International openness in transition countries: further evidence on foreign direct investment

The thesis focuses on the process of international openness of Transition Countries. This study provides a theoretical analysis based on reference literature, and an empirical analysis which is aimed at estimating some main effects of Foreign Direct Investment. Transition has represented a highly complex phenomenon, characterized by several aspects, whose interaction has shaped the developmental path of each country involved. Although the thesis focuses on economic issues it is outstanding to underline that Transition implies political, institutional, and even social deep changes, which must be taken into consideration in the general overview of the contex. The empirical part has been developed along two different ways: a country analysis and a firm analysis, thus allowing to widen the study and delve deeper into the use of econometric instruments. More specifically, in the first empirical stage both static (Fixed Effects) and dynamic (LSDV Corrected) methodologies have been implemented, whereas in the second stage the Cox Proportional Function has been chosen in order to handle with censored data.

Engineering in Transition. Approaches, strategies and technologies for implementing system innovation towards sustainability

With the aim to provide people with sustainable options, engineers are ethically required to hold the safety, health and welfare of the public paramount and to satisfy society's need for sustainable development. The global crisis and related sustainability challenges are calling for a fundamental change in culture, structures and practices. Sustainability Transitions (ST) have been recognized as promising frameworks for radical system innovation towards sustainability. In order to enhance the effectiveness of transformative processes, both the adoption of a transdisciplinary approach and the experimentation of practices are crucial. The evolution of approaches towards ST provides a series of inspiring cases which allow to identify advances in making sustainability transitions happen. In this framework, the thesis has emphasized the role of Transition Engineering (TE). TE adopts a transdisciplinary approach for engineering to face the sustainability challenges and address the risks of un-sustainability. With this purpose, a definition of Transition Technologies is provided as a valid instruments to contribute to ST. In the empirical section, several transition initiatives have been analysed especially at the urban level. As a consequence, the model of living-lab of sustainability has crucially emerged. Living-labs are environments in which innovative technologies and services are co-created with users active participation. In this framework, university can play a key role as learning organization. The core of the thesis has concerned the experimental application of transition approach within the School of Engineering and Architecture of University of Bologna at Terracini Campus. The final vision is to realize a living-lab of sustainability. Particularly, a Transition Team has been established and several transition experiments have been conducted. The final result is not only the improvement of sustainability and resilience of the Terracini Campus, but the demonstration that university can generate solutions and strategies that tackle the complex, dynamic factors fuelling the global crisis.

Myanmar higher education in transition: the interplay between state authority, student politics and international actors.

The Myanmar “period of transition” (2011-2021) has often been described as a puzzle. Various scholars have begun to engage with the Myanmar context in an effort to grasp the essence of the transition it underwent during President Thein Sein’s USPD and Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD governments. My work focuses on a specific policy sector, higher education, with a view to contributing to this scholarly debate regarding what was actually happening inside this complex country “transition”, especially in terms of collective participation in the process of political and social change. Reviewing existing scholarly literature on the politics of higher education, my study employs a triangle of analysis in which higher education reform is framed as the interplay of action on the part of “state authority”, “student politics” and “international actors”. What does this interplay lens reveal if we consider Myanmar’s “period of transition”? I argue that it shows the ambiguity and contradiction of tangible pushes for progressive social change that coexisted with authoritarian currents and the reinforcement of the societal position of dominant elites. At the policy level, ultimately, a convergence of interests between international actors and state authority served as the force driving the new higher education reform towards a neo-liberal model of governance and autonomy. This work unpacks the higher education reform process thanks to qualitative data gathered through extensive participant observation, in-depth interviewing and critical discourse analysis, shedding light on the rich narratives of those involved in the politics of higher education in Myanmar.

