Ukrainian economy overshadowed by war. OSW Commentary No. 148, 08.10.2014

Ukraine’s financial results over the past few months prove that the economic crisis which has been ongoing since mid 2012 has exacerbated. According to data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy, Gross Domestic Product for the first six months of 2014 shrank by 3%. In the second quarter, it fell by 4.6%1 and may further be reduced by as much as 8–10% over the year as a whole. After the first six months of this year, the balance of payments deficit reached US$4.3 billion. After deflation last year, prices grew by 12%, and the hryvnia dropped to a historic low. Although a surplus was seen in Ukrainian foreign trade in goods and services, reaching over US$3 billion at the end of June, its trade volume is shrinking. The main reason behind this deteriorating situation is the actions taken by Russia. Moscow has been fomenting the conflict in Donbas since April, has consistently imposed embargoes on imports of more and more Ukrainian goods and cut gas supplies to Ukraine in June. This has forced the government to focus on the current management of state finances and to carry out budget sequestration twice this year. The government has also used this as an excuse not to implement necessary systemic reforms. The increasing share of military expenditure, the shrinking exports (-5% in the first six months), including in particular to Russia, which until recently was Ukraine’s key trade partner, and the rapid fall in industrial production and investments have all made the situation even worse. All that saves Ukraine from an economic collapse is the loan from the International Monetary Fund and higher taxes, which allows the government to maintain budget liquidity. However, if the conflict in Donbas lasts longer and if Russia continues its economic blackmail, including withholding gas supplies, the economic crisis may prove to be long-lasting.

Building International CSR on Solid Foundations: Location and Network Aspects of Nonmarket Environments in Europe and Non-Europe Markets. ACES Working Papers, 2011

Multinational companies' (MNCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs frequently comprise a portfolio of disconnected country-level programs or, alternatively, consist of blanket corporate policies that apply in the same way across the geographies where the company operates. Yet, the international nonmarket environment in which CSR programs operate is neither a completely fragmented nor a perfectly homogeneous one. Building on the concept of stakeholder-issue-networks, we develop a model that explicitly takes into consideration the role of geography in the characterization of a firm's nonmarket environment. This allows us to develop a taxonomy of nonmarket environments on the basis of their geographic spread and their degree of cross-border connectedness. We then explore the strategic and organizational implications that different ideal types of (cross-border) nonmarket environments have for the development of international CSR policies.

Citizenship Deprivation: A Normative Analysis. Liberty and Security in Europe No. 82, 19 March 2015

Most critical analyses assess citizenship-deprivation policies against international human rights and domestic rule of law standards, such as prevention of statelessness, non-arbitrariness with regard to justifications and judicial remedies, or non-discrimination between different categories of citizens. This report considers instead from a political theory perspective how deprivation policies reflect specific conceptions of political community. We distinguish four normative conceptions of the grounds of membership in a political community that apply to decisions on acquisition and loss of citizenship status: i) a ‘State discretion’ view, according to which governments should be as free as possible in pursuing State interests when determining citizenship status; ii) an ‘individual choice’ view, according to which individuals should be as free as possible in choosing their citizenship status; iii) an ‘ascriptive community’ view, according to which both State and individual choices should be minimised through automatic determination of membership based on objective criteria such as the circumstances of birth; and iv) a ‘genuine link’ view, according to which the ties of individuals to particular States determine their claims to inclusion and against deprivation while providing at the same time objections against including individuals without genuine links. We argue that most citizenship laws combine these four normative views in different ways, but that from a democratic perspective the ‘genuine link’ view is normatively preferable to the others. The report subsequently examines five general grounds for citizenship withdrawal – threats to public security, non-compliance with citizenship duties, flawed acquisition, derivative loss and loss of genuine links – and considers how the four normative views apply to withdrawal provision motivated by these concerns. The final section of the report examines whether EU citizenship provides additional reasons for protection against Member States’ powers of citizenship deprivation. We suggest that, in addition to fundamental rights protection through EU law and protection of free movement rights, three further arguments could be invoked: toleration of dual citizenship in a political union, prevention of unequal conditions for loss among EU citizens, and the salience of genuine links to the EU itself rather than merely to one of its Member States.

