The implications of embodiment and Putty-Clay to economic development

In this paper we construct and analyze a growth model with the following three ingredients. (i) Technological progress is embodied. (ii) The production function of a firm is such that the firm makes both technology upgrade as well as capital and labor decisions. (iii) The firm’s production technology is putty-clay. We assume that there are disincentives to the accumulation of capital, resulting in a divergence between the social and the private cost of investment. We solve a single firm’s problem in this environment. Then we determine general equilibrium prices of capital goods of different vintages. Using these prices we aggregate firms’ decisions and construct the theoretical analogues of National Income statistics. This generates a relationship between disincentives and per capita incomes. We analyze this relationship and show the quantitative and qualitative roles of embodiment and putty-clay. We also show how the model is taken to data, quantified and used to determine to what extent income gaps across countries can be attributed to disincentives.

Achieving quality in management of development ngos: analysis of four ngos in Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro is among the cities with the highest amount of NGOs in the world. However, not all of the projects carried out by the NGOs are equally successful. In this research, I would like to analyze a selection of some of the most well-known social development enterprises operating in Rio, in order to better understand how they operate, what difficulties they face, which factors play the crucial role in achieving peak performance. Moreover, I would like to compare the field research findings with the academic theory on management of social development NGOs, and possibly come up with ideas for further improvements.

The importance of clusters for the development of small & medium enterprises

This thesis aims to open a theoretical discussion on the importance of cluster for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises. The methodology applied was based on bibliographical and qualitative research. The basic questions raised by this study can be summarized as follows: How the creation of a cluster will help in the development of the SME?. Consequently, the final objective of the work is to identify which are the characteristics that help into the success of a Small & Medium Enterprises inserted in a cluster. The answer to this question led the research to a better understanding of (i) the characterization of the Small & Medium Enterprises; (ii) the clusters theory; (iii) evidence for a developed (Italy) and a developing (Chile) country that support our proposition to verify. The main results confirm the relevance of the cluster for the development of the Small and Medium Enterprises because of the collective efficiency that generates, improving the funding conditions, the exporter capacity and diminishing the activities costs of the small companies that are part of the conglomerate.

The influence of the supply chain agents on the new product development's performance: an analysis based on the multi-group moderation

Este estudo buscou verificar a influencia dos agentes da cadeia de suprimentos no desempenho do desenvolvimento de novos produtos quando os agentes são analisados em conjunto. A motivação desta pesquisa veio de estudos que alertaram para a consideração da integração da cadeia de suprimentos como um constructo multidimensional, englobando o envolvimento da manufatura, fornecedores e clientes no desenvolvimento de novos produtos; e devido à falta de informação sobre as influencias individuais destes agentes no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Sob essas considerações, buscou-se construir um modelo analítico baseado na Teoria do Capital Social e Capacidade Absortiva, construir hipóteses a partir da revisão da literatura e conectar constructos como cooperação, envolvimento do fornecedor no desenvolvimento de novos produtos (DNP), envolvimento do cliente no DNP, envolvimento da manufatura no DNP, antecipação de novas tecnologias, melhoria contínua, desempenho operacional do DNP, desempenho de mercado do NPD e desempenho de negócio do DNP. Para testar as hipóteses foram consideradas três variáveis moderadoras, tais como turbulência ambiental (baixa, média e alta), indústria (eletrônicos, maquinários e equipamentos de transporte) e localização (América, Europa e Ásia). Para testar o modelo foram usados dados do projeto High Performance Manufacturing que contém 339 empresas das indústrias de eletrônicos, maquinários e equipamentos de transporte, localizadas em onze países. As hipóteses foram testadas por meio da Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC) incluindo a moderação muti-grupo para as três variáveis moderadoras mencionadas anteriormente. Os principais resultados apontaram que as hipóteses relacionadas com cooperação foram confirmadas em ambientes de média turbulência, enquanto as hipóteses relacionadas ao desempenho no DNP foram confirmadas em ambientes de baixa turbulência ambiental e em países asiáticos. Adicionalmente, sob as mesmas condições, fornecedores, clientes e manufatura influenciam diferentemente no desempenho de novos produtos. Assim, o envolvimento de fornecedores influencia diretamente no desempenho operacional e indiretamente no desempenho de mercado e de negócio em baixos níveis de turbulência ambiental, na indústria de equipamentos de transporte em países da Americanos e Europeus. De igual forma, o envolvimento do cliente influenciou diretamente no desempenho operacional e indiretamente no desempenho de mercado e do negócio em médio nível de turbulência ambiental, na indústria de maquinários e em países Asiáticos. Fornecedores e clientes não influenciam diretamente no desempenho de mercado e do negócio e não influenciam indiretamente no desempenho operacional. O envolvimento da manufatura não influenciou nenhum tipo de desempenho do desenvolvimento de novos produtos em todos os cenários testados.

