The cultural economy
In: The cultures and globalization series 2
30339 Ergebnisse
Sortierung:
In: The cultures and globalization series 2
World Affairs Online
Objective: To compare inequalities in self-perceived health in the population older than 50 years, in 2004, using Wright's social class dimensions, in nine European countries grouped in three political traditions (Social democracy, Christian democracy and Late democracies). Methods: Cross-sectional design, including data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Austria, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Greece). The population aged from 50 to 74 years was included. Absolute and relative social class dimension inequalities in poor self-reported health and long-term illness were determined for each sex and political tradition. Relative inequalities were assessed by fitting Poisson regression models with robust variance estimators. Results: Absolute and relative health inequalities by social class dimensions are found in the three political traditions, but these differences are more marked in Late democracies and mainly among women. For example the prevalence ratio of poor self-perceived health comparing poorly educated women with highly educated women, was 1.75 (95% CI: 1.39-2.21) in Late democracies and 1.36 (95% CI: 1.21-1.52) in Social democracies. The prevalence differences were 24.2 and 13.7%, respectively. Conclusion: This study is one of the first to show the impact of different political traditions on social class inequalities in health. These results emphasize the need to evaluate the impact of the implementation of public policies.
BASE
In: Working Paper Series of the Research Network 1989, Band 9
1989 was described as 'annus mirabilis', and its peaceful revolutions hailed as one of the great moments in human history. In subsequent years, the re-emergence of war, genocide and terror led to re-interpretation: Europe became a dark continent, the 20th century its darkest hour. Was 1989 merely a bright moment in a sea of violence? This contribution acknowledges European war, genocide and terror and examines in some detail the contribution of this history to the peaceful revolutions of 1989. It is argued that horrific violence – Stalinist terror, World War II, the Cold War as well as genocide, ethnic cleansing and deportation – resulted in a legacy that contributed to the revolutions of 1989 in the following ways: Stalinist terror resulted in the persistent illegitimacy of relations of domination, which ultimately resulted in a structural stasis leading to the breakdown of the Soviet empire; the global Cold War integrated the Soviet project in the world order and provided its raison d'etre but its winding down provided the opportunity to peacefully overcome the Soviet legacy; Yalta, ethnic cleansing and Soviet 'nationality policies' resulted in diligent determination to build independent states - beyond 1989.
In view of this legacy the revolutions of 1989 are re-assessed for their significance. It is argued that the negotiated revolutions were more than a utopian moment as they provide a model of large-scale and rapid transition that is not marred by violence. To be sure, only a select number of countries underwent a negotiated revolution, but this was not limited to Central Europe. The true and lasting global significance of 1989 is that it provides clear-cut alternatives of organising synchronised political and social change in the 21st century. Contrary to received historical wisdom, revolutions may in future be the non-violent means of organising large-scale and rapid change, if negotiated.
In Europe, species of the nematode genus Bursaphelenchus have been known and studied for a long time (Fuchs 1937; Ruhm 1956). Earlier, except from a purely biological or ecological point of view, no particular interest was paid to this group of mycophagous nematodes. In 1979, however, a study conducted in southwestern France showed that the nematode Bursaphelenchus lignicolous was associated with declining pines (Baujard et al. 1979). This report caused alarm in Europe, since B. lignicolous is a synonym of B. xylophilus ; the nematode in question was later identifi ed as B. mucronatus (De Guiran et al. 1986), which had been described as a new species that year. In 1984, a shipment of wood from North America to Finland was found to carry the pine wood nematode (PWN), B. xylophilus (Rautapaa 1986). This important interception prompted European authorities to develop more rigorous inspections at sea ports, and in particular of wood products coming from North America. However, no equivalent emphasis was placed on such products coming from East Asia. Between 1996 and 1999, an EU-funded project (RISKBURS) resulted in an updated survey of the Bursaphelenchus species in Europe (European Communities 2003). For an updated situation on the species distribution in the EU, see Braasch (2001). In 1999, the PWN, the causal agent of pine wilt disease, was fi rst detected in the European Union (EU), in Portugal (Mota 2004; Mota et al. 1999), and this immediately prompted several national and EU governments to assess the extent of the nematode's distribution, and to restrict B. xylophilus and its insect vector (Monochamus galloprovincialis ) to an area with a 30-km radius in the Setúbal Peninsula, 20 km south of Lisbon (Rodrigues 2007). The origin of the population of PWN found in Portugal remains unknown, although recent research indicates that it originated from Eastern Asia (Vieira et al. 2007). Several hypotheses have been suggested on how it entered the country, namely from North America or from Japan or China. World trade of wood products such as timber, wooden crates, and palettes play an important role in the potential dissemination of the PWN (Evans et al. 1996). In fact, human activities involving the movement of wood products may be the single most important factor in PWN spread. Despite the dedicated and concerted actions of government agencies, both the PWN and pine wilt disease continue to spread. In 2006 in Portugal, forestry and plant quarantine authorities (DGRF and DGPC) announced a new strategy for managing the problem. The plan is to establish a phytosanitary strip, 3-km wide, devoid of Pinus pinaster , surrounding the affected area, for the control and ultimately the eradication of the nematode, under the coordination of the national program for the control of the PWN (DGRF 2006). Research on the bioecology of the nematode and its insect vector, new detection methods, for example, involving real-time PCR, tree ecology and pathology, and control methods, has been underway since 1999. As well there are two major ongoing projects for the European Union (EU): PHRAME (http://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/website/forestresearch. nsf/ByUnique/INFD-63KGEF) and PortCheck (http://www.portcheck.eu.com/ index.cfm). This research has been instrumental in helping to understand the scientifi c aspects of pine wilt disease. The objective of the present paper is to highlight the progress made in Portugal and the EU. International agreements (GATT, WTO) and sharing of scientifi c information is of paramount importance for achieving effective control of the nematode and its vector, and in turn protection of our forest ecosystems and forest economies.