Business Clusters in Eastern Europe: Policy Analysis and Cluster Performance

Clusters have increasingly become an essential part of policy discourses at all levels, EU, national, regional, dealing with regional development, competitiveness, innovation, entrepreneurship, SMEs. These impressive efforts in promoting the concept of clusters on the policy-making arena have been accompanied by much less academic and scientific research work investigating the actual economic performance of firms in clusters, the design and execution of cluster policies and going beyond singular case studies to a more methodologically integrated and comparative approach to the study of clusters and their real-world impact. The theoretical background is far from being consolidated and there is a variety of methodologies and approaches for studying and interpreting this phenomenon while at the same time little comparability among studies on actual cluster performances. The conceptual framework of clustering suggests that they affect performance but theory makes little prediction as to the ultimate distribution of the value being created by clusters. This thesis takes the case of Eastern European countries for two reasons. One is that clusters, as coopetitive environments, are a new phenomenon as the previous centrally-based system did not allow for such types of firm organizations. The other is that, as new EU member states, they have been subject to the increased popularization of the cluster policy approach by the European Commission, especially in the framework of the National Reform Programmes related to the Lisbon objectives. The originality of the work lays in the fact that starting from an overview of theoretical contributions on clustering, it offers a comparative empirical study of clusters in transition countries. There have been very few examples in the literature that attempt to examine cluster performance in a comparative cross-country perspective. It adds to this an analysis of cluster policies and their implementation or lack of such as a way to analyse the way the cluster concept has been introduced to transition economies. Our findings show that the implementation of cluster policies does vary across countries with some countries which have embraced it more than others. The specific modes of implementation, however, are very similar, based mostly on soft measures such as funding for cluster initiatives, usually directed towards the creation of cluster management structures or cluster facilitators. They are essentially founded on a common assumption that the added values of clusters is in the creation of linkages among firms, human capital, skills and knowledge at the local level, most often perceived as the regional level. Often times geographical proximity is not a necessary element in the application process and cluster application are very similar to network membership. Cluster mapping is rarely a factor in the selection of cluster initiatives for funding and the relative question about critical mass and expected outcomes is not considered. In fact, monitoring and evaluation are not elements of the cluster policy cycle which have received a lot of attention. Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are the countries which have implemented cluster policies most decisively, Hungary and Poland have made significant efforts, while Slovakia and Romania have only sporadically and not systematically used cluster initiatives. When examining whether, in fact, firms located within regional clusters perform better and are more efficient than similar firms outside clusters, we do find positive results across countries and across sectors. The only country with negative impact from being located in a cluster is the Czech Republic.

Verso una sociologia della sostenibilità: il caso delle Città in Transizione. Prospettive e limiti di un percorso bottom-up

Oggetto di indagine del lavoro è il movimento ambientalista e culturale delle Città in Transizione che rappresentano esperimenti di ri-localizzazione delle risorse volte a preparare le comunità (paesi, città, quartieri) ad affrontare la duplice sfida del cambiamento climatico e del picco del petrolio. A partire dal Regno Unito, la rete delle Transition Towns si è in pochi anni estesa significativamente e conta oggi più di mille iniziative. L’indagine di tale movimento ha richiesto in prima battuta di focalizzare l’attenzione sul campo disciplinare della sociologia dell’ambiente. L’attenzione si è concentrata sul percorso di riconoscimento che ha reso la sociologia dell’ambiente una branca autonoma e sul percorso teorico-concettuale che ha caratterizzato la profonda spaccatura paradigmatica proposta da Catton e Dunlap, che hanno introdotto nel dibattito sociologico il Nuovo Paradigma Ecologico, prendendo le distanze dalla tradizionale visione antropocentrica della sociologia classica. Vengono poi presentate due delle più influenti prospettive teoriche della disciplina, quella del Treadmill of Production e la più attuale teoria della modernizzazione ecologica. La visione che viene adottata nel lavoro di tesi è quella proposta da Spaargaren, fautore della teoria della modernizzazione ecologica, secondo il quale la sociologia dell’ambiente può essere collocata in uno spazio intermedio che sta tra le scienze ambientali e la sociologia generale, evidenziando una vocazione interdisciplinare richiamata anche dal dibattito odierno sulla sostenibilità. Ma le evidenze empiriche progressivamente scaturite dallo studio di questo movimento che si autodefinisce culturale ed ambientalista hanno richiesto una cornice teorica più ampia, quella della modernità riflessiva e della società del rischio, in grado di fornire categorie concettuali spendibili nella descrizione dei problemi ambientali e nell’indagine del mutamento socio-culturale e dei suoi attori. I riferimenti empirici dello studio sono tre specifiche realtà locali in Transizione: York in Transition per il Regno Unito, Monteveglio (Bo) e Scandiano (Re) in Transizione per l’Italia.

