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The inception of the African Union in 2002, emanated from the evolution of the 19th century Pan- African movement which aimed for a greater solidarity among the people of Africa. By the turn of the 20th century, the Pan-African movement became a formal organization called, Organization of African Unity (OAU). It was subsequently renamed the African Union to symbolize a new era of integration, modeled after the European Union, with similar institutional structure, norms and values. In this light, the norms, values and principles of the African Union are supposed to be used as a yardstick to achieve a more democratic union. The question guiding this research is: how effective has the African Union (as a body) been in implementing the norms and democratic principles documented in the Constitutive Act, the founding document of the African Union? This study aims to carry out a democratic audit of the African Union and to provide an appraisal of the Union"s Norms/Principles as opposed to the Union"s implementation in these areas. The research will adopt the measures developed for evaluating the democratic performance of the European Union and apply them to the African Union to provide a democratic audit of the organization. The research tests measure the awareness level of African Union member states to highlight lack of awareness as a major cause of non-attainment of the goals of the organization. Keywords: African Union, democratic audit, democratic deficit. ; ÖZ: 2002 yılında oluşan Afrika Birliği, 19. yüzyılda Afrika halkı arasında daha büyük bir dayanışmayı amaçlayan Pan-Afrika hareketinin evriminden doğmuştur. 20. yüzyılın başlarında, Pan-Afrikan hareketi, Afrika Birliği Örgütü adlı resmi bir örgüt haline gelmiştir. Daha sonra Afrika Birliği olarak isimlendirilen birlik, benzer kurumsal yapı, normlar ve değerler ile Avrupa Birliği'nden sonra modellenen yeni bir bütünleşme çağını sembolize etmek için yaratılmıştır. Bu açıdan, Afrika Birliği'nin normları, değerleri ve ilkeleri, daha demokratik bir birliğin sağlanması için bir kıstas olarak kullanılmalıdır. Bu araştırmaya rehberlik eden soru şu şekildedir: Afrika Birliği, Afrika Birliği'nin kurucu dokümanı olan temel yasasında belgelenen normları ve demokratik ilkeyi uygulamada ne kadar etkilidir? Bu çalışma, Afrika Birliği'nin demokratik incelemesini yapmayı ve Birliğin normları ve ilkeleri haricindeki uygulamaları değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma, Avrupa Birliği'nin demokratik performansını değerlendirmek için geliştirilen önlemleri esas alacak ve örgütün demokratik denetimini sağlamak için bunları Afrika Birliğine uygulayacaktır. Örgütün amaçlarına ulaşılmamasının önemli bir nedeni olarak farkındalık eksikliğini vurgulamak için u araştırma, Afrika Birliği üye devletlerinin farkındalık düzeyini ölçmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Afrika Birliği, demokratik denetim, demokratik açığı. ; Master of Arts in International Relations. Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Mediterranean University, Faculty of Business and Economics, Dept. of International Relations, 2018. Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Berna Numan.

The aim of the studies included in this thesis has been to develop the knowledge about civil and military leadership processes and the conditions for these in situations characterized by extreme environmental demands. The main part of the thesis is based upon empirical data gathered through semi-structured qualitative interviews with Swedish civil and military leaders. The studies, published in four articles, focused leadership during situations characterized by extreme environmental demands. The fourth article aimed at validating the theoretical model that was developed in study one. The thesis has pursued an integrated view in seeking to understand leadership and environment interactions during the conduct of international humanitarian aid and military peacekeeping operations. Hence it has been a matter of considering the individual leader in relation to the organisational and the external environment in order to study human adaption to meet the challenges and demands of disasters and conflicts. The results show that leadership during international humanitarian aid and military peacekeeping operations is a highly complex and demanding task. Premises for the processes involve a great number of environmental factors. In order to restore system balance within a larger system, there has to be congruence between individual appraisal of the organizational and the external environment to achieve successful task completion. Inconsistency among the environmental factors influencing leadership processes may evoke adaptional struggles characterized by both positive and negative stress responses that may affect performance and task completion. Reappraisal processes are shown to involve continuous assimilation processes of, and accommodation processes to, the environment, illustrating the shifting balances between environmental forces, organizational pressures, and individual initiative. The findings on stress responses are in line with earlier research, demonstrating that stress reactions exhibit great similarities regardless of hierarchical level while also indicating a double-edged pattern concerning the overall development of stress reactions. However, it does seems that hierarchical differences exist with regard to moral stress, while moral stress appears to lack the double-edged pattern since no positive reactions are reported even at moderate levels of stress impact. Taken together, future civil and military leaders need education in complex person-environment interactions in order to get a holistic picture of the underlying mechanisms, thus promoting the development of their adaptive capabilities. It is suggested that this thesis can be regarded as a context-specific contribution to complex system theory by providing insight into the organizational and external environmental factors/demands that influence civil and military leadership. ; Projekt 1. Räddningsverkets internationella insatser: Analys och utveckling av ledningssystemet. Projekt 2. Försvarsmakten FoT 7-område Ledarskap och stress.

