Contesting a Place in the Sun: On Ideologies in Foreign Markets and Liabilities of Origin

This paper explores the role of ideology in attempts to influence public policy and in business representation in the EU-China solar panel anti-dumping dispute. It exposes the dynamics of international activity by emerging-economy multinationals, in this case from China, and their interactions in a developed-country context (the EU). Theoretically, the study also sheds light on the recent notion of ‘liability of origin’, in addition to the traditional concept of ‘liability of foreignness’ explored in international business research, in relation to firms’ market and political strategies and their institutional embeddedness in home and host countries. Through a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary material and interview data with key protagonists, we provide a detailed evolution of the case, the key actors involved and their positions, arguments and strategies. This illustrates the complexities involved in the interaction between markets and ideologies in the midst of debates regarding different forms of subsidy regimes for renewable energy, free trade versus protectionist tendencies by governments, and the economic and sustainability objectives of firms and societies. The case shows how relative newcomers to the EU market responded to overcome a direct threat to their business and became, with support from their home government, active participants in the public debate through interactions with local commercial partners and non-governmental organisations. Firms adopted relatively sophisticated strategies to reduce their liabilities vis-à-vis host-country institutions and local stakeholders, including collective action, to increase their legitimacy and reputation, and counter ideologically-based attacks. We also discuss implications and limitations

Light levitated geostationary cylindrical orbits are feasible

This paper discusses a new family of non-Keplerian orbits for solar sail spacecraft displaced above or below the Earth's equatorial plane. The work aims to prove the assertion in the literature that displaced geostationary orbits exist, possibly to increase the number of available slots for geostationary communications satellites. The existence of displaced non-Keplerian periodic orbits is ¯rst shown analytically by linearization of the solar sail dynamics around a geostationary point. The full displaced periodic solution of the non-linear equations of motion is then obtained using a Hermite-Simpson collocation method with inequality path constraints. The initial guess to the collocation method is given by the linearized solution and the inequality path constraints are enforced as a box around the linearized solution. The linear and nonlinear displaced periodic orbits are also obtained for the worst-case Sun-sail orientation at the solstices. Near-term and high-performance sails can be displaced between 10 km and 25 km above the Earth's equatorial plane during the summer solstice, while a perforated sail can be displaced above the usual station-keeping box (75 £ 75 km) of nominal geostationary satellites. Light-levitated orbit applications to Space Solar Power are also considered

Methodiek Schoolverlatersinformatiesysteem 1999

Dit werkdocument gaat in op de methodiek die in het uitvoeringsjaar 1999 is gehanteerd binnen het schoolverlatersonderzoek zoals dat door het ROA wordt uitgevoerd. Dit betreft de enquêtes Registratie van Uitstroom en Bestemming van Schoolverlaters (RUBS), HBO-Monitor en WO-Monitor. Sinds 1996 is het ROA-schoolverlatersonderzoek in vergaande mate geïntegreerd. Hierdoor is een vergelijkbaar systeem ontstaan, het Schoolverlatersinformatiesysteem (SIS) genoemd, met gegevens over schoolverlaters uit vrijwel het gehele secundair en tertiair onderwijs. In het kader van het onderzoek binnen dit informatiesysteem is onder andere de statistische bijlage van Schoolverlaters tussen onderwijs en arbeidsmarkt 1999 gepubliceerd. Daarnaast zijn er nog twee specifieke rapportages verschenen namelijk, een rapport over de arbeidsmarktpositie van de afgestudeerden van het HBO en een rapport over de arbeidsmarktpositie van afgestudeerden van het kunstvakonderwijs. De lerarenopleidingen zullen in een aparte rapportage worden behandeld. Tevens zullen de belangrijkste resultaten van de WO-Monitor in een landelijke rapportage worden gepresenteerd. Het Schoolverlatersinformatiesysteem wordt financieel mogelijk gemaakt door de Ministeries van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen, Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid en Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij, het Expertisecentrum voor Loopbaanvraagstukken LDC, de HBO-Raad, de VSNU en de deelnemende onderwijsinstellingen. Bij de uitvoering van het onderzoek werkt het ROA samen met DESAN Marktonderzoek b.v. te Amsterdam en STOAS Onderzoek te Wageningen. Binnen het ROA is de projectleiding van het Schoolverlatersinformatiesysteem in handen van dr. R.K.W. van der Velden en dr. M.H.J. Wolbers. Dit werkdocument is samengesteld door E.J. Potma en P.J.E.G. van der Kolk. Drs. J. van Loo heeft paragraaf 3 geschreven. Verder hebben aan het Schoolverlatersinformatiesysteem 1999 meegewerkt dr. J.P. Allen, drs. T.G. Huijgen, drs. G.W.M. Ramaekers en E.M.H.P. Soudant (allen werkzaam bij ROA), alsmede drs. M. van Alphen, drs. H. van Dongen, drs. ing. K.J. Pagrach, ing. J.J. Rutjes en drs. R. Tjemmes (allen werkzaam bij DESAN Marktonderzoek).labour market entry and occupational careers;

Counselling in primary care : a systematic review of the evidence

Primary objective: To undertake a systematic review which aimed to locate, appraise and synthesise evidence to obtain a reliable overview of the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and user perspectives regarding counselling in primary care. Main results: Evidence from 26 studies was presented as a narrative synthesis and demonstrated that counselling is effective in the short term, is as effective as CBT with typical heterogeneous primary care populations and more effective than routine primary care for the treatment of non-specific generic psychological problems, anxiety and depression. Counselling may reduce levels of referrals to psychiatric services, but does not appear to reduce medication, the number of GP consultations or overall costs. Patients are highly satisfied with the counselling they have received in primary care and prefer counselling to medication for depression. Conclusions and implications for future research: This review demonstrates the value of counselling as a valid choice for primary care patients and as a broadly effective therapeutic intervention for a wide range of generic psychological conditions presenting in the primary care setting. More rigorous clinical and cost-effectiveness trials are needed together with surveys of more typical users of primary care services