Evolutionary economics and regional policy

The principal objective of this paper is to formulate some possible links between evolutionary economics and regional policy, a topic that has not (yet) been covered by the literature. We firstly give a brief overview of some issues of regional policy, conceived as a strategy to influence the spatial matrix of economic development. Then, we outline what we take to be the essential arguments and components of evolutionary economics. More in particular, we focus attention on the economic foundation of technology policy from an evolutionary perspective, and how this deviates from the so-called "equilibrium" rationale. Then, we examine in what way evolutionary insights may be helpful for regional policy matters. Our main emphasis is to investigate the degrees fo freedom policy makers may have to determine the future development of regions. When evolutionary mechanisms like chance and increasing returns are mainly involved in the spatial formation of new economic activities, there are several, but quite contradictory, options for policy makers. On the one hand, the importance of early chance events implies that multiple potential outcomes of location are quite thinkable. This is a principal problem for regional policy because new development paths can not be planned or even foreseen. On the other hand, policy makers may have a role to play here. Since space exercises only a minor influence on the location of new economic activities, there is room for policy makers to act and to build-up a favourable local environment. In this respect, urbanisation economies may offer advantages of flexibility secured by a diversity of activities which tends to prevent a process of negative lock-in. When evolutionary mechanisms like selection and path dependency are crucial for the geography of innovation, policy makers are expected to have more influence on the spatial pattern of innovation. In such circumstances, new variety is regarded as strongly embedded in its surrounding environment: the local environment acts as a sort of selection mechanism because it may, or may not, provide conditions favourable to meet the new requirements of new technology. Adaptation to change is largely constrained by the boundaries of the spatial matrix laid down in the past: only minor modifications tend to take place and do not undermine the logic of the spatial system.

An institutional economic approach to land and propterty markets: Urban dynamics and institutional change

Urban Development;Real Estate;Institutionalism;housing economics

Апробация программно-технологического инструментария автоматизации имитационного моделирования процессов предоставления услуг

Приведены результаты апробации программно–технологического инструментария процессов предоставления услуг, полученные во время его внедрения в работу двух отделений связи г. Гомеля. Описана методика анализа качества предоставления услуг, которая легко распространяется на другие проблемне области. На конкретном примере рассмотрена технология системного анализа динамики изменения «узких мест» в ходе имитационного эксперимента, позволяющая исследовать сложные процессы в условиях, значительно отличающихся от существующей практики организации работы отделений связи.Наведено результати апробації програмно-технологічного інструментарію надання послуг, отримані під час його впровадження у роботу двох відділень зв’язку м. Гомеля. Описано методику аналіза якості надання послуг, яка розповсюджується на інші проблемні сфери. На конкретному прикладі розглянуто технологію системного аналізу динаміки зміни «вузьких місць» у процесі імітаційного експерименту, яка дозволяє досліджувати складні процеси в умовах, що значною мірою відрізняються від наявної практики організації роботи відділень зв’язку.The results of the trial of program and technological tools for automation of service process simulation obtained via applying them to the operation of two Homel regional post offices are discussed. Methods for analysis of the quality of postal services are described. They are spread trivially over other problem areas. Technology of the system analysis of the “bottlenecks” change in the course of simulation experiment is considered. It permits one to study complicated processes under conditions markedly different from the conventional operation of post offices

Село і місто в постмодерному тексті

У статті розглядаються особливості зображення села та міста у сучасній постмодерній літературі. Матеріалом для дослідження слугують твори українських письменників Ю. Андруховича, Л. дереша, О. Ірванця. Ключові слова: постмодернізм, бінарна опозиція, село, місто.В статье рассматриваются особенности изображения села и города в современной постмодерной литературе. Материалом для исследования служат произведения украинских писателей Ю. Андруховича, Л. Дереша, А. Ирванца. Ключевые слова: постмодернизм, бинарная оппозиция, село, город.At the article author pay’s attention to the image of the village and town at the present postmodern literature. The Literary works of Ukrainian writers – J. Andruhovich, L. Deresh, A. Irvanets – was taken as the material of the research. Keywords: postmodern, binary opposition, village, town