BASE
International audience ; Knowledge was a major issue in science and philosophy in the twentieth century. Its first irruption was in the heated controversy concerning the foundations of mathematics. To justify his rejection of the use of the actual infinite in mathematical reasoning, Brouwer has made the construction of mathematical objects dependent on the knowing subject. This approach was rejected by the mainstream of analytical philosophers who feared a fall into pyschologism. Several years later, the question of the progress of scientific knowledge was put forward in the thirties by the post-positivist philosophers to fill the vacuum in the philosophy of science following the demise of the logical positivism programme. The answers given to these questions have deepened the already existing gap between philosophy and the history and practice of science. While the positivists argued for a spontaneous, steady and continuous growth of scientific knowledge the post-positivists make a strong case for a fundamental discontinuity in the development of science which can only be explained by extrascientific factors. The political, social and cultural environment, the argument goes on, determine both the questions and the terms in which they should be answered. Accordingly, the sociological and historical interpretation involves in fact two kinds of discontinuity which are closely related: the discontinuity of science as such and the discontinuity of the more inclusive political and social context of its development. More precisely it explains the discontinuity of the former by the discontinuity of the latter subordinating in effect the history of science to the wider political and social history. The underlying idea is that each historical and social context generates scientific and philosophical questions of its own. From this point of view the question surrounding the nature of knowledge and its development are entirely new topics typical of the twentieth century social context reflecting both the level and the scale of the development of science. To the surprise of modern historians of science and philosophy, the same kind of questions, which would allegedly be new topics specific to the twentieth century concerning the nature of knowledge and its progress, were already raised more than eleven centuries earlier in the context of the Arabic tradition which, as we discuss further on, developed a trans-cultural and trans-national concept of the unity of science (see the contributions of Deborah Black and Jon McGinnis which tackle the issue of the nature of knowledge). The neglect of the Arabic tradition in philosophy of science is a major a gap not only in the development of science but a fundamental flaw in the writing of its history and philosophy caused by the total reduction of epistemology to political and social history of science. How has this period of the history of science and philosophy come to be ignored? In what circumstances were the questions akin to the nature of knowledge raised in the first place? What is the relation between on the one hand the questions of knowledge and its growth and on the other hand the unity of science in the Arabic tradition? The answers to some of these questions are the aim of the present volume, the first of the series Logic, Epistemology and the Unity of Science to be devoted to a so-called non-western tradition. Let us first highlight in a kind of overview some landmarks concerning the timing of the emergence of the Arabic tradition and its significance for the history of science.
BASE
The object of this master thesis is the rise of indigenous peoples in Latin America, particularly in the Andean region. The main question is which factors determine the rise of indigenous peoples and their becoming important social and political protagonists in this region. The goal of this thesis thus is to analyze the factors, which have determined both the rise of indigenous movements in Ecuador and Bolivia and the weakness of comparable movements in Peru. The dominant theoretical model in the analysis of indigenous movements in Latin America is the model of political opportunity structure. According to this model the rise of a social movement is determined by two types of variables, namely structural and organizational ones. The favorable international context and changes in the political regime (structural variables) determine a more open political space where social movements can appear. For this purpose the existence of an organizational network and practice are necessary. According to this model, the (re)democratization at the end of the 20th century created a more open political system and shifted it to a neoliberal economical model, which worsened the economical situation and lead to the dissatisfaction of the region's marginal groups. The previous existence of networks of the church, the political left and other organizations in the rural zones helped to form the strong movements of indigenous people to express the discontent with the unfinished neoliberal reforms. Though this model answers the question when indigenous movements appear, it cannot answer the question why they arise. The model lacks both the historical perspective and the state variable. The argument of this master thesis is that the state's formation process, which does not include the Indian communities and its cultural practices, increases the likelihood of the appearance of indigenous movements. In this work the state's formation process is understood as the complex variable of the state's geographical, institutional and cultural–ideological penetration. On the way of finding the solution to the main problem additional questions arise: what type of relation exists between the state and indigenous and what place do these communities take within the national community? In answering these questions the historical comparative analysis of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru is conducted. The main findings of the analysis show that until the middle of the 20th century the weak geographical and institutional penetration of the Andean states not only created state clientelism but also favorable conditions for maintaining cultural traditions and communal practices of indigenous communities. Even though this feature is important in the analysis of the rise of indigenous movements it is not sufficient for explaining why we can see the politicization of ethnical identity in Ecuador and Bolivia while there is silence in Peru. The analysis of the position of indigenous people in the national community shows that the decisive variable is the cultural dimension and the relation between Indian and national mestizo cultures. In Ecuador and Bolivia the contraposition between white people and Indian ones is maintained, while in the case of Peru the national political elite used the symbols of Indian culture which have become a part of the national symbols. Thus the distance between indigenous communities and the state is smaller in Peru. Here the indigenous communities feel like a part of the nation. The variable of the state formation process is understood as a complex variable of geographical, institutional and cultural penetration. It has a bigger explanatory power in answering to the question why the indigenous people rise in some countries while in others they do not. It emphasizes not on the variable of the more open political system, but on the importance of the state variable and the historical perspective of Latin American development.
