Measuring the impact of innovative human capital on small firms' propensity to innovate

The ability to identify and evaluate the competitive advantage of employees' transferable and innovative characteristics is of importance to firms and policymakers. This research extends the standard measure of human capital by developing a unique and far reaching concept of Innovative Human Capital and emphasises its effect on small firm innovation and hence growth (jobs, sales and productivity). This new Innovative Human Capital concept encapsulates four elements: education, training, willingness to change in the workplace and job satisfaction to overcome the limitations of measurements used previously. An augmented innovation production function is used to test the hypothesis that small firms who employ managers with Innovative Human Capital are more likely to innovate. There is evidence from the results that Innovative Human Capital may be more valuable to small firms (i.e. less than 50 employees) than larger-sized firms (i.e. more than 50 employees). The research expands innovation theory to include the concept of Innovative Human Capital as a competitive advantage and determinant of small firm innovation; and distinguishes Innovative Human Capital as a significant concept to consider when creating public support programmes for small firms.

Ütemvakság

A gazdaság növekedés felgyorsulása hosszú távon először szükségszerűen csak egy rövid helyreállítási perióduson keresztül valósulhat meg, amelynek során a növekedés ütemét a válságok miatt elmaradt vagy más okból elmulasztott növekedés pótlása gyorsítja fel. Ez azonban messze nem jelenti a hosszú távú növekedési ütem felgyorsulását. A jelenséget először Jánossy Ferenc írta le, akinek megállapításai ma is érvényesek: egy jelentős visszaesés, majd stagnálás után a növekedési ütem 2005 után visszaállt az 1980 óta kialakult 1,5 százalékos hosszú távú ütemre. A Jánossy-féle szakmastruktúra-tényező nem más, mint a tudástőke: a munkaképes lakosság személyes tudása, jártassága és motivációja. Ezek az összetevők egy újrafogalmazott termelési függvény emberi elemei számos új és már korábban is ismert tényező mellett. Az emberi erőforrások nyilvántartása nem kompetenciaalapú, és emiatt a hosszú távú növekedési ütem alacsony szintjét sem tudjuk megmagyarázni. A növekedési ütem ingadozásai mögött elsősorban gazdaságpolitikai hibákat, érdemeket keresünk, holott az emberi beruházások elégtelen szintje jelenti a problémát, amely a múlt örökségnek és a jelen terheinek súlya alatt nem oldódik meg automatikusan. A magyar gazdaság egy újabb helyreállítási periódus előtt áll, s a gazdasági átalakítás alapvető feladata a foglalkoztatható lakosság aktivizálása, enélkül minden növekedési gyorsulás csak átmeneti helyreállítási periódus marad. JEL kód: B23, C22, E01, O11. /===/ Acceleration of economic growth in the long term can primarily be achieved only through a short period of consolidation, in which the growth rate of growth by recession or made up for by growth potential neglected for other reasons. But this is far from equivalent to an acceleration of the long-term growth rate. The phenomenon was described first by Ferenc Jánossy, whose conclusions remain valid to this day: after a substantial slump and a period of stagnation, the growth rate recovered after 2005 the long-term rate of 1.5 per cent that had set in after 1980. Jánossy's trade structure factor amounts to capital in knowledge: the personal know-how, expertise and motivation of the able-bodied population. These factors are the human constituents of a newly formulated production function, along with numerous new and previously known factors. The registration of human resources is competence- based and so it cannot explain the low level of the long-term growth rate either. People tend primarily to see failures and achievements of economic policy behind the failures and achievements of economic policy, when the real problem is inadequate human investment, which will not resolve itself automatically under the weight of the past and present burdens. The Hungarian economy is on the brink of a new period of recovery, and the basic task of economic transformation is to activate the employable population, without which any acceleration of growth will amount only to a temporary period of recovery.

