9,637 research outputs found

    Institutional constellations and policy instruments for offshore wind power around the North Sea

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    This paper analyses how institutional constellations and their associated mode of risk allocation are reflected in the choice of policy instruments for the promotion of offshore wind power. Using the Varieties of Capitalism framework we expect that governments in Liberal Market Economies (LME) tend to use policy instruments that privatise investments and risk-taking, while those in Coordinated Market Economies (CME) use policy instruments that facilitate investments and shared risk-taking in the earlier, more riskful phase of technological development. We test our expectations through a longitudinal comparative analysis of the use of policy instruments and the deployment of offshore wind power in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands between 1990 and 2020. Our results confirm the market oriented nature of policy instruments employed by the LME case of the United Kingdom throughout, while we witness initially lower levels of market orientation among the CME cases of Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Though the market orientation of Germany's policy instruments declined half way to build up domestic momentum, we generally see an increased use of market oriented policy instruments over time by the CME. Putting the trajectories together we witness an overall convergence in the use of policy instruments which we attribute to the liberalisation of the energy sector in the EU as well as to policy-learning effects. The results have generic relevance and can also be used to inform future national strategies and policies for deploying new low-carbon technologies, such as electrolysis for green hydrogen, which face similar risks and challenges

    People make Places

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    For centuries Glasgow, as a bucolic fishing village and ecclesiastical centre on the banks of the River Clyde, held little of strategic significance. When success and later threats came to the city, it was as a consequence of explosive growth during the industrial era that left a significant civic presence accompanied by social and environmental challenges. Wartime damage to the fabric of the city and the subsequent implementation of modernist planning left Glasgow with a series of existential threats to the lives and the health of its people that have taken time to understand and come to terms with. In a few remarkable decades of late 20th century regeneration, Glasgow began to be put back together. The trauma of the second half of the 20th century is fading but not yet a distant memory. Existential threats from the climate emergency can provoke the reaction “what, again?” However, the resilience built over the last 50 years has instilled a belief that a constructive, pro-active and creative approach to face this challenge along with the recognition that such action can be transformational for safeguarding and improving people’s lives and the quality of their places. A process described as a just transition that has become central to Glasgow’s approach. Of Scotland’s four big cities, three are surrounded by landscape and sea only Glasgow is surrounded by itself. Even with a small territory, Glasgow is still the largest of Scotland’s big cities and by some margin. When the wider metropolitan area is considered, Glasgow is – like Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool – no mean city. People make Places begins with a review of the concept and complexities of place, discusses why these matter and reviews the growing body of evidence that place quality can deliver economic, social and environmental value. The following chapters focus on the history and evolution of modern Glasgow in four eras of 19th and early 20th century industrialisation, de- industrialisation and modernism in mid 20th century, late 20th century regeneration and a 21st century recovery towards transition and renaissance, and document the process, synthesis and the results of a major engagement programme and to explore systematic approaches to place and consensus building around the principal issues. The second half of the work reflects on a stocktaking of place in contemporary Glasgow, looking at the city through the lenses of an international, metropolitan and everyday city, concluding with a review of the places of Glasgow and what may be learned from them revealing some valuable insights presented in a series of Place Stories included. The concluding chapter sets out the findings of the investigation and analysis reviewing place goals, challenges and opportunities for Glasgow over the decades to 2030 and 2040 and ends with some recommendations about what Glasgow might do better to combine place thinking and climate awareness and setting out practical steps to mobilise Glasgow’s ‘place ecosystem’

    Central-provincial Politics and Industrial Policy-making in the Electric Power Sector in China

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    In addition to the studies that provide meaningful insights into the complexity of technical and economic issues, increasing studies have focused on the political process of market transition in network industries such as the electric power sector. This dissertation studies the central–provincial interactions in industrial policy-making and implementation, and attempts to evaluate the roles of Chinese provinces in the market reform process of the electric power sector. Market reforms of this sector are used as an illustrative case because the new round of market reforms had achieved some significant breakthroughs in areas such as pricing reform and wholesale market trading. Other policy measures, such as the liberalization of the distribution market and cross-regional market-building, are still at a nascent stage and have only scored moderate progress. It is important to investigate why some policy areas make greater progress in market reforms than others. It is also interesting to examine the impacts of Chinese central-provincial politics on producing the different market reform outcomes. Guangdong and Xinjiang are two provinces being analyzed in this dissertation. The progress of market reforms in these two provinces showed similarities although the provinces are very different in terms of local conditions such as the stages of their economic development and energy structures. The actual reform can be understood as the outcomes of certain modes of interactions between the central and provincial actors in the context of their particular capabilities and preferences in different policy areas. This dissertation argues that market reform is more successful in policy areas where the central and provincial authorities are able to engage mainly in integrative negotiations than in areas where they engage mainly in distributive negotiations