BASE
Public spending on agriculture in Nigeria is exceedingly low. Less than 2 percent of total federal expenditure was allotted to agriculture during 2001 to 2005, far lower than spending in other key sectors such as education, health, and water. This spending contrasts dramatically with the sector's importance in the Nigerian economy and the policy emphasis on diversifying away from oil, and falls well below the 10 percent goal set by African leaders in the 2003 Maputo agreement. Nigeria also falls far behind in agricultural expenditure by international standards, even when accounting for the relationship between agricultural expenditures and national income. The spending that is extant is highly concentrated in a few areas. Three out of 179 programs account for more than 81 percent of federal capital spending, of which nearly three-quarters go to government purchase of agricultural inputs and agricultural outputs alone. The analysis finds that many of the Presidential Initiatives-which differ greatly in target crops, technologies, research, seed multiplication, and distribution-have identical budgetary provisions. This pattern suggests that the needs assessment and costing for these initiatives may have been inadequate, and that decisions may have been based on political considerations rather than economic assessment. Budget execution is also poor. The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) best practice standard for budget execution is no more than 3 percent discrepancy between budgeted and actual expenditures. In contrast, during the period covered by the study, the Nigerian federal budget execution averaged only 79 percent, meaning 21 percent of the approved budget was never spent. Budget execution at the state and local levels was even less impressive, ranging from 71 percent to 44 percent. However, other sectors showed similar low levels of budget execution, suggesting that the problem is a general one going beyond agriculture. There is an urgent need to improve internal systems for tracking, recording, and disseminating information about public spending in the agriculture sector. Consolidated and up-to-date expenditure data are not available within the Ministry of Agriculture, not even for its own use. Without this information, authorities cannot undertake empirically-based policy analysis, program planning, and impact assessment. There is also a need for clarification of the roles of the three tiers of government in agricultural services delivery. This is important to reduce overlaps and gaps in agricultural interventions and improve efficiency and effectiveness of public investments and service delivery in the sector. Finally, applied research is needed to address critical knowledge gaps in several areas: (i) Spending on fertilizer programs makes up a sizeable portion of overall agricultural spending in Nigeria, yet very little is known about the impact of this spending. (ii) To date, only a small portion of the national grain storage system has been constructed, but if the entire network is completed as planned, the cost will be enormous. Supporting even the current modest level of grain marketing activities is consuming significant amounts of public resources. Is an investment on this order of magnitude desirable? What has been the impact of these investments? (iii) There is a need for an analytical study focusing on the economics of the National Special Program for Food Security (NSPFS). The total cost of NSPFS II is estimated at US$364 million. Detailed financial information about the NSPFS is not publicly available, however, making it difficult to assess whether the considerable investment in NSPFS I generated attractive returns, and whether NSPFS II merits support as currently designed. A rigorous external evaluation is needed to assess the performance of NPSFS and generate information that could be used to make design adjustments. --Authors' Abstract ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GRP3 ; DSGD
BASE
Die Phylogenie der Westpaläarktischen Langohren (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Plecotus) – eine molekulare Analyse Die Langohren stellen eine Fledermausgattung dar, die fast alle westpaläarktischen Habitate bist zum Polarkreis hin besiedeln und in vielerlei Hinsicht rätselhaft sind. In der Vergangenheit wurden zahlreiche Formen und Varietäten beschrieben. Trotzdem galt für lange Zeit, dass nur zwei Arten in Europa anerkannt wurden. Weitere Arten waren aus Nordafrika, den Kanaren und Asien bekannt, aber auch deren Artstatus wurde vielfach in Frage gestellt. In der vorliegenden Dissertation habe ich mittels molekularer Daten,der partiellen Sequenzierung mitochondrialer Gene (16S rRNA und ND1), sowie der mitochondrialen Kontrollregion, eine molekular Analyse der phylogenetischen Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse innerhalb und zwischen den Linien der westpaläarktischen Langohren durchgeführt. Die besten Substitutionsmodelle wurden berechnet und phylogenetische Bäume mit Hilfe vier verschiedener Methoden konstruiert: dem neighbor joining Verfahren (NJ), dem maximum likelihood Verfahren (ML), dem maximum parsimony Verfahren (MP) und dem Bayesian Verfahren. Sechs Linien der Langohren sind genetisch auf einem Artniveau differenziert: Plecotus auritus, P. austriacus, P. balensis, P. christii, P. sardus, und P. macrobullaris. Im Falle der Arten P. teneriffae, P. kolombatovici und P. begognae ist die alleinige Interpretation der genetischen Daten einzelner mitochondrialer Gene für eine Festlegung des taxonomischen Ranges nicht ausreichend. Ich beschreibe in dieser Dissertation drei neue Taxa: Plecotus sardus, P. kolombatovici gaisleri (=Plecotus teneriffae gaisleri, Benda et al. 2004) and P. macrobullaris alpinus [=Plecotus alpinus, Kiefer & Veith 2002). Morphologische Kennzeichen, insbesondere für die Erkennung im Feld, werden hier dargestellt. Drei der sieben Arten sind polytypisch: P. auritus (eine west- und ein osteuropäische Linie, eine sardische Linie und eine aktuell entdeckte kaukasische Linie, Plecotus kolombatovici (P. k. kolombatovici, P. k. gaisleri und P. k. ssp.) und P. macrobullaris (P. m. macrobullaris und P. m. alpinus). Die Verbreitungsgebiete der meisten Arten werden in dieser Arbeit erstmals ausschließlich anhand genetisch zugeordneter Tiere dargestellt.Die Untersuchung der ökologischen Einnischung der nun anerkannten Formen, insbesondere in Gebieten sympatrischer Verbreitung, bietet ein spannendes und lohnendes Feld für zukünftige Forschungen. Nicht zuletzt muss sich die Entdeckung eines beachtlichen Anteils kryptischer Diversität innerhalb der westpaläarktischen Langohren auch bei der Entwicklung spezieller Artenschutzkonzepte widerspiegeln. ; Phylogeny of Western Palearctic long-eared bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Plecotus) – a molecular perspective Long-eared bats are an enigmatic group of bats that inhabit most parts of Europe up to the polar circle. Numerous taxa have been described in the past, but for a long time only two species were regarded valid. Further species were known from Northern Africa, the Canary Islands and Asia. In the present thesis I used molecular data, partial sequences of the mitochondrial genes for 16S rRNA, ND1 and of the mitochondrial control region to analyse the phylogenetic relationship within and among lineages of Western Palaearctic long-eared bats. I estimated the best fitting substitution models and constructed phylogenetic trees using four different approaches: neighbor joining (NJ), maximum likelihood (ML), maximum parsimony (MP) and a Bayesian approach. Seven lineages of long-eared bats are well differentiated at species level: Plecotus auritus, P. austriacus, P. balensis, P. christii, P. sardus, P. teneriffae and P. macrobullaris. I described three new taxa in this thesis: Plecotus sardus, P. kolombatovici gaisleri (= Plecotus teneriffae gaisleri, Benda et al. 2004) and P. macrobullaris alpinus [=Plecotus alpinus, Kiefer & Veith 2002). Morphological characteristics for field determination are described for the new taxa. Three of the species are polytypic: P. auritus (a western and eastern European lineage, and a most recently discovered Caucasian lineage), Plecotus kolombatovici (P. k. kolombatovici and P. k. gaisleri and P. k. ssp) and P. macrobullaris (P. m. macrobullaris and P. m. alpinus). A formerly fourth P. auritus subspecies, the Iberian P. begognae is now regarded as a distinct species (see chapter 7 and Ibanez et al. 2006, Mayer et al. 2007). The distribution areas of most species are refined based on genetically identified specimens. The detection of a considerable amount of cryptic diversity among Western Palaearctic long-eared bats will have impact on species conservation. First steps towards better protection of the endemic Sardinian long-eared bats have been initiated, but until now it did not enter national and international legislation, such as the EU-habitat directive.
