International outsourcing over the business cycle: some intuition for Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

In this paper, we assess the extent to which multinational firms - in the first instance, the German ones - may adjust their international outsourcing over the business cycle in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For that purpose, we have used monthly data of production for the manufacturing sector as a whole and some of its sub-sectors, since 2000 onwards. Our econometrical estimates suggest that there would be an asymmetry in the international outsourcing across the states of the economy, meaning that multinationals firms would be engaged differently in outsourcing activities, depending on whether bad or good economic times occur. Yet, such an asymmetry is found increasing over the time for German and French multinationals operating in the transport equipment sector of Slovakia. Another conclusion is that international outsourcing made by multinational firms in Slovakia may account for a portion of its large business cycles volatility.International outsourcing, foreign direct investment, business cycles, Central and Eastern European countries, European integration.

Convergence of values in optimal stopping

Under the hypothesis of convergence in probability of a sequence of c\`adl\`ag processes $(X^n)_n$ to a c\`adl\`ag process $X$, we are interested in the convergence of corresponding values in optimal stopping. We give results under hypothesis of inclusion of filtrations or convergence of filtrations

Participatory online environmental education at the Open University UK

The role of education in helping our societies put sustainability into practice is crucial. The motivation, awareness and empowerment, necessary for citizens to understand the concept and take part in its operationalisation, ought to emerge from environmental education, since we might encounter some difficulty when trying to teach, or impose these notions in a theoretical way. In developing environmental courses, we therefore ought to progressively replace pedagogical approaches based on (relatively 'authoritarian') transfers of information with more interactive and collaborative learning processes: citizens' participation can start with the creation of communities of learners. This paper describes the construction of two web courses: a first level teaching module on environmental systems and a third level interdisciplinary environmental course, both developed at the Open University, specialised in distance and open learning. The themes of the course include participatory processes in decision-making, the perception and representation of environmental systems, alternative leadership, biodiversity, climate change and integrated water management, environmental action and governance. The concepts focused on include sustainability, complexity, uncertainty, globalisation and 'systemic problem solving'. In both courses, the overall pedagogical process is based on the notion of environmental governance. This means that the web has been chosen as a learning platform, because - it provides various types of up to date information as well as archives, - it allows various types of users to communicate between different countries, and also - it encourages collaborative and interactive learning. This paper describes the experience of the author in creating web environmental courses at the Open University. Components of the courses such as interactive activities are discussed, as well as the pedagogical focus progressively shifted towards more participatory processes of learning

From traditional to modern water management systems; reflection on the evolution of a ‘water ethic’ in semi-arid Morocco

The chapter focuses on water because of the crucial importance of that resource in a semiarid country and because the ways in which it has been managed throughout centuries illustrate the changes in socio-political structures in the society. The focus on water in a semi arid country is symbolic of how precious natural resources are in the development of economies and societies. Morocco provides a fascinating terrain to explore ingenuous traditional water management structures and processes both in urban and in rural environments

Innovative approaches to water security:ICTs as platforms for systemic online negotiation

This paper presents the initial outcomes of the research project ‘Innovative approaches to water security using ICTs for systemic online negotiations’ carried out between the department of Systems at the OU, UNESCO PC-CP program and UNESCO-IHE Institute of water education. It explores how water conflicts could be managed - by being prevented through integrated water management and - through better communication amongst water stakeholders and more systemic analysis of water problems at stake

Alternative policy indicators

It is now often argued that society is steering with the wrong compass. Most decision-making processes are based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), favouring economic options that generate its increase. GDP has long since been used as an indicator of economic performance, progress, and even welfare. Moreover, it is on the basis of GDP that countries are internationally 'ranked'

Sustainability indicators

Imagine a situation where, after debating for years on what makes you happy, you finally decide that it is about time you start put these ideas into practice and effectively make yourself happy(ier). If you are really determined, you will be keen to stop convincing yourself that you are happy if you are not: you will want to check whether you are really making progress towards achieving your goals. You will have identified different components of your happiness and will assess some of them, progressing cautiously, step by step. You will also be aware of the links between these components, links that determine your overall state of happiness. In the situation described above, now replace the term 'happiness' by that of 'sustainability' - like concepts such as justice, truth, or happiness indeed, it is a desirable objective, albeit difficult to capture in a concise, shared, definition

The CKM Paradigm: Implications of the Most Recent Results

The implications of the most recent experimental results in the B and K meson systems on the CKM paradigm are investigated by means of a global fit to the theoretical predictions of the Standard Model. We advocate the frequentist approach Rfit, which is implemented in the CKMFitter package. Within this approach, constraints on the CKM parameters and other quantities of interest are obtained, and extensions of the Standard Model are investigated.Comment: 9 pages, Talk given at the XXXVIIth Rencontres de Moriond, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, Les Arcs, March 9-16 200