Suchergebnisse

del sig. Gio. Battista Settala cancelliere dell'illustrissimo magistrato straordinario di Milano ; Date of publication based on latest date in text: 15 marzo 1589. - Later edition (1603) printed by Milanese printer Pandolfo Malatesta. - Printed in single columns on right-hand half of page; left-hand half blank ; Volltext // Exemplar mit der Signatur: Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek -- JH.Mech.f.1#5

Past research on foreign divestment has recognized the impact of economic and political differences1. However, the prior findings remain equivocal. We adopt the Positive Organizational Scholarship perspective to provide more contextualized insights into the effects of economic and political differences on foreign divestment. Specifically, we consider the juxtaposition of national differences and levels of firm interaction with the different contexts. Thus, we develop the concept of friction to assess levels of economic and political differences. We further argue that economic friction will have a curvilinear (U-shaped) effect on foreign divestment, whereas political friction will produce a monotonic (positive) effect. Moreover, we introduce ownership level as a moderator into the main hypotheses. Drawing on data from 2400 foreign subsidiaries of 310 Finnish multinational enterprises, from 1970–2010, we provide support for our main hypotheses, although the moderating effect of ownership levels is not supported. We further compare the effects of differences measured by friction with those measured by distance. Accordingly, our research highlights the importance of detecting specific conditions for the investigation of the impact of economic and political differences in the foreign divestment literature. ; © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ; fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed|

The Gnassingbé clan has ruled the country since 1967. The demand for political alternance, initiated by institutional and electoral reforms, constituted the major contentious issue between the government and the challengers of the Gnassingbé regime throughout the survey period. The legislative elections of 20 December 2018, boycotted by the major opposition parties, resulted in an easy victory of the ruling party. The first local elections since more than 30 years took finally place on 30 June 2019 and resulted in the victory of the ruling party. Shortly afterwards, in February 2020, the President won also the disputed presidential elections and even consolidated his power, assisted by the loyal army and security services. The outbreak of the Corona epidemic in Togo in April and the subsequent economic recession may have contributed to limit popular protest against the Gnassingbé regime. The human rights record of the government has improved but remains poor. Despite undeniable improvements to the framework and appearance of the regime's key institutions during the review period, democracy remains far from complete. However, the international community, notably Togo's African peers, the AU and ECOWAS, followed a 'laissez-faire' approach in the interests of regional stability and their national interests in dealing with Togo. Economic growth remained stable at about 5% per annum (before Corona). Public investment in infrastructure and increases in agricultural productivity, notably of export crops, had been the key drivers of economic growth. However, growth remains vulnerable to external shocks and the climate and has not been inclusive. Positive growth was overshadowed by increasing inter-personal and regional inequality as well as an increase in extreme poverty. Moreover, money-laundering, illegal money transfers and trafficking grew alarmingly. The business climate improved considerably nevertheless. ; Author's enhanced version ; RÉSUMÉ: Le clan Gnassingbé dirige le pays depuis 1967. La revendication d'alternance politique, initiée par des réformes institutionnelles et électorales, a constitué le principal litige entre le gouvernement et les challengers du régime Gnassingbé tout au long de la période d'enquête. Les élections législatives du 20 décembre 2018, boycottées par les principaux partis d'opposition, se sont soldées par une victoire facile du parti au pouvoir. Les premières élections locales depuis plus de 30 ans ont finalement eu lieu le 30 juin 2019 et ont abouti à la victoire du parti au pouvoir. Peu de temps après, en février 2020, le président a remporté également les élections présidentielles contestées. Par cela il a même consolidé son pouvoir, aidé par l'armée fidèle et les services de sécurité. Le déclenchement de l'épidémie de Corona au Togo en avril 2020 et la récession économique qui a suivi, ont peut-être contribué à limiter les protestations populaires contre le régime de Gnassingbé. Le bilan du gouvernement en matière de droits humains s'est amélioré, mais reste médiocre. Malgré des améliorations indéniables du cadre et de l'apparence des principales institutions du régime pendant la période à l'examen, la démocratie reste loin d'être achevée. Cependant, la communauté internationale, notamment les pairs africains du Togo, l'UA et la CEDEAO, ont suivi une approche de «laissez-faire» dans l'intérêt de la stabilité régionale et de leurs intérêts nationaux face au Togo. La croissance économique est restée stable à environ 5 % par an (avant Corona). Les investissements publics dans les infrastructures et les augmentations de la productivité agricole, notamment des cultures d'exportation, ont été les principaux moteurs de la croissance économique. Cependant, la croissance reste vulnérable aux chocs externes et au climat, et le développement n'a pas été inclusive. La croissance positive a été éclipsée par l'augmentation des inégalités interpersonnelles et régionales ainsi que par une augmentation de l'extrême pauvreté. En outre, le blanchiment d'argent, les transferts d'argent illégaux et le trafic ont augmenté de façon alarmante. Le climat des affaires s'est néanmoins considérablement amélioré. --- ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Der Gnassingbé-Clan regiert das Land seit 1967. Die Forderung nach politischer Abwechslung, die durch institutionelle Reformen und Wahlreformen ausgelöst wurde, war das Hauptstreitpunkt zwischen der Regierung und den Herausforderern des Gnassingbé-Regimes während des gesamten Untersuchungszeitraums. Die von den großen Oppositionsparteien boykottierten Parlamentswahlen vom 20. Dezember 2018 führten zu einem leichten Sieg der Regierungspartei. Die ersten Kommunalwahlen seit mehr als 30 Jahren fanden schließlich am 30. Juni 2019 statt und führten zum Sieg der Regierungspartei. Kurz darauf, im Februar 2020, gewann der Präsident auch die umstrittenen Präsidentschaftswahlen. Somit festigte er sogar seine Macht, unterstützt von der loyalen Armee und den Sicherheitsdiensten. Der Ausbruch der Corona-Epidemie in Togo im April und die anschließende wirtschaftliche Rezession haben möglicherweise dazu beigetragen, den Protest der Bevölkerung gegen das Gnassingbé-Regime zu begrenzen. Die Menschenrechtsbilanz der Regierung hat sich verbessert, ist aber weiterhin schlecht. Trotz unbestreitbarer Verbesserungen des Rahmens und des Erscheinungsbilds der wichtigsten Institutionen des Regimes im Berichtszeitraum bleibt die Demokratie bei weitem nicht umfassend. Die internationale Gemeinschaft, insbesondere die afrikanischen Kollegen Faure Gnassingbés in der AU und ECOWAS, verfolgten jedoch im Interesse der regionalen Stabilität und in ihren nationalen Interessen im Umgang mit Togo einen "Laissez-Faire"-Ansatz. Das Wirtschaftswachstum blieb stabil bei etwa 5% pro Jahr (vor Corona). Öffentliche Investitionen in die Infrastruktur und die Steigerung der landwirtschaftlichen Produktivität, insbesondere in Exportkulturen, waren die Haupttreiber des Wirtschaftswachstums. Das Wachstum bleibt jedoch anfällig für externe Schocks und das Klima und war nicht inklusiv. Das positive Wachstum wurde durch die zunehmende zwischenmenschliche und regionale Ungleichheit sowie die Zunahme der extremen Armut überschattet. Darüber hinaus nahmen Geldwäsche, illegale Geldtransfers und Menschenhandel alarmierend zu. Das Geschäftsklima hat sich dennoch erheblich verbessert.

