Product and Process Innovation in a Growth Model of Firm Selection

Recent empirical evidence based on firm level data emphasizes firm heterogeneity in innovation activities and the different effects of process and product innovations on the productivity level and productivity growth. To match this evidence, this paper develops an endogenous growth model with two sources of firm heterogeneity: production efficiency and product quality.Both attributes evolve endogenously through firms’ innovation choices. Growth is driven by innovation and self-selection of firms and sustained by entrants who imitate incumbents. Calibrating the economy to match the Spanish manufacturing sector, the model enables to quantify the different effects of selection, innovation, and imitation as well as product and process innovation on growth. Compared to single attribute models of firm heterogeneity, the model provides a more complete characterization of firms’ innovation choices explaining the partition of firms along different innovation strategies and generating consistent firm size distributions.endogenous growth theory, firm dynamics, heterogeneous firms, productivity, quality, innovation

Claude Sumner and the Quest for an Ethiopian Philosophy

African philosophy emerged out of the rationality debates and the need to affirm the existence of a unique African intellectual tradition that primarily reflects on the legacies of colonialism. Such a debate also centered on whether there is a unique philosophical tradition rooted on African traditional practices. In such a context, Ethiopian philosophy represents a unique approach in defying the colonial bias which is founded on the idea that philosophy is exclusively a western mode of thinking. It is also unique in being available among others in a written form which is absent in other philosophical traditions in Africa. In this paper, I will develop a critical exposition of Sumner’s studies into the written, oral and sapiential sources of Ethiopian philosophy. I will discuss the contributions of Claude Sumner in light of questioning Eurocentric bias that undermined the existence of non-western philosophies, escaping the charge of ethno-philosophy, and situating Ethiopian philosophy on different modalities of Ethiopian experience. To attain such an undertaking, Sumner’s investigations on Ethiopian philosophy and their major contributions to the attempt to introduce a unique philosophical tradition in Ethiopia will be discussed. Through a discussion of Sumner’s works on Ethiopian philosophy, this paper attempts to situate the place of Ethiopian philosophy within the need to reflect on our existential predicaments. I will start my discussion by situating the forces that motivated Sumner’s pursuits, and also elaborating on Sumner’s explorations into the classical, oral and written sources of Ethiopian philosoph

Intercultural Discourse, Critique, Emancipation and the Inclusion of the Other

This paper critically engages contemporary discussions in intercultural philosophy and critical theory in light of achieving a profound critique of grand ideological schemes, propounding a model for an emancipatory praxis and the inclusion of the other in the dominant discourse. Intercultural philosophy tries to deconstruct the Eurocentrism of the philosophical tradition and in return introduces a reconstructive project centered on the embedded nature of cognition and the culturally oriented nature of philosophy. Critical social theory constitutes a critique of grand metaphysical systems that divorce theory from praxis and the transcendent from the transient. In return it tries to introduce an emancipatory praxis inspired by Hegelian-Marxism, is dialectical, reflexive, analyzes the contradictions of modernity and is interdisciplinary. Intercultural philosophy and critical social theory share a common interest in standing against grand metaphysical systems and centering on everyday centers of learning. Through such a critical exposition of the confines of intercultural philosophy and critical social theory, this paper argues that both approaches, (1) fail to go beyond the Eurocentric grand narrative of modernity that legitimizes Western ideology and is antithetical to the lived experiences of the other, (2) both approaches ultimately run into the problem of value incommensurability and (3) both approaches fail to introduce a quasi-transcendental foundation that both translate contending worldviews while simultaneously affirming the place of the other. Finally I will introduce an alternative model founded on the idea of multiple modernities which situates modernity as being situated in diverse cultural backgrounds.Keywords: Otherness, Interculturality, Critique, Emancipatio

Assessment of Tax Estimation and Collection System on Category “C”Tax Payers in Case of Goba Town Administration Revenue Office South East Ethiopia

This study seeks to assess tax estimation and collection system on category “C” tax payers in        case of Goba town administration revenue office. For the purpose of the study primary data was used. Information was obtained through interview and open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires. The study used purposive (judgmental) sampling technique to select 12 employees out of 16 office employees The study found the potential problem that faced by the office on phase of tax estimation and collection. Some of them are; tax payers are involuntary to pay levied tax, tax payers intentionally delay payment, low quality and experience of tax estimators and unethical act of tax estimator’s. Finally, researcher forward his finding to office to provide continuous education to the tax payers mainly by the authority with its collaborators institution and to create awareness about the purpose and importance of tax and to create citizens who have better understanding of taxation which will stimulate honest and voluntary to pay appropriate levied amount and lastly to prepare  training and experience share between tax estimator and collector from this branch of the authority tax estimator and collector should be provided for better quality and experience