BASE
Die Konzepte der Marktintegration (MI) und Zwischenmarktpreisdynamik im internatio-nalen Handel, Warenmärkten und Industrieorganisationsgebieten stehen in direkter Ver-bindung zu Marktleistungsfähigkeit, Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und verschiedenen politischen Strategien. Demzufolge haben die Mess- und Prüfprobleme in der MI Analyse im Laufe der Jahre beträchtliche Aufmerksamkeit erhalten. Bedingt durch die Breite des Konzeptes ist es zur Einführung und die Entwicklung von divergierenden Mess-Techniken gekom-men. In dieser Studie werden die Komplexitäten der Marktintegration und der Preisübertra-gungsdynamik innerhalb von Zwischenmarktgleichgewicht-Bedingungen bewertet. Dabei sind Quellen und Implikationen von spezifischen Defiziten der gegenwärtigen nichtlinea-ren Marktintegrationsmodelle ausgehoben worden. Die Studie hat das Markov-Switching Gleichgewicht-Modell als eine vereinigende Ansicht für die umfassende Marktintegrati-onsanalyse vorgeschlagen und bewiesen. Die Flexibilität des Markovschen Rahmens wird innerhalb der Schwelle (TAR) Formulierungen verwendet, um sowohl Zwischen-markt-Gleichgewichtprozesse als auch Ergebnisse abzuleiten. In Anlehnung an die Mo-dellierungstechnik der eingeordneten Autoregression haben wir gezeigt, dass die durch Transaktionskosten auferlegten Komplikationen mit stichprobenaufspaltenden Techniken beseitigt werden können. Daher haben wir durch eine zusammengefügte Übung in der These demonstriert, dass die Flexibilität der Markovsche Formulierungen ihnen erlaubt, sowohl Anpassungstriebkräfte, die die Preisübertragungsökonometrie unterstützen als auch Gleichgewicht-Bedingungen, die die Parität-gebundenes Modell (PBM) treiben, zu behandeln. ; The concept of market integration (MI) and inter-markets price dynamics in international trade, commodity markets and industrial organisation domains have directly been linked to market efficiency, competitiveness and various policy strategies. Consequently, measurement and testing issues in MI analysis have received considerable attention over the years. The broadness of the concept in particular has however resulted in introduction and development of diverging measurement techniques. Two major lines of MI assessment methods have emerged within agricultural markets studies; namely, price transmission econometrics- formulated within time series framework and the Parity Bound Model (PBM). The later is an arbitrage-based measure of inter-markets outcomes evaluated along spatial equilibrium conditions. Major advancements have been achieved in these methodological lines in their respective settings over the last decade. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that insights from the above two lines of market integration analysis raise important market policy, measurement and theoretical questions under specific inter-market conditions, they have not been combined effectively so far. Formulating a robust technique that comprehensively confronts market integration analysis (MIA) without seriously ignoring fundamental theoretical concepts and their implications has remained a challenge. While the time series characteristics of markets inter-relationships carry important policy and methodological implications, they impose analytical complexities when other crucial elements of market integration concept such as transactions cost, arbitrage and spatial equilibrium conditions are to be directly reflected. In view of the above challenge, the study operationalised a working definition for MI as both process and outcome of inter-market relations manifested in an existence of one price ( in relation to cost of trade), price transmission and or physical flow of goods between the markets. In effect, various weaknesses and strengths of existing tools were theoretically explained in section three of the study. Notably, how the concept of tradability and time dynamics in arbitrage responses can lead to misleading conclusions under the PBM approach has been systematically explained and demonstrated by the study. In section three, the regime switching implications imposed by spatial equilibrium and arbitrage conditions were linked to the concept of multiple equilibria in time space. To accommodate both inter-markets processes and outcomes, we have proposed Markov switching models as an alternative regime switching tool to both the PBM and current time series price transmission econometrics tools. Specifically, the proposed Markov switching model (MS-VEM) combines the basic threshold autoregressive structure from the PTE and arbitrage-based equilibrium conditions implied by the PBM. Based on the theoretical foundation built in section three, all arbitrage conditions are decomposed into their respective time path characteristics within the concept of rent irreversibility. Following the modelling technique of arranged autoregression (usually applied in threshold models), we have shown that the complications imposed by transactions cost can be eliminated by sample splitting techniques. We have consequently, demonstrated in the thesis through a synthesised exercise that the flexibility of Markovian formulations allows them to handle both adjustments dynamics that underpin the PTE and the equilibrium conditions that drive the PBM.