Sustainable silvopastoral systems: theory and a practical case

Muitas transformações são esperadas por causa das mudanças do clima, especialmente das atividades agrícolas realizadas nos trópicos. Esta tese centra-se em dois aspectos. O primeiro deles é o de reunir o conhecimento de sistemas silvipastoris; este ponto de vista estabelece a importância de solos tropicais e sua gestão adequada de acordo com as normas ambientais e sustentáveis. A segunda parte da tese é a aplicação desses princípios em um caso específico: a fazenda "El Paraíso". O objetivo central ou problema a resolver da segunda parte é propor um projeto para melhorar as atividades de produção de carne e, ao mesmo tempo, ajudar a preservar e melhorar o meio ambiente e especialmente os ecossistemas tropicais. A metodologia utilizada na tese foi buscar e analisar informações sobre o assunto. Depois disso, a investigação experimental e de campo foi realizada para levantar o projeto que combinaria as duas partes da obra. No final, com a informação recolhida uma proposta de projeto foi feita. O objetivo era propor a transformação dos processos de produção na fazenda selecionada. Logo de desenvolver e apresentar o projeto, foram analisadas as possibilidades de implementação do projeto. A conclusão do estudo foi o de apresentar e discutir três cenários possíveis após a implementação. Finalmente, a conclusão geral apresenta as realizações, as oportunidades e possíveis expansões futuras do projeto.

An essay on economic growth: classical determinants, convergence and financial development

This dissertation surveys the literature on economic growth. I review a substantial number of articles published by some of the most renowned researchers engaged in the study of economic growth. The literature is so vast that before undertaking new studies it is very important to know what has been done in the field. The dissertation has six chapters. In Chapter 1, I introduce the reader to the topic of economic growth. In Chapter 2, I present the Solow model and other contributions to the exogenous growth theory proposed in the literature. I also briefly discuss the endogenous approach to growth. In Chapter 3, I summarize the variety of econometric problems that affect the cross-country regressions. The factors that contribute to economic growth are highlighted and the validity of the empirical results is discussed. In Chapter 4, the existence of convergence, whether conditional or not, is analyzed. The literature using both cross-sectional and panel data is reviewed. An analysis on the topic of convergence using a quantile-regression framework is also provided. In Chapter 5, the controversial relationship between financial development and economic growth is analyzed. Particularly, I discuss the arguments in favour and against the Schumpeterian view that considers financial development as an important determinant of innovation and economic growth. Chapter 6 concludes the dissertation. Summing up, the literature appears to be not fully conclusive about the main determinants of economic growth, the existence of convergence and the impact of finance on growth.

Markets-as-networks theory: a review

This paper exposes the development of markets-as-networks theory from formal inception in the mid-1970s until 2010 state-of-the-art, en route presenting its historical roots. This largely European-based theory challenges the conventional, dichotomous view of the business world as including firms and markets, arguing for the existence of relational governance structures (the so-called ‘‘interfirm cooperation’’) in addition to hierarchical and transactional ones.

Alternative Model of Three-Phase Transmission Line Theory-Based Modal Decomposition

In this paper is shown the development of a transmission line, based on discrete circuit elements that provide responses directly in the time domain and phase. This model is valid for ideally transposed rows represent the phases of each of the small line segments are separated in their modes of propagation and the voltage and current are calculated at the modal field. However, the conversion phase-mode-phase is inserted in the state equations which describe the currents and voltages along the line of which there is no need to know the user of the model representation of the theory in the field lines modal.

