The State of Organizational Reform in European Firms: Evidence from a Comparative Overview of Ten EU Countries

Based on some recent surveys, the paper is intended to offer an overview of the diffusion of organisational change in European firms and their effects in terms of performance and impact on employment. Taking into account the differences in national industrial relation systems in which the changes have taken place, contrasted "national" trajectories are exhibited. Three "models" of diffusion are thus highlighted. The main conclusion of the paper is that - in spite of positive effects in terms of performance - the process of organizational change in the European firms is still timid and carried on under strict managerial control.

Building on institutional failures: The European Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance. Or: why the crisis in the Eurozone is so deep and persistent

The paper is devoted to an analysis of the Treaty on Stability Coordination and Governance (TSCG), also known as the "Fiscal Compact" Treaty signed between the EU member states in 2012. We argue than the TSCG, instead of helping to "repair" the institutional failures on which the Euro and the Eurozone are built, strengthens them and further weakens the construction on which the European member states operate. In this sense, the Treaty explains why the crisis in Europe is so deep and persistent, and why the member states of the Eurozone are having such difficulty in returning to a path of balance and growth. After defining the "core" of the Treaty more precisely, by describing the nature and significance of the new rules it has introduced in more detail, we explain why these rules create supplementary obstacles in the road to recovery

The state of organizational reform in European firms: Evidence from a comparative overview of ten EU countries

Based on some recent surveys, the paper is intended to offer an overview of the diffusion of organisational change in European firms and their effects in terms of performance and impact on employment. Taking into account the differences in national industrial relation systems in which the changes have taken place, contrasted national trajectories are exhibited. Three models of diffusion are thus highlighted. The main conclusion of the paper is that - in spite of positive effects in terms of performance - the process of organizational change in the European firms is still timid and carried on under strict managerial control

Avances en experiencias de cálculo mental

La conferencia se caracteriza por un formato tipo taller, en el que se prioriza la participación activa de los asistentes. Los contenidos tratados en una sesión de 3 horas en el horario y en la fecha que figuran en el cartel de difusión pública del evento, que se adjunta al presente documento, son los siguientes: - Idea de la aritmética rápida - Actividades de suma, resta, multiplicación y división rápidas - Estimación y resultado exacto - Aritmética rápida y pre-álgebra - Aritmética rápida y… Suma Resta Multiplicación (un poco) DivisiónDepartamento de Didáctica de la Matemática, de las Ciencias Sociales y de las Ciencias Experimentales. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

: Deux formes de résistance et d'alternative à l'exclusivisme propriétaire

Cet article porte sur les liens entre le mouvement du logiciel libre, les juristes anglo-saxons défendant le domaine public (Lessig, Boyle, Benkler,etc.) et la théorie des communs de l'économiste Elinor Ostrom. Il retrace l'histoire de la rencontre entre ces différents acteurs et analyse les enjeux soulevés en matière de propriété intellectuelle. À partir des exemples de la licence GPL et des Creative Commons, il montre l'intérêt d'une approche de la propriété en termes de bundle of rights (faisceaux de droits) afin de penser des alternatives à la propriété exclusive

The truncated and evolving inner accretion disc of the black hole GX 339-4

The nature of accretion onto stellar mass black holes in the low/hard state remains unresolved, with some evidence suggesting that the inner accretion disc is truncated and replaced by a hot flow. However, the detection of relativistic broadened Fe emission lines, even at relatively low luminosities, seems to require an accretion disc extending fully to its innermost stable circular orbit. Modelling such features is however highly susceptible to degeneracies, which could easily bias any interpretation. We present the first systematic study of the Fe line region to track how the inner accretion disc evolves in the low/hard state of the black hole GX 339$-$4. Our four observations display increased broadening of the Fe line over two magnitudes in luminosity, which we use to track any variation of the disc inner radius. We find that the disc extends closer to the black hole at higher luminosities, but is consistent with being truncated throughout the entire low/hard state, a result which renders black hole spin estimates inaccurate at these stages of the outburst. Furthermore, we show that the evolution of our spectral inner disc radius estimates corresponds very closely to the trend of the break frequency in Fourier power spectra, supporting the interpretation of a truncated and evolving disc in the hard state.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Some typos corrected from version

Revealing accretion onto black holes: X-ray reflection throughout three outbursts of GX 339-4

Understanding the dynamics behind black hole state transitions and the changes they reflect in outbursts has become long-standing problem. The X-ray reflection spectrum describes the interaction between the hard X-ray source (the power-law continuum) and the cool accretion disc it illuminates, and thus permits an indirect view of how the two evolve. We present a systematic analysis of the reflection spectrum throughout three outbursts (500+ observations) of the black hole binary GX 339-4, representing the largest study applying a self-consistent treatment of reflection to date. Particular attention is payed to the coincident evolution of the power-law and reflection, which can be used to determine the accretion geometry. The hard state is found to be distinctly reflection weak, however the ratio of reflection to power-law gradually increases as the source luminosity rises. In contrast the reflection is found dominate the power-law throughout most of the soft state, with increasing supremacy as the source decays. We discuss potential dynamics driving this, favouring inner disc truncation and decreasing coronal height for the hard and soft states respectively. Evolution of the ionisation parameter, power-law slope and high-energy cut-off also agree with this interpretation.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Issues in the post-2005 TRIPS agenda

Pharmaceuticals is one of the few industries in which patents are recognized as being key instruments for privately appropriating the economic benefits of innovation. Competition is largely based on innovation, and basic science is becoming increasingly crucial for the discovery and development of new products. Pharmaceuticals also occupy an extremely socially sensitive sector: large parts of the population increasingly perceive health care as a fundamental human right. For developing countries in particular, health has become a major issue, magnified by the tragedies of pandemics like HIV/AIDS. Controversies about the welfare implications of patents have characterized this industry ever since its inception. But in the last thirty years or so, the establishment of a strong tendency towards an extremely tight IP at the global level regime has made this debate even more heated. In this work, we begin by succinctly reviewing the main problems and the available evidence concerning the relationships between IPRs, innovation and welfare in pharmaceuticals. Next, we summarize the main theoretical arguments in favour and against (strong) IPRs in pharmaceuticals and present the little direct available empirical evidence, concerning respectively innovation and drug prices. Finally, we focus on TRIPS and Access to Care in developing countries, with particular reference to the case of HIV (the most emblematic example of the problems generated by enforcement of the TRIPS agreement)