Inter-Firm Non-Monetary Transactions in Russia: A Literature Review

This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the use of non- monetary transactions (barter, debt offsets, etc.) in Russia since the fall of Communism. The two primary theories are the credit crunch (liquidity constraint) theory and the virtual economy theory. The former relates to the lack of access to bank credit and cash and the rise of non-monetary transactions as a survival mechanism that oils the gears of the market. The latter asserts that barter is a symptom of a system by which the value added firms (such as Gasprom) subsidize the value destroying firms (the 'white elephants'). Barter allows the two players to arbitrarily set prices so that the value added firm can avoid some of the profit taxes while the value destroying firms can stay alive.barter, non-monetary, Russia, demonetization, transition

Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from 25 Countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union

Using the joint World Bank and EBRD Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), compiled in 1999, this paper explores the relationship between firm performance and ownership in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The literature on privatization and performance has been largely inconclusive, especially now that sample selection bias is taken into account. This paper provides evidence that foreign owned firms perform the best, performing significantly better than state owned enterprises, while firms whose owners are domestic outside companies or individuals also perform better than state owned enterprises but the result is somewhat sensitive to the specification of the model. The more significant, albeit puzzling result, is that insider owned firms perform worse than state owned firms. This result is not significant when looking at manager and worker owned firms separately. In further work, I will explore the determinants of this puzzling result.transition, privatization, ownership, firm performance

Application of Caline 4 Model to Predict Pm2.5 Concentration at Central Silk Board Traffic Intersection of Bangalore City

Rapid growth of the vehicular population has resulted in the deterioration of environmental quality and human health in metropolitan cities. Concentrations of air pollutants at major traffic intersections are exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in Bangalore. The people are exposed to higher pollution levels and facing severe respiratory diseases. Hence, an attempt was made using CALINE 4 model to estimate particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations at traffic intersection namely, Central Silk Board, Bangalore. Traffic analysis was conducted between 6:00AM to 10:00PM. Peak flows of traffic were recorded between 8.00AM to 12.00 Noon and 4.00PM to 8.00PM. Estimated PM2.5 concentrations using CALINE 4 was ranged from 121.3µg/m3 to 403.7µg/m3 . Maximum concentrations were observed on Monday’s and Friday’s. The estimated concentrations of PM2.5 were compared with measured concentrations of KSPCB, Bangalore. Based on the comparative test (t-test) results the performance of CALINE 4 model for prediction of PM2.5 concentration is valid and can be accepted. The values of NMSE, FB, and GMB were well within the prescribed limits. Hence, CALINE 4 model is a useful tool to predict the pollutant concentrations at traffic intersection

Laboratory Studies on the Bioremediation of Soil Contaminated by Diesel

The most widely used energy and fuel resources are hydrocarbons such as crude oil and petroleum distillates. The accidental discharge of these petroleum products contribute in making hydrocarbons the most common environmental pollutants. Bioremediation helps to destroy or render harmless various contaminants using natural biological activity. The present study utilizes the potential of bioremediation to remediate soil contaminated with diesel. Eight bioreactors were used for the study, out of which four bioreactors were maintained at optimum environmental conditions and the remaining four were kept without any maintenance to serve as control bioreactors. Contaminated soil was prepared by mixing fresh soil and diesel so as to attain 10% TPH concentrations by weight of soil. Each bioreactor was filled with 3 kg of contaminated soil

Water Quality Index Mapping of Kengeri Industrial Area of Bangalore City Using Geospatial Analysis

Assessment of groundwater quality is essential in the field of environmental quality management. The present study aims at the assessment of groundwater quality of Kengeri industrial area, comprises of 133.95 Sq Km, in Bangalore city with the help of water quality index (WQI).The groundwater samples collected from thirty locations were analyzed as per the standard methods. pH, total hardness, iron, chloride, fluoride, total dissolved solids, calcium, magnesium, sulphate and nitrate were considered for the study. The WQI of thirty samples were ranged between 0.92 and 361.41. Nearly 24 % of the samples exceeded the value of WQI 100. The high value of WQI may be attributed due to higher concentrations of iron, nitrate, total dissolved solids, total hardness and fluorides beyond desirable limits in the groundwater samples. During post monsoon season, groundwater of about 42.78 Sq Km area was unfit for drinking. The analysis reveals that the groundwater of south-west Kengeri industrial area needs some treatment before using it for domestic applications and it also necessitates for protection from the risk of further contaminatio