    On the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies: a Study of Chinese Multinational Port Enterprises

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    This study aims to explore how Chinese multinational port enterprises (MNPEs) build their core competencies. Core competencies are firms’special capabilities and sources to gain sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in marketplace, and the concept led to extensive research and debates. However, few studies include inquiries about the mechanisms of building core competencies in the context of Chinese MNPEs. Accordingly, answers were sought to three research questions: 1. What are the core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs? 2. What are the mechanisms that the Chinese MNPEs use to build their core competencies? 3. What are the paths that the Chinese MNPEs pursue to build their resources bases? The study adopted a multiple-case study design, focusing on building mechanism of core competencies with RBV. It selected purposively five Chinese leading MNPEs and three industry associations as Case Companies. The study revealed three main findings. First, it identified three generic core competencies possessed by Case Companies, i.e., innovation in business models and operations, utilisation of technologies, and acquisition of strategic resources. Second, it developed the conceptual framework of the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies (MBCC), which is a process of change of collective learning in effective and efficient utilization of resources of a firm in response to critical events. Third, it proposed three paths to build core competencies, i.e., enhancing collective learning, selecting sustainable processes, and building resource base. The study contributes to the knowledge of core competencies and RBV in three ways: (1) presenting three generic core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs, (2) proposing a new conceptual framework to explain how Chinese MNPEs build their core competencies, (3) suggesting a solid anchor point (MBCC) to explain the links among resources, core competencies, and SCA. The findings set benchmarks for Chinese logistics industry and provide guidelines to build core competencies

    The Adirondack Chronology

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    The Adirondack Chronology is intended to be a useful resource for researchers and others interested in the Adirondacks and Adirondack history.https://digitalworks.union.edu/arlpublications/1000/thumbnail.jp

    Family, school and jobs: intergenerational social mobility in Next Steps

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    Young people’s higher education (HE) participation, and early access to labour markets, in the UK and other developed countries, are stratified according to their socio-economic origins and prior educational attainment. Such background factors are difficult to change in an individual’s lifetime, they are presumably not the only determinants of stratified outcomes, and anyway they could be mediated by peer influence and the issue of who goes to school with whom. This new study examines the relationships between a wide range of such social and economic factors relating to birth characteristics, family background, secondary schooling characteristics, and post-16 destinations, and it explores the possible reasons behind their links to HE and labour market outcomes. At the core of the study is an innovative combination of the large-scale nationally representative longitudinal Next Steps survey dataset linked to the robust administrative National Pupil Database (NPD) for England. In order to investigate the degree of social justice and equity in education, the study tracks the life course of a cohort of 5,192 state-school-educated young people in England from age 13 to age 25, to build a comprehensive picture of the journeys of these young people entering the labour market in their early adulthood. Analytical methods used include cross-tabulations, effect sizes, correlations and regression models. The main outcomes of interest are HE participation, and labour market outcomes as indicated by employment status and professional occupation status. The findings show a complex but relatively clear picture, providing some confirmatory and some new evidence on the correlates of intergenerational social mobility in a large cohort of people who are currently in their early 30s. Disadvantaged young people are consistently under-represented in HE participation and the labour market, especially in professional occupations. Bivariate analyses show that HE opportunities and labour market outcomes are systematically unbalanced between different socio-economic groups of young people, suggesting that destinations are strongly stratified by social origins. All of the factors considered in this study are independently associated with post-16 outcomes when analysed separately. Regression models reveal that, once birth characteristics are controlled for, the most important predictor of HE entry is prior educational attainment. This is followed by parental and pupil aspirations, parental occupation and education, material ownership at home, positive schooling experiences, and geographical location. In terms of employment status, doing an apprenticeship is the most powerful predictor of being employed at age 25 (although this may be skewed by the small number of young people still in formal education at that age). This is followed by prior educational attainment, material ownership at home, and prior HE entry. The relationship between the predictors and having a professional occupation status is slightly different. Regression analysis demonstrates that the key predictors of having a professional job are prior educational attainment, HE participation, parental and pupil aspirations, and positive schooling experiences. However, unlike generic employment status, evidence shows that having done an apprenticeship does not contribute to higher chances of landing a professional job. These findings collectively offer a core message in terms of fair access to life opportunities; the most import barriers to access to HE and professional occupations are stratified prior educational attainment and poverty-related factors at home. More crucially, the study also makes the first attempt to explore the level of segregation by background characteristics that is experienced at school as a potential factor in intergenerational social mobility. It is, to our knowledge, the only study to date which examines whether and to what extent who goes to school with whom might play a role in these outcomes beyond school. Bivariate analyses show that the clustering of pupils of similarly poorer socio-economic backgrounds at school is consistently linked to lower chances of HE participation and poorer labour market outcomes. Regression analyses further suggest that the level of between-school segregation an individual experiences plays a small role in all post-16 pathways, over and above that which can be explained by individual factors. In the light of these results, it appears that life destinations are still patterned by background inequality in modern England. However, there are promising signs that policy interventions – including creating a more socially mixed school intake, providing more financial support for low-income families such as travel bursaries, continuing and improving contextualised assessment in both university admissions and recruitment processes, and investing more in public transport in deprived areas – can help to improve fair access to HE and the labour market. These interventions can bring other long-term benefits such as life satisfaction too. Perhaps, instead of advocating or focusing on promoting social mobility, policymakers should devote more energy to and invest more money in tackling social inequality and improving equity in education and life opportunities. If this were to be done effectively, then social mobility could, presumably, look after itself

