Factor Markets in Applied Equilibrium Models: The current state and planned extensions towards an improved presentation of factor markets in agriculture. Factor Markets Working Paper No. 23, February 2012

This paper describes how factor markets are presented in applied equilibrium models and how we plan to improve and to extend the presentation of factor markets in two specific models: MAGNET and ESIM. We do not argue that partial equilibrium models should become more ‘general’ in the sense of integrating all factor markets, but that the shift of agricultural income policies to decoupled payments linked to land in the EU necessitates the inclusion of land markets in policy-relevant modelling tools. To this end, this paper outlines options to integrate land markets in partial equilibrium models. A special feature of general equilibrium models is the inclusion of fully integrated factor markets in the system of equations to describe the functionality of a single country or a group of countries. Thus, this paper focuses on the implementation and improved representation of agricultural factor markets (land, labour and capital) in computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. This paper outlines the presentation of factor markets with an overview of currently applied CGE models and describes selected options to improve and extend the current factor market modelling in the MAGNET model, which also uses the results and empirical findings of our partners in this FP project.

Germany’s ‘refugee’ problem. The most important test for Chancellor Merkel and the grand coalition. OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 182/11.09.2015 2015-09-11

The rapid increase in the number of immigrants from outside of the EU coming to Germany has become the paramount political issue. According to new estimates, the number of individuals expected arrive in Germany in 2015 and apply for asylum there is 800,000, which is nearly twice as many as estimated in earlier forecasts. Various administrative, financial and social problems related to the influx of migrants are becoming increasingly apparent. The problem of ‘refugees’ (in public debate, the terms ‘immigrants’, ‘refugees’, ‘illegal immigrants’, ‘economic immigrants’ have not been clearly defined and have often been used interchangeably) has been culminating for over a year. Despite this, it was being disregarded by Angela Merkel’s government which was preoccupied with debates on how to rescue Greece. It was only daily reports of cases of refugee centres being set on fire that convinced Chancellor Merkel to speak and to make immigration problem a priority issue (Chefsache). Neither the ruling coalition nor the opposition parties have a consistent idea of how Germany should react to the growing number of refugees. In this matter, divisions run across parties. Various solutions have been proposed, from liberalisation of laws on the right to stay in Germany to combating illegal immigration more effectively, which would be possible if asylum granting procedures were accelerated. The proposed solutions have not been properly thought through, instead they are reactive measures inspired by the results of opinion polls. This is why their assumptions are often contradictory. The situation is similar regarding the actions proposed by Chancellor Merkel which involve faster procedures to expel individuals with no right to stay in Germany and a plan to convince other EU states to accept ‘refugees’. None of these ideas is new – they were already present in the German internal debate.

The uncertain future of the coal energy industry in Germany. OSW COMMENTARY #188, 2015-10-20

Germany’s current energy strategy, known as the “energy transition”, or Energiewende, involves an accelerated withdrawal from the use of nuclear power plants and the development of renewable energy sources (RES). According to the government’s plans, the share of RES in electricity production will gradually increase from its present rate of 26% to 80% in 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions are expected to fall by 80–95% by 2050 when compared to 1990 levels. However, coal power plants still predominate in Germany’s energy mix – they produced 44% of electricity in 2014 (26% from lignite and 18% from hard coal). This makes it difficult to meet the emission reduction objectives, lignite combustion causes the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reach the emission reduction goals, the government launched the process of accelerating the reduction of coal consumption. On 2 July, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy published a plan to reform the German energy market which will be implemented during the present term of government. Emission reduction from coal power plants is the most important issue. This problem has been extensively discussed over the past year and has transformed into a conflict between the government and the coal lobby. The dispute reached its peak when lignite miners took to the streets in Berlin. As the government admits, in order to reach the long-term emission reduction objectives, it is necessary to completely liquidate the coal energy industry in Germany. This is expected to take place within 25 to 30 years. However, since the decision to decommission nuclear power plants was passed, the German ecological movement and the Green Party have shifted their attention to coal power plants, demanding that these be decommissioned by 2030 at the latest.

Europe’s Untapped Capital Market: Rethinking integration after the great financial crisis. Final report of the European Capital Markets Expert Group. Task Force Report, February 2016

In December 2014, ECMI and CEPS formed the European Capital Markets Expert Group (ECMEG) with the aim of providing a long-term contribution to the debate on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project, proposed by the European Commission. After an intensive, year-long research effort and in-depth discussions with ECMEG members, this final report aims to rethink financial integration policies in the European Union and to devise an EU-wide plan to remove the barriers to greater capital markets integration. It offers a methodology to identify and prioritise cross-border barriers to capital markets integration and provides a set of policy recommendations to improve its key components: price discovery, execution and enforcement of capital markets transactions.

Europe's refugee/migrant crisis: can 'illiberal' Turkey save 'liberal Europe' while helping Syrian refugees? EPC Policy Brief, 19 February 2016

Turkish democracy today has lost much of its shine. As the Turkish government continues to backtrack on reforms and infringe on basic freedoms, the country is beginning to look more and more like an ‘illiberal democracy’ at best. Ironically, as one of the most important destination and transit countries for Syrian refugees, it is also still uniquely positioned to help the EU deal with the current refugee crisis. In November 2015, the EU and Turkey signed a Joint Action Plan to better manage the situation, but both parties have fallen short of their promises. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the biggest supporters of closer EU-Turkey cooperation, had hoped that this would allow for the refugees to be admitted into Europe in a more controlled and orderly manner. But it seems she is standing alone in a Europe that is becoming increasingly more hostile towards newcomers, drifting further and further from the liberal values it stands for. In this Policy Brief, Kemal Kirişci discusses the ways in which Turkey, Germany and the EU in general could all benefit from closer cooperation on this issue: “With the right frame of mind and will, the current ‘illiberal Turkey’ could indeed help ‘liberal Europe’. In the long run this would be a ‘win-win’ for Germany, Turkey, and the EU – but most importantly, for the Syrian refugees.”

A constitution for Erdoğan. Consequences of the political conflict in Turkey. OSW COMMENTARY No. 213, 2016-06-01

Since mid-2015 Turkey has been affected by a deep internal crisis, caused by rising political polarisation, increased levels of terrorist threat (posed by the Kurds and Islamic radicals) and the revived conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). As a consequence of this crisis, over 350,000 residents of south-eastern Turkey have been forced to leave their homes. At the same time, due to the migration