Suchergebnisse

Introduction. For over two decades, Russian education has been in a state of permanent reform. Due to the long and unproductive nature of the modernisation process, researchers are paying special attention to systemic factors, noting that system optimisation processes are structured primarily around organisational and technological models derived from industry. The prevalence of the technological component over the axiological results in the consolidation of a pragmatic, narrowly functional, technocratic vector of education development. To overcome this situation and to break this deadlock, a profound reconsideration of the values underlying mechanisms of reform is required, taking into account multifaceted personal, social, national and universal relations, as well as unity of content, forms and means of education. The aims of the research were identified as follows: to analyse the current trends of modernisation in comprehensive schools and higher educational establishments; to justify humanistic mechanisms for improving the modernisation in the context of language education, which performs personally developing and socialising functions under ideological pluralism and opposition of value systems. Methodology and research methods. The research was conducted taking a person-activity-based approach, referring to cultural-historical concepts, ideas of philosophical hermeneutics and traditional principles of pedagogical methodology. The theoretical framework was based on the publications and philosophical foundations of Russian and foreign scholars, who define the key role of humanistic principles and value orientations in education. The following standard research methods were used: comparison, induction, deduction, abstraction, synthesis, specification, structural and logical modelling, content analysis of documents and scientific publications on the stated problem, observation, questioning, peer review and experiment. In addition, non-standard methods and research techniques such as metaphorical modelling, biographical method and interpretational techniques were used. Results and scientific novelty. Modernisation processes in Russian education were considered: regulatory base, purposes, priorities, problems and prospects. The following thesis was proposed: at the new stage of socio-historical transformation, it is necessary to overcome the negative effects of long-term practice in the reform of the national educational system through developing established traditions as well as updating the humanistic potential of education and ensuring its axiological enrichment. The authors consider pedagogical hermeneutics as a potentially productive means and methodological tool. Pedagogical hermeneutics implies a heuristic and poly-variable apperception of reality through education in order to understand and interpret different genres of cultural texts, providing simultaneous support both to the general public and to the individual, on the basis of rational and emotionally intelligent experience accumulated in science, religion, art, language and national traditions – i.e. culture as a whole. It was shown that language education based on principles of pedagogical hermeneutics is capable of establishing humanistic mechanisms of personactivity-based social norms and cultural models. The authors presented a number of modelling options for the realisation of the proposed hermeneutical approach: various experimentally-validated techniques, educational approaches and procedures designed by teacher-researchers were briefly described, focusing on the achievement of qualitative conformance of educational results to the humanistic appeals and urgent needs of society.Practical significance. The use of hermeneutical techniques as educational tools and procedures allows us to decode semiotic information of curricula subjects; in addition, when using meta-language, it is possible to expand the content by adding personal value-sense and dialogical subjectivity, as well as to transform it into a personal sign-symbol or behavioural template. The acquisition of language experience in the process of humanistic-centred education increases the immunity of a student to various manifestations of character defectivity, strengthening identity and resistance to manipulation of consciousness in political and ideological processes and mass media. Moreover, language experience resists the deformation of the communicative sphere and verbal-cognitive processes, encouraging personal self-realisation. ; Введение. Российское образование уже два десятилетия находится в состоянии перманентного реформирования. В комплексе причин затяжной и малопродуктивной модернизации авторы особое внимание уделяют системообразующим факторам, утверждая, что в настоящее время процессы оптимизации системы ориентированы преимущественно на организационно-технологические модели, скопированные из сферы производства. Преобладание технологической составляющей над ценностно-смысловой оборачивается упрочением прагматичного, узкофункционального, технократического вектора развития образования. Чтобы переломить ситуацию и изменить этот тупиковый для социума вектор, требуется глубинное аксиологическое переосмысление механизмов реформирования, которое должно проводиться с учетом всесторонних связей личности и общества, национального и общечеловеческого опыта, единства содержания, форм и средств обучения и воспитания. Цели изложенного в публикации исследования – обсуждение современных тенденций модернизации общеобразовательной и высшей школы; обоснование гуманитарных механизмов совершенствования образовательных процессов в контексте языкового образования, которое в условиях идейного плюрализма и противостояния ценностных систем выполняет личностноразвивающие и социализирующие функции. Методология и методы. Работа проводилась с опорой на взаимодополняющие друг друга деятельностно-личностный подход, положения культурноисторической концепции, идеи философской герменевтики и традиционные принципы методологии педагогики. Теоретической базой исследования являлись научные труды отечественных и зарубежных ученых, в том числе философские изыскания, в которых показана ключевая роль в образовании гуманитарных начал и ценностных ориентаций. Использовались классические исследовательские методы – сравнение, индукция, дедукция, абстрагирование, обобщение, конкретизация, структурно-логическое моделирование, а также контент-анализ документов и научных публикаций, наблюдение, анкетирование, экспертная оценка и опытная работа. Из инструментального арсенала неклассических методов и приемов исследования применялись метафорическое моделирование, биографический метод, интерпретационные техники. Результаты и научная новизна. Рассмотрены модернизационные процессы в российском образовании: нормативная база, цели, приоритеты, проблемы и перспективы. Выдвинут тезис о том, что на новом витке социально-исторических трансформаций необходимо преодоление отрицательных эффектов многолетней практики реформирования национальной образовательной системы посредством развития сложившихся в ней традиций, актуализации гуманитарного потенциала обучения и воспитания, его ценностно-смыслового обогащения. В качестве возможного продуктивного средства и методологического инструментария предлагается педагогическая герменевтика, подразумевающая эвристическое и поливариативное познание действительности через обучение пониманию и интерпретации разножанровых культурных текстов с одновременной опорой на общественный и индивидуальный, рациональный и эмоционально-чувственный опыт, накопленный в науке, религии, искусстве, языке, народных традициях – культуре в целом. Доказывается, что языковое образование, базирующееся на принципах педагогической герменевтики, способно запустить гуманитарные механизмы личностно-деятельностного освоения социальных норм и культурных образцов. Представлены некоторые варианты авторских моделей реализации герменевтического подхода: кратко описаны сконструированные педагогами-исследователями разнообразные, прошедшие опытно-экспериментальную апробацию методики, технологии и процедуры обучения и воспитания, ориентированные на достижение соответствия качества образовательных результатов гуманитарным запросам и насущным потребностям социума. Практическая значимость. Использование герменевтических технологий как процессуально-инструментальной основы образования позволяет декодировать знаково-семиотическую информацию учебных предметов, наполнять ее, используя метаязык, личностным ценностным смыслом и диалогической субъектностью и трансформировать в личностный знаково-символический или поведенческий текст. Приобретение языкового опыта в процессе гуманитарно ориентированного образования повышает иммунитет обучающегося к разнообразным проявлениям обезличенности, нивелирования индивидуальности и манипулирования сознанием – в частности, в политических и идеологических процессах, массовых формах коммуникации, в том числе сетевых, препятствует деформации коммуникативной сферы и речемыслительных процессов и позволяет достичь личностной самореализации. ; Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project № 18–013–00268 A) ; Российский фонд фундаментальных исследований (проект № 18–013–00268 А)

Introduction. For over two decades, Russian education has been in a state of permanent reform. Due to the long and unproductive nature of the modernisation process, researchers are paying special attention to systemic factors, noting that system optimisation processes are structured primarily around organisational and technological models derived from industry. The prevalence of the technological component over the axiological results in the consolidation of a pragmatic, narrowly functional, technocratic vector of education development. To overcome this situation and to break this deadlock, a profound reconsideration of the values underlying mechanisms of reform is required, taking into account multifaceted personal, social, national and universal relations, as well as unity of content, forms and means of education.The aims of the research were identified as follows: to analyse the current trends of modernisation in comprehensive schools and higher educational establishments; to justify humanistic mechanisms for improving the modernisation in the context of language education, which performs personally developing and socialising functions under ideological pluralism and opposition of value systems.Methodology and research methods. The research was conducted taking a person-activity-based approach, referring to cultural-historical concepts, ideas of philosophical hermeneutics and traditional principles of pedagogical methodology. The theoretical framework was based on the publications and philosophical foundations of Russian and foreign scholars, who define the key role of humanistic principles and value orientations in education. The following standard research methods were used: comparison, induction, deduction, abstraction, synthesis, specification, structural and logical modelling, content analysis of documents and scientific publications on the stated problem, observation, questioning, peer review and experiment. In addition, non-standard methods and research techniques such as metaphorical modelling, biographical method and interpretational techniques were used.Results and scientific novelty. Modernisation processes in Russian education were considered: regulatory base, purposes, priorities, problems and prospects. The following thesis was proposed: at the new stage of socio-historical transformation, it is necessary to overcome the negative effects of long-term practice in the reform of the national educational system through developing established traditions as well as updating the humanistic potential of education and ensuring its axiological enrichment. The authors consider pedagogical hermeneutics as a potentially productive means and methodological tool. Pedagogical hermeneutics implies a heuristic and poly-variable apperception of reality through education in order to understand and interpret different genres of cultural texts, providing simultaneous support both to the general public and to the individual, on the basis of rational and emotionally intelligent experience accumulated in science, religion, art, language and national traditions – i.e. culture as a whole. It was shown that language education based on principles of pedagogical hermeneutics is capable of establishing humanistic mechanisms of personactivity-based social norms and cultural models. The authors presented a number of modelling options for the realisation of the proposed hermeneutical approach: various experimentally-validated techniques, educational approaches and procedures designed by teacher-researchers were briefly described, focusing on the achievement of qualitative conformance of educational results to the humanistic appeals and urgent needs of society.Practical significance. The use of hermeneutical techniques as educational tools and procedures allows us to decode semiotic information of curricula subjects; in addition, when using meta-language, it is possible to expand the content by adding personal value-sense and dialogical subjectivity, as well as to transform it into a personal sign-symbol or behavioural template. The acquisition of language experience in the process of humanistic-centred education increases the immunity of a student to various manifestations of character defectivity, strengthening identity and resistance to manipulation of consciousness in political and ideological processes and mass media. Moreover, language experience resists the deformation of the communicative sphere and verbal-cognitive processes, encouraging personal self-realisation. ; Введение. Российское образование уже два десятилетия находится в состоянии перманентного реформирования. В комплексе причин затяжной и малопродуктивной модернизации авторы особое внимание уделяют системообразующим факторам, утверждая, что в настоящее время процессы оптимизации системы ориентированы преимущественно на организационно-технологические модели, скопированные из сферы производства. Преобладание технологической составляющей над ценностно-смысловой оборачивается упрочением прагматичного, узкофункционального, технократического вектора развития образования. Чтобы переломить ситуацию и изменить этот тупиковый для социума вектор, требуется глубинное аксиологическое переосмысление механизмов реформирования, которое должно проводиться с учетом всесторонних связей личности и общества, национального и общечеловеческого опыта, единства содержания, форм и средств обучения и воспитания.Цели изложенного в публикации исследования – обсуждение современных тенденций модернизации общеобразовательной и высшей школы; обоснование гуманитарных механизмов совершенствования образовательных процессов в контексте языкового образования, которое в условиях идейного плюрализма и противостояния ценностных систем выполняет личностноразвивающие и социализирующие функции.Методология и методы. Работа проводилась с опорой на взаимодополняющие друг друга деятельностно-личностный подход, положения культурноисторической концепции, идеи философской герменевтики и традиционные принципы методологии педагогики. Теоретической базой исследования являлись научные труды отечественных и зарубежных ученых, в том числе философские изыскания, в которых показана ключевая роль в образовании гуманитарных начал и ценностных ориентаций. Использовались классические исследовательские методы – сравнение, индукция, дедукция, абстрагирование, обобщение, конкретизация, структурно-логическое моделирование, а также контент-анализ документов и научных публикаций, наблюдение, анкетирование, экспертная оценка и опытная работа. Из инструментального арсенала неклассических методов и приемов исследования применялись метафорическое моделирование, биографический метод, интерпретационные техники.Результаты и научная новизна. Рассмотрены модернизационные процессы в российском образовании: нормативная база, цели, приоритеты, проблемы и перспективы. Выдвинут тезис о том, что на новом витке социально-исторических трансформаций необходимо преодоление отрицательных эффектов многолетней практики реформирования национальной образовательной системы посредством развития сложившихся в ней традиций, актуализации гуманитарного потенциала обучения и воспитания, его ценностно-смыслового обогащения. В качестве возможного продуктивного средства и методологического инструментария предлагается педагогическая герменевтика, подразумевающая эвристическое и поливариативное познание действительности через обучение пониманию и интерпретации разножанровых культурных текстов с одновременной опорой на общественный и индивидуальный, рациональный и эмоционально-чувственный опыт, накопленный в науке, религии, искусстве, языке, народных традициях – культуре в целом. Доказывается, что языковое образование, базирующееся на принципах педагогической герменевтики, способно запустить гуманитарные механизмы личностно-деятельностного освоения социальных норм и культурных образцов. Представлены некоторые варианты авторских моделей реализации герменевтического подхода: кратко описаны сконструированные педагогами-исследователями разнообразные, прошедшие опытно-экспериментальную апробацию методики, технологии и процедуры обучения и воспитания, ориентированные на достижение соответствия качества образовательных результатов гуманитарным запросам и насущным потребностям социума.Практическая значимость. Использование герменевтических технологий как процессуально-инструментальной основы образования позволяет декодировать знаково-семиотическую информацию учебных предметов, наполнять ее, используя метаязык, личностным ценностным смыслом и диалогической субъектностью и трансформировать в личностный знаково-символический или поведенческий текст. Приобретение языкового опыта в процессе гуманитарно ориентированного образования повышает иммунитет обучающегося к разнообразным проявлениям обезличенности, нивелирования индивидуальности и манипулирования сознанием – в частности, в политических и идеологических процессах, массовых формах коммуникации, в том числе сетевых, препятствует деформации коммуникативной сферы и речемыслительных процессов и позволяет достичь личностной самореализации.