BASE
Starting the own business is sometimes a dream sometimes a nightmare but undoubtedly from a macro-economic perspective it is considered to be a promising concept to secure long-term economic growth and society's welfare, at least in Germany. Strong efforts were made to support start ups and potential entrepreneurs to run their own business. A plethora of programs were launched which were supposed to facilitate the start up process – but reality is disenchanting: The published data in the 2004 GEM indicate that the idea of an entrepreneurial society in Germany is still far beyond its realization. Germany ranks 17th out of 31 GEM states in terms of "nascent entrepreneurs" and only 22nd regarding the "young entrepreneurs". Compared to other GEM countries the German adults are considered to be more pessimistic in terms of entrepreneurial issues: The chances of establishing a successful business are evaluated lower than the years before. On the other hand the context factors which are considered to influence the start up opportunities especially in terms of governmental support and physical infrastructure were evaluated to be one of the best. Especially concerning the latter aspect strong efforts have been made to support entrepreneurs. In this context, and maybe because of - A "… post-1970s fascination with 'high-tech' regions worldwide" (Cooke/Leydesdorff 2006: 9), - A continuous liberalization of the world market and its impact on national production systems (which is well discussed in the context of the conversion of cooperatives), or - The dawn of the concept of national innovations systems (e.g. Lundvall 1988; Cozzens et al. 1990), For more than two decades, one promising concept of sustaining entrepreneurs was seen in the idea of incubators1 which mainly offer support in terms of infrastructure and funding opportunities. Meantime, we observe that questions emerge of how effective and efficient incubators work as one major instrument of macroentrepreneurial (Van de Veen 1995, Chiles/Meyer 2001) activities in order to facilitate start ups and to support the first steps of a new business from its start to its growth. The value of the incubator model as an effective means of technology and knowledge transfer especially from universities is continually discussed and questioned (Cunningham 1999). For example, a study run by Allen and Kahman (1985) concluded that incubators are tools for developing enterprises which create a positive environment for small businesses to succeed. Indeed, lots of studies brought up that incubators are an efficient and effective way to sustain spin-out processes and to contribute to regional development and prosperity. However, on the other hand some shortcomings are obvious: Finer and Holberton (2000) take into question the incubator model because it takes the initiative away from the start-up team. The paper refers to these observations. We assume by means of some international empirical studies that the functions of incubators are enhanced as a result of a (evolutional) learning process. On this basis we derive hypothesis about the dealing with the upcoming challenges and provide further research questions in an explorative way. Paragraph 2 introduces a three phased model of business incubators and classifies existing incubators. It will be obvious, that there is an increasing amount of functions that are allocated by incubators. Within paragraph 3 we examine recent developments from a macroeconomic perspective and contrast to this the evolution of incubators. Paragraph 4 presents two types of incubators that take these 1 In the context of this paper we primarly refer to non-profit incubators. contradictions into account and offers an alternative coping. Summarizing, we give an outlook on further research questions which will substantiate the evolutionary perspective on incubators.
BASE
The object of this master thesis is the rise of indigenous peoples in Latin America, particularly in the Andean region. The main question is which factors determine the rise of indigenous peoples and their becoming important social and political protagonists in this region. The goal of this thesis thus is to analyze the factors, which have determined both the rise of indigenous movements in Ecuador and Bolivia and the weakness of comparable movements in Peru. The dominant theoretical model in the analysis of indigenous movements in Latin America is the model of political opportunity structure. According to this model the rise of a social movement is determined by two types of variables, namely structural and organizational ones. The favorable international context and changes in the political regime (structural variables) determine a more open political space where social movements can appear. For this purpose the existence of an organizational network and practice are necessary. According to this model, the (re)democratization at the end of the 20th century created a more open political system and shifted it to a neoliberal economical model, which worsened the economical situation and lead to the dissatisfaction of the region's marginal groups. The previous existence of networks of the church, the political left and other organizations in the rural zones helped to form the strong movements of indigenous people to express the discontent with the unfinished neoliberal reforms. Though this model answers the question when indigenous movements appear, it cannot answer the question why they arise. The model lacks both the historical perspective and the state variable. The argument of this master thesis is that the state's formation process, which does not include the Indian communities and its cultural practices, increases the likelihood of the appearance of indigenous movements. In this work the state's formation process is understood as the complex variable of the state's geographical, institutional and cultural–ideological penetration. On the way of finding the solution to the main problem additional questions arise: what type of relation exists between the state and indigenous and what place do these communities take within the national community? In answering these questions the historical comparative analysis of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru is conducted. The main findings of the analysis show that until the middle of the 20th century the weak geographical and institutional penetration of the Andean states not only created state clientelism but also favorable conditions for maintaining cultural traditions and communal practices of indigenous communities. Even though this feature is important in the analysis of the rise of indigenous movements it is not sufficient for explaining why we can see the politicization of ethnical identity in Ecuador and Bolivia while there is silence in Peru. The analysis of the position of indigenous people in the national community shows that the decisive variable is the cultural dimension and the relation between Indian and national mestizo cultures. In Ecuador and Bolivia the contraposition between white people and Indian ones is maintained, while in the case of Peru the national political elite used the symbols of Indian culture which have become a part of the national symbols. Thus the distance between indigenous communities and the state is smaller in Peru. Here the indigenous communities feel like a part of the nation. The variable of the state formation process is understood as a complex variable of geographical, institutional and cultural penetration. It has a bigger explanatory power in answering to the question why the indigenous people rise in some countries while in others they do not. It emphasizes not on the variable of the more open political system, but on the importance of the state variable and the historical perspective of Latin American development.
