Nord Stream on the liberalising EU gas market. OSW Point of View, March 2010

Nord Stream increases Gazprom’s flexibility as far its export routes are concerned; it enables them to be changed with regard to the market or political situation. Nevertheless, this expensive pipeline may contribute to a further drop in the price competitiveness of Russian gas. Accordingly, increasing the attractiveness of Russian fuel and ensuring profitable sales is steadily becoming the main challenge for Gazprom in the EU against a backdrop of increasing competitiveness on the market.

A Contribution to The Study of Global Competition for Talent: the determinants of student mobility and its consequences for the internationalization of the labor market. Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 27/2013

In a globalized economy the skills of the workforce are a key determinant of the competitiveness of a country. One of the goals of Higher Education is precisely to develop the students’ skills in order to allow them to match the increasing demand for highly qualified workers while it is simultaneously the best period of life to acquire multicultural skills. For this reason, the European Union has fostered student mobility through several programs: the Erasmus program and the Bologna process are the best known among them. Although student mobility is a growing phenomenon, publications and research on the subject remain relatively scarce. This paper aims to contribute to that literature through an empirical analysis which exploits a questionnaire submitted to university alumni and focuses on two research questions: what drives studies abroad and what drives expatriation of graduates. Our empirical analysis first shows that exposure to international experiences before entering tertiary education and family background are the main factors influencing student mobility. A second conclusion is that studying abroad increases the international mobility on the labor market. Both confirm previous studies. Moreover, by making a distinction between participating in the Erasmus program and in other exchange programs or internships abroad, we found that the Erasmus program and the other programs or internships have an equivalent influence on the international mobility on the labor market: they increase by 9 to 12.5 percentage points a student’s chance to be mobile on the international labor market. This result shows the legitimacy of the Erasmus program, but it also reveals the important impact of other forms of experience abroad. It provides support for policy makers to encourage mobility programs, in order to foster integration of the European labor market.

Agricultural Labour Market Flexibility in the EU and Candidate Countries. Factor Markets Working Document No. 49, June 2013

Factor markets that function well are a crucial condition for the competitiveness and growth of agriculture. Institutions and regulation may give rise to agricultural labour market heterogeneity, which could have important effects on the functioning of the labour market and other agricultural factor markets in EU member states. This paper first defines the institutional framework for the labour market, and then presents a brief literature review of previous studies of labour market institutional frameworks. Based on the literature, a survey to characterise agricultural labour markets was undertaken, which was implemented for a selection of EU27 and EU candidate countries, with responses based on expert opinion. The survey data were then used to construct indices of labour market flexibility/rigidity for the countries examined. These indices were used to make inter-country labour market comparisons and to draw inferences about the institutions and functioning of the agricultural labour market.

The long road towards the European single market. Bruegel Working Paper 2015/01, March 2015

The single market is often perceived as the panacea for Europe’s economic troubles. It is believed that completing the single market would boost welfare, stimulate growth and increase European competitiveness. • However, identifying and quantifying the channels through which market integration is expected to engender growth is methodologically complex. Although the overwhelming prediction from the literature is for single market integration to generate positive and significant aggregate effects, we conclude that the impact so far has fallen short of initial expectations, because: (1) Barriers continue to prevail in the EU, preventing the exploitation of the potential benefits of full market integration (2) ‘Complementary policies’ to support the single market were not, or were insufficiently, put in place (3) The single market project has not sufficiently been framed as a key part of the process of creative destruction that Europe needs to embrace to successfully modernise its economy. • That single market integration generates positive and significant aggregate effects does not imply that its effects are positive and significant for every sector. There is therefore an important role for European Union and national distributional policies to ensure that losers are sufficiently compensated by the winners, and to overcome political resistance to completing the single market.

Students in Work and their Impact on the Labour Market. CEPS Working Document No. 410/July 2015

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the size and composition of the student labour force in order to consider its potential impact on labour markets in the European Union. The paper is based on an analysis of EU Labour Force Survey data from 2011, supplemented by the findings of the EUROSTUDENT project. The structure of student labour is discussed within the framework of the so-called ‘crowding-out’ literature, which identifies competition for jobs between students and low educated non-students, particularly in the retail and wholesale sectors. In contrast to these assumptions, the authors found that, depending on the age of the student, the profile of student workers closely matches that of non-students with medium- to-high educational attainment. In general, the retail and wholesale sectors are of importance in the employment of students under the age of 25, but students typically take positions in the middle of the occupational hierarchy, rather than in the lower-grade positions. Meanwhile, older students, often professionals furthering their education while studying, are typically located in similar jobs and sectors to university graduates. A common trait of student work is its very high degree of flexibility compared to that of non-students. Nevertheless, the structure of student labour does not lead us to believe that student workers are particularly prone to be present in the precarious segment of the labour market.