The domestic and international transmission mechanism of fiscal policy shocks are analysed in the United States and in Germany. Using a Bayesian VAR approach, we find that in both of these countries a fiscal expansion is associated with increases in output as well as in private consumption and investment. The terms of trade, which affect the international transmission of fiscal policy shocks, depreciate in response to a fiscal expansion, thus transferring some of the increased domestic purchasing power abroad. A US government spending shock is expansionary for all non-US G7 members. A German government spending shock is expansionary for most, but not all European economies, both within and outside the euro area. The dynamics of the BVAR can be rationalised using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model where heterogeneous households and firms face borrowing constraints.

Abstract This study aims to analyze the moderating power of time of unemployment in the relationship between work values and psychological well-being. The sample consisted of 265 unemployed individuals, 77 men and 188 women with an average age of 27 years (SD = 7.21), with complete secondary education in 48% of the total sample. The following data collection instruments were applied: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Flourishing Scale and the Work Intrinsic Values Scale. The results of hierarchical regression analyses show that time of unemployment acts as a moderator in the relationship between the work values and the psychological well-being, so that the longer the unemployment duration the greater the individual's psychological well-being. Consequently, the shorter the period of unemployment, more intense is the feeling of negative emotions. The result yield three important contributions: demonstration of the association between work values and psychological well-being of unemployed; identification that the period of unemployment is an important moderator to understand the unemployed well-being and review of the issue of unemployment in the social and political field in times of recession.

Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. With a total population of around 165 million, the country has constantly been facing food security challenges and other problems. Therefore, increasing food production is one of the feasible solutions to this challenge, and proper agricultural land use for food production bears critical importance. Adopting sustainable irrigation systems and viable technologies would be vital for ensuring efficient use of agricultural land in Bangladesh to safeguard the country's food security. Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) can be a reliable option in this regard. However, Bangladesh has experienced a prolonged growth rate of SIP installation in the last decade. The countryhas set a target to install 10000 SIPs by the year 2027, albeit it is a tiny share of the 1.57 million conventional irrigation pumps operating in the country. This study aims to investigate the economic feasibility of the SIPs operating in the northern region of Bangladesh in terms of estimating financial feasibility and environmental benefits. The study is mainly based on primary data collected from the users of SIPs from two Upazilas of Dinajpur and Rangpur districts. A total of 14 SIPs, categorized into large, medium, and small pumps, are selected randomly from the available SIPs in the study areas. The financial analysis reveals that small SIPs are the most profitable option (20% IRR) for investment. Large SIPs are moderately profitable (10% IRR), and their profitability can be improved (10.50% IRR) by introducing additional uses of solar energy. However, medium SIPs are the worst (5% IRR) option for investment. In the study areas, large and medium SIPs are designed for the 'fees for service model', and small SIPs are designed for the 'fees for ownership model'. It is found that the 'fees for ownership model' is more profitable than the 'fees for service model'. Moreover, the net environmental benefit for all SIPs is found almost equal to the given subsidy for installing them. Also, the net environmental benefit per kilowatt peak (kWp) is highest for the small SIPs. This paper recommends that additional use (e.g., husking, grinding, supply excess electricity to grid, and so on) of solar energy can improve the profitability of investmenton SIPs. Further, the government should continue giving grants for installing SIPs and promote 'fees for ownership model' (small SIPs) for personal use. It would speed up the dissemination rate of SIPs and help increase the country's agricultural production and improve the environmental conditions.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the major staple food in the Nepalese context. Chitwan district of Nepal was purposively selected to analyze the rice production from the socio-economic and environmental perspective. A total of 100 rice growing farmers, 50 organic and 50 inorganic were selected as the sample for the purpose of the study using the simple random method of sampling. Primary data were collected through a pre-tested semi-structure interview schedule and key informant interviews; secondary data were collected reviewing related publications. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and chi-square test were used for data analysis. The multiple regression revealed that the four explanatory variables included in the model: age of the household head, primary occupation of the household head, number of family members involved in agriculture and subsidy in inputs for rice farming were found to have positive and statistically significant effect on rice yield (P<0.01). Moreover, chi-square test revealed that the farming practices that contributes to climate change mitigation such as: minimum tillage practice (P<0.05), crop diversification (P<0.01), green manuring (P<0.01), agro forestry practice (P<0.05), incorporating crop residues (P<0.1), weed management practice (P<0.01) and pest management practice (P<0.01)were found to be well adopted by the organic rice farmers, in contrast, the farming practices of inorganic rice farmers were statistically and significantly different in this respect. Government should make such policy that could grave the attention of the Nepalese people towards organic agriculture; moreover, encouraging them to make it their primary occupation.

ABSTRATC: In contrast to the increasing aquaculture production of mussels worldwide, production in the European Union (EU) has shown a decreasing trend over the last two decades. Aquaculture production of mussels in the EU peaked in the late 1990s at more than 600 000 tonnes; by 2016, production volume had dropped by 20% to 480 000 tonnes. As mussel production represents more than 1/3 of EU aquaculture production, this decrease is an important contributor to the stagnation of EU aquaculture. Previous studies have suggested diseases, lack of mussel seed (spat), and low profitability as the main causes of the EU mussel production decrease. In this study, we investigate how economic and environmental factors have contributed. Moreover, we examine if the different mussel production techniques (raft, longline, on-bottom, and "bouchot") have been differently affected, by analysing the economic performance and cost structure evolution for the period 2010-2016. We complement these results with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the EU mussel sector based on expert knowledge.

What factors might explain the cross-country variations in COVID-19 public performances and what lessons can be drawn to be better-prepared for future pandemics? This study focuses on the effects of policy stringency on COVID-19 public health outcomes to gain insights into national-level state responses to COVID-19 and the conditions for their effectiveness. Using data from 136 countries comprising 91.4% of the global population, we find that more stringent policies lead to lower infection and death rates. More importantly, the negative effects of restrictive policies on infection and death rates are moderated by political trust and democracy levels, possibly through the mechanism of popular compliance with government policies. Under conditions of higher political trust and lower democracy levels, the policy effects on infection and death rates are greater. However, while the results suggest the importance of policy stringency and political trust, we should not draw the conclusion that authoritarian political systems are more conducive to policy effectiveness. When comparing the moderating effects of political trust and democracy, political trust is more important as a facilitating factor. Therefore, in addition to making scientifically-supported policies, fostering political trust should be an important goal for governments to be better prepared for future pandemics.

