Explaining Differences in Growth across Developing Countries

This analysis attempts to explain the differences in per-capita GDP growth in developing countries over the period 2000-2010. Using OLS estimators on an initial cross-section data sample of 30 developing countries, we find that growth rates are positively affected by savings rates in the decade, natural resource endowment, and inflation volatility, while they are hindered by population growth over the decade, savings rates over the previous decade, initial per-capita income, and tropical location. An expansion of economic freedom is found to quadratically relate to growth, at first increasing it and then having a negative effect. Income inequality and landlocked variables are not shown to significantly affect growth rates over this period. However, testing the model on a second sample of developing countries showed markedly different and insignificant explanatory power of the identical variables, suggesting the original model is not robust

A microtonal wind controller building on Yamaha’s technology to facilitate the performance of music based on the “19-EDO” scale

We describe a project in which several collaborators adapted an existing instrument to make it capable of playing expressively in music based on the microtonal scale characterised by equal divsion of the octave into 19 tones (“19-EDO”). Our objective was not just to build this instrument, however, but also to produce a well-formed piece of music which would exploit it idiomatically, in a performance which would provide listeners with a pleasurable and satisfying musical experience. Hence, consideration of the extent and limits of the playing-techniques of the resulting instrument (a “Wind-Controller”) and of appropriate approaches to the composition of music for it were an integral part of the project from the start. Moreover, the intention was also that the piece, though grounded in the musical characteristics of the 19-EDO scale, would nevertheless have a recognisable relationship with what Dimitri Tymoczko (2010) has called the “Extended Common Practice” of the last millennium. So the article goes on to consider these matters, and to present a score of the resulting new piece, annotated with comments documenting some of the performance issues which it raises. Thus, bringing the project to fruition involved elements of composition, performance, engineering and computing, and the article describes how such an inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary collaboration was co-ordinated in a unified manner to achieve the envisaged outcome. Finally, we consider why the building of microtonal instruments is such a problematic issue in a contemporary (“high-tech”) society like ours

Resource Scarcity, Wellbeing and Development

This paper begins by providing a brief overview of resource scarcity issues in the four areas of food, water, land and energy, in each case focusing primarily on the global level and setting out the basic supply and demand drivers involved. The paper then discusses why it may make sense to see these issues as an interconnected set rather than as discrete single issues. Finally, Part 1 discusses whether concerns over resource scarcity are misplaced, given that Malthusian concerns about resource depletion have often been misplaced in the past. The second part of the paper then discusses some of the ways in which resource scarcity could affect development and human wellbeing. In doing so, the paper considers three different approaches to assessing wellbeing – the economic or resource-based approach, the subjective or ‘happiness’ approach, and the capability or freedom approach – and discusses how resource scarcity could impact each of these forms of wellbeing.The Rockerfeller Foundatio

The Culture of Business Education and its Place in the Modern University

Many researchers believe that the modern university is in a state of crisis like never before. One of the main reasons cited for this decline is that the modern university has a closer resemblance to a transnational corporation than to a traditional scholarly institution (Lewis, 2005). This paper attempts to define the term “university” from a classical perspective and to describe the gradual incorporation of vocational pursuits into its scope. Focusing on modern North American university models, it asks whether business schools, in particular, should be operating within academia. An alternative is discussed, which focuses on the vocational attributes of business rather than theoretical knowledge. I draw on secondary sources as well as my own personal experience as a student and researcher to make suggestions on how interdepartmental tension developed and how it can be reduced. The paper finds that the business school does have a place in the modern university; however, the classical representation of the university must be abandoned for it to be fully embraced.  De nombreux chercheurs croient que l’université moderne n’a jamais vécu une crise si grave. Une des principales raisons citées pour expliquer cette baisse est que l’université moderne ressemble plus à une entreprise transnationale qu’à un établissement d’enseignement scientifique traditionnel (Lewis, 2005). Le présent article tente de définir le terme « université » selon une perspective classique, et de décrire ce qu’est l’intégration progressive d’une carrière professionnelle dans son champ d’application. Se concentrant sur les modèles universitaires modernes en Amérique du Nord, on demande si les écoles commerciales, en particulier, devraient fonctionner en milieu universitaire. On discute d’une alternative qui mise sur les attributs professionnels du commerce plutôt que sur les connaissances théoriques. Nous tirerons parti des sources secondaires aussi bien que de ma propre expérience en tant qu’étudiant et chercheur pour apporter des suggestions sur la façon dont la tension interdépartementale s’est créée et les moyens de la réduire. Notre recherche constate que l’école de commerce a bien une place dans l’université moderne, cependant, afin que cette place soit pleinement assumée, il est nécessaire d’abandonner la représentation classique de l’université en général

Death is not a success: reflections on business exit

This article is a critical evaluation of claims that business exits should not be seen as failures, on the grounds that may constitute voluntary liquidation, or because they are learning opportunities. This can be seen as further evidence of bias affecting entrepreneurship research, where failures are repackaged as successes. This article reiterates that the majority of business exits are unsuccessful. Drawing on ideas from the organisational life course, it is suggested that business ‘death’ is a suitable term for describing business closure. Even cases of voluntary ‘harvest liquidation’ such as retirement can be meaningfully described as business deaths