Planar Reinforcements for Flexible Pavements

ase and subbase layers, forming a major portion of a pavement, are constructed using crushe d aggregates. In order to reduce the consumption of h uge quantities of aggregates in large-size projects, it is essential to adapt and utilize alternate materials and design me thods in building sustainable road ways. Reinforcing flexibl e pavements is one of the ways to improve the performance or to reduce the pavement thickness. Many researchers conducted exp eriments to quantify the benefit of reinforcing flexible pav ements in terms of traffic benefit ratio (TBR). In this study , Large Scale Model Experiments (LSME) are conducted to investigate the settlement behaviour of unpaved pavement system aga inst static loading. The design of reinforced unpaved ro ads is carried out using Giroud and Han method with reinfo rcement in the form of geogrids having aperture stability m odulus of 0.32 N-m/ 0 and 0.65 N-m/ 0 . The design of reinforced paved roads is carried out using AASHTO guidelines with th e selected TBR values equal to 3 and 6. From the LSME conducted on the unreinforced and reinforced unpave d pavement system, it is observed that inclusion of p lanar reinforcement in the form of geogrid or steel-wire- mesh within the aggregate layer resulted in load improvement fa ctor ranging from 1.1 to 1.9. Based on the design carrie d out using the proposed methods on paved and unpaved reinforce d roads, it is possible to reduce the pavement thickness fro m 20% to 70% depending on the type of geogrid and subgrade s trength

Growth and Characterization of Nickel Catalyzed Gallium Oxide Nanowires on Sapphire Substrate

Beta gallium oxide (-Ga2O3) nanowires (NWs) were synthesized via chemical vapor deposition in argon atmosphere using gallium as a precursor and sapphire substrate coated with ultra thin film of nickel (Ni). In this report, we report the growth of -Ga2O3 NWs as a function of deposition time. The structure and morphology of grown NWs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results revealed that single crystal growth of the NWs and their crystallinity improved with the increase in the deposition time. The diameter of -Ga2O3 NWs varied in the range between 40-80 nm and their length was observed up to many micrometers. The optical property of NWs was determined using UV-visible spectrophotometer and the bandgap of -Ga2O3 NWs was found to be about 4.30 eV. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3099

Long Term Bioremediation of Petroleum Contaminated Soil under Varying Moisture Content

Petroleum hydrocarbon spills cause contamination of soils, surface aquifers and groundwater supplies, thereby having a negative impact on the environment. Advances in science and technology have enabled us to apply the potential of biological diversity for pollution abatement which is termed as bioremediation. Bioremediation is an innovative technology for the treatment of wide variety of contaminants. The present study was hence focused on treating petroleum contaminated soils utilizing the potential of bioremediation. The study emphasizes on hydrocarbon degradation during the long term bioremediation of petroleum contaminated soil. Moisture content of the soil was considered for optimization, in order to evaluate its influence on the biodegradation process. Biodegradation of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) was examined for 28 bioreactors with varying moisture content (30% - 90% field capacity) and one reactor was taken as control bioreactor. The physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the soil were tested on a weekly basis for a period of 23 weeks to determine the TPH degradation rate. It was observed that at moisture content of 60% field capacity, maximum TPH removal of 78.21% was recorded and the degradation rate constants for rapid and slow phase of degradation were 0.0250 d-1 and 0.00267 d-1respectively. Since the first (rapid) stage of degradation was dominating, efforts to enhance biological activity should be directed towards the first phase of biodegradation

Influence of Moisture Content and Oxygen Concentration on Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons

The biodegradability of petroleum hydrocarbons was evaluated using petroleum oily sludge from VRL logistics ltd situated at Kengeri, Bangalore (India). The soil rich in native microorganisms was collected from Bangalore University campus and the same is used to prepare simulated contaminated soil. The initial Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) concentration in the simulated contaminated soil was 83,940 mg /kg of soil. Biodegradation was examined for three different conditions i.e. four bioreactors for studying variation of moisture, four bioreactors for studying variation of oxygen and one bioreactor as control Treatability studies on TPH contaminated soil was conducted for 12 weeks to evaluate TPH mass loss rates under the most favorable conditions, for which a set of nine bioreactors each with 15 kg of fresh soil, 3 kgs of oily sludge, 1.5 kgs of inoculated soil in the ratio of (10:2:1) were thoroughly mixed and maintained under laboratory conditions. The TPH, moisture content, pH, bacterial counts and oxygen were monitored regularly along with the nutrient concentration i.e.. C: N: P ratio maintained at 100:10:1 in all the bioreactors except the control reactor. From the study it is concluded that the optimal conditions for better degradation of TPH is found to be between 50% - 60% of moisture content with biodegradation rate of 0.0128 - 0.0174 day1 and TPH removal efficiency of 68.5 - 79.2% and oxygen concentration of 50 - 60 mg/kg/day, with biodegradation rate of 0.012

Secure and Reliable Data Transfer across Multiple Entities by Using LIME

A data distributor has given precise data to a set of evidently trusted agents. Some of the data are leaked and found in an unjustified place. The distributor must assess the probability that the splitted data came from one or more agents, as opposed to having been individually collected by others. We suggest data allocation techniques which can enhance the chance of identifying split. These strategies do not build on changes of the outsourced data. While sending data through the network there is a lot of dishonest user looking to hack useful data. A proper security should be provided to data which is send to network. To avoid this data leakage, we used the data lineage mechanism. We develop and analyze novel accountable data transfer protocol between two entities within a malicious environment by building upon oblivious transfer and robust Watermarking