Foreign Direct Investment as Technology Transferred: Some Panel Evidence from the Transition Economies

Although the theoretical literature has identified various sizeable benefits from foreign direct investment inflows (FDI), the empirical literature has been unable to establish a positive and significant impact of FDI on the rates of economic growth of host countries. One reason for this difficulty is that theory equates FDI to technology transferred, while in most countries and regions of the world FDI encompasses an array of arrangements that goes well beyond pure technology transfer. This paper tests for the effects of FDI on growth in a set of countries in which FDI is purer technology transferred: the 25 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union transition countries between 1990 and 1998. Our main finding is that, in this more appropriate setting, FDI has a positive and significant impact on economic growth as theory predicts.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39822/3/wp438.pd

Knowing Their Audience: The Dynamics of Multiple Strategic Collective Action Frames by W.O.A.R. (Women Organized Against Rape)

Using the sociological theory of collective action frames and scholarship on the anti-sexual violence movement, the analysis discusses multiple frames (rights frames, counter frames, and injustice frames) used by Women Organized Against Rape (W.O.A.R). It shows that in correspondence with public officials, W.O.A.R used rights frames to advocate for reform. Meanwhile, in responses to media outlets and in their own publication, WOARpath, W.O.A.R used counter frames to deconstruct rape culture. The final two sections of the paper place this analysis in conversation with prominent critiques of the anti-sexual violence movement: its lack of intersectionality and emphasis on victimization and vulnerability. W.O.A.R’s activist methods and rhetoric reveal a disregard for how race complicates the issue of sexual violence. However, W.O.A.R’s use of victimization and vulnerability rhetoric is limited to correspondence with public officials. In WOARpath , W.O.A.R subverted victim frames through war motifs and calls for self-defense

Sensitivity of the Exporting Economy on the External Shocks: Evidence from Slovene Firms

In this paper we investigate the export participation of Slovene firms. We first show that sunk costs are an important factor for explaining the export behavior of Slovene firms. Next we show that when the absorption power of the exporting market declines, firms still trade with their established buyers (hysteresis) despite the fact that due to lower prices their exporting revenues decline. We show that this can be explained with high exit costs, which consist of switching costs (costs of replacing stable buyers with new ones) and cost of reducing the production (compensation money for excess workers) and high re-entry costs.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40020/3/wp634.pd

What is the Relevant Parcel? Clarifying the Parcel as a Whole Standard in Murr v. Wisconsin

Murr v. Wisconsin seeks to determine whether commonly-owned, adjacent parcels of land are considered as 1 or 2 parcels for purposes of analyzing a regulatory takings claim. Nearly 40 years ago, the Court in Penn Central rejected a property owner\u27s takings claim which segmenting the entire parcel into discrete property rights because a compensatory taking must result from governmental action which interferes with the parcel as a whole. In Murr, property owners argue that a local zoning ordinance effected a taking of one of their two adjoining parcels because the ordinance prohibited the owners from developing their lot. I argue that the property owners deserve just compensation because of both material factual errors in the state court opinions and that Penn Central\u27s rejection of segmenting parcels does not require the aggregation of adjacent parcels

Discovery of two embedded clusters with WISE in the high Galactic latitude cloud HRK 81.4-77.8

Molecular clouds at very high latitude ($b>60^{\circ}$) away from the Galactic plane are rare and in general are expected to be non-star-forming. However, we report the discovery of two embedded clusters (Camargo 438 and Camargo 439) within the high-latitude molecular cloud HRK 81.4-77.8 using WISE. Camargo 439 with Galactic coordinates $\ell=81.11^{\circ}$ and $b=-77.84^{\circ}$ is an $\sim2$ Myr embedded cluster (EC) located at a distance from the Sun of $d_{\odot}=5.09\pm0.47$ kpc. Adopting the distance of the Sun to the Galactic centre $R_{\odot}=7.2$ kpc we derive for Camargo 439 a Galactocentric distance of $R_{GC}=8.70\pm0.26$ kpc and a vertical distance from the plane of $-4.97\pm0.46$ kpc. Camargo 438 at $\ell=79.66^{\circ}$ and $b=-78.86^{\circ}$ presents similar values. The derived parameters for these two ECs put HRK 81.4-77.8 in the halo at a distance from the Galactic centre of $\sim8.7$ kpc and $\sim5.0$ kpc from the disc. Star clusters provide the only direct means to determine the high latitude molecular cloud distances. The present study shows that the molecular cloud HRK 81.4-77.8 is currently forming stars, apparently an unprecedented event detected so far among high latitude clouds. We carried out a preliminary orbit analysis. It shows that this ECs are the most distant known embedded clusters from the plane and both cloud and clusters are probably falling ballistically from the halo onto the Galactic disc, or performing a flyby.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, and 2 tables in MNRAS, 201

