The British Library's collection of approximately 1000 Syriac manuscripts is one of the world's richest collections of materials for the study of Syriac Christianity. These manuscripts were catalogued in the nineteenth century shortly after a large collection of over 500 manuscripts were acquired by the British from the monastery of Dayr al-Suryān in Egypt. This article examines the intellectual assumptions that guided the nineteenth-century cataloguing efforts and offers a methodological proposal for how a new digital catalogue of the manuscripts could and should differ. New methods of digital representation can permit users to engage the Dayr al-Suryān manuscripts and the whole of the British Library Syriac collection from multiple, varied, and even conflicting perspectives. Several such digital approaches are being implemented in Syriaca.org's digital catalogue of the British Library Syriac manuscripts. The diversity of such digital approaches promises to open new insights into the history of Christianity in late antiquity and beyond.
The medium-term economic development policy framework presented in parliament in November 2015 envisaged generating one million jobs and improving living standards of workers. The stated goal of employment creation was to be met by encouraging investments in high employment intensity sectors on the demand side, and by improving skills on the supply side. The policy framework gives special attention to create a sophisticated and modern knowledge based economy which is able to compete effectively in the global market. One main challenge faced by the government in achieving the above mentioned labour market objectives are limited public finances. At present the government is attempting to consolidate finances by gradually reducing both the budget deficit and the debt burden. In this backdrop the room for significantly increasing government expenditure is limited.
Auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent dominieren wenige mächtige Großunternehmen und es gibt eine überwältigende Anzahl zumeist informeller Mikround Kleinunternehmen. Doch das afrikanische Unternehmertum differenziert sich und mit der zunehmenden Urbanisierung sind moderne Betriebe entstanden, die als "African Mittelstand" bezeichnet werden. Der Aufstieg eines unternehmerischen Mittelstands in Afrika wird durch die wachsenden Einkommen der Mittelschichten in den Großstädten begünstigt. Hier entwickeln sich industrielle Cluster. Zahlreiche Mittelstandsunternehmen schaffen es sogar, sich in globale oder regionale Wertschöpfungsketten einzubinden. Für industrielle Neuerungsprozesse und für die Entwicklung des "African Mittelstand" sind Ingenieure und Facharbeiter besonders wichtig. In den urbanen Zentren können die Unternehmen auf ein wachsendes Potenzial an qualifizierten Arbeitskräften zurückgreifen. Während die Mittelschicht in Uganda und Nigeria wenig umfangreich ist und die Zahl der Mittelstandsunternehmen bislang ebenfalls gering bleibt, hat Tunesien eine sehr große Mittelschicht. Dennoch dominieren in diesem nordafrikanischen Land exportorientierte Großunternehmen; der Mittelstand ist extrem klein. In Afrika kann sich der Mittelstand wegen zahlreicher Hindernisse nicht optimal entwickeln. Dazu gehören unzureichende Finanz- und Rechtssysteme, die mangelnde Versorgung mit Elektrizität und Wasser und ein System des "Favouritism", über das Großunternehmen staatliche Aufträge erhalten, während Klein- und Mittelunternehmen meistens leer ausgehen. Fazit: Die Entwicklung eines modernen Unternehmertums in den wachsenden städtischen Zentren und die steigende Kaufkraft der Mittelschichten könnten in Afrika eine Wachstumsdynamik in Gang setzen, die auch zu höherer Beschäftigung führt. Voraussetzung dafür ist, dass die Regierungen den Aufbau industrieller Cluster fördern und die zahlreichen Hindernisse für Klein- und Mittelunternehmen beseitigen.