In his September 2002 report to the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary‐General Kofi Annan identified migration as a priority issue for the international community. Subsequent initiatives prompted by the UN resulted, in December 2003, in the formation of a Global Commission on International Migration. This independent body has three mandates: to bring international migration issues to the top of the global agenda, to analyze shortcomings in approaches to international migration and examine inter‐linkages with other issue‐areas, and to make practical recommendations for how to manage international migration more effectively. Remarks made by Kofi Annan at the launching of the Commission in Geneva were amplified in an address he gave to the European Parliament in Brussels on 29 January 2004 upon receiving the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Simultaneously a brief article covering the themes in that address, signed by Kofi Annan, was released by the Secretary‐General's office for publication in leading newspapers throughout Europe. The full text of this article (http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/sg‐29jan2004.htm) is reproduced below.The article presents a number of propositions about international migration, with special reference to Europe, that tend to be taken for granted in discussions of the subject in international forums. Perhaps because of the article's brevity, the propositions are stated in strikingly unqualified form. Europe needs migrants. Immigration will enrich and strengthen European countries; the alternative is accepting declining living standards and social division‐‐a meaner, weaker, older Europe. In the absence of migration, jobs would go unfilled and services undelivered. Immigration cannot be controlled: closing the door would not only harm Europe's long‐term economic and social prospects, it would drive more and more people to come in through the back door. Such propositions, far from being axiomatic, are of course highly controversial. A fuller examination of them is presumably part of the Global Commission's remit.One of the biggest tests for the enlarged European Union, in the years and decades to come, will be how it manages the challenge of immigration. If European societies rise to this challenge, immigration will enrich and strengthen them. If they fail to do so, the result may be declining living standards and social division. There can be no doubt that European societies need immigrants. Europeans are living longer and having fewer children. Without immigration, the population of the soon‐to‐be twenty‐five Member States of the EU will drop, from about 450 million now to under 400 million in 2050. The EU is not alone in this. Japan, the Russian Federation and South Korea, among others, face similar possible futures‐where jobs would go unfilled and services undelivered, as economies shrink and societies stagnate. Immigration alone will not solve these problems, but it is an essential part of any solution.We can be sure that people from other continents will go on wanting to come and live in Europe. In today's unequal world, vast numbers of Asians and Africans lack the opportunities for self improvement that most Europeans take for granted. It is not surprising that many of them see Europe as a land of opportunity, in which they long to begin a new life‐just as the potential of the new world once attracted tens of millions of impoverished but enterprising Europeans. All countries have the right to decide whether to admit voluntary migrants (as op‐posed to bona fide refugees, who have a right to protection under international law). But Europeans would be unwise to close their doors. That would not only harm their long‐term economic and social prospects. It would also drive more and more people to try and come in through the back door‐by asking for political asylum (thus overloading a system designed to protect refugees who have fled in fear of persecution), or by seeking the help of smugglers, often risking death or in‐jury in clandestine acts of desperation on boats, trucks, trains and planes. Illegal immigration is a real problem, and States need to cooperate in their efforts to stop it‐especially in cracking down on smugglers and traffickers whose organized crime networks exploit the vulnerable and subvert the rule of law. But combating illegal immigration should be part of a much broader strategy. Countries should provide real channels for legal immigration, and seek to harness its benefits, while safeguarding the basic human rights of migrants. Poor countries can also benefit from migration. Migrants sent at least $88 billion to developing countries in remittances during 2002‐54% more than the $57 billion those countries received in development aid.Migration is therefore an issue in which all countries have a stake‐and which demands greater international cooperation. The recently established Global Commission on International Migration, co‐chaired by distinguished public figures from Sweden and South Africa, can help to establish international norms and better policies to manage migration in the interest of all. I am confident that it will come up with good ideas, and I hope they will win support, from countries that "send" migrants as well as those that receive them. Managing migration is not only a matter of opening doors and joining hands internationally. It also requires each country to do more to integrate new arrivals. Immigrants must adjust to their new societies and societies need to adjust too. Only with an imaginative strategy for integrating immigrants can countries ensure that they enrich the host society more than they unsettle it. While each country will approach this is‐sue according to its own character and culture, no one should lose sight of the tremendous contribution that millions of immigrants have already made to modern European societies. Many have become leaders in government, science, academia, sports and the arts. Others are less famous but play an equally vital role. Without them, many health systems would be short‐staffed, many parents would not have the home help they need to pursue careers, and many jobs that provide services and generate revenue would go unfilled. Immigrants are part of the solution, not part of the problem. All who are committed to Europe's future, and to human dignity, should therefore take a stand against the tendency to make immigrants the scapegoats for social problems. The vast majority of immigrants are industrious, courageous, and determined. They don't want a free ride. They want a fair opportunity for themselves and their families. They are not criminals or terrorists. They are law‐abiding. They don't want to live apart. They want to integrate, while retaining their identity. In this twenty‐first century, migrants need Europe. But Europe also needs migrants. A closed Europe would be a meaner, poorer, weaker, older Europe. An open Europe will be a fairer, richer, stronger, younger Europe‐provided Europe manages immigration well.

How does access to finance impact consumption volatility? Theory and evidence from advanced economies suggests that greater household access to finance smooths consumption. Evidence from emerging markets, where consumption is usually more volatile than income, indicates that financial reform further increases the volatility of consumption relative to output. This puzzle is addressed in the framework of an emerging economy model in which households face shocks to trend growth rate, and a fraction of them are financially constrained, with no access to financial services. Unconstrained households can respond to shocks to trend growth by raising current consumption more than the rise in current income. Financial reform increases the share of such households, leading to greater relative consumption volatility. Calibration of the model for pre- and post-financial reform in India provides support for the model's key predictions.

The six countries of South East Europe (SEE6) are aging fast and catching up with developed economies that are already far advanced in the aging process. Low fertility rates are reducing working-age populations across the SEE6. The adverse SEE6 demographic dynamic is aggravated by emigration. In the absence of any policy and behavioral responses or changes in labor productivity, and where population aging reflects solely declining overall labor force participation rates, aging itself would be expected to negatively impact economic growth. Boosts in productivity are one of the key ways to counterbalance potential negative effects of aging on economic growth. Changes in both individual and business behavior supported by policies that increase quality of human capital and encourage labor force participation can help seize the opportunities and mitigate the adverse effects of an aging population.

The results of the research described above were obtained on a representative sample of Croatian youth from 15-24 years of age in the second half of 2002. The research was carried on in the context of a regional research project on youth under the auspices of the PRONI institute from Sweden. The main objective of the project was to provide empirical data on life, needs, attitudes and aspirations of young people as a means of assisting the process of youth policy review. The process was initiated by the Council of Europe with a view to strengthen youth participation in democratic changes of the countries in the region. This report is the most recent one in a long and well-established tradition of studying youth issues in Croatia. Therefore, it often includes comments and references to earlier research findings for the purpose of determining the changes in youth trends, as well as for the purpose of validity testing of our data. On the other side, the data presented in this report may, together with earlier studies, be used as a reference point in the process of reviewing the National Programme of Action for Youth, as well as in developing a comprehensive, efficient and youth-centred national youth policy. The core of the findings is probably that the criteria for determining the upper age-level of youth period should be reviewed and extended to include those who are 30 years of age. The fact that more and more young people remain longer in education, that they decide to marry and have children later in their life, that they consider changing their job and probably, if possible, enroll in re-training programmes for that purpose, as well as that they desire to reach full independence by relying on their own abilities and endeavour, speaks in favour of the need to redesign our traditional approaches to youth upper age-limits. Other findings that help us understand some important dimensions and trends of contemporary life of Croatian youth are summarised below. The most basic socio-demographic data demonstrate that very few young people from our research who are 24 and below are married and few think of having children before the age of 25. About half of them live in a two-child nuclear family in a house/apartment of their own that, averagely, comprises more than two rooms. Very few have an opportunity to live in an apartment of their own, although four fifths express desire to live separately. The aspiration towards such independence is mainly motivated by socio-economic and maturity factors: it is a prominent feature of young people who are university students, whose fathers have more education, and who are over 20. Since the chances of having their own apartment in a reasonable period of time are rather minimal, not only due to the difficulties in finding a job but due to extremely high prices in the housing sector, such prolonged co-habitation and dependency on parents and/or relatives is a frequent cause of young people' s frustrations and is probably related to, together with other factors such as poverty and limited capacity of pre-school child-care institutions, a constant decrease in the average number of children per family. On average, young people are satisfied with their present life and expect no change in the future. Despite a high unemployment rate especially among them, approximately three quarters assess their own present and future life, the life of their closest friends and their peers in Western Europe as good or excellent. Their optimism is somewhat even higher than it was found in the end of 1990s. When asked to imagine their life in 10 years ahead majority see it as a success, either in general terms or in specific terms of their professional advancement or family happiness. Dissatisfaction with present life grows with age and with opportunities to enter the world of work and become fully independent, since the young between 20-24 years of age, both employed and unemployed are more inclined to perceive their present life as unsatisfactory. Interestingly enough, the age does not have influence on the assessment of future, which means, in the context of this research, that young people in general, irrespective of age, equally believe that future brings better opportunities. In reference to their professional and educational aspirations, almost two thirds of the young want to continue education, while one fourth of them think of finding a job. The differences are mainly determined by residential, social, and age factors. Thus, a primary aspiration of pupils and university students, as well as of those who live in Zagreb or in families of higher socio-economic status, is to continue their education. Contrary to them, rural young people, those who live in low-income families, as well as those who are over 20 are more inclined to seek for a job or to continuing the job they currently hold. Over two fifths of young people plan to leave their present place of residence so as to be able to meet their professional and educational aspirations. Almost half of this group prefer to move somewhere inside the country, most often to a bigger city which is perceived as the place that offers better opportunities for career and social positioning, while other half think of going abroad. The percentage of the young planning to leave the country for good rose from 11% in 1986 and 18% in 1999 to 19% in 2002. Their migratory plans are connected to their residential status, i.e. to the conditions in the place or region where the young actually live. Young people from Zagreb are less willing to go somewhere else; rural youth and youth from Eastern Croatia wish to migrate to another place inside Croatia more than any other group, while all groups (except youth from Middle and Northern Croatia who want that somewhat more than others) equally (do not) want to settle abroad. Data on a desired place for living are quite similar to those on migratory plans. The number of youth preferring to remain in their present place of residence and the number of those having no migratory plans are almost identical. When compared to earlier studies, we see an increase in the number of young people preferring to live in large cities. In addition, almost one quarter express their preference for living abroad, majority of which opt for a Western European country. The fact that almost one fifth of all has plans and almost one fourth prefer to live abroad indicate the existence of two closely related but, nevertheless, separate dimensions of youth migratory thinking. While the preference for other counties may mean only an inclination, having plans on migrating abroad most certainly includes active search for such a possibility. In light of our findings it means that at least one fifth of Croatian youth not only dream of leaving the country but actually make plans how to make it a reality. Employed youth is far from being satisfied with their jobs. Every second confirms his or her disappointment. Approximately one fifth of both them and those that are still in the process of education desire jobs in the service or business sector; little less in number think of entering more creative and/or dynamic professions or professions related to education, health care and social services. This means that their professional aspirations are somehow higher that those of their parents, majority of whom have secondary school completed and are mainly employed as industrial, service and shop workers or clerks. Nevertheless, if their choices are compared to the structure of the employed force in Croatia and if we add to it a rapidly changing labour market in all transitional countries, their professional preferences seem rather realistic. This is probably why almost half of the young hold that their chances for getting a preferred job are high or very high. The data also confirm that their estimations are related to age and socio-professional status since pessimism increases with age (except for the university students) and is tightly linked to unemployment status. In any case, optimism prevails among the young and it, as well, may be linked to their strong motivation to succeed in life by relying on their own abilities despite unfavourable social and economic context in which they live. It is also possible, at least partly, that self-assurance of young people comes from positive educational experience. Over half of the young state they feel happy and satisfied when thinking of their schools or universities. However, it is not clear whether their satisfaction should be understood in terms of acquiring subject-matter knowledge and skills or in terms of developing certain personal qualities through participating in school life. Earlier studies on youth have proven that the young have complex relations towards education which are the outcomes of both institutional tasks and personal expectations. Moreover, our results document that feelings about school are correlated with sex and socio-professional status.Girls and university students, in general, are more satisfied with their education, while the unemployed are among the least satisfied. It is also possible that positive feelings about education also relate to school grades. Earlier studies have shown that female pupils receive somewhat better average scores than their male schoolmates, which may explain why girls have more positive feelings about school than boys. • On the other hand, it is clear that school is by no means a source of information about the events in the country and the world for young people since a great majority of them actually receive news through ordinary media (TV, radio, newspapers and magazines). Moreover, Internet has become an important source of information about the country and the world for approximately one fifth and over one fourth of them, respectively. This shift has to do with the fact that over two thirds of the young from our study are computer users and that more than half of them already have computer at home. It is, therefore, obvious that new information and communication technologies are becoming part and parcel of young people' s daily life what needs to be taken into account when policies and programmes of action for promoting their wellbeing are designed, especially in reference to underprivileged youth. Namely, our research confirms that the use of computer correlates with residence (urban environment), family background (parents with higher education and higher socio-economic status), age, and education factors (younger population and students). Nevertheless, young people are not enslaved by new information communication technologies. Most of them spend their free time associating with friends, engaging in sport activities, going to disco-clubs, watching TV or performing outdoor activities, while far less enjoy music, reading books or art exhibitions. In addition, many young people have no daily obligations, except in relation to school and spend their free time idling or sleeping. This means that the majority of youth either do nothing or engage almost solely in the so called passive and/or receptive activities for self-entertainment. Despite that fact, almost three fourths of them claim they are more or less satisfied with how they spend their free time what brings us to the conclusion that the main problem is not the quality of their free time activities but their lack of awareness that the quality itself is being at stake. However, it should be pointed out that their opinions are related to age and socio-professional status. Young people who belong to an upper age-cohort and who are unemployed exhibit far more dissatisfaction with their free time than the youngest. Overpronounced dissatisfaction among the unemployed seems to be an indicator of an overall discontent with one' s own life. For the unemployed, free time becomes a burden not only because they cannot perceive it in terms of an offduty activity but because they can not afford it financially. In reference to the use of psychoactive substances, it seems that tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption are the most widespread types of risk behaviour among the youth. Approximately one third of them smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol daily or weekly ; three fifths are non-smokers and one fifth never drink alcohol. Smoking increases with age and employment. Alcohol, on the other hand, is solely related to gender in a way that young women drink less than their male peers. Such trend may be the sign of a subtle male initiation rite de passage that has outlived its traditional context. Since the data on smoking are more favourable than those from earlier research it may be presumed that an anti-smoking media campaign, which has been going on rather aggressively throughout the country, has brought positive effect, whereas non-existence of similar anti-alcohol campaign may be the sign of a relatively high level of a social tolerance for alcohol consumption. As far as drug are concerned, Croatian youth is more inclined to the so-called 'soft' drugs. Over one third of the young have tried or used twice or more only marijuana ; hashish and ecstasy is mentioned by less than one tenth of them, whereas other 'hard' drugs have been only tried or are consumed by 1-3% of them. The consumption of marijuana is associated with a recognizable youth group, what confirms earlier studies. A group of highest risk is made of young people between 20 and 24, male, university students, the residents of Zagreb, Istria, Croatian Littoral and Dalmatia, and whose fathers have higher education level. A great majority of young people tend to see themselves in rather positive terms: they are self-assured, think they have a good number of personal qualities; believe in their capabilities when compared to other people and have no doubts that most people they know like them. This may be related to feeling of security they experience in the context of their immediate environment since a great majority of the young claim that they can almost always get warmth, care and support from their parents and support from their friends. On the other hand, only every second of them feel the same about their teachers. It seems that most Croatian families are characterised by an exercise of indirect and flexible control over their children in the course of their growing up. In over half of the cases parents or relatives hardly ever determine rules for their children' s behaviour although they do control the choice of their friends, as well as their evening outdoor activities. Moreover, young people claim that their parents are especially keen of their school progress since they almost regularly keep records on their children school situation. • When asked about the most serious problems of their generation, the majority of young people in Croatia mention socially unacceptable behaviour, such as drug abuse, alcohol consumption and violence, unemployment, low standard of living, the lack of life chances and mass migration of young experts abroad. Since unemployment was repeatedly displayed as the major problem of young generation in earlier studies, their present preoccupation with socially unacceptable behaviour may be related either to the sample structure (majority of them are students) or to a general social climate which is, due to predominance of media campaigns mainly geared against smoking and drug abuse (but not against alcohol consumption, except for safe driving), inducing an over-sensitisation to behavioural issues causing, on the other side, the lack of awareness of existentially important issues of young people that are of an utmost importance for their independence and self-satisfaction. Young people are inclined to attribute responsibility for solving these problems primarily to themselves, their parents and public authorities, i.e. firstly to those actors that function at the private level (personal and parents' responsibility), than to public sector (government, education system) and, finally, to the civil society (nongovernmental organizations, youth associations and religious institutions). This means that youth principally count on their personal strength and family support, as well as that they have explicit expectations of state institutions, whereas they think of receiving the assistance from the civil sector only exceptionally. Notwithstanding, since half of the young studied have failed to mention personal responsibility, it clearly demonstrates that both strong sense of self-responsibility and its avoidance stand side by side as two features of Croatian youth. Among the measures that Croatian youth see as the most efficient for solving their problems two are underlined: equal education and career opportunities, on the one hand, and strict punishment of drug dealers and restrictions on alcohol selling, on the other hand. Since the majority of youth consider socially unacceptable behaviour, including drug-addiction, to be the gravest problem of their generation, it is understandable that they see the way out in strict punishing of drug dealers, (rather than consumers), what is still inadequately determined by Croatian law. Other most frequently mentioned measure has to do with the youth quest for developing society of equal chances which is in line with their perception of unemployment as the second most frequently mentioned youth problem in Croatia. Although lesser in number, the young refer to their under-representation and require their participation in decision-making to be ensured at all levels. They also require better adapting of secondary and higher education to the needs of contemporary life, as well as better quality of education, in general; some speak in favour of establishing a ministry for youth affairs, developing national strategy for promoting youth well-being, setting up of funds for youth initiatives, better legal regulations of the places of youth entertainment, i.e., the issues majority of which have already been integrated into the recently adopted National Programme of Action for Youth that is seen as an initial step in developing a national youth policy. The values that the majority of young people hold personally important or very important are healthy environment, peace in the world, gender equality, and rights and freedoms of the individual. Second group of the most personally preferable values encompasses solidarity among people, social justice, economic security, respect for differences, rule of law, inalienability of property, civil society, free market, freedom of the media, protection of minorities, religion and democratic system. The bottom of the scale is occupied by social power, national sentiment, European integration, and high economic standard. The review of their preferences demonstrates a relatively respectable level of democratic potential of young people in Croatia. They are more oriented towards comfortable life based on key principles of democracy and civil society, which is in correspondence with earlier research that have documented the shift to a more individualistic value system, including youth' s preference for independence and their focus on self-realisation and material security. However, their relative devaluation of the importance of European integration may be, on the one hand, the sign of either their dissatisfaction with, or their criticism of the way new European order has been established, partly due to the fact that Croatia has been somehow unjustly left behind. On the other hand it may be the consequence of their perceiving the integration merely in terms of a political objective of which very little they experience in everyday life. This is not to say that they devaluate the importance of European integration for Croatia as such. It would be more accurate to say that Croatian young people are becoming more and more pragmatic in their social positioning of which many think not only in the context of Croatia but in the context of Europe and the world. Having in mind a long tradition of Croatian youth emigration to Europe and the fact that almost 20% of contemporary youth plan to leave the country for good (mostly for a European country), their relation toward European integration may mean that they see it only as an added value to an already established youth migratory pattern in Croatia. of young people about the determinants of upward social mobility in Croatia reflect their accurate perception of social anomalies that, if left unquestioned, threaten to deepen social inequalities and diminish democratic potential of the society. Namely, a great majority of the young see as important or highly important for social promotion in Croatia a combination of the following variables: adaptive behaviour, personal endeavour, knowledge and skills, and connections and acquaintances. University degree, money and wealth, and the obedience and submissiveness to the 'boss', are identified less but, nevertheless, reflect a combination of appropriate and inappropriate means of social promotion. Somehow more troublesome is the finding that one third to one half of the young consider belonging to certain nation or political party, as well as bribing and corruption as important determinants of one' s success in Croatia. These data present an index of youth's perception of Croatian society as the society of unequal chances since it, by allowing nondemocratic practice to play an important role in social promotion, actually discriminates against those who in this matter believe in, and rely on their own abilities and efforts. When compared to earlier studies, it is highly troublesome that almost the same factors of social promotion are estimated as important by both socialist and ' transitional' young people in Croatia. Overall examination of the above results may be seen as an indicator of a process of relative homogenisation of young people in today' s Croatia – certainly, within the issues here examined and at the present level of analysis. There is no doubt that young people here described have many characteristic in common, especially in reference to their marital status, family pattern, housing conditions, parent' s educational background, attitudes towards present and future life, professional and educational aspirations, desired accommodation, sources of information, satisfaction with free time, positive feelings about themselves, feeling of security in relation to their parents and friends, as well as in reference to their abuse of psychoactive substances. They also share their desire for autonomy and independence, and for the recognition by the society at large, as well as their dreams of a more just society in which life opportunities would match individual abilities and endeavour. When they differ, it is mostly due to their varied socio-professional status and age. Residential status, father' s educational background, gender, and regional background are less important. The tendencies that have been documented suggest that youth are divided primarily by their actual social status and stage of attained maturity, and only secondarily by socialization factors, such as social origin in a narrow and broad sense of the term, and a gender socialization patterns. However, further analysis of data should disclose youth dominating trends with more accuracy.