Town and Countryside in early modern Hungary The Case of Sopron, c. 1500-1800

The town of Sopron (Ödenburg) is situated near the western border of Hungary at the junction of major routes of commerce, no further than 70 km from Vienna. As early as in 1291 the town had become a chartered town or free royal town, which meant the most fully-fledged municipial autonomy in this period. The town was subordinated only to the king and could represent itself in parliament from 1445. The surrounding seigniorial towns and villages often lodged an appeal with the Town Court due to its wide legal autonomy. The inhabitants of seigniorial towns and the villagers could have been under the necessity of going to the town, and the legal proceedings they experienced in Sopron may have meant a model pattern for them. The seigniorial town (oppidum) is a settlement under the landlord's authority, with limited legal privileges, concentrated mostly on agricultural production and on the exchange of products of its immediate hinterland. Sopron as a county town was gradually becoming significant during the early modern period. The county (megye) was not only the unit of administration in Hungary, but that of the autonomy of nobility, too. The importance of Sopron as a county town attracted many noblemen dwelling in Sopron county to the town. The county was one of the most densely populated in the 15-18th c., at the beginning of the 18th c., for example, the density was 32 person/km2 and it rose more than 40 p/km2 by the end of the century. The population of Sopron was approximately 3500-3700 in the middle of the 15th c., and due to the decline during the later decades some 3000 persons lived in the town in the early 16th c. According to the first national census the population of Sopron was 12600 in 1784-87. These data place Sopron at the high level of Hungarian urban hierarchy in this period. This paper will explore two significant aspects of the relation between the town and its countryside: the problems of mutual economic dependence and the role of Sopron as a centre of culture.

Intellectual Capital Paradox

The authors have analysed the economic growth and its determining factors in countries of the European Union, particularly in Hungary and Ukraine. We applied quantitative methods by analysing topic related database. We have found that the Central-Eastern European Periphery has not finished its transition, and this change is heading in the direction of the Southern Periphery of the European Union. As the Southern Periphery is the area of economic crises right now, it is obvious that something should be done in order to avoid falling to the same fate for the Central-Eastern European Periphery. The authors introduced a new production function and with its help they identified the bottlenecks of growth in Hungary and Ukraine, namely the organizational and human capital that in its present development stage, do not correspond to the needs of creating state of the art larger companies. The present crisis pushes both countries to postpone long-term developments, such as investments into human capital, and in this way makes the solution of the crisis more difficult.

The relationship of student and teacher variables on academic achievement in Florida schools

Since 1995, Florida has been one of the leading states in the country initiating a high-stakes school accountability system. Public schools in Florida receive letter grades based on their performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). These school grades have significant effects on schools' reputations and funding. Consequently, the plan has been criticized for grading all schools in the same manner, without taking into account such variables as student poverty and mobility rates which are beyond the control of the school. ^ The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of student variables (poverty and mobility rates) and teacher variables (average years of teacher experience and attained degree level) on FCAT math and reading performance. This research utilized an education production function model to examine which set of inputs (student or teacher) has a stronger influence on student academic output as measured by the FCAT. ^ The data collected for this study was from over 1500 public elementary schools in Florida that listed all pertinent information for 2 school years (1998/1999 & 1999/2000) on the Florida Department of Education's website. ^ It was concluded that student poverty, teacher average years of experience and student mobility taken together, provide a strong predictive measure of FCAT reading and math performance. However, the set of student inputs was significantly stronger than the teacher inputs. High student poverty was highly correlated with low FCAT scores. Teacher experience and student mobility rates were not nearly as strongly related to FCAT scores as was student poverty. The results of this study provide evidence for educators and other school stakeholders of the relative degree to which student and teacher variables are related to student academic achievement. The underlying reasons for these relationships will require further examination in future studies. These results raise questions for Florida's school policymakers about the educational equity of the state's accountability system and its implementation. ^

Rich and poor, white and black, free and slave: The social history of Cuba's tobacco farmers, 1763--1817

Tobacco was of primary importance to Spain, and its impact on Cuba's economy and society was greater than just the numbers of farms, workers, or production, demonstrated by the Spanish crown's outlay of monies for capital assets, bureaucrats' salaries, and payments to farmers for their crop. This study is a micro- and macro-level study of rural life in colonial Cuba and the interconnected relationships among society, agricultural production, state control, and the island's economic development. ^ By placing Cuba's tobacco farmers at the forefront of this social history, this work revisits and offers alternatives to two prevailing historiographical views of rural Cuba from 1763 (the year Havana returned to Spanish control following the Seven Years' War) to 1817 (the final year of the 100-year royal monopoly on Cuban tobacco). Firstly, it argues against the primacy of sugar over other agricultural crops, a view that has shaped decades of scholarship, and challenges the thesis which maintains the Cuban tobacco farmer was almost exclusively poor, white, and employed free labor, rather than slaves, in the production of their crop. ^ This study establishes the importance of tobacco as an agricultural product, and argues that Cuban tobacco growers were a heterogeneous group, revealing the role that its cultivation may have played in helping some slaves earn their freedom. ^