Los retos del derecho y la acción humanitarios en el umbral del siglo XXI: una perspectiva africana

Quizá nunca antes en la historia, y muy pocas veces en los tiempos modernos, ha estado la humanidad tan cerca y a la vez tan lejos de lograr sus objetivos humanitarios como lo está ahora. Esta paradoja se debe principalmente al hecho de que la humanidad se encuentra una vez más en una encrucijada. Por consiguiente, es necesario explorar las características sobresalientes tanto de dicha paradoja como de los retos que plantea ésta para el derecho y la acción humanitarios en el umbral del siglo XX

Effects of Fertilizer Level on Yield and Yield Components of Different Food Barley Varieties at Arsi Zone, Ethiopia

A field experiment was conducted at Lemu-bilbilo wereda, Arsi Zone, Ethiopia, from June to December 2017/18 cropping season, with the aim of evaluating the optimal rate of fertilizers rate for maximal production of food barley varieties on two farmer’s site. Four levels fertilizer (RNP (100 kg / ha urea + 150 kg / ha DAP) (73N, 69 P2O5), 150%RNP, 200%RNP and RNPS (100 kg / ha) (19 N 38 P2O5 + 7S) and three food barley varieties (HB42, HB1307 and EH1493) were tested in Randomized complete Block Design replicate three times. The main effects of fertilizer rate on spike length, grain per spike and biomass yield showed significant (P< 0.05) variation. The use of 200%RNP resulted in highest (8.6 cm) spike length, (49.8) grain per spike and (7149.2 kg ha-1) biomass yield. The interaction effect of fertilizer level and food barley varieties showed significant (P<0.01) variation on grain yield , hectolitre weight and thousand kernel weight. The highest (3345.8 kg ha-1) grain yield was obtained from the combination of HB1307 food barley variety with 200%RNP fertilizer level, followed (2964.5 kg ha-1) grain yield was recorded fromHB1307 variety at fertilization of 150%RNP,while the lowest(1860 kg ha-1) grain yield was recorded from HB42 variety at a RNP fertilizer level. Likewise the highest (60.5 gm) thousand kernel weight and (71.6 kg hL-1) hectolitre weight was recorded from HB42 food barley variety fertilized with RNP and from variety EH1493 with 200%RNP fertilizer respectively. Therefor the most cost-effective variety and fertilizer level for farmers with low cost of production and higher benefits were identified to be the variety HB1307 at the fertilizer level of 150%RNP as first option for the study area and similar agro ecological conditions. Keywords: food barley, fertilizer rate, variety, grain yield DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/12-15-03 Publication date:August 31st 2022

The CAR (Confront, Address, Replace) Strategy: An Antiracist Engineering Pedagogy

The CAR (confront, address, replace) Strategy is an antiracist pedagogy aiming to drive out exclusionary terminology in engineering education. “Master-slave” terminology is still commonplace in engineering education and industry. However, questions have been raised about the negative impacts of such language. Usage of exclusionary terminology such as “master-slave” in academia can make students—especially those who identify as women and/or Black/African-American—feel uncomfortable, potentially evoking Stereotype Threat (Danowitz, 2020) and/or Curriculum Trauma (Buul, 2020). Indeed, prior research shows that students from a number of backgrounds find non-inclusive terminologies such as “master-slave” to be a major problem (Danowitz, 2020). Currently, women-identifying and gender nonbinary students are underrepresented in the engineering industry (ASEE, 2020) while Black/African-American students are underrepresented in the entire higher education system, including engineering fields (NSF, 2019). The CAR Strategy, introduced here, stands for: 1) confront; 2) address; 3) replace and aims to provide a framework for driving out iniquitous terminologies in engineering education such as “master-slave.” The first step is to confront the historical significance of the terminology in question. The second step is to address the technical inaccuracies of the legacy terminology. Lastly, replace the problematic terminology with an optional but recommended replacement. This thesis reports on student perceptions and the effectiveness of The CAR Strategy piloted as a teaching framework in the computer engineering department of Cal Poly. Of 64 students surveyed: 70% either agree or strongly agree that The CAR Strategy is an effective framework for driving out exclusionary terminologies. Amman Asfaw first presented certain portions of this thesis at the virtual 2021 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference and Exposition. The original publication’s copyright is held by ASEE (Asfaw, 2021); secondary authors included Storm Randolph, Victoria Siaumau, Yumi Aguilar, Emily Flores, Dr. Jane Lehr, and Dr. Andrew Danowitz