The structural fund interventions play a crucial role in improving the social and economic cohesion of the EU. A particular focus of the structural funds is on those regions that lag behind to the extent that their GDP per capita is below 75 per cent of the EU average - Objective 1 regions. In 1999 these regions accounted for 25 per cent of total EU population, and in general they are poorly endowed in a number of areas, such as infrastructure, human capital, and modern high productivity industries and services. As a consequence, they tend to have higher rates of unemployment. The amount of investment that is funded though the structural funds by the EU is substantial (?103 billion over the period 1994 to 1999 for Objective 1 regions). Given their size and significance, EU legislation requires the appraisal of the structural funds. However, while systematic monitoring and evaluation frameworks are available at the national level and at the project level, a rigorous and systematic method for quantifying the socio-economic impacts of structural fund interventions on the regional economies has not been developed to the same extent. Thus, policy-makers seldom have access to accumulated research on the macroeconomic and macro-sectoral performance at a regional (NUTS II) level, which would allow them to assess the overall impact of the structural funds. One modelling framework - HERMIN - has been widely applied to Structural Fund analysis at the national level (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Latvia) and macro-regional level (East Germany and Northern Ireland). In this paper we review the theoretical foundations of this modelling approach, outline its application and highlight the results from the application of the HERMIN modelling framework to structural funds evaluation. This review will highlight not only the strengths of the approach but also the weaknesses and areas for further research. The theoretical underpinning of the HERMIN model is that of a small open economy model with a Keynesian role for domestic demand. The HERMIN framework is designed as a macroeconometric model composed of four sectors: manufacturing (a mainly traded sector), market services (a mainly non-traded sector), agriculture and government (or non-market) services. This level of disaggregation is the minimum necessary to identify the key sectoral shifts in a developing (regional) economy over the years of the Structural Funds programme. The model incorporates the mechanisms through which the Objective 1 national or regional economy is inter-connected to the external world, and most importantly it incorporates mechanisms through which the Structural Funds impact on the economy in the short and long-run. It therefore captures not only the short run Keynesian demand effects but also the long-run supply side effects.

Introduction -- Myth 1 There is one right way to lead or manage -- Myth 2 It's tough at the top -- Myth 3 long hours will lead to success -- Myth 4 It's important not to show vulnerability or doubt -- Myth 5 It's lonely at the top -- Myth 6 You need to be the smartest person in the room -- Myth 7 Hierarchy is finished -- Myth 8 Consistency is essential -- Myth 9 Only hire people who will fit in -- Myth 10 Leadership is more important than management -- Myth 11 You have to pay top dollar to get the right person -- Myth 12 Annual appraisals help you manage performance -- Myth 13 Information must be controlled and limited -- Myth 14 But women don't really want top jobs -- Myth 15 leaders are born not made -- Myth 16 Your first 100 days in a new job are make or break -- Myth 17 You have to know everything that is going on -- Myth 18 Heroic leaders can change entire organizations on their own -- Myth 19 The boss with the best strategy wins -- Myth 20 It is not possible to work flexibly in senior roles -- Myth 21 Pay must be kept confidential -- Myth 22 Psychology is psychobabble and there's no need or place for it -- Myth 23 The robots are coming to take your job -- Myth 24 Leadership must be transformational -- Myth 25 Conformity leads to success -- Myth 26 Feelings are soft and for losers -- Myth 27 Keep your distance if you want respect -- Myth 28 Be yourself -- it's all about authenticity -- Myth 29 Date of birth is destiny -- Myth 30 People are motivated by money -- Myth 31 Fear works and "engagement" is unnecessary -- Myth 32 The business case will always prove persuasive -- Myth 33 There's nothing wrong with the business, there's just a few rotten apples -- Myth 34 We have woken up to the problems caused by prejudice -- Myth 35 All the power resides at the top -- Myth 36 People will learn if you explain things to them clearly -- Myth 37 You must keep up with all the new management ideas and give them a try -- Myth 38 You've got to talk like a real, serious, grown-up business person. learn the jargon -- Myth 39 You can't manage people if you can't see them -- Myth 40 Who needs employees anyway? : get with the gig economy -- Myth 41 people hate change -- Myth 42 Big data will fix everything -- Myth 43 A cool office will make everybody more creative -- Myth 44 There are only 44 things to get wrong -- Appendices: fireside chats with prominent management thinkers -- Appendix 1 Charles handy -- Appendix 2 Eve poole -- Appendix 3 Henry mintzberg -- Appendix 4 herminia ibarra -- Appendix 5 laura empson -- Appendix 6 Lynda gratton -- Appendix 7 Margaret heffernan -- Appendix 8 Rob goffee and gareth jones -- Appendix 9 Tom Peters -- References -- Index

Introduction by Ahmed Bounfour and Leif Edvinsson -- Part One: Modelling and contextualising IC for Communities -- Chapter 1: Modelling Intangibles: Transaction Regime Versus Community regimes --, Ahmed Bounfour -- Chapter 2: Regional Intellectual capital in waiting, Leif Edvinsson -- Part Two : IC for Nations -- Chapter 3: Estimating the Level of Investment in knowledge across OECD countries, Mosahid Khan -- Chapter 4: Knowledge Economies: a Global Perspective, Jean-Eric Aubert, World Bank Institute -- Chapter 5: Investing in Intangibles: Is a Trillion Dollars Missing from the GDP? -- Leonard Nakamura, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia -- Chapter 6: Intangibles and Intellectual Capital in the European Investment Bank Project Appraisal, Jean-Jaques Mertens, European Investment Bank and Jacques Van der Meer -- Chapter 7 : Assessing Performance of European Innovations Systems: An Intellectual Capital Indexes Perspectives, Ahmed Bounfour, University of Marne La Vallee -- Chapter 8: National Intellectual Capital Index, The Benchmarking of Arab Countries -- Dr. Nick Bontis, DeGroote Business School, McMaster University -- Chapter 9 : The Intellectual Capital of The State of Israel, Dr. Edna Pasher and Sigal Shachar -- Chapter 10 : Rethinking leadership in the Knowledge Society, Learning from Others: How to Integrate Intellectual and Social Capital and Establish a New Balance of Value and Values, Bernhard Von Mutius, Germany -- Chapter 11: Japan and Other East Asian Economies under the Knowledge-Based Economy, -- Seiichi Masuyama, Nomura Research Institute, Japan and Asia -- Part Three : IC for Regions -- Chapter 12: Value Creation Efficiency at National and Regional Level -- Case Study Croatia and EU, Ante Pulic -- Chapter 13: A European regional path to the knowledge economy: challenges and opportunities, Dr Dimitri Corpakis, Head of Sector -- European Commission DG Research -- Chapter 14: Intellectual Capital Creation in Regions : A Knowledge System Approach -- Anssi Smedlund and Aino P̱yẖnen, M. Econ. Sc. Anssi Smedlund is a Research Assistant and PhD Candidate of Knowledge Management in the Department of Business Administration at Lappeenranta University of Technology -- Chapter 15: Ragusa or how to measure ignorance: The ignorance meter -- By Klaus North and Stefanie Kares, University of Applied Sciences, Wiesbaden, Germany -- Chapter 16: Can the state stimulate the creation of regional networks? -- Experiences from the Virtual Marketplace Bavaria initiative, -- Hans-Joachim Heusler, Hans Schedl -- Chapter 17: The Region's Competence and Human Capital: Lessons from the Collaboration Between 3 European Regions on Competence Mapping and Intellectual Capital Management, Lars Karlssson and Paolo Martinez -- Part Four -- IC for Cities and Local Communities -- Chapter 18: Learning-by-Playing: Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap in Urban Communities, Albert A Angehrn INSEAD, The European Institute of Business Administration -- Chapter 19: Cities' Intellectual Capital Benchmarking System (CICBS). A methodology and a framework for measuring and managing intellectual capital of cities: A practical application in the city of Matar̤, by Još Mar̕a Viedma Marti Polytechnic University of Catalonia and -- President of Intellectual Capital Management Systems -- Chapter 20IC for Communities, Research and Policy agenda, Ahmed Bounfour -- Index

