Rank-Dependent Measures of Bi-Polarization and Marginal Tax Reforms

In this paper, we investigate a dual class of bi-polarization indices, namely rank-dependent bipolarization indices. We show that these indices may be characterized with the generalized positional transfer sensitivity property. We find necessary and sufficient conditions in order to identify bipolarization- reducing marginal tax reforms. Precisely, we propose inverse positional dominance criteria based on the comparison of bi-polarization concentration curves. An illustration is presented using the Jordanian Household Expenditure and Income Survey 2002/2003.Bi-polarization, Stochastic Dominance, Tax Reform

A cleanroom contamination control system

Analytical methods for hazard and risk analysis are being considered for controlling contamination in pharmaceutical cleanrooms. The most suitable method appears to be the HACCP system that has been developed for the food industry, but this requires some reinterpretation for use in pharmaceutical manufacturing. This paper suggests a possible system. To control contamination effectively, it is necessary to have a good appreciation of the routes and sources of contamination, and the means of controlling them. An overview of these is given

Understanding the Institutional Evolution of the European Rural Policy: A Methodological Approach

Last decades have seen the development of a new rural policy. Different problems occurring in rural areas have pushed the EU Commission to draft policy instruments aiming to address them. However this rural policy path has not always been explicit neither has followed a continuous trend but rather has seen a series of forward and backward steps. Given the lack of a method to establish the relevance and the level of political acceptance of EU rural policy, a methodology has been developed. This methodology has tried to identify the EU political procedure trend, though this is not a formal sequence, and to establish a classification of different events according to a proposed hierarchy. Several EU documents, decisions, directives and financial resource allocations have been analysed. Within the review performed, each rural policy milestone has been classified following the proposed hierarchical chart. This has enabled the drawing of the different backs and forwards taken by this process. Besides, it has lead to the interpretation of the rural policy instruments current position in relation with other European policy instruments.Rural development, policy analysis, institutional processes, Agricultural and Food Policy,

The regional competitiveness and employment objective and policy prioritisation

In this paper we propose an analysis of policy strategies of operative programmes co-funded by Structural Funds in the current period in the regions eligible for the future Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective, adopting a forward-looking perspective. We analyse interventions eligible for the period 2007-2013 and compare this range with the actual policy strategies. We discuss about potential changes in policy prioritisation in the future programming period: the most important challenge concerns potential re-addressing of interventions needed to meet the objectives of the new regional development framework, as in the three-pronged menu of priority themes from the Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas. This is particularly relevant in the framework of potential tensions between the rationales of new Structural Funds Regulations and the Lisbon strategies. A cross-cutting reading of policy priorities at the regional level reveals that in many regions certain typologies of investments can not be directly repeated. This adjustment to the new legal and policy framework can be pursued, in some cases, through a radical overhaul of regional strategy or, in some others, a fine-tuning of interventions towards Lisbon consistent policies.Structural Funds, Regional Policy, Lisbon Strategy

Towards the estimation of the economic value of the outputs of Scottish Higher Education Institutions

This report is the outcome of a preliminary scoping study undertaken for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and Universities Scotland Knowledge Transfer Taskforce during the three month period April - June 2005. The study focussed on the feasibility of developing an economically meaningful approach to measurement of Scottish higher education institutional outputs in monetary terms. The growing policy emphasis on higher education's role in the economy has led to an increasing need for quantitative analysis of the value to the economy of what a HEI does (that is, as a producer of specifically educational goods) - over and above the economic benefits that arise from the mere fact of the HEI doing something (that is, as a producer of general unspecified goods)

Development cooperation with middle-income countries

Only flows to countries that are on the DAC list of recipients can be labelled Official Development Assistance (ODA). The countries on that list however are a mixed bag. Based on a World Bank classification, the DAC list for instance includes Burundi, with an income per capita in 2009 of $150, and Brazil, with an income per capita in 2009 of$ 8840. Burundi, on this count, is 59 times poorer than Brazil. And there is not just income. Burundi is small, landlocked, politically and institutionally unstable, with an unimpressive record in terms of economic growth, a modest player in Africa and an insignificant player in the world. Brazil by contrast is huge, rich in natural resources, technologically sophisticated, growing fast, ambitious, and a major player on the world scene. Recently, it has even started to think about setting up its own aid agency (The Economist, 2011a). How more heterogeneous can one get? One can pick similar contrasting pairs from the DAC list, such as DRCongo and China, or Niger and India. How much aid, in pursuit of which development objectives, addressing which constraints in which sectors, using which modalities and channels: surely no single strategy can fit such dissimilar realities. What constitutes a sensible donor strategy in one country may be very inadequate in another. A differentiated strategy is called for.