A stochastic frontier approach to modelling financial constraints in firms:an application to India

We propose the use of stochastic frontier approach to modelling financial constraints of firms. The main advantage of the stochastic frontier approach over the stylised approaches that use pooled OLS or fixed effects panel regression models is that we can not only decide whether or not the average firm is financially constrained, but also estimate a measure of the degree of the constraint for each firm and for each time period, and also the marginal impact of firm characteristics on this measure. We then apply the stochastic frontier approach to a panel of Indian manufacturing firms, for the 1997–2006 period. In our application, we highlight and discuss the aforementioned advantages, while also demonstrating that the stochastic frontier approach generates regression estimates that are consistent with the stylised intuition found in the literature on financial constraint and the wider literature on the Indian credit/capital market.

A gabonaszállítási piac színe és visszája Magyarországon (The pros and contras of the Hungarian cereals transportation market)

A tanulmány a szakirodalomban újszerű kezdeményezésként kísérletet tesz a gabonapiac ellátási láncának felrajzolására, majd annak egyik, a cikk alapkérdése szempontjából kiemelt vetületét, a gabonaszállítási és raktározási problémákat elemzi. Előbbit a piac szereplőitől kvalitatív módon begyűjtött információkkal, utóbbit a szakirodalom alapján mutatja be. A cikk az elemzés után javaslatokkal szolgál ahhoz, hogyan lehetne hazánkban egy integrált gabonapiaci szállítási-raktározási-átrakási rendszert kialakítani. __________ The aim of the article is to present the situation of the Hungarian cereals transport and storage-reloading market and by interconnection, to treat cereals market’s operations systemically. Under this process, the study trace to draw a possible supply chain of the national cereals market up, which is a new initiation in the Hungarian literature. The focus of the article is to analyse transport and storage processes in the cereals market using the framework mentioned above. Transport market is demonstrated on the grounds of a revealing qualitative research, while storage market is brought out by literature. After analysis, the article gives recommendations how to shape an integrated transport and storage-reload system in the Hungarian cereals market.

Clemson Sandhill Farmers Market : market flash

This periodical tells about all the activities going on at the Sandhill Farmers Market and other markets in the Columbia area. Many things are hot linked to the market flash including recipes, planting tips, Clemson University and the South Carolina Farmer's Market.

Clemson Sandhill Farmers Market : market flash

This periodical tells about all the activities going on at the Sandhill Farmers Market and other markets in the Columbia area. Many things are hot linked to the market flash including recipes, planting tips, Clemson University and the South Carolina Farmer's Market.

Clemson Sandhill Farmers Market : market flash

This periodical tells about all the activities going on at the Sandhill Farmers Market and other markets in the Columbia area. Many things are hot linked to the market flash including recipes, planting tips, Clemson University and the South Carolina Farmer's Market.