The Rights of Nature as a Bridge between Land-Ownership Regimes: The Potential of Institutionalized Interplay in Post-Colonial Societies

Despite the growing prominence and use of Rights of Nature (RoN), doubts remain as to their tangible effect on environmental protection efforts. By analyzing two initiatives in post-colonial societies, we argue that they do influence the creation of institutionalized bridges between differing land-ownership regimes. Applying the methodology of inter-legality, we examine the Ecuadorian Constitution of 2008 and the Ugandan National Environment Act 2019. We identify five normative spheres that influence land-ownership regimes. We find that the established Ecuadorian RoN have an institutionalized effect on the nation's legal system. Their more recently established Ugandan counterpart shows potential to develop in the same direction

SHADOW OF THE FUTURE, RISK AVERSION, AND EMPLOYEE COOPERATION

In this paper, we examine whether and how the shadow of the future and risk aversion affect employee cooperation with the employer. We distinguish, formalize and test two conflicting arguments as used in the literature, which we denote the reward argument and the relation argument. Whereas the reward argument predicts that risk aversion affects cooperation in a negative way, the relation argument predicts a positive effect of risk aversion on cooperation. We show that both arguments are consistent with the view that a longer shadow of the future increases cooperation. Hypotheses are tested against survey data obtained from two samples of Dutch employees (N = 109 and N = 213, respectively). The results suggest moderate support for the relation argument

Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world

The Rights of Nature (RoN) promote a new understanding of the human environment, where natural entities are conceived as subjects with intrinsic value independent of human interests. The implementation of this idea gained momentum in the United States in 2006. One decade and a half later, the idea has spread all over the world. Despite some efforts, a sophisticated geographical inventory of the movement is missing. Building on Kauffman (2020), we identified and analysed 409 initiatives in 39 countries, creating the most comprehensive database of RoN initiatives to date. We developed a taxonomy that may guide further research. We also present two detailed maps which can help policymakers, legislators, judges, researchers, and the public at large to evaluate and compare initiatives. The findings of this investigation directly help the UN Harmony with Nature Programme and have contributed to the launch of the Eco-Jurisprudence Monitor, an online database of RoN initiatives

Review Of The Main Welfare Risks Related To Electrical Stunning Of Small Ruminants (Ovine And Caprine Species)

EFSA commissioned a comprehensive review of the welfare aspects of electrical stunning methods for small ruminants with an emphasize on low ampere stunning to establish the state of the art in the field and to assess whether scientific studies would address criteria outlined in an EFSA guidance on the assessment criteria for studies evaluating the effectiveness of stunning interventions regarding animal protection at the time of killing (EFSA Journal 2013;11(12):3486). The review was not formulated as a systematic review with a focused question instead the review followed the approach to assessing the literature described by the EFSA guidance. The key databases searched were: Science Citation Index (1900-2014), CAB Abstracts (1910-2014) and Medline (1990-2014). Key conferences proceedings and the bibliographies of review articles were manually searched. The search yielded 1599 records. 706 duplicate records were removed and 894 records assessed for relevance. Relevant studies reported electronic stunning of small ruminants and outcomes associated with onset and duration of unconsciousness. Eighteen papers reported electrical approaches to stunning in sheep. No goats were studied. None of the papers reported all of the parameters detailed in the EFSA guidance (EFSA, 2013) and a risk of bias assessment was not conducted. No studies reported the appearance of the electrodes. When the frequency (Hz) applied to the animal was reported, it was not specified whether this represented a minimum or maximum frequency. Only one study explicitly reported an effect size for amperes. The study suggested that the odds of a poor stun were higher for amperes of 0.6 (odds ratio (OD) of 6.27 with 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.98-20.7) and 0.8 (OR of 24.4 with 95% CI of 6.98-85.2) when compared to a poor stun at 1.25 ampere