Politico-administrative relationships in small states

This paper analyses the nature, intensiveness and closeness of the relationship between the politicians and career civil servants with respect to the execution of their respective functions. The paper pays particular attention to different perceptions of the "State" and "Government" in comparative perspective. and tries to establish a link between those different perceptions and the nature of the civil service system in small jurisdictions. The paper also analyses the applicability of Leemans "methodology" of local government to small states,. The paper argues that this methodology can sometimes help in understanding the problems of small communities, but cannot be directly applied to small states. Finally, the paper looks at the different existing models or politico administrative relation,, and assesses whether they can be applied to small states.peer-reviewe

Re-Making Kozarac: Agency, Reconciliation, and Contested Return in Post-War Bosnia.

A presentation by author and anthropologist Sebina Sevic-Bryant. Discussion following. 102 Anheuser-Busch Hal

MICROSCALE HYDRAULIC HELICAL ACTUATOR FOR CARDIOVASCULAR PROCEDURES

Pulmonary emboli are one of the most common causes of deaths annually. When patientsundergo anticoagulant therapy, they may either experience long-term health effects or evenexperience another PE. Therefore, surgical interventions have been introduced to remove PEs.There are several commercially available surgical tools that remove PEs by using catheters todeliver thrombolytic agents to lyse the clot. However, some patients may have contraindicationsto the delivered drugs, so patients opt to have their PEs removed mechanically. However, the tipof the catheter that physically breaks apart PEs can only move in low degrees of freedom, whichcould result in some fragments getting left behind in the vessel since the catheter cannot press thefragments against the surface area of the vessel. Additionally, tips made with metal meshes poseharm to the vessel tissue. Our research presents the design and fabrication of a hydraulic helicalsoft actuator aimed at enhancing surgical catheters to remove pulmonary emboli (PE). Ourresearch progressed from a macroscale to microscale actuator to validate the design andfabrication process that produces the coiling mechanism. At the macroscale level, the actuator’soptimal shape, chamber size, materials, and power supply-coiling relationship were determined,showing that the actuator starts performing a clear coiling motion after 10 mL of air is supplied.Validating and testing the macroscale actuator allows us to apply the fabrication procedure to amicroscale actuator in a similar manner. However, an additional step to create the microscaleactuator is needed, which is creating a mold made of an alternative material. Currently, we are inthe process of determining how this mold should be created. Getting past this step will allow usto move forward to apply the same macroscale fabrication procedure to the microscale actuator.This research offers a comprehensive and methodical approach to developing a soft roboticactuator that is compatible with the human body and capable of effectively removing PEs

A Computational Phase Field Study of Conducting Channel Formation in Dielectric Thin Films: A View Towards the Physical Origins of Resistive Switching

A phase field method is used to computationally study conducting channel morphology of resistive switching thin film structures. Our approach successfully predicts the formation of conducting channels in typical dielectric thin film structures, comparable to a range of resistive switches, offering an alternative computational formulation based on metastable states treated at the atomic scale. In contrast to previous resistive switching thin film models, our formulation makes no a priori assumptions on conducting channel morphology and its fundamental transport mechanisms

A review of the rationales for corporate risk management: fashion or the need?

This paper presents the extensive literature survey based both on theoretical rationales for hedging as well as the empirical evidence that support the implications of the theory regarding the arguments for the corporate risk management relevance and its influence on the company’s value. The survey of literature presented in this paper has revealed that there are two chief classes of rationales for corporate decision to hedge - maximisation of shareholder value or maximisation of managers’ private utility. The paper concludes that, the total benefit of hedging is the combination of all these motives and, if the costs of using corporate risk management instruments are less than the benefits provided via the avenues mentioned in this paper, or any other benefit perceived by the market, then risk management is a shareholder-value enhancing activity

Investigating bank efficiency in transition economies:A window-based weight assurance region approach

This paper examines the efficiency of 116 banks for nine new EU members in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries over the period 2004–2015. We employ the weight assurance region (WAR) and we treat deposits as an intermediate variable in a two-stage data-envelopment analysis model. We then expand the WAR model by including a window-based approach to take into account the patterns of efficiency over time. The results indicate a low level of efficiency over the entire period of analysis, especially for Eastern European and Balkan countries rather than Central European countries. Overall, we find that inefficiency in CEE countries is mainly driven by the profitability stage rather than the value added activity stage

Financially constrained firms : the impact of managerial optimism and diversification on firms’ excess value : the case of Greece

Diversification as an underlying factor of financial constraints can create several costs. Diversified firms have the tendency to over-invest in lines of business which display poor investment opportunities. Diversification indeed reduces value. This loss in value is found mainly for firms of all sizes having managers with a higher level of optimism. The link between optimism and corporate investment is more pronounced in financially constraint firms. When the wedge between the internal and external cost of funds increases, a firm is more financially constrained. Analysing a sample of listed companies in Greece it is found that the higher the managerial optimism, the lower the excess value of a firm.peer-reviewe

Bank productivity growth and convergence in the European Union during the financial crisis

This paper examines the bank productivity growth and integration process for the 28 EU countries during three main phases of the financial crisis: the U.S. subprime crisis (2007–2008), the global financial crisis (2009–2010) and the sovereign debt crisis (2010–2012). We extend the Malmquist Productivity Index by applying an additive two-stage DEA model. This allows us to explore the sources of growth in different stages of production. Furthermore, we assess the integration of European banks by analyzing the β-convergence and σ-convergence of the two-stage Productivity Index. Our results show a productivity growth during the U.S. subprime crisis, but a consistent decline during the global financial crisis. The loss of competitiveness of the European banking system is due to the drop in growth of the performance stage and technical change. Finally, we find a strong convergence pattern during the financial crisis, mainly driven by the catch up process of some Eastern countries and the drop in performance of Western countries

Green bond market and sentiment: is there a switching behaviour?

We examine the impact of Twitter sentiment on the returns of four selected bond indices via the selection of relevant threshold variables, such as the S&P 500 Index, the VIX, and the MSCI World Index. If overreaction or underreaction to significant changes in the market occur regularly (De Bondt and Thaler, 1985, 1987; Jegadeesh and Titman, 1993), it is assumed that Twitter users respond with different intensities in the case of rising, falling or rather indeterminable markets. We fail to find evidence that the S&P 500 Index and VIX are relevant in supporting the switching behaviour. However, the MSCI World Index, to a certain extent, causes this relationship to diverge from the linear one. These claims become stronger when lagged and cubic sentiment variables have been included in the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR)S