The extant literature recognizes that subordinates in high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships experience the most favorable outcomes (Dulebohn, Bommer, Liden, Brouer, & Ferris, 2012). In exchange for their unwavering commitment and superior job performance, high LMX subordinates benefit from greater access to valuable resources (e.g., communication, support, and negotiating latitude; Gerstner & Day, 1997), which can then be used to combat job demands and facilitate accomplishment of the subordinates' salient goals (Agarwal, Datta, Blake-Beard, & Bhargava, 2012; Hobfoll, 2001). Meta-analytic evidence suggests that LMX also has critical implications for work-family outcomes (Litano, Major, Streets, Landers, & Bass, 2016), however, the mechanisms through which the LMX relationship influences work-family experiences remain unclear. The present study sought to clarify this process by examining the relationship between LMX and idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) along with resultant work-family experiences. Drawing from social exchange (Blau, 1964), role (Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal, 1964), and job characteristics (Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Humphrey, Nahrgang, & Morgeson, 2007) theories, it was hypothesized that both flexibility and developmental i-deals are positively related to work-family enrichment, and that flexibility i-deals are negatively related to work interference with family. In addition, given that a key characteristic of i-deals is that they are mutually beneficial and it is the leader who is generally responsible for authorizing such arrangements, this research sought to incorporate the supervisor's appraisal of the LMX relationship (SLMX) as a moderator in the relationship between subordinate LMX and i-deals. In accord with the dyadic perspective of LMX (Cogliser, Schriesheim, Scandura, & Gardner, 2009; Krasikova & LeBreton, 2012; Wayne, Shore, & Liden, 1997), it was predicted that the indirect relationship between LMX and work-family outcomes via i-deals would be moderated by SLMX, such that work-family experiences would be most optimal at higher levels of supervisor-rated LMX. To examine such a model, multi-source data was collected from 133 matched supervisor-subordinate dyads from a large government organization in the southeastern US. Using Mplus version 7.4 to account for the nested nature of the data, Edwards and Lambert's (2007) path analytic procedures were employed to test the model hypotheses. Although the conditional indirect effect hypotheses were not supported, results suggest that task and schedule flexibility i-deals may be negotiated through high-quality LMX relationships and have advantageous work-family implications. However, LMX was related to work-family outcomes above and beyond i-deals, suggesting that additional LMX-generated resources may play an important role in optimizing work-family management. Furthermore, LMX had differential effects on work-family experiences depending on which dyad member provided the assessment. Holding the effects of all other variables constant, SLMX was positively related to WFE, and LMX was negatively related to WIF. This study's findings make a number of theoretical contributions to the leadership and work-family literatures and may shed light on practical avenues for facilitating employees' work-family management efforts.

Dragged down in important part by disapproval over the U.S. position on the Gaza war, the popular image of the United States abroad has declined over the past year, according to a new poll of public opinion in 34 countries released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.The survey, the latest in an annual series that dates back more than two decades, also found that international confidence in U.S. democracy has fallen. A median of four in ten of the more than 40,000 respondents said U.S. democracy used to be a good model for other countries to follow but no longer is. That view was most pronounced in the ten European countries covered by the poll.This year's survey also found that respondents in 24 of the countries have more confidence in President Joe Biden to "do the right thing" in world affairs than they have in his rival, former President Donald Trump, while Trump was favored over Biden in two countries (Hungary and Tunisia). It found that there was no significant difference in confidence in the two men in the remaining eight countries.At the same time, however, confidence in Biden's stewardship of international issues fell over the past year in 14 of the 21 countries that were polled by Pew both this year and in 2023, by double digits in eight of the countries, notably South Africa, Australia, the UK, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Israel, and Japan.The survey was conducted from early January this year through the latter part of May. In addition to Hungary, the UK, Poland, Sweden, and Spain, European countries included France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands. In the Americas, the poll covered Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.In the Asia-Pacific region, ten countries were polled. In addition to Australia and Japan, they included Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Besides South Africa, sub-Saharan African countries included Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.Overall, views of the United States remained more positive than negative across all of the countries with a median of 54% of respondents offering a favorable opinion, with the most positive ratings found in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. In ten of the 21 countries that were also surveyed last year, however, favorable views fell by six percentage points or more, with the biggest declines found in Australia, Israel, South Africa, and Germany. As for confidence in Biden "to do the right thing" in world affairs, confidence was highest in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa where opinions were evenly split. In the Middle East, on the other hand, nearly 90% of respondents in both Turkey and Tunisia said they had "no confidence" in the U.S. president whose ratings were also mostly negative in Latin America (with the exception of Colombia), southern Europe, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, France and Hungary.Of five specific issues on which respondents were asked to rate Biden's performance, by far the most negative appraisals were related to his handling of the Gaza war. A median of 31% across the 34 countries said they approve of his conduct in that conflict, while a median of 57% said they disapproved. The most negative assessments were recorded in predominantly Muslim Turkey (8% approval), Tunisia (5%), and Malaysia (15%). Twenty-five percent or less of respondents in Hungary, Italy, Peru, Mexico, and Chile also said they approved of Biden's policy on Gaza.With respect to the war in Ukraine, a median of 39% of respondents voiced approval of Biden's policies. The most positive views of his performance in that war were recorded in Canada and Europe, particularly in Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and the UK. In Asia, views were most favorable in Japan and South Korea, although they still fell short of 50%. As with Ukraine, a median of 39% of respondents said they approved of Biden's approach to China with his strongest support of around 50% coming from respondents in Poland, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Kenya, and Nigeria.Asked to rate their confidence in four current national leaders "to do the right thing" in world affairs, French President Emmanuel Macron scored highest at 44% of all respondents, followed closely by Biden at 43% . Chinese President Xi Jinping received a median confidence score of 24%, and Russian President Vladimir Putin placed lowest at 21%. The lowest confidence scores for Putin came from European respondents (with the exception of Greece), Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Brazil, and Chile. European respondents also gave Xi poor marks, as did respondents in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Turkey, Brazil, and Chile.

