incumbent. Any source of a special incumbent party advantage in close elections must be due to variables that cannot be observed. This finding supports the conclusion of Eggers et al. (2015) that Caughey and Sekhon's discovery of lopsided wins by incumbents in close races is a mere statistical fluke.

PurposeHaving a short throughput time for innovation projects, i.e. lead-time, can put firms in an advantageous position. The time that lapses between a project's start and its completion, is influenced not only by the firm's internal capabilities but also by how the firm connects to external knowledge. This paper assesses the relation between knowledge sourcing and lead-time advantage.Design/methodology/approachThis paper empirically tests the relation between external knowledge sourcing and lead-time advantage based on firm level Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data.FindingsI find that breadth and depth of the external knowledge sourcing are positively relating to lead-time advantage, albeit with diminishing returns. Investment into absorptive capacity, i.e. internal R&D, mitigates the diminishing of returns. Firms directing their external knowledge sourcing strategy toward consumers, suppliers and science are better able to capitalize on their innovations through lead-time advantages and firms also benefit from the special case of collaboration for product development.Originality/valueThe conceptual novelty of this research largely consists in empirically bringing together for the first time conceptualizations of external knowledge sourcing and the strategic use of lead-time. Given the prevalence of both concepts in the modern and fast changing economy, investigating this link is of great importance.

"The paper examines the comparative advantage of Uganda's exports to the East African Community (EAC) partner states, and how it has evolved during the implementation of the EAC treaty. In addition, the paper seeks to identify commodities that Uganda should specialize in as a basis to enhance the ability to benefit from the special preferential treatment extended to Uganda by China. The paper applies various indices in the measurement of Uganda's Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) on all products at Harmonised System (HS4)-digit product levels. The HS4-digit product level data was obtained from World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) UNCTAD COMTRADE database." -- Abstract

This study aims to determine and analyze the application of financial report and taxation training for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as any constraints faced ahead. This study observed 25 MSMEs in Special Region of Yogyakarta using a convenience sampling method. The data used are primary data obtained through interviews and focus group discussions. This research used qualitative analysis techniques. The result shows that MSMEs did not keep records because it was difficult and inconvenient. It also found that MSMEs have a tax ID number (NPWP) but did not pay and report their taxes. Tax is perceived as an expense which results in a reduced profit. However, financial reports and knowledge of taxation are required when applying for bank loans and obtaining government incentive funds. With training in the preparation of financial and tax reports, MSMEs are aware of the importance of financial and tax reports. Financial reports, NPWP, and tax return (SPT) filling are factors that can improve their business performance.

Organizational innovation is now widely seen to be a major source of competitive advantage for firms, along with product and process innovation. One of the major intellectual sources for the current organizational upheavals, in which firms strive for some form of "international best practice," is the sociotechnical systems tradition, which traces its roots back to innovations such as semi-autonomous work teams in manufacturing in the 1960s, associated with the work of the Tavistock Institute. An international Colloquium was staged in Melbourne, Australia, in May 1995, to explore the current relevance and contribution of STS ideas to organizational innovation.

Organizational innovation is now widely seen to be a major source of competitive advantage for firms, along with product and process innovation. One of the major intellectual sources for the current organizational upheavals, in which firms strive for some form of "international best practice," is the sociotechnical systems tradition, which traces its roots back to innovations such as semi-autonomous work teams in manufacturing in the 1960s, associated with the work of the Tavistock Institute. An international Colloquium was staged in Melbourne, Australia, in May 1995, to explore the current relevance and contribution of STS ideas to organizational innovation.

Proceeding of: Intelligent Data Engineering and Automated Learning, IDEAL 2009, 10th International Conference, Burgos, Spain, September, 23-26th, 2009. ; Opponent modeling is a skill in multi-agent systems (MAS) which attempts to create a model of the behavior of the opponent. This model can be used to predict the future actions of the opponent and generate appropriate strategies to play against it. Several researches present different methods to create an opponent model in the RoboCup environment. However, how these models can impact the performance of teams is an essential aspect. This paper introduces a novel approach to use efficiently opponent models in order to improve our own team behavior. The basis of this approach is the research done by CAOS Coach Team for modeling and recognizing behaviors evaluated in the RoboCup Coach Competition 2006. For using these models, it is necessary a special agent (coach) which can model the observed opponent team (based on the previous research) and communicate a counter-strategy to the coached players (using the approach proposed in this paper). The evaluation of this approach is a hard problem, but we have conducted several experiments that can help us to know if we are going in a promising direction. ; This work has been supported by the Spanish Government under project TRA2007-67374-C02-02. ; Publicado

