113,582 research outputs found
Public finance, trade, and development : the Chilean experience
No full textThis paper analyzes the role of public finance and trade policies in the adjustment experience of Chile over the past 15 years. The purpose is to first review the Chilean public sector and trade reforms, and then to examine their role in the economic development of Chile. The paper is divided into six sections. After the Introduction, Section II presents a brief summary of the conditions in 1973 on the eve of the shift in Chilean policy. Section III focuses on the main policy reforms introduced by the military government over the 1973-82 period. Section IV takes a detailed look at Chile's public finance and trade reforms. The effect of the reforms on aggregate incentives and on the macroeconomic adjustment is the subject of Section V. Lastly, Section VI presents the following main conclusions. First, liberalization and stabilization reforms succeeded until late 1978 in slowing down inflation. Second, the reduction of a large public sector deficit required strong action. Third, the elimination of a large public sector deficit is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the control of inflation. Finally, once the macroeconomic mistakes of the late 1970's and early 1980's were corrected, Chile recovered its growth and reduced inflation.Economic Stabilization,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance
Piecewise Nonlinear Materials and Monotonicity Principle
No full textThis paper deals with the Monotonicity Principle (MP) for nonlinear materials with piecewise growth exponent. The results obtained are relevant because they enable the use of a fast imaging method based on MP, applied to a wide class of problems with two or more materials, at least one of which is nonlinear. The treatment is very general and makes it possible to model a wide range of practical configurations such as superconducting (SC), perfect electrical conducting (PEC) or perfect electrical insulating (PEI) materials. A key role is played by the average Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator, introduced in Corbo Esposito et al (2021 Inverse Problems37 045012), where the MP for a single type of nonlinearity was treated. Realistic numerical examples confirm the theoretical findings
Paupertas. La legislazione tardoantica (IV-V sec. d. C.)
No full textIl volume analizza il problema della paupertas nella tarda antichità, con particolare riguardo alla legislazione imperiale dei secoli IV e V d. C.
Il lavoro si articola in tre fasi: due norme costantiniane in favore di genitori indigenti costituiscono il punto di inizio, insieme ad alcune linee di lettura relative ai precedenti in tema di assistenza nel mondo romano (cap. I). L’indagine si sviluppa poi intorno a vari provvedimenti dello stesso Costantino e dei suoi successori, ove si concedono privilegi alla Chiesa in cambio di un suo sempre maggiore impegno in campo sociale e tocca anche l’ambito, di notevole interesse, dell’assistenza sanitaria (cap. II). La ricerca si conclude mettendo in luce, ancora sulla base dei documenti giuridici, l’opera di sostegno agli indigenti spiegata ad ampio raggio dalla Chiesa, sia attraverso la multiforme attività dei vescovi, sia attraverso la fondazione di numerosi enti di beneficenza (cap. III)
Cell-replacement therapy with stem cells in neurodegenerative diseases
No full textIn the past few years, research on stem cells has expanded greatly as a tool to develop potential therapies to treat incurable neurodegenerative diseases. Stem cell transplantation has been effective in several animal models, but the underlying restorative mechanisms are still unknown. Several mechanisms such as cell fusion, neurotrophic factor release, endogenous stem cell proliferation, and transdifferentiation may explain positive therapeutic results, in addition to replacement of lost cells. The biological issue needs to be clarified in order to maximize the potential for effective therapies. The absence of any effective pharmacological treatment and preliminary data both in experimental and clinical settings has recently identified Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) as an ideal candidate disease for the development of stem cell therapy in humans. Preliminary stem transplantation trials have already been performed in patients. The review discusses relevant topics regarding the application of stem cell research to ALS but in general to other neurodegenerative diseases debating in particular the issue of transdifferentiation, endogenous neural stem cell, and factors influencing the stem cell fate
Business model adaptation in response to an exogenous shock: an empirical analysis of the Portuguese footwear industry
No full textBusiness models have received increasing attention in both academic and managerial communities. However, little attention has been paid to how business models change in response to extreme events. This topic is of critical importance since failure to achieve adaptation in a timely manner can lead to negative consequences such as a significant decrease in firm value or bankruptcy. This study explores how the business model paradigm of the Portuguese footwear industry changed following China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001. The empirical results suggest that the shock acted as a trigger for change for the Portuguese footwear firms which reflected in the adoption of a new business model characterized by speed and flexibility in the manufacturing process, faster response to customer needs and, in specific cases, in downward integration through the creation of own brands selling directly to final consumers. This result, however, was not the outcome of a sudden change but rather the consequence of a planned adaptation strategy led by a key industry actor that acted as a network orchestrator coordinating the actions of the Portuguese footwear firms. The implications of these findings as well as directions for future research are discussed in the last part of this study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
After socialism and dirigisme : which way?
No full textThe author identifies fundamental economic changes in the last 20 years that have influenced the emergence of a new paradigm on economic reform. The new orthodoxy on economic reform emphasizes smaller government, trade liberalization, business deregulation and privatization, macroeconomic austerity, and the role of free markets for resource allocation and growth. After describing diverse country experiences in economic reform, the author summarizes his findings on key aspects of the design of economic reform programs. Shock treatment (as opposed to the gradual approach) requires a strong government with broad social support, as the costs of the policies are paid upfront and the benefits may take time to accrue. If the program involves protracted social hardship, political support will begin to evaporate and pressure will build for a reversal of reform. Important choices must be made about the sequence of macroeconomic adjustment and consolidation and structural reform. Implementing tax reform and converting quotas to tariffs improve the fiscal budget, so they contribute to macroeconomic stabilization. But premature financial liberalization, before the budget is balanced and real interest rates are at a reasonable level, may lead to financial crisis, as happened in Chile in 1982-83. Massive privatization of large-scale firms can have both stabilizing and destabilizing macroeconomic effects, for example. If it means getting rid of loss-making public enterprises, it could save scarce government resources. But if the resulting output and unemployment costs are socially unsustainable, pressure may mount for the government to come to the enterprises'rescue. The shift from an economy with controlled prices to one in which most prices are market-determined generally involves a big hike in price levels. Chile and Mexico illustrate the stubbornness of the inflation that may follow. China, Korea, and Chile represent countries that carried out economic reform under authoritarian governments that postponed political reform to gain political legitimacy from the fruits of consolidated economic reform. In countries where economic and political reform are pursued simultaneously (as in Eastern Europe and Russia), fragile democracies with a fragmented party system and weak social institutions and governments do not provide the most favorable political environment for implementing and consolidating complex and painful economic reforms. Under these conditions, governments are bound to face the dilemma of either postponing economic reform to avert a political crisis or to backslide in democratization to apply painful economic policies - both unsavory choices.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Inequality,Achieving Shared Growth
An Integral representation result for the Gamma-limit of functionals with non standard growth conditions in the case of elasticity
No full textAn integral representation result on regular functions is proved for the o -limit of a sequence of integral functionals defined in the vectorial case and modelled on elasticity theory functional Z z f (( x , e ( u )) dx where convex lagrangians satisfy a non-standard estimate When the limit integrand does not show Lavrent'ev phenomenon the representation result is also true on the whole space W 1, f ( z ; R n )
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