The continued use of existing structures is of great importance because the built environment is a huge economic and political asset, growing larger every year. The assessment of existing structures is now a major engineering task. The structural engineer is increasingly called upon to devise ways for extending the life of structures whilst observing tight cost constraints, so obsolescence analysis is fundamental in the process of life extending. It is fundamental to establish principles for the assessment of existing structures, since it is a process based on an approach which is obviously different from designing new structure. Moreover, the process of assessment requires knowledge beyond the scope of design codes. Engineers may apply specific methods for assessment in order to save structures and to reduce a client's expenditure. The ultimate goal is to limit the interventions to the minimum needed and to consider the various solutions, such as refurbishment, adaptive reuse or demolition; those goals are clearly in agreement with the principles of sustainable development. Moreover, it is worth noticing that demolition is not the only possible solution. This document is intended as an example of principals and procedures for the obsolescence analysis and the assessment of aging structure. Various concepts are introduced and studied in this research: useful life, physical life and target life, which are compared each other. Moreover, various practical examples are carried on, dealing with the case study. The aim of this research, that was developed in collaboration with OTH – Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule of Regensburg and with a meeting at the Klokner Institute - Czech Technical University of Prague, is based on the study and applications of the ISO 13822 (Bases for design of structures), ISO 2394 (General principles on reliability for structures) and on the analysis of Eurocode 8 (Seismic design of buildings). The basis for reliability assessment is contained in the performance requirements for safety and serviceability of ISO 2394. This Standard enables the possibility to regulate, verify and document the adequate safe performance of structures, and also to consider them in a broader sense as part of societal systems; it provides approaches at three levels, namely: risk informed, reliability based and semi-probabilistic approach. The methodical basis for this edition of the ISO 2394 is described in JCSS (2008), JCSS (2001) and EN 1990 (2007). The building of Scuola Rossini (Firenze) is an adequate case study, since it is an aging and obsolete building; it was subjected to the earthquake of 1919, whose epicentre was in Mugello, and to a flood in 1966. The mentioned structure is affected by several decay phenomena that occurred during the years, because of ordinary and extraordinary causes. The goal of the surveys which were conducted on the structure is to understand how and why the deterioration phenomena were originated. Furthermore, the case study is a significant example since its structure is a mixture between masonry and reinforced concrete frames. Since masonry structures constitute a huge part of the buildings heritage, their assessment is an important engineering task nowadays, and it requires the application of sophisticated analysis methods, based on national building codes and on International Standards. Since the masonry behaves according to a set of specific macro-elements, namely of rigid-bodies, the structural analysis mainly concerns the identification of these macro-elements and the related failure mechanisms activated by specific actions, such as earthquakes. Seismic and kinematic analysis were done on the building. Dealing with seismic and seismic vulnerability too, this research was focused on the seismicity of Firenze: the European requirements are analysed together with the Italian ones; the attenuation laws depending on intensity and acceleration are studied too, and a practical example is provided. The seismic and kinematic analysis bring to a complete picture of the case study, and the seismic risk indexes are provided and discussed too. The study is organized in accordance with a step-by-step procedure, such as the flow chart of the ISO 13822 suggests: in the first step the preliminary assessment was performed, considering the available documentation and results from inspection and check; the following step concerns a more detailed appraisal, in which the structural analysis is carried out.