A Geographic Perspective of Cuban Landscapes

Beginning in the era of the Spanish conquest and taking the reader right up to the present day, this book focuses on how the landscape of Cuba has changed and evolved into the environment we see today. It illustrates the range of factors – economic, political and cultural – that have determined Cuba’s physical geography, and explores the shifting conservation measures which have been instituted in response to new methods in agriculture and land management. The text uses historical documents, fieldwork, Geographic Information System (GIS) data and remotely-sensed satellite imagery to detail Cuba’s extensive land-use history as well as its potential future. The author goes further to analyze the manner, speed and methods of landscape change, and examines the historical context and governing agendas that have had an impact on the relationship between Cuba’s inhabitants and their island. Gebelein also assesses the key role played by agricultural production in the framework of international trade required to sustain Cuba’s people and its economy. The book concludes with a review of current efforts by Cuban and other research scientists, as well as private investors, conservation managers and university professors who are involved in shaping Cuba’s evolving landscape and managing it during the country’s possible transition to a more politically diverse, enfranchised and open polity.

The effect of domestic credit in the economic *development process

A commonly held view is that creation of excessive domestic credit may lead to inflation problems, however, many economists uphold the possibility that, generous domestic credit under appropriate conditions will result in increases of output. This hypothesis is examined for Japan and Colombia for the period 1950-1993.^ Domestic credit theories are reviewed since the times of Thornton and Smith, until the recent times of Lewis, McKinnon, Stiglitz and of Japanese economists like K. Emi, Tachi R. and others. It is found that in Japan of the Post-War period, efficient financial markets and the decisive role of the government in orienting investment decisions seem to have influenced positively the effectiveness of domestic credit as an output-stimulating variable. On the contrary, in Colombia the absence of the above features seems to explain why domestic credit is not very effective as an output-stimulating variable.^ Multiple regression analyses show that domestic credit is a strong explanatory variable for output increases in Japan and a weak one for Colombia's case in the studied period. For Japan the correlation depicts a positive relationship between the two variables with a decreasing rate very similar to a typical production function. Moreover, the positive decreasing rate is confirmed if net domestic credit is used in the correlations. For Colombia a positive relationship is also found when accumulated domestic credit is used, but, if net domestic credit is the source of correlations, the positive decreasing rate is not obtained.^ Granger causality tests determined causality from domestic credit to output for Japan and no-causality for Colombia at the 1% significance level; the differences are explained by: (1) The low development level of the financial system in Colombia. (2) The nonexistence of consistent domestic credit policy to foster economic development. (3) The lack of an authoritative orientation in the allocation of financial resources and the nonexistence of long range industrialization programs in Colombia that could channel productively credit resources. For the system of equations relating domestic credit and exports, the Granger causality tests determined no-causality between domestic credit and exports for both Japan and Colombia also at the 1% significance level. ^

The contribution of higher education to economic *development in a globalized environment

Amidst concerns about achieving high levels of technology to remain competitive in the global market without compromising economic development, national economies are experiencing a high demand for human capital. As higher education is assumed to be the main source of human capital, this analysis focused on a more specific and less explored area of the generally accepted idea that higher education contributes to economic growth. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to find whether higher education also contributes to economic development, and whether that contribution is more substantial in a globalized context. ^ Consequently, a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to support with statistical significance the answer to the research question: Does higher education contributes to economic development in the context of globalization? The information analyzed was obtained from historical data of 91 selected countries, and the period of time of the study was 10 years (1990–2000). Some variables, however, were lagged back 5, 10 or 15 years along a 15-year timeframe (1975–1990). The resulting comparative static model was based on the Cobb-Douglas production function and the Solow model to specify economic growth as a function of physical capital, labor, technology, and productivity. Then, formal education, economic development, and globalization were added to the equation. ^ The findings of this study supported the assumption that the independent contribution of the changes in higher education completion and globalization to changes in economic growth is more substantial than the contribution of their interaction. The results also suggested that changes in higher and secondary education completion contribute much more to changes in economic growth in less developed countries than in their more developed counterparts. ^ As a conclusion, based on the results of this study, I proposed the implementation of public policy in less developed countries to promote and expand adequate secondary and higher education systems with the purpose of helping in the achievement of economic development. I also recommended further research efforts on this topic to emphasize the contribution of education to the economy, mainly in less developed countries. ^