Higher education (HE) systems worldwide are faced with three main challenges: providing young people with the skills required by the job market; improving access to high quality services; and seeking out new sources of financing to cope with the growing student demand. This document will provide evidence on the need to seek sustainable financing strategies for countries in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), whether they are high income economies, such as the oil producing countries, or low to middle income economies. Chapter one presents an overall description of HE graduates and the many challenges they face in their transition into the workforce. The different elements that affect this transition are discussed and special attention is given to the mismatches between labor supply and demand. Chapter two analyses the current levels of spending on HE, projects the future financing gaps taking into account the need to continue expanding access and improving quality and relevance, and provides a framework for funding approaches linked to meeting access, equity, and quality goals. Chapter three outlines ways of using current funds in more effective ways, emphasizing the need to align financing allocations with policy goals. Innovative funding allocations that link funding to performance and demand- as well as supply-side mechanisms are discussed. Chapter four discusses different ways to diversify sources of funding and presents alternative methods of cost-sharing. The chapter emphasizes the equity measures needed for cost-sharing mechanisms, such as student fees, and provides an overview of student loan programs used in MENA and elsewhere. Chapter five discusses the role of private provision of HE, and how this can be an alternative to increase access and quality, provided the necessary regulatory and quality controls are in place. Chapter six describes an alternative source of funding not yet common in MENA, namely the use of philanthropic resources to build endowments to support HE.

This Country Status Report (CSR) for Liberia is part of an ongoing series of country specific reports being prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with governments and development partners. The series aims to enhance the knowledge base for policy development. This report is intended to help engage a diverse audience on issues and policies in the education sector and to develop a shared vision for the future of Liberia. It is the first sector-wide report produced on the education system in Liberia since the end of the war. A policy options matrix follows the executive summary, which will provide government and partners with guidance on the key priorities to tackle. Besides consolidating information in a policy-relevant manner, this CSR makes a unique contribution to the education knowledge base by documenting not only traditional and basic indicators, such as gross enrollment rates and retention, but also examining the performance of the education system in terms of access, quality, equity, and resource allocation and utilization. The report also includes chapters on education governance and teacher management. This report highlights the country's significant education progress since the end of the 14-year civil war in 2003 and the challenges that need to be addressed.

