Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the European Regions for Innovative Productivity project that established Innovative Productivity Centres (IPCs) to assist SMEs in the North Sea Region of Europe to develop a process improvement capability. A conceptual framework explains how a process improvement methodology developed for large firms was adapted and shaped to meet the needs of SMEs.Design/methodology/approachA comparative case study of 23 SMEs within six European countries. A protocol was developed to collect financial and operational data. This was supplemented by observations, secondary data and field notes. An established research model was used to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the process improvement interventions.FindingsThe intervention context and structure of the IPCs varied by country which shaped process improvement interventions at two levels: the country and the firm. During diffusion three process improvement variants emerged that were tailored to fit the local context. Developing a process improvement capability depended upon the availability of company resources, establishing KPIs and change agent support.Originality/valueThe research contributes to knowledge and theory on diffusion and institutionalization by examining how SMEs responded to institutional pressures by implementing process improvement practices in different ways. Heterogeneity of both the IPCs and the external change agents were the drivers in shaping the improvement practices.

Asia, where most of the countries do not currently have emission reduction obligations, is an important region to address climate change issues because of its large GHG emissions. The total emissions of eight key Asian countries (Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and India) represent 44% of the world emissions. Thus, regimes in these countries addressing climate change, if successful, would make significant progress towards climate mitigation.

CONSIDERS THE SPECIFIC ROLES OF FRANCE, GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN, AND WEST GERMANY IN THE ARMS RACE. DISCUSSES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INCREASE IN OIL PRICES AND THE GROWING PROLIFERATION. ANALYZES OPTIONS FOR PERIPHERAL COUNTRIES TO INITIATE THEIR OWN ARMS INDUSTRY WITH REFERENCE TO TECHNOLOGICAL DEPENDANCE AND DEVELOPMENTAL CONSEQUENCES. REVIEWS TENDENCIES OF MILITARISATION IN PERIPHERAL NATIONS.

Using new scaling methods and a comprehensive public opinion dataset, we develop the first survey-based time-series–cross-sectional measures of policy ideology in European mass publics. Our dataset covers 27 countries and 36 years and contains nearly 2.7 million survey responses to 109 unique issue questions. Estimating an ordinal group-level IRT model in each of four issue domains, we obtain biennial estimates of the absolute economic conservatism, relative economic conservatism, social conservatism, and immigration conservatism of men and women in three age categories in each country. Aggregating the group-level estimates yields estimates of the average conservatism in national publics in each biennium between 1981–82 and 2015–16. The four measures exhibit contrasting cross-sectional cleavages and distinct temporal dynamics, illustrating the multidimensionality of mass ideology in Europe. Subjecting our measures to a series of validation tests, we show that the constructs they measure are distinct and substantively important and that they perform as well as or better than one-dimensional proxies for mass conservatism (left–right self-placement and median voter scores). We foresee many uses for these scores by scholars of public opinion, electoral behavior, representation, and policy feedback.

This paper studies fiscal policy effects in developing countries with external debt and sovereign default risks. State-dependent distributions of fiscal limits are simulated based on macroeconomic uncertainty and fiscal policy specifications. The analysis shows that expected future revenue plays an important role in the low fiscal limits of developing countries, relative to those of developed countries. External debt carries additional risks since large devaluation of the real exchange rate can suddenly raise default probabilities. Consistent with majority views, fiscal consolidations are coun

Civil procedure is a key element of any system of private law. Nevertheless in the European Union harmonisation of private law is dominated by directives concerning substantive rules while coordination of national procedural standards is lacking. Therefore significant differences in direct and indirect costs of judicial remedies remain throughout the internal market and are weakening the four freedoms. Because an escape to private arbitration is unwanted the projects to harmonise procedural standards in the field of private law should be pushed forward. Conventions on international rules of civil procedure, fragmented pieces of procedural 'directification' and the smoothening of technical problems is not enough. European Principles of Civil Procedure should be prepared as an option for individuals, courts and legislators and should in the first line be applied by a future European Union Court specialised in private law matters.

La presente tesi ha ad oggetto il tema dei canali regolari e sicuri di accesso al territorio dell'Unione Europea per migranti e richiedenti asilo. L'obiettivo è valutare se e in che misura l'Unione Europea si stia conformando ai principi di diritto internazionale dei rifugiati e dei diritti umani, e agli standard di governance delle migrazioni che si vanno affermando a livello globale, in particolare in seguito all'adozione della Dichiarazione di New York su migranti e rifugiati e dei due rispettivi Global Compact. La prima parte prende in esame la graduale affermazione di regole di condotta e obiettivi comuni di governance migratoria, derivanti dall'interazione fra strumenti giuridici e strumenti di policy, tanto a livello globale, quanto a livello regionale. La seconda parte mira a ricostruire il quadro dei canali regolari di ingresso esistenti, con l'obiettivo di valutare se l'Unione Europea sia effettivamente capace di veicolare prassi virtuose in questo settore, consentendo l'ammissione e l'integrazione sul proprio territorio di migranti e richiedenti asilo in una prospettiva di lungo periodo. In quest'ottica viene presa in considerazione anche la dimensione esterna della politica migratoria, al fine di capire se nella cooperazione con i paesi terzi di origine e transito dei flussi l'Unione e i suoi stati membri perseguano una mera esternalizzazione delle frontiere – e dunque delle responsabilità – ad ogni costo, o se, al contrario, tale politica sia accompagnata dalla volontà di incentivare l'effettiva apertura di canali regolari e sicuri di ingresso. The present research addresses the issue of safe and regular access to the territory of the European Union, with the aim to evaluate whether and to what extent such regional organization adheres to the principles of international refugee and human rights law and to the standards on migration governance emerging at global level, in particular with the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and of the two UN Global Compacts. The first part focuses on the gradual affirmation of common rules of conduct and goals governing migration management, as a result of the adoption and interaction of legal and policy instruments, both at regional and international level. The second part aims to reconstruct the existing framework of legal channels for the admission and stay of third-country nationals on the territory of the European Union, with the aim to evaluate whether the European Union is effectively able to foster best practices at regional level in this area, enabling the admission and integration on a long-term basis of migrants and asylum seekers. In this view it is also evaluated whether in the cooperation with third countries the EU and its Member States merely pursue the externalization of migration control and responsibilities at any cost, or whether their external policy is also aimed to incentivize the effective opening of regular migration routes.