Switzerland’s Experiences in Peace Mediation

This article provides a brief overview of Switzerland’s role in international peace mediation, examining the historical context, policy instruments, and regions of engagement of Swiss peace policy. It finally points to a number of key challenges of the peace mediation field in light of Switzerland’s experiences

Growth and adaptation to climate change in the long run

As the climate is changing, the global economy is adapting. We provide a novel method of estimating how much adaptation has taken place historically, how much it has cost, and how much it has reduced the impacts of climate change. The method is based on a structurally estimated, globally aggregated model of long-run growth, which identifies how household consumption and fertility preferences, innovation, and land use allow the economy to adapt to climate change. We identify the key role of agriculture, because it is especially vulnerable to climate change and food cannot be perfectly substituted. To compensate for declining crop yields, the world economy has shifted resources into agriculture and this has slowed down structural change. We also use the model to estimate optimal future carbon taxation. Adaptation is costly, so radically reducing future greenhouse gas emissions could improve welfare substantially. Uncertainty about climate damages remains substantial, particularly in agriculture, and this strongly affects optimal policy

Growth and adaptation to climate change in the long run

As the climate is changing, the global economy is adapting. We provide a novel method of estimating how much adaptation has taken place historically, how much it has cost, and how much it has reduced the impacts of climate change. The method is based on a structurally estimated, globally aggregated model of long-run growth, which identifies how household consumption and fertility preferences, innovation, and land use allow the economy to adapt to climate change. We identify the key role of agriculture, because it is especially vulnerable to climate change and food cannot be perfectly substituted. To compensate for declining crop yields, the world economy has shifted resources into agriculture and this has slowed down structural change. We also use the model to estimate optimal future carbon taxation. Adaptation is costly, so radically reducing future greenhouse gas emissions could improve welfare substantially. Uncertainty about climate damages remains substantial, particularly in agriculture, and this strongly affects optimal policy

Insights into the stable isotope ratio variability of hybrid grape varieties: a preliminary study

Background: Official stable isotope databases, based on the analysis of (D/H)I ethanol , (D/H)II ethanol , δ13 Cethanol and δ18 Owater of wine, are an indispensable tool for establishing the limits beyond which the mislabeling or the addition of sugar and/or water in wine production can be detected. The present study investigates, for the first time, whether the use of hybrid varieties instead of European Vitis vinifera for wine production can have an impact on the stable isotope ratios. Results: The analyses were performed by isotope ratio mass spectrometry and site-specific natural isotope fractionation by nuclear magnetic resonance, in accordance with the official methods of the International Organization of Grapes and Wine. The comparison shows the tendency of some stable isotope ratios of hybrid varieties, in particular (D/H)I , to deviate from the regional averages of the V. vinifera samples. Notably, Baron, Monarch and Regent showed significantly different values at one of the two sampling sites. Particularly high δ13 C values characterize Helios compared to other hybrid varieties. Conclusion: For the first time, and from an isotopic point of view, the present study investigates the wine obtained from hybrid varieties, showing that further attention should be paid to their interpretation, on the basis of the database established according to the European Regulation 2018/273. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry

The expansion of modern agriculture and global biodiversity decline: an integrated assessment

The world is banking on a major increase in food production, if the dietary needs and food preferences of an increasing, and increasingly rich, population are to be met. This requires the further expansion of modern agriculture, but modern agriculture rests on a small number of highly productive crops and its expansion has led to a significant loss of global biodiversity. Ecologists have shown that biodiversity loss results in lower plant productivity, while agricultural economists have linked biodiversity loss on farms with increasing variability of crop yields, and sometimes lower mean yields. In this paper we consider the macro-economic consequences of the continued expansion of particular forms of intensive, modern agriculture, with a focus on how the loss of biodiversity affects food production. We employ a quantitative, structurally estimated model of the global economy, which jointly determines economic growth, population and food demand, agricultural innovations and land conversion. We show that even small effects of agricultural expansion on productivity via biodiversity loss might be sufficient to warrant a moratorium on further land conversion

