Mención Internacional en el título de doctor ; This thesis began with the project "Advanced Devices of Liquid Crystal and Electroluminescent Organic Diodes. Hybrid Applications for 3D Vision" funded by the Spanish government. The goal of this project was the development of optical devices to achieve 3D vision in portable devices without glasses or external elements. In order to achieve the goals of this project, solutions based on liquid crystal are considered. Specifically, adaptive micro-optical phase modulators based on liquid crystal technology are researched in depth. The gradient of the refractive index varies spatially the phase delay experienced by an impinging wavefront of a light beam. By using this effect, any refractive optical element may be reproduced with the proper voltage gradient applied to the sample. This is the main operating principle of the micro-optical phase modulators proposed in this thesis. As original contribution of this thesis, a novel algorithm to solve the position of a nematic liquid crystal molecular director is proposed. Once the liquid crystal is completely characterized, the developing of a specific model to know the electro-optic response of the micro-optical phase modulators is also relevant. Another original contribution is a novel equivalent electric circuit for modeling liquid crystal microlenses. An interesting feature of the model is that it provides an analytical solution for microlenses with modal and hole-patterned electrode schemes, by using a simple software tool. The required driving scheme (modal or hole-patterned) can be predicted. These theories have been validated by experimental results. For more complex devices, the equations are solved by Finite Element Method. A new manufacturing protocol is proposed to make the first set of modal microlens arrays. As a first step simple devices (monopixel cells) are fabricated in order to do a complete study of the liquid crystal electro-optical behavior. The characterization of the liquid crystal electro-optical parameters is determinant in order to design more complex devices. Refractive index and permittivity are the most important features considered. These parameters have been characterized to validate the proposed theoretical modelling of the liquid crystal molecular position. These devices have required special fabrication processes as well as a special characterization set-up especially in terms of size resolution or arrangement complexity. A custom micropositioner is developed and control software is programmed in relation to these tasks. The software automates the characterization process giving directly measured results of: phase modulation, focal distance, thickness or aberrations. These results have made it possible to validate experimentally the proposed electrical modeling for micro-optical devices. Demonstration of the viability of the liquid crystal lenticular technology has been carried out for an autostereoscopic application. This scheme provides the observer with the option of changing between horizontal and vertical views through his portable autostereoscopic display. Finally, last research contributions of this work of thesis have taken advantage of the deep knowledge of the electro-optical properties of lenticular devices for autostereoscopic applications, to guide the design of refined micro-optical phase modulators. Adaptive axicons and optical vortices are specially emphasized because their relevance from both, the scientific and technological point of view. ; Esta tesis se inició con el proyecto de investigación "Dispositivos avanzados de cristal líquido y diodos orgánicos electroluminiscentes. Aplicaciones híbridas para visión 3D", financiado por el gobierno español. El objetivo de este proyecto consistía en el desarrollo de dispositivos ópticos para lograr visión 3D en dispositivos portátiles sin necesidad de gafas o elementos externos. Con el fin de alcanzar los objetivos de este proyecto, se consideran soluciones basadas en cristal líquido. En concreto, moduladores adaptativos de fase micro-ópticos basados en tecnología de cristal líquido. El gradiente del índice de refracción varía espacialmente el retardo de fase experimentado por un frente de onda incidente. Mediante el uso de este efecto, cualquier elemento óptico refractivo puede ser reproducido mediante un gradiente de tensión adecuado aplicado a la muestra. Este es el principio de funcionamiento de los moduladores de fase micro-ópticos propuestos en esta tesis. Como aportación original de esta tesis, se propone un nuevo algoritmo para resolver el director molecular de un cristal líquido nemático. Una vez que el cristal líquido está completamente caracterizado, es necesario el desarrollo de un modelo específico para saber la respuesta electro-óptica de los moduladores de fase micro-ópticos. Otra contribución original, consiste en un circuito eléctrico equivalente para el modelado de microlentes de cristal líquido. Una característica interesante del modelo es que proporciona una solución analítica para microlentes con esquemas de electrodos modales y "hole patterned". Se puede predecir la topología necesaria en función de los parámetros de construcción. Estas teorías han sido validadas por resultados experimentales. Para los dispositivos más complejos, las ecuaciones se resuelven por el método de elementos finitos. Se propone un nuevo protocolo de fabricación para hacer microlentes modales. Como primer paso se fabrican dispositivos sencillos (células monopixel) con el fin de hacer un estudio completo del comportamiento electro-óptico del cristal líquido. La caracterización de los parámetros electro-ópticos de cristal líquido es determinante para diseñar dispositivos más complejos. El índice de refracción y la permitividad son las características más importantes. Estos parámetros se han caracterizado para validar el modelo teórico de la posición molecular de cristal líquido. Estos dispositivos han requerido procesos de fabricación complejos, así como montajes de caracterización determinados. Se ha desarrollado un microposicionador y un software de control. El software automatiza el proceso de caracterización dando resultados de: modulación de fase, distancia focal, grosor o aberraciones. Estos resultados han permitido validar experimentalmente el modelado eléctrico propuesto para dispositivos micro-ópticos. La demostración de la viabilidad de la tecnología propuesta se ha llevado a cabo mediante un dispositivo autoestereoscópico. Este dispositivo ofrece al observador la opción de cambiar entre vistas horizontal y vertical a través de su pantalla autoestereoscópica portátil. Finalmente, los últimos aportes de investigación de este trabajo de tesis se han aprovechado del profundo conocimiento de las propiedades electro-ópticas de los dispositivos lenticulares para aplicaciones autoestereoscópicas. Se pueden destacar los axicones adaptativos y vórtices ópticos por su relevancia tanto desde el punto de vista científico como tecnológico. ; Este trabajo ha sido desarrollado en el marco de los proyectos TEC2009-13991-C02-01 financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y FACTOTEM2 S2009/ESP-1781 financiado por la Comunidad de Madrid. ; Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y Automática ; Presidente: Ignacio Raúl Matías Maestro.- Secretario: Antonia Isabel Pérez Garcilópez.- Vocal: Dimitrios C. Zografopoulos
This article presents analysis and typological classification of legal regulation of lobbying in other countries and looks for the reasons of failure to legitimize lobbying activities in Lithuania which would serve as important preventive measure against corruption. It discusses the reasons why lobbying regulation is usually ineffective. The reasons why regulation is often ineffective (dependant variable) are determined by examining the gaps in or breaches of legal regulation, the peculiarities of the political procedures within the governmental system and the degree of acceptance within the socio-cultural context to the practice of lobbying (independent variables). The research is based on three assumptions: First: further development of legal regulation of lobbying is meagerly correlated to the realities of political processes and therefore inconsistent, the decisions taken often lack genuine broad-based political will. Second: specific political processes derived from the Lithuanian political system do not offer equal conditions for the activities of interest groups, and that is an unfavorable factor for the institutionalization of lobbying. Third: features of socio-cultural context may create a favorable environment for corrupt methods of influencing political decisions.An analysis of foreign practice shows that the effectiveness of legal regulation is determined by a number of factors. Concrete lawmaking decisions determine the variety of models (regimes) of legal regulation in different countries, but their classification is quite complex. Certain countries of Anglo-Saxon tradition (e.g. the USA and Canada) have mature traditions of lobbying activities. Regulation there is comparatively comprehensive. Continental Europe can be divided into "old Europe" and Central-Eastern (post-Soviet) Europe. In the latter, traditions of lobbying activities are practically non-existent and every attempt at legitimization of lobbyism is met with negative reaction by the society and interest groups. The passed legal acts often lack genuine legitimacy.In Lithuania, institutionalization of legitimate lobbying faces problems of effectiveness of legal regulation, of integrity and of the legitimacy of legal regulations. Legal norms about regulations are in a way "frozen" – not well correlated to the relevance and understanding of political processes nor their effects and implementation challenges having been revealed in the process of implementation of the Law on Lobbyism of the Republic of Lithuania. For example, the legal regulation does not cover the local government level. The functions of interest groups – not only representation but influencing political decisions – are not taken into account, the problems of indirect lobbyism (financing of political parties and electoral campaigns) are not properly emphasized. Regulation should cover not only the lawmaking process but other decisions of public administration as well, perhaps most importantly, at the local government level.The principles of Lithuanian political system (the model of interaction of governmental institutions, the rules of election of representative government, the features of party system etc.) have determined certain specifics of political process which are fragmented in Lithuania. There are many different political and institutional players. The structural complexity of political processes complicates the activities of interest groups and the strategies they might choose to employ to influence the actions of governments at all levels. Because of the lack of resources and appreciation by society, their goals are difficult to attain. Thus incentives are created for interest groups to act "in camera" (not publicly), to influence political processes by employing illegitimate methods. This can turn any public policy into a private one. The "political nets" of interest groups are often characterized by the traditions of reticence, privileged status and special interests. This all suggests that the environment for the regulation of lobbying is not currently favorable.The interrelationships of the interest groups acting in policy making and the state are difficult to define. Undoubtedly some structural and functional segments of corporatism and cultural relics of clientelism, e.g. nepotism etc., still play a significant role in the political culture of Lithuania that shape the contents and the direction of political process and the behavior of the "players". Some authors assert that such highly indefinable relations between the state and interest groups and the powers of objects acting in political process may be called a "sort of hybrid" – between chaotic pluralism, sectoral corporatism and strains of mutant clientelism. The challenge of regulating lobbying under such conditions is a difficult task.Civic society is weak in Lithuania, and many citizens know little about the importance of legal means aimed at influencing governmental institutions. These factors encourage tolerance of corrupt behavior and the use of illicit methods to influence political decisions. The socio-cultural standards inherited from the Soviet system have conditioned the corrupt societal mentality that in political process is manifested in a variety of corporate corruption (guidance by narrow interests, clientelism, illicit lobbyism etc.).Lithuanian indices of societal associativeness and civic power do not ensure the control of political power. They are too weakly acted upon to make the authorities act as the democratic system requires – publicly, transparently, and responsibly. Research data show the rate of corruption is high. Society is largely indifferent to illicit methods of influence because of the lack of faith in the government that is perceived to serve narrow interest groups instead of the interests of the larger society. Such socio-cultural context, often characterized by the conflict between democratic values and soviet relics, is also not favorable to effective regulation of lobbying. The currently available means of legal regulation are not commensurate with the current expectations of political culture. The potential legal norms are denied and become a mere declaration.In summary, the current institutional, socio-cultural and legal regulative factors are not favorable to regulation of lobbying in Lithuania. That, however, should not mean that there should be no effort to implement effective, fair and democratic regulations on the process. A necessary precursor to such implementation may well require further cultural indoctrination. It may require the establishment of democratic institutions first. With those in place, then respective valued can be formed. This will then engender the creation of adequate values, a changed political culture that will understand and support the operation of these institutions and the future democratic behavior of civic society and interest groups. ; Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas lobizmo teisinis reguliavimas ir institucionalizacija užsienio šalyse ir Lietuvoje. Teisėtas lobizmas vertinamas kaip skaidraus politinio proceso sąlyga ir reikšminga korupcijos prevencijos priemonė1. Remiantis užsienio šalių lobizmo teisinio reguliavimo patirtimi, bandoma atsakyti į klausimą, kodėl teisėto lobizmo institutas yra neefektyvus arba neveikia Lietuvoje. Pagrindinės tiriamos problemos – teisinio reguliavimo netobulumas, politinės sistemos ir sprendimų priėmimo proceso specifika, sociokultūrinio konteksto bruožai, – kaip veiksniai, apsunkinantys teisėto lobizmo institucionalizaciją. Apibendrinti tyrimo rezultatai leidžia teigti, kad lobizmo institucionalizacija chaotiško pliuralizmo, sektorinio korporatyvizmo ir mutuojančio klientelizmo sąlygomis yra sudėtingas uždavinys, o sociokultūrinių veiksnių visuma teisės normas paprasčiausiai "atmeta".