Innovation is a core topic for the social and administrative sciences concerned with organizations management. Hence the name of our journal: INNOVAR, depicted as action and reflection. Insights about innovation are diverse, ranging from the importance of change in production techniques pointed out by Marx, to the structural vision by Schumpeter and the Neo-Schumpeterians about creative destruction as one of the drivers of capitalist development (Chang, 2016). In recent decades, innovation has been gaining an increasingly prominent role in economic and organizational processes due to the emergence and consolidation of the so-called "knowledge-based society" (Drucker, 1994; Castells, 1996; Dubina, Carayannis & Campbell, 2012).Innovation demands the confluence of multiple factors and dimensions, such as creativity, science and technology, the interactions between University, business and society, as well as competition, the role of the State and innovation financing, among others. Precisely, the intersection between the role of the State and innovation financing has been one of the research interests of the Italian economist Mariana Mazzucato. In her book The Entrepreneurial State - Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, Mazzucato (2016) advocates for a change in the understanding of the role of the State within innovation processes. Using empirical evidence from the sectors of communications technology (exemplifying companies like Apple), renewable energies and the pharmaceutical sector, Mazzucato points out to the active and paramount role of the State in contemporary innovation, considering that states have been investors and executors of projects in the base of innovations such as the touch screen, the cps, the Internet or Siri, which were later exploited by private companies. Whether in the field of military defense, aeronautics or the energy sector, investments by the State and the resulting projects have been vital for the conception and subsequent diffusion of innovations. The characteristics of high-risk investments that can be undertaken by the State added to the way it brings together and articulates multiple capacities and institutions, constitute transmission chains that are essential for innovation.Mazzucato's contribution is questioning a series of myths around innovation that suggest this phenomenon arises only by the activities of private entrepreneurs and investors. This perspective, now dominant, demands a downsized State focused on encouraging private forces, so that the invisible hand and competition promote the emergence of new knowledge leading to innovations. Mazzucato's book (2016) opens wide paths for research since it does not deny the relevance of companies and innovative entrepreneurs, but it calls to recognize, characterize and assess the importance of public organizations and projects in the dynamics of innovation. All of this encourages the academic research interests of INNOVAR, to which we summon Ibero-American academic community of the Management Sciences.Our current issue is made up by four of our traditional sections: Strategy and Organizations, Marketing, Human Factor, and Business Ethics. These gather ten papers by Colombian and international partners.Three research papers are published in Strategy and Organizations section.As a results of an international cooperation, Professors Julio César Acosta, from Externado de Colombia University, Mónica Longo-Somoza, from the Council of Education of the Community of Madrid - Spain, and María Belén Lozano, from the University of Salamanca - Spain, introduce their work "Does Family Ownership Affect Innovation Activity? A Focus on the Biotechnological Industry". This work tried to identify the profile of innovative firms in order to analyze whether family ownership is a feature related to innovation initiatives and processes. For that purpose, a hierarchical cluster analysis is performed in a sample of 243 Spanish companies within the biotechnology sector. It is concluded from the study that innovative Spanish firms belonging to this sector are non-family-owned firms. The negative relationship between innovation and family ownership could be explained by the conservative behavior of family-owned companies, which avoid taking the risks demanded by innovation.Professors Valentin Azofra, from the University of Valladolid - Spain, Magda Lizet Ochoa, from the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas - Mexico, and Begoha Prieto and Alicia Santidrian, from the University of Burgos - Spain, present the paper "Creating Value through the Application of Intellectual Capital Models". This research aims to link both the adoption level and the use of intellectual capital models with the creation of value in companies under a long-term perspective. Empirical work involved the selection of companies showing commitment towards the use of information systems on intellectual capital. Based on information from 79 Spanish companies a model was developed and then applied in order to relate the variables of growth in sales, productivity per employee and intellectual capital index, among others, to the adoption level and use of indicators on intellectual capital. Results show that companies with higher levels of intellectual capital models report better indexes related to aforementioned variables, which represent, in turn, greater creation of value.Additionally, independent researcher Giuseppe Vanoni and Professor Carlos Rodriguez from the National University of Colombia authored the paper "Growth Strategies Implemented by Economic Groups in Ecuador (2007-2016)", a study intended to identify growth strategies of 132 economic groups in Ecuador during the time frame previously stated. After a complete literature review and the introduction of the conceptual notions of "economic group" and "growth strategy", empirical work shows that a specialization-based concentration strategy prevails among the studied groups. Furthermore, this work allowed concluding that Ecuadorian economic groups belong to some specific families, and that the economic stability experienced by this country over the course of the period under study had a direct influence on the concentration strategy by specialization adopted by economic groups.Marketing section in this issue of INNOVAR introduces four papers.Brazilian researchers Celso Ximenes and Josemeire Alves, and Professors Gabriel Aguiar, from the Faculdade Mauricio de Nassau, and Danielle Miranda de Oliveira, from the Uni-versidade Estadual do Ceará in the city of Fortaleza - Brazil, take part in this issue with the work "You Solved my Problem, but I Won't Buy from You Anymore! Why Don't Consumers Want to Go Back Doing Business in Online Stores?". This study set as its main goal to understand the motives driving online consumers not to make new purchases when experiencing troubles with purchase processes, even when inconveniences were solved. Following a qualitative approach and based on a sample of 200 complaints over four e-commerce enterprises, a descriptive focus allowed classifying the possible problems and solutions deployed by companies. Results point that consumers manifest their wish of not making further purchases with the same company due to problems with logistics as well as delays with problemsolving and handling complaints.From the University of Seville in Spain, Professors Carlos Javier Rodríguez and Encarnación Ramos add to this current issue the paper "Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on Consumer Ethical Behavior", whose objective is to analyze consumers' ethical behavior. For this reason, a model of structural equations relating the scales of religiosity and spirituality and contrasting the results of 286 surveys to Spanish citizens is developed. The study implied resizing the Consumer Ethics Scale based on the results found in the literature in order to fit the purposes of this work. The paper concludes by presenting evidence on the existence of a relationship between religiosity-spirituality and the ethical behavior shown by consumers.Professors Alejandro Tapia, associated to the University Loyola Andalucía, and Elena Martín Guerra, from the University of Valladolid, both institutions in Spain, are the authors of "Neuroscience and Advertising. An Experiment on Attention and Emotion in Television Advertising". This paper presents the results of a neuroscience experiment applied to advertising, whose purpose was to study how attention and the generation of emotional responses influence the recall of w spots. The experiment was carried out in a group of 30 students aged 18-22, who were exposed to advertising spots of the University of Valladolid. Results from this exercise show important aspects influencing attention and emotion towards the spots, both positively and negatively, among them: comic content, language, loudness or negative and sad contents, and some others.From the Center of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Guadalajara - Mexico, Professors José Sánchez, Guillermo Vázquez and Juan Mejía sign the work "Marketing and Elements Influencing the Competitiveness of Commercial Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Guadalajara, Mexico". This study seeks to state the correlation between different key marketing elements that impact micro, small and medium-sized enterprises of clothing items in Guadalajara, Mexico. Based on structural equation modelling, strategies, knowledge and planning in marketing were identified as determinants for the competitiveness of this type of companies. Empirical work used a sample of 380 companies of the retail-clothing sector. The results confirm a positive and significant correlation between key marketing factors and competitiveness, where marketing factors are decisive for companies within the sector, which have been regarded as the weakest link in Mexican economy.Our Human Factor section gathers two studies derived from research processes.We include the paper titled "Subjectivity and Power in Business Organizations: A Case Study", authored by Adriana Valencia Espinosa, Professor at the University of Valle -Colombia. This work was praised as one of the best lectures presented during the First International Congress on Organizations Management that was venued at the National University of Colombia. The objective of this research was to understand the impact of business organizations on the subjectivity of employees, emphasizing the implications of labor breakdown (the termination of a contract). The case study is carried out at a renowned company in Valle del Cauca - Colombia, whose core business, among other lines, is mass printing and editorial processes. This paper addresses testimonies by key participants, that is, workers who experienced labor ruptures with the company. The article also identifies some mechanisms deployed by the organization in the process of sensemaking and the creation of meaning for subjectivity mobilization.Professors Matias Ginieis, María Victoria Sánchez and Fernando Campa from the Rovira i Virgili University, in Spain, present in this issue the paper "How much is the Staff According to the Type of Airline and its Geographical Location in Europe? A Comparative Analysis". This research study was aimed at determining the link between the costs per employee, the types of airlines (traditional or low cost) and the different geographical locations of the headquarters of the studied airlines (Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries). A total of 152 airlines were analyzed during the period 2008-2013. Based on statistical correlation tests it was possible to determine there is no relationship between the type of airline and staff-related costs.Last but not least, our Business Ethics section presents a research paper for this issue of INNOVAR.At the University of Zaragoza in Spain, Professors Francisco José López and Ana Bellosta contribute to this issue with the work titled "Corporate Social Responsibility and Good Corporate Governance practices in Spanish Ethical Mutual Funds: Analysis of Investee Companies". This paper studies the type of firms composing the portfolio of Spanish ethical mutual funds, characterizing such companies on the basis of the Corporate Governance model they follow, their organizational structure and some of their economic and financial variables. Different models of Corporate Governance by investee companies and their relationship with financial variables are presented and then evaluated. Results show that companies under the German corporate governance model are preferred by ethical mutual funds, followed by those companies with Anglo-Saxon corporate governance models, which means that, for allocating resources, ethical mutual funds take an interest in companies that involve different stakeholders in their governance processes.We are sure these contributions will be of great interest for the academic community of the Social and Management Sciences both in Colombia and abroad. ; La innovación es un tópico medular para las ciencias sociales y administrativas preocupadas por la gestión de las organizaciones. De allí el nombre de nuestra publicación: INNOVAR, expresado como acción y reflexión. Las concepciones sobre la innovación son diversas y van desde la importancia del cambio en las técnicas de producción, señalado por Marx, hasta la visión estructural de Schumpeter y de los neoschumpeterianos, según la cual la destrucción creativa es uno de los motores del desarrollo capitalista (Chang, 2016). En las últimas décadas, la innovación ha venido ganando un lugar cada vez más protagónico en los procesos económicos y organizacionales, por el surgimiento y consolidación de la llamada "sociedad del conocimiento" (Drucker, 1994; Castells, 1996; Dubina, Carayannis y Campbell, 2012).La innovación requiere la confluencia de múltiples factores y dimensiones, como la creatividad; la ciencia y la tecnología; las relaciones entre universidad, empresa y sociedad; la competencia; el papel del Estado, y la financiación de la innovación, entre otros. Precisamente, la intersección entre el papel del Estado y la financiación de la innovación ha sido uno de los temas de investigación de la economista italiana Mariana Mazzucato. En su libro El Estado emprendedor. Mitos del sector público frente al privado, Mazzucato (2016) aboga por un cambio en la comprensión del papel del Estado en los procesos de innovación. Con evidencia empírica de los sectores de tecnología de las comunicaciones (ejemplarizando con empresas como Apple), las energías renovables y del sector farmacéutico, Mazzucato señala que el Estado ha tenido un papel activo y determinante en la innovación contemporánea, debido a que ha sido inversor y ejecutor de proyectos que están en la base de innovaciones como la pantalla táctil, el CPS, Internet o Siri, que luego son aprovechadas por empresas privadas. Bien sea en el campo del sector defensa, el aeronáutico o el energético, las inversiones del Estado y los proyectos que ejecuta han sido vitales para la gestación y posterior difusión de las innovaciones. Las características de las inversiones de riesgo, que puede ejecutar el Estado, y la forma como congrega y articula múltiples capacidades e instituciones se constituyen realmente en cadenas de transmisión vitales para la innovación.La aportación de Mazzucato (2016) consiste en cuestionar una serie de mitos sobre la innovación, que plantean que tal proceso emerge solo en virtud del actuar de emprededores e inversores privados. Desde esa mirada, hoy dominante, se reclama un Estado mínimo, concentrado en incentivar las fuerzas privadas, para que la mano invisible y la competencia promuevan el surgimiento de nuevos conocimientos que desemboquen en innovaciones. El libro de Mazzucato (2016) abre un sinfín de oportunidades de investigación, puesto que no niega la relevancia de la empresa y los emprendedores innovadores, sino que nos convoca a reconocer, caracterizar y evaluar la importancia de las organizaciones y los proyectos públicos en la dinámica de la innovación. Todo ello alienta la investigación académica que interesa a INNOVAR, y a la que convocamos a la comunidad académica de las ciencias de la gestión en Iberoamérica.La presente edición está organizada en cuatro de nuestras tradicionales secciones: Estrategia y Organizaciones, Marketing, Factor Humano y Ética Empresarial, en las que publicamos diez artículos de nuestros colaboradores nacionales e internacionales.En la sección de Estrategia y Organizaciones, se publican tres trabajos, resultado de investigación.Fruto de una colaboración internacional, los profesores Julio César Acosta, de la Universidad Externado de Colombia; Mónica Longo-Somoza, de la Consejería de Educación de la Comunidad de Madrid, España, y María Belén Lozano, de la Universidad de Salamanca, España, aportan el trabajo titulado "Does family ownership affect innovation activity? A focus on the biotechnological industry". Este trabajo buscó identificar el perfil de las empresas innovadoras, para analizar si la propiedad familiar es una característica que se relaciona con las iniciativas y procesos de innovación. En la investigación se realiza un análisis clúster jerárquico con una muestra de 243 empresas españolas del sector de la biotecnología. Se concluye que las empresas españolas que innovan en este sector no son empresas de propiedad familiar. La relación negativa que se encuentra entre innovación y propiedad familiar, puede ser explicada porque las empresas familiares en tal industria son conservadoras y evitan tomar riesgos como los que la innovación reclama.Los profesores Valentín Azofra, de la Universidad de Valladolid, España; Magda Lizet Ochoa, de la Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, México, y Begoña Prieto y Alicia Santidrián, de la Universidad de Burgos, España, aportan el artículo "Creando valor mediante la aplicación de modelos de capital intelectual". La investigación pretende vincular el nivel de implantación y uso de modelos de capital intelectual con la creación de valor en la empresa, desde una perspectiva de largo plazo. Para el trabajo empírico se seleccionaron empresas que muestran compromiso hacia la utilización de sistemas de información sobre el capital intelectual. Con base en información de 79 empresas españolas, se realizó y aplicó un modelo para relacionar las variables de crecimiento en ventas, productividad por empleado, índice de capital intelectual, entre otras, con el nivel de uso e implantación de indicadores sobre capital intelectual. Los resultados evidencian que las empresas con mayores niveles de implantación de modelos de capital intelectual presentan mejores índices de productividad, crecimiento en ventas y eficiencia del capital intelectual, es decir, mayor creación de valor.Por otra parte, en una colaboración interinstitucional, el investigador independiente Giuseppe Vanoni, y el profesor Carlos Rodríguez, de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, suscriben el artículo titulado "Estrategias de crecimiento implementadas por los grupos económicos del Ecuador (2007-2016)", con la que se pretende identificar las estrategias de crecimiento de 132 grupos económicos en el Ecuador, durante el periodo señalado. Luego de una importante revisión de la literatura y de la definición conceptual de "grupo económico" y de "estrategia de crecimiento", el trabajo empírico muestra que prevalece una estrategia de concentración, basada en la especialización. Se concluye que los grupos económicos en Ecuador son pertenecientes a familias concretas. La estabilidad que vivió el país en los años del estudio influyó en la estrategia de concentración por especialización de los grupos económicos.La sección de Marketing del presente número de INNOVAR está conformada por cuatro artículos.Los investigadores brasileños Celso Ximenes y Josemeire Alves, y los profesores Gabriel Aguiar, Facultade Mauricio de Nassau, y Danielle Miranda de Oliveira, de la Universi-dade Estadual do Ceará, en Fortaleza-Brasil, participan con el trabajo "Resolveram meu problema, porém nao compro mais! Por que os consumidores nao desejam voltar a fazer negócios com Lojas Virtuais? El trabajo se planteó como objetivo comprender los motivos que llevan a los consumidores online a no realizar nuevas compras, cuando tuvieron problemas en el proceso, pese a que tales problemas hubiesen sido resueltos. Desde un enfoque cualitativo, con base en 200 quejas de cuatro empresas que venden sus productos en Internet, se realizó un trabajo descriptivo y cualitativo que permitió categorizar los posibles problemas y las soluciones desplegadas por las empresas. Los consumidores expresan su voluntad de no realizar otra compra con la misma empresa por problemas logísticos, demora en resolución del problema y demora en la atención de la queja.De la Universidad de Sevilla, España, los profesores Carlos Javier Rodríguez y Encarnación Ramos aportan a esta edición el artículo titulado "Influencia de la religiosidad y la espiritualidad en el comportamiento ético del consumidor". El objetivo de la investigación es analizar el comportamiento ético del consumidor, para lo que realiza un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales que relaciona las escalas de religiosidad y espiritualidad, y que contrasta los resultados de 286 encuestas realizadas a ciudadanos españoles. La investigación implicó redimensionar la Consumer Ethics Scale, con base en los resultados encontrados en la literatura y con el propósito de ajuste perseguido en el trabajo. Se concluye el artículo presentando evidencia de la existencia de una relación entre la religiosidad-espiritualidad y el comportamiento ético del consumidor.Los profesores Alejandro Tapia, vinculado a la Universidad Loyola de Andalucía, y Elena Martín Guerra, de la Universidad de Valladolid, ambas instituciones en España, son los autores de "Neurociencia y publicidad. Un experimento sobre atención y emoción en publicidad televisiva". El artículo presenta los resultados de un experimento en neuro-ciencia, aplicado a la publicidad. El propósito era estudiar cómo la atención y la generación de respuesta emocional influyen en el recuerdo de una cuña publicitaria (spot) en televisión. El experimento se desarrolló con un grupo de 30 estudiantes de entre 18 y 22 años, que fueron expuestos a cuñas publicitarias de la Universidad de Valladolid. Los resultados muestran que existen condiciones importantes que impactan en la atención y la emoción hacia los spots, tanto positiva como negativamente, entre ellos, el contenido cómico, el idioma, la fuerza del sonido, la presencia de contenidos negativos y tristes, entre otros.Desde el Centro Universitario de Ciencias Económico-Administrativas, de la Universidad de Guadalajara, México, los profesores José Sánchez, Guillermo Vázquez y Juan Me-jía suscriben el trabajo "La mercadotecnia y los elementos que influyen en la competitividad de las mipymes comerciales en Guadalajara, México". El artículo busca establecer la correlación que existe entre los diferentes factores clave de mercadotecnia que impactan en las micro, medianas y pequeñas empresas de prendas de vestir en Guadalajara, México. A partir de un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, se establecieron como factores clave las estrategias, el conocimiento y la planeación, todos de mercadotecnia, como variables determinantes de la competitividad de la mipyme. Para el trabajo empírico, se usa una muestra de 380 empresas del sector de prendas de vestir al menudeo. Los resultados verifican que existe una correlación positiva y significativa entre los factores clave de marketing y la competitividad, por lo que resultan determinantes para estas empresas, consideradas por muchos como el eslabón más débil de la economía mexicana.La sección de Factor Humano recoge dos trabajos, resultado de procesos de investigación.Publicamos el artículo titulado "Subjetividad y poder en la organización empresarial: un estudio de caso", de la profesora de la Universidad del Valle, Colombia, Adriana Valencia Espinosa, y que fue una de las mejores ponencias presentadas en el Primer Congreso Internacional de Gestión de las Organizaciones, realizado en la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. El objetivo del trabajo de investigación fue comprender la incidencia de la organización empresarial en la subjetividad de los empleados, enfatizando en las implicaciones de la ruptura laboral (la finalización del contrato). El estudio de caso se realiza en una reconocida empresa del Valle del Cauca, dedicada, entre otros negocios, a la impresión masiva y los procesos editoriales. Se abordan relatos de participantes clave, trabajadores que vivieron rupturas laborales con la empresa. El artículo identifica algunos dispositivos desplegados por la organización en el proceso de creación de sentido y producción de significado que moviliza la subjetividad.De los profesores Matias Ginieis, María Victoria Sánchez y Fernando Campa, de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili, España, en esta edición se publica el artículo "¿Cuánto cuesta el personal según el tipo de aerolínea y su ubicación geográfica en Europa? Un análisis comparativo". La investigación se planteó establecer la relación existente entre los costos por empleado, los tipos de aerolíneas (tradicionales y de bajo costo) y las diferentes zonas geográficas de ubicación en Europa en que están domiciliadas las aerolíneas (Europa occidental, Europa del este, Reino Unido y países nórdicos). Se estudiaron 152 compañías áreas, en el periodo comprendido entre el 2008 y el 2013. A partir de pruebas estadísticas de correlación, se estableció que no hay una relación entre el tipo de aerolínea y el costo del personal.Finalmente, la sección de Ética Empresarial para este número de INNOVAR recoge un artículo de investigación.Desde la Universidad de Zaragoza, España, los profesores Francisco José López y Ana Bellosta aportan el trabajo "Corporate Social Responsibility and Good Corporate Governance Practices in Spanish Ethical Mutual Funds: Analysis of Investee Companies". El artículo analiza los tipos de compañías que conforman el portafolio de los fondos mutuos de inversión ética españoles, caracterizando tales empresas desde el modelo de Gobierno corporativo que siguen, su estructura organizacional y algunas de sus variables económicas y financieras. Se presentan y evalúan diferentes modelos de Gobierno corporativo de las empresas en que se invierte y su relación con variables financieras. Los resultados muestran que las empresas que siguen un modelo de gobierno corporativo alemán son las preferidas por los fondos mutuos de inversión ética, seguidas de las empresas con modelos de Gobierno corporativo anglosajones. Es decir, a los fondos mutuos de inversión ética les interesa que las empresas en que invierten incluyan diferentes grupos de interés en sus procesos de gobernanza.Confiamos en que estos trabajos resulten de interés para la comunidad académica en ciencias sociales y administrativas a nivel nacional e internacional.