Plan de negocios Bicigo app

La gran cantidad de personas interesadas actualmente en cuidar de su salud por medio de la Bicicleta, es una tendencia que cada vez toma más fuerza y por esto, se tomara como ventaja que la ciudad de Bogotá con sus últimos alcaldes han decidió apoyar el uso de esta. Aplicación para realizar grupos de ciclistas y poder salir cualquier día de la semana acompañado de más personas por un tema de transporte pero también de ocio. El objetivo es que las personas que no utilizan la bicicleta por miedo a salir solos, puedan unirse a diferentes grupos y hacer bici paseos por la ciudad, también contemplamos el hecho de que existen personas que quieren montar bicicleta como aficionados, es decir que salen por la carreteras aledañas a la capital pero muchas veces no tienen grupo con quien rodar. Queremos para el año 2020, lograr ser una de las aplicaciones de Bicicletas más exitosa de la ciudadanía de Bogotá, siendo una de las aplicaciones que mas apoya el uso diario y deportivo de la bicicleta. Nuestra aplicación ofrece el servicio principalmente de reunir gente y hacer paseos con diferentes personas haciendo uso de las bicicletas, dentro de la ciudad como ocio y transporte se realizarían en la mañana y noches, pero así mismo realizar grupos para hacer uso de la bicicleta por carreteras, es decir más como modo profesional o aficionado. Nuestra aplicación cuenta con una interface para seleccionar el tipo de bici usuario y segundo por donde o a donde quiere dirigirse para así mismo mostrarle las rutas cercanas a él. Nuestra característica principal es la unión de diferentes grupos, personas y entidades para hacer uso de la Bicicleta, tenemos una plataforma interactiva y fácil de usar, tan fácil que cualquier persona que no esté inmersa en el mundo de los Smartphone o aplicaciones pueda aprender a usarla. Unas de las ventajas con las que cuento es que desde muy joven me ha gustado montar en bicicletas y es así como decido crear una aplicación ya que compañeros, familiares y conocidos no salían a montar bicicleta solo conmigo, preferían que fuese un grupo más grande. Así mismo cuento con 3 compañeros de la universidad Javeriana que son programadores y ellos me van a brindar apoyo con la programación de la aplicación, y una compañera cercana a mí que estudio diseño industrial y me brindara apoyo con el diseño e imagen corporativa de la aplicación. Cuento con planta física para ubicar la oficina de nuestra empresa. Esta aplicación va dirigida principalmente a los habitantes de la ciudad de Bogotá, interesados en el cuidado de su salud combinado con medio de transporte, y personas correspondientes al estrato 2 en adelante, ya que son las personas que normalmente hacen uso de la bicicleta o que son personas potenciales para empezar hacer uso de la bicicleta. . La ciudad de Bogotá cuenta con 8’037.732 habitantes y este proyecto va ser desarrollado en toda la ciudad, toca tener en cuenta que la ciudad esta mesclada entre la diferente estratificación, no dirigimos a los estratos 2 y 3 que tenga la posibilidad de tener su Bicicleta y un celular tipo Smartphone, para los estratos 4, 5 y 6 sabemos que tiene la facilidad de obtener una bicicleta y ellos son nuestro usuario potencial el cual generaríamos un cambio y tomarían su bicicleta para hacer ejercicio como ocio y como medio de transporte. En cuanto a la proyección financiera para la aplicación, como se mencionó anteriormente, contamos con una gran ventaja, ya que la inversión requerida será menor debido a la propiedad con la que cuento para llevar a cabo el proyecto. Una propiedad de 60 metros cuadrados para empezar, la cual cuenta con salas de reunión y auditorio, un parqueaderos exteriores. Al hacer la calculación se va tener en cuenta el pago de un arriendo sin importan que sea de nuestra propiedad y así poder evidenciar realmente como es el estado financiero y no subsidiarla. Por otro lado, la inversión en efectivo que se necesitara será aproximadamente de $100.000.000 que serán $50.000.000 de mis padres y el restante saldrán de mis ahorros, Javier Amortegui Babativa, los cuales serán distribuidos para adecuación de planta, equipos y sistemas $17.616.880, para publicidad y mercadeo: $30.000.000, creación de la aplicación $34.000.000, sistemas IOS + Android $421.600, Gastos de composición empresarial y bancarios $11.000.000 y por último se va tener un provisión para imprevistos por el restante $6.961.520. Nuestras proyecciones de ventas han sido basadas en aplicaciones similares con un mismo formato de lucro con el tema de bicicletas pero no con la misma idea de negocio, nuestras proyecciones de ventas estimadas serán de $20.000.000 a $25.000.000 los primeros 3 meses, mientras tomamos fuerza en el mercado.

Progettazione ed implementazione di una applicazione Android per la creazione di itinerari di viaggio

Il progetto di tesi consiste nella progettazione e nell'implementazione di una applicazione mobile Android nativa per la generazione automatica di itinerari di viaggio in base ad alcuni dati inseriti in input dall'utente. La app è costituita da una serie di activity di raccolta dati in cui viene chiesto all'utente di inserire le sue preferenze in quanto a destinazione, periodo, modalità di viaggio ed altre informazioni. Completata questa fase viene attivato l'algoritmo che genera gli itinerari elaborando i dati raccolti. L'itinerario, che rappresenta il risultato ottenuto dall'algoritmo, è diviso in giorni ed ogni giorno di viaggio contiene i luoghi da visitare in ordine ottimizzato, con la possibilità di usufruire di ulteriori servizi di indicazioni stradali e visualizzazione su mappe. L'intero progetto è stato implementato in Java con l'ambiente di sviluppo Android Studio.

