How to motivate faster growth in Colombia : the leading sector strategy revisited

This paper reproduces two public lectures given at an Incolda conference in Bogota, October 1, 2002 on La Realidad de la Economía Colombiana. It reviews the great structuralchanges in output and employment over recent decades and how macroeconomic policies can strengthen or weaken the natural forces underlying these changes. It distinguishes between potentially inflationary policies designed to increase demand ina monetary sense, and those that focus on institutional changes that enhance competition and mobility. It explains how inflation distorts the allocation of resources, and why it especially harms long-term housing finance and exports. It explains the logic of Lauchlin Currie's leading sector theory of growth and shows whyand how housing and exports can be given special protection to accelerate development

Modelling iteration in engineering design

This paper examines design iteration and its modelling in the simulation of New Product Development (NPD) processes. A framework comprising six perspectives of iteration is proposed and it is argued that the importance of each perspective depends upon domain-specific factors. Key challenges of modelling iteration in process simulation frameworks such as the Design Structure Matrix are discussed, and we argue that no single model or framework can fully capture the iterative dynamics of an NPD process. To conclude, we propose that consideration of iteration and its representation could help identify the most appropriate modelling framework for a given process and modelling objective, thereby improving the fidelity of design process simulation models and increasing their utility

Homologous Recombination under the Single-Molecule Fluorescence Microscope

Homologous recombination (HR) is a complex biological process and is central to meiosis and for repair of DNA double-strand breaks. Although the HR process has been the subject of intensive study for more than three decades, the complex protein–protein and protein–DNA interactions during HR present a significant challenge for determining the molecular mechanism(s) of the process. This knowledge gap is largely because of the dynamic interactions between HR proteins and DNA which is difficult to capture by routine biochemical or structural biology methods. In recent years, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy has been a popular method in the field of HR to visualize these complex and dynamic interactions at high spatiotemporal resolution, revealing mechanistic insights of the process. In this review, we describe recent efforts that employ single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to investigate protein–protein and protein–DNA interactions operating on three key DNA-substrates: single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), and four-way DNA called Holliday junction (HJ). We also outline the technological advances and several key insights revealed by these studies in terms of protein assembly on these DNA substrates and highlight the foreseeable promise of single-molecule fluorescence microscopy in advancing our understanding of homologous recombination

Models of Equilibrium Real Exchange Rates Revisited: A Selective Review of the Literature

One of the more important concepts in open macroeconomics is the “equilibrium real exchange rate” (ERER). Real exchange rate misalignments are argued to have been the cause of loss of competitiveness and growth slowdowns and eventual currency crises (in the event of sustained overvaluations), overheating (in the event of sustained undervaluation), sectoral misallocation of resources, and global macroeconomic imbalances. This paper examines the underlying concepts, assumptions and analytical bases of commonly employed models of the equilibrium real exchange rate and the manner in which they are usually computed (i.e. operationalized) as well as their shortcomings.Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate (ERER), BEER, FEER, PEER, NATREX, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).

Dynamic capabilities in small and medium manufacturing firms in rural Finland – role of social capital?

During the last decade, there has been wide agreement on the importance of dynamic capabilities on economic performance of firms. Simultaneously an increasing literature suggests that economic dynamics is embedded in social relations and social institutions. In this article, the determinants of dynamic capabilities of small manufacturing Finnish firms will be explored. Specifically we focus on the importance of social capital for firm dynamics. According to analysis, the most important antecedents of dynamic capabilities of firms are its strategy and social capital. Social capital as wide and active participation in network cooperation correlates statistically significantly with the firm dynamics. Social capital increases firm dynamics by enhancing communication and knowledge spillovers in corporate networks. Active networkers gain important information from their bridging and linking ties, such as other firms and public institutions. According to the analysis, the increase of trust in business relations does not correlate with the dynamic capabilities. Instead trust acts as a trigger factor when firms consider their network activities. Keywords: social capital, networks, trust, dynamic capabilities, small and medium sized enterprises

Art/Sci Nexus, 9 Evenings Revisited

Following the exhibition of Hybrid Bodies at KKW in 2016 Andrew Carnie and I were invited back to act as mentors to a group of young artists and scientists from all over Europe undertaking a week long workshop designed to lead to new art/science collaborations. We were also invited to present the Hybrid Bodies project at a one day public event preceding the workshop

India's Outward Foreign Direct Investments in Steel Industry in a Chinese Comparative Perspective

Indian and Chinese enterprises have emerged as important outward investors in recent times with their involvement in a number of prominent Greenfield investments and acquisitions. The theory of international business posits that the ownership of some unique advantages having a revenue generating potential abroad combined with the presence of internalization and locational advantages leads to outward FDI. Conventional MNEs based in the industrialized countries have grown on the strength of ownership advantages derived from innovatory activity that is largely concentrated in these countries. It examines the case of steel industry that has become an important sector of overseas activity for Chinese and Indian companies with a string of major acquisitions of foreign MNEs for acquiring footprints and natural resources in order to identify the sources of ownership advantages and strategies of outward investments from emerging countries.FDI outflows, steel, India

Bion's work group revisited

The treatment manual is intended to serve more than one purpose. It is designed to be a research tool, making possible the standardization and validation of a treatment method. It is also a highly condensed primer and a practicum, offering a description of psychoanalytic group therapy which will act as a handbook for the beginner and as an aide-memoirefor the more experienced therapist. Many therapists will have had some experience with individual patients but wonder how they are to convert that knowledge into the practicalities of running a group, in which seven or eight patients are seen simultaneously. For young practitioners in a National Health Service setting, this can be a daunting prospect. It is difficult to do group therapy well, yet when it is done well it provides an invaluable therapeutic medium for a collection of patients it might be neither possible nor wise nor even necessary to see in individual treatment. In other words, there are many patients for whom a group is the treatment of choice