Audit report on the Cedar County Economic Development Commission for the year ended June 30, 2015

Audit report on the Cedar County Economic Development Commission for the year ended June 30, 2015

FDI from European Union to Western Balkan Countires: is the economic development being intensified in the region?

La inversió estrangera directa és important a causa dels seus avantatges per al país d'acollida, per exemple augmentarà la competitivitat i s’intensifica el desenvolupament. Els avantatges són significatives als països dels Balcans occidentals que s'enfronten a les dificultats de la competència i el creixement més baix de la UE-27. El treball analitza el tipus dominant de la IED de la UE-27 a la regió dels Balcans Occidentals a escala nacional i sectorial per formar les implicacions sobre el futur creixement de la competitivitat i la intensitat del desenvolupament econòmic. Es troba que la IED horitzontal domina als Balcans occidentals, per tant, el creixement de la competitivitat i el desenvolupament econòmic es va intensificar a la regió.

The role of the tourism sector in economic development. Lessons from the Spanish experience

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the global economy and is considered an efficient tool with which to promote economic growth. The case of Spain¿s economy is well known in this respect; in fact, widespread consensus exists on the part played by tourism in enhancing the industrialisation process in Spain and the part played by foreign currency receipts from tourism in financing the imports of capital goods, which made the expansion of manufacturing possible. This paper aims to assess the real role of foreign currency receipts from tourism in Spain¿s economy from 1960 to the present. The results of Spain¿s experience may well help to guide policy decisions in developing countries in similar circumstances.

The role of the tourism sector in economic development. Lessons from the Spanish experience

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the global economy and is considered an efficient tool with which to promote economic growth. The case of Spain¿s economy is well known in this respect; in fact, widespread consensus exists on the part played by tourism in enhancing the industrialisation process in Spain and the part played by foreign currency receipts from tourism in financing the imports of capital goods, which made the expansion of manufacturing possible. This paper aims to assess the real role of foreign currency receipts from tourism in Spain¿s economy from 1960 to the present. The results of Spain¿s experience may well help to guide policy decisions in developing countries in similar circumstances.

Gender and human security : the challenge facing Canada's human security policy /

During the 1980's and for much of the 1990's, many countries in the Asia Pacific were renowned for their economic development and prosperity. The Asian tigers were a source of great interest for many economists and international investors. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, however, dramatically altered the growth and the performance of these economies. The crisis sent several ofAsia's best performing economies on a downward spiral from which many have yet to fully recover. The crisis exposed the financial and the political weaknesses ofmany countries in the region. Moreover, the crisis severely affected the wellbeing and the security ofmany ofthe region's citizens. This text will examine the economic crisis in greater detail and explore current debates in the study of international relations theory. More specifically, this paper will examine recent challenges posed to traditional international relations theory and address alternative approaches to this field of study. This paper will examine Critical theory and its role in shifting the referent object of security from the state to the individual. In this context, this paper will also assess Critical theory's role in enabling such issues as gender and human security to find a place on the agendas of international relations scholars and foreign policy makers. The central focus ofthis study will be the financial crisis and its impact on human security in the Southeast Asia. Furthermore, this paper will assess the recovery efforts ofthe domestic governments, international organizations and various Canadian sponsored initiatives in the context ofhuman security.

Economic Development under Alternative Trade Regimes

How does openness affect economic development? This question is answered in the context of a dynamic general equilibrium model of the world economy, where countries have technological differences that are both sector-neutral and specific to the investment goods sector. Relative to a benchmark case of trade in credit markets only, consider (i) a complete restriction of trade, and (ii) a full liberalization of trade. The first change decreases the cross-sectional dispersion of incomes only slightly, and produces a relatively small welfare loss. The second change, instead, decreases dispersion by a significant amount, and produces a very large welfare gain.

Turing’s imitation game and human thought

In 1950, the English mathematician Alan Mathison Turing proposed the basis of what some authors consider the test that a machine must pass to establish that it can think. This test is basically a game; nevertheless, it has had great infl uence in the development of the theories of the mind performance. The game specifications and some of its repercussions in the conception of thinking, the consciousness and the human will, will be ramifications of the path that will take us through the beginning of the artificial intelligence, passing along some of its singular manifestations, to culminate in the posing of certain restrictions of its fundaments.