Bridging the gap between closed and open data. System proposal for the Portuguese Legislation

Esta dissertação apresenta uma proposta de sistema capaz de preencher a lacuna entre documentos legislativos em formato PDF e documentos legislativos em formato aberto. O objetivo principal é mapear o conhecimento presente nesses documentos de maneira a representar essa coleção como informação interligada. O sistema é composto por vários componentes responsáveis pela execução de três fases propostas: extração de dados, organização de conhecimento, acesso à informação. A primeira fase propõe uma abordagem à extração de estrutura, texto e entidades de documentos PDF de maneira a obter a informação desejada, de acordo com a parametrização do utilizador. Esta abordagem usa dois métodos de extração diferentes, de acordo com as duas fases de processamento de documentos – análise de documento e compreensão de documento. O critério utilizado para agrupar objetos de texto é a fonte usada nos objetos de texto de acordo com a sua definição no código de fonte (Content Stream) do PDF. A abordagem está dividida em três partes: análise de documento, compreensão de documento e conjunção. A primeira parte da abordagem trata da extração de segmentos de texto, adotando uma abordagem geométrica. O resultado é uma lista de linhas do texto do documento; a segunda parte trata de agrupar os objetos de texto de acordo com o critério estipulado, produzindo um documento XML com o resultado dessa extração; a terceira e última fase junta os resultados das duas fases anteriores e aplica regras estruturais e lógicas no sentido de obter o documento XML final. A segunda fase propõe uma ontologia no domínio legal capaz de organizar a informação extraída pelo processo de extração da primeira fase. Também é responsável pelo processo de indexação do texto dos documentos. A ontologia proposta apresenta três características: pequena, interoperável e partilhável. A primeira característica está relacionada com o facto da ontologia não estar focada na descrição pormenorizada dos conceitos presentes, propondo uma descrição mais abstrata das entidades presentes; a segunda característica é incorporada devido à necessidade de interoperabilidade com outras ontologias do domínio legal, mas também com as ontologias padrão que são utilizadas geralmente; a terceira característica é definida no sentido de permitir que o conhecimento traduzido, segundo a ontologia proposta, seja independente de vários fatores, tais como o país, a língua ou a jurisdição. A terceira fase corresponde a uma resposta à questão do acesso e reutilização do conhecimento por utilizadores externos ao sistema através do desenvolvimento dum Web Service. Este componente permite o acesso à informação através da disponibilização de um grupo de recursos disponíveis a atores externos que desejem aceder à informação. O Web Service desenvolvido utiliza a arquitetura REST. Uma aplicação móvel Android também foi desenvolvida de maneira a providenciar visualizações dos pedidos de informação. O resultado final é então o desenvolvimento de um sistema capaz de transformar coleções de documentos em formato PDF para coleções em formato aberto de maneira a permitir o acesso e reutilização por outros utilizadores. Este sistema responde diretamente às questões da comunidade de dados abertos e de Governos, que possuem muitas coleções deste tipo, para as quais não existe a capacidade de raciocinar sobre a informação contida, e transformá-la em dados que os cidadãos e os profissionais possam visualizar e utilizar.

ErasmusApp: A Location-Based Collaborative System for Erasmus Students

This paper reports on the design and development of an Android-based context-aware system to support Erasmus students during their mobility in Porto. It enables: (i) guest users to create, rate and store personal points of interest (POI) in a private, local on board database; and (ii) authenticated users to upload and share POI as well as get and rate recommended POI from the shared central database. The system is a distributed client / server application. The server interacts with a central database that maintains the user profiles and the shared POI organized by category and rating. The Android GUI application works both as a standalone application and as a client module. In standalone mode, guest users have access to generic info, a map-based interface and a local database to store and retrieve personal POI. Upon successful authentication, users can, additionally, share POI as well as get and rate recommendations sorted by category, rating and distance-to-user.

Server to Mobile Device Communication: A Case Study

Develop a client-server application for a mobile environment can bring many challenges because of the mobile devices limitations. So, in this paper is discussed what can be the more reliable way to exchange information between a server and an Android mobile application, since it is important for users to have an application that really works in a responsive way and preferably without any errors. In this discussion two data transfer protocols (Socket and HTTP) and three serialization data formats (XML, JSON and Protocol Buffers) were tested using some metrics to evaluate which is the most practical and fast to use.