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Selective industrial policies in China: investigating the choice of pillar industries
No full textPurpose: China’s experience of industrial growth is noteworthy for several reasons, not least because it has made a massive use of selective industrial policies. The industrial development guidelines set by the Five-Year Plans are extensively based on the choice of “strategic” or “pillar” industries to be promoted and supported. What remains unclear is the way in which such industries are identified among many. The purpose of this paper is to propose a debate on how to improve the government choice of strategic sectors and suggests a methodology to make this choice more transparent and rigorous. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology allows ranking the different industries according to their strategic importance in the Chinese economy. The authors employ an uncertainty analysis methodology to verify the robustness of the ranking. Findings: The results point to a list of strategic sectors for China. Comparing the ranking of the strategic sectors to the list of strategic priorities described in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, we find that, by and large, the ranking coincides with the list of strategic sectors of the Chinese government. Social implications: The authors argue that improving the transparency and the rigor of the choice of pillar industries can be crucial for the Chinese government to maintain social legitimization in the transition to a “market” economy. Originality/value: Very little is known about the choice of strategic sectors in China in the international literature. By addressing the debate on the choice of pillar industries in China, the paper discusses a topic scarcely studied offering a unique and original contribute
Benzo-Fused 1,4-Heterocycles via Dialkyl Carbonate Chemistry
No full textA novel halogen-free synthesis of benzo-fused six-membered 1,4-heterocycles through the chemistry of dialkyl carbonates is reported. Commercially available catechol, 2-aminophenol, and 2-aminothiophenol were reacted first with ethylene carbonate in an autoclave to give O -hydroxyethyl, N -hydroxyethyl, and S -hydroxyethyl derivatives respectively, through a B Al 2 mechanism. Then 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)phenol and 2-(2-hydroxyethylamino)phenol were cyclized in excellent yields by reaction with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and DABCO as a bicyclic organic base to give the corresponding benzodioxine and benzoxazine derivative, respectively. Moreover, 2-(2-aminophenylthio)ethanol afforded the benzothiazine derivative in good yield by reaction with DMC with an excess of a strong base such as NaH. The investigation on the cyclization reaction has highlighted that several equilibria are involved leading to the formation of carbonate and carbamate intermediates through B Ac 2 mechanisms. Depending on the reaction conditions employed, these intermediates may undergo either kinetic-controlled ring closure by a B Al 2 mechanism or by-product formation
«We are come to this great stage of fools»: «Lear», ossia Shakespeare nel Novecento
No full textIl saggio affronta un'opera del secondo Novecento che quasi entrata nel repertorio, e che i grandi teatri danno abitualmente. Si tratta del'adattamento per le scene liriche di una fra i drammi più sconvolgenti del Bardo, King Lear, soggetto già vagheggiato da Verdi. Lear del compositore tedesco Aribert Reimann,, andò in scena a Monaco di Baviera nel 1978, con Fischer-Dieskau nel ruolo del protagonista. La partitura è complessa, lo stile eclettico, ma la resa a teatro è davvero ragguardevole. Il saggio si chiude con una guida alla difficilissima partitura d'orchestra.The essay deals with a work of the late twentieth century that almost entered the repertoire, and which the great theaters usually give. This is the adaptation for the lyrical scenes of one of the most disturbing dramas of the Bardo, King Lear, a subject already envisaged by Verdi. Lear by the German composer Aribert Reimann ,, went on stage in Munich in 1978, with Fischer-Dieskau in the title role. The score is complex, the style is eclectic, but the performance at the theater is really remarkable. The essay ends with a guide to the extremely difficult orchestral score
Global thresholds in properties emerging from cumulative curves of marine ecosystems
No full textThere are several emergent properties useful as indicators of marine ecosystem status. Some of these are based
on the cumulative trophic theory, which posits that biomass and production accumulate in repeatable and
predictable patterns across trophic levels. These patterns result in a suite of curve parameters that can delineate
when a marine ecosystem is undergoing perturbation or recovery. When looking at this suite of curve parameters,
and their trajectories over time, a clear sense of perturbation, recovery, or transition can be delineated.