Soziale Prozesse in modernen Gesellschaften lassen sich offensichtlich immer seltener präzise steuern. Politikwissenschaft möchte nun in Form von Ansätzen, Konzepten, Modellen oder Theorien mögliche Lösungen bzw. Beschreibungen und Erklärungen hierfür anbieten. Zunächst wird in dieser Arbeit im Fundus der Disziplin nach vorhandenen Vorschlägen gesucht und diese auf ihre Tauglichkeit hin überprüft. Als erstes werden Rationalitätskonzepte ("Planung") diskutiert. Diese visieren eine rationale, logisch stringente Entscheidungsvorbereitung an, scheitern damit zumeist jedoch an der "Realität". Weiter geht es mit Staats- und Gesellschaftstheorien. Moderne Staatstheorien befassen sich vorrangig mit kooperativen Elementen, fokussieren sich aber nach wie vor auf den "Staat", wobei dieser Begriff meist unpräzise verwendet wird. Gesellschaftstheorien beschäftigen sich hingegen mit dem Wirkgeflecht z.B. zwischen Politik und anvisiertem Sozialsystem; Steuerungsleistungen rücken dabei jedoch eher in den Hintergrund. Es folgen systemtheoretische Konzepte, genauer David Eastons bekanntes Systemmodell, Werner Janns "Policy-Making-Modell" und Richard Münchs "Interpenetrationskonzept". Hauptkritikpunkt war jedoch, dass in modernen Gesellschaften nur selten offene Systeme existieren. Daran anschließend werden mit dem Policy-Cycle, dem akteurzentrierten Institutionalismus und Konzepten aus dem Bereich der Netzwerkanalyse bzw. -theorie Konzepte aus dem Bereich der Policy-Analyse vorgestellt; steuerungstheoretische Überlegungen liegen hier jedoch eher randständig vor. Governance-Konzepte möchten neben klassischen hierarchischen oder marktförmigen Steuerungsversuchen alternative Varianten, etwa Verhandlungslösungen oder Kooperationen, in den Blickpunkt rücken. Allerdings sind diese theoretisch meist defizitär konstruiert, sodass beispielsweise Wirkmechanismen kaum modelltheoretisch dargestellt werden. Alternativ wird die Autopoiesetheorie empfohlen. Ihre naturwissenschaftlichen Wurzeln zwingen zunächst zu Überlegungen bezüglich des Theorientransfers und der prinzipiellen Form sozialwissenschaftlicher Theorien. Sie wird mit Hilfe des wissenschaftstheoretischen Strukturalismus übertragen, der sich mit der Struktur von Theorien bzw. der Verknüpfbarkeit verschiedener Theorieelemente befasst. Postuliert wird, dass die biologische Autopoiesetheorie als Basis-Theorieelement, die sozialwissenschaftliche Interpretation von Humberto Maturana und Francisco Varela nebst steuerungstheoretischen Ableitungen und eine Verknüpfung des Ansatzes kreativer Netzwerke mit dem Framing-Konzept Hartmut Essers als Modelle der Theorie verwendet werden können und hierdurch die Makro- mit der Mikroebene verknüpft wird. Im weiteren Fortgang wird die Theorie der Autopoiese durch Rationale Rekonstruktion präzisiert und axiomatisiert, sozialwissenschaftlich interpretiert, diese Variante ebenfalls axiomatisiert und daraus insgesamt vier steuerungstheoretische Schlüsse gezogen. Die Steuerungskonzepte werden in einer zweidimensionalen Typologie verortet, die unterscheidet, ob erstens sich die Konzepte ausschließlich auf der Makro- oder zugleich auch auf der Mikroebene bewegen und zweitens ob es sich bei den zu steuernden Systemen um allonome oder autonome Systeme handelt. Die Makroebene der vier Steuerungskonzepte wird mit den bereits vorliegenden Konzepten Peter M. Hejls ("kritische Inputs" und "Systeme zweiter Ordnung") ausgefüllt, jedoch beide wegen ihrer Makrolastigkeit verworfen. Allonome Systeme mit autopoietisch modellierten Akteuren auf der Mikroebene können per Perturbation gesteuert werden; Steuerungsbarrieren ergeben sich erst auf der Mikroebene. Letztens werden kreative Policy-Netze empfohlen: Diese respektieren die Autonomie sozialer Systeme und die Autopoiesen der Individuen. Im Folgekapitel werden geläufige autopoietisch fundierte Steuerungskonzepte vorgestellt und kritisch diskutiert, wie z.B. von Niklas Luhmann ("Soziale Systeme"), Gunther Teubner ("Recht als autopoietisches System"), Karl-Heinz Ladeur ("strategisches Recht"), Manfred Glagow ("Selbststeuerungskonzepte"), Helmut Willke ("Kontextsteuerung" und "Supervision") und der Autorengruppe um Axel Görlitz, Ulrich Druwe und Hans-Peter Burth ("Mediales Recht"). Diese Konzepte werden allesamt als inadäquat verworfen; da sie meist auf einen angemessenen Transfer verzichten oder die Ursprungstheorie nur unzureichend wiedergeben. Zur Überwindung dieser Defizite wird eine eigene Konzeption vorgeschlagen, die die Autopoiesetheorie in ihrer sozialwissenschaftlichen Variante mit dem Ansatz kreativer Netzwerke und Hartmut Essers Framing-Konzept verknüpft, sodass am Ende - gemäß dem wissenschaftstheoretischen Strukturalismus - ein (Steuerungs-) Modell des Basis-Theorieelements "Autopoiesetheorie" steht. ; The starting point of this work is based on the diagnosis that political steering of social processes in modern societies gets increasingly difficult due to a multitude of reasons. It's the business of political sciences to deal with this problem and to offer descriptions or even explanations. In order to solve this problem, it is advisable to search for already existing proposals in the archive of the discipline and to test them regarding their suitability. At first rationality concepts ("planning") are discussed. Such concepts aim for a rational, logically stringent preparation of decisions. But confronted with reality they mostly fail. After that a potential concept is searched for in the context of state- and social theories. Modern state theories primarily deal with cooperative elements. But still "the state" stays in the focus of examination, even if it is often unclear, what it actually means. Social theory, in contrast, copes with the area in which the political system is confronted with the focused social system, but steering performances often take a back seat here. Then systems-theoretical steering concepts are discussed, namely David Easton's well-known systemic model, Werner Jann's "Policy-Making-Modell" and Richard Münchs "Interpenetrationskonzept". But these concepts of open systems do not fit to modern societies with their closed systems. After that concepts from the domain of Policy-Analysis are presented, e.g. the policy-cycle, Fritz W. Scharpf's and Renate Mayntz' "Akteurzentrierter Institutionalismus" and finally concepts of the network analysis and, respectively, network theory. In sum it is shown that steering-theoretical thoughts are here very rare. Last, contemporary "governance"-concepts want to focus on alternate steering variants beside classic hierarchical or market-like arrangements, for example bargaining solutions or cooperation. However, it is also shown that governance-concepts do not offer sophisticated theoretical constructions, which means that causal connections are hardly presented. As an alternative for solving the research questions the theory of autopoietic systems is recommended. As it originates from natural sciences, some reflections about the transfer method and how socio-scientific explanations generally have to look like are made. In the following the methodical guided transfer is performed with the structuralist theory-concept. It deals with the structure of theories and with the connectivity of statements of different theory elements. It is postulated that it would be possible to use the biological theory of autopoiesis as a basic theory element, Humberto Maturana's and Francesco Varela's socioscientific interpretation along with steering-theoretical deductions and a connection of the approach of creative networks with Hartmut Esser's framing-concept as a model of the base-theory. Thereby is the social macro- with the microlevel connected. In the course of the work the theory of autopoiesis is specified by a rational reconstruction and axiomatized. After that it is interpreted socio-scientifically and again axiomatized; in addition to that four steering-theoretical conclusions are deducted (macro-level vs. macro-micro-connection and autonomous vs. allonomous systems). First, with the help of "critical inputs" autonomous social systems can be steered by ignoring the micro-level. Second, allonomous social systems can be regulated by "second order systems", also by ignoring the micro-level. These systems have to be allonomous, because otherwise a new barrier for the steering processes would exist. These two variants have been developed by Peter M. Hejl. As they examine only the macro-level, both of them are refused. Third, regarding allonomous systems with autopoietic modelled actors, it could be possible to steer them hierarchically by perturbating the actors. Steering barriers would just exist on the micro-level. The autopoiesis of the individuals would prohibit direct commands. As a fourth variant creative policy-networks are identified: They respect the autonomy of social systems and the autopoiesis of individuals. In the following autopoietic based steering concepts that are commonly used are presented and critically discussed, e.g. those composed by Niklas Luhmann ("social systems") or Axel Görlitz, Ulrich Druwe und Hans-Peter Burth ("medial law"). Because of methodological reasons and with regard to the content they are all refused. In order to eliminate such deficits another conception is proposed, which combines the theory of autopoiesis and, respectively, its socio-scientific variant with the approach of creative networks and Harmut Esser's framing-concept.
