196,055 research outputs found
Global trade, European integration and the restructuring of Slovak clothing exports
No full textThe Slovak clothing sector seems to have a number of relative competitive strengths and limitations within this broader context of EU?ECE trade liberalisation and growth of clothing exports. In terms of strengths, three issues are key. First, like other ECE countries, Slovakia is achieving increasing access to EU markets for its relatively high-value products. These are more competitive in the EU market in terms of value than those from lower cost neighbouring states, such as Ukraine. Second, part of the competitive strength of the clothing production system in Slovakia (as elsewhere) is derived from the distinct regional agglomerations of textiles and clothing producers in two main regions, Trenlin and Prestov (see Smith, 2003). Much recent attention in economic geography has been focused on regional agglomeration and the competitive underpinnings of regional economic success (Scott, 1988, 1998; Storper, 1995, 1997). Together, the two main regional agglomerations of clothing producers in Slovakia embody many of the features of such industrial districts found in Western Europe and North America, including dense forms of local co-operation between firms. Co-operation and contracting between firms has enabled export oriented firms to respond flexibly to the uncertain and unpredictable demands from EU buyers. In addition, there is some evidence of firm upgrading in which managers have been able to develop more independent market access of their own brand clothing thus reducing their reliance on western buyers. However, as Smith (2003) has argued elsewhere, such agglomerations are also characterised by unequal power relations between Slovak manufacturers and EU buyers, between core contracting firms in such regions and other local producers who play a more marginal role, and between firms and their workers given that wage levels remain low in the clothing sector.There are also a number of strategic limits to the continued growth of the Slovak clothing export system. First, it is clear that producers face continuous costs pressures. Pressure for wage increases in a very low pay sector is apparent. Many firms have suggested that worker retention has become an issue because of low wages. Firms have sought out ways of coping with such pressures through other mechanisms such as subsidised transportation (Smith, 2003). Elsewhere, in Bulgaria, Pickles (2002) has found that firms have also been forced to respond to the temporal flexibility required by workers also engaged in supplementing household income through seasonal agricultural employment and work. Cost pressures are also experienced in the emergence of new competitors in lower cost areas, such as Ukrainian firms, although, as we have seen, this is counterbalanced by the quality differences of clothing production between Slovakia and Ukraine. Nevertheless, if Ukrainian producers are able to upgrade quality to match (if not surpass) Slovak levels then competitive pressures will intensify. Furthermore, EU membership may increase costs for Slovak producers, through the costs of implementing otherwise desirable employment and environmental legislative requirements. The effect may be to stimulate a further off-shoring of production to newer producing regions, such as those in the former Soviet Union.Second, it is clear that reliance on outward processing strategies has failed to develop significant design capability in Slovakia. While there are cases of design intensity in production in some firms, it is clear that being locked into outward processing forms of production has not enabled the transfer of technology and knowledge to enable many Slovak firms to develop design capability. Rather, reliance on western designs, brands and trademarks remains predominant in the Slovak clothing sector. However, the development of design capability is seen as necessary in order to upgrade production and move out of low-cost production.Third, and finally, there is a general absence of specific regional policies to promote upgrading in the clothing sector and those policies that do exist are limited in scope. However, there is evidence from western Europe – notably from Italy – that a dense tissue of regional institutions involved in providing credit, technological support and employment training can be important in the sustenance and potential upgrading of clothing sectors. Whether, however, such policy foci would help to overcome the continual pressure for cost reduction and low wages in what, after all, is an increasingly globalised manufacturing sector remains an open question, and the experience of higher cost locations in the EU and USA suggest that cost imperatives may determine the fate of even relatively high quality production in central Europe
Student perceptions of the personal counseling service and the Department of Student Affairs at Texas A&M University
No full textDue to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Not availabl
Regional restructuring in a transition economy: the process of tertiarization in Slovakia
No full textSlovakia is influenced by the process, that is connected with global ones in economy. During the pre-transformation period, the socialist system did not develop the tertiary sphere. The transformation process brought after the year 1989 a remarkable change in economic structure. One of the crucial problems is high rate of unemployment namely in the regions that collapsed in many branches of production. Despite dynamic economic changes, the rate of unemployment did not raise so high, as the increasing development of tertiary sphere swallowed the striking flow of unemployment in the primary and secondary sectors. Looking at the needs and the trends of development of the tertiary sphere, we cannot forget its international dimension. The most remarkable internationalization will be seen in modern information activities, foreign trade, financial services, FDI etc. Analyses carried out, emphasizing the new type of reproduction process in the matter, have proved the fact, that the further development of the country should be more connected with our human investments. The concepts of "information age", "information society" and "knowledge based-economy" basically contain arguments to the effect that, in the advanced economies, knowledge and information are becoming the principal factors of production. There is a visible parallel with investments in education, development of science, etc. If we want to enforce a higher effectiveness of production, it is only possible through the development of a broad spectrum of tertiary activities. Our paper try to analyze this changes on the basis of available statistical data. Transition process is closely connected with restructuring process. From managing of this process depends if Slovakia will capture the global wave of changes from industrial to advanced services, but not only on country level but also in their regional dimension.
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
- …