Unlike a lot of other taxes value-added tax (VAT) has an impact on most people, who are either tax bearers or taxpayers. Taxation should be considered the sign of independence of the state. Taxation is also a part of the general fiscal and economic policy of the state. Tax collection into the state budget makes it possible to fund public expenditures and redistribute income. Taxation forms an economic measure as well. It can be used to affect consumption, increase saving and develop the structure of the business sector. Knowing the principles of taxation is an essential factor in expanding entrepreneurship. As to taxation, the legislation in Estonia does not provide the agreements with tax authorities and the neglect of the taxation conditions may cause irrecoverable loss to the economic agents. Tax policy makes it possible to influence the welfare of different social groups. Tax application can bring about essential social differentiation, but its purposeful and rational application, which is based on comprehensive studies, may relieve it. The aim of the present paper is to study the value added tax, one of the bestregulated taxes in the European Union, and some practical aspects and problems of its imposition in Estonia. The paper as a whole is innovative as it includes a survey of the history of VAT, the analysis of the terminology and most essential problems in imposing the VAT and the methodology used in making special arrangements. The paper also comprises formulas devised by the author and combined into integrated computing methods. These methods are used for calculating VAT in travelling services special arrangements. The novelty of the current paper is emphasized by the analysis made by the author concerning the possibility of VAT rate reduction for food and non-alcoholic beverages and its impact on the household welfare in Estonia. The current paper is compiled as textbook – monograph. In order to perform the analysis, the author has set the following objectives: • study the theoretical basis of taxation and consumer taxes and the historic development of VAT imposition; • analyse the terminology used in VAT Act and some practical problems in imposing the VAT; • analyse the impact of a decrease in the VAT rate on the household welfare. The present paper analyses the history of VAT as a general consumption tax in two different economic regions in the world — in the United States of America and the European Union. The author of the paper has also analysed different factors that have an essential impact on taxation. The concurrence of political decisions and legislative acts on the taxation policy as well as on the taxpayer's well-being was under observation. The paper presents an analysis of the changes induced by VAT reduction on the income of the households as compared to alternative variants. As an alternative, the impact of an increase in the basic exemption on the household income has been studied. The paper has a practical value for the standpoints presented in the paper are not restricted only to the explanations in the problematic areas but offer a practical solution as well. Practical problems are illustrated with explanatory drawings and examples, which make it possible to get a consistent overview of the principles handled. Opinions of recognised experts and researchers on VAT have been taken into account when compiling the paper. Legislative acts regulating the application of VAT or having an essential importance in its application have been looked into. In order to draw up the comparative and empirical analyses, data on the structure of household expenditures from Estonian Statistical Office, United Kingdom Government Statistical Service, Latvian State Statistical Bureau and the Lithuanian Department of Statistics were studied. In order to achieve the objectives set the following steps have been taken: 1. the theoretical basis of taxation in general and consumption taxes was studied; 2. the history of VAT and the reasons that influenced its application or its deferment were looked into; 3. the terminology used for VAT, as well as the practical problems of VAT levy were analysed; 4. the impact of a decrease in VAT reduction and an increase in the basic exemption on the well-being of households was analysed. There are three chapters on this paper Chapter I of the thesis gives an overview of taxation as a sign of an independent state and a part of general economic policy. The overview mostly draws upon taxational and legislative acts regulating taxation and standpoints of taxation experts and researchers. It also expands on the history of VAT imposition in two different economic regions –the United States of America and the European Union. It is analysed why VAT in the given region has been levied or its imposition has been postponed. Chapter II concentrates on the terminological analysis and on solving some practical problems concerning the VAT. Terminological analysis mostly elaborates on the necessity to rename the name of the VAT and Value-Added Tax Act valid in Estonia at present (käibemaks and käibemaksuseadus, respectively) pursuant to the taxation principles derived from the conception of added value. When studying the problems concerning VAT imposition the author of the present paper has paid attention to the bottlenecks encountered in practice. The paper also provides explanations to preclude causes of its origin in the future. In Chapter III the author has studied the effect of tax reduction on the household income. In course of the study a comparative analysis was carried out where the pecuniary savings derived from tax reduction formed a basis for the analysis. As an alternative, pegging basic exemption to the bottom rate of gross earnings and its impact on the household income was studied. The brief summary of the conclusions is as follows: History. The taxation of consumption was first paid attention to in Europe in the 16th century. A counsellor to the Spanish king, Duke Alba, had an idea to levy a tax on the local commodity exchanging. In addition to the price, an obligatory sum was to be imposed on all goods that the vendor would transfer to the state (e.g. tenth penny tax). But such suggestions caused a riot among the people and were never put in practice. At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1918, the United States discussed the possibility of consumption tax introduction, but consumption was first taxed only in 1930s. The introduction of a common VAT system in the European Union can be explained by a number of reasons, which include: the harmonisation of indirect taxes and the avoidance of the cumulative effect of progressive taxes, guaranteeing independent taxation both in national level and between the member states, the formation of a common basis which forms a basis for pooling capital for the common budget. An essential factor that would disfigure the administration of the budget of the EU by the member states is the destination-based taxation of consumption valid at present. Pursuant to this principle those member states whose import of goods surpasses export have a heavier burden in implementing the budget. Transition to the 'country-of-origin' principle is very difficult because it would mean a substantial increase in the tax burden of exporting countries and smaller countries that import most of their commodities would lose an essential part of their present sales tax revenues. Harmonisation is still going on as a system for tax revenue payments satisfying all member states has not been worked out yet. Till then the relatively complicated and full of exceptions transitional provisions that are constantly being changed will be valid. The common value added tax imposed in the European Union as a consumption tax makes it possible for the member states to establish common rules, which might, in some cases, injure the interests of the member states. One of such example might be the imposition of common VAT from January 1, 2006. In the United States of America the most widespread consumption tax (in 45 states) is retail sales tax. The biggest industrial country in the world has not imposed VAT on the central governmental level. This can be explained by both political reasons and the federal system of government: • VAT imposed by the central government would restrict the member states in collecting sales tax • The levy of VAT may establish a new "money machine of the central government" that would make it possible for the central government to spend more money on governance and increase tax rates. Terminology and practical problems The term 'turnover tax' is misleading because turnover tax is a cumulative tax, whereas VAT is not a cumulative tax. The term should be harmonised with the principles of the tax. It is also necessary to harmonise the terminology applied in legislation with the actual content of the term. 'Turnover' tax should be renamed value added tax, in short VAT. Opposition to the change in the name of the tax is not justified. David Williams, a Professor at the London University, seeing the rapid development of the VAT suggested already in 1996 for the states imposing VAT that they should harmonise the term with the concept of the tax. When talking about taxation objects, the term 'turnover' cannot be interpreted as an alienation transaction. In case of VAT 'turnover' can be interpreted as a result of an action or a deed. It can be the thing or the value that is taxed. The term 'turnover' in the form of a VAT differs from the revenue from sales applied in accounting. The objects of VAT are not transactions but the passing of a good in the process of transaction. Professor Williams acknowledges that naming the transaction VAT has caused several problems. In English the word «supply» is used. Its translation into Estonian, when bearing in mind VAT would be 'tarne' (supply, delivery) which quite often does not foresee passage of ownership or title. The moment of delivery marks the moment of handing over the goods. In sense of VAT the sale of basic assets and other irregular transactions that the accounting office handles as sundries may qualify as turnover.There are two foundations that determine the time for the formation of turnover and rendering a service: • dispatch of goods, providing a service • total or partial payment for the goods or services. Time for "intra-community supply" and "intra-community acquisition" differs from the principles mentioned above because intra-community supply and acquisition are considered being originated on the 15th of the month following the dispatch or arrival of the goods or services, or on the date the invoice was issued, if it the latter was performed earlier than the 15th. In this case there are two criteria for determining the time for turnover generation: • dispatch of goods • or issue of the invoice. In practice, the date on which the invoice was issued should form the basis for the determination of the intra-community turnover generation. The invoice should be issued within seven days from the dispatch of goods. Dispatch of goods and rendering them accessible will form a basis on the occasion only when the invoice has not been issued by the 15th of the following months. Tax levied on travelling service as a special arrangement is quite new in Estonia and the common methodology in some aspects is still being elaborated on. Special arrangements in the taxation of travelling services are imposed on the end-customers Following the principles of special arrangements the turnover of the travel agencies offering the service is only the add-on percentage or marginal of the price the travel agency has added to the goods or services when reselling to the traveller. The author of the present paper has explained the main principles in the introduction of the special arrangements and given guidelines and formulas devised by the author for the application of integrated computing methods. The impact of the VAT reduction on the household welfare In order to examine the impact of the VAT rate reduction for food and nonalcoholic beverages on the household income the author of the paper has carried out current analysis in two stages. In the first stage the author has examined which would be an alternative variant that would influence the most households in Estonia if amendments are made in income tax. In the 130 second stage the result of first stage is compared with the expected result of the VAT rate reduction for food and non-alcoholic beverages. The author of current paper is on opinion that the VAT rate reduction for food and non-alcoholic beverages in Estonia is not argumented when alternative variants are applied. The author finds that one of the possible alternatives could be binding the basic exemption in Estonia with the minimum gross wage established by Estonian government. In addition to the application of alternative variants there are other counterarguments to the reduction of VAT on foodstuffs: • the proportional expenditure on foodstuffs in the household consumption expenditures would decrease; • the consumption expenditures structure in the household would change and the relative importance of foodstuffs in the total consumption expenditures would decrease; • the VAT underpayment to the government budget brought about by a decrease in the VAT rate imposed on foodstuffs in the essential part would remain for the retail sales to cover. The reduction of VAT rate on foodstuffs could be considered when alternative variants cannot be applied. The topicality of the problem might increase when in connection with the introduction of the Sixth Council Directive of 17 May 1977 in the Member States the VAT rate in Estonia would increase. The author of the present paper is on an opinion that he has achieved the set objectives and solved the questions raised.