The Tweed Family Papers consists primarily of correspondence between Mrs. Richard Tweed and her children, relatives, and friends. Diaries, essays and poetry written by family members, newspaper clippings (photocopies), and financial and legal material are also included, as are a handful of photographs. All related primarily to the life of Mrs. Richard Tweed and her descendants. ; Mrs. Richard Tweed, upon whom the majority of the materials focus, was the sister-in-law of William Marcy ("Boss") Tweed, who controlled the Democratic political machine at New York City's Tammany Hall during the mid-19th century. He and his associates misappropriated public funds on a large scale, leading to his arrest and imprisonment in 1871. ; The Tweed Family Papers are organized by the following categories: Correspondence, Newspapers, Literary Production, Photographs, Financial Material, Printed Material, Scrapbook Material, Legal Material, and Artifacts. ; Tweed Family Papers, 1836-1932 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas ; Box 1, File 14

American political theorists have long assumed that the various governmental units composing the United States act only in accordance with the powers bestowed upon them by constitutions and conforming laws of their respective jurisdictions. But in recent years they have received an electric shock through the development of "government by special consent." Basically, the new principle means that a supervisory authority can in reality exercise rights over persons and property not brought under its wing by the constitution under which it operates—provided certain public agencies or private parties agree to the extension. This practice, which has not yet received philosophical treatment, has enabled the several governments of the Union to conquer new worlds without resorting to the long, difficult, and unwieldy process of constitutional amendment. The novel method of transfer by agreement is both rapid and flexible. But why, one is led to inquire, do independent bodies surrender portions of their "sovereignty" to other groups? Certainly not through mere altruism. They do it "for value received," be it financial aid, convenience, advertising advantages, or other rewards. In all ages, from biblical days to the latest moment, birthrights have been sold for "pottage."Financial pottage needs no introduction to most American observers. They are well aware that various states in the Union, for example, have agreed to accept national control over their internal roads, educational affairs, forestry, agriculture, and other matters in exchange for monetary assistance from the federal government. Such transfers of authority for cash are of mutual benefit.

A constitution is a set of rules written by current political actors designed to bind future political actors. As fundamental law, it stipulates basic rights and duties, defines collective goals, establishes institutions and procedures, and makes claims regarding both identity and allegiance. In their effort to control the future, constitutional founders usually include special provisions regarding change. Alterations to the fundamental law are more difficult to accomplish than alterations to more ordinary laws. Founders often require super-majorities, even special, repetitive, or con-current super-majorities, as a condition for amendment. In this sense, even democratic constitutions impose conscious constraints on the exercise of democratic will. The intention is to limit the pace of adaptation and also to bias the pattern of outcomes.

Differentiation is a way for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage or achieving a market position which enables companies to satisfy customers' needs better than the competition. Differentiation can manifest itself through four dimensions: product, services, personnel and image. Nature parks, national parks, strict reserves and special reserves are categories of protected areas of national importance. Nature parks and national parks have exceptional potential for visiting system development, but are also responsible for the management of these activities. There are numerous nature protection restrictions arising from legislation and management documents. The principal task is to protect and preserve the natural and landscape values and ecological characteristics. Creating and realizing visiting activities as a part of tourist services supplied trough Public institutions are also specific. These services must be differentiated on the market in relation to the competition. Income generated from tourist services in the income structure of nature parks, will be even more important in the future, because of self-financing development and central budget dependency reduction. It must be emphasized that nature parks help the larger community through development of complementary economic activities. This paper is based on market research conducted in the period from 16 May to 10 June 2016 in Nature Park Kopački rit, which is one of the most visited nature parks in the Republic of Croatia. A poll survey was carried out among 300 randomly selected visitors. The research results may be used for policy suggestions for how to create adequate products, services and promotional activities, ensure quality education for visitors about natural, historical and cultural protected area values and minimize visitors' impact on natural resources.