This article considers an implementation of a constructive scheme of collective decision-making, which is based on the Bayesian strategy, for the selection of investment projects to solve the socio-economic problem of Kyiv city. The relevance of this study is that in the absence of an objective and transparent system for selecting investment projects and with a limited regional budget, the government should accept only those investment projects that bring the greatest socio-economic benefits. The main ways of state investment in projects aimed at improving socio-economic problems are considered. Among them are the State Fund for Regional Development and the public-private partnership program. It is determined that a significant advantage of public-private partnership over the State Fund for Regional Development is the ability to attract both public funds and private investment. Three projects aimed at solving the problem were selected from the website of the Kyiv Investment Agency, which operates within the framework of a public-private partnership. The financial indicators of their profitability were calculated – NPV (net present value), IRR (internal rate of return) and PI (profitability index). They are based on the concept of incoming and outgoing payments during the period of project execution. It is determined that these indicators do not always give a consistent result, as well as their main drawback – the inability to assess the social component. According to the methodology of collective decision-making by a group of independent experts in terms of the minimum average probability of error, calculations were made to determine the most attractive project. It is noted that all experts make decisions separately and independently of each other. Recommendations were provided for the selection of a specific project. The study identifies the advantages of this method of project acceptance for investment: objectivity, consistency and transparency. In the future, it is planned to incorporate risks into the decision-making model.The main areas that need improvement were considered, and key ones were selected. The most problematic and urgent is the issue of waste recycling in Kyiv. ; This article considers an implementation of a constructive scheme of collective decision-making, which is based on the Bayesian strategy, for the selection of investment projects to solve the socio-economic problem of Kyiv city. The relevance of this study is that in the absence of an objective and transparent system for selecting investment projects and with a limited regional budget, the government should accept only those investment projects that bring the greatest socio-economic benefits. The main ways of state investment in projects aimed at improving socio-economic problems are considered. Among them are the State Fund for Regional Development and the public-private partnership program. It is determined that a significant advantage of public-private partnership over the State Fund for Regional Development is the ability to attract both public funds and private investment. Three projects aimed at solving the problem were selected from the website of the Kyiv Investment Agency, which operates within the framework of a public-private partnership. The financial indicators of their profitability were calculated – NPV (net present value), IRR (internal rate of return) and PI (profitability index). They are based on the concept of incoming and outgoing payments during the period of project execution. It is determined that these indicators do not always give a consistent result, as well as their main drawback – the inability to assess the social component. According to the methodology of collective decision-making by a group of independent experts in terms of the minimum average probability of error, calculations were made to determine the most attractive project. It is noted that all experts make decisions separately and independently of each other. Recommendations were provided for the selection of a specific project. The study identifies the advantages of this method of project acceptance for investment: objectivity, consistency and transparency. In the future, it is planned to incorporate risks into the decision-making model.The main areas that need improvement were considered, and key ones were selected. The most problematic and urgent is the issue of waste recycling in Kyiv.