Introduction: Never before in history has global demand for energy been stronger than today. While exhaustible resources such as oil, gas, and coal are expected to remain the world's primary basis of energy generation in the near future, alternative resources like biomass, solar, or wind energy are predicted to grow significantly in importance (e.g. International Energy Agency, 2009). The strong global energy demand, together with rising costs of finding and exploiting fossil fuels, has contributed to a considerable increase in public awareness for the energy supply issue in recent years, and thus also to an acceleration of the investments and developments in the field of alternative resources. Yet, in order to achieve a fundamental shift away from exhaustible resources on a long-term basis, creative innovations and new technology solutions for renewable energy production are vital. The basis for the successful development and commercialisation of such new technologies is effective research and development (RD) work by companies, universities, and other organisations. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) take on a special role in this respect. The majority of European companies are SMEs if measured by the EU criteria (EC DG Research Communication Unit, 2010a, p. 6), that is, they have less than 250 employees, and an annual turnover and/or balance sheet total lower than EUR 50 million and/or EUR 43 million, respectively. The large number of SMEs in Europe implies that there is a high diversity, and thus also a vast potential for innovation, in these organisations. Nevertheless, in most countries, including Switzerland, the bulk of research in the private sector is undertaken by larger businesses. In Switzerland, RD by SMEs (SFSO definition, i.e. firms with less than 100 employees) accounted for only 16% of total in-house RD spending in 2008, although some 99% of Swiss companies are categorised as SMEs (SFSO, 2010, p. 9). In addition, many smaller companies do not engage in RD at all, as they simply do not possess the necessary resources. These facts lead to a situation where much potential for innovation in smaller firms remains unused. Providing SMEs with the opportunity to engage in publicly funded RD projects offers one way to tap into this potential for innovation that would otherwise continue to lie idle, and is therefore highly reasonable from a policy point of view. At the same time, participation in such projects potentially also has a number of positive impacts on the SMEs involved. The latter is the focus of this thesis, which concentrates on the participation of Swiss SMEs in the field of renewable energy in publicly funded RD projects. As such, this thesis is concerned with the company point of view rather than the policy perspective. In general, a large number of RD funding programmes exist nationally in Switzerland and at the European level with opportunities for SMEs to participate (examples in the field of renewable energy will be introduced in this thesis). Yet, reviews of funding programmes reveal that SME participation is frequently lower than desired. This gives rise to three central questions: (i) How important is participation in a funded project for the involved SMEs in terms of the benefits they can gain from participating, (ii) What do companies which took part say about their participation, and (iii) What are the main barriers to participation? Based on these broad questions, the main goal of this thesis is to shed light on three major points: (i) the influence of SMEs' participation in a publicly funded research project on their competitiveness, (ii) the companies' evaluation of various aspects of their participation, and (iii) the reasons for non-participation of SMEs. To this end, the report starts with a brief review of major theories on firm competitiveness in chapter 2, with a special focus on resource-based perspectives of the firm. The empirical findings of this research project are later discussed in the light of these concepts. The thesis then continues with a presentation of selected national and EU funding programmes suitable for Swiss SMEs in the field of renewable energy in chapters 3 and 4. Here the aim is to identify the programmes' central goals and funded activities in order to derive a list of benefits that companies can potentially gain from participation. The most important benefits are then summarised in chapter 5, together with a list of barriers to participation. These findings form the basis of the primary research undertaken within the scope of this thesis, which in turn investigates the research questions through an online company survey on the one hand, and expert interviews with representatives of funding bodies on the other. Finally, in chapters 8 and 9 the findings from the literature review and the empirical section are contrasted and analysed, conclusions are drawn, and recommendations for SMEs are provided.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: AbstractII AcknowledgementsIIV List of tables and figuresVII List of abbreviationsVIII 1.Introduction1 2.Review of selected theories on firm competitiveness4 2.1General aspects4 2.2Industrial organisation view5 2.3Resource-based view of the firm6 2.4Dynamic capabilities8 2.5Knowledge-based view of the firm9 3.RD funding in Switzerland10 3.1General aspects10 3.1.1Switzerland as a research location10 3.1.2Relevant Swiss research promoting institutions11 3.1.3SME specific issues13 3.2Funding programmes of the SFOE14 3.2.1Hydropower research15 3.2.2Biomass and Wood energy research16 3.2.3Photovoltaics research17 3.2.4Solar heat and heat storage research18 3.2.5Wind energy research19 3.2.6Heat pumping technologies, cogeneration, refrigeration research20 3.2.7Indirect support of geothermal energy21 3.3Funding by the CTI22 3.3.1RD projects22 3.3.2The CTI 'Innovationsscheck'23 3.3.3Feasibility studies23 4.RD funding at the European level24 4.1General aspects24 4.1.1Europe as a research location24 4.1.2Relevant EU research promoting instruments24 4.1.3SME specific issues26 4.27th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development27 4.2.1FP7-Cooperation-ENERGY30 4.2.2FP7-Cooperation-ENVIRONMENT31 4.2.3FP7-Capacities-Research for the benefit of SMEs32 4.3EUREKA33 4.4EUREKA Eurostars33 5.Potential benefits of and barriers to participation for SMEs36 5.1Benefits36 5.1.1Reduced time-to-market for a product36 5.1.2Outsourcing of RD37 5.1.3Financing a demonstration or prototype project37 5.1.4Acquiring intellectual property rights38 5.1.5Accessing new technological know-how38 5.1.6Expanding the company network39 5.1.7Enhanced company reputation and visibility39 5.1.8Economic impacts40 5.2Barriers40 6.Research methodology42 6.1Research questions and hypotheses42 6.2Quantitative research (company survey)44 6.2.1Sampling approach44 6.2.2Collaboration with external organisations46 6.2.3Questionnaire and survey implementation48 6.3Qualitative research (expert interviews with funding bodies)50 6.4Data analysis51 7.Research findings52 7.1Response rate52 7.2Previous participation vs. non-participation53 7.3Companies with previous participation53 7.3.1Funding bodies used53 7.3.2Benefits gained from participation55 7.3.3Companies' evaluation of their participation57 7.4Companies without previous participation65 8.Discussion of research findings67 8.1Companies with previous participation67 8.1.1Funding bodies used67 8.1.2Benefits gained from participation68 8.1.3Companies' evaluation of their participation73 8.2Companies without previous participation75 9.Conclusion and recommendations77 List of references82 Glossary of terms91 Appendices93 Appendix 1: German names of Swiss government bodies93 Appendix 2: Questionnaire of the survey (original)94 Appendix 3: Questionnaire of the survey (translation)100 Appendix 4: Covering letter of the survey102 Appendix 5: First reminder of the survey103 Appendix 6: Second reminder of the survey104 Appendix 7: Selected answers to question 7 (original and translation)105 Appendix 8: Additional answers to question 8 (original and translation)108 Appendix 9: Selected answers to question 9 (original and translation)110Textprobe:Text Sample: Chapter 3.3, Funding by the CTI: 3.3.1, RD projects: The CTI, the Swiss Confederation's Innovation Promotion Agency, has been providing funds for RD and innovation projects to promote the exchange of knowledge between companies and academia for about 60 years. With a budget of CHF 532 million between 2008 and 2011, the CTI mainly co-finances market-oriented projects with a clear goal to develop products or services, and is therefore one of the most important funding institutions for Swiss SMEs. Besides facilitating projects within Switzerland, the CTI also supports companies' efforts to join international research projects. As mentioned in chapter 3.1.2, contrary to the SFOE programmes where companies can also receive direct financial support, CTI funds are entirely used for the financing of the RTD provider's research services. In this way, the involved companies – primarily SMEs with limited RD budgets – have the possibility of outsourcing research activities without additional costs. This, in turn, enables them to benefit from academic know-how while focusing their resources on their own core capabilities, which usually results in a significant reduction in the time-to-market (TTM) for innovations. CTI funding follows a bottom-up approach and is open to all research areas that create scientific innovations and economic impact. As such, innovative potential and economic impact are also the central funding criteria. The CTI support generally covers 50% of the project costs. Besides RD project financing, two other support measures are of particular relevance for the topic of this thesis: the CTI 'Innovationsscheck' and feasibility studies. 3.3.2, The CTI 'Innovationsscheck': The first edition of the CTI 'Innovationsscheck' ('innovation cheque') initiative was launched in 2009 as a CHF 1 million pilot project that offers SMEs, in all areas of technology, a 'cheque' of up to CHF 7,500 for RD services of research institutions such as universities. The initiative specifically addresses SMEs without prior experience in science-based innovation projects and aims at encouraging them to start working with universities or research centres. Demand during the first round of the initiative exceeded supply, and as a result the initiative is currently being repeated. Participation in the second edition is exclusively reserved for SMEs active in the area of Cleantech (i.e. industries and services that preserve and maintain natural resources and systems), which can be described as unusual for the CTI, since funding by this government agency is usually not limited to a specific topic area. 3.3.3, Feasibility studies: With a maximum contribution of CHF 100,000 per project, the CTI also offers support for feasibility studies that take less than one year to complete. The goal is to assist companies in assessing whether their idea for an innovation has a realistic chance of success and in which time frame. Feasibility studies may therefore substantially decrease the involved risk for the company and help to avoid misdirected investments that fail to deliver the expected results. CTI funding rates for this support measure are more flexible than for standard projects and can be adapted to the specific situation of the company. The business partner is obliged to actively participate in the study and must be involved in the actual project after feasibility has been confirmed. 4, RD funding at the European level: 4.1, General aspects: 4.1.1, Europe as a research location: Although Europe as a whole is a well-established research location and host to a large number of top-level universities, research institutions, and innovative companies, the EU also faces major challenges in this respect, such as insufficient coordination of research policies and increasing global competition for talent. Over the last few years, progress has been made towards improving the situation, most notably through the common objective to formally establish a European Research Area (ERA) that aims at the creation of a '[...] European 'internal market' for research, where researchers, technology and knowledge freely circulate [...]'. The EU's total RD spending (i.e. including the private sector) was at 1.84% of GDP in 2006. As such, the Union was still far off the self-imposed 3% target defined by the Lisbon Strategy and to be reached by 2010, and lags behind other areas of the world, such as the U.S. or Asia. In 2006, Japan invested 3.39%, South Korea 3.23% and the U.S. 2.61% of their GDP in research activities. With regard to the distribution of RD spending between the public and private sectors, the EU's objective is to reach a total of two thirds of RD expenditure being raised by the business sector. By 2005, this figure was at 54.6%.

L'articolo non vuole affrontare il più vasto tema di "fascismo e biblioteche", la politica bibliotecaria e le realizzazioni del ventennio in questo campo, ma si propone lo scopo di iniziare una ricostruzione della presenza e delle posizioni dei bibliotecari in questa fase della storia della società italiana. Il periodo fascista è un periodo di modernizzazione tecnica delle biblioteche italiane ma anche di irrigidimento del sistema bibliotecario italiano. Nasce in questo periodo una rappresentanza professionale dei bibliotecari (l'Associazione dei bibliotecari italiani, nel 1930) e qualche anno prima era stato costituito un vertice amministrativo (la Direzione generale delle accademie e biblioteche, nata nel 1926 e rimasta sostanzialmente la stessa fino ad oggi) che agiva come filtro fra la politica e la professione.La presa del fascismo tra i bibliotecari italiani, negli anni intorno alla Marcia su Roma, è molto limitata. Molti liberali considerarono il fascismo come un "male minore" rispetto alle tensioni sociali del 1919-1920, ma sono pochissimi e di scarsa importanza i bibliotecari che aderirono al fascismo prima della Marcia su Roma, come il conte Giuseppe Lando Passerini (1858-1932), bibliotecario alla Nazionale di Firenze e alla Laurenziana, o Antonio Toschi, bibliotecario a Bologna. Nessuna personalità importante del mondo delle biblioteche aderì al Manifesto degli intellettuali del fascismo (1925) scritto da Giovanni Gentile; pochi sono anche gli aderenti alla risposta preparata da Benedetto Croce, ma fra questi troviamo Emidio Martini, direttore della Biblioteca nazionale di Napoli in pensione.Tra gli esponenti del Partito Fascista troviamo alcuni direttori di biblioteca, come Italo Lunelli (1891-1960) direttore della Biblioteca comunale di Trento e Leonardo D'Addabbo (1893-1958) direttore della Biblioteca consorziale di Bari, che però non ebbero un ruolo significativo nella professione. Il personaggio più interessante è Piero Zama (1886-1984), fondatore del Partito fascista a Faenza e direttore della Biblioteca comunale della città dal 1920 al 1957. Zama però si staccò dal fascismo per il suo carattere reazionario e venne poi perseguitato.Le biblioteche furono spesso, invece, dei rifugi relativamente tranquilli per le persone contrarie al Fascismo. Alla Biblioteca Vaticana lavorarono Gerardo Bruni (1896-1975) e Igino Giordani (1894-1980), che avevano collaborato con don Sturzo nel Partito popolare e che furono mandati dalla Biblioteca a studiare biblioteconomia in America, nel 1927. Più tardi lavorò alla Vaticana anche Alcide De Gasperi, presidente del Consiglio dopo la Liberazione. Nelle biblioteche statali venivano spesso destinati insegnanti di liceo e professoni universitari antifascisti che il Regime voleva togliere dall'insegnamento: per esempio Bianca Ceva ed Elena Valla alla Biblioteca nazionale di Milano, il filosofo Giuseppe Rensi alla Biblioteca universitaria di Genova e Pilo Albertelli (1907-1944), eroe della Resistenza, alla Biblioteca nazionale di Roma.Nel periodo fascista venne costituita, dopo il Congresso mondiale delle biblioteche e di bibliografia tenuto nel 1929 a Roma e Venezia, l'Associazione dei bibliotecari italiani (dal 1932 Associazione italiana per le biblioteche), controllata dal Ministero dell'educazione nazionale ma indipendente dal Partito. Il Partito fascista costituì una propria Sezione Bibliotecari nell'Associazione fascista del pubblico impiego e poi nell'Associazione fascista della scuola: queste associazioni ebbero larghe adesioni, per i vantaggi che offrivano, ma non svolsero attività significative nel campo delle biblioteche. La relativa autonomia dell'AIB dalla pressione del Fascismo fu resa possibile dal prestigio del presidente, l'uomo politico e professore Pier Silverio Leicht, e dalla Direzione generale delle accademie e biblioteche, che gestiva il settore delle biblioteche limitando per quanto possibile l'ingerenza politica e ideologica.I direttori delle biblioteche statali che non erano favorevoli al fascismo restarono di solito ai loro posti, ma negli anni Trenta la tessera del Partito nazionale fascista diventò necessaria per i funzionari dello Stato e alcuni bibliotecari antifascisti vennero destituiti, come Pietro Zorzanello dalla Biblioteca Palatina di Parma nel 1934 e Anita Mondolfo dalla Biblioteca nazionale di Firenze nel 1937. Nel 1938 vennero licenziati dallo Stato i bibliotecari ebrei. Parecchi bibliotecari antifascisti preferirono prendere la tessera del PNF e rimanere ai propri posti, dove potevano operare per le biblioteche e, dalla fine degli anni Trenta, per la loro protezione dai rischi e dai danni della guerra.Dal 1934 nei congressi dell'Associazione italiana biblioteche diventò obbligatorio portare la camicia nera, divisa del Partito fascista, ma le fotografie della sala del convegno nel 1934 e nel 1940 mostrano che solo pochi bibliotecari la indossavano, o indossavano l'uniforme degli impiegati dello Stato introdotta nel 1938, mentre la maggioranza continuava a indossare i propri abiti borghesi. La fascistizzazione del mondo delle biblioteche fu soprattutto burocratica e rituale, imposta dall'esterno ma limitata ai discorsi ufficiali nei congressi e sulla rivista del Ministero, non incise in maniera rilevante sulla cultura dei bibliotecari, che cercarono di contrastarla in maniera coperta o di ignorarla. ; The article does not try to deal with the more extensive theme of "fascism and libraries", library policy and the achievements of the fascist regime in this field, but aims at a understanding of the presence and positions of librarians in this stage of the history of Italian society. The fascist period is one of technical modernization of Italian libraries but also of fixation of the Italian library system. This period sees the birth, in 1930, of a professional representation of librarians (the Association of Italian librarians), and a few years earlier of a top government unit, the General Direction of Academies and Libraries (established in 1926 and still basically the same to this day), that acted as a filter between politics and the profession. The grasp of fascism among Italian librarians, in the years around the March on Rome (1922), was very limited. Many liberals considered fascism as a "lesser evil" with respect to the social tensions of 1919-1920, but the librarians who supported fascism before the March on Rome were few and of little importance. Among these were count Giuseppe Lando Passerini (1858-1932), librarian at the National Library of Florence and at the Laurenziana, and Antonio Toschi, librarian in Bologna. Not one important personality of the library world supported the Manifesto of the intellectuals of fascism (1925) written by Giovanni Gentile; few were also the supporters of the reply drafted by Benedetto Croce, but among these we find Emidio Martini, retired director of the National Library of Naples.Among the exponents of the Fascist Party we find some library administrators, such as Italo Lunelli (1891-1960) director of the Public Library of Trent and Leonardo D'Addabbo (1893-1958) director of the Consortium Library of Bari, who however did not have a significant role in the profession. The most interesting personality is Piero Zama (1886-1984), founder of the Fascist Party in Faenza and director of the Municipal Library of the city from 1920 to 1957. Zama, however, abandoned fascism because of his reactionary evolution and was subsequently persecuted.Libraries were often a sort of hideout for those contrary to fascism. Gerardo Bruni (1896-1975) and Igino Giordani (1894-1980), who had worked with don Sturzo in the Popular Party, were sent by the Vatican Library to study librarianship in America, in 1927, and later also Alcide De Gasperi, president of the Council of Ministers after the Liberation, worked in the Vatican Library. Anti-fascist high school teachers and university professors that the regime wanted to remove from teaching were often destined to state libraries: for example Bianca Ceva and Elena Valla to the National Library of Milan, the philosopher Giuseppe Rensi to the University Library of Genoa and Pilo Albertelli, Resistance hero, to the National Library of Rome.After the World Congress of Libraries and Bibliography held in Rome and Venice in 1929, the Association of Italian Librarians (from 1932 the Italian Association for Libraries, AIB) was founded, under the control of the Minister for National Education but independent of the Fascist Party. The Fascist Party formed its own Librarians' Section in the Fascist Association of Civil Servants and later in the Fascist School Association: these Associations were widely supported, due to the advantages that they offered, but they carried out no significant activities in the library field. The relative independence of the AIB from the pressure of Fascism was made possible through the prestige of its president, the politician and professor Pier Silverio Leicht, and through the General Direction of Academies and Libraries, that controlled the library sector and limited as much as possible any political and ideological interference.The directors of state libraries who were not in favour of fascism usually remained in their positions, but in the 1930s the membership card of the National Fascist party became necessary for civil servants and some anti-fascist librarians lost their posts. Among these were Pietro Zorzanello, director of the Palatine Library of Parma, in 1934 and Anita Mondolfo, director of the National Library of Florence, in 1937. Jewish librarians were dismissed by the State in 1938. Many anti-fascist librarians preferred to take out a membership card of the National Fascist Party and remain in their positions, where they were able to work for libraries and, from the end of the 1930s, for their protection from the risks and dangers of the war.From 1934 it became obligatory to wear a black shirt, the uniform of the Fascist Party, in the national conferences of the Italian Library Association, but photographs of the convention hall in 1934 and 1940 show that only a few librarians wore it. A number wore the uniform of the civil service, introduced in 1938, but the majority continued to wear their own civilian clothes. The fascistization of the library world was above all bureaucratic and ritual, imposed from the outside but limited to official speeches in congresses and on the Ministry journal. It did not leave much of a mark on the culture of the librarians, who sought to counter it in a veiled manner or at least to ignore it.