Connectivity of fragmented amphibian populations in a neotropical landscape

A high proportion of amphibian species are threatened with extinction globally, and habitat loss and degradation are the most frequently implicated causes. Rapid deforestation for the establishment of agricultural production is a primary driver of habitat loss in tropical zones where amphibian diversity is highest. Land-cover change affects native assemblages, in part, through the reduction of habitat area and the reduction of movement among remnant populations. Decreased gene flow contributes to loss of genetic diversity, which limits the ability of local populations to respond to further environmental changes. The focus of this dissertation is on the degree to which common land uses in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica impede the movement of two common amphibian species. First, I used field experiments, including displacement trials, and a behavioral landscape ecology framework to investigate the resistance of pastures to movement of Oophaga pumilio. Results from experiments demonstrate that pastures do impede movement of O. pumilio relative to forest. Microclimatic effects on movement performance as well as limited perceptual ranges likely contribute to reduced return rates through pastures. Next, I linked local processes to landscape scale estimates of resistance. I conducted experiments to measure habitat-specific costs to movement for O. pumilio and Craugastor bransfodrii, and then used experimental results to parameterize connectivity models. Model validation indicated highest support for resistance estimates generated from responses to land-use specific microclimates for both species and to predator encounters for O. pumilio. Finally, I used abundance and experiment-derived resistance estimates to analyze the effects of prevalent land uses on population genetic structure of the two focal species. While O. pumilio did not exhibit a strong response to landscape heterogeneity and was primarily structured by distances among sites, C. bransfordii genetic variation was explained by resistance estimates from abundance and experiment data. Collectivity, this work demonstrates that common land uses can offer different levels of resistance to amphibian movements in Sarapiquí and illustrates the value of investigating local scales processes to inform interpretation of landscape-scale patterns.^

Influência de eventos hidrológicos extremos na qualidade da água de reservatórios na região tropical semiárida

Reservoirs are artificial ecosystems, intermediate between rivers and lakes, with diferent morphological and hydrological characteristics that can provide many important benefits to society. However, the use of this water for human consumption, watering livestock, leisure, irrigated agricultural production and pisciculture development, directly influence the increase loading of nutrients to aquatic environments and contribute to acceleration of eutrophication. Furthermore, global climate models are predicting a higher occurrence of extreme events such as floods and severe droughts, which will create hydrological stresses in lakes. In the semiarid northeast we can see the occurrence of these events, the drought of the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 was the worst drought in 60 years, according to the National Water Agency (ANA). Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of the semiarid tropical water sources, identifying temporal patterns in periods with extreme hydrological events (floods and severe droughts). The study results showed that Gargalheiras and Cruzeta reservoirs presented significative changes in the limnological variables between rain and severe drought periods, with better appearance and in the most of the water quality variables in the rainy season and higher nutrientes concentrations and high electrical conductivity values in severe season, indicating decay of its quality. However, we found diferent behaviors between the reservoirs in severe drought. While Gargalheiras showed a typical behavior of the region, with high concentrations of algal biomass, indicating the worsening eutrophication, Cruzeta demonstrated a colapse in the total phytoplankton biomass, evidenced by the decrease in chla concentrations. This fact occurred because the low depth and proximity with the sediment facilited the inorganic solids resuspension and, consequently, resulted in turbid water column and light by limitation. In addition, the different behaviors between the reservoirs indicate that the responses of these environments problems such as extreme events must take into account factors such the region climate, size, depth of the reservoir and the basin characteristics.