Diese Dissertation umfasst fünf Studien zu den Determinanten der Preisbildung auf den Frischobst und gemüsemärkten in der EU. Der Artikel The EU Import Regime for Oranges Much Ado about Nothing? analysiert die Relevanz des EU Importsystems für Orangen, welches mittels des EU Einfuhrpreissystems (EPS) und eines Systems von Handelspräferenzen, die Erreichung zweier gegensätzlicher Ziele anstrebt. Ähnlich einem Mindestimportpreis zielt das EPS für Orangen auf den Schutz der EU Erzeuger vor internationalem Wettbewerb durch die Restringierung von Importen unterhalb eines produktspezifischen Einfuhrpreises. Im Gegensatz dazu werden die Handelspräferenzen für Orangen hauptsächlich an die Orangen produzierenden mediterranen (MED) Länder (Israel, Marokko, Tunesien, Türkei, Zypern (vor dem EU Beitritt in 2004)), welche die Hauptkonkurrenten der EU Orangenerzeuger sind, vergeben. Die Erleichterung des Marktzugangs soll die EU Orangenimporte aus den präferierten Ländern erhöhen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Untersuchung zeigen, dass der Beitrag des EU Importregimes für Orangen zur Protektion der EU Orangenerzeuger gering ist. Ebenso werden die Handelspräferenzen für Orangen nur in geringem Umfang von den MED genutzt und keine zusätzlichen EU Importe aus diesen Ländern ausgelöst. Der Artikel The EU Entry Price System for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Paper Tiger or Powerful Market Barrier? ist einzigartig in der umfassenden Analyse der Relevanz des EPS für den EU Import aller 15 Arten von Frischobst und gemüse, die dem EPS unterliegen, sowie deren Hauptursprungsländer. Wir entwickeln zwei Indikatoren zur Messung der Effektivität des EPS auf der Grundlage von 60,000 Beobachtungen von synthetischen EU Importpreisen. In einer Clusteranalyse werden vier Cluster identifiziert, die sich in der Relevanz des EPS unterscheiden. Es zeigt sich, dass die Bedeutung des EPS in Bezug auf einzelne Frischobst und gemüsearten und Ursprungsländer heterogen ist. Das EPS ist von großer Relevanz in 36% und nahezu redundant in den übrigen der analysierten Fälle. Die einzelnen Ursprungsländer betreffend zeigen unsere Ergebnisse dass das EPS von höchster Relevanz für die direkten EU Nachbarländer ist und geringere Bedeutung für die Länder hat, die vom EU Markt weiter entfernt sind. Aufgrund der hohen Transportkosten müssen diese Länder zu Preisen, die deutlich höher als die EU Einfuhrpreise sind, in die EU exportieren. Die Ergebnisse der letzteren Studie motivieren uns für die Untersuchung Does the Entry Price System restrict Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports from China to the EU? . Obwohl unsere Ergebnisse darauf hinweisen, dass das EPS im Allgemeinen für Äpfel und Birnen weniger wichtig ist, hat das EPS für Äpfel und Birnen aus China hohe Relevanz. Infolge des effizienten Schiffstransportsystems sind Chinas Transportkosten für Frischobst und gemüse im Vergleich zu anderen Ländern, die weit vom EU Markt entfernt sind, niedrig. Daher kann chinesisches Frischobst und gemüse zu niedrigen Preisen in die EU importiert werden. In dem Artikel Vertical Price Transmission in the International Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chain: Israeli Grapefruit Exports to the EU after Export Market Liberalization wird erstmals vertikale Preistransmission im Kontext der internationalen Wertschöpfungskette für Frischobst und gemüse analysiert um die Frage der Ausübung von Marktmacht zu untersuchen. Diese Analyse wird im Rahmen eines Fehlerkorrekturmodells im Zusammenhang von israelischen Grapefruit Exporten in die EU in der Zeit nach der Liberalisierung des israelischen Exportsektors 1991 durchgeführt. Unsere Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin dass zwei der drei Hauptexporteure in den ersten Jahren direkt nach der Liberalisierung des Exportmarkts Marktmacht gegenüber israelischen Erzeugern ausgeübt haben indem sie Preisveränderungen im französischen Importmarkt asymmetrisch an die israelischen Erzeuger weiter gegeben haben. In der sich daran anschließenden Zeitperiode jedoch übertragen alle drei Exporteure die Preisveränderungen symmetrisch. Wir ordnen diese Veränderung des Preisverhaltens der Exporteure der Marktintervention der israelischen Regierung zur Schutz der israelischen Erzeuger gegenüber der Ausübung von Marktmacht durch die Exporteure im Jahr 1994/95 zu. Der Artikel Threshold adjustment and/or threshold cointegration? An application to the German apple market ist innovativ hinsichtlich der Entwicklung eines Vektorfehlerkorrekturmodells zur Analyse von räumlicher Preistransmission, welches es ermöglicht, Nichtlinearität (Schwelleneffekte) nicht nur in der kurzfristigen Anpassung zum langfristigen Gleichgewicht, sondern auch in der langfristigen Gleichgewichtsbeziehung selbst zu berücksichtigen. Es wird angenommen, dass ein Schwelleneffekt (threshold effect) durch eine Schwellenvariable in Bezug auf einen Schwellenwert ausgelöst wird. Dieser Modellansatz basiert auf dem Test von Gonzalo und Pitarakis auf Kointegration mit Schwelleneffekt. In unserer Anwendung des Modells auf Preise für deutsche Äpfel auf Großmärkten in Deutschland finden wir eindeutige Evidenz für Kointegration mit Schwelleneffekten. Es werden vier Preistransmissionsregime in Abhängigkeit von dem Anteil deutscher Äpfel an den insgesamt gehandelten Äpfeln als der Schwellenvariable identifiziert, die sich sowohl in den kurzfristigen Anpassungen zum langfristigen Gleichgewicht, als auch in der langfristigen Gleichgewichtsbeziehung selbst unterscheiden. ; This PhD thesis comprises five papers on price determination in the EU fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) market. In the paper The EU Import Regime for Oranges Much Ado about Nothing? we focus on the relevance of the EU import system for oranges, comprising the EU entry price system (EPS) and a system of trade preferences aiming to achieve two contrasting goals. Analogously to a minimum import price, the EPS is designed to protect EU growers against international competition by restricting imports below a product-specific entry price. In contrast, the orange trade preferences, granted to the EU orange growers main competitors, i.e. the orange producing Mediterranean (MED) countries ((Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Cyprus (pre EU accession in 2004), aim to induce EU imports of oranges by granting preferential market access. We find that the contribution of the EU import regime for oranges to the protection of EU orange growers is rather low. Also, orange trade preferences are utilized by the MED at a low degree and seem not to have triggered additional EU orange imports. The paper The EU Entry Price System for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Paper Tiger or Powerful Market Barrier? is unique in comprehensively analyzing the effectiveness of the EPS regarding all 15 kinds of fruits and vegetables to which the EPS applies and countries of origin of the production. We develop two indicators measuring the effectiveness of the EPS based on a data set of 60,000 observations of synthetic EU import prices. A cluster analysis identifies four clusters which differ in the relevance of the EPS. We find that the importance of the EPS is heterogeneous across products and countries of origin for most kinds of FFV. It is highly relevant in 36% of the analyzed cases and redundant for the others. In general, the EPS is most relevant to the EU s direct neighbouring countries and of less importance for the countries more distant to the EU due to high transport costs and thus relatively high EU import prices. Results gained in the latter study motivate us for the paper Does the Entry Price System restrict Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports from China to the EU? . Although the EPS is on average less important for apples and pears, results suggest that it is highly relevant for EU imports of apples and pears from China. Our investigations suggest that due to China s highly efficient sea transport system, sea transport costs are low compared to other countries which are distant to the EU market, implying that Chinese FFV products are supplied to the EU at low prices. The paper Vertical Price Transmission in the International Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chain: Israeli Grapefruit Exports to the EU after Export Market Liberalization is unique in investigating vertical price transmission in the international FFV supply chain and aims to shed light on the issue of market power. This analysis is conducted within an error correction model approach in the context of Israeli grapefruit exports to the EU in the aftermath of the liberalization of the Israeli export sector in 1991. Our results indicate that two of the three dominating exporters have transmitted price changes from the French import price asymmetrically to the Israeli growers in the years directly after liberalization. Though, in the subsequent time period, all three exporters transmit prices symmetrically and the difference between the firm-specific grower prices has decreased. We attribute this change in the exporter s pricing behaviour to the market intervention by the Israeli government in 1994/95. Finally, the paper Threshold adjustment and/or threshold cointegration? An application to the German apple market is unique in suggesting a vector error correction approach to analyze spatial price transmission which allows not only the short-run adjustment towards the long-run equilibrium, but also the long-run equilibrium itself to be non-linear. The threshold effects are assumed to be triggered by a threshold variable with respect to a threshold value. This model approach is based on the Gonzalo and Pitarakis test on threshold cointegration. In an application to the German wholesale market for apples we find clear evidence on threshold cointegration. We identify 4 price transmission regimes with different equilibrium relationships as well as short-run adjustment towards this equilibrium and the share of German apples of all apples traded in the markets serving as the threshold variable.
Our main intention is to present the philosophical background of Raymond Aron's political point of view by way of his theory on historical philosophy. For us, behind his proclamation of a reasonable politics, exists an epistemological support, known as determinism of probability as far as the historical truth is concerned. And this determinism is only possible when it is based on a critique of the speculative philosophy of history. In the book named introduction to a philosophy of history, Aron tries to surpass the antinomy of historical becoming, between total unity of the hegelian-marxiste model and the irreducible plurality of the Oswald Spengler model, and meanwhile without falling into an absolute relativism. More precisely, the historical philosophy of Raymond Aron is dedicated to a two-dimensional constitution. On the epistemological level, he tries to reinterpret the relation between explication and comprehension, by way of circle between these two methods, and aim to, in the end, establish the limit of historical objectivity by introducing a certain determinism of probability; on the ontological level, in order to avoid the relativist conclusion, he keeps the Kantian notion of truth, but in a less teleological and more regulative sense. Correlatively, in the domain of politics, he declines all kind of Messianism who claims to possess in advance the historical truth, because for him, it is only via instant choice and decision based on the liberty that can man creates his history. His liberalism essentially political is different from the neoliberalism, and maintains a conservative attitude towards the tradition. Generally speaking, our research consists of presenting how this determinism of probability is possible, and how Aron applies this philosophical point of view to the political practice, and according to him, what should an intellectual do facing the politics. And we will also discuss his critiques to the idealism of the french intellectual, in order to analyze the debate among the chinese intellectual. ; Notre idée principale est d'essayer de comprendre la pensée politique de Raymond Aron à partir de sa théorie sur l'histoire. Pour nous, derrière sa proclamation d'une politique raisonnable ou progressive existe un support épistémologique, à savoir la proposition d'un déterminisme de probabilité concernant la vérité historique, proposition qui ne peut se constituer que dans le cadre d'une critique de la philosophie spéculative de l'histoire. Dans l'Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire, Aron tente de surmonter l'antinomie du devenir humain entre unité totale du modèle hégélien-marxiste et pluralité irréductible du modèle d'Oswald Spengler, mais sans tomber dans le piège du relativisme absolu. Plus précisément, sa propre critique de la philosophie de l'histoire se constitue à double niveau : au niveau méthodologique, il essaye de réinterpréter la relation entre la compréhension et l'explication pour établir l'objectivité historique. Et au niveau ontologique, pour éviter une conclusion relativiste, il réintroduit l'idée d'une société humanisée au sens kantien, mais d'une manière moins téléologique et plus régulatrice. Dans le domaine politique, corrélativement, il rejette tout type de messianisme garanti d'avance, car, à ses yeux, ce n'est que par choix et décision instantanée que l'homme fait son histoire, tout en gardant l'espoir de la liberté. Et son libéralisme se différencie du libéralisme purement économique et apparaît à la fois conservateur vis-à-vis de la tradition et essentiellement politique. Notre recherche consistera à montrer comment s'est élaboré, en surmontant les philosophies dogmatiques de l'histoire, ce déterminisme de probabilité ; comment il a su appliquer cette conviction historique à son analyse de la société, notamment en tant que libérale et quel rôle doit jouer, selon lui, un intellectuel face à la politique ; nous reprendrons ensuite sa critique vis-à-vis des intellectuels français, pour l'appliquer au débat entre les intellectuels chinois. ; 本文旨在从雷蒙•阿隆的历史观入手来了解其政治观点形成的背景。我们认为,他在政治上主张的一种"合理的政治观"始终是基于他的历史哲学观,即"或然决定论"展开的,而后者,在其博士论文《历史哲学批判导论》一书中得到了很好的阐明。从破除历史理性的二律背反开始,即黑格尔-马克思传统的作为统一体的历史观和以斯宾格勒为代表的不可还原的多样性的历史观,阿隆构建起一种既超越实证主义,又不陷入相对主义(通过引入康德意义上的"真理"概念)的或然决定论。具体言之,他的历史哲学批判基于一种双层面的建构,一方面,在认识论层面,他试图重新阐释说明和理解的关系来维护历史的客观性;在形而上学层面,为了避免相对主义的结论,他引入了康德意义上的"人道主义社会"的概念,并将其视为一种更少目的性而更多调节性的概念。就政治领域而言,与此相对应的,他拒斥任何先定的救世福音说,并且坚信人类的历史只能由每个自由的个体的当下的选择和决定中被创造。他所主张的自由主义,不同于经济自由主义,一方面对传统秉持保守的态度,另一方面,本质上又是一种政治的自由主义。我们的研究将从阿隆对传统的教条的历史哲学的批判起步,揭示其"或然决定论"的观点的形成过程;及其历史观如何影响其政治观的过程,尤其反映于他作为一名知识分子,对历史的态度问题;我们也将讨论他对法国知识分子弊病的批判,并且将这一批判引入对中国知识分子的讨论当中。