Abstract
This long Voluntaristics Review2 (VR 3.5–6) article and book focuses on the deviant form of Nonprofit Groups (NPGs), mainly volunteer-based associations, but occasionally paid-staff-based nonprofit agencies. A Deviant Nonprofit Group (DNG) is defined as "a Nonprofit group that deviates significantly from certain moral norms of the society" (Smith, Stebbins, & Dover, 2006, p. 68). The aim is to develop and present an empirically grounded theory with eighty-three hypotheses about many of the key analytical features or operational characteristics of DNGs, usually voluntary associations with memberships and often run by volunteers, not nonprofit agencies without memberships and usually run by paid staff (Smith, 2017a).
The total theory may be termed a Grounded General Theory of DNG Operation-Structure. The document is based on an extensive review and qualitative content analysis of about 260 published research documents representing twenty-five common-language purposive-goal types of DNGs (vs. analytical-theoretical types, which do not exist in detail). Moral norms are the broad, emotionally charged directives concerning what is customarily right and wrong, by which members of a community or society implement their institutionalized solutions to problems significantly affecting their valued normal way of life (see Stebbins, 1996, pp. 2–3). These norms indicate in a general way what the community (it may be local, regional, national, or international) expects by sociocultural custom of its members in particular areas of social life and what it considers rejections of those expectations. Thus, moral norms stand apart from other kinds of expectations such as ordinances, regulations, customs, and folkways in general.
Deviating (near synonym: deviance) is defined as rule-breaking, and sometimes is a crime in a specific society at a specific time in its history, but not always. Such deviation, deviance, or rule-breaking of specific actions by a DNG (or any individual or group) is highly variable both through historical time in a given society and also across societies or nations at a given historical time (Smith, 2017b). Deviance or rule-breaking is present in the nonprofit sector (NPS), just as in all other sectors of human society (Smith, 2017a), although less frequently studied in the NPS than for other societal sectors (Smith, 2011).
Essentially, this present document attempts to bring some systematic theoretical order to the disorder-chaos of a highly varied set of Deviant Nonprofit Groups/DNGs that heretofore has been seen as composed of disparate, unrelated types of groups—a jumble or chaos. All these DNGs are rather consistently alleged (at least initially) by many or even most people in their societies of origin, when known to non-members-outsiders, to be different, strange, deviant, crazy, insane, mad, dangerous, sick, selfish, cruel, stupid, weird, wild, evil, ungodly, sinful, unnatural, treacherous, subversive, seditious, criminal, bad, evil, immoral, and so on. Summarizing briefly the most stigmatizing epithets for nearly all DNG types studied here, DNGs and their leaders and members generally are often accused of madness-treason-immorality, because their perceived deviance is emotionally troubling to conventional adults in the society.
As such, in the eyes of their own society, DNGs are often stigmatized and labeled very negatively by many, often most, people in a given society who are DNG outsiders-non-members at a given time (e.g., a period of at least ten years from the DNG's de facto origin date, if the DNG existed for that long, sometimes for much longer). A wide range of negative terms (epithets) may be used to describe a DNG, summarized here as mad (crazy)-treacherous-immoral, as well as various other negative traits or factors being alleged regarding the DNG and its leaders and/or members.
Yet there is often little systematic evidence for these stigmatizing epithets or negative traits alleged about DNGs, except for a few DNG types (e.g., Revolutionary DNGs, Terrorist DNGs, Guerrilla DNGs, Coup d'État DNGs). This common lack of concrete evidence for stigmatizing statements about any given DNG suggests that the allegations are mainly emotional statements, rather than factual statements, based mainly on fast-thinking (see Kahneman, 2011). By definition, DNGs and their leaders and members believe in and take actions that involve serious rule-breaking in their own society (i.e., violating current moral norms and rules). However, the stigmatizing of these beliefs and actions by non-members, including the general public and the government, is often much exaggerated, or even simply false. Over time, especially decades, the deviant actions may (and often do) tend to seem less and less serious in the given society, as societal-consensual definitions of social deviance can change and have done so markedly over historical time (e.g., Smith, 2018b; Winck, 1991).
However, the foregoing should not be taken to mean that all DNGs are innocuous. As suggested above, some DNG types can be immensely harmful to people and property, such as the revolutionary DNGs, terrorist DNGs, guerrilla DNGs, and coup d'etat DNGs noted. Yet other types of DNGs also sometimes do substantial harm, such as the rest of the broader DNG analytical category, Deviant Political Resistance & Liberation Groups, including also WWII Underground Nazi-Resistance Groups, Vigilante Groups, Citizen Militias/Paramilitary Groups, and Political Parties (Deviant). Similarly, the broader DNG analytical category, Deviant Anger & Violence Groups, includes DNG types that often cause serious harm—Hate Groups, Motorcycle Outlaw Gangs, and Delinquent Youth Gangs. Even some DNGs in the broader DNG analytical category of Deviant Religion & Worldview Groups, can do substantial harm—obviously, Massacre/Mass Suicide Groups, but also medieval Heresy Groups (Christian) subject to the Catholic Church's Inquisitions, as well as some Cults/New Religions (Deviant), Deviant Science DNGs, and some Sects (Deviant).
The author is doing something analogous to what the first systematic, theoretical botanist did when s/he went into the jungle/forest and tried to see commonalities among the great variety of apparently different forms of plants present there. Here, the equivalents of plants are the many different DNG types, and the commonalities discovered are now expressed in the many empirically grounded hypotheses formulated by the author over the course of this research effort, with the first fifty-one hypotheses formulated much earlier, in 1994, but not investigated regarding empirical support by qualitative content analysis until done here (Smith, 1996b).
These source documents were chosen as typical examples of a newly constructed set of twenty-five purposive or goal types of DNGs, described here. As the reader will see, the present grounded theory review and content analysis seeks the empirical operating methods and structures of these twenty-five DNG types—the method in their alleged madness-treason-immorality, or other stigmatizing epithets. The terms mad and madness are not meant as clinical or psychiatric terms; similarly, the terms treason and treachery are also used loosely, as with immorality or bad/evil. Instead, these are vague and imprecise, common language (vernacular) terms expressing negative emotion, bandied about carelessly and loosely when English-speakers really dislike and are disturbed by the beliefs and especially by the alleged or actual actions or a person or group. Such terms are ways that other people strongly disfavor and stigmatize certain beliefs, values, actions, or inactions by specific persons or groups.
In this content analysis process of much published research on DNGs, the author is seeking two useful scholarly outcomes:

Develop and derive meaningful generalizations as empirically grounded hypotheses for future more careful, systematic, and, if feasible, quantitative testing with a better sample of DNGs so as to build a body of valid grounded theory about DNGs.


Assess whether each such grounded theory hypothesis finds any empirical support in a fairly comprehensive but haphazard sample of at least 100 specific DNGs of twenty-five common-language purposive or goal types.



All of the grounded hypotheses developed and reported here in this review were supported by empirical evidence for at least one (often two) of the two or three specific DNGs of 25 DNG types studied, as described in source documents that were content analyzed. Indeed, all such hypotheses were supported by most of the twenty-five DNG
types studied, giving significant qualitative validity to the author's Grounded General Theory of DNG Operation-Structure. Such empirical support suggests that these hypotheses are valid at least sometimes for many DNG types and deserve further investigation, hopefully in more quantitative studies with better sampling of DNGs, countries, and historical time periods. Taken collectively, the many empirically grounded (supported) hypotheses of the present theory can be seen as a new theoretical paradigm for studying NPGs that helps bring analytical order to a previously chaotic realm of dark side or deviant NPS phenomena.