Background: Eutrophication of aquatic environments is a major environmental problem in large parts of the world. In Europe, EU legislation (the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive), international conventions (OSPAR, HELCOM) and national environmental objectives emphasize the need to reduce the input of nutrients to freshwater and marine environments. A widely used method to achieve this is to allow water to pass through a created or restored wetland. However, the large variation in measured nutrient removal rates in such wetlands calls for a systematic review. Methods: Searches for primary studies were performed in electronic databases and on the internet. One author performed the screening of all retrieved articles at the title and abstract level. To check that the screening was consistent and complied with the agreed inclusion/exclusion criteria, subsets of 100 articles were screened by the other authors. When screening at full-text level the articles were evenly distributed among the authors. Kappa tests were used to evaluate screening consistency. Relevant articles remaining after screening were critically appraised and assigned to three quality categories, from two of which data were extracted. Quantitative synthesis consists of meta-analyses and response surface analyses. Regressions were performed using generalized additive models that can handle nonlinear relationships and interaction effects. Results: Searches generated 5853 unique records. After screening on relevance and critical appraisal, 93 articles including 203 wetlands were used for data extraction. Most of the wetlands were situated in Europe and North America. The removal rate of both total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) is highly dependent on the loading rate. Significant relationships were also found for annual average air temperature (T) and wetland area (A). Median removal rates of TN and TP were 93 and 1.2 g m(-2) year(-1.), respectively. Removal efficiency for TN was significantly correlated with hydrologic loading rate (HLR) and T, and the median was 37 %, with a 95 % confidence interval of 29-44 %. Removal efficiency for TP was significantly correlated with inlet TP concentration, HLR, T, and A. Median TP removal efficiency was 46 % with a 95 % confidence interval of 37-55 %. Although there are small differences in average values between the two quality categories, the variation is considerably smaller among high quality studies compared to studies with lower quality. This suggests that part of the large variation between studies may be explained by less rigorous study designs. Conclusions: On average, created and restored wetlands significantly reduce the transport of TN and TP in treated wastewater and urban and agricultural runoff, and may thus be effective in efforts to counteract eutrophication. However, restored wetlands on former farmland were significantly less efficient than other wetlands at TP removal. In addition, wetlands with precipitation-driven HLRs and/or hydrologic pulsing show significantly lower TP removal efficiencies compared to wetlands with controlled HLRs. Loading rate (inlet concentrations x hydraulic loading rates) needs to be carefully estimated as part of the wetland design. More research is needed on the effects of hydrologic pulsing on wetlands. There is also a lack of evidence for long-term (>20 years) performance of wetlands. ; Funding Agencies|Mistra Council for Evidence-based Environmental Management (Mistra EviEM); Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research

CL 2005 has been effective for more than eight years. Its impact on corporations and corporate participants has been a popular topic in the academic world. In response, the rules of CL 2005 in regulating limited liability companies, which have not attracted intensive attention of scholars, have considerable influence on the Chinese business environment and are less subject to government control, will be examined in this thesis. With reference to law and economics analysis which asserts the contractual nature of the firm, this thesis lays the theoretical foundation for evaluating CL 2005: 1) the character and the content of legal rules, and 2) the allocation of authority in decision-making and agency problems indicated by the application of agency theory in the context of close corporations. Based on this analytical framework, the relevant rules on the book and in action will be examined in this thesis. Specifically, it will be argued in this thesis that overlap between ownership and management is an established norm in allocating authority in limited liability companies and this norm requires that shareholders have discretion in choosing the way of management that is tailored to their own special needs. The way of management has a variety of different forms; accordingly, company law should respect and facilitate the private contracting of shareholders by adopting enabling rules in respect of the corporate governance structure of limited liability companies. Nonetheless, the relevant rules on the books fail to meet the requirement of the established norm, as their mandatory character offers a rigid and inflexible statutory governance structure though inclined to shareholder centralism. Although it is found in the work carried out in this thesis that courts relieve shareholders from such a strict regulation in many cases, it is suggested that the character of the relevant rules be clarified as enabling to reduce the uncertainty around their application in practice. Under the established pattern of allocation of authority, minority shareholders usually depend on the discretionary performance of majority shareholders, and consequently agency problems between shareholders then arise. After demonstrating the inappropriateness of the appraisal remedy in addressing the agency problems, three liability rules under CL 2005 will be analyzed in this thesis. Contrary to deregulators' claim on the default character of the rules, it will be argued in this thesis that mandatory liability rules with appropriate content should be provided by company law to constrain the discretion of majority shareholders. The three liability rules are considered to be mandatory and the theoretical scope of restraints imposed by them onto the conducts of majority shareholders seems to be somewhat adequate to address oppression. Nevertheless, it is discovered in this thesis that the adoption of the actual legality test by some courts may condone majority shareholders in a number of oppressive cases; when some courts carry out a substantive examination on the conducts of majority shareholders, there is no consistent principle that guides this examination. Therefore, the constraining effect of the rules on oppression and their mandatory character are weakened by the conservative and inconsistent application in practice by courts. To strengthen the protection of minority shareholders, this thesis will propose detailed suggestions for the formulation of the content of a desired mandatory liability rule and recommendations to apply the rule by courts. ; published_or_final_version ; Law ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy

Book Reviews in This Article Carl Menger and the Origins of Austrian Economics. By Max Alter. (Oxford, Westview Press, 1990, pp Economic Theory, Welfare and the State: Essays in Honour of John C. Weldon. Edited by Athanasios Asimakopulos, Robert D. Cairns and Christopher Green. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp Project Appraisal for Developing Countries. By Robert J. Brent. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp A New Economic Policy for Britain: Essays on the Development of Industry. Edited by Keith Cowling and Roger Sugden. (Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1990, pp The Evolution of Economic Systems: Essays in Honour of Ota Sik. Edited by Kurt Dopfer and Karl‐F. Raible. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp Comparative Advantage and Growth: Trade and Development in Theory and Practice. By H. David Evans. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp Current Issues in Open Economy Macroeconomics: Paradoxes, Policies and Problems. By J. L. Ford. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp A History of Australian Economic Thought. By Peter Groenewegen and Bruce McFarlane. (London, Routledge, 1990, pp Transaction Costs and Trade Between Multinational Corporations: A Study of Offshore Oil Production. By C. Paul Hallwood. (London, Un win Hyman Limited, 1990, pp Wages and Profits in the Capitalist Economy: The Impact of Monopolistic Power on Macroeconomic Performance in the USA and UK. By Andrew Henley. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp Collected Works of Michal Kalecki. Volume I. Capitalism: Business Cycles and Full Employment. Edited by Jerzy Osiatyski. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, pp Rethinking International Trade. By Paul R. Krugman. (Cambridge, Mass, and London, The MIT Press, 1990, pp The Scottish Contribution to Modern Economic Thought. Edited by Douglas Mair. (Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press, 1990, pp Export Promotion Strategies: Theory and Evidence from Developing Countries. Edited by Chris Milner. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp The Economics of European Integration. By Willem Molle. (Aldershot, Dartmouth Publishing Company Limited, 1990, pp The History of Econometric Ideas. By Mary S. Morgan. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp Social Welfare and Economic Policy. By Yew‐Kwang Ng. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp Alfred Marshall's Mission. By David Reisman. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp The History of Swedish Economic Thought. Edited by Bo Sandelin. (London, Routledge, 1990, pp A World Ruled by Number: William Stanley Jevons and the Rise of Mathematical Economics. By Margaret Schabas. (Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1990, pp Time, Expectations and Uncertainty in Economics. Selected Essays of G. L. S. Shackle. Edited by J. L. Ford. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp Unknowledge and Choice in Economics. Proceedings of a Conference in Honour of G. L. S. Shackle. Edited by Stephen F. Frowen. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp The Labor Market as a Social Institution. By Robert M. Solow. (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990, pp Economic Papers, 1941‐88. By Josef Steindl. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp Alfred Marshall in Retrospect. Edited by Rita McWilliams Tullberg. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp Conflict in Economics. Edited by Yanis Varoufakis and David Young. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp The Economics of Trade Protection. By Neil Vousden. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp Industrial Organization. Edited by Oliver E. Williamson. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp

[spa] La Tesis expone de forma diacrónica la evolución del catastro de propiedad y la tasación de esta misma entre mediados del siglo XVI hasta la actualidad en Chile. La investigación permitió definir a través de la revisión de fuentes primarias y secundarias la evolución que tuvo el registro predial y el consiguiente pago del impuesto territorial. Se presenta una visión global del avance del catastro predial a escala nacional, sustentada en información relevante que aportó al estudio. Si bien son numerosas las instituciones involucradas en dicho proceso, así como las diversas leyes que se dictaron y se actualizaron acorde a las necesidades del momento, es posible identificar un interés desde el Estado por desarrollar esta labor. El estudio permitió comprobar la existencia de un registro predial desde la llegada de los conquistadores al territorio nacional y que la propiedad tuvo un valor y tasación al momento de asignarla como compensación por las labores efectuadas. Posterior a esta etapa se evidencia la valorización de la propiedad por parte de los usos y sus rendimientos económicos, generándose disputas entre los vecinos involucrados, por problemas de deslindes prediales que se suscitaban por sus parcelaciones. Paralelamente, el naciente Estado republicano necesitó catastrar los recursos del país para conocer sus recursos con cierta exactitud y para ello se ve en la necesidad de contratar a inicios del siglo XIX a una sucesión de científicos europeos, especialmente franceses, para que ayudaran al levantamiento cartográfico y así identificar y expandir el conocimiento de la nación. Hacia finales del siglo XIX y comienzos del siglo XX se diseñan instituciones públicas que con la finalidad de fortalecer al conocimiento y tasación predial, entre ellas destacan la Oficina de Mensura de Tierras, el Servicio de Impuestos Internos, el Instituto Geográfico Militar, el Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales y el Sistema Nacional de Coordinación de Información Territorial, cada una con labores específicas al aporte del catastro de propiedad. Así como una serie de leyes que abordan el avalúo y la tasación predial. Se suma a las entidades la labor que realizan los municipios en el desarrollo de esta actividad. El municipio de Santiago es puesto en el centro del análisis porque es el caso que ostenta ser el ejemplo que representa la evolución de los sistemas catastrales desde la fundación hasta el día de hoy. Se concluye que es posible constatar un interés constante por parte del Estado por valorar la propiedad en diferentes períodos de la historia del país, complejizado dicha actividad por el desconocimiento que se tenía de las características del territorio que comprendía la nación y por la necesidad de tener un catastro predial unificado, que diese cuenta de un modo efectivo de los usos y actividades que puedan servir de modo efectivo a las arcas fiscales ; [eng] The thesis describes in a diachronic way the evolution of the property cadastre and its appraisal, between half of XVI century until the current time in Chile The research enabled the definition - trough the review of primary and secondary sources – of the evolution that had the land registry and the subsequent payment of territorial tax. It is also introduced a global overview of the progress of land cadastre, at national level and supported by the relevant information that contributed to this research. Besides of the many institutions that are involved in this process - the same as Laws issued and updated according to the needs of the moment - it is also possible to identify an interest from the State to develop this work. The research proved the existence of a land registration from the arrival of conquerors to the national territory, and also the evidence that the land was appraised at the time of its distribution, as a way of compensation for the work performed. Later there is the evidence of the land value according to its uses and economic performance; and debates among the involved neighbours, due to problems related to land boundaries that arose during its subdivisions. In parallel, the arising Republican State needed to cadastre the national resources with some accuracy, and for this reason European scientists were hired in the early nineteenth century, especially French ones, to assist the mapping, identification and expansion of the knowledge about the nation. By the late nineteenth century and early twentieth there were public institutions created to strengthen the land knowledge and its appraisal; among them are outstanding: The Mensuration Land Office, The National Tax Office, The Military Geographic Institute, The Ministry of National Goods and the National Department for the Coordination of Land Information, each one with specific tasks to contribute with land cadastre works. In addition to these organizations there is a Municipal action related to the development of this activity. The Municipality of Santiago is placed in the center of the analysis because it represents the example of the evolution of cadastral systems from its founding to current days. Finally the conclusion is that it is s possible to find along history a constant interest of the State for appraising properties, making this activity a more complex process due to the lack of knowledge about the characteristics of the land that formed the nation and by the need of a unified cadaster, which could have shown in an effective way the uses and activities that may have contributed effectively to the State incomes.

