331 research outputs found
Foreign direct investment as an engine for economic growth and human development: a review of the arguments and empirical evidence
No full textUntil the 1970s many developing countries – in Latin America and South-East Asia as well as Africa – were rather reluctant to accept foreign investment and pursued a policy of import substitution. But during the past three decades – mainly as a result of the structural adjustment programmes that started in the late 1970s – most developing countries have opened up their economies.1 Countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union also opened up during the process of transition from state-controlled to market economies during the 1980s and 1990s. As part of the liberalization policies, and stimulated by international donors such as the World Bank and the IMF, lowincome countries are increasingly adopting policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).2 Such policies are based on the belief that FDI could contribute signifi cantly to the growth and development of these nations. This chapter critically assesses the contribution FDI has made – so far – to economic growth and human development in low-income countries. We will review This chapter was originally published as L. Colen, M. Maertens and J. Swinnen, 2009, ‘Foreign direct investment as an engine for economic growth and human development: A review of the arguments and empirical evidence’, Human Rights and International Legal Discourse 3(2) 177-227. The authors would like to thank Matthias Sant’Ana and Lode Berlage for valuable comments
Foreign direct investment as an engine for economic growth and human development: a review of the arguments and empirical evidence
No full textUntil the 1970s many developing countries – in Latin America and South-East Asia as well as Africa – were rather reluctant to accept foreign investment and pursued a policy of import substitution. But during the past three decades – mainly as a result of the structural adjustment programmes that started in the late 1970s – most developing countries have opened up their economies.1 Countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union also opened up during the process of transition from state-controlled to market economies during the 1980s and 1990s. As part of the liberalization policies, and stimulated by international donors such as the World Bank and the IMF, lowincome countries are increasingly adopting policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).2 Such policies are based on the belief that FDI could contribute signifi cantly to the growth and development of these nations. This chapter critically assesses the contribution FDI has made – so far – to economic growth and human development in low-income countries. We will review This chapter was originally published as L. Colen, M. Maertens and J. Swinnen, 2009, ‘Foreign direct investment as an engine for economic growth and human development: A review of the arguments and empirical evidence’, Human Rights and International Legal Discourse 3(2) 177-227. The authors would like to thank Matthias Sant’Ana and Lode Berlage for valuable comments
Appendix – Supplemental material for Pediatric Hand and Upper Extremity Injuries Presenting to Emergency Departments in the United States: Epidemiology and Health Care–Associated Costs
No full textSupplemental material, Appendix for Pediatric Hand and Upper Extremity Injuries Presenting to Emergency Departments in the United States: Epidemiology and Health Care–Associated Costs by Alfred Lee, David L. Colen, Justin P. Fox, Benjamin Chang and Ines C. Lin in HAND</p
The TEnSE approach to quantitatively compare thermal insulation materials among stakeholders
No full textEurope has about 75% of energy inefficient buildings and 8% of population with
difficulties affording energy bills for keeping adequate levels of thermal comfort in
residential existing buildings. The thermal insulation of existing buildings would allow
to meet the requirements to solve both issues and to align with the Near Zero
Emission Scenario. As the choice of the most suitable thermal insulation material
should consider an ensemble of requirements, this research proposes an approach to
describe thermal insulation materials performance accordingly to four objective
macro-areas, framed in Technical (T), Environmental (En), Social (S) and Economic
(E) topics, namely called TEnSE approach. Thermal insulation materials commonly
used in Italy, Norway, and Portugal were compared within an ensemble of ad-hoc
selected TEnSE parameters to understand which macro-area would mostly affect their
choice among several stakeholders (e.g., Technician, Environmentalist, Safety expert,
Economist). The stakeholder’ score (StS) was defined as the product of the
normalised parameter in TEnSE framework extracted from the Environmental Product
Declaration (EPD) and the importance given to it by each unspecified stakeholder.
None of the selected materials reaches the highest score, so their implementation
might be predominantly driven by the availability of raw material and its workability on
site. Although other parameters could be considered in the TEnSE ensemble for
further analysis, this approach has shown high potentiality in the performance
assessment of thermal insulation materials and can be extended to other fields of
application
Of good use or serious pleasure : Vitruvius Britannicus and early eighteenth century architectural discourse
No full textThe central thesis of this work is that Colen Campbell's
three volume Vitruvius Britannicus (1715-25) is not, as it has been frequently seen, a Palladian manifesto designed to change architectural practice in England (and in the process Campbell's own fortunes as an architect), but rather a publication celebrating architectural achievements, consumed by polite society.