Human activity has been impacting marine ecosystems for millennia, and fishing is most often seen as the cause of overexploitation and depletion of marine biological resources (Myers and Worm 2003, Salomon 2009). There is a wealth of recent studies illustrating how our perception of pristine conditions in the seas and oceans has shifted over generations. This is referred to as 'Shifting Baselines'. A wide range of evidence about (pre) historical reference conditions and early baselines has increased the awareness on the limitations associated with the current scientific methods to determine appropriate reference conditions against which current targets for conservation and management are set, in particular for fisheries (Pinnegar and Engelhard 2008). It is acknowledged that environmental reference conditions and targets must strive to integrate all available and relevant data and information for improved assessments, including incorporating historical data into conservation and management frameworks (Pinnegar and Engelhard 2008, McClenachan et al. 2012). Historical data can contribute in explaining underlying cause-effect relations in changes in the ecosystems, potentially reveal information and knowledge from past conditions (Jackson et al. 2001), and help defining reference conditions and achievable targets for environmental management today. The present thesis focuses on quantitative data to extend the timeframe of current analyses on fisheries (landings, fleet dynamics, spatial dynamics, indexes of productivity of the fleet and impact of fishing) and on the reconstruction of historical timeseries to expand our knowledge on historical references for the Belgian sea fisheries. In achieving this, it intends to counter the concept of 'Shifting Baselines' applied to the Belgian Sea fisheries. The 'Historical Fisheries Database' (HiFiDatabase) is a product of this thesis. It is the result of a thorough search, rescue, inventory, standardization and integration of data for Belgium's sea fisheries that were not available before in the public domain or were not available before in the appropriate format for redistribution. It is documented and stored in the Marine Data Archive of Flanders Marine Institute and is freely available for end-users. It contains a unique and substantial collection of time series with standardized species names, reporting units, fishing areas and ports of landing (Lescrauwaet et al. 2010b). It is a 'living' product in the sense that new, relevant, quality-controlled time-series can be added as they are discovered or produced. Considering the relative size of the fleet, the short coastline and the limited number of fish auctions and fishing ports in Belgium, it is fair to say that the present reconstruction of Belgian sea fisheries depicts a relatively complete picture of historical volume, value and composition of landings, fleet dynamics, fishing effort and spatial dynamics. The project and its methodology offer a blueprint for similar reconstructions in other countries. The reconstructed time-series indicate that, since the onset of systematic reporting mechanisms in Belgium in 1929, landings reported by the Belgian sea fisheries both in foreign and in Belgian ports amounted to 3.3 million tonnes (t). After a maximum of 80,000 t in 1947, annual landings declined steadily to only 26% of this peak by 2008 (Lescrauwaet et al. 2010a). The most important species over the observed period in terms of landings were cod (17% of all landings) and herring (16%), closely followed by plaice (14%), sole (8%), whiting (6%) and rays (6%). In terms of economic value and based on values corrected for inflation, sole (31%) and cod (15%) were the most valuable, closely followed by plaice (11%), brown shrimp (5%), rays (5%) and turbot (3%). Near to 73% of all landings originated from 5 of the 31 fishing areas. Twenty percent of all landings originated from the 'coastal waters', while these waters contributed nearly 60% of all landed pelagic species and 55% of all landed 'molluscs and crustaceans'. The North Sea (south) and the Iceland Sea were next in importance with 17% and 16% of all landings respectively. The eastern and western part of the central North Sea, contributed each with approximately 10% of the total landings (Lescrauwaet et al. 2010a). The Belgian fisheries have followed a development of 3 major successive exploitation phases in which 3 major target species or target species groups were exploited until events or processes triggered a transition to a new phase: a 'herring' period between 1929 and 1950, a 'cod' (and other gadoid and roundfish) period between 1950 and 1980 and a period marked by plaice/sole between 1980 and 2000 (and after). This successive exploitation of targeted species was also associated with exploited fishing grounds, successively the Coastal waters for herring, the Icelandic Sea for cod, the North Sea south and the North Sea central (east and west) for sole/plaice, later also complemented by the 'western waters' (English Channel, Bristol Channel, Irish Sea) for the flatfish fisheries. To understand and interpret the trends in landings and changes in target species (groups), it is crucial to look at trends and changes in the fishing fleet and the fishing sector inserted in a wider socio-economic and political context. In the present thesis work, a reconstruction was made of the fleet size (from 1830), tonnage (from 1842) and engine power (kW from 1912) of the Belgian sea fisheries fleet. The time-series show a 85% decrease in fleet size and a 5% decrease in overall engine power (kW) since WWII. This decrease was compensated by a 10-fold increase in average tonnage (GT) per vessel and a 6-fold increase in average engine power (kW) per vessel. In only 10 years time after WWII, the fleet size decreased from approximately 550 to 450 vessels in 1955 (Lescrauwaet et al. 2012). Between 1955 and 1970 major structural changes took place in the Belgian sea fisheries fleet. These changes were driven first by the shift in the main fishing activities towards Icelandic waters in the 1950s and in the early 1960s by the governmental subsidies for the purchase of new steel hulled medium-sized motor trawlers and the introduction of the beam-trawl (Poppe 1977, Lescrauwaet et al. 2012). This led to less but more powerful vessels: between 1960 and 1975 the fleet size declined from 430 to approximately 250 vessels (-42%). The decline in fleet size was exacerbated when Iceland demarcated its territorial waters from 12 nm to 50 nm in 1972 and when the presence of Belgian fishermen within the declared 200 nm EEZ of Icelandic waters became subject to a 'phase-out' in 1975 (Lescrauwaet et al. under review). As a consequence of the loss of the Icelandic waters towards 1980, Belgian vessels shifted their activities again towards the central part of the North Sea (Omey 1982) and - to a lesser extent - towards the English Channel, Bristol Channel, South and West Ireland and the Irish Sea. From 2000 onwards specific programmes were oriented to the decommissioning of ships with the aim to reduce fleet capacity. In 2012, the Belgian commercial sea fishing fleet counted 86 ships, with a total engine capacity of 49,135 kW and gross tonnage of 15,326 GT (Roegiers et al. 2013). The reconstructed time-series suggest that total landings decreased with total fleet size and with total fishing effort. At the level of the Belgian fleet, the total number of days spent at sea decreased from approximately 91,800 days in 1938 to 15,100 days in 2010 (-84%). The landings (kg) per vessel per day at sea or per day fishing have doubled between 1938 and 2010. The time-series shows at least 4 successive events: a first event (1939-1945) marked by WWII and the increased landings of herring in coastal waters. The exceptionally high landings per unit of effort are partly explained by the cessation of large-scale herring fisheries in the North Sea during WWII combined with the effects of two strong year classes. The second period is situated in 1951-1955 and coincides with the steep increase in landings from Icelandic waters. Thirdly, an increase in landings is observed between 1960 and 1967, which coincides with the state subsidies to introduce the beam trawl firstly in shrimp vessels (1959-1960) and later for flatfish fisheries. A final conspicuous event concerns the period of increased levels of landings per vessel per day between 1977 and 1986. After standardization as landings per unit of installed power (LPUP) to account for the average increase (x6) of engine power per vessel, the landings have decreased by 74% from an average 1,3 t /installed kW in 1944-1947 to 0,38 t /installed kW in 2009-2010. Interestingly, the average price of landings (all species, all areas , all fisheries aggregated) is negatively correlated with the decreasing fishing effort and decrease in overall landings. This suggests that the Belgian sea fisheries compensated for the losses by targeting species that achieve better market prices. Although the LPUP are illustrative of the changes in the productivity of fisheries, they cannot be interpreted as a proxy of change in biomass of commercial fish stocks, because the Belgian fisheries have targeted different species and fishing areas over time. Trend analysis to study change in fish stocks must be conducted at the level of different métiers or fisheries, taking into account issues such as specificity and selectivity of gear, environmental conditions in the targeted fishing area, seasonality of fishing and behavior of target species. In the present thesis, a closer look was taken at the impact of sea fisheries. In a first part, a quantitative approach was taken to reconstruct total removals by Belgian sea fisheries by including the unreported and misreported landings of commercial and recreational fishing, as well as an estimation of discards. The methodology applied in this reconstruction can serve as a blueprint for similar reconstructions in other countries. The results are useful to inform current policy issues and societal challenges. This reconstruction covers 6 fisheries with historical or current importance for Belgium (Lescrauwaet et al. 2013). Total reconstructed removals were estimated at 5.2 million t or 42% higher than the 3.7 million t publicly reported over this period. Unreported landings and discards were estimated to represent respectively 3.5% (0.2 million t) and 26% (1.3 million t) of these total reconstructed removals. During the WWII, the Belgian fisheries benefited a 10-fold increase in catches and 5-fold increase in LPUE of North Sea 'Downs' herring. In the present thesis, these increased catches were explained by the combined effects of a major increase in catch power after WWI, the effects of the cessation of large-scale herring fisheries in the central part of the North Sea and by the effects of strong pre-WWII year classes (Lescrauwaet et al. revised manuscript under review). A third subchapter focused on the otter trawl fishery in Icelandic waters targeting cod. This fishery was of great economic importance in Belgium but decreased with the 'cod wars' (1958 and 1972) coming finally to a complete end in 1996. While the decline in total landings from Icelandic waters started after Iceland expanded its EEZ in 1958, the fishing effort of the Belgian fleet continued to increase until a peak was reached in 1963. The results show that the decline in the Iceland cod stock was visible at different levels; the decrease in the proportional importance of cod in the overall landings, the 75% decrease in the LPUE (1946-1983), the decline in the proportion of 'large' fishes, and finally the decline or shift in the definition of a 'large' specimen. As a result of this thesis, unique data are presented on the trends in volume and composition of landings for the Belgian part of the North Sea (BNS). The waters of the BNS are considered as the most important fishing area in terms of source of food for local population, but also as the most stable provider of food. The BNS and in particular the ecosystem of shallow underwater sandbanks is also important as (post)spawning and nursery area (Leloup and Gilis 1961, Gilis 1961, Leloup and Gilis 1965, Rabaut et.al 2007). The HiFiDatabase broadens the historical view on fisheries and serves as a basis for a range of potential research, management applications, and in support of policy-making. In particular, the time-series provide unique historical reference conditions of fishing in the Belgian part of the North Sea and a potential baseline for fisheries management in territorial waters or for the coastal fisheries. The latter is useful in the context of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the EU Habitat Directive and the proposal for Maritime Spatial Planning on the Belgian part of the North Sea. Finally in the present thesis work, important efforts were dedicated to approach the history of fisheries from different disciplines of work. The results underline the importance of collecting economic data, inventorying historical archives and historical legislation, historical economy and politics, in order to improve the interpretation and analysis of results. As advocated by the current integrated policies for the marine environment, both the challenge of the task and the richness of the results rely on a multidisciplinary approach.

[spa] La obra del colombiano José Alejandro Restrepo es monumental. No solo por la hondura y complejidad de los problemas estéticos, históricos y artísticos que aborda, sino porque su actividad creadora es incansable, constante y llena de sorpresivos encuentros con lo real y con lo absurdo de lo real. La investigación parte de los inicios en el arte de Restrepo, indagando en las razones por las que ha llegado al escenario de la producción artística y cultural. José Alejandro Restrepo nació en Paris, quizás por la casualidad de la vida que llevo a su padre a vivir en la ciudad de los poetas y los artistas en 1959. Pese a que es parisino de nacimiento su trabajo se ha centrado en Bogotá, la capital de la Republica de Colombia. Inició sus estudios en Medicina, de donde se extrae ese interés perpetuo en el cuerpo como escenario de los encuentros, no solo de los circuitos y los tendones y fluidos, sino de las narrativas, los símbolos y las historias. En Paris asiste a los seminarios de Michel Foucault, historiador y filósofo francés que encabeza la lista de una buena cantidad de intelectuales nacidos en la posguerra con intereses renovados que se enmarcan en una filosofía del desencanto frente al proyecto moderno, son sus grandes ideales y grandes palabras: progreso, libertad, felicidad. Allí también conocerá al filósofo Gilles Deleuze, una de las personalidades más interesantes en esta pléyade de pensadores que inician una auténtica revolución en el pensamiento de su época. Con estos intereses descubiertos al lado de los pensadores franceses, regresa a Colombia, para trabajar con artistas de gran auge en el momento como Maria Teresa Hincapie, allí descubrirá su interés por la música, el teatro, el tiempo-duración y también las paradojas. La investigación busca ahondar en tres ejes del largo y riguroso despliegue artístico de Restrepo. El primero es Transhistorias, una autentica fabulación de lo que es el poder de la narrativa y la descripción y clasificación, en la escritura de la historia y la afectación que tiene esta en Colombia. La mirada sobre América cambia a la luz de quien esté narrando el discurso. Del mismo modo, la ciencia europea se pone en contradicción frente a las ficciones que se mezclan al factico conocimiento de la naturaleza que los grandes sabios proponen. El segundo módulo plantea siguiendo el contrapunteo del módulo anterior, la idea de que la historia es repetición y persistencia y que el progreso no es más que una entelequia. En este caso la fase de interés para Jose Alejandro Restrepo es el Barroco, no estudiado como un periodo de la historia del arte que va de 1600 a 1740, sino como acto operativo y así mismo como un aura fría, es decir, un Barroco que circula y que conecta creando chispas sorprendentes con asuntos como la violencia en Colombia. El Barroco es un estilo de pliegues abiertos y laberintos que se arraiga al modo de vida de los colombianos y puede percibirse en la literatura, la gastronomía, los usos cotidianos pero también en los absurdos de la guerra. La Gran Obra de José Alejandro Restrepo es Iconomia del año 2,000, esta obra engloba las anteriores investigaciones que el artista ha realizado con suma paciencia y rigor de arqueólogo de los relatos. Se divide en: Iconoclastia e Iconofilia. En esta obra se entretejen y se reviven los problemas históricos desarrollados en los inicios del cristianismo, cuando se desató la pugna iconoclasta en Bizancio. Restrepo llega a la conclusión de que el primer sistema económico es así mismo la administración de la imagen de Dios. De ello se sigue que en la Bizancio del siglo VIII, era lo mismo iconomia que economía, se administraba igual el flujo de dinero que el flujo de la imagen. Los iconoclastas, bando político contrario a quienes apoyan la idea de que las imágenes ayuda a los iletrados a comprender las escrituras, no eran muy diferentes de ellos. Ambos en si se muestran como grandes iconólatras y como grandes escritores y descriptores de signos visuales. Los tres ejes de trabajo se hallan conectados por los problemas de: la escritura de la historia, las grietas y rupturas de los discursos y los intersticios por donde se fugan los relatos que el poder construye. El clamor de la razón remite a ese teatro mundo donde la razón ha soñado y en este caso clama por una nueva voz y un pensamiento propio donde puede ser hallada más allá de la historia contada hasta ahora. ; [eng] The work of Colombian José Alejandro Restrepo is monumental. Not only for the depth and complexity of the aesthetic, historic and artistic issues addressed, but because his creative activity is tireless, constant and full of surprising encounters with reality and the absurdity reality. Research in the early part of the art of Restrepo, investigating the reasons why it has reached the stage of artistic and cultural production. José Alejandro Restrepo was born in Paris, perhaps by chance in life that led his father to live in the city of poets and artists in 1959. Though birth is Paris has focused its work in Bogota, the capital of the Republic of Colombia. He began his studies in medicine, where the perpetual interest is extracted in the body as the scene of the encounters, not just circuits and tendons and fluids, but the narratives, symbols and stories. In Paris attends seminars Michel Foucault, French historian and philosopher who tops the list of a good number of intellectuals born after the war with renewed interest that are part of a philosophy of disenchantment with the modern project, are its high ideals and great words, progress, freedom, happiness. There will also meet the philosopher Gilles Deleuze, one of the most interesting personalities in this galaxy of thinkers that initiate a revolution in the thinking of his time . With these discovered interests alongside the French thinkers, returns to Colombia to work with artists of boom at the time as Maria Teresa Hincapie, there discover their interest in music, theater, time-duration and paradoxes. The research aims to delve into three axes of long and rigorous artistic display of Restrepo. The first is TransHistorias, a real fantasy of what the power of narrative and description and classification, in the writing of history and the effects that has this in Colombia. The look on America changed in the light of who is narrating the speech. Similarly, European science is put at odds against the fictions that mix the factual knowledge of nature that the great sages proposed. The second module poses following the counterpoint of the previous module, the idea that history is repeating and persistence and that progress is but a pipe dream. In this case the phase of interest to Jose Alejandro Restrepo is the Baroque, not studied as a period of art history ranging from 1600 to 1740, but as operative act and himself as a cold aura, ie a Baroque that flows and creating amazing sparks connecting with issues such as violence in Colombia. The Baroque is a style of open folds and mazes that is rooted way of life of the citizens and can be seen in the literature, gastronomy, but also in everyday uses the absurdities of war. The Great Work of José Alejandro Restrepo is Iconomía the year 2000, this Investigation covers the latest research that the artist has done with great patience and rigor of archaeologist stories. It is divided into: Iconoclasm and Iconophilia. In this work are interwoven and developed historical problems are revived in the early days of Christianity, when the iconoclastic conflict in Byzantium broke. Restrepo concludes that the first economic system is likewise managing the image of God. It follows that in the eighth century Byzantium, which was the same Iconomía economy, the flow of money flow in. administered equally. The iconoclasts, opposite political side to support the idea that the images helps to understand the scriptures illiterate, were not very different from them. Both in itself is as great as iconolaters descriptors great writers and visual signs. The three areas of work are connected with the problems of: the writing of history, the cracks and ruptures of the speeches and the interstices where the stories are leaking power constructs. The clamour of reason refers to the theater world where reason has dreamed and in this case cries out for a new voice and a thought which itself can be found beyond the story told so far.