From a set of over 3700 observations we established empirical threshold levels for the curve parameters, i.e.,
Trophic Level inflection point, Biomass inflection point and Steepness at 3.38 ± 0.05, 0.33 ± 0.01 and
0.50 ± 0.56, respectively. When the three parameters are examined collectively to determine whether a particular
ecosystem datum was below or above each of these three thresholds, clear three-dimensional patterns
emerged. First, some volumes in this 3-D space of parameters simply did not have data, and many volumes had
very little. The majority of data (approximately 40%) occurred in situations with Steepness and Biomass inflection
point higher than thresholds. Almost none of the ecosystems (< 1%) was below all three thresholds at
any point in time, a quarter of the data resulted in critical conditions for at least a couple of indicators, a little
less than half of the ecosystems (52%) at any point in time seem to be quite functional from this emergent
property perspective, and finally, a moderate number of ecosystems, at any point in time (22%), seem to be in
some type of transition state. We assert that these emergent properties have value for delineating ecosystem
state, and at the very least when the Biomass inflection point is<33% an ecosystem is understood to have been
severely degraded. Using these three thresholds, and identifying whether data trajectories are crossing them or
not, has strong potential to better indicate the status of marine ecosystems, trajectories thereof, and hence when
management interventions are needed
Ma che genere di isola è? L'insularità come archetipo femminile dall'età classica al Cinquecento
No full textL’associazione tra isole e figure femminili è un motivo culturale ricorrente. Il contributo si interroga sulle origini di questa associazione e sulle ragioni storiche, simboliche e geo-culturali che ne sono alla base, utilizzando miti, fonti letterarie e descrizioni geografiche. Vengono prese in considerazione, in particolare, l’età classica e quella medievale, fino agli esordi dell’età moderna
Macroeconomic implications of mortgage loan requirements: an agent-based approach
No full textIt is a well-known fact that the housing market, with its associated mortgage securities, plays a crucial role in modern economies. The recent crisis of 2007, triggered by the U.S. real estate bubble, confirms this key role and suggests the importance of regulating mortgage lending. This paper investigates these issues by designing a housing market with a linked mortgage lending instrument in the Eurace agent-based model. Our results show that the presence of a housing market in the model has relevant macroeconomic implications, driven mainly by the additional amount of endogenous money injected into the economy by new mortgages. This additional money generally helps to support and stabilize aggregated demand, thus improving the main economic indicators. However, if the regulation of mortgage lending is too lax, involving an increase in the debt-service-to-income ratio (DSTI), then the additional supply of mortgages no longer enhances macroeconomic performance, and the stability of the economic system is undermined. Based on a number of recent discussions, a regulation of stock control that targets households’ net wealth (a stock), rather than income (a flow) is designed and analyzed. The results show that regulation of stock control can be combined effectively with DSTI to increase the stability of the housing market and the economy as a whole. Interestingly, the regulation based on stock control also directly affects mortgage distribution among households, avoiding excessive concentration. From a policy perspective, our results suggest that the use of a mild flow control regulation, coupled with a stricter stock control measure, fosters sustainable growth and eases first-time buyers access to the housing market, encouraging homeownership
Climb on the Bandwagon: Consensus and Periodicity in a Lifetime Utility Model with Strategic Interactions
No full textWhat is the emergent long-run equilibrium of a society, where many interacting agents beton the optimal energy to put in place in order toclimb on the Bandwagon? In this paper,we study the collective behavior of a large population of agents being either Left or Right:The core idea is that agents benefit from being with the winner party, but, on the otherhand, they suffer a cost in changing their status quo. At the microscopic level, the modelis formulated as a stochastic, symmetric dynamic game withNplayers. In the macroscopiclimit as N goes to infinity, the model can be rephrased as amean field game, whose equilibriadescribe the “rational” collective behavior of the society. It is of particular interest to detectthe emerging long time attractors, e.g., consensus or oscillating behavior. Significantly, wediscover thatbandwagoningcan be persistent at the macrolevel: We provide evidence, alsoon the basis of numerical simulations, of endogenously generated periodicity
Tailor-made 3D-nanoelectrode ensembles modified with molecularly imprinted poly(o-phenylenediamine) for the sensitive detection of L-arabitol
No full textA highly selective and sensitive sensor for L-arabitol is developed combining the advantages of three-dimensional
nanostructrured electrodes, namely, 3D-ensembles of gold nanowires (3DNEE), with the recognition
capability of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). The MIP/3DNEE is prepared by controlled etching of
polycarbonate templated nanoelectrode ensembles, followed by electropolymerization of o-phenylenediamine
on the gold nanowires in the presence of L-arabitol as molecular imprinting template. For activating the sensor,
L-arabitol is removed from the MIP with an ethanol/water mixture. The sensor is characterized by scanning
electron microscopy and dispersive energy X-ray spectroscopy while its electrochemical properties are examined
by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Analytically usefull signals are obtained using the ferrocenylmethytrimethylammonium cation as an electroactive
probe which can access the MIP cavities, furnishing voltammetric signals which scale inversely with the Larabitol
concentration. The sensor is characterized by a low detection limit (7.5×10−10 mol L-1), satisfactory
quantification range, selectivity, reproducibility and repeatability. The applicability of the MIP/3DNEE in real
samples is demonstrated by successfully quantifying L-arabitol concentration in sugarcane vinasse
