A legacy handbook for business support

Legacy Handbook reviewing emda's experience of business support activity. Identifies key achievements and draws out lessons learned that may be relevant to successor bodies active in this area

Strategies for stimulating poverty-alleviating growth in the rural nonfarm economy in developing countries:

"The rural nonfarm economy (RNFE) accounts for roughly 25 percent of full-time rural employment and 35-40 percent of rural incomes across the developing world. This diverse collection of seasonal trading, household-based and large-scale agroprocessing, manufacturing and service activities plays a crucial role in sustaining rural populations, in servicing a growing and modern agriculture, and in supplying local consumer goods and services. In areas where landlessness prevails, rural nonfarm activity offers important economic alternatives for the rural poor....Three key groups currently intervene in the rural nonfarm economy: large private enterprises, non-profit promotional agencies and governments. Large modern corporations take investment, procurement and marketing decisions that powerfully shape opportunities in the rural nonfarm economy throughout much of the Third World...." The authors put forth three basic principles for policy makers who want to ensure equitable growth of the RNFE : (1) Identify key engines of regional growth; (2) Focus on subsector-specific supply chains; and (3) Build flexible institutional coalitions. They conclude that "a prosperous rural nonfarm economy can contribute to both aggregate economic growth and improved welfare of the rural poor." from Executive Summary.Poverty alleviation Developing countries., Rural population., Employment, Non-agricultural Rural areas., Manufacturing industries., Service industries.,

A legacy handbook for manufacturing

Legacy Handbook reviewing emda's experience of manufacturing activity. Identifies key achievements and draws out lessons learned that may be relevant to successor bodies active in this area

Creating Social and Health Equity: Adopting an Alberta Social Determinants of Health Framework

This discussion paper highlights the well-documented social factors that influence our health. In a time when the Alberta government is looking for the best innovative ideas around health care, we suggest that a social determinants approach would lead to ground breaking health care reform

E-government process in the public sector and the barriers against its implementation: A case study in Greece

Copyright @ 2013 EMCIS.The study aims to gain insight into the of e-government as it has started taking place within the public sector and access the barriers that are related to its organizational structure and consequently prevent the fully incorporation and implementation of such technological efforts. In order to obtain vital and accurate information, the study adopted quantitative research methodology by using the tool of self-completion questionnaires. More precisely, this study is based on a single case study, the public administration in Greece. Moreover, the sources of data collection were relied upon primary data. Furthermore, this study revealed the organizational barriers against e-government by focusing on the major impediments as the participants captured them. Non-availability of high IT-staff, age of employees and the structure of the political regime as well as the way that the central government operates affect the structure of the public sector and are considered the most important barriers that guide to difficulties as far as e-government adoption is concerned. Indeed, Greek Public sector is facing many organizational problems and should eliminate the majority of them by undertaking radical changes and effective measures

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

Reforming the investment climate : lessons for practitioners

Most people agree that a good investment climate is essential for growth and poverty reduction. Less clear is how to achieve it. Many reforms are complex, involving more than technical design and content. They are both political, facing opposition from organized and powerful groups-and institutionally demanding, cutting across different departments and levels of government. Reform thus requires paying as much attention to understanding the politics and institutional dimensions as to policy substance, which is the goal of this paper. Drawing from more than 25 case studies, it shows that there is no single recipe or"manual"for reform, given diverse contexts and serendipity in any reform effort. But three broad lessons emerge. The first is to recognize and seize opportunities for reform. Crisis and new governments are important catalysts, but so is the competition generated by trade integration and new benchmarking information. The second is to invest early in the politics of reform. Central to this process is using education and persuasion strategies to gain wider acceptance and neutralize opponents. Pilot programs can be valuable for demonstrating the benefits and feasibility of change. And the third is to pay greater attention to implementation and monitoring. This does not require full scale public management reforms. Reformers can draw on private sector change management techniques to revitalize public institutions responsible for implementation. Given the cross-cutting nature of reform, new oversight mechanisms may be needed to monitor and sustain reform. The paper concludes with an emerging checklist for reformers and identifies areas for future work.Enterprise Development&Reform,Children and Youth,Economic Theory&Research,Population Policies,Markets and Market Access

The Global Risks Report 2016, 11th Edition

Now in its 11th edition, The Global Risks Report 2016 draws attention to ways that global risks could evolve and interact in the next decade. The year 2016 marks a forceful departure from past findings, as the risks about which the Report has been warning over the past decade are starting to manifest themselves in new, sometimes unexpected ways and harm people, institutions and economies. Warming climate is likely to raise this year's temperature to 1° Celsius above the pre-industrial era, 60 million people, equivalent to the world's 24th largest country and largest number in recent history, are forcibly displaced, and crimes in cyberspace cost the global economy an estimated US$445 billion, higher than many economies' national incomes. In this context, the Reportcalls for action to build resilience – the "resilience imperative" – and identifies practical examples of how it could be done.The Report also steps back and explores how emerging global risks and major trends, such as climate change, the rise of cyber dependence and income and wealth disparity are impacting already-strained societies by highlighting three clusters of risks as Risks in Focus. As resilience building is helped by the ability to analyse global risks from the perspective of specific stakeholders, the Report also analyses the significance of global risks to the business community at a regional and country-level

Moving from a Product-Based Economy to a Service-Based Economy for a More Sustainable Future

Traditionally, economic growth and prosperity have been linked with the availability, production and distribution of tangible goods as well as the ability of consumers to acquire such goods. Early evidence regarding this connection dates back to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), in which any activity not resulting in the production of a tangible good is characterized as unproductive of any value." Since then, this coupling of economic value and material production has been prevalent in both developed and developing economies throughout the world. One unintended consequence of this coupling has been the exponential increase in the amount of solid waste being generated. The reason is that any production and consumption of material goods eventually generates the equivalent amount of (or even more) waste. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that, with today's manufacturing and supply chain management technologies, it has become cheaper to dispose and replace most products rather than to repair and reuse them. This has given rise to what some call a disposable society." To put things in perspective: In 2012 households in the U.K. generated approximately 22 thousand tons of waste, which amounted to 411 kg of waste generated per person (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2015). During the same time period, households in the U.S. generated 251 million tons of waste, which is equivalent to a person generating approximately 2 kg of waste every day (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Out of these 251 million tons of total waste generated, approximately 20% of the discarded items were categorized as durable goods. The disposal of durable goods is particularly worrisome because they are typically produced using material from non- renewable resources such as iron, minerals, and petroleum-based raw materials