Near-infrared spectroscopic indices for unresolved stellar populations: I. Template galaxy spectra

Context. A new generation of spectral synthesis models has been developed in recent years, but there is no matching set of template galaxy spectra, in terms of quality and resolution, for testing and refining the new models. Aims: Our main goal is to find and calibrate new near-infrared spectral indices along the Hubble sequence of galaxies which will be used to obtain additional constraints to the population analysis based on medium-resolution integrated spectra of galaxies. Methods: Spectra of previously studied and well-understood galaxies with relatively simple stellar populations (e.g., ellipticals or bulge dominated galaxies) are needed to provide a baseline data set for spectral synthesis models. Results: X-shooter spectra spanning the optical and infrared wavelengths (350-2400 nm) of bright nearby elliptical galaxies with a resolving power of R \u2dc 4000-5400 were obtained. Heliocentric systemic velocity, velocity dispersion, and Mg, Fe, and H\u3b2 line-strength indices are presented. Conclusions: We present a library of very-high-quality spectra of galaxies covering a large range of age, metallicity, and morphological type. Such a dataset of spectra will be crucial to addressing important questions of the modern investigation concerning galaxy formation and evolution

The Low Water Mark for Beach Access: Defending Government Protection of Intertidal Recreation as a Lawful Exercise of State Power

Beaches are a natural resource ideally suited for public recreation. The public generally has a right to access this intertidal land, but the purpose and scope of public access vary greatly between states. Consistent with national trends toward greater public access, the legislatures of Massachusetts and Maine have attempted to expand public beach access rights to include the right to engage in general recreation below the mean high tide line. However, the Supreme Judicial Courts of both states have declared that such legislation would be an unconstitutional taking of property requiring compensation to the abutting landowners and held that public rights of access are limited to the traditional purposes of fishing, fowling, and navigation. In doing so, the high courts of both states stymied a natural progression toward greater public intertidal rights based on a colonial city ordinance enacted in 1641. I argue that legislative determinations about the most socially valuable uses of intertidal land should be given significant weight, particularly in light of the inherent flexibility of public access rights and a national trend expanding beach access. Thus, in this Article, I argue that the state legislatures can broaden the public’s right to beach access without constituting a taking. In doing so, the Article provides a roadmap for how legislatures, including those in Massachusetts and Maine, can draft legislation broadening beach access rights that can withstand constitutional scrutiny

Overview of the coordinated ground-based observations of Titan during the Huygens mission

Coordinated ground-based observations of Titan were performed around or during the Huygens atmospheric probe mission at Titan on 14 January 2005, connecting the momentary in situ observations by the probe with the synoptic coverage provided by continuing ground-based programs. These observations consisted of three different categories: (1) radio telescope tracking of the Huygens signal at 2040 MHz, (2) observations of the atmosphere and surface of Titan, and (3) attempts to observe radiation emitted during the Huygens Probe entry into Titan's atmosphere. The Probe radio signal was successfully acquired by a network of terrestrial telescopes, recovering a vertical profile of wind speed in Titan's atmosphere from 140 km altitude down to the surface. Ground-based observations brought new information on atmosphere and surface properties of the largest Saturnian moon. No positive detection of phenomena associated with the Probe entry was reported. This paper reviews all these measurements and highlights the achieved results. The ground-based observations, both radio and optical, are of fundamental importance for the interpretation of results from the Huygens mission