GT4CCI: uma abordagem baseada em grounded theory para a identificação de interesses transversais em documentos de requisitos

When crosscutting concerns identification is performed from the beginning of development, on the activities involved in requirements engineering, there are many gains in terms of quality, cost and efficiency throughout the lifecycle of software development. This early identification supports the evolution of requirements, detects possible flaws in the requirements specification, improves traceability among requirements, provides better software modularity and prevents possible rework. However, despite these several advantages, the crosscutting concerns identification over requirements engineering faces several difficulties such as the lack of systematization and tools that support it. Furthermore, it is difficult to justify why some concerns are identified as crosscutting or not, since this identification is, most often, made without any methodology that systematizes and bases it. In this context, this paper proposes an approach based on Grounded Theory, called GT4CCI, for systematizing and basing the process of identifying crosscutting concerns in the initial stages of the software development process in the requirements document. Grounded Theory is a renowned methodology for qualitative analysis of data. Through the use of GT4CCI it is possible to better understand, track and document concerns, adding gains in terms of quality, reliability and modularity of the entire lifecycle of software

A Grounded Theory como abordagem metodológica para pesquisas qualitativas em odontologia

Este trabalho consiste na proposta de utilização, em Odontologia, de uma abordagem metodológica usada em pesquisas qualitativas, denominada Grounded Theory, quando se objetiva compreender fenômenos ou se pretende descrevê-los de acordo com o ponto de vista do sujeito. Pesquisas em saúde, utilizando abordagens qualitativas, estão sendo, cada vez mais, empregadas entre pesquisadores e, na Odontologia, esta abordagem metodológica proposta torna-se fundamental, no sentido de propiciar a exploração de assuntos ainda pouco trabalhados nesta perspectiva metodológica, possibilitando que as pesquisas adquiriram contribuições originais e, assim, ampliando nosso conhecimento. São apresentadas as etapas a serem seguidas nesta abordagem, elucidando-as com alguns exemplos de parte de entrevistas realizadas numa pesquisa que teve como objetivos: compreender a experiência do idoso com a saúde bucal ao longo da vida e desenvolver e validar um modelo teórico representativo dessa experiência.

Product development process: Using real options for assessments and to support the decision-making at decision gates

Enterprises need continuous product development activities to remain competitive in the marketplace. Their product development process (PDP) must manage stakeholders' needs - technical, financial, legal, and environmental aspects, customer requirements, Corporate strategy, etc. -, being a multidisciplinary and strategic issue. An approach to use real option to support the decision-making process at PDP phases in taken. The real option valuation method is often presented as an alternative to the conventional net present value (NPV) approach. It is based on the same principals of financial options: the right to buy or sell financial values (mostly stocks) at a predetermined price, with no obligation to do so. In PDP, a multi-period approach that takes into account the flexibility of, for instance, being able to postpone prototyping and design decisions, waiting for more information about technologies, customer acceptance, funding, etc. In the present article, the state of the art of real options theory is prospected and a model to use the real options in PDP is proposed, so that financial aspects can be properly considered at each project phase of the product development. Conclusion is that such model can provide more robustness to the decisions processes within PDP.

Enterprise systems modeling: The ERP5 development process

The design and implementation of an ERP system involves capturing the information necessary for implementing the system's structure and behavior that support enterprise management. This process should start on the enterprise modeling level and finish at the coding level, going down through different abstraction layers. For the case of Free/Open Source ERP, the lack of proper modeling methods and tools jeopardizes the advantages of source code availability. Moreover, the distributed, decentralized decision-making, and source-code driven development culture of open source communities, generally doesn't rely on methods for modeling the higher abstraction levels necessary for an ERP solution. The aim of this paper is to present a model driven development process for the open source ERP ERP5. The proposed process covers the different abstraction levels involved, taking into account well established standards and common practices, as well as new approaches, by supplying Enterprise, Requirements, Analysis, Design, and Implementation workflows. Copyright 2008 ACM.

The Singapore success story: public-private alliance for investment attraction, innovation and export development

Includes Bibliography

Theory and practice of industrial policy: evidence from the Latin American experience

Includes bibliography

Network node with wireless and wired interfaces: Nios II processor and uClinux to development of a NCAP embedded (IEEE 1451.1) with two interfaces, wireless (IEEE 1451.5) and wired (IEEE p1451.2)

This paper presents a NCAP embedded on DE2 kit with Nios II processor and uClinux to development of a network gateway with two interfaces, wireless (ZigBee) and wired (RS232) based on IEEE 1451. Both the communications, wireless and wired, were developed to be point-to-point and working with the same protocols, based on IEEE 1451.0-2007. The tests were made using a microcomputer, which through of browser was possible access the web page stored in the DE2 kit and send commands of control and monitoring to both TIMs (WTIM and STIM). The system describes a different form of development of the NCAP node to be applied in different environments with wired or wireless in the same node. © 2011 IEEE.