BASE
International audience ; Nowadays, automotive manufacturers are submitted to strong constraints in engine calibration such as: low fuel consumption, emission-control legislation and driver requests for driving comfort and performances. These constraints lead to an increasing complexity of the engines and thus an increasing number of parameters to be tuned, making the empirical engine calibration by a scan of parameter values impossible at engine test-bench. New methodologies in automated engine calibration based on statistics and optimization have emerged in order to limit the number of experimental tests to be run. The optimization problem of engine calibration consists in the determination of engine tuning parameters that minimize the cumulated fuel consumption and pollutant emissions on a driving cycle generally associated with legislation norms. This cycle is decomposed in a set of stationary operating points of the engine characterized by its speed and its torque (the transient behaviors of the engine are not taken into account in the stabilized calibration). Then, the optimal tuning parameters of the engine should be defined for each operating points, the functions defining these parameters on the whole engine operating domain are called the engine maps. These two-dimensional optimal engine maps are then integrated in the engine control unit in the vehicle. We illustrate the difficulties associated with this application and propose adapted optimization methodologies: LoLiMoT models for engine map parameterization in order to handle intrinsic constraints on the map regularity, multi-objective optimization method based on CMA-ES approach. Finally , application on real dataset obtained at IFP automated test-bench for a diesel engine are presented. 2. Keywords: Engine calibration, LoLiMoT, Multi-objective optimization, Evolutionary algorithm 3. Introduction Engine calibration consists in fulfilling the engine tuning maps that are used in engine controls of the vehicle, i.e. in defining the optimal tuning of parameters used by engine control strategies. Due to the highly increased number of these parameters (especially for diesel engines but spark ignition engines are following the same trend) and the reduction of the development schedule available for the calibration process, manual tuning of engine parameters is now replaced by mathematically assisted calibration process. Such a process is based on the design of experiments with associated modeling methods, in order to reduce the number of tests used to build engine response models depending on engine control parameters, and optimization techniques to determine the optimal settings within the model definition domain. In order to perform the tests in a more productive way, these mathematical techniques are generally associated with test automation, requiring well controlled measurement methods and reliable test equipments. This paper describes the optimization methods developed for this application and illustrates their effectiveness on a real case of a common rail diesel Engine. The first section introduces the classical steps of the calibration process and discusses the associated difficulties. In the second section, we propose the Multi-Objective Covariance-Adaptation Evolutionary Strategy method for solving the optimization problem associated with a given engine operating point defined by the engine speed and the engine load. In the third part, an integrated approach is proposed in order to directly optimize the engine maps on the whole driving cycle (associated with legislation norms) instead of the individual optimization of each engine operating point. 4. Engine calibration 4.1. Sketch of the engine calibration process The emission calibration workflow is classically divided into four steps: 1. a preliminary phase consisting in choosing a sample of operating points (referred to as OP in the 1
BASE
In: Lehmann , M 2008 , Conceptual Developments & Capacity Building in Environmental Networks : towards Public-Private-Academic Partnerships for Sustainable Development . Aalborg Universitet .
Med bevægelsen væk fra 70ernes og 80ernes reguleringsmekanismer præget af tilsyn, kontrol og påbud, over renere teknologi og selv-regulering i 90erne, er det nye årtusinde karakteriseret ved en partnerskabstankegang og brug af netværk som mekanisme til at fremme grønne markeder og en miljøvenlig privatsektor. Fortrinsvist siden Rio Topmødet i 1992 har virksomheder i stadig højere grad efterspurgt og deltaget i partnerskaber med offentlige parter, herunder regeringer, internationale organisationer og NGO'er; partnerskaber, der har til formål at medvirke til aktiviteter til sikring af en bæredygtig udvikling. Partnerskaber er blevet mere fremherskende i takt med at virksomheder reagerer på et stadigt stigende pres fra forskellige interessenter, herunder civilsamfundet, nationale og lokale myndigheder, i forhold til ansvarligheden af deres handlinger. Såkaldte grønne netværk, renere teknologi centre og affaldsminimerings-klubber er nogle af de fremhævede alternative tilgange til traditionel myndighedsregulering. Mens disse alternativer bliver udnævnt som mulige løsninger for myndighederne i det globale Syd til at rette op på manglende miljølovgivning, tilsyn og kontrol, er det rent faktisk sådan, at de fleste eksempler på sådanne partnerskaber stammer fra lande i det globale Nord. Et af de mest succesrige offentlige-private partnerskaber i Danmark er Green Network beliggende i det tidligere Vejle Amt. I dette initiativ, der blev startet af de lokale myndigheder og erhvervslivet i amtet, er der i dag mere end 280 aktive partnere, dækkende såvel den offentlige som den private sektor, dvs. lokale virksomheder, offentlige institutioner og myndigheder. Netværket startede i 1994 og har siden da vokset i både omfang, indsats og vigtighed. Helt fundamentalt er dets formål at udvikle, afprøve og indføre nye former for samarbejde mellem de offentlige myndigheder og de private virksomheder. Til at starte på var redskabet til dette en frivillig miljøredegørelse (Grønt Regnskab), som især virksomhederne kunne gøre brug af. Som tiden er gået er der dog generelt kommet et både større og bredere dækkende pres på de offentlige institutioner og myndigheder såvel som virksomheder, og der stilles stigende krav til, hvad samfundsmæssigt ansvar dækker over. I takt hermed har både værktøjer og metoder – og deres brug – udviklet sig. Dette gælder i netværket såvel som i samfundet i bredere forstand. Selvom sådanne typer netværk kan anses for relativt succesfulde i en Nord kontekst, er ukritisk donorfinansieret overførsel af disse koncepter til Syd kontekster ofte mundet ud i i skuffende resultater. Det er nødvendigt at diskutere og være opmærksom på nøgleelementer i det institutionelle landskab og på institutionelle bæreres vigtighed for succesen af grønne netværk i Syd. Med reference til tidligere igangværende initiativer i Thailand, herunder specielt netværket Cleaner Production for Industrial Efficiency, samt den føromtalte succesfulde case Green Network her i Danmark, er det dette ph.d. projekts formål at undersøge og vurdere disse initiativer, diskutere dem i relation til en institutionel og interessent tilgang (til partnerskaber) og foreslå hvorledes de forskellige erfaringer kan forstås og relateres i forhold til et bistandsperspektiv. Der er dog en tostrenget tilgang til dette. På den ene side universitetets-samarbejder, som er den verden, jeg personligt befinder mig i, og på den anden en betoning af, at den private sektor så småt er ved at acceptere en bredere (end snævert økonomisk) funderet rolle i samfundet, herunder også en stigende tendens omkring partnerskaber og virksomhedernes medvirken heri. Dette sidste har ledt mange