Our main intention is to present the philosophical background of Raymond Aron's political point of view by way of his theory on historical philosophy. For us, behind his proclamation of a reasonable politics, exists an epistemological support, known as determinism of probability as far as the historical truth is concerned. And this determinism is only possible when it is based on a critique of the speculative philosophy of history. In the book named introduction to a philosophy of history, Aron tries to surpass the antinomy of historical becoming, between total unity of the hegelian-marxiste model and the irreducible plurality of the Oswald Spengler model, and meanwhile without falling into an absolute relativism. More precisely, the historical philosophy of Raymond Aron is dedicated to a two-dimensional constitution. On the epistemological level, he tries to reinterpret the relation between explication and comprehension, by way of circle between these two methods, and aim to, in the end, establish the limit of historical objectivity by introducing a certain determinism of probability; on the ontological level, in order to avoid the relativist conclusion, he keeps the Kantian notion of truth, but in a less teleological and more regulative sense. Correlatively, in the domain of politics, he declines all kind of Messianism who claims to possess in advance the historical truth, because for him, it is only via instant choice and decision based on the liberty that can man creates his history. His liberalism essentially political is different from the neoliberalism, and maintains a conservative attitude towards the tradition. Generally speaking, our research consists of presenting how this determinism of probability is possible, and how Aron applies this philosophical point of view to the political practice, and according to him, what should an intellectual do facing the politics. And we will also discuss his critiques to the idealism of the french intellectual, in order to analyze the debate among the chinese intellectual. ; Notre idée principale est d'essayer de comprendre la pensée politique de Raymond Aron à partir de sa théorie sur l'histoire. Pour nous, derrière sa proclamation d'une politique raisonnable ou progressive existe un support épistémologique, à savoir la proposition d'un déterminisme de probabilité concernant la vérité historique, proposition qui ne peut se constituer que dans le cadre d'une critique de la philosophie spéculative de l'histoire. Dans l'Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire, Aron tente de surmonter l'antinomie du devenir humain entre unité totale du modèle hégélien-marxiste et pluralité irréductible du modèle d'Oswald Spengler, mais sans tomber dans le piège du relativisme absolu. Plus précisément, sa propre critique de la philosophie de l'histoire se constitue à double niveau : au niveau méthodologique, il essaye de réinterpréter la relation entre la compréhension et l'explication pour établir l'objectivité historique. Et au niveau ontologique, pour éviter une conclusion relativiste, il réintroduit l'idée d'une société humanisée au sens kantien, mais d'une manière moins téléologique et plus régulatrice. Dans le domaine politique, corrélativement, il rejette tout type de messianisme garanti d'avance, car, à ses yeux, ce n'est que par choix et décision instantanée que l'homme fait son histoire, tout en gardant l'espoir de la liberté. Et son libéralisme se différencie du libéralisme purement économique et apparaît à la fois conservateur vis-à-vis de la tradition et essentiellement politique. Notre recherche consistera à montrer comment s'est élaboré, en surmontant les philosophies dogmatiques de l'histoire, ce déterminisme de probabilité ; comment il a su appliquer cette conviction historique à son analyse de la société, notamment en tant que libérale et quel rôle doit jouer, selon lui, un intellectuel face à la politique ; nous reprendrons ensuite sa critique vis-à-vis des intellectuels français, pour l'appliquer au débat entre les intellectuels chinois. ; 本文旨在从雷蒙•阿隆的历史观入手来了解其政治观点形成的背景。我们认为,他在政治上主张的一种"合理的政治观"始终是基于他的历史哲学观,即"或然决定论"展开的,而后者,在其博士论文《历史哲学批判导论》一书中得到了很好的阐明。从破除历史理性的二律背反开始,即黑格尔-马克思传统的作为统一体的历史观和以斯宾格勒为代表的不可还原的多样性的历史观,阿隆构建起一种既超越实证主义,又不陷入相对主义(通过引入康德意义上的"真理"概念)的或然决定论。具体言之,他的历史哲学批判基于一种双层面的建构,一方面,在认识论层面,他试图重新阐释说明和理解的关系来维护历史的客观性;在形而上学层面,为了避免相对主义的结论,他引入了康德意义上的"人道主义社会"的概念,并将其视为一种更少目的性而更多调节性的概念。就政治领域而言,与此相对应的,他拒斥任何先定的救世福音说,并且坚信人类的历史只能由每个自由的个体的当下的选择和决定中被创造。他所主张的自由主义,不同于经济自由主义,一方面对传统秉持保守的态度,另一方面,本质上又是一种政治的自由主义。我们的研究将从阿隆对传统的教条的历史哲学的批判起步,揭示其"或然决定论"的观点的形成过程;及其历史观如何影响其政治观的过程,尤其反映于他作为一名知识分子,对历史的态度问题;我们也将讨论他对法国知识分子弊病的批判,并且将这一批判引入对中国知识分子的讨论当中。
Our main intention is to present the philosophical background of Raymond Aron's political point of view by way of his theory on historical philosophy. For us, behind his proclamation of a reasonable politics, exists an epistemological support, known as determinism of probability as far as the historical truth is concerned. And this determinism is only possible when it is based on a critique of the speculative philosophy of history. In the book named introduction to a philosophy of history, Aron tries to surpass the antinomy of historical becoming, between total unity of the hegelian-marxiste model and the irreducible plurality of the Oswald Spengler model, and meanwhile without falling into an absolute relativism. More precisely, the historical philosophy of Raymond Aron is dedicated to a two-dimensional constitution. On the epistemological level, he tries to reinterpret the relation between explication and comprehension, by way of circle between these two methods, and aim to, in the end, establish the limit of historical objectivity by introducing a certain determinism of probability; on the ontological level, in order to avoid the relativist conclusion, he keeps the Kantian notion of truth, but in a less teleological and more regulative sense. Correlatively, in the domain of politics, he declines all kind of Messianism who claims to possess in advance the historical truth, because for him, it is only via instant choice and decision based on the liberty that can man creates his history. His liberalism essentially political is different from the neoliberalism, and maintains a conservative attitude towards the tradition. Generally speaking, our research consists of presenting how this determinism of probability is possible, and how Aron applies this philosophical point of view to the political practice, and according to him, what should an intellectual do facing the politics. And we will also discuss his critiques to the idealism of the french intellectual, in order to analyze the debate among the chinese intellectual. ; Notre idée principale est d'essayer de comprendre la pensée politique de Raymond Aron à partir de sa théorie sur l'histoire. Pour nous, derrière sa proclamation d'une politique raisonnable ou progressive existe un support épistémologique, à savoir la proposition d'un déterminisme de probabilité concernant la vérité historique, proposition qui ne peut se constituer que dans le cadre d'une critique de la philosophie spéculative de l'histoire. Dans l'Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire, Aron tente de surmonter l'antinomie du devenir humain entre unité totale du modèle hégélien-marxiste et pluralité irréductible du modèle d'Oswald Spengler, mais sans tomber dans le piège du relativisme absolu. Plus précisément, sa propre critique de la philosophie de l'histoire se constitue à double niveau : au niveau méthodologique, il essaye de réinterpréter la relation entre la compréhension et l'explication pour établir l'objectivité historique. Et au niveau ontologique, pour éviter une conclusion relativiste, il réintroduit l'idée d'une société humanisée au sens kantien, mais d'une manière moins téléologique et plus régulatrice. Dans le domaine politique, corrélativement, il rejette tout type de messianisme garanti d'avance, car, à ses yeux, ce n'est que par choix et décision instantanée que l'homme fait son histoire, tout en gardant l'espoir de la liberté. Et son libéralisme se différencie du libéralisme purement économique et apparaît à la fois conservateur vis-à-vis de la tradition et essentiellement politique. Notre recherche consistera à montrer comment s'est élaboré, en surmontant les philosophies dogmatiques de l'histoire, ce déterminisme de probabilité ; comment il a su appliquer cette conviction historique à son analyse de la société, notamment en tant que libérale et quel rôle doit jouer, selon lui, un intellectuel face à la politique ; nous reprendrons ensuite sa critique vis-à-vis des intellectuels français, pour l'appliquer au débat entre les intellectuels chinois. ; 本文旨在从雷蒙•阿隆的历史观入手来了解其政治观点形成的背景。我们认为,他在政治上主张的一种"合理的政治观"始终是基于他的历史哲学观,即"或然决定论"展开的,而后者,在其博士论文《历史哲学批判导论》一书中得到了很好的阐明。从破除历史理性的二律背反开始,即黑格尔-马克思传统的作为统一体的历史观和以斯宾格勒为代表的不可还原的多样性的历史观,阿隆构建起一种既超越实证主义,又不陷入相对主义(通过引入康德意义上的"真理"概念)的或然决定论。具体言之,他的历史哲学批判基于一种双层面的建构,一方面,在认识论层面,他试图重新阐释说明和理解的关系来维护历史的客观性;在形而上学层面,为了避免相对主义的结论,他引入了康德意义上的"人道主义社会"的概念,并将其视为一种更少目的性而更多调节性的概念。就政治领域而言,与此相对应的,他拒斥任何先定的救世福音说,并且坚信人类的历史只能由每个自由的个体的当下的选择和决定中被创造。他所主张的自由主义,不同于经济自由主义,一方面对传统秉持保守的态度,另一方面,本质上又是一种政治的自由主义。我们的研究将从阿隆对传统的教条的历史哲学的批判起步,揭示其"或然决定论"的观点的形成过程;及其历史观如何影响其政治观的过程,尤其反映于他作为一名知识分子,对历史的态度问题;我们也将讨论他对法国知识分子弊病的批判,并且将这一批判引入对中国知识分子的讨论当中。
Our main intention is to present the philosophical background of Raymond Aron's political point of view by way of his theory on historical philosophy. For us, behind his proclamation of a reasonable politics, exists an epistemological support, known as determinism of probability as far as the historical truth is concerned. And this determinism is only possible when it is based on a critique of the speculative philosophy of history. In the book named introduction to a philosophy of history, Aron tries to surpass the antinomy of historical becoming, between total unity of the hegelian-marxiste model and the irreducible plurality of the Oswald Spengler model, and meanwhile without falling into an absolute relativism. More precisely, the historical philosophy of Raymond Aron is dedicated to a two-dimensional constitution. On the epistemological level, he tries to reinterpret the relation between explication and comprehension, by way of circle between these two methods, and aim to, in the end, establish the limit of historical objectivity by introducing a certain determinism of probability; on the ontological level, in order to avoid the relativist conclusion, he keeps the Kantian notion of truth, but in a less teleological and more regulative sense. Correlatively, in the domain of politics, he declines all kind of Messianism who claims to possess in advance the historical truth, because for him, it is only via instant choice and decision based on the liberty that can man creates his history. His liberalism essentially political is different from the neoliberalism, and maintains a conservative attitude towards the tradition. Generally speaking, our research consists of presenting how this determinism of probability is possible, and how Aron applies this philosophical point of view to the political practice, and according to him, what should an intellectual do facing the politics. And we will also discuss his critiques to the idealism of the french intellectual, in order to analyze the debate among the chinese intellectual. ; Notre idée principale est d'essayer de comprendre la pensée politique de Raymond Aron à partir de sa théorie sur l'histoire. Pour nous, derrière sa proclamation d'une politique raisonnable ou progressive existe un support épistémologique, à savoir la proposition d'un déterminisme de probabilité concernant la vérité historique, proposition qui ne peut se constituer que dans le cadre d'une critique de la philosophie spéculative de l'histoire. Dans l'Introduction à la philosophie de l'histoire, Aron tente de surmonter l'antinomie du devenir humain entre unité totale du modèle hégélien-marxiste et pluralité irréductible du modèle d'Oswald Spengler, mais sans tomber dans le piège du relativisme absolu. Plus précisément, sa propre critique de la philosophie de l'histoire se constitue à double niveau : au niveau méthodologique, il essaye de réinterpréter la relation entre la compréhension et l'explication pour établir l'objectivité historique. Et au niveau ontologique, pour éviter une conclusion relativiste, il réintroduit l'idée d'une société humanisée au sens kantien, mais d'une manière moins téléologique et plus régulatrice. Dans le domaine politique, corrélativement, il rejette tout type de messianisme garanti d'avance, car, à ses yeux, ce n'est que par choix et décision instantanée que l'homme fait son histoire, tout en gardant l'espoir de la liberté. Et son libéralisme se différencie du libéralisme purement économique et apparaît à la fois conservateur vis-à-vis de la tradition et essentiellement politique. Notre recherche consistera à montrer comment s'est élaboré, en surmontant les philosophies dogmatiques de l'histoire, ce déterminisme de probabilité ; comment il a su appliquer cette conviction historique à son analyse de la société, notamment en tant que libérale et quel rôle doit jouer, selon lui, un intellectuel face à la politique ; nous reprendrons ensuite sa critique vis-à-vis des intellectuels français, pour l'appliquer au débat entre les intellectuels chinois. ; 本文旨在从雷蒙•阿隆的历史观入手来了解其政治观点形成的背景。我们认为,他在政治上主张的一种"合理的政治观"始终是基于他的历史哲学观,即"或然决定论"展开的,而后者,在其博士论文《历史哲学批判导论》一书中得到了很好的阐明。从破除历史理性的二律背反开始,即黑格尔-马克思传统的作为统一体的历史观和以斯宾格勒为代表的不可还原的多样性的历史观,阿隆构建起一种既超越实证主义,又不陷入相对主义(通过引入康德意义上的"真理"概念)的或然决定论。具体言之,他的历史哲学批判基于一种双层面的建构,一方面,在认识论层面,他试图重新阐释说明和理解的关系来维护历史的客观性;在形而上学层面,为了避免相对主义的结论,他引入了康德意义上的"人道主义社会"的概念,并将其视为一种更少目的性而更多调节性的概念。就政治领域而言,与此相对应的,他拒斥任何先定的救世福音说,并且坚信人类的历史只能由每个自由的个体的当下的选择和决定中被创造。他所主张的自由主义,不同于经济自由主义,一方面对传统秉持保守的态度,另一方面,本质上又是一种政治的自由主义。我们的研究将从阿隆对传统的教条的历史哲学的批判起步,揭示其"或然决定论"的观点的形成过程;及其历史观如何影响其政治观的过程,尤其反映于他作为一名知识分子,对历史的态度问题;我们也将讨论他对法国知识分子弊病的批判,并且将这一批判引入对中国知识分子的讨论当中。