Análise da variabilidade climática sobre a produtividade da soja no município de Bom Jesus (PI)

The climate is still main responsible for the variations soybean productivity (Glycine max (L.) Merrill), exerting a limiting action on these agricultural systems. The bomjesuense cerrado, this culture has proved, over the years, an increase of cultivated areas, however, productivity does not keep the same pace, going through periods of oscillations. Thus, although the crop is added to high technology, culture has great vulnerability to climatic adversities. Thus, the present study aims to analyze possible trends in meteorological variables, which can influence the soybean yield in Bom Jesus. For this purpose, different datasets were used, as follows: i) two periods of daily data (1984-2014 and 1974-2014), both obtained from the National Meteorological Institute (INMET); ii) climate normals from 1961-1990 as defined by INMET; iii) local agricultural production data of soybean-year (1997/1998 to 2012/2013) obtained from the Municipal Agricultural Production (PAM) dataset, which is management by Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The analysis procedures included calculations of climate normals for 1984 to 2014 period and some statistical applications, as follows: i) the Wilcoxon test, used to evaluate differences between climate normals (1961 to 1990 and 1984 to 2014); ii) the Mann-Kendall nonparametric test, in order to analyze the linear trend of agrometeorological variables (rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and diurnal range of temperature; iii) cluster analysis by Ward method and the Spearman correlation test (rs) to identify the relationship between agrometeorological variable and soybean annual productivity. We adopted a statistical significance level of 5%. The results indicate changes in seasonality of the 1984-2014 climatology with respect to past climatology for all variables analyzed, except for insolation and precipitation. However, the monthly analysis of precipitation indicate negative trend during October and positive trend in December, causing a delay in start of rainy season. If this trend is persistent this result must be considered in futures definitions of the soybean crop sowing date over the region studied. With Mann-Kendall test was possible to identify positive trends with statistical significance in maximum temperature for all month forming part of soybean cycle (from November to April), which in turn tends to cause adverse effects on crop physiology, and consequently impacts on the final yield. Was identified a significant positive correlation between soybean yield and precipitation observed in March, thus precipitation deficit in this month is harmful to the soybean crop development. No statistically significant correlation was identified among maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and DTR with annual soybean productivity due these range of meteorological variables are not limiting factors in the final soybean yield in Bom Jesus (PI). It is expected that this study will contribute to propose planning strategies considering the role of climate variability on soybean crop final yield.

Cidade média do agronegócio: os efeitos da reestruturação produtiva no município de Rio Verde/GO

The average cities inserted in the areas of the Brazilian Cerrado are restructuring in the rural and urban areas in recent decades as a result of agricultural investments. Representative of this process, we chose Rio Verde due to two processes: to develop socioeconomically depending on agricultural production restructuring Cerrado after 1970 and offer average city features regional centrality and intra-urban contradictions. So we have as the problem situation the fact of Rio Verde be inserted in an agricultural region, where the restructured field creates cooperation with the agricultural industry and the tertiary sector, structuring a regional agribusiness success. However, let us doubts about the effects of the restructuring process in socio-economic and environmental terms, in relation to the field and the city. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the discussion about the medium- sized Cerrado cities whose functions are linked to agribusiness, and understand the logic and the effects of the restructuring process in rural and urban areas, having Rio Verde – GO as the reference for studying. Regarding the methodological practice research, it is a qualitative research, developed based on three pillars: theoretical, documentary and field. We conclude the thesis stating that the modern field, the result of agricultural production restructuring, fomented an economy specialized in agribusiness, which led to the enrichment of the field, the formation of agro-industrial complex and the formation of an average city, specializing in agribusiness, whose centrality exceeds its micro-region. In terms of effects, we conclude that process agricultural production restructuring, generated positive impacts for the insertion of Savannahs in the national economy, and to the cities inserted in the modern field. On the other hand, country and city inserted in agricultural regions, masked under the agribusiness speech, perverse effects of socioeconomic and environmental order, is an inviting system to invest and exclusionary, when there is nothing to offer. Thus, the problems are choked on site, leaving only the speech of wealth to be disclosed in the national order.