The globalization of angel investments. Bruegel Working Paper 2015/09, 1 September 2015

The last decade has seen a rapid expansion and deepening of the types of vehicles that fund start-up firms in the U.S. and worldwide. In particular, we have seen a growing role of angel groups and other more “individualistic” funding options for start-ups, such as super angels or crowd sourcing platforms. Authors seek to understand the nature and consequences of angel investments across a variety of geographies with varying levels of venture capital markets and other forms of risk capital. They ask whether angel investors improve the outcomes and performance of the start-ups they invest in. Furthermore we want to understand whether and how the types of firms that seek angel funding vary with the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem in a country. Authors examine the records of 13 angel investment groups based in 12 nations and with applicants for financing transactions from 21 nations, examining both the applicants that were considered and rejected and those that were funded. Key findings from the analysis are two-fold. First, angel investors have a positive impact on the growth of the firms they fund, their performance, and survival. Second, they find that the selection of firms that apply for angel funding is different across countries.

Identidade profissional: como se veem os professores na escola atual

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Ciências da Educação - área de Supervisão e Orientação Pegagógica

Populismo en América Latina : Desde la teoría hacia el análisis político. Discurso, sujeto e inclusión en el caso argentino

Los procesos actuales han revitalizado el debate en torno al populismo en América Latina; no obstante, el estatus teórico de la categoría está lejos de ser clarificado. En este contexto, el artículo propone una contribución a la teoría política del populismo a partir de la perspectiva abierta por Ernesto Laclau, a la vez que avanza en la definición de campos funcionales al análisis político: el populismo como discurso, como construcción del sujeto político y como inclusión de lo excluido en el orden social. A partir de estos desarrollos, en la segunda parte del artículo se utilizan estos aportes para analizar el proceso político actual en Argentina, a saber, el fenómeno del kirchnerismo

(Table 8.2, Page 178) Annotated record of the detailed examination of Mn deposits from submarine photographs acquired by the R/V Vityaz in the Pacific Ocean

Prof. H. H. W. Menard has brought together nearly all that was known of the Pacific geology in the early 1960s. His book contains a particular chapter on manganese nodules giving a stimulating review of the features and processes known to govern their distribution and chemical composition.

Dorothea Scott, otherwise Gotherson and Hogben, of Egerton house, Kent, 1611-1680.

A discourse of polletique and civill honor by Thomas Scott: p. [145]-198.

The works of the Reverend William Law, M.A. ...

"Prefatory memoir" signed: G.B.M. [i.e. G. B. Morgan]

Poems. Vol. I.

All that was published.

Stars of the desert. [music] : four more Indian love lyrics /

For medium voice and piano.

Polished ebony,

All that glitters.--Pool and ginuwine.--The amateur hero.--Tempus fugits.--Not wisely but too well.--Backfire.--A house divided.--Poppy passes.--Painless extraction.

Before the California Highway Commission in re location of Skyline Boulevard, San Francisco to Santa Cruz; supplemental brief for San Lorenzo Valley route from Saratoga Gap to Santa Cruz.

"This brief supersedes the former brief filed by the proponent herein. It embodies all that is to be found in that brief relevant to the questions presented therein."

Populismo en América Latina : Desde la teoría hacia el análisis político. Discurso, sujeto e inclusión en el caso argentino

Los procesos actuales han revitalizado el debate en torno al populismo en América Latina; no obstante, el estatus teórico de la categoría está lejos de ser clarificado. En este contexto, el artículo propone una contribución a la teoría política del populismo a partir de la perspectiva abierta por Ernesto Laclau, a la vez que avanza en la definición de campos funcionales al análisis político: el populismo como discurso, como construcción del sujeto político y como inclusión de lo excluido en el orden social. A partir de estos desarrollos, en la segunda parte del artículo se utilizan estos aportes para analizar el proceso político actual en Argentina, a saber, el fenómeno del kirchnerismo

Images of a Broken World

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08