Reducing uncertainty in prediction of climate change impacts on crop production in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, with an economy heavily reliant on agriculture, is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. It faces recurrent climate extreme events that result in devastating impacts and acute food shortages for millions of people. Studies that focus on their influence on agriculture, especially crop productivity, are of particular importance. However, only a few studies have been conducted in Ethiopia, and existing studies are spatially limited and show considerable spatial invariance in predicted impacts, as well as discrepancies in the sign and direction of impacts. Therefore, a robust, regionally focused, and multi-model assessment of climate change impacts is urgently needed. To guide policymaking and adaptation strategies, it is essential to quantify the impacts of climate change and distinguish the different sources of uncertainty. Against this backdrop, this study consisted of several key components. Using a multi-crop model ensemble, we began with a local climate change impact assessment on maize and wheat growth and yield across three sites in Ethiopia . We quantified the contributions of different sources of uncertainty in crop yield prediction. Our results projected a of 36 to 40% reduction in wheat grain yield by 2050, while the impact on maize was modest. A significant part of the uncertainty in the projected impact was attributed to differences in the crop growth models. Importantly, our study identified crop growth model-associated uncertainty as larger than the rest of the model components. Second, we produced a high-resolution daily projections database for rainfall and temperature to serve the requirement for impact modeling at regional and local levels using a statistical downscaling technique based on state-of-the-art GCMs under a range of emission scenarios called Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The evaluated results suggest that the downscaling strategy significantly reduced the biases between the GCM outputs and the observation data and minimized the errors in the projections. Third, we explored the magnitude and spatial patterns of trends in observed and projected changes in climate extremes indices based on downscaled high-resolution daily climate data to serve as a baseline for future national or regional-level impact assessment. Our results show largely significant and spatially consistent trends in temperature-derived extreme indices, while precipitation-related extreme indices are heterogeneous in terms of spatial distribution, magnitude, and statistical significance coverage. The projected changes in temperature-related indices are dominated by the uncertainties in the GCMs, followed by uncertainties in the SSPs. Unlike the temperature-related indices, the uncertainty from internal climate variability constitutes a considerable proportion of the total uncertainty in the projected trends. Fourth, we examined the regional-scale impact of climate change on maize and wheat yields by crop modeling, in which we calibrated and validated three process-based crop models to guide the design of national-level adaptation strategies in Ethiopia. Our analysis showed that under a high-emissions scenario, the national-level median wheat yield is expected to decrease by 4%, while maize yield is expected to increase by 2.5% by the end of the century. The CO2 fertilization effect on the crop simulations would offset the projected negative impact. Crop model spread followed by GCMs was identified as the largest contributor to overall uncertainty to the estimated yield changes. In summary, our study quantifies the impact of climate change and demonstrates the importance of a multi-model ensemble approach. We highlight the significant impacts of climate change on wheat yield in Ethiopia and the importance of crop model improvements to reduce overall uncertainty in the projected impact.Äthiopien, dessen Wirtschaft stark von der Landwirtschaft abhängt, zählt zu den Ländern, die am stärksten vom Klimawandel betroffen sind. Immer wieder ist das Land mit extremen Klimaereignissen konfrontiert, die verheerende Auswirkungen haben und zu akuter Nahrungsmittelknappheit für Millionen von Menschen führen. Studien, die sich mit dem Einfluss des Klimawandels auf die Landwirtschaft und insbesondere auf die Pflanzenproduktivität befassen, sind von besonderer Bedeutung. Die wenigen Untersuchungen, die in Äthiopien durchgeführt wurden, sind räumlich begrenzt und zeigen eine hohe räumliche Invarianz in den vorhergesagten Auswirkungen. Sie weisen außerdem Diskrepanzen in deren Richtung und Stärke auf. Daher ist eine robuste, regional ausgerichtete und modellübergreifende Bewertung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels dringend erforderlich. Für politische Entscheidungen und Anpassungsstrategien ist es unerlässlich, diese zu quantifizieren und die Quellen der Unsicherheit zu identifizieren. Unsere Studie besteht aus mehreren Schlüsselkomponenten. Wir begannen