Natural resources, redistribution and Human capital formation

How do resource booms affect human capital accumulation? We exploit time and spatial variation generated by the commodity boom across local governments in Peru to measure the effect of natural resources on human capital formation. We explore the effect of both mining production and tax revenues on test scores, finding a substantial and statistically significant effect for the latter. Transfers to local governments from mining tax revenues are linked to an increase in math test scores of around 0.23 standard deviations. We find that the hiring of permanent teachers as well as the increases in parental employment and improvements in health outcomes of adults and children are plausible mechanisms for such large effect on learning. These findings suggest that redistributive policies could facilitate the accumulation of human capital in resource abundant developing countries as a way to avoid the natural resources curse.

Evaluating the role of environmental quality in the sustainable rural economic development of England

The issue of the sustainable development of rural economies in England has recently received considerable attention. This is because many of the poorest areas in the country are rural, often of high environmental quality, but suffering from high unemployment and a lack of services and facilities. The rapid decline in agricultural incomes and in-migration of affluent urban workers since 1990 has exacerbated economic inequality in such areas. A number of factors have the potential to drive rural development and this paper applies, and considers, the feasibility of a method from the USA for combining economic and environmental variables in a regional growth model to examine the hypothesis that environmental quality is an important determinant of sustainable rural development in England. The model output suggests that, although environmental quality does play a role in sustainable rural development in England there are other, more important, factors driving development. These include business and communications infra-structure, the degree and opportunities for commuting and underlying employment prospects. The robustness and limitations of the method for combining economic and environmental variables is discussed in relation to the spatial interrelatedness of Local Authority Districts in England, and conclusions are drawn about areas for refinement and improvement of the method.

Are local economic development incentives promoting job growth? An empirical case study

At a time when cities are competing with one another to attract or retain jobs within a globalizing economy, city governments are providing an array of financial incentives to stimulate job growth and retain existing jobs, particularly in high cost locations. This paper provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of datasets on economic development incentives in New York City over the last fifteen years. The evidence on job retention and creation is mixed. Although many companies do not meet their agreed-upon job targets in absolute terms, the evidence suggests that companies receiving subsidies outperform their respective industries in terms of employment growth, that is, the grow more, or decline less. We emphasize that this finding is difficult to interpret, since firms receiving incentives may not be representative of the industry as a whole. In other words, their above-average performance may simply reflect the fact that the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) selects economically promising companies within manufacturing (or other industries) when granting incentives. At the same time, it is also possible that receiving incentives helps these companies to become stronger.

Can British multinational enterprises finance economic development in South East Asia?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the debate about the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) and public policy in fostering economic development. Specifically, can the capital inflow of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the ability of the subsidiaries to raise funds locally help promote development? This paper addresses this issue by examining the capital structure and financing sources of foreign subsidiaries of MNEs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper integrates the capital structure theories in finance with internalization theory in international business. It uses an original primary dataset collected by a survey of 101 foreign subsidiaries of British MNEs in six emerging economies in the ASEAN region. Findings – There are three significant findings. First, these subsidiaries rely heavily on internal funds generated within the MNEs and less on external debts raised in the host countries. Second, the foreign subsidiary's capital structure is influenced by the home country of origin of the parent firm and the parent firm's financing sources. Third, these subsidiaries have used the financial resources to develop business networks with local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which contribute to economic development of the host countries. Originality/value – This paper examines the internal capital market within the MNE. It provides theoretical and empirical support for the capital structure theory of the hierarchy financing approach and also for internalization theory by addressing FDI inflows by MNEs and the raising of funds locally. These findings have important implications for public policy, namely the facilitation of MNE entry to encourage economic development.

Gender in international economic development projects: how is gender being institutionalized in the Inter-American Development Bank?

O Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento, o Banco Mundial, e outras organizações financiam iniciativas para acelerar o desenvolvimento da região da América Latina e Caribe. Antes do final da década de 80, vários projetos e políticas dessas instituições careciam de considerações ligadas à gênero e foram criticadas por essa falta (Flora, 1998). Em 1987, o BID publicou um documento sobre uma nova política operacional sobre mulheres e desenvolvimento e vem desde então buscando institucionalizar gênero e criar indicadores para medir os impactos relacionados à gênero em seus projetos. O objetivo dessa dissertação é explorar o tema de gênero no contexto do desenvolvimento internacional através de uma análise de como o Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento inclui gênero em suas operações. Após uma revisão literária sobre a importância de gênero e de bancos de desenvolvimento, essa dissertação irá analisar de que maneira gênero é incluído nas discussões dos projetos do Banco à nível institucional. A pesquisa será feita através de documentação disponível para o público geral, documentos internos e entrevistas em vídeo com pessoal do BID. Após uma análise dos dados coletados, recomendações para ações futuras serão dadas.