Vacuum Selection on the String Landscape

I examine some non-anthropic approaches to the string landscape. These approaches are based on finding the initial conditions of the universe using the wavefunction of the multiverse to select the most probable vacuum out of this landscape. All approaches tackled so far seems to have their own problems and there is no clear cut alternative to anthropic reasoning. I suggest that finding the initial conditions may be irrelevant since all possible vacua on the landscape are possible initial state conditions and eternal inflation could generate all the other vacua. We are now left to reason out why we are observing the small value of the cosmological constant (CC). I address this issue in the contest of noncritical string theory in which all values of the cosmological constant on the landscape are departures from critical equilibrium state.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Competitive Advantage and Sustainability in the Mobile Phone Industry

How a business achieves and sustains a competitive advantage has long been the central focus of strategic management research. The fundamental basis of long-run success of a firm is the achievement and maintenance of a sustainable competitive advantage. A firm’s competitive advantage can result either from implementing a value-creating strategy not simultaneously being employed by current or prospective competitors or through superior execution of the same strategy as competitors. Intensified competition has put managers under constant pressure to come up with the requisite strategy to be on top of the competition. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the process by which firms can attain competitive advantage. Since attaining competitive advantage alone does not guarantee the necessary long run success that firms require to survive, the study further looks at the possibility of firms to sustain their competitive advantage in order to be ahead of their rivals. The study uses a qualitative case study. The findings are based on the market performance of three of the major players in the mobile phone industry over a ten year period. Further, in line with the framework of the study, a comparison of the value activities of the case companies was carried out in order to give meaning to the state of market performance of the case companies. It was found, that by running optimum value activities, a firm can benefit from linkages within these activities as a result of which it can offer value to its end users as a low cost or unique product provider. This serves as the means of attaining competitive advantage. Further, sustaining a firm’s competitive advantage was found to be feasible through the existence of differences in a firm’s capabilities and that of competitors.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Gravity model of outward FDI and trade in Agri-food in Denmark

Agribusiness,

Differentials in unemployment duration across households in South Africa: A two-level modelling approach

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThis study aimed to examine the structural changes affecting the duration of unemployment across households in South Africa. It made use of existing datasets from the Labour Force Survey produced by Statistics South Africa, covering a period of six years (2011-2016). Relations among demographic and household variables were explored to determine how they related to unemployment duration. On the basis of the relations identified, a predictive analysis of unemployment duration was attempted using two-level modelling. The results suggest a significant difference in the duration of unemployment, according to the individual socio-demographic characteristics and the household moderating variables. More specifically, the greatest share percentage of both men and women experiencing long-term unemployment were found within the age group 25-34 years. The study also found that the percentage share of Non-White population groups experiencing longer duration of unemployment was more than for the White population group. Another variable found to have great influence on the duration of unemployment was the individual’s previous work experience. Going beyond the individual’s socio-demographic characteristics to consider household variables. It was found that unemployed workers living in households headed by a female are more vulnerable to longer unemployment duration. The study found individuals living in smaller households displaying longer unemployment duration. Also, it was found that individuals living in less endowed households (households where no one or few people were in gainful employment) were more vulnerable to experiencing longer unemployment spells. The study concluded with some recommendations for employment policy and follow-up research

A neurolinguistic approach to pronominal resumption in Akan focus constructions

The current project explored the phonological and syntactic aspects of Akan pronominal resumption. The grammatical tone features of the resumptive pronoun and the clause determiner were assessed in Akan speakers with agrammatism. We found that the resumptive pronoun worsens wh-question comprehension in agrammatic speakers. However, the production of pronominal resumption was relatively spared. The ERP study investigated Akan native speakers’ sensitivity to the distribution of the resumptive pronoun by creating word-order and animacy violations. Our study represents a novel addition to the sentence processing field, as it looks into the interface between syntax, semantics, and phonology in Akan pronominal resumption

Globalization and the Paradox of Incorporation and Marginalization: An Exploratory Note on Sub-Saharan Africa

Globalization has of late become the lingua franca of the study of the international political economic system. As its ideological counterpart, globalization has elevated neoliberalism to the status of an international theology. To harness the benefits of a globalizing world economy, conventional wisdom consider the dictums underlying neoliberal policies as “immutable laws” that must be adopted by both the developing and the developed world. Utilizing a structured, focused analysis based on a case study of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this research challenges the orthodox notion that the new international context of development that is instigated by the imperatives of globalization, and is defined by the ideological framework of neoliberalism has universal, redemptive effects. First, the literature is reviewed to show that this new context of development differs, ideologically, from the post-World War II development paradigms. Second, the demands of the new development framework are exposed with the examination of the links between globalization and neoliberalism. Third, with specific examples from different countries within the sub-region, the path, and the psychological processes through which SSA was (is) conditioned to the political economy of globalization are identified. Then, on the basis of a specified theoretical model, the study examines whether SSA has been attaining the benefits presumed to be associated with subscription to the neoliberal policy demands of the new global market discipline. As a litmus test of competing interpretative accounts, our theoretical function reveals that globalization and its associated neoliberal policy framework, in the context of SSA, precipitate a peculiar paradoxical relationship of incorporation and marginalization. The adoption and implementation of neoliberal policies concurrently incorporate and marginalize SSA within the emerging political economy of globalization. The policy implications of this paradox are examined in the wider context of development and poverty alleviation concerns of the sub-region

Causes of rural-urban migration on Sankana in Nadowli-Kalio district of Ghana and its' effect on Community Development

The study seeks to find out the causes of migration in Sankana (a rural community) to urban cities and the effects it has on community mobilization,community participation and on the extended family system in Sankana. The study is both a qualitative and a quantitative research, which was done by sampling a small proportion of the population of Sankana. Interview schedule, interview guide and a focus group discussion guide were used to collect data from participants. The sampling process involved non-probability purposive sampling technique and purposive sampling technique. The sample of the purposive sampling technique included chiefs and elders, opinion leaders, community members and district assembly members. The study found out that, the causes of migration was mainly due to poverty, followed by lack of education, lack of social amenities and unpredictable rainfall patterns in that order. It was also established that migration did have a negative influence on community mobilization, community participation and on the extended family system