Long term energy goals that the EU has set for the years 2020 and 2050, in order to increase its security of energy supply, decrease the impact on the environment and stimulate sustainability, are binding to all member states. Croatia as a new EU member state needs to reconsider and develop new energy policy towards energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. One of the key processes is rational energy consumption and gradual national energy demand decrease. Having said this; it is important to understand what mechanisms are influencing energy demand and what is their long term impact, so future energy demand fluctuations can be modelled. Classical energy demand planning is usually focused on establishing a relationship between economic indicators, such as the GDP, and energy consumption. This is usually done based on analyzing different historical data and processing them in a relatively simple way, like time series analysis, or applying more complex analyses using neural networks, genetic algorithms or similar methods. It is argued that this approach has become inefficient in the case of EU countries which strive towards decoupling their economic growth and energy consumption. Numerous initiatives towards lowering energy consumption in the EU by implementing different Directives, financial schemes and mechanisms that should result in lowering energy demand in the future substantiate this argument. A new approach in the energy demand planning process is necessary. In order to describe and quantify energy policy measures bottom up engineering models, focused on end users, have to be used. Throughout this thesis, the author has developed the National energy Demand model (NeD model) and used it to calculate long term final energy demand of Croatia. The model is based on sectoral approach and includes six major economic sub models; households, transport, industry, services, construction and agriculture. The results of the NeD model are compared to two available studies/models, the Primes EU28 and the Croatian national strategy. As an additional segment of this thesis is the implementation of the NeD methodology into LEAP model, in order to have more simplified long term energy demand model of Croatia which would be more easily used. The main question that the author asks is: what is the effect of the implementation of various energy policies on the long term energy demand, primarily, but also what is the effect on the environment and national economy. ; Dugoročni energetski ciljevi, koje je Europska komisija zadala za 2020. i 2050. godinu, u svrhu povećanja sigurnosti energetske opskrbe, smanjenja utjecaja na okoliš i poticanja održivosti, su obvezujući za sve zemlje članice. Hrvatska, kao nova zemlja članica mora preispitati i razviti novu energetsku politiku prema energetskoj učinkovitosti i obnovljivim izvorima energije. Jedan od ključnih elemenata je racionalna energetska potrošnja i njeno postupno smanjivanje. Obzirom na izrečeno; izuzetno je bitno shvatiti koji su to mehanizmi koji utječu na energetsku potrošnju te koji je njihov dugoročni efekt. Klasični pristup energetskom planiranju potrošnje se fokusira na traženje međuovisnosti između makroekonomskih varijabli, kao što je bruto domaći proizvod, i potrošnje energije. To se obično radi analizom različitih setova povijesnih podataka koja može biti vrlo jednostavna, kao vremenski nizovi, ili relativno kompleksna, kao što su genetski algoritmi, neuronske mreže ili neke slične metode. Ovakav pristup je postao nedovoljan, pogotovo u slučaju zemalja EU, koje čine sve kako bi razdvojile svoj gospodarski rast i potrošnju energije. Brojne inicijative, usmjerene ka smanjenju potrošnje energije unutar EU, primjenom različitih direktiva, financijskih mehanizama za posljedicu će imati smanjenje potrošnje energije uz planirani gospodarski rast. Novi pristup kod planiranja energetske potrošnje je potreban. Kako bi se opisali i kvantificirali mehanizmi energetske politike, energetski modeli koji počivaju na pristupu odozdo prema gore fokusirani na krajnjeg korisnika, trebaju biti primijenjeni. Kroz ovu tezu autor je razvio National energy Demand model (NeD model), te ga iskoristio kako bi izračunao dugoročnu finalnu potrošnju Republike Hrvatske. Model je baziran na sektorskom pristupu te uključuje šest glavnih ekonomskih sektora: kućanstva, transport, industrija, usluge, poljoprivreda, te građevinarstvo. Rezultati NeD modela su uspoređeni s dva modela/studije, Primes EU28 te nacionalnom energetskom strategijom. Kao dodatna komponenta ove teze jest implementacija NeD metoda i postupaka u LEAP model, kako bi imali jednostavan za koristiti dugoročni model energetske potrošnje Republike Hrvatske. Glavno pitanje koje si autor teze postavlja je: kakav će biti efekt implementacije mjera energetske politike na dugoročnu energetsku potrošnju, ali i okoliš.
