Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) for confectionery manufacturing in developing countries: Turkish delight production as a case study

The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) was applied for risk assessment of confectionary manufacturing, in whichthe traditional methods and equipment were intensively used in the production. Potential failure modes and effects as well as their possible causes were identified in the process flow. Processing stages that involve intensive handling of food by workers had the highest risk priority numbers (RPN = 216 and 189), followed by chemical contamination risks in different stages of the process. The application of corrective actions substantially reduced the RPN (risk priority number) values. Therefore, the implementation of FMEA (The Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) model in confectionary manufacturing improved the safety and quality of the final products.

Variance reduction properties of dynamic hedging models - empirical evidence from BRICS countries

This Master’s Thesis analyses the effectiveness of different hedging models on BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries. Hedging performance is examined by comparing two different dynamic hedging models to conventional OLS regression based model. The dynamic hedging models being employed are Constant Conditional Correlation (CCC) GARCH(1,1) and Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) GARCH(1,1) with Student’s t-distribution. In order to capture the period of both Great Moderation and the latest financial crisis, the sample period extends from 2003 to 2014. To determine whether dynamic models outperform the conventional one, the reduction of portfolio variance for in-sample data with contemporaneous hedge ratios is first determined and then the holding period of the portfolios is extended to one and two days. In addition, the accuracy of hedge ratio forecasts is examined on the basis of out-of-sample variance reduction. The results are mixed and suggest that dynamic hedging models may not provide enough benefits to justify harder estimation and daily portfolio adjustment. In this sense, the results are consistent with the existing literature.

The impact on advanced economies of north-south trade in manufacturing and services

Many types of production are being transferred from the rich economies of the North to the poorer economies of the South. Such changes began in manufacturing but are now spreading to services. This paper provides estimates of their past and future impact on employment in the North. About 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost over the past decade because of trade with low-wage economies. A similar number of service jobs may be lost to low-wage economies over the next decade. Although small compared to total employment, such losses may seriously harm certain localities or types of worker.

Estratégia nacional e desenvolvimento

After a review of the concept of economic growth as a historical process beginning with the capitalist revolution and the formation of the modern national states, the author claims that growth is almost invariably the outcome of a national development strategy. Effective economic development occurs historically when the different social classes are able to cooperate and formulate an effective strategy to promote growth and face international competition. It follows a discussion of the main characteristics and of the basic tensions that such strategies face in the central countries which first developed, and in the underdeveloped countries, which, besides their domestic problems, confront major challenges in their relations with the rich countries.

Estratégias periféricas sessenta anos depois do acordo de Bretton Woods

After sixty years, the Bretton Woods Agreement continuous to be a reference for the debates concerning institutional organization of the international monetary system. This paper compares some features of the arrangements that have emerged in that context with the recent wave of institutional reforms in the international financial architecture. We explore some arguments suggesting that, in an instable financial environment, is possible to envisage a strong rationality in strategies for emerging economies associated with a more active capital flows and exchange rate management. Apparently, those strategies are not dissimilar to the ones today's advanced countries had used in Bretton Woods Era.

Globalization, nation-state and catching up

Globalization and nation-states are not in contradiction, since globalization is the present stage of capitalist development, and the nation-state is the territorial political unit that organizes the space and population in the capitalist system. Since the 1980s, Global Capitalism constitutes the economic system characterized by the opening of all national markets and a fierce competition between nation-states. Developing countries tend to catch up, while rich countries try to neutralize such competitive effort, using globalism as an ideology, and conventional orthodoxy as a strategy. Middle-income countries that are catching up in the realm of globalization are the ones that count with a national development strategy. This is broadly the case of the dynamic Asian countries. In contrast, Latin American countries have no longer their own strategy, and grow less. To add data to the argument, the author conducts an econometric test comparing these two groups of countries, and three variables: the rate of investment, the current account deficit or surplus that would indicate or not a competitive exchange rate, and public deficit.