Global population growth, technology and Malthusian constraints: a quantitative growth theoretic perspective

We structurally estimate a two-sector Schumpeterian growth model with endogenous population and finite land reserves to study the long-run evolution of global population, technological progress and the demand for food. The estimated model closely replicates trajectories for world population, GDP, sectoral productivity growth and crop land area from 1960 to 2010. Projections from 2010 onwards show a slowdown of technological progress, and, because it is a key determinant of fertility costs, significant population growth. By 2100 global population reaches 12.4 billion and agricultural production doubles, but the land constraint does not bind because of capital investment and technological progress

Global economic growth and agricultural land conversion under uncertain productivity improvements in agriculture

We study how stochasticity in the evolution of agricultural productivity interacts with economic and population growth at the global level. We use a two-sector Schumpeterian model of growth, in which a manufacturing sector produces the traditional consumption good and an agricultural sector produces food to sustain contemporaneous population. Agriculture demands land as an input, itself treated as a scarce form of capital. In our model both population and sectoral technological progress are endogenously determined, and key technological parameters of the model are structurally estimated using 1960-2010 data on world GDP, population, cropland and technological progress. Introducing random shocks to the evolution of total factor productivity in agriculture, we show that uncertainty optimally requires more land to be converted into agricultural use as a hedge against production shortages, and that it significantly affects both optimal consumption and population trajectories

Development and validation of a multidimensional motivations to study abroad scale (MMSAS) among European credit mobility students

The aim was to establish and validate the Multidimensional Motivations to Study Abroad Scale (MMSAS) to measure university Credit Mobility Students’ (CMSs) reasons (e.g., academic, cross-cultural, personal growth) for studying abroad. The instrument was administered to a multi-language sample of 1333 European CMSs. The final measure included 27 items. Results supported nine factors for the English (both for native English speakers and the version for non-native English speakers), French, German, Italian, and Spanish versions; invariance across languages was demonstrated and evidence for construct validity is provided. Further research should explore the relevance of this measure to other populations (e.g., other languages, degree mobility students) and determine the relationship with students’ experiences and behaviours abroad. Abbreviations MMSAS, Multidimensional Motivations to Study Abroad Scale; CMS, Credit Mobility Students Keywords Motivations; Study abroad; Credit mobility programmes; Scale development; Confirmatory factor analysis; Scale invarianc

Hot Subdwarfs in Resolved Binaries

In the last decade or so, there have been numerous searches for hot subdwarfs in close binaries. There has been little to no attention paid to wide binaries however. The advantages of understanding these systems can be many. The stars can be assumed to be coeval, which means they have common properties. The distance and metallicity, for example, are both unknown for the subdwarf component, but may be determinable for the secondary, allowing other properties of the subdwarf to be estimated. With this in mind, we have started a search for common proper motion pairs containing a hot subdwarf component. We have uncovered several promising candidate systems, which are presented here.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of The Fourth Meeting on Hot Subdwarf Stars and Related Objects held in China, 20-24 July 2009. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

A hydrogen beam to characterize the ASACUSA antihydrogen hyperfine spectrometer

The antihydrogen programme of the ASACUSA collaboration at the antiproton decelerator of CERN focuses on Rabi-type measurements of the ground-state hyperfine splitting of antihydrogen for a test of the combined Charge-Parity-Time symmetry. The spectroscopy apparatus consists of a microwave cavity to drive hyperfine transitions and a superconducting sextupole magnet for quantum state analysis via Stern-Gerlach separation. However, the small production rates of antihydrogen forestall comprehensive performance studies on the spectroscopy apparatus. For this purpose a hydrogen source and detector have been developed which in conjunction with ASACUSA's hyperfine spectroscopy equipment form a complete Rabi experiment. We report on the formation of a cooled, polarized, and time modulated beam of atomic hydrogen and its detection using a quadrupole mass spectrometer and a lock-in amplification scheme. In addition key features of ASACUSA's hyperfine spectroscopy apparatus are discussed.