til at stille sig spørgende overfor, hvilke faktorer, der reelt motiverer virksomheder til at efterspørge og forfølge partnerskaber. Disse underliggende kræfter kan indeholde legitimitets-behov såvel som interessent-pres. Det er dog sådan, at med det konstante flow af opskrifter, standarder, regler osv., som virksomheder præsenteres for, afhænger deres overlevelse af evnerne til at kunne overskue dette flow, optage og indlejre relevante systemer og procedurer, og skille sig af med de unyttige eller de, der er eller bliver overflødige. Denne egenskab kalder Røvik (1998) "multi-standard organisationen", og han identificerer den ved fem fundamentale kapaciteter: • Høj absorptions kapacitet • En dekoblingskapacitet af de 'opskrifter', der ikke passer ind i virksomhedens kernefelt eller med andre 'opskrifter' • En kapacitet til at kunne oversætte nye 'opskrifter' hurtigt og effektivt • En afkoblingskapacitet, så brugen af 'opskrifter', der ikke længere er nyttige, kan stoppes, og • En lagrings- og reaktiveringskapacitet, så engang nyttige opskrifter hurtigt kan gendannes og bruges påny. En undersøgelse af Green Network viser at disse fem kendetegn, som er skitseret i Røvik's teorier, faktisk alle er tilstede i netværket. Green Network har udvist en forbløffende evne til at følge med i udviklingerne i relation til ideerne om økologisk modernisering og bæredygtig udvikling. De har i relation hertil kunnet følge trit med alle de vigtige udviklinger de seneste 15 år, optaget hvad de har fundet vigtigt og kasseret det, de ikke har fundet passende i forhold til deres egen visioner og programmer. De resulterende værktøjer, manualer og måder hvorpå viden udbredes er alle en refleksion af den særlige Green Network måde at gøre tingene på, det vil sige gør det ikke sværere end det er, samarbejd og del jeres viden med hinanden. Konklusionen er, at gennem dialog, refleksivitet og etableringen af en fremmende frem for begrænsende kontekst, kan offentlige private partnerskaber blive et ganske brugbart element i samfundets indsats for en bæredygtig udvikling. I relation til den thailandske kontekst må det siges, at de umiddelbare succeser med at indføre renere teknologier gennem en netværksbaseret tilgang er blevet afløst af frustrationer om endnu et bistandsdrevet projekt, der viste sig ubæredygtigt og kun korttids-holdbar. Det er på dette punkt, universiteternes rolle som centrale elementer i udvikling og innovation – 'universities as development hubs' – finder sin anvendelse. Gennem universitetskonsortier og -netværk er kapacitetsopbygning indenfor miljø og udvikling blevet indført og afprøvet gennem de seneste 10 år. Universiteter fra Afrika (Botswana og Sydafrika), Asien, (Malaysia og Thailand), Mellemamerika (Costa Rica, El Salvador og Nicaragua) og Europa (Danmark) har samarbejdet med studerende og forskere. Til at begynde med fokuserede nogle programmer på forskning og andre på uddannelse, men over tid er resultatet en kombination af højere uddannelse og forskning, der synes at være mere effektiv og relevant. Samarbejder med partnere både indenfor det offentlig og det private er blevet etableret og har vist sig succesrigt og til fælles gavn. Aktiviteterne i disse konsortier har indebåret udvikling af nye studier (herunder i flere tilfælde også et paradigme skifte til problem-orienteret og projekt-baseret læring), lærer- og studenter-udveksling, fælles forskningsprojekter og fælles udviklingskonferencer. Resultaterne har været lovende, ikke mindst i relation til de konkrete typer af aktiviteter, der er foregået, men også samlet set, hvor de i fællesskab bidrager til en overordnet kapacitetsopbygning indenfor højere uddannelse og til forbedrede udviklingsmuligheder og miljøforhold. En styrkelse af højere uddannelse anses for at være en forudsætning for økonomisk og demokratisk udvikling i alle lande, i- såvel som u-lande. Men, i særdeleshed i udviklingslande er der behov for speciel støtte, for eksempel gennem international bistand til programmer for højere uddannelse, herunder forskning og innovation i samarbejde med andre forskningsinstitutioner såvel som med myndigheder og virksomheder. Universiteter bør selvsagt spille en central rolle i sådanne globale anstrengelser for at styrke højere uddannelse. I samarbejde med eksterne partnere (eksempelvis private virksomheder, konsulenter, NGOer, og civilsamfundet generelt), lægges der her vægt på universiteternes rolle som nøgleaktører og formidlere af ny viden og læring, herunder udviklingsværktøjer som IKT og PBL; som formidlere af kompetente og motiverede kandidater, der kan indtræde i nøglepositioner i samfundet; og som uundværlige partnere i at skabe det innovative og selv-lærende samfund, som synes en nødvendighed for begrænse fattigdom og facilitere økonomisk og social fremgang. Reelt operationaliserbare modeller er måske stadig mangelfulde, men "Public-Private-Academic Partnerships" foreslås her som et realiserbart løsningsforslag og som et koncept til yderligere undersøgelse og modifikation. Nogle af resultaterne og disses implikationer er præsenteret i denne afhandling, og flere er dokumenteret i referencerne. Ganske kort, universiteter, i tæt samarbejde med de øvrige af samfundets aktører, er helt nødvendige for opbygningen og vedligeholdelsen af innovative og bæredygtige samfund. ; Moving from largely command and control measures in the 70s and 80s, through cleaner production and self-regulatory initiatives in the 90s, the emphasis in the new millennium is more on using networks and partnerships as levers for promoting a greening of industry. Predominantly since the 1992 Rio Summit, corporations have been increasingly pursuing these partnerships with public institutions including governments, international organizations and NGOs that aim to contribute to sustainable development activities. Partnerships have become more common as corporations react to mounting pressure from corporate stakeholders, civil society and government on the responsible nature of their business practices. So-called 'Green Networks', 'Cleaner Production Centres', 'Waste Minimisation Clubs' are among the highlighted alternatives to governmental regulation. While being promoted as an option for governments in the South to make up for lack of sufficient environmental legislation and enforcement, the majority of these examples, however, stem from countries in the North. In terms of public–private partnerships, one of the foremost Danish initiatives is the Green Network in the former county of Vejle. This initiative, initiated by local governments and businesses in the county, currently involves more than 280 partners from both the private and the public sectors (local companies, public bodies and local governments). The network started in 1994 and has grown in size and importance ever since. Fundamentally, it aims at providing new forms of co-operation between public authorities and private companies. The vehicle for this was initially a voluntary environmental statement by companies, who wished to be members. With the passing of time, however, the demands and pressures on both companies and public bodies have increased as has their innovativeness. Hence, the tools and means employed—outside as well as inside the network—have developed accordingly. Even though they are successful in a Northern context, uncritical transfer of such concepts to contexts in the South along with substantial, external donor funding have in many cases led to disappointing outcomes. It is necessary to discuss and be aware of key factors in the institutional set-up and the importance of institutional carriers for the potential success of Green Networks in the South. With reference to at that time ongoing initiatives in Thailand, especially the Cleaner Production for