Falegnami e muratori a Bologna nel Medioevo: statuti e matricole (1248-1377)

La finalità della tesi è stata quella d'improntare una riflessione sulle società legate all'edilizia nel momento di apice politico ed economico di una città, attiva e importante nel basso Medioevo, come Bologna. Questo tipo di studio, già intrapreso per alcune città dell'Italia centro settentrionale, risulta necessario per comprendere alcune dinamiche politiche, economiche e produttive della realtà cittadina. In particolare, gli obiettivi sono stati quelli di coniugare la vita corporativa dell'arte all'organizzazione lavorativa, individuando gli aspetti legati all'ambito produttivo e valutando, l'evoluzione della società nel passaggio dal Duecento al Trecento. Gli statuti e le matricole, principali fonti compilate dalle due società delle arti e giunte ai nostri giorni, salvo rare eccezioni, completamente inedite sono stati il principale punto di partenza dello studio. Il risultato è la sintesi di alcuni spunti di riflessione emersi dai documenti, quali la mentalità degli uomini che si approcciavano alle arti, le gerarchie nate all'interno delle stesse società, il loro cambiamento e quello legato alla percezione di comunità nel corso dei secoli oltre agli aspetti più prettamente lavorativi e artigianali.

Novel developments of atropisomeric organic molecules. Design of atropisomeric drugs, fluorescent compounds and investigation of reaction mechanisms.

In recent years, the study of restricted rotation bonds in organic compounds has aroused increasing interest. The reason is that this characteristic can lead to obtaining new properties in organic compounds. In this research thesis, an intense investigation was carried out using DFT calculations and experimental evaluation of the barriers to rotational energies, in order to discover new properties deriving from the restricted rotation bonds. Research has been developed in various fields of organic chemistry, ranging from drugs (the atropisomeric atorvastatin in Chapter 3) to luminescent compounds (aryls amino borane in Chapter 4). Furthermore, an organocatalytic central to axial conversion mechanism was investigated through DFT calculations, finding out interesting outcomes (Chapter 5). Finally, a project in collaboration with Dr. Farran and Prof. Vanthuyne of the Aix-Marseille University was done to investigate the interactions in transition states of rotational barriers.

L'identita visiva pubblica. Nuovi paradigmi di comunicazione

La ricerca proposta affronta il tema dell’identità visiva — uno dei più caratterizzanti e complessi del progetto di comunicazione — applicato alla dimensione pubblica, partendo dalla comprensione e dalla misurazione del profondo mutamento che ha portato alla sua trasformazione da stemma a marchio e poi a logo, da immagine coordinata a brand a progetto di service e experience. La ricognizione dell’evoluzione della comunicazione pubblica e l’analisi del contesto dell’eredità culturale della “grafica di pubblica utilità” forniscono il primo framework di indagine nel quale si prospetta una lettura della complessità della trasformazione del progetto di identità visiva come occasione per un suo ripensamento. Un secondo framework è individuato nel contesto della comunicazione pubblica italiana in cui l’organizzazione e la progettazione di un sistema “istituzione-design-cittadino” è ancora in transizione. L’analisi dell’evoluzione normativa, dei touchpoint, delle pratiche progettuali, degli strumenti e dei ruoli permette di inquadrare gli attuali spazi e paradigmi di interazione che vedono nel servizio digitale la forma prevalente di relazione tra cittadini e dimensione pubblica Attraverso l'esperienza diretta, l’analisi dei casi studio come strumento di indagine e la sistematizzazione di cinque cluster, la tesi propone una rinnovata definizione di identità visiva pubblica che, distaccandosi da una predominante connotazione marketing-oriented, sia funzionale alla costruzione di esperienze utili, e percezioni di queste, rafforzando e stimolando nuovi paradigmi di relazione tra cittadini e dimensione pubblica. Si propone inoltre una prospettiva progettuale che evolve dalla necessità di individuare nuovi percorsi e modalità di rapportarsi con il progetto di pubblica utilità e per la cittadinanza che rifuggono la manifestazione dell’equivoco - piuttosto comune nel contesto pubblico italiano - del confrontarsi con i cosiddetti «wicked problems» (Buchanan, 1992) ricercando, in termini di comunicazione pubblica soluzioni chiuse ed esclusivamente formali, ritenendo che queste possano avere una reale efficacia nel plasmare i rapporti tra cittadini e dimensione pubblica.

