Economic integration across borders : the Polish interwar economy 1921-1937

In this paper we study the issue of economic integration across borders for the case of Poland's reunification after the First World War. Using a pooled regression approach and a threshold cointegration framework we find that the Polish interwar economy can be regarded as integrated with some restrictions. Moreover, a significant negative impact of the former partition borders on the level of integration that can be found for the early 1920s vanishes in the middle of the 1920s. This suggests that the integration policy after the reunification of Poland in 1919 was surprisingly successful. --Economic integration,Border effects,Law of one price,Poland,Threshold cointegration

Voting suffrage and the political budget cycle: Evidence from the London Metropolitan Boroughs 1902-1937.

We study the opportunistic political budget cycle in the London Metropolitan Boroughs between 1902 and 1937 under two different suffrage regimes: taxpayer suffrage (1902-1914) and universal suffrage (1921-1937). We argue and find supporting evidence that the political budget cycle operates differently under the two types of suffrage. Taxpayer suffrage, where the right to vote and the obligation to pay local taxes are linked, encourages demands for retrenchment and the political budget cycle manifests itself in election year tax cuts and savings on administration costs. Universal suffrage, where all adult residents can vote irrespective of their taxpayer status, creates demands for productive public services and the political budget cycle manifests itself in election year hikes in capital spending and a reduction in current spending.For financial support we thank the Centre for Quantitative Economic History (CQEH) at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust (grants 044175 and 093961).This is the final published version. It's also available from Elsevier ScienceDirect at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272714000048#

On the effect of Ti on Oxidation Behaviour of a Polycrystalline Nickel-based Superalloy

Titanium is commonly added to nickel superalloys but has a well-documented detrimental effect on oxidation resistance. The present work constitutes the first atomistic-scale quantitative measurements of grain boundary and bulk compositions in the oxide scale of a current generation polycrystalline nickel superalloy performed through atom probe tomography. Titanium was found to be particularly detrimental to oxide scale growth through grain boundary diffusion

Studio portrait of Stefan Bobchev

Head and shoulder shot of a man in a suit.Stefan Savov Bobchev (1853 - 1940) was a jurist, publicist, scholar, politician and Deputy, Minister of Justice (1884 - 1885) in Eastern Rumelia and Minister of Education (1911 - 1912) in the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Minister plenipotentiary in St. Petersburg (1912 - 1913). Bobchev was member of the Bulgarian Literary Society and one of the founders of the University of Sofia (1888); 1921 - 1937 he was Chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

The post-socialist urban transformation of tirana in historical perspective: Mapping the ideological dimension of urban growth

In contrast to planned cities, where subsequent growth tends to occur mainly at the urban periphery, in contemporary Tirana this trend has been accompanied by the striking densification of existing neighbourhoods through the appropriation of previous public spaces. This transformation of Tirana's built environment has occurred within a very short space of time during which the radically top-down urban planning ideology associated with the communist regime was succeeded in 1991 by an equally radical 'bottom up' model, characterized by mass urban migration and unregulated capitalism. This paper applies space syntax to the question of post-socialist urban transformation. It seeks to understand the extent to which the ideological dimension of morphogenetic processes in Tirana gave rise to distinctive patterns of growth. Space Syntax has a rich tradition in historical studies of urban growth processes. Griffiths (2012) has identified four approaches to 'spatial history' (Griffiths, 2012).This paper's approach is consistent with the second category, that of 'syntactic growth processes'. The research made use of historical cartography and a contemporary aerial map of Tirana to produce a time-series of syntactic models which endeavours to explore the city's growth processes from a configurational perspective. Four distinct historical stages are identified to represent the evolution of Tirana's urban form through contrasting ideological regimes: 1921, 1937, 1989 and 2016. The GIS-based 'cartographic redrawing' method pioneered by Pinho and Oliveria (Pinho & Oliveira, 2009a, 2009b) has been adopted to systematically study Tirana's morphogenesis, working backwards from the contemporary model to remove non-existent elements and readjusting to the changed shape of the urban fabric as needed. In presenting this research, the emphasis will be on the latter period as the prime focus is on the specific character of the postsocialist urban transformations of the city.On the basis of this analysis the research finds that, consistent with the arguments of Tosic (2005) Tirana's expansion is consistent neither with the typical pattern of urban growth on a western model, nor even that of a 'one size fits all' postsocialist transformation (Tosics, 2005). On the contrary, its distinctive features must-in the first instance-be interpreted in the context of Albania's twentieth-century history

Theories of Mental Degeneration in Ireland

This paper will explore theories of mental degeneration in Ireland, and the practical influence of these theories on medical discussion and social policy. The term ‘degeneration’ will be used in this article to define the perceived process of decline, whil e ‘degeneracy’ defines the more general theory of societal, mental, moral, and physical decline. This article will address these ideas, but will not address general eugenic theories, or the relationship between eugenics and the church and state in this era , as these are outside the parameters of this research. The work of British theorists, such as A. F. Tredgold, will be used as a benchmark to define what is meant by the contemporary terms degeneration and amentia . Tredgold notes that ‘amentia’ can be cons idered a lack of mental development, but encompasses numerous levels of mental degeneration ; therefore, amentia was used as an overarching term for idiocy, feeble mindedness, and imbecility (Tredgold, 1920). This paper will also examine contemporary Irish journals to illustrate how these theories were implemented and how medical professionals and politicians perceived mental degeneration to have an effect on the Irish population. Finally, this paper will address the term degeneracy and what this problematic term implied for legislation in the Irish Free State (1921 – 1937)

Theories of Mental Degeneration in Ireland

This paper will explore theories of mental degeneration in Ireland, and the practical influence of these theories on medical discussion and social policy. The term ‘degeneration’ will be used in this article to define the perceived process of decline, whil e ‘degeneracy’ defines the more general theory of societal, mental, moral, and physical decline. This article will address these ideas, but will not address general eugenic theories, or the relationship between eugenics and the church and state in this era , as these are outside the parameters of this research. The work of British theorists, such as A. F. Tredgold, will be used as a benchmark to define what is meant by the contemporary terms degeneration and amentia . Tredgold notes that ‘amentia’ can be cons idered a lack of mental development, but encompasses numerous levels of mental degeneration ; therefore, amentia was used as an overarching term for idiocy, feeble mindedness, and imbecility (Tredgold, 1920). This paper will also examine contemporary Irish journals to illustrate how these theories were implemented and how medical professionals and politicians perceived mental degeneration to have an effect on the Irish population. Finally, this paper will address the term degeneracy and what this problematic term implied for legislation in the Irish Free State (1921 – 1937)