Little is generally known about international trade in forest-related products in spite of the fact that a significant portion of world production is exported. Two irreversible trends underlie international trade in forest-related products. one is globalisation while the other is adding as much value as possible locally by processing the materials to the greatest extent possible in the country of origin. Some of the more surprising recent developments are the growth in trade in wood as a source of energy and the dependency of Europe on its massive imports in this area. International trade in forest-related products is a continually changing sector that follows developments in the technical, economic, social and political spheres. Its growth has been spectacular and will remain strong in coming years. The greatest potential for development will come from environmental management, improved logistics and innovation. ; Le commerce international des produits forestiers est souvent mal connu dans son ensemble, bien qu'une proportion importante de la production mondiale soit exportée. Deux tendances irréversibles sous-tendent les échanges internationaux de produits forestiers. La première est celle de la globalisation, la deuxième est d'ajouter le plus de valeur possible localement en transformant autant que possible dans le pays d'origine. Parmi les évolutions récentes, le développement du commerce de bois énergie est surprenant, tout comme la dépendance de l'Europe vis-à-vis de ses importations massives dans ce domaine. Le commerce international des produits forestiers est un secteur en constante mutation. Il évolue avec les réalités techniques, économiques, sociales et politiques. Sa croissance a été spectaculaire et restera forte dans les années à venir. Ses principaux axes de développement seront la gestion environnementale, l'amélioration de la logistique et l'innovation.
One of the determinants of the evolution of a regional economic integration process is determined by the management entrusted to the customs administrations, which varies depending on whether we are dealing with a free trade area, a tariff union, a customs union or a common market. Their participation and their assigned role mark the degree of their development. Mercosur, with the adoption of the Customs Code (Dec. CMC Nro. 27/2010), which unifies the customs territories of the States Parties, which promotes the free movement of goods and defines precisely the functions which the customs authorities must carry out in a uniform manner, the necessary steps are being taken to consolidate the customs union, the final stage in the journey to a common market, the final objective established in 1991 by its constituent legislation, the Treaty of Asunción. This work includes an analysis of the involvement of the customs administrations at the various stages of the economic integration processes in general and Mercosur in particular. Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences ; Um dos fatores-chave para o estágio de desenvolvimento de um processo de integração econômica regional é dado pela gestão confiada às administrações aduaneiras, a qual varia de acordo com as fases de zona de livre comércio, união tarifária, união aduaneira, ou mercado comum. A participação das administrações aduaneiras e o papel a elas atribuído determina o grau de sua evolução. No MERCOSUL, com a aprovação do Código Aduaneiro (Decisão CMC N º 27/2010), que unifica os territórios aduaneiros dos Estados Partes, promovendo a livre circulação de mercadorias, e define com precisão as funções que as administrações aduaneiras devem exercer de maneira uniforme, adotam-se as medidas necessárias para a consolidação da união aduaneira, o último estágio no caminho para um mercado comum, objetivo final definido em 1991 por sua norma constitutiva, o Tratado de Assunção. Neste trabalho se realiza uma análise do envolvimento das administrações aduaneiras nas várias ...
This paper explores how trade integration influences the decision by national governments to bailout manufacturing firms. We develop a 2-country model of generalized oligopoly with heterogenous firms and trade costs. High-cost firms are eligible for a bailout while low-cost firms are profitable. Our results show that trade liberalization influences both political benefits of a bailout and its relative cost as compared to a laissez-faire policy. If the fall in trade cost is so large that it allows high-cost firms to become exporters, governments might move away from a bailout policy to a laissez-faire policy. In contrast, a marginal decline in trade costs that does not affect the export status of high-cost firms, always makes governments more prone to adopt a bailout decision.