Gender equality and human development in Macedonia during transition (1991-2006)

The present thesis treats the issue of gender equality in Macedonia during the period of transition from the socialist system to the one of parliamentary democracy. The main aim is to mainstream the gender perspective in the analysis of the transitional policies through the examination of the basic citizenship rights to which citizens are entitled and by the means of the evaluation of their capabilities to exercise these rights. Gender equality, as one of the main strongholds of the concept of human development is measured through the application of nine gender relevant capabilities in a Case study conducted within selected municipalities in the country. Through the analysis of the Macedonian constitutional and legal framework and the assessment of gender based inequalities, the research questions the need for the enactment of a process of engendering of citizenship, which would integrate gender based differences, contemplate the private sphere of citizens lives and pledge participation in the political life of the country. The thesis, finally, analyses the gender equality strategy of the Macedonian government with the purpose to evaluate whether it is context based, i.e. it tackles the main fields where inequalities emerge and in this context whether it envisages a process of engendering of citizenship.

The gender wage gap in developing and transition countries

The aim of my dissertation is to study the gender wage gap with a specific focus on developing and transition countries. In the first chapter I present the main existing theories proposed to analyse the gender wage gap and I review the empirical literature on the gender wage gap in developing and transition countries and its main findings. Then, I discuss the overall empirical issues related to the estimation of the gender wage gap and the issues specific to developing and transition countries. The second chapter is an empirical analysis of the gender wage gap in a developing countries, the Union of Comoros, using data from the multidimensional household budget survey “Enquete integrale auprès des ménages” (EIM) run in 2004. The interest of my work is to provide a benchmark analysis for further studies on the situation of women in the Comorian labour market and to contribute to the literature on gender wage gap in Africa by making available more information on the dynamics and mechanism of the gender wage gap, given the limited interest on the topic in this area of the world. The third chapter is an applied analysis of the gender wage gap in a transition country, Poland, using data from the Labour Force Survey (LSF) collected for the years 1994 and 2004. I provide a detailed examination of how gender earning differentials have changed over the period starting from 1994 to a more advanced transition phase in 2004, when market elements have become much more important in the functioning of the Polish economy than in the earlier phase. The main contribution of my dissertation is the application of the econometrical methodology that I describe in the beginning of the second chapter. First, I run a preliminary OLS and quantile regression analysis to estimate and describe the raw and conditional wage gaps along the distribution. Second, I estimate quantile regressions separately for males and females, in order to allow for different rewards to characteristics. Third, I proceed to decompose the raw wage gap estimated at the mean through the Oaxaca-Blinder (1973) procedure. In the second chapter I run a two-steps Heckman procedure by estimating a model of participation in the labour market which shows a significant selection bias for females. Forth, I apply the Machado-Mata (2005) techniques to extend the decomposition analysis at all points of the distribution. In Poland I can also implement the Juhn, Murphy and Pierce (1991) decomposition over the period 1994-2004, to account for effects to the pay gap due to changes in overall wage dispersion beyond Oaxaca’s standard decomposition.