Estrutura produtiva da agropecuária, ocupação e pobreza no estado de Minas Gerais no ano de 2010

This thesis aimed to contribute to the discussion about the relationship between agricultural production structure, occupation and poverty in Brazil, specifically in the state of Minas Gerais, in 2010. The issue of employment is becoming increasingly challenging in the face of ongoing modernization process in agriculture, capital intensive and labor saver looking levels ever higher production and productivity. The productive inclusion can be an effective way to exit from poverty (the work is often the only asset of the poor). In this sense, we sought to investigate what activities or groups of activities occupied a larger number of people and generated higher yields and can potentially have contributed to a lower incidence of poverty. The basis for primary data was the 2010 Population Census (microdata). To achieve the objectives we used descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients and quantile regressions. Among the main findings highlight that agriculture occupied more and generated higher overall income than ranching presented more precarious, despite having lower average incomes and income percentile values, greater heterogeneity and instability, as well as higher proportions of poor. Overall, commodities showed greater formalization and lower poor proportions. In the case of agriculture, commodities activities occupied less, generated lower mass income and middle-income (although income percentiles slightly larger and more informality) and had lower poverty indicators than non-commodity (more heterogeneous rents). In livestock, commodities had higher percentages of occupation, income (although middle-income values and percentiles slightly smaller), and smaller proportions of poor than non-commodity (more heterogenous). In terms of occupation and income stood out the farming activities unspecified (non-commodity), the coffee growing and cattle (commodities). The cultivation of coffee and cattle had the lowest poverty indicators. agricultural production diversification indicators showed positive correlations with the occupation in activities not commodities (only), but also with the proportion of poor, indigent and concentration of income. In addition, the occupation in not commodities showed positive correlations with poverty indicators. It is noteworthy that the occupations in soybeans, coffee and fruit showed negative correlation coefficients with the indicators of poverty, indigence and gini. Finally, among the agricultural activities, there was to go to occupied in agricultural activities not commodities for commodity would be 'more equalizer' (decreasing coefficients over the distribution of income) than for cattle. The occupation in livestock (mostly non-commodity) would generate greater impact on the lower income deciles, but their coefficients grow back in the last deciles, which shows its most perverse character. Among the activities that would affect more strongly the lower deciles and less the higher deciles stand out pig farming, poultry, citrus cultivation, coffee and sugar cane. The cattle and the cultivation of soy, had the highest rates, but they grow back in the last deciles, which shows a more wicked character.

Connectivity of fragmented amphibian populations in a Neotropical landscape

A high proportion of amphibian species are threatened with extinction globally, and habitat loss and degradation are the most frequently implicated causes. Rapid deforestation for the establishment of agricultural production is a primary driver of habitat loss in tropical zones where amphibian diversity is highest. Land-cover change affects native assemblages, in part, through the reduction of habitat area and the reduction of movement among remnant populations. Decreased gene flow contributes to loss of genetic diversity, which limits the ability of local populations to respond to further environmental changes. The focus of this dissertation is on the degree to which common land uses in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica impede the movement of two common amphibian species. First, I used field experiments, including displacement trials, and a behavioral landscape ecology framework to investigate the resistance of pastures to movement of Oophaga pumilio. Results from experiments demonstrate that pastures do impede movement of O. pumilio relative to forest. Microclimatic effects on movement performance as well as limited perceptual ranges likely contribute to reduced return rates through pastures. Next, I linked local processes to landscape scale estimates of resistance. I conducted experiments to measure habitat-specific costs to movement for O. pumilio and Craugastor bransfodrii, and then used experimental results to parameterize connectivity models. Model validation indicated highest support for resistance estimates generated from responses to land-use specific microclimates for both species and to predator encounters for O. pumilio. Finally, I used abundance and experiment-derived resistance estimates to analyze the effects of prevalent land uses on population genetic structure of the two focal species. While O. pumilio did not exhibit a strong response to landscape heterogeneity and was primarily structured by distances among sites, C. bransfordii genetic variation was explained by resistance estimates from abundance and experiment data. Collectivity, this work demonstrates that common land uses can offer different levels of resistance to amphibian movements in Sarapiquí and illustrates the value of investigating local scales processes to inform interpretation of landscape-scale patterns.