    Chinese Benteng Women’s Participation in Local Development Affairs in Indonesia: Appropriate means for struggle and a pathway to claim citizen’ right?

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    It had been more than two decades passing by aftermath the devastating Asia’s Financial Crisis in 1997, subsequently followed by Suharto’s step down from his presidential throne which he occupied for more than three decades. The financial turmoil turned to a political disaster furthermore has led to massive looting that severely impacted Indonesians of Chinese descendant, including unresolved mystery of the most atrocious sexual violation against women and covert killings of students and democracy activists in this country. Since then, precisely aftermath May 1998, which publicly known as “Reformasi”1, Indonesia underwent political reform that eventually corresponded positively to its macroeconomic growth. Twenty years later, in 2018, Indonesia captured worldwide attention because it has successfully hosted two internationally renowned events, namely the Asian Games 2018 – the most prestigious sport events in Asia – conducted in Jakarta and Palembang; and the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Bali. Particularly in the IMF/World Bank Annual Meeting, this event has significantly elevated Indonesia’s credibility and international prestige in the global economic powerplay as one of the nations with promising growth and openness. However, the narrative about poverty and inequality, including increasing racial tension, religious conservatism, and sexual violation against women are superseded by friendly climate for foreign investment and eventually excessive glorification of the nation’s economic growth. By portraying the image of promising new economic power, as rhetorically promised by President Joko Widodo during his presidential terms, Indonesia has swept the growing inequality in this highly stratified society that historically compounded with religious and racial tension under the carpet of digital economy.Arte y Humanidade