L'attuale realt`a imprenditoriale `e fortemente influenzata dalla dinamicit`a dei mercati e dai continui progressi tecnologici. Queste tendenze trovano pratica realizzazione nel modello di organizzazione flessibile, che punta a massimizzare la capacit`a di rispondere con efficacia alle sfide della complessit`a ambientale. La conoscenza, considerata un nuovo fattore di produzione, diventa un elemento chiave nei processi aziendali. Sempre di pi`u, negli ultimi anni `e cresciuta la consapevolezza delle imprese dell'effettivo valore di una corretta gestione della conoscenza. L'uso di strumenti propri del Knowledge Management nelle organizzazioni `e divenuto una pratica comune. Una caratteristica fondamentale della conoscenza, inoltre, `e l'essere strettamente legata alla capacit`a di compiere azioni. Solo chi conosce `e infatti capace di prendere le giuste decisioni ed agire di conseguenza. Prendere decisioni riguardanti sistemi complessi (come per esempio, gestire attivit`a organizzative e processi industriali o controllare dispositivi robotici in ambienti dinamici) `e un compito che, molto spesso, va oltre le capacit`a cognitive umane. Questo `e dovuto al fatto che le variabili che influenzano il sistema sono, generalmente, soggette a complesse interdipendenze. Per questo motivo predire il risultato finale pu`o risultare piuttosto complicato. Il giudizio di un esperto umano, dunque, si discosta dalla decisione ottima al crescere della complessit`a dei processi decisionali. In quelle situazioni in cui la precisione `e fondamentale, la qualit`a delle decisioni `e molto importante. Una sfida per la comunit`a scientifica `e infatti riuscire ad elaborare tecniche e modelli per superare il limite umano. Nella tesi presentata vengono affrontati essenzialmente due grossi problemi riguardanti le organizzazioni dell'Information and Communication Technology: il riuso del software e la selezione dei progetti aziendali. Il riuso del software (Software Reuse) non `e semplicemente un problema tecnico ma anche e soprattutto un problema di gestione della conoscenza. Il Riuso `e comunemente definito come un ulteriore utilizzo o un ripetuto uso di un artefatto. Un nuovo prodotto pu`o, quindi, essere realizzato utilizzando una serie di elementi (nel caso in esame, possono essere componenti software o hardware) prodotti in precedenza. Gestire in maniere efficiente la conoscenza aziendale permette, per esempio, di trovare possibili candidati per il riuso da un'apposita repository. La selezione dei progetti aziendali (Project Selection) riguarda la scelta della migliore tra le alternative possibili sulla base di un'analisi costi/benefici. Per decidere quali tra i progetti proposti `e pi`u conveniente sviluppare, occorre tenere in considerazione determinati fattori. Ogni progetto, infatti, ha una propria complessit`a e specifiche caratteristiche, per esempio vantaggi e svantaggi, benefici tangibili e non, costi, impegno di risorse umane e cosi via. La presente tesi propone un sistema per la gestione della conoscenza che affronta diversi aspetti del Knowledge Management, dalla rappresentazione della conoscenza ai processi decisionali (Decision Making). In particolare, `e mostrato come le ontologie sono applicabili ed effettivi mezzi per supportare la rappresentazione della conoscenza; come sia possibile ricercare componenti software riutilizzabili utilizzando un sistema esperto basato su regole; ed infine come le reti Bayesiane e i sistemi Fuzzy possono integrare conoscenza utile per il supporto alle decisioni in condizioni di incertezza. Il modello di ragionamento incerto che propongo tiene in considerazioni sia la vaghezza e la soggettivit`a del giudizio umano che l'aleatoriet`a di alcuni eventi che sono intrisecamente legati al mondo degli affari. Per questo motivo, sono state implementate tecniche di ragionamento fuzzy, tramite le quali il sistema deduce la complessit`a di un progetto software considerando una serie di fattori che influenzano un progetto. Inoltre, la realizzazione di una rete bayesiana permette di stimare la fattibilit`a di un dato progetto a partire dall'evidenza derivata dal ragionamento fuzzy. Il lavoro di ricerca condotto in questi anni di dottorato ed in questa tesi illustrato, ha portato alla realizzazione di Kromos, un sistema prodotto in collaborazione con il Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica dell'Universit`a di Palermo e di Sicilia e-Innovazione, una societ`a della Regione Sicilia finalizzata all'informatizzazione degli uffici della Pubblica Amministrazione. ; The modern business world is characterized by dynamic markets and continuous technological advances. To cope with these trends, organizations must become more flexible. The knowledge, considered as a new factor of production, becomes a key element in business processes. In the last few years, the enterprises awareness about the worth of a correct knowledge management is grown exponentially. The use of Knowledge Management tools within the organization is became a best practice. The knowledge, additionally, is strictly linked to the capability to perform effective actions. Who knows is able to make a correct decision and to act consequently. Making decisions concerning complex systems (e.g., the management of organizational activities, industrial processes or the control of robotic device in complex environment etc.) often is a task that exceeds human cognitive capabilities. This is because many variables of the system are involved in complex interdependencies and predicting the total outcome may be very difficult. The human intuitive judgment and decision making become far from optimal to grow of complexity of the decision process. In many situations the quality of decisions is important, overcoming the deficiencies of human judgment is an important issue in the scientific community. Two main problems concerning ICT enterprises are deeply addressed in this dissertation: Software Reuse and Project Selection. Software Reuse is not only a technology problem but fundamentally a knowledge management problem. Reuse can be defined as further use or repeated use of an artefact. A new product is created by taking applicable assets from the asset base. A correct knowledge management allows finding candidate assets for reuse from asset base. Project Selection concerns the choose of the best among alternative proposals on the basis of cost-benefit analysis. In order to decide which of the proposed projects should be selected, a number of factors must be considered. In fact, each project has its own complexity and includes environmental advantages and disadvantages, tangible and intangible benefits, costs, allocation of human and hardware resources and many others. In this thesis, I present a novel fusion of Artificial Intelligence techniques in order to cope different aspects of knowledge management from knowledge representation to decision making. I show how the ontologies are applicable and effective means for supporting knowledge representation, how to find reusable software components by means of a rule based expert system and how the Bayesian networks and Fuzzy systems can be integrate knowledge to support decision processes under uncertainty. I proposed a model for uncertainty reasoning, in order to cope not only to the unpredictability of some events that are intrinsically linked to the market environment, but also to overcome the vagueness and subjectivities of human judgments. This model is based on a fuzzy reasoning, which allows evaluating the complexity of an ICT projects unifying the contribution of several factors that complicate a project, and on a Bayesian network able to estimate the feasibility of a project on the basis of the evidence derived from fuzzy reasoning. This research was applied to the realization of Kromos, a product of collaboration between the Computer Engineering Department of Palermo University and the Sicilian local Government ICT society, Sicilia e-Innovazione.
SUMMARY: This is a Russian translation of a few chapters from the book by Jürgen Osterhammel, Transformation of the World: History of the Nineteenth Century (Munich, 2009). He starts with an affirmation of the historical and cultural conditionality of periodizations and of a linear calendar. The author then proceeds with an explication of his understanding of the "nineteenth century": at its core is not a linear chain of developments from A to Z, but ruptures and transformations that are defined by their specific temporal structures yet are nevertheless interconnected. The nineteenth century is thus understood as the simultaneous continuation of transformations of the preceding epoch and the prehistory of "modernity" Therefore, the narrative in Osterhammel's book is structured by a twofold logic: that of a calendar century (1801–1900) and that of a "long nineteenth century," defined as a matrix of interdependences and correlations (approximately 1770 to the early 1920s). Osterhammel comments on the constructed nature of historical "epochs" such as "Hellenism," "the Late Medieval age," or "Early Modern history," yet points to the fact that the nineteenth century escaped this kind of classification. Historically, the year from 1880 to 1881 was experienced as the border of the new century only in Christian regions of the world. "The West" is thus identical to the territories whose population cared about the border of epochs. Osterhammel discusses the Gregorian calendar as the most successful cultural export of Europe of the Modern epoch, and presents a picture of the calendar pluralism that used to characterize the world. He broadens this discussion to include perceptions of historical and social time in different regions of the world. Then he switches to the issue of ruptures as manifested by multiple layers and modes of human existence (economics, politics, private life, intellectual process, etc.) and by different scales of generalization (a national history based on the consensus of major turning points versus European history versus world history). From this perspective, the rupture of the French Revolution cannot serve as a political beginning of the nineteenth century because it would be relevant only for France, Germany, and Haiti. The whole nineteenth century was defined by the failure of Ancient Regimes. In Japan political modernity began only in 1868. Then Osterhammel tests the periodization based on popular and cultural developments and ruptures connected with the concept of "early modern times" (the end of these times is the beginning of the nineteenth century). He admits the Eurocentric nature of the concept of "early modern times," yet points to the historiographic consensus regarding 1450–1600 as the years of "big changes" for most of Eurasia and America (the rise of trade, the introduction of new technologies, the centralization of state and religious disturbances that were not directly connected to European expansion). However, the end of these more or less universal "early modern times" is far from obvious. To deal with this complexity, Osterhammel borrows from Reinhart Koselleck the concept of Sattelzeit , as a long transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century (approximately 1770–1830) and divides the nineteenth century into Sattelzeit – Victorian decades – Fin de Siècle . He offers a detailed discussion of the meaning as well as global applicability and limitations of these sub-epochs. He then balances this analysis by turning to microprocesses, insofar as epochal thresholds are created not by some "objective" meanings but by the overlapping of multiple thin time nets. In other words, they are condensations of similar and repetitive changes. To reveal this overlapping, besides a linear concept of time, one also has to allow a nonlinear time (thus resisting a Eurocentric homogenization of historical narratives). A separate chapter in Osterhammel's book deals with different experiences of time characteristic of the nineteenth century and with its unification. He explicates the complex dynamics of the parallel unification and nationalization of time. He positively resolves the question of acceleration as a universal human experience in the nineteenth century, but is more reluctant to recognize the universal nature of the acceleration of historical time (as opposed to personal experiences of speed, movement, etc.).
The second part of the published extract from the book deals with the problem of space and its correlation with time. In spacial terms, the nineteenth century is represented in Osterhammel's chapters through the center–periphery model. The nineteenth century is also discussed as a time of dominance of European geographical knowledge. However, the nineteenth century represented not only the first phase of creation of a scientific geography but also the last phase of the epoch of great discoveries. Osterhammel considers individual and group expeditions of the nineteenth century and the new territories they discovered. He stresses that in the nineteenth century large geographic territories still had rather flexible affiliations, their names and borders were not stable and universally accepted. The metamorphoses of the European semantics of space are illustrated in detail in a special paragraph dedicated to the region that today is known as Eastern Asia or the Far East. The tension between the tendency toward a metageographical simplification and geographical (terminological) sophistication is illustrated by the works of Carl Ritter, Friedrich Ratzel, and Elisée Reclus.