mit einer lokalen Bewertung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf das Wachstum und die Erträge von Mais und Weizen an drei Standorten in Äthiopien unter Verwendung eines Multi-Crop-Modells. Zusätzlich quantifizierten wir den Anteil verschiedener Unsicherheitsquellen an der Vorhersage von Ernteerträgen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen einen prognostizierten Rückgang der Kornerträge vonWeizen um 36 bis 40 % bis 2050, während die Auswirkungen auf Mais gering ausfielen. Ein erheblicher Teil der Unsicherheit in den prognostizierten Auswirkungen kann auf die Unterschiede in den Wachstumsmodellen der Pflanzen zurückgeführt werden. Wir stellten fest, dass die mit dem Pflanzenwachstumsmodell verbundene Unsicherheit größer ist als die der übrigen betrachteten Modellkomponenten. Anschließend erstellten wir eine hochauflösende Datenbank mit täglichen Projektionsdaten für Niederschlag und Temperatur, um die klimawandelbedingten Auswirkungen auf regionaler und lokaler Ebene modellieren zu können. Dafür verwendeten wir statistische Downscaling- Techniken auf der Grundlage modernster GCMs unter verschiedenen Emissionsszenarien, den so genannten Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Die ausgewerteten Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Downscaling-Strategie den Bias zwischen den GCM-Ergebnissen und den Beobachtungsdaten erheblich reduziert und die Fehler in den Projektionen minimiert. Im dritten Schritt untersuchten wir die Stärke und die räumlichen Muster der Trends in den beobachteten und prognostizierten Klimaindizes auf der Grundlage herunterskalierter, hochauflösender täglicher Klimadaten. Sie können als Grundlage für künftige Folgenabschätzungen auf nationaler oder regionaler Ebene dienen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen weitgehend signifikante und räumlich konsistente Trends bei den von der Temperatur abgeleiteten Extremindizes, während die niederschlagsbezogenen Extremindizes in Bezug auf die räumliche Verteilung, die Größenordnung und die statistische Signifikanzabdeckung heterogen sind. Die projizierten Änderungen der temperaturbezogenen Indizes werden von den Unsicherheiten in den GCMs dominiert, gefolgt von den Unsicherheiten in den SSPs. Im Gegensatz zu den temperaturbezogenen Indizes macht die Unsicherheit in der internen Klimavariabilität einen beträchtlichen Teil der Gesamtunsicherheit in den projizierten Trends aus. Viertens untersuchten wir die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Erträge von Mais und Weizen auf regionaler Ebene durch Pflanzenmodellierung, wobei wir drei prozessbasierte Pflanzenmodelle kalibrierten und validierten, um das Design von nationalen Anpassungsstrategien in Äthiopien zu lenken. Unsere Analyse ergab, dass bei einem Szenario mit hohen Emissionen der mittlereWeizenertrag auf nationaler Ebene bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts voraussichtlich um 4 % zurückgehen wird, während der Maisertrag voraussichtlich um 2,5 % steigen wird. Der CO2 Düngeeffekt würde die prognostizierten negativen Auswirkungen ausgleichen. Die Streuung der Pflanzenmodelle, gefolgt von den GCMs, wurde als größter Unsicherheitsfaktor der geschätzten Ertragsänderungen identifiziert. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass unsere Studie die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels in Äthiopien quantifiziert und die Bedeutung eines Multi-Modell-Ensemble-Ansatzes verdeutlicht. Sie zeigt die erheblichen Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Weizenerträge in Äthiopien. Durch dieWeiterentwicklung und Verbesserung von Pflanzenmodellen könnte die Gesamtunsicherheit derprognostizierten Auswirkungen erheblichverringert werden

Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Anwar Shopiani Ra : The Colossal Literary Figure of Kashmiri Literature

The understanding of poetry has always been a subject of debate among the literary figures of all generations and classes Various definitions to differentiate a piece of poetry from what is not have inundated the literary pages of all times History acknowledges the fact that there lived people more specifically literary figures who contributed to the spirit of poetry It is the essence that entices others who otherwise consider poetry dreary stuff and just the depiction of the poet s mental skirmish Every literature has its prominence and essence it is the storehouse that presents the society then and now The literature of Kashmir is one such pearl in the stock of world literature that has its inimitability and identity Maulana Mohammad Anwar ShopianiRA 1849-1939 the repository of knowledge whose insight and sagacity have been attested by the giant literary figures worldwide Though it was a very difficult task to mold the minds of people towards the truth Maulana Anwar with his knowledge and poetic composition swayed many people Maulana was a social reformer he opted to absorb the pain for the sake of society His poetry and translation works have its own class that has been benefitting ever since his pen has begun to writ