This article considers an implementation of a constructive scheme of collective decision-making, which is based on the Bayesian strategy, for the selection of investment projects to solve the socio-economic problem of Kyiv city. The relevance of this study is that in the absence of an objective and transparent system for selecting investment projects and with a limited regional budget, the government should accept only those investment projects that bring the greatest socio-economic benefits. The main ways of state investment in projects aimed at improving socio-economic problems are considered. Among them are the State Fund for Regional Development and the public-private partnership program. It is determined that a significant advantage of public-private partnership over the State Fund for Regional Development is the ability to attract both public funds and private investment. Three projects aimed at solving the problem were selected from the website of the Kyiv Investment Agency, which operates within the framework of a public-private partnership. The financial indicators of their profitability were calculated – NPV (net present value), IRR (internal rate of return) and PI (profitability index). They are based on the concept of incoming and outgoing payments during the period of project execution. It is determined that these indicators do not always give a consistent result, as well as their main drawback – the inability to assess the social component. According to the methodology of collective decision-making by a group of independent experts in terms of the minimum average probability of error, calculations were made to determine the most attractive project. It is noted that all experts make decisions separately and independently of each other. Recommendations were provided for the selection of a specific project. The study identifies the advantages of this method of project acceptance for investment: objectivity, consistency and transparency. In the future, it is planned to incorporate risks into the decision-making model.The main areas that need improvement were considered, and key ones were selected. The most problematic and urgent is the issue of waste recycling in Kyiv. ; This article considers an implementation of a constructive scheme of collective decision-making, which is based on the Bayesian strategy, for the selection of investment projects to solve the socio-economic problem of Kyiv city. The relevance of this study is that in the absence of an objective and transparent system for selecting investment projects and with a limited regional budget, the government should accept only those investment projects that bring the greatest socio-economic benefits. The main ways of state investment in projects aimed at improving socio-economic problems are considered. Among them are the State Fund for Regional Development and the public-private partnership program. It is determined that a significant advantage of public-private partnership over the State Fund for Regional Development is the ability to attract both public funds and private investment. Three projects aimed at solving the problem were selected from the website of the Kyiv Investment Agency, which operates within the framework of a public-private partnership. The financial indicators of their profitability were calculated – NPV (net present value), IRR (internal rate of return) and PI (profitability index). They are based on the concept of incoming and outgoing payments during the period of project execution. It is determined that these indicators do not always give a consistent result, as well as their main drawback – the inability to assess the social component. According to the methodology of collective decision-making by a group of independent experts in terms of the minimum average probability of error, calculations were made to determine the most attractive project. It is noted that all experts make decisions separately and independently of each other. Recommendations were provided for the selection of a specific project. The study identifies the advantages of this method of project acceptance for investment: objectivity, consistency and transparency. In the future, it is planned to incorporate risks into the decision-making model.The main areas that need improvement were considered, and key ones were selected. The most problematic and urgent is the issue of waste recycling in Kyiv.

The philosophical and political advantages tied to a break with Marxist thinking have been notable. With such a break with Marxism, economic and scientific determinism have been discounted – and it is in this sort of determinism that a classic critique of Marxism finds a reason for discrediting the Marxist-Leninist project. However, it seems the cost of totally abandoning Marxist thinking has not been sufficiently examined. This article seeks to remedy this with a comparative study of two philosophers' conceptions of conflict: Mouffe's perspective will be examined and compared to Castoriadis' view of radical democracy and its treatment of conflict. The paper seeks to show that a full break with Karl Marx weakens political radicalism. In other words, by opting for a perspective on conflict which fully renounces the Marxist view, Mouffe is doing away with both the idea of direct democracy and/or that of a revolutionary project. Her approach differs from that of Castoriadis who seeks, in some sense, to remain faithful to the emancipatory aspects of Marxian thought. ; Peer reviewed

The Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) is a vertebrate pest of agricultural lands and forest. The study was aimed to report the damage to local crops by the Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) in the Muzaffarabad District. A survey was conducted to identify the porcupine-affected areas and assess the crop damage to the local farmers in district Muzaffarabad Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from May 2017 to October 2017. Around 19 villages were surveyed, and a sum of 191 semi-structured questionnaires was distributed among farmers. Crop damage was found highest in village Dhanni where a porcupine destroyed 175 Kg/Kanal of the crops. Regarding the total magnitude of crop loss, village Danna and Koomi kot were the most affected areas. More than half (51.8%) of the respondents in the study area suffered the economic loss within the range of 101-200$, and (29.8%) of the people suffered losses in the range of 201-300$ annually. Among all crops, maize (Zea mays) was found to be the most damaged crop ranging between 1-300 Kg annually. In the study area, porcupine also inflicted a lot of damages to some important vegetables, including spinach (Spinacia oleracea), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and onion (Allium cepa). It was estimated that, on average, 511Kg of vegetables are destroyed by porcupine every year in the agricultural land of Muzaffarabad. It was concluded that the Indian crested porcupine has a devastating effect on agriculture which is an important source of income and food for the local community. Developing an effective pest control strategy with the help of the local government and the Wildlife department could help the farmers to overcome this problem.

This paper aims to investigate the concept, context and socio-economic consequences of fiscal competition in the integrated economic space of EMU in completion, to pinpoint the positive and negative factors at work via a case study of the Benelux countries – both founder members of the EU and pioneers of EMU – and to examine the impact on European and international regulations in the field. In particular, it will endeavour to provide a comprehensive interpretation of fiscal policy in the Benelux countries via a comparative approach and from a historical perspective. It will look at the development of respective domestic fiscal policies, driven by national interests and by membership of a Community that is subject to requirements in terms of harmonisation and taxation, but also by constant contact (and frequent clashes) with the multilateral international environment.