The next level of discussing space is connected with mental geography. Here the major categories under discussion are the "West" as it emerged in the 1890s from the expansion of the transatlantic civilization model, and "Europe" (its center, its civilization borders and open frontiers, etc.). Next Osterhammel discusses the spacial Chinese mentality of the same period. Later in the text he turns to another dimension of space – space as a contact arena, a zone of interactions. Among such zones he treats the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean; the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; and continental spaces. Osterhammel also raises the issue of power and space and focuses on states' efforts to rationalize and order spaces. He claims that this is usually, but not necessarily, the prerogative of modern states. This thesis is tested by three cases: that of China, the United States, and Russia.
Finally, Osterhammel discusses issues of territoriality, diaspora, and borders. These issues are also connected with the role of the state in the nineteenth century. The imagined ideal state territory was large and contiguous. This contradicted the actual discontinuity of the social space – the fullest expression of which Osterhammel finds in diasporas. He concludes that the collecting of national spaces under one power and the formation of emotional attachment to one territory was accompanied by the emergence of transnational spaces that were marked by less intensive yet still quite visible territoriality. Borders are included in this picture as enabling multiple understandings of territoriality. Osterhammel shows that linear borders (instead of frontier zones) were not invented in the nineteenth century and that linear state borders were not an invention of European imperialism introduced to the non-European world. Yet the spread of semiotically marked, fortified linear borders became the main tendency of territoriality of power in the nineteenth century, when control over a country became more important than control over people.
Inward investment from foreign manufacturing firms has been sought as a remedy to regional industrial problems in the UK. Foreign manufacturing offers the prospect of industrial diversification, new jobs and incomes, and can also represent a stimulus to new ideas and practices in domestic industries. The potential for production externalities from the foreign to the domestic sector has been investigated in a number of empirical studies. The wider potential for foreign manufacturing to become a driver of regional competitive advantage is expected to be linked to a number of factors including underlying investment motives, subsidiary age and type, subsidiary size, degree of value added within the plant, type of plant/degree of autonomy, nationality of ownership, entry mode, industry sector, and the structure of the host/regional economy. An additional and inter-linked factor with the above is the extent to which foreign plants are embedded through their purchasing linkages into their respective local economies. The degree of embeddedness determines the indirect employment and output supported by foreign firm activities in regional economies, and is a general indicator of the extent to which foreign firms contribute towards regional growth. Previous research has work has highlighted the comparatively low levels of linkage that exist between inward investing sectors and local supply bases. For example, Turok (1993, 1997) demonstrated the Scottish electronics industry (including large numbers of inward investors) purchased just 12% of material inputs in Scotland, and that (with reference to Input-Output tables for Scotland) output based multipliers for the electronics sector still revealed a poor quality of linkages into the local economy. In Northern Ireland, Crone and Roper (1999) reported that weak supply linkages between foreign and regional firms had restricted the potential of positive production externalities. In Wales, Roberts (1996) considered the backward (and forward) linkages created by foreign manufacturing sectors in the local economy using 1994 Input-Output tables for Wales. Overall, this research found that, on average, less than 17% of non-wage spending of foreign manufacturing firms occurred in the Welsh economy (see also Gillespie, 2000). Finally, Brand, Hill and Munday (2000), explored in a regional Input-Output framework, the direct and indirect economic contribution of foreign owned and domestic manufacturing to the economies of Wales, Scotland and the West Midlands. The study demonstrated that foreign owned manufacturing in these regions purchased less locally than domestic firms. As a result in most of the industry sectors explored the output supported in other regional industries was generally greater in the domestic than in the foreign owned case. The analysis also explored how far each job created in foreign and domestically owned manufacturing contributed to regional value added. The superior productivity of the foreign sector meant that it generally contributed more per employee to regional value added than its domestic counterpart. The analysis of the impact of foreign (and in some cases domestic) manufacturing on local economies within an Input-Output framework has largely been based on cross-sectional information. The present paper attempts to develop a more dynamic perspective by considering structural changes over time. The objective of this paper is to explore the role of foreign manufacturing in changing the pattern of industry linkages in Wales and Scotland – two regions which have attracted comparatively high shares of new UK foreign inward investment. These two regions also make for a valuable comparative study with some analysts suggesting that there are important differences in the underlying quality of inward investment between the two regions (Hood, 1991). The paper uses information from the Scottish Input-Output tables 1973 and 1996 (see Fraser of Allander, 1973, and Scottish Executive, 1999), and Welsh Input-Output tables 1968 and 1996 (see Ireson and Tomkins, 1978; and Hill and Roberts, 2001) to examine the changing structure of these regional economies over time. The focus of the paper is comparing manufacturing sectors where there have been high and low levels of foreign investment. The influence of foreign manufacturing is considered in the context of changes in the export orientation, import propensity and indirect employment and output effects of selected industry sectors. The wider context of the paper is continuing concern in the UK on the more dynamic impacts of foreign manufacturing industry in improving the economic prospects for UK regions, and the validity of the 'inward investment' model of development. The second section of the paper reviews the development of foreign manufacturing in the Welsh and Scottish economies, and critically analyses previous research that has explored the role of the foreign sector in these regions within an Input-Output model framework. The third section examines how foreign manufacturing might be expected to impact differently from the domestic sector in terms of impact on the structure of the regional economy over time. For example, in terms of its higher productivity, and different import and export propensities. The fourth section describes the Input-Output tables that are available for Wales and Scotland, and more specifically, discusses issues of comparability of tables of different vintages. The methodology used to reconcile the industry sectors in the table is discussed. The fifth section examines the nature of structural changes in the two economies, including an analysis of local trading propensities, together with estimates of multiplier effects of selected industries characterised by high and low levels of foreign direct investment (in the period 1968-1996 for Wales, and 1973-1996 for Scotland). The final section contains conclusions. References Hill, S. & A. Roberts (2001), Input-Output Tables for Wales 1996. Cardiff: South East Wales Economic Forum. Hood, N. (1991), Inward Investment and the Scottish Economy, Royal Bank of Scotland Review, 169, pp. 17-32. Brand S., Hill, S. & M. Munday (2000), Assessing the Impacts of Foreign Manufacturing on Regional Economies: The Cases of Wales, Scotland and West Midlands. Regional Studies 34, pp. 343-55. Crone, M. & S. Roper (1999), Knowledge Transfers from Multinational Plants in Northern Ireland, paper given to Regional Science Association European Congress, University College Dublin, August 23rd-27th. Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde, The Scottish Council Research Institute Limited and IBM UK Scientific Centre (1978), Input-Output Tables for Scotland 1973. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh. Gillespie, G. (2000), Modelling the System-wide Impact of Foreign Direct Investment in Scotland: An Ownership-Disaggregated Regional Computable General Equilibrium Analysis, Ph.D thesis, University of Strathclyde. Ireson, R. & C. Tomkins (1978), Inter-Regional Input-Output Tables for Wales and the Rest of the UK 1968. HMSO, London. Roberts, A. (1996), The Economic Impact of Foreign Manufacturing Investment in Wales. Unpublished Ph.D, University of Wales, Cardiff. Scottish Executive (1999), Input-Output Tables and Multipliers for Scotland 1996. Government Statistical Service, Edinburgh. Turok, I. (1993), Inward Investment and Local Linkages: How Deeply Embedded is 'Silicon Glen? Regional Studies 27, pp. 401-17. Turok, I. (1997), Linkages in the Scottish Electronics Industry: Further Evidence, Regional Studies 31, pp. 705-711.
La conciliación como mecanismo alternativo de solución de conflicto, es una excelente herramienta para la descongestión de los despachos judiciales y para el acercamiento de las partes en pos de un resultado que traiga paz a las diferencias entre los ciudadanos o entre estos y el Estado. Pero al igual que cada herramienta de un taller tiene una propiedad y una oportunidad válida para utilizarse, aunque sean muy efectivas solo son eficaces cuando se usa correcta, adecuada y objetivamente. Es por ello que la presente monografía busca indagar cuál ha sido la eficacia de la herramienta de la Conciliación en materia contenciosa administrativa específicamente en la materia de impuestos nacionales, la cual ha prevalecido por tener intrínseca una naturaleza no conciliatoria por virtud de la norma. Encontramos de un lado las conciliaciones judiciales que son autorizadas por ley, las cuales buscan normalizar la cartera e incentivar a los contribuyentes para pagar sus deudas a la Nación, permitiendo el aumento el recaudo mediante el establecimiento de beneficios tributarios o condiciones especiales de pago, en este caso vemos que la conciliación judicial es muy positiva para las partes porque ambas ganan. Pero contraria a la anterior situación, encontramos en la Ley 1437 de 2011 artículo 192 el siguiente aparte: … "Cuando el fallo de primera instancia sea de carácter condenatorio y contra el mismo se interponga el recurso de apelación, el Juez o Magistrado deberá citar a audiencia de conciliación, que deberá celebrarse antes de resolver sobre la concesión del recurso. La asistencia a esta audiencia será obligatoria. Si el apelante no asiste a la audiencia, se declarará desierto el recurso…" Lo anterior cumple o no los principios de la misma Ley, en su artículo tercero, que a continuación se transcribe: "Artículo 3°. Principios. Todas las autoridades deberán interpretar y aplicar las disposiciones que regulan las actuaciones y procedimientos administrativos a la luz de los principios consagrados en la Constitución Política, en la Parte Primera de este Código y en las leyes especiales. Las actuaciones administrativas se desarrollarán, especialmente, con arreglo a los principios del debido proceso, igualdad, imparcialidad, buena fe, moralidad, participación, responsabilidad, transparencia, publicidad, coordinación, eficacia, economía y celeridad…" Podemos ver que existe un problema dentro de la misma Ley, ya que inicia en sus cimientos con el principio de eficacia, el cual define en el sentido de que las autoridades buscarán que los procedimientos logren su finalidad y, para el efecto, removerán de oficio los obstáculos puramente formales, evitarán dilaciones o retardos. De otro lado encontramos que el principio de economía que legislador plasmó trae consigo que las autoridades deberán proceder con austeridad y eficiencia, optimizar el uso del tiempo. Lo anterior si lo unimos al principio de celeridad, el cual busca que los procedimientos se adelanten con diligencia, dentro de los términos legales y sin dilaciones injustificadas, encontramos que la conciliación judicial en materia tributaria como requisito primordial para poder admitir una apelación no cumple con los principios aquí referenciados, pues la conciliación es un acuerdo voluntario que una apelación no concibe en esta instancia procesal. Existe también otra situación en materia de conciliación extra judicial, fundamentados en la Ley 1285 del 22 de enero de 2009, por medio de la cual se reformó la Ley 270 de 1996, se estableció, en el artículo 13, que cuando los asuntos que se deban ventilar ante la jurisdicción de lo contencioso administrativo sean conciliables, siempre constituirá requisito de procedibilidad de las acciones a) de nulidad y restablecimiento del derecho, b) de reparación directa y c) de controversias contractuales, el adelantamiento previo del trámite de la conciliación extrajudicial. Dicha instancia extrajudicial, de conformidad con lo regulado por el artículo 23 de la Ley 640 de 2001, es de competencia exclusiva de los agentes del Ministerio Público asignados ante la jurisdicción de lo contencioso administrativo, representados por los Procuradores Delegados ante el Consejo de Estado y por los Procuradores Judiciales para Asuntos Administrativos distribuidos en todo el territorio nacional. Este requisito de procedibilidad debe ser examinado frente a la naturaleza de los actos administrativos propuestos a demandar, ya que si enfocamos nuestra mirada a los actos proferidos por la Dirección de Impuestos Nacionales, nos encontramos con la situación especial de que no son conciliables y aun así se siguen convocando a dichas audiencias operando un caso similar al anterior, que debe ser analizado en la presente monografía. ; Conciliation as an alternative mechanism for conflict resolution is an excellent tool for decongestion of judicial offices and for the rapprochement of the parties in pursuit of a result that brings peace to the differences between citizens or between them and the State. But just like every tool in a workshop has a valid property and opportunity to use, although they are very effective they are only effective when used correctly, properly and objectively. That is why this monograph seeks to investigate what has been the effectiveness of the Conciliation tool in administrative contentious matters specifically in the area of national taxes, which has prevailed because it has intrinsic non-conciliatory nature by virtue of the norm. We find on one side the judicial conciliations that are authorized by law, which seek to normalize the portfolio and encourage taxpayers to pay their debts to the Nation, allowing the collection to be increased through the establishment of tax benefits or special payment conditions, in In this case we see that judicial conciliation is very positive for the parties because both win. But contrary to the previous situation, we find in Law 1437 of 2011 article 192 the following section:… "When the judgment of first instance is condemnatory and against it the appeal is filed, the Judge or Magistrate must cite conciliation hearing, which must be held before deciding on the granting of the appeal. Attendance at this hearing will be mandatory. If the appellant does not attend the hearing, the appeal will be declared void . "The foregoing complies or not with the principles of the same Law, in its third article, which is then transcribed:" Article 3. Beginning. All authorities must interpret and apply the provisions that regulate administrative actions and procedures in the light of the principles enshrined in the Political Constitution, in the First Part of this Code and in special laws. The administrative actions will be developed, especially, in accordance with the principles of due process, equality, impartiality, good faith, morality, participation, responsibility, transparency, publicity, coordination, efficiency, economy and speed… "We can see that there is a problem within of the same Law, since it begins in its foundations with the principle of effectiveness, which defines in the sense that the authorities will seek that the procedures achieve their purpose and, for that purpose, will ex officio remove the purely formal obstacles, avoid delays or delays. On the other hand we find that the principle of economy that the legislator expressed brings with it that the authorities must proceed with austerity and efficiency, optimize the use of time. The above, if we join it to the principle of speed, which seeks that the proceedings be carried out diligently, within the legal terms and without unjustified delays, we find that judicial conciliation in tax matters as a primary requirement to be able to admit an appeal does not comply with the principles referenced here, because conciliation is a voluntary agreement that an appeal does not conceive in this procedural instance. There is also another situation regarding extra judicial conciliation, based on Law 1285 of January 22, 2009, by means of which Law 270 of 1996 was amended, it was established, in Article 13, that when matters that are they must ventilate before the jurisdiction of the administrative litigation are reconcilable, it will always be a requirement of action of the actions a) of nullity and restoration of the right, b) of direct reparation and c) of contractual disputes, the advancement of the process of extrajudicial conciliation. Said extrajudicial instance, in accordance with the provisions of article 23 of Law 640 of 2001, is the exclusive competence of the agents of the Public Prosecutor's Office assigned before the jurisdiction of the administrative litigation, represented by the Procurators Delegated before the Council of State and by the Judicial Attorneys for Administrative Matters distributed throughout the national territory. This procedural requirement must be examined against the nature of the administrative acts proposed to be sued, since if we focus our attention on the acts uttered by the National Tax Directorate, we are faced with the special situation that they are not reconcilable and yet These hearings continue to be convened operating a case similar to the previous one, which should be analyzed in this monograph.