Industrial Efficiency (CPIE) network, and the successful case of Green Network in Denmark, this PhD project sets out to examine and assess these initiatives, discuss them based on an institutional and stakeholder approach (to partnerships) and suggest how the experiences can be understood in their own rights. Inherent in this is the context of development aid. The point of departure is, however, twofold. From one side, university collaborations and from the other a signification of a corporate awakening towards a broader role of business in society and the trend of corporations embracing partnerships. The latter has led many to question the driving factors that motivate corporations to pursue partnerships. Underlying drivers of corporate organizational behaviour include both legitimacy and stakeholder needs. However, with a constant flow of recipes or standards being the order of the day for modern companies and organisations, their survival also relate to their ability to cope with this flow, adopting relevant recipes from it and incorporating these into their organisation - and dispensing with them when they become outmoded. This ability is exhibited by what Røvik (1998) calls the "multi-standard organisation", and he identifies five fundamental capacities that define it: • High absorption capacity • The capacity to decouple recipes that do not fit in • The ability to translate new recipes in a quick and easy way • The ability to detach old or worn down institutions, and • The ability to preserve and reactivate older forms of institutional recipes An evaluation of Green Network reveals that the five capacities outlined in Røvik's theory are all present. Green Network has exhibited a remarkable ability to keep up with trends in the development of the idea of ecological modernisation and sustainable development. They have been able to keep pace with all the important developments during the last almost fifteen years, absorbing what they find important and discarding aspects that do not fit into their vision and programmes. The resulting manuals, tools and ways of propagating knowledge all reflect the "Green Network way of doing things", i.e. keep it simple, work together and share knowledge. The conclusion is that through dialogue, reflexivity and the establishment of an enabling environment, public–private partnerships can become useful vehicles in societies' move towards sustainability. In relation to the Thai context, the initial successes of implementing cleaner production through the network approach have been substituted by frustrations of yet another aid-driven project that was unsustainable. This is the point where "universities as development hubs" enters the stage. Capacity-building in environment and development has been implemented and tested over the last decade through university and university consortia networking. Universities from Africa (Botswana and South Africa), Asia (Malaysia and Thailand), Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua) and Europe (Denmark) have collaborated with graduate students and faculty. Initially some programmes emphasised research and others higher education, but eventually a blend of research and higher education appeared to be more productive. Links to external partners in public and private business have been established and proved successful in terms of mutual benefits. Activities comprise evolution of new study curricula (including a shift of the learning paradigm to problem-based and project-organised learning), exchange of students and faculty, joint research and joint development conferences. The results have been promising in terms of concrete results within each type of activity and together they provide vital steps in capacity-building in tertiary education to the benefit of development and environment. Strengthening of tertiary education is assumed to be a prerequisite for economic and democratic development in all countries, be they industrialised, in transition or developing. However, particularly in transition and developing countries there is a need for special support, e.g. through international aid programmes to tertiary education, including research and innovation in an interplay with other research institutions, business and government. Universities should play a central role in such global efforts to strengthen tertiary education. In co-operation with external partners such as business, consultants, NGOs and civil society at large, universities as key agents and providers in new learning, including developing tools such as project-based and problem-oriented learning (PBL) as well as information and communication technology (ICT); as providers of competent and motivated graduates to fill key positions in society; and as indispensable partners in creating the innovative and auto-learning society necessary to curb poverty and facilitate prosperity is emphasised. Modes of operation are still deficient, but ''Public-Private Academic Partnerships' is suggested as a concept to study further and modify to needs. Some of the results and their implications are presented in this thesis and more are documented in the references that are cited. In short, universities, in joint action with business and society at large, are necessary for constructing and maintaining innovative and sustainable societies.
BASE
The paper focuses its analysis on the last three decades of the twentieth century. The basic assumption is that Egypt's economic performance during this period was less than satisfactory compared with the most successful examples in the far East and elsewhere. The paper also assumes that Egypt's initial conditions at midcentury compared favorably with the winners in the development race at the end of the century. Egypt has achieved positive progress, no doubt, yet compared with the higher performers in Asia, and given its favorable good initial conditions, the record seems quite mediocre. By mid-twentieth century, Egypt's agriculture had almost reached its limits. Egypt, therefore, faced a new challenge: a need to transform itself into an industrial society. This objective was only partially achieved. The paper identifies three interrelated factors that helped hinder Egypt's accession to a new industrial society. The first factor is a strong state and a weak society. An authoritarian state that in its endeavor to preserve its prerogatives had to give up good governance practices and limit the creative initiative of the individuals. The second factor is a semi-rentier economy. The availability of windfall revenues not only reduced the pressure for change but also promoted a new rentier mentality that undermined the emergence of an industrial spirit. The third factor is an inadequate education system. This system failed to provide the proper skills and values required for the industrial society. These factors, moreover, are interdependent and reinforce each other.
BASE
The aim of this study is to convince national and multilateral policy makers of the importance of the public sphere concept for democratic governance and strategic post-conflict assistance planning with the objective of positive and sustainable change in current post-conflict assistance policy and practice. The study introduces the conceptual thinking underlying the public sphere framework and, citing evidence from different countries, highlights its relevance and calls for its application in post-conflict environments. For practitioners the study provides a public sphere assessment toolkit and a toolbox for interventions. It also offers concrete examples and recommendations on how to address the specific governance challenges identified through a public sphere analysis in three countries: Timor-Leste, Liberia and Burundi.
BASE