Innovation, Venture Capital and Globalization: the Role of Public Policies

Creating more innovative and dynamic economies is one of the fundamental challenges facing both advanced and emerging market economies. An important ingredient of this involves the creation of entrepreneurial firms which can quickly translate creative ideas and scientific discoveries into viable products. These firms, however, need financing because it takes time and money to turn ideas into marketable products. However, investing in these types of activities is risky as a lot of new ideas simply don’t work out in practice. Because of these risks, banks tend to avoid lending to these types of firms. There is, however, a small segment of the financial sector referred to as the venture capital market that specializes in finding and developing these entrepreneurial businesses. This paper provides an overview of this important financial sector and concludes that public policies have historically been quite important in nurturing a venture capital industry as it is an area characterized by numerous market imperfections. From these experiences some lessons are drawn as to what actions governments can take to overcome the obstacles in establishing a venture capital market which can adequately finance dynamic new companies. It is also emphasized that although obtaining finance is often a significant constraint it is nevertheless just as important to ensure that the other ingredients for entrepreneurship are also present; these include a proper regulatory and legal framework including protections for intellectual property, low start-up costs with minimum paper work, a favourable tax regime, and a well-educated workforce. More generally, it is pointed out that the policies needed to promote innovation in advanced economies may not be appropriate for catching-up economies.Financing for development, innovation, venture capital, Europe, transition economies, start-ups, savings, investment, public policy

Addressing Climate Change through Innovation: The Challenges Ahead

A key component of climate change mitigation efforts will be the need to develop new technological solutions and to diffuse current state-of-the-art technologies to developing countries. However, due to a number of market failures, the required research and technological transfers are currently not being undertaken. The essay discusses how what has been learned about promoting innovation policies at the general level can be applied to the specific challenges in the environmental area. It stresses the need to establish the proper regulatory and institutional frameworks as a precondition for attracting funding into these activities. More specifically, there is a current need to set a realistic price for carbon emissions that will provide an important financial incentive for firms to invest in mitigation technologies. The issue of finding finance for often long-term and risky environmental projects is likely to become especially difficult due to the 2008 financial crisis.Climate change, global warming, innovation, finance

The Private Housing Market in Eastern Europe and the CIS

This study provides a broad overview of the private housing market in central and eastern Europe and some of the CIS – its history, current conditions and implications for the overall economy. It highlights regional differences, describes the different policy choices that have been made, and evaluates potential problem areas and the policy options for addressing them. The paper begins with a description of housing in these countries before and during their transition phase to market economies. The current state of the housing market in this region is then examined with an emphasis on its institutional development and size. Price trends throughout the region are analysed. A major objective is to ascertain the extent to which these markets are now similar to those observed in more developed western economies. The implications for the housing market resulting from the further integration of these countries into the global financial system are also explored.housing market, East Europe, CIS, housing prices, housing bubble, mortgage market

Remittances in the CIS: Their Economic Implications and a New Estimation Procedure

Migrant remittances are an increasingly important type of international financial flow for providing both additional resources for development as well as consumption expenditures for poverty alleviation. One geographical area where these flows are quite significant is in the CIS economies both in terms of their sheer size as well as their economic importance in providing a source of external finance for the recipient countries. Data on remittances generally, but especially in this region, are often of poor reliability due to the fact that these flows often move through unofficial and unmonitored channels. Data for the CIS are limited in that several countries do not provide this information in their balance of payment statistics and in those that do, it is often only partially reported and poorly collected or estimated. In this paper the characteristics, trends, and importance of remittances in the CIS are discussed and a new approach for estimating remittance flows in the CIS is developed based upon a new set of financial data recently released by the Central Bank of Russia and unpublished data obtained from the central banks of Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine.remittances, migration, CIS, Russia, external finance, financial flows

Tecnologías basadas en recursos naturales para el desarrollo de comunidades descentralizadas de la costa caribe

Ante la grave crisis del agua a nivel mundial, se hace necesario una gestión sustentable del recurso hídrico. Ello quiere decir que los recursos hídricos son limitados y que no se pueden mantener sin la conservación de los ecosistemas acuáticos en buen estado, de manera que se haga una gestión eficaz basada en el ahorro, el reusó y la no contaminación del agua, todo ello en una planificación sostenible del territorio y una gestión integrada de las cuencas hidrográficas. Es por ello, que el uso de tecnologías basadas en recurso naturales tanto para el abastecimiento de agua potable como para el saneamiento, se convierte en una de las soluciones a la grave crisis del agua, concebido todo el proceso desde la evaluación de las condiciones de la región donde se aplicará, es decir, desde un alcance económico, social, legal y medioambiental. Este tipo tecnologías influyen en el desarrollo de la comunidad estimulando los procesos de participación, aumentando los conocimientos técnicos de sus miembros y creando el sentimiento de empoderamiento de la tecnología, dando lugar a un mayor interés en su mantenimiento ( Pérez-Foguet, Carrillo & Magrinyà, 2003). Por lo que el uso de tecnologías basadas en recursos naturales solo será útil en la medida en que la comunidad se apropie de ella y sea capaz de operarla, mantenerla y sostenerla a través del tiempo con un mínimo apoyo institucional externo. El presente trabajo reporta información sobre la implementación de un sistema de desalinización por destilación simple con el propósito de mitigar la carencia de agua para necesidades básicas en una comunidad costera ubicada en el Tajamar Oriental de Bocas de Ceniza, que tiene dificultad con el acceso al agua potable

Implementación de un sistema natural para tratamiento de aguas residuales en zonas rurales. Estudio de caso para una institución educativa del municipio de Malambo – Colombia.

