3,915 research outputs found
Aftercare of inward foreign direct investment: A case study of South Africa
Attraction of new inward foreign direct investment (FDI) globally, especially in the developing countries, is problematic. Economic development practitioners have recently started to prioritise the retention and growing of existing investments to enhance their economic development agenda. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and investigate the relationship between inward FDI and investment aftercare in South Africa (SA). Only a few studies have been carried out on the topic at the global level and none on SA as far as could be ascertained. A structured questionnaire was used to collate data, and 30 face-to-face interviews were conducted with 16 investment aftercare practitioners and 14 executives from the investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in seven of the nine provinces of SA. The main finding of the study is that although investment aftercare services are essential, they receive limited funding, staff and attention, and have not yet been developed in SA.
Competing with asking prices
In many markets, sellers advertise their good with an asking price. This is a price at
which the seller will take his good off the market and trade immediately, though it is
understood that a buyer can submit an offer below the asking price and that this offer may be
accepted if the seller receives no better offers. Despite their prevalence in a variety of real
world markets, asking prices have received little attention in the academic literature. We
construct an environment with a few simple, realistic ingredients and demonstrate that using
an asking price is optimal: it is the pricing mechanism that maximizes sellersā revenues and it
implements the efficient outcome in equilibrium. We provide a complete characterization of
this equilibrium and use it to explore the positive implications of this pricing mechanism for
transaction prices and allocations.Ludo Visschers gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Juan de la Cierva Grant; project grant ECO2010-
20614 (DirecciĆ³n general de investigaciĆ³n cientĆfica y tĆ©cnica), and the Bank of Spainās Programa de InvestigaciĆ³n de
Excelencia
Effective Diffusion and transport coherence in presence of inhomogeneous temeprature: Piecewise linear potential
We compute the effective diffusion coefficient of a Brownian particle in a
piece-wise linear periodic potential and subject of spatially inhomogeneous
temperature, otherwise known as the B{\"u}ttiker-Landauer motor. We obtain
analytical expressions for the current and diffusion coefficients and compare
with numerical results
A Review of Micro-Contact Physics for Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Metal Contact Switches
Innovations in relevant micro-contact areas are highlighted, these include, design, contact resistance modeling, contact materials, performance and reliability. For each area the basic theory and relevant innovations are explored. A brief comparison of actuation methods is provided to show why electrostatic actuation is most commonly used by radio frequency microelectromechanical systems designers. An examination of the important characteristics of the contact interface such as modeling and material choice is discussed. Micro-contact resistance models based on plastic, elastic-plastic and elastic deformations are reviewed. Much of the modeling for metal contact micro-switches centers around contact area and surface roughness. Surface roughness and its effect on contact area is stressed when considering micro-contact resistance modeling. Finite element models and various approaches for describing surface roughness are compared. Different contact materials to include gold, gold alloys, carbon nanotubes, composite gold-carbon nanotubes, ruthenium, ruthenium oxide, as well as tungsten have been shown to enhance contact performance and reliability with distinct trade offs for each. Finally, a review of physical and electrical failure modes witnessed by researchers are detailed and examined
State Regulatory Competition and the Threat to Corporate Governance
The subject of this paper is the impact of the new globalized order on the integrity of corporate governance. Corporate governance is the system of laws, markets and institutions that seeks to control and discipline corporate activity in the service of the public interest. Over the last several years, many critics have bemoaned the growing integration of various economic markets across national boundaries because it is seen to lessen the capacity of states to regulate corporate behaviour. Essentially, the claim is that in a setting of reduced barriers to factor and product mobility, corporations are rendered much more effective in their capacity to extract regulatory concessions from host governments, and these concessions have the effect of lowering social welfare. The argument is that in a setting of high international corporate mobility, footloose corporations will relocate their operations to whichever jurisdiction offers the most congenial (meaning least stringent) regulation.
In the face of certain corporate migration in response to more stringent regulation, states will have no choice but to refrain from adopting socially optimal regulation. This is because states fear the loss of benefits associated with corporate activity: namely, employment, investment and tax revenue. The effect is an international race to the bottom in which states are rendered helpless in countering the effect of heightened corporate mobility
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