    Ensaios sobre comunidades de energia renováveis

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    Environmental and economic trends of the last decades have forced the world to urgently rethink current energy markets and energy supply. Thus, a deeper study on Renewable Energy Communities (REC) is a recent and emerging concern due to their relevant role in some energy markets and, in some cases, their key role in the future. This new generation of citizen intervention presents itself to democratize the energy sector in all its phases, from production to supply. Community energy represents a legal form of business present throughout the world and throughout the economy, namely in agriculture, finance, general consumption, and industrial production, albeit on a smaller scale. According to the Cooperative Alliance (ICA), the definition is clear. The objectives of this business model are to increase member participation and governance to a new level; position community energy as sustainability builders, build the community energy message and ensure community identity, ensure legal structures to support community growth and secure reliable community capital, ensure member control. It is often argued that laws and regulations raise various restrictions on REC. Therefore, renewable energy development should be supported by public policy, in all European countries. The development of REC’s does not appear to be the same in all member states. Moreover, its development even seems to be different, and depending on the European country. In Southern European countries, which do not have a tradition of green energy dissemination, show a lower development of REC’s. So, through a questionnaire addressed to participants in REC’s and a questionnaire addressed to the general population, it is intended to study and better understand what citizens' energy initiatives are, their main characteristics, benefits, barriers, and the motivations of individuals who participate in them. Citizen participation is a crucial point for the development of communities. The main motivation for participation seems to be concern about environmental and climate impacts. We also observe that, in these communities, trust is pointed out as important for the development of any RE project. As for the benefits, the results lead to significant insights: firstly, it is mentioned by the survey participants that the environmental benefits outweigh the financial ones when creating and developing REC’s. Secondly, it is significant to highlight that the benefits and impacts that RECs bring to the regions where they are created are perceived as essential. On the barriers, environmental policies and costs are among the barriers that are most pointed out to the adoption and development of REC’s. Finally, it has been shown that there is a disparity between the countries of Southern Europe and those of Northern Europe, this difference being justified by economic and environmental factors and the legislative framework. In short, REC’s are significant for the energy transition and should be supported by European governments and by national and European policies.As tendências ambientais e económicas das últimas décadas forçaram o mundo a repensar urgentemente os mercados energéticos atuais e a oferta de energia. Assim, um estudo mais aprofundado sobre a Comunidades de Energia Renováveis (CER) é uma preocupação recente e emergente devido ao seu papel relevante em alguns mercados energéticos e, em alguns casos, pelo seu papel-chave no futuro. Esta nova geração de intervenção cidadã apresenta-se como uma forma de democratizar o sector energético em todas as suas fases, desde a produção até ao abastecimento. A energia comunitária representa uma forma jurídica de negócio presente em todo o mundo e em toda a economia, nomeadamente na agricultura, nas finanças, no consumo geral, e na produção industrial, ainda que em menor escala. De acordo com a Aliança Cooperativa (ICA), a definição é clara. Os objetivos deste modelo empresarial são o aumento da participação dos seus membros e a governação para um novo nível; posicionar a energia comunitária como construtores de sustentabilidade, construir a mensagem energética comunitária e assegurar a identidade comunitária, assegurar estruturas legais para apoiar o crescimento da comunidade e garantir capital comunitário fiável, assegurar o controlo dos membros. Argumenta-se frequentemente que as leis e regulamentos levantam várias restrições à CER. Por conseguinte, o desenvolvimento das energias renováveis deve ser apoiado por políticas públicas, em todos os países europeus. O desenvolvimento das CER não aparenta ser o mesmo em todos os estados-membros. Além disso, o seu desenvolvimento parece mesmo ser diferente, e dependendo do país europeu. Nos países do sul da Europa, que não têm uma tradição de disseminação de energia verde, mostram um desenvolvimento inferior de CER. Então através de um questionário dirigido aos participantes nas CER e um questionário dirigido à população em geral, pretende-se estudar e compreender melhor quais são as iniciativas energéticas dos cidadãos, as suas principais características, benefícios, barreiras e as motivações dos indivíduos que nelas participam. A participação dos cidadãos é um ponto crucial para o desenvolvimento das comunidades. A principal motivação para a participação parece ser a preocupação com os impactos ambientais e climáticos. Observamos também que, nestas comunidades, a confiança é apontada como importante para o desenvolvimento de qualquer projeto RE. Quanto aos benefícios, os resultados conduzem a importantes perceções: em primeiro lugar, é mencionado, pelos participantes no survey, que os benefícios ambientais superam os financeiros ao criar e desenvolver CER's. Em segundo lugar, é importante destacar que os benefícios e impactos que as CER trazem para as regiões onde são criadas são percecionados como essenciais. Sobre as barreiras, as políticas ambientais e os custos são das barreiras que mais são apontadas à adoção e ao desenvolvimento das CER. Finalmente, mostrou-se a existência de uma disparidade entre os países do sul da Europa e os do norte da Europa, justificando-se essa diferença por fatores económicos, ambientais e pelo quadro legislativo. Em suma, as CER mostram-se importantes para a transição energética, devendo ser apoiada pelos governos europeus e pelas políticas nacionais e europeias.Programa Doutoral em Ciências Económicas e Empresariai
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