Agricultural development is still central to economic activity and employment in Vietnam. The developments in modern agriculture have led to a host of environmental concerns because it impinges on natural resources and heavily relies on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals. Agricultural developments include various influences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services such as destruction of wildlife habitat, organic and nutrient enrichment, pollution risks, etc. The research throws light on an area not always foregrounded in the discussion of agricultural development surrounding protected areas in Vietnam. It raises an important question about how can manage agricultural production of protected area buffer zones to achieve economic viability and ensure ecological sustainability. This research has sought to analyze the agricultural development of local people and provide some perspectives on sustainable development toward agroecology nearby protected sites which are significant for Vietnam. The structure and emphasis of this research have been shaped mainly by the material gathered through the interviews. Through the application of the systemic approach of agroecology (objectives-practices-outputs), this research reviews the current situation of agricultural development surrounding Xuan Thuy National Park, the first Ramsar site in Southeast Asia. In the protected area buffer zone, there is an existence of diverse farming systems (mono and poly-culture) but there is a dearth of ecological-based knowledge and practices of farm households. One indication that there have not different cultivation guidance and management for farmers in the communal buffer zone as compared with outer communes. Agricultural advisory services from the local government have been disseminated similarly in the whole district including the protected area buffer zone. Whole-farm performances gained with different levels of sustainability. From socio-economic perspectives, farm households achieve some profitability but less efficiency. From ecological perspectives, there are many issues related to environmental pollution including the spontaneous drainage of farm effluents, inordinate application of pest and disease control, unwise utilization of synthetic fertilizers, wide use of antibiotics, and water conflicting between group users. Through RAAIS (Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Information System) analysis, this research identifies a vast range of elements that constitute constraints and underlying causes that hinder sustainable agricultural development and the application of ecological-based management practices in the protected area buffer zone. The top three clusters of constraints to achieving the development are mismanagement practices at the farm-scale, economic issues and environmental pollution. The analysis is undoubtedly brought about improvements in understanding the challenges and particular problems for agricultural developments around the protected area. Then the research focuses on the analysis of interlinked causes of the constraints. The first cause relates to the poor policy development associated with low enforcement of agroecologically-based methods for the agriculture sector nearby protected areas. Meanwhile, literature and policy documents show that Vietnam has numerous laws, policies and regulations for sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly cultivation, they have not been effectively transferred into practices at this zone. There is no restriction upon the unwise use of agrochemicals such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers around the sensitive area. At the same time, there is a lack of economic incentives for farmers who conserve nature near the protected area. Authorities at district and commune levels manage agriculture toward intensification but deficient ecological knowledge. Xuan Thuy National Park management board has very little authorization in monitoring improper practices of peripheral communities even though the park has technicians working on the issues related to environmental protection and conservation. Farmers have little interaction with the park for agricultural production. Furthermore, the enforcement of environmental standards in farming activities is limited despite the existence of environmental regulations and laws. The weak enforcement attributes by the dearth of facilities, resource-conserving equipment, laboratories, and staff from district to communes. In other words, environmental standards are given too much emphasis, while they have not transferred into practice and materialized in this site. The second emergent cause call for a reorientation is the agricultural advisory service system due to its low performance. Packages of technical advisory and problem-solving skillsets have not yet satisfied various needs of farmers or improved the economic and environmental outcomes of diverse production systems. Advisory providers have little role in assisting farmers to confront regional issues including negative impacts from pesticide contaminants and pond effluents, a disease outbreak in production, drastic weather, water conflicting between groups of farmer users, etc. Another critical interlinked constraint is related to the gap between the objectives of farmers and the park authority. Primary, farmers have the top priority for profits and they want to satisfy their own needs rather than feeling responsible for long-term maintenance. This clearly expresses the improper farming methods in the land-use systems and thus partly leads to the undesirable environmental performance in surveyed farms. While the conservative authorities expect both conservation and development, but in most cases economic factors shaped the decision-making of provincial government and lower agencies. From the preservation perspective, there have not clear indicators or measures of environmental sustainability for agriculture. Lastly, the findings of the research point out that farmers' knowledge of ecological agriculture is deficient, and these have an impact on the limited adoption of environmentally friendly production methods. Several implications are arising from this research to reflect on what needs to be put in place to ensure the form of agriculture nearby sensitive sites. These include ways of the policy-making process and stakeholder engagement as well as fostering of local knowledge and capacities and sustainable management practices in the response of agricultural development and pollution mitigation. The changes require helps to regulate agriculture toward the preservation of local ecosystems. ; Le développement agricole est toujours au cœur de l'activité économique et de l'emploi au Vietnam. L'évolution de l'agriculture moderne a suscité de nombreuses préoccupations environnementales, car elle empiète sur les ressources naturelles et dépend fortement des engrais synthétiques, des pesticides et d'autres produits chimiques. Le développement agricole influence diversement la biodiversité et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes et des services tels que la destruction de l'habitat faunique, l'enrichissement en matières organiques et en éléments nutritifs, les risques de pollution, etc. La recherche met la lumière sur une zone qui n'est pas toujours au premier plan dans la discussion du développement agricole entourant les zones protégées au Vietnam. Elle soulève une question importante sur la façon de gérer la production agricole des zones tampons protégées pour atteindre la viabilité socio-économique et assurer la durabilité écologique. Cette recherche a cherché à analyser le développement agricole des populations locales et à fournir des perspectives de développement durable vers l'agroécologie à proximité des sites protégés qui sont importants pour le Vietnam. La structure et l'importance de cette recherche ont été façonnées principalement par le matériel recueilli au cours des entrevues. En appliquant l'approche systémique de l'agroécologie (objectifs-pratiques-résultats), cette recherche examine la situation actuelle du développement agricole autour du parc national Xuan Thuy, le premier site Ramsar en Asie du Sud-Est. Dans la zone tampon de l'aire protégée, il existe divers systèmes agricoles (mono et polyculture), mais les pratiques de