In: Jensen , P E 2006 , Application of Microbial Products to Promote Electrodialytic Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil . B Y G D T U. Rapport , no. R-124 , Technical University of Denmark , Kgs. Lyngby .
In urban areas of Denmark, Pb is the most frequently observed soil-contaminant together with PAHs. Comprehensive legislation has been imposed to reduce Pb-exposure in the Danish society. The major use of Pb is at present in accumulators, which are being collected and reused. Since the use of Pb in gasoline ceased in the late 1980'es, the main human exposure derives from dust and soil. In order to eliminate the risk of children being affected by Pb-poisoning, with IQ-reduction and childhood hyperactivity as documented effects, treatment of the Pb-contaminated urban soil is a necessity. At present, Pb-contaminated soil is excavated from sites primarily due to construction activities. Such activities nevertheless lead to the handling of several million tons of Pb-contaminated soil every year. Currently this soil is being deposited, temporarily or permanently. This study aimed at development of the electrodialytic remediation (EDR) method for efficient treatment of Pb-contaminated soil by application of microbial products. Mobilization of Pb in soil by complexation with exopolymers and whole or disintegrated cells was investigated in column studies. Although exopolymers were previously shown to mobilize Pb in soil, the application in EDR was rejected after documentation of their negative effect on Pb-mobility in an electric current field. In parallel with the research on the effects of exopolymers, a secondary objective was to elucidate the importance of original Pb-speciation versus soil-characteristics to mobility and distribution of Pb in industrially polluted soils. It was shown that the primary factors determining the speciation of Pb in soil are: (1) the stability of the original contamination and (2) the contamination level, while soil characteristics are of secondary importance. The influence of Pb-speciation and soil characteristics on traditional (stationary), unenhanced EDR of Pb-contaminated soil was subsequently investigated. Results indicated that Pb-speciation is of primary importance. Specifically, organic matter and dominance of stable Pb-compounds, impedes and possibly even precludes soil remediation, while carbonate influences the remediation-time negatively. EDR remediation of fine grained, inorganic soils was documented to be feasible when the Pb is not associated with extremely stable compounds. The potential of treating other fine-grained materials in a suspended version of EDR had at this time been demonstrated by other researchers in the group. Therefore the possibility of treating the fine fraction of Pb-contaminated soils by suspended EDR was investigated. This technology was intended for combination with conventional soil washing, in which the lack of a treatment method for the remaining soil-fines has been the main limiting factor. First, the influence of current strength and liquid-to-solid-ratio (L/S) was examined. It was found that during the treatment, Pb was easily dissolved by the acidification resulting from water splitting at the anion-exchange membrane. When higher currents and/or higher L/S ratios were applied, water splitting also took place at the cation-exchange membrane, resulting in a slow-down of the acidification and in decreased remediation efficiency. The optimal current strength depended linearly on the L/S of the soil slurry. Complete remediation of the soil-fines from the initial 1170mg/kg Pb to reach the accepted level for sensitive land-uses set by the Danish government (40 mg/kg Pb) was shown to be possible, with the majority of the Pb being transported into the catholyte and precipitated at the cathode. Based on the results it is recommended that EDR should be implemented using a number of reactors in series, where the initial reactor works at the highest possible removal rate, and the final reactor works at the target Pb-concentration. Application of microbially produced siderophores, autotrophic leaching, heterotrophic leaching and biosurfactants were identified as potential methods for promotion of EDR of Pb contaminated soil. By these methods mobilization of Pb would occur due to complexation with much smaller substances than the previously examined and rejected exopolymers, why they were considered more efficient for mobilization of Pb in an electric current field. Siderophores, which are iron-chelating compounds produced by microorganisms under iron deficiency were investigated for their Pb-mobilizing ability. After having shown that a commercially available siderophore indeed was able to extract Pb from contaminated soil-fines, application of siderophores was however also rejected, primarily due to the insufficient concentrations produced by microorganisms in general and the unrealistic high costs of industrially produced siderophores in relation to the low value of the product to be treated. Furthermore no detection of siderophore production was possible during suspended EDR of soil-fines after incubation with a Pseudomonas fluorescens sp., which, in the absence of soil and current, had been shown to produce high levels of siderophores. Although a study into the mechanisms behind this observation would have been of great academic interest, it was omitted because of the lack of relevance to treatment of Pb-contaminated soil. Autotrophic leaching, which is leaching by acidophilic, autotrophic microorganisms obtaining energy by oxidation of elemental sulfur, was shown to induce acidification of soil-fines in suspension, but removal of Pb from the treated soil-fines by suspended EDR was reduced considerably (from 94% without preceding heterotrophic leaching to less than 68% with preceding leaching) due to precipitation of Pb as lead-sulfate. The potential of heterotrophic leaching by heterotrophic and acid producing microorganisms was tested by batch extraction of Pb from contaminated soil-fines with 11 organic acids at pH-values between 2 and 7, where acid-producing fungi grow. Five of the acids (citric acid, DL-malic acid, gluconic acid, tartaric acid and fumaric acid) showed ability to extract Pb from the soil fines at neutral and slightly acidic pH in excess of the effect caused by pure pH-changes. Addition of organic acids, however, severely impeded EDR, thus promotion of EDR of Pb from soil-fines by combination with heterotrophic leaching was also rejected. In contrast, enhancement of EDR with nitric acid showed promising results at current densities beyond what is optimal with distilled water as solvent. Consequently addition of nitric acid is recommended in cases where the removal rate is considered important, while suspension in pure water is recommended in situations where the energy expenditure and the chemical costs are limiting factors. Considering the results of the screening of siderophores, autotrophic leaching and heterotrophic leaching for promotion of EDR of soil-fines in suspension, it was decided to focus on the seemingly more promising unenhanced remediation. An investigation of the removal rates of Pb and common soil cations from soil-fines during EDR in suspension was initiated. The Pb-removal could be divided into four phases (1) a "lag-phase", where removal was substantially absent, (2) a period with a high removal rate involving dissolution of Pb in the soil-solution, (3) a period with a low removal-rate, where the dissolved Pb was removed from the solution, and (4) a period with no further Pb-removal as the treatment proceeded. The maximum removal rate for Pb obtained during phase 2 was 4mg/kg∙hour. During phase 3, the high conductivity and low voltage suggested that removal might be accelerated by increasing the current density. During phase 1, dissolution of carbonates was the prevailing process. This dissolution resulted in a corresponding loss of soil-mass. The removal-order among the investigated soil cations was: Ca > Pb > Mn > Mg > K > (Al and Fe). Na was found to enter the soil from the electrolytes and a careful choice of electrolytes in order to meet any requirements by subsequent receivers of the soil-fines is recommended. It is also recommended to limit the dissolution of Fe- and Al-minerals by terminating remediation as soon as Pb-extraction ceases. The final work in this thesis provided evidence for feasible removal of a number of other toxic elements (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) by the method apart from demonstrating repeatability of experimental results. Also Cr was amenable to remediation, although removal from most of the investigated soils was slow compared to the other elements. In general therefore, conditioning of Cr-contaminated soil by addition of an oxidizing or a complexing agent is recommended. Hg was unsusceptible to EDR in suspension with 100% remaining in the soil after termination of the experiments. Some changes in the Hg-speciation towards mobilization were however established. Like for Cr-contaminated soil conditioning of Hg-contaminated soil with oxidizing or complexing agents is recommended. The maximum removals obtained after 10 days was 79% for As, 92% for Cd, 55% for Cr, 96% for Cu, 0% for Hg, 52% for Ni, 53% for Pb and 88% for Zn.