El continuo crecimiento de la población mundial, sumado a la creciente urbanización e intensificación de la producción industrial y agropecuaria, así como la sobreexplotación de ecosistemas acuáticos, terrestres y atmosféricos, ha traído consigo uno de los problemas más críticos que afronta la sociedad actual: la crisis de la disponibilidad de agua no contaminada. Dentro de los principales contaminantes que afectan y deterioran la calidad del agua se incluye la materia orgánica y los nutrientes quienes representan un riesgo ambiental, social y económico, que afecta a la salud humana, limita la producción de alimentos, reduce la funcionalidad de los ecosistemas y obstaculiza el crecimiento económico (UNESCO, 2015). Este hecho, afecta a la población más marginada, sobre todo a los que viven en zonas rurales puesto que son los que más usan el agua de los ríos o lagos para beber, para bañarse, lavar la ropa o cocinar. Un claro ejemplo de esta problemática se vive en el municipio de Malambo, en donde los cuerpos de agua de esta unidad territorial han presentado serios problemas de contaminación ambiental, lo cual ha repercutido negativamente en las condiciones de vida de la población que se ubica en los alrededores, no solo desde el punto de vista económico, con la disminución de la pesca, sino también desde el aspecto de la salud de sus habitantes. Para evaluar el uso de tecnologías basadas en sistemas naturales como una alternativa para la gestión sostenible del agua en comunidades rurales del municipio de Malambo, se implementó a escala de mesocosmo un sistema de humedal construido de flujo sub superficial horizontal HC-FSSH, para la remoción de materia orgánica y nutrientes en una institución educativa del municipio. La evaluación de esta unidad indico una eficiencia de remoción de materia orgánica y nutrientes, comprendida entre 70 y 95 % de la carga inicial. Esta variación puede estar, relacionada con la presencia de las plantas y el tiempo de retención hidráulico TRH. Los resultados de este estudio permiten concluir que los HC-FSSH pueden ser recomendados para remover contaminantes prioritarios como la materia orgánica y los nutrientes, de las aguas residuales contribuyendo con una gestión sostenible del recurso hídrico en comunidades rurales

Cost-range trade-off in the design and operation of long range transport airplanes

The objective of this study is to show the environmental and operating cost savings that could be achieved if long range transport aircraft were designed for shorter ranges; obviously at the drawback of longer trip duration, for the inevitable intermediate stop. The maximum take-off weight and operating empty weight, main design variables of transport airplanes, would be greatly reduced. However, it would be impossible to take full advantage of this procedure for, on the one hand, it would be difficult to find a suitable airport at the exact midpoint and, moreover, there would be a certain increase in the total distance because of the deviation. The overall result will depend on the length of the route, the technology level (range factor and operating empty weight fraction with respect to maximum take-off weight), and other variables that will be discussed. Only for very long routes and/or very high fuel cost the shorter design range case represents a meaningful saving with respect to the non-stop flight

Distinct synovial immunopathology in Behçet disease and psoriatic arthritis

Introduction The aim of the study was to investigate synovial immunopathology differences between early Behcet disease (BD) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods Needle arthroscopy of an inflamed knee joint was performed in patients with early untreated BD (n = 8) and PsA (n = 9). Synovial fluid (SF) was collected for cytokines, perforin, and granzyme analysis. Eight synovial biopsies per patient were obtained for immunohistochemical analysis of the cellular infiltrate (T cells, natural killer cells, macrophages, B cells, plasma cells, mast cells, and neutrophils), blood vessels as well as expression of perforin and granzyme. The stained slides were evaluated by digital image analysis. Results The global degree of synovial inflammation was similar in the two types of arthritis. In the analysis of the innate immune cell infiltration, there was a striking neutrophilic inflammation in BD synovitis whereas PsA displayed significantly higher numbers of cells positive for c-kit, a marker of mast cells. As for lymphocytes, CD3(+) T cells, but neither CD20(+) B cells nor CD138(+) plasma cells, were significantly increased in BD versus PsA. Further analysis of the T-lymphocyte population showed no clear shift in CD4/CD8 ratio or Th1/Th2/Th17 profile. The SF levels of perforin, an effector molecule of cytotoxic cells, displayed a significant four-to fivefold increase in BD. Conclusions This systematic comparative analysis of early untreated synovitis identifies neutrophils and T lymphocytes as important infiltrating cell populations in BD. Increased levels of perforin in BD suggest the relevance of cytotoxicity in this diseas

Implementación de soluciones por medio de servicios instalados en gnu/linux

El presente informe consolida la implementación y configuración de Zentyal Server como sistema base para disponer de los servicios de infraestructuras IT, cabe resaltar que dentro de la temática es importante reconocer y entender que Zentyal Server es un sistema que nos facilita la gestión de redes y nos permite unificar y administrar fácilmente todos los servicios básicos que se requieren en el desarrollo de una red de redes y ofrecer acceso fiable y seguro a internet.This report consolidates the implementation and configuration of Zentyal Server as a base system to provide IT infrastructure services. It should be noted that within the topic it is important to recognize and understand that Zentyal Server is a system that facilitates network management and allows us to It allows you to easily unify and manage all the basic services that are required in the development of a network of networks and offer reliable and secure access to the Internet

The Incidence of AIDS-Defining Illnesses at a Current CD4 Count ≥200 Cells/µL in the Post-Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Era

The incidence of AIDS was higher in patients with a current CD4 count of 500-749 cells/µL compared to 750-999 cells/µL, but did not decrease further at higher CD4 levels. Results were similar in those virologically suppressed on combination antiretroviral therapy, suggesting immune reconstitution is incomplete until CD4 >750/µ