Applying a Comprehensive Neo-Schumpeterian Approach to Europe and its Lisbon Agenda

The paper shows that Comprehensive Neo-Schumpeterian Economics (CNSE) is an adequate theoretical approach accompanying the enforcement of the aims of the Lisbon Agenda. The CNSE approach is based on the principle of innovation and the idea of future orientation penetrating all spheres of economics which can be summarized in three domains of economic life: industry, finance and public sector, the 3-pillars of CNSE. The CNSE approach is applied to an empirical study of 18 OECD countries using a three step procedure: In a first step country patterns of pillars are identified in a cluster analysis. This gives a fine grained picture of institutional and structural set-ups for the countries under study. In a second step within the pillar clusters a performance analysis is exercised in order to rank the countries. Because of the similarities of countries within a cluster this comparative analysis can be done whereas for countries belonging to different clusters this comparison would lead to wrong conclusions. In a final step as a crude representation of macro-economic performance the cluster composition is sorted by the average growth rates of the economies. This allows a first correlation of pillar composition and growth performance.Lisbon Agenda, Comprehensive Neo-Schumpeterian Economics, European Country Patterns, future-oriented indicator-based model

The Dilemma of Middle Class Philanthropy: A Summary Report Focusing on the BRIC Countries

A key question for the future of philanthropy emerged from discussions at the consultation meeting in Delhi which formed part of the Bellagio Initiative on the future of philanthropy and development in the pursuit of human wellbeing: what's happening with middle class giving in BRIC countries and how can it contribute effectively to equitable and sustainable development? Two key and difficult questions emerged from the discussions in Delhi which the Resource Alliance felt needed further attention:* 'What is the potential for giving of the growing middle class in BRICS countries?'* 'How can this philanthropy be (made) transformative?'Beyond those important and difficult questions, the Resource Alliance sought 'new knowledge, potential and challenges' on the problem of middle class philanthropy, so commissioned resource papers on middle class philanthropy in Brazil, China, India, and Russia. The papers sought to gather data and analysis on 'the potential of middle class giving in terms of numbers and income groups, growth in last three to five years, professional/educational/ financial background; differing philosophies of giving; the role of religious identities, current motivations and mechanisms for giving .... and the challenges/future options and we can draw from them'.The four resource papers prepared on middle class philanthropy in Brazil, China, India, and Russia noted a number of important themes. Notably, they highlighted the lack of significant data on the middle class and on middle class giving, and the need for more data. Little research thus far, including the resource papers, provides real data on the scope of the middle class and it's giving in these countries. This makes analysis and recommendations both very difficult and highly anecdotal. Furthermore, it is difficult to differentiate 'middle class philanthropy' from other forms of giving by local communities. The resource papers give some hints -- primarily in the area of methods of giving -- but we are left without answers to key questions such as is the newer middle class giving to different causes? In different ways? For different motivations? Changing over time? Since this is a new research area, the resource papers only begin to address these issues, which, we hope, other researchers will take up in the future.The problem of trust and the need for higher levels of accountability and transparency in the charitable community to encourage and sustain donation processes emerges as a constraint on giving, and confidence in giving, in each of the resource papers. Of course, issues of trust, accountability and transparency are not specific to the somewhat artificial category of 'middle class giving'. Yet they need to be further addressed in each of these countries and presumably in many others as well.Like the problem of trust, language, accountability and transparency, the continuing importance of policy and legal frameworks to encourage giving -- all giving, not just from the middle class -- emerges from each resource paper. And like other themes, more facilitative policy and legal frameworks would help to strengthen giving and non-profit service in general, not just among the 'middle class'. The growing importance of social innovation in the giving context, including new forms, structures, institutions and modes of philanthropy emerges in each of the four country contexts. And this may actually -- though, again, the data isn't there -- be something more specific to middle class and wealthy donors

An integrated microfinancing concept for rural electrification by photovoltaics in developing countries

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Business Ethics in Globalized Financial Markets

Globalization extends the space of the things that are simultaneous for the human. This applies particularly to the decision-making in financial markets. The global market for capital is one of the main causes for globalization. How is this process of globalization to be judged from the point of view of business ethics? The paper investigates the ethical foundations of capital markets and of financial consulting. It analyzes the foundational theories of corporate governance in the Anglo-American and in the German context. Their difference can be described as external control by competition versus internal control by consensus. The paper gives merit to the different models of governance and to their origin in different conceptions of government. It argues for a twofold strategy: to strengthen the external control of firms by competing teams of management that are able to make an effective take-over threat and to implement elements of workers’ participation in corporate governance as long as increases the efficiency of management - provided that these elements maintain the control rights of the firm’s owners.