In: Decision analysis: a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, INFORMS, Band 8, Heft 4, S. 322-327
ISSN: 1545-8504
Ali E. Abbas (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He received an M.S. in electrical engineering (1998), an M.S. in engineering economic systems and operations research (2001), a Ph.D. in management science and engineering (2003), and a Ph.D. (minor) in electrical engineering, all from Stanford University. He worked as a lecturer in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford and in Schlumberger Oilfield Services, where he held several international positions in wireline logging, operations management, and international training. He has also worked on several consulting projects for mergers and acquisitions in California, and cotaught several executive seminars on decision analysis at Strategic Decisions Group in Menlo Park, California. His research interests include utility theory, decision making with incomplete information and preferences, dynamic programming, and information theory. Dr. Abbas is a senior member of the IEEE and a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). He is also an associate editor for the Decision Analysis and Operations Research journals of INFORMS. Address: Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 117 Transportation Building, MC-238, 104 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801; e-mail: aliabbas@illinois.edu . J. Eric Bickel (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is an assistant professor in both the Graduate Program in Operations Research (Department of Mechanical Engineering) and the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, Professor Bickel is a fellow in both the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy and the Center for Petroleum Asset Risk Management. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from the Department of Engineering–Economic Systems at Stanford University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering with a minor in economics from New Mexico State University. His research interests include the theory and practice of decision analysis and its application in the energy and climate-change arenas. His research has addressed the modeling of probabilistic dependence, value of information, scoring rules, calibration, risk preference, education, decision making in sports, and climate engineering as a response to climate change. Prior to returning to academia, Eric was a senior engagement manager for Strategic Decisions Group. He has consulted around the world in a range of industries, including oil and gas, electricity generation/transmission/delivery, energy trading and marketing, commodity and specialty chemicals, life sciences, financial services, and metals and mining. Address: Graduate Program in Operations Research, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, C2200, Austin, TX 78712-0292; e-mail: ebickel@mail.utexas.edu . Vicki M. Bier (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis" and "Target-Hardening Decisions Based on Uncertain Multiattribute Terrorist Utility ") is a full professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she is currently department chair and also directs the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis. She is also the president of the Decision Analysis Society. Her research interests include applications of operations research, risk analysis, and decision analysis to problems of homeland security and critical infrastructure protection. Address: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Mechanical Engineering Building, Room 3270A, 1513 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; e-mail: bier@engr.wisc.edu . David V. Budescu (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is the Anne Anastasi Professor of Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology at Fordham University. He held positions at the University of Illinois and the University of Haifa, and visiting positions at Carnegie Mellon University, University of Gotheborg, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Hebrew University, and the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion). His research is in the areas of human judgment, individual and group decision making under uncertainty and with incomplete and vague information, and statistics for the behavioral and social sciences. He is on the editorial boards of Applied Psychological Measurement; Decision Analysis; Journal of Behavioral Decision Making; Journal of Mathematical Psychology; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition (2000–2003); Multivariate Behavioral Research; Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (1992–2002); and Psychological Methods (1996–2000). He is past president of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making (2000–2001), fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and an elected member of the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychologists. Address: Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, NY 10458; e-mail: budescu@fordham.edu . John C. Butler (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is a clinical associate professor of finance and the academic director of the Energy Management and Innovation Center in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and he is the secretary/treasurer of the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society. Butler received his Ph.D. in management science and information systems from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. His research interests involve the use of decision science models to support decision making, with a particular emphasis on decision and risk analysis models with multiple performance criteria. Butler has consulted with a number of organizations regarding the application of decision analysis tools to a variety of practical problems. Most of his consulting projects involve use of Visual Basic for Applications and Excel to implement complex decision science models in a user friendly format. Address: Energy Management and Innovation Center, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1178; e-mail: john.butler2@mccombs.utexas.edu . Stephen P. Chambal (" A Practical Procedure for Customizable One-Way Sensitivity Analysis in Additive Value Models ") earned a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in industrial engineering and is vice president for the Perduco Group responsible for strategic business development for federal services. The Perduco Group provides high-end operations research and business intelligence support to the Department of Defense. Dr. Chambal recently retired from the U.S. Air Force after more than 24 years of honorable service. Most recently, he served as the director of Operational Analysis for the Air Force Institute of Technology. Dr. Chambal enlisted in the Air Force in 1986 and obtained his commission from the Air Force Academy in 1993. He held various assignments within the scientific analysis career field, including test, space, and special programs and has authored or coauthored numerous articles, white papers, and conference presentations. Address: 256 Earlsgate Road, Dayton, OH 45440; e-mail: stephen.chambal@theperducogroup.com . Philippe Delquié (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is an associate professor of decision sciences at the George Washington University and holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Delquié's teaching and research are in decision, risk, and multicriteria analysis. His work addresses behavioral and normative issues in preference assessment, value of information, nonexpected utility models of choice under risk, and risk measures. Prior to joining the George Washington University, Delquié held academic appointments at INSEAD, École Normale Supérieure, France, and the University of Texas at Austin, and visiting appointments at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Address: Department of Decision Sciences, The George Washington University, Funger Hall, Suite 415, Washington, DC 20052; e-mail: delquie@gwu.edu . Alex J. Gutman (" A Practical Procedure for Customizable One-Way Sensitivity Analysis in Additive Value Models ") is a research associate for the Air Force Institute of Technology's (AFIT) Center for Operational Analysis. He holds an M.S. and B.S. in mathematics from Wright State University and is currently a Ph.D. student at AFIT. His research interests include decision analysis, algorithm design, and design of experiments. He is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Military Operations Research Society (MORS), and the International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA). Address: Department of Operational Sciences, Air Force Institute of Technology, Dayton, OH 45433; e-mail: agutman@afit.edu . David J. Johnstone (" Tailored Scoring Rules for Probabilities ") is the National Australia Bank Professor of Finance at the University of Sydney. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney. His research is primarily in the statistical foundations of financial markets and financial decisions. His professional activities involve more conventional subjects in finance, particularly business valuation and capital budgeting. Address: Discipline of Finance H69, University of Sydney Business School, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia; e-mail: david.johnstone@sydney.edu.au . Victor Richmond R. Jose (" Tailored Scoring Rules for Probabilities ") is an assistant professor of Operations and Information Management in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. His main research interests lie in decision analysis and the use of Bayesian statistical methods in management science, operations research, and risk analysis. Address: Operations and Information Management Department, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057; e-mail: vrj2@georgetown.edu . Yucel R. Kahraman (" A Practical Procedure for Customizable One-Way Sensitivity Analysis in Additive Value Models ") is a recent graduate of the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he received his M.Sc. in operations research. He graduated from ISIKLAR Military High School in Bursa in 1985 and entered the Turkish Air Force Academy in Istanbul. He graduated in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering. He completed pilot training at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas, and has flown fighter aircraft for the Turkish Air Force for 10 years. Address: Department of Operational Sciences, Air Force Institute of Technology, 2950 Hobson Way, WPAFB, Ohio 45433-7765; e-mail: yucelrkahraman@gmail.com . L. Robin Keller (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is a professor of operations and decision technologies in the Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. She received her Ph.D. and M.B.A. in management science and her B.A. in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has served as a program director for the Decision, Risk, and Management Science Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Her research is on decision analysis and risk analysis for business and policy decisions and has been funded by NSF and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Her research interests cover multiple attribute decision making, riskiness, fairness, probability judgments, ambiguity of probabilities or outcomes, risk analysis (for terrorism, environmental, health, and safety risks), time preferences, problem structuring, cross-cultural decisions, and medical decision making. She is currently Editor-in-Chief of Decision Analysis, published by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). She is a Fellow of INFORMS and has held numerous roles in INFORMS, including board member and chair of the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society. She is a recipient of the George F. Kimball Medal from INFORMS. She has served as the decision analyst on three National Academy of Sciences committees. Address: Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3125; e-mail: lrkeller@uci.edu . Kenneth C. Lichtendahl Jr. (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is an assistant professor who teaches quantitative analysis courses in Darden's MBA program at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on eliciting, evaluating, and combining expert probability forecasts for use in dynamic decision situations. His current research projects include the performance of inference in Bayesian models of dynamic expert forecasts and the formulation optimal strategies in forecasting competitions. Lichtendahl joined the Darden faculty in 2006. Previously, he served as a visiting instructor in the economics department at Duke University. Currently, he also serves as a business consultant and director for the Tradewinds Beverage Company, which he cofounded in 1992. Address: Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, 100 Darden Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22903; e-mail: lichtendahlc@darden.virginia.edu . Jason R. W. Merrick (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is a professor in the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has a D.Sc. in operations research from George Washington University. He teaches courses in decision analysis, risk analysis, and simulation. His research is primarily in the area of decision analysis and Bayesian statistics. He has worked on projects ranging from assessing maritime oil transportation and ferry system safety, the environmental health of watersheds, and optimal replacement policies for rail tracks and machine tools. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the American Bureau of Shipping, British Petroleum, and Booz-Allen-Hamilton, among others. He has also performed training for Infineon Technologies, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and Capital One Services. He is an associate editor for Decision Analysis and Operations Research. He is the information officer for the Decision Analysis Society. Address: Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284; e-mail: jrmerric@vcu.edu . Ahti Salo (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") is a professor of systems analysis in the Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis at Aalto University. His research interests include topics in portfolio decision analysis, multicriteria decision making, risk management, efficiency analysis, and technology foresight. He is currently president of the Finnish Operations Research Society (FORS) and represents Europe and the Middle East in the INFORMS International Activities Committee. Recently, he has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the EURO Journal on Decision Processes, launched by the Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO). Professor Salo has been responsible for the methodological design and implementation of numerous high-impact decision and policy processes, including FinnSight 2015, the national foresight exercise of the Academy of Finland and the National Funding Agency for Technology and Innovations (Tekes). Address: Systems Analysis Laboratory, Aalto University, P.O. Box 11100, 00076 Aalto, Finland; e-mail: ahti.salo@aalto.fi . Chen Wang (" Target-Hardening Decisions Based on Uncertain Multiattribute Terrorist Utility ") is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She holds a master's degree in industrial engineering also from the same department. Chen works as a research assistant in the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis, under the supervision of Professor Vicki M. Bier. Her research interests include application of operations research and decision analysis in security problems and critical infrastructure protection. Address: 3239 Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1513 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; e-mail: cwang37@wisc.edu . Jeffery D. Weir (" A Practical Procedure for Customizable One-Way Sensitivity Analysis in Additive Value Models ") is an associate professor in the Department of Operational Sciences at the Air Force Institute of Technology. He has a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech. He teaches courses in decision analysis, risk analysis, and multiobjective optimization. His research interests are in the areas of decision analysis and transportation modeling. A former officer in the U.S. Air Force, he has worked on a wide variety of projects ranging from scheduling and routing aircraft, determining the value of future intelligence information, assessing the impact of FAA regulation changes to passenger and aircrew safety, and mode selection for multimodal multicommodity distribution networks. He has received grants from the Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Transportation Command, Air Force Material Command, the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, among others. Address: Department of Operational Sciences, Air Force Institute of Technology, Dayton, OH 45433; e-mail: jweir@afit.edu . Robert L. Winkler (" Tailored Scoring Rules for Probabilities ") is James B. Duke Professor in the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and also holds an appointment in the Department of Statistical Science at Duke. His primary research areas include decision analysis, Bayesian statistics, probability forecasting, competitive decision making, and risk analysis. Address: Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 100 Fuqua Drive, Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708-0120; e-mail: rwinkler@duke.edu . George Wu (" From the Editors: Probability Scoring Rules, Ambiguity, Multiattribute Terrorist Utility, and Sensitivity Analysis ") has been on the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business since September 1997. His degrees include A.B. (applied mathematics, 1985), S.M. (applied mathematics, 1987), and Ph.D. (decision sciences, 1991), all from Harvard University. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago, Professor Wu was on the faculty at Harvard Business School. Wu worked as a decision analyst at Procter & Gamble prior to starting graduate school. His research interests include descriptive and prescriptive aspects of decision making, in particular, decision making involving risk, cognitive biases in bargaining and negotiation, and managerial and organizational decision making. Professor Wu is a coordinating editor for Theory and Decision, an advisory editor for Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, and an associate editor of Decision Analysis. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making and is a former department editor of Management Science. Address: Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60636; e-mail: wu@chicagobooth.edu . Alexander Zimper (" Do Bayesians Learn Their Way Out of Ambiguity? ") is a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Pretoria and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Mannheim. He started out as a specialist on iterative solution concepts for strategic games, but his current research interests concern topics in economic theory in the broadest sense. He does not believe that there is one big truth out there but rather that classical as well as bounded-rationality approaches provide us with structures that may improve—within their respective limits—our understanding of reality. His most recent work is on plausible refinements of Roy Radner's rational expectations equilibrium, existence and uniqueness of an equilibrium price function in a Lucas fruit-tree economy with ambiguous beliefs, overreaction and underreaction in asset markets, and optimal liquidity provision under demand deposit schemes. His work in decision theory mainly concerns dynamically inconsistent behavior arising from ambiguity attitudes and, in particular, Bayesian learning modeled within nonadditive probability spaces. Address: Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa; e-mail: alexander.zimper@up.ac.za .
