Policy Issues for the Water and Sanitation Sectors

Given the importance of water and sanitation loans in the Bank's portfolio of infrastructure projects and the significance of the measures that are underway throughout the region, this discussion paper aims to identify those particular features of the water and sanitation sector which distinguish it from other infrastructure services and which will consequently merit special attention by countries engaging in such reforms. Included are a discussion of institutional problems facing state-owned providers of public services and policy responses to three key economic issues: optimal sector structure, the scope for privatization, and the redesign social policy.Water management, Water Supply and Sanitation, Public Utilities, water supply & sanitation, LAC, water sector, water policies

Why are some coalitions more successful than others in setting standards? Empirical evidence from the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD standard war

Standard-setting coalitions are increasingly composed of rival firms from different sectors and are characterized by simultaneous and/or sequential cooperation and competition among their members. This paper examines why firms choose to belong to two standard-setting coalitions instead of one and what determines the success of a standard coalition. We test empirically for network effect, experience effect, and coopetitive effect in the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD standard war. We find that the higher the similarity of the members in the coalition, the greater the probability of standard coalition success. Furthermore, relatedness leads to a greater probability of joining both competing coalitions, but at a given degree of knowledge difference, an opposite effect exists.Blu-ray; HD-DVD; coalition; coopetition; standard war

Traffic agents for improving QoS in mixed infrastructure and ad hoc modes wireless LAN

As an important complement to infrastructured wireless networks, mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) are more flexible in providing wireless access services, but more difficult in meeting different quality of service (QoS) requirements for mobile customers. Both infrastructure and ad hoc network structures are supported in wireless local area networks (WLAN), which can offer high data-rate wireless multimedia services to the mobile stations (MSs) in a limited geographical area. For those out-of-coverage MSs, how to effectively connect them to the access point (AP) and provide QoS support is a challenging issue. By mixing the infrastructure and the ad hoc modes in WLAN, we propose in this paper a new coverage improvement scheme that can identify suitable idle MSs in good service zones as traffic agents (TAs) to relay traffic from those out-of-coverage MSs to the AP. The service coverage area of WLAN is then expanded. The QoS requirements (e.g., bandwidth) of those MSs are considered in the selection process of corresponding TAs. Mathematical analysis, verified by computer simulations, shows that the proposed TA scheme can effectively reduce blocking probability when traffic load is light

Beyond 'Global Production Networks': Australian Fashion Week's Trans-Sectoral Synergies

When studies of industrial organisation are informed by commodity chain, actor network, or global production network theories and focus on tracing commodity flows, social networks, or a combination of the two, they can easily overlook the less routine trans-sectoral associations that are crucial to the creation and realisation of value. This paper shifts attention to identifying the sites at which diverse specialisations meet to concentrate and amplify mutually reinforcing circuits of value. These valorisation processes are demonstrated in the case of Australian Fashion Week, an event in which multiple interests converge to synchronize different expressions of fashion ideas, actively construct fashion markets and enhance the value of a diverse range of fashionable commodities. Conceptualising these interconnected industries as components of a trans-sectoral fashion complex has implications for understanding regional development, world cities, production location, and the manner in which production systems “touch down” in different places

Entrepreneurship, Development, and the Spatial Context Retrospect and Prospect

Entrepreneurship has been a topical issue in the business administration literature, but in the past decade a wave of interest can be observed on the role of entrepreneurship in the economic growth literature. This paper aims to highlight the various contributions to the entrepreneurship literature from the perspective of regional economic development. After a broad overview, particular attention is given to the regional action space of entrepreneurs, including their social and spatial network involvement. The paper concludes with a future research agenda.entrepreneurship, regional growth, action space, networks, SME, virtual organization, innovation

Regulación y estrategias para la transformación digital eficiencia en la expansión de redes y en la provisión de bienes y servicios digitales