[Traduit de l'anglais par Corentin Debailleul et Vincent Guillin] Les théories conventionnelles du capitalisme sont embourbées dans une crise profonde : après des siècles de débat, elles sont toujours incapables de nous dire ce qu'est le capital. Les libéraux et les marxistes conçoivent le capital comme une entité économique qu'ils mesurent à l'aide de deux grandeurs universelles : l'utilité ou le travail abstrait, respectivement. Mais ces unités sont totalement fictives : elles ne peuvent être ni observées ni mesurées. Elles n'existent pas. Et puisque le libéralisme et le marxisme ont besoin de ces unités qui pourtant n'existent pas, leurs théories flottent dans le vide. Elles ne peuvent pas expliquer le processus qui importe le plus – l'accumulation du capital. Cet échec n'est pas accidentel. Chaque mode de pouvoir évolue de concert avec ses théories et ses idéologies dominantes. Dans le capitalisme, ces théories et idéologies appartenaient initialement à l'étude de l'économie politique – la première science mécanique de la société. Mais le mode de pouvoir capitaliste n'a cessé de changer, et à mesure que le pouvoir au fondement du capital est devenu de plus en plus visible, la science de l'économie politique s'est désintégrée. À la fin du XIXe siècle, le capital dominant s'étant imposé, l'économie politique s'est scindée en deux sphères distinctes : l'économie et la politique. Et au XXe siècle, alors que la logique de pouvoir du capital avait déjà pénétré tous les recoins de la société, les différentes sciences sociales se sont arraché ce qui restait de l'économie politique. Aujourd'hui, le capital règne en maître – mais les théoriciens manquent d'un cadre cohérent pour en rendre compte. La théorie du capital comme pouvoir offre une alternative unifiée à cette dispersion. Elle soutient que le capital n'est pas une simple entité économique, mais une quantification symbolique du pouvoir. Le capital a peu à voir avec l'utilité ou le travail abstrait, et il s'étend bien au-delà des machines et des lignes de production. De façon plus générale, il représente le pouvoir organisé des groupes de capital dominant pour remodeler – ou créordonner – leur société. Cette conception conduit à une autre cosmologie du capitalisme. Elle offre un nouveau cadre théorique pour le capital, fondé sur les notions jumelles de capital dominant et d'accumulation différentielle, une nouvelle conception de l'État du capital et une nouvelle histoire du mode de pouvoir capitaliste. Elle introduit également de nouvelles méthodes de recherche empiriques – y compris de nouvelles catégories ; de nouvelles façons de concevoir, de lier et de présenter les données ; de nouvelles estimations et de nouvelles mesures ; et, enfin, les prémisses d'une nouvelle comptabilité désagrégée (disaggragate accounting) qui révèle la dynamique conflictuelle de la société.
This paper explores how trade integration influences the decision by national governments to bailout manufacturing firms. We develop a 2-country model of generalized oligopoly with heterogenous firms and trade costs. High-cost firms are eligible for a bailout while low-cost firms are profitable. Our results show that trade liberalization influences both political benefits of a bailout and its relative cost as compared to a laissez-faire policy. If the fall in trade cost is so large that it allows high-cost firms to become exporters, governments might move away from a bailout policy to a laissez-faire policy. In contrast, a marginal decline in trade costs that does not affect the export status of high-cost firms, always makes governments more prone to adopt a bailout decision.
In this article,we use a history of economic thought perspective to analyze the process by which the Chicago School of Antitrust emerged in the 1950s and became dominant in the US. We show the extent to which economic objectives and theoretical views shaped antitrust laws in their inception. After establishing the minor influence of economics in the promulgation of US competition laws, we then highlight US economists' very cautious views about antitrust until the Second New Deal. We analyze the process by which the Chicago School developed a general and coherent framework for competition policy. We rely mainly on the seminal and programmatic work of Director and Levi (1956) and trace how this theoretical paradigm was made collective, i.e. the "economization" process took place in US antitrust. Finally, we discuss the implications, if not the possible pitfalls, of such a conversion to economics - led competition law enforcement.
Purpose: The Chinese government takes measures to promote the development of green building (GB). But until 2013, there are only few green buildings in China. The real estate developers are skeptical in entering GB market, which requires theories to explain developers and government's behaviors. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, we attempt Evolutionary game theory and System dynamics (SD) into the analysis. A system dynamics model is built for studying evolutionary games between the government and developers in greening building decision making. Findings and Originality/value: The results of mixed-strategy stability analysis and SD simulation show that evolutionary equilibrium does not exist with a static government incentive. Therefore, a dynamical incentive is suggested in the SD model for promoting the green building market. The symmetric game and asymmetric game between two developers show, if the primary proportion who choose GB strategy is lower, all the group in game may finally evolve to GB strategy. In this case and in this time, the government should take measures to encourage developers to enter into the GB market. If the proportion who choose GB strategy is high enough, the government should gradually cancel or reduce those incentive measure. Research limitations/implications: an Evolution Analysis and System Dynamics Simulation on Behaviors of Real Estate Developers and Government could give some advice for the government to promote the green building market. ; Peer Reviewed