production écologiques des ménages agricoles sont rares. Il n'existe pas de différence dans les directives agricoles pour les agriculteurs dans la zone tampon et ceux des zones extérieures. Les services de conseil agricole du gouvernement local ont été diffusés de façon similaire dans l'ensemble du district. Les performances des exploitations agricoles en ont bénéficié et atteignent différents niveaux de durabilité. Du point de vue socio-économique, les ménages agricoles atteignent une certaine rentabilité, mais moins de stabilité, d'efficacité et de résilience. Du point de vue écologique, il existe de nombreux problèmes liés à la pollution de l'environnement, notamment le drainage spontané des effluents agricoles, l'application excessive de pesticides contre les ravageurs et les maladies, l'utilisation peu judicieuse d'engrais synthétiques, l'utilisation généralisée d'antibiotiques, et le conflit pour l'eau entre les utilisateurs du groupe. En utilisant l'analyse par RAAIS (Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Information System), cette recherche détermine des éléments qui entravent le développement agricole durable et l'application des pratiques de gestion écologiques dans la zone tampon de l'aire protégée et les causes de ses contraintes. Les trois principaux groupes de contraintes à la réalisation du développement sont les mauvaises pratiques de gestion à l'échelle de la ferme, les problèmes économiques et la pollution environnementale. L'analyse est certainement amenée à améliorer la compréhension des défis et des problèmes particuliers du développement agricole autour des aires protégées. Ensuite, la recherche se concentre sur l'analyse des causes interdépendantes des contraintes. La première cause est liée au faible développement des politiques associé à une faible application de celles-ci au secteur agricole à proximité des aires protégées. En ce moment, le Vietnam a de nombreuses lois, politiques et réglementations pour une agriculture durable et une culture respectueuse de l'environnement, mais elles n'ont pas été effectivement transposées dans les pratiques de cette zone. Il n'y a aucune restriction quant à l'utilisation imprudente de produits agrochimiques comme les pesticides et les engrais dans la zone sensible. En même temps, il manque d'incitations économiques pour les agriculteurs qui conservent la nature à proximité de l'aire protégée. Les autorités, au niveau du district et de la commune, poussent l'agriculture vers l'intensification, mais avec une connaissance écologique insuffisante. Le conseil de gestion du parc national Xuan Thuy a très peu d'autorité pour surveiller les pratiques inappropriées des communautés périphériques, même si le parc a des techniciens qui travaillent sur les questions liées à la protection et à la conservation de l'environnement. Les agriculteurs ont peu d'interactions avec le parc pour la production agricole. De plus, l'application des normes environnementales dans les activités agricoles est limitée malgré l'existence de lois et de règlements environnementaux. Les faibles retombées de l'application de la loi sont dues au manque d'installations, d'équipement de conservation des ressources, de laboratoires et de personnel des districts et communes. Autrement dit, on met trop l'accent sur les normes environnementales, alors qu'elles ne se sont pas matérialisées dans ce site. La deuxième cause émergente, appellée à une réorientation, est le système de conseil agricole en raison de ses faibles performances. Les ensembles de compétences techniques de conseil et de résolution de problèmes n'ont pas encore répondu aux divers besoins des agriculteurs ni amélioré les résultats économiques et environnementaux des divers systèmes de production. Les comités de conseils ont peu de moyens pour aider les agriculteurs à faire face aux problèmes régionaux, y compris les effets négatifs des contaminants, des pesticides et des effluents des étangs, une maladie dans la production, des conditions météorologiques extrêmes, des conflits pour l'eau entre les groupes d'agriculteurs utilisateurs. etc. Une autre contrainte essentielle, c'est l'écart entre les objectifs des agriculteurs et ceux de l'autorité du parc. Dans le secteur primaire, les agriculteurs donnent la priorité absolue aux profits et ils veulent satisfaire leurs propres besoins plutôt que de se sentir responsables de l'entretien à long terme. Cela exprime clairement le caractère inapproprié des méthodes agricoles dans les systèmes d'utilisation des terres et conduit donc en partie à des performances environnementales indésirables dans les exploitations recensées. Alors que les autorités en charge de la conservation de la nature attendent à la fois la conservation et le développement, dans la plupart des cas, ce sont les facteurs économiques qui ont façonné la prise de décisions du gouvernement provincial et des organismes des échelons inférieurs. Du point de vue de la préservation, il n'y a pas d'indicateurs ou de mesures clairs de la durabilité environnementale pour l'agriculture. Enfin, les résultats de la recherche soulignent que les connaissances des agriculteurs en matière d'agroécologie sont insuffisantes et qu'elles ont un impact sur l'adoption limitée de méthodes de production respectueuses de l'environnement. Plusieurs implications découlent de cette recherche pour réfléchir à ce qui doit être mis en place pour déterminer la forme de l'agriculture à proximité des sites sensibles. Il s'agit notamment des processus d'élaboration des politiques et de mobilisation des parties prenantes, ainsi que de l'amélioration des connaissances et des capacités des responsables locaux et des pratiques de gestion durable pour le développement agricole en vue de l'atténuation de la pollution. Les changements nécessaires aident à réglementer l'agriculture pour la préservation des écosystèmes locaux.

The Beras untuk Rakyat Miskin (Raskin) program was introduced as an emergency food security program in 1998; it delivers rice to be purchased at subsidized prices, prioritized to poor and near-poor households. In terms of government expenditure, Raskin remains the largest permanent social assistance transfer targeted to poor households in Indonesia. Though developed as a response to crisis, Raskin has become a permanent program and in real expenditure terms is one of the few social assistance programs with a larger budget in 2010 than in 2005. In 2010 Raskin accounted for nearly 53 percent of all household-targeted social assistance spending carried out by the central government. Over 2000 to 2010, the amount of rice allocated by the Raskin program has averaged over 2 million tons per year; in 2010 the almost 3 million tons allocated could have delivered between 30 and 40 kilograms per month to the approximately 6.2 million households at or below the poverty line. The distribution of Raskin rice does not closely align with the objectives laid out in program manuals and official documentation for at least three reasons. First, not all of the rice procured for the Raskin program makes it to households. In the three most recent years for which there is audited budget data (2007 through 2009), nationally representative household surveys indicate that only half (or less) of the rice procured for Raskin is purchased by households. The readily-available budget and administrative records cannot indicate where the bulk of this "missing" rice exits the delivery chain, and no single agency or authority is in charge of Raskin rice from procurement to household purchase. This note assesses the operation and implementation of the Raskin program to determine how well poor households are served by the program and the overall cost of program resources. The note provides quantitative analysis of the coverage, incidence, and average benefit levels of Raskin to determine both the progressivity of the program's targeting and the adequacy of benefit levels. Qualitative information on program delivery and program operations will also shed light on areas for reform. An evidence-based appraisal of the household-based transfer currently consuming over 50 percent of the entire social assistance budget envelope can provide inputs to the Government of Indonesia (GOI) as it continues to try to achieve both Pro-Poor development for all Indonesians and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).