The twentieth century view of Vitruvius Britannicus, stems from John Surnmerson's seminal work, Architecture in Britain 1530-1830. It posits Vitruvius Britannicus as a stylistic manifesto that served the particular interests of Colen Campbell and his associates as advocates of and builders in the Palladian style, and foregrounds the idea of the author. This view has been incorporated almost unquestioningly into subsequent interpretations not least
because it conforms to a powerful 'Whig' interpretation of history emphasising periodisation, style, revolution, development, and the search for origins. In contrast I argue that Vitruvius Britannicus met the demands of a market interested in architecture as a topic of polite
conversation. The subscription lists for Vitruvius Britannicus show that it was neither priced to be, nor received as, a builder's manual, nor was it a stylistic manifesto. Rather, it was a celebration of contemporary British architecture that gave pleasure and some instruction to polite society. Drawing on disciplines outside of art and architectural history, I consider
Vitruvius Britannicus as an object of consumption offering an alternative reading of the publication that highlights a number of important avenues for further research.
Chapter 1 positions the thesis within critiques of stylistic history. Chapter 2 briefly introduces
some historiographic issues, and then considers the contents and style of the publication, and
the nature of its subscribers. This highlights issues neglected in histories of Vilruvius Britannicus and challenges many of the commonly held conceptions of the publication. These conceptions are then examined in Chapter 3 in the light of evidence and issues raised in the
previous chapter. Chapter 4 considers other architectural and illustrated books and positions Campbell's work within wider publishing paradigms such as cartography and a literature of tourism. Chapter 5 outlines some of the intellectual ideas that influenced the way in which
publications such as Vitruvius Britannicus were understood. This is developed in Chapter 6 which considers the way in which Vitruvius Britannicus functioned within a contemporary
architectural discourse that codified the group identity of a polite elite
Nutrient levels modify saltmarsh responses to increased inundation in different soil types
No full textSaltmarshes have been depleted historically, and cumulative stressors threaten their future persistence. We examined experimentally how nutrient availability (high vs. low) affects the responses of Spartina maritima to increased inundation in two mineral soil types (low vs. medium organic). Increased inundation, one of the effects of accelerated sea level rise, had negative effects on most plant growth parameters, but the magnitude varied with soil and nutrient levels, and between plants from different locations. Average differences between inundation treatments were largest at high nutrient conditions in low organic matter soils. We conclude that saltmarsh vegetation would be more drastically affected by increased inundation in low than in medium organic matter soils, and especially in estuaries already under high nutrient availability. This knowledge enhances the prediction of changes at the foreshore of saltmarshes related to sea level rise, and the development of site-specific conservation strategies
Private Standards and Employment Insecurity: GlobalGAP in the Senegalese Horticulture Export Sector
No full textCrop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital,
Many are called, few are chosen: The role of science in drug development decisions
No full textPharmaceutical firms are extremely selective in deciding which patented drug candidates are taken up into clinical development, given the high costs and risks involved. We argue that the scientific base of drug candidates, and who was responsible for that scientific research, are key antecedents of take-up into clinical trials and whether the patent owner ('internal take-up') or another firm ('external take-up') leads the clinical development effort. We hypothesize that patented drug candidates that refer to scientific research are more likely to be taken up in development, and that in-house conducted scientific research is predominantly associated with internal take-up due to the ease of knowledge transfer within the firm. Examining 18,360 drug candidates patented by 136 pharmaceutical firms we find support for these hypotheses. In addition, drug candidates referring to in-house scientific research exhibit a higher probability of eventual drug development success. Our findings underline the importance of a 'rational drug design' approach that explicitly builds on scientific research. The benefits of internal scientific research in clinical development highlight the potential downside of pervasive organizational specialization in the life sciences in either scientific research or clinical development.sponsorship: AcknowledgementsThe authors received financial support from the Research Foundation Flanders grant No. G07301N and 11ZZM17N. (Research Foundation Flanders|G07301N, Research Foundation Flanders|11ZZM17N)status: Published onlin
Interactive effects of vegetation and sediment properties on erosion of salt marshes in the Northern Adriatic Sea
No full textWe investigated how lateral erosion control, measured by novel photogrammetry techniques, is modified by the presence of Spartina spp. vegetation, sediment grain size, and the nutrient status of salt marshes across 230 km of the Italian Northern Adriatic coastline. Spartina spp. vegetation reduced erosion across our study sites. The effect was more pronounced in sandy soils, where erosion was reduced by 80% compared to 17% in silty soils. Erosion resistance was also enhanced by Spartina spp. root biomass. In the absence of vegetation, erosion resistance was enhanced by silt content, with mean erosion 72% lower in silty vs. sandy soils. We found no relevant relationships with nutrient status, likely due to overall high nutrient concentrations and low C:N ratios across all sites. Our results contribute to quantifying coastal protection ecosystem services provided by salt marshes in both sandy and silty sediments
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