Hospetitiveness – the Empirical Model of Competitiveness in Romanian Hospitality Industry

Our interest is focused on an important sector of the national economy: the hospitality industry. The paper is the result of a careful analysis of the literature and of a field research. According to the answers of hotels' managers, competitiveness is based mainly on service quality and cost control. The analyses of questionnaires and dedicated literature lead us to the design of a competitiveness model for hospitality industry, called "Hospetitiveness – The empirical model of competitiveness in the Romanian hospitality industry". The model has three levels: the first level (the base) is represented by decisive factors of competitiveness: human resources, innovation, services and costs, which influence all hotels' operations. The second level consists in the inclusion of competitiveness factors’ attributes in the organization’s processes and operations, in order to reach the objectives and obtain competitive advantage. This is the level where all the competitiveness factors are transposed in objective measures, in order to make them easily understood by the employees. The third level illustrates the dimensions of competitiveness as results of the impact of the decisive factors on the organization’s internal processes and operations. These dimensions are: customer satisfaction, market position and internal and external social responsibility. The model is dynamic, being the starting point for specific models in hotel management (e.g. business or seaside hotels’ management), and also the base for a best practices guide that translates competitiveness factors into key competitive advantage.competitiveness, hospitality industry, hotel management, competitive advantage

Learning from Trump and Xi? Globalization and innovation as drivers of a new industrial policy. Bertelsmann GED Focus 2020

Technological innovations are essential drivers of longterm and sustainable growth. Accordingly, there currently is a debate in Germany and the EU as to whether a new, strategic industrial policy can be an answer to the complex dynamics of digitization. Products of this discussion are, for example, the Industrial Strategy 2030 published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in November 2019 and the Franco-German Manifesto for a European Industrial Policy for the 21st Century. The focus here is on the question of how the EU and its member states can maintain their innovative and thus competitive ability in the face of diverse challenges. However, there is no standard recipe for building and expanding the innovative capacity of an economy. Different countries rely on different strategies that can be equally successful. An important distinguishing feature is the role of the state. A clear example of divergent innovation models are China and the USA. Although both countries have completely different approaches to an innovation-promoting industrial policy, both models are characterized by major technological successes. With an analysis of the Chinese and American innovation system, this study highlights the main features and success factors of both innovation models and discusses whether and to what extent these factors are transferable to the European and German case. Five fields of action for an innovation-promoting industrial policy in the EU and Germany emerge from this analysis • Implementation of a long-term innovation strategy • Expansion of venture capital • Expansion of cluster approaches at EU level • Thinking and strengthening of cybersecurity at EU level • Creation of uniform and fair conditions for competition In addition to these fields of action, which are relevant both for the EU and for individual member states, industrial policy measures in the following three areas could be useful for Germany. In particular: • Improvement of framework conditions for research and development • Gearing the education and research system more strongly towards entrepreneurship and innovation • State as a pioneer and trailblazer in new technologies In their implementation, however, strategic European and German industrial policies face a trade-off between the protection and promotion of legitimate self-interests on the one hand and the defense against economically damaging protectionism and ill-considered state interventionism on the other. The so-called “mission orientation” can make a significant contribution here: Accordingly, industrial policy should serve to address specific societal challenges (e. g. globalization, digitization, demographic change, climate change) and be coherently targeted towards these objectives. Furthermore, industrial policy is to be driven in parallel by different actors. Above all, it is a joint task of business and politics to enable a competitive business location where the state ensures good competition- promoting framework conditions and the private actors implement concrete actions

A Bayesian Approach to Identify Bitcoin Users

Bitcoin is a digital currency and electronic payment system operating over a peer-to-peer network on the Internet. One of its most important properties is the high level of anonymity it provides for its users. The users are identified by their Bitcoin addresses, which are random strings in the public records of transactions, the blockchain. When a user initiates a Bitcoin-transaction, his Bitcoin client program relays messages to other clients through the Bitcoin network. Monitoring the propagation of these messages and analyzing them carefully reveal hidden relations. In this paper, we develop a mathematical model using a probabilistic approach to link Bitcoin addresses and transactions to the originator IP address. To utilize our model, we carried out experiments by installing more than a hundred modified Bitcoin clients distributed in the network to observe as many messages as possible. During a two month observation period we were able to identify several thousand Bitcoin clients and bind their transactions to geographical locations

Agricultural information dissemination using ICTs: a review and analysis of information dissemination models in China

Open Access funded by China Agricultural UniversityOver the last three decades, China’s agriculture sector has been transformed from the traditional to modern practice through the effective deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Information processing and dissemination have played a critical role in this transformation process. Many studies in relation to agriculture information services have been conducted in China, but few of them have attempted to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of different information dissemination models and their applications. This paper aims to review and identify the ICT based information dissemination models in China and to share the knowledge and experience in applying emerging ICTs in disseminating agriculture information to farmers and farm communities to improve productivity and economic, social and environmental sustainability. The paper reviews and analyzes the development stages of China’s agricultural information dissemination systems and different mechanisms for agricultural information service development and operations. Seven ICT-based information dissemination models are identified and discussed. Success cases are presented. The findings provide a useful direction for researchers and practitioners in developing future ICT based information dissemination systems. It is hoped that this paper will also help other developing countries to learn from China’s experience and best practice in their endeavor of applying emerging ICTs in agriculture information dissemination and knowledge transfer