Tesis de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, leída el 06/11/2017The digital transformation taking place in the last decades is a revolution with a deep economic, social, and cultural impact. It has created enormous opportunities and also new risks. Growth, enhanced productivity, increased citizenship engagement, better democracy and social inclusion are some of the opportunities but at the same time these transformations are challenging human and consumer rights, social policies and economic efficiency. Reaching the huge potential benefits of the digital revolution requires economic analysis to guide new regulations and policies accompanying technological advancement. This thesis proposes regulations and strategies for an optimal provision of digital networks, goods and services contributing to some of the topics of focus in recent literature on digital economy. One problem is entry barriers to companies selling internet access. We contribute to the literature by analyzing one of the causes of the existence of entry barriers, the problem of how efficiently allocate the radio-spectrum. Another problem is the optimal prices to remunerate network providers, digital service providers, consumers and vendors. We contribute by examining the impact of price discrimination of internet content providers under duopolistic competition and multi-dimensional product differentiation in retail broadband access in chapter 3. Chapter 1 offers some proposals for the evaluation of the efficient allocation of spectrum to radio communication services. New approaches to spectrum management have resulted in a more efficient production of services. However, the role of the public sector is still essential in spectrum allocation. This chapter provides a methodology to measure the net benefit of the reallocation of a spectrum band intended to guide regulators and policy makers. We have identified the following facts...La transformación digital que está teniendo lugar en las últimas décadas es una revolución con un profundo impacto económico, social y cultural que ha creado enormes oportunidades y también nuevos retos. Algunas de las oportunidades son un mayor crecimiento económico, mejoras de la productividad, mayor participación ciudadana y una mayor inclusión social, pero al mismo tiempo estas transformaciones desafían los derechos de los ciudadanos y de los consumidores, las políticas sociales y la eficiencia económica. Para alcanzar el enorme potencial de la revolución digital es necesario que el análisis económico guie la regulación y las políticas que acompañan al desarrollo tecnológico. Esta tesis propone nuevas normas y estrategias para una óptima provisión de redes, bienes y servicios digitales, contribuyendo en algunos de los temas de interés de la literatura reciente sobre economía digital. Un problema es la existencia de barreras a la entrada en el mercado de provisión de servicios de acceso a internet. Contribuimos a la literatura existente sobre este asunto, analizando en los capítulos 1 y 2, una de las causas de la existencia dichas barreras, la atribución ineficiente del espectro radioeléctrico. Otro problema es la formación de precios socialmente óptima para remunerar a los proveedores de acceso a internet, los proveedores de servicios digitales, los usuarios y los vendedores de publicidad. Contribuimos a esta materia examinando en el capítulo 3 el impacto de la discriminación de precios sobre proveedores de contenidos cuando en el mercado minorista de acceso a internet existe competencia imperfecta, duopolio, y diferenciación multidimensional de producto. El capítulo 1 ofrece propuestas para la evaluación de la eficiencia de una atribución de espectro a un servicio de radiocomunicaciones. Las nuevas técnicas de gestión del espectro han dado lugar a una provisión más eficiente de los servicios. Sin embargo, el papel del sector público sigue siendo necesario en la gestión del espectro. Este capítulo ofrece una metodología para medir el beneficio neto de una re-atribución de una banda de frecuencias para guiar a reguladores y diseñadores de políticas públicas. Se han obtenido los siguientes resultados destacables...Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesTRUEunpu

LOCALIZATION OF MULTINATIONAL FIRMS, TERRITORIAL ATTRACTIVITY AND INTERCULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN AREA

The global economy has established new game rules with regard to both the strategies of multinational companies (MNC) and the competition exerted between the territories competing for the localization of companies. The internationalization of firms is not a new phenomenon and the explanations of this process are legion. In fact, the novelty of certain works lies in the interest taken regarding the effectiveness of the various approaches which make it possible to increase the efficiency of a firm’s localization strategies. From this point of view, the works of Hofstede, D' Iribarne and Hall are essential, being at the origin of the founding of intercultural management. These works shed light upon and allow one to interpret the cultural behaviors found in the management methods of numerous countries. Accordingly, this contribution will attempt to analyze the strategic impact of intercultural management on the binomial localization of MNC/ territorial appeal in light of the emergence of a Euro-Mediterranean area.localization strategies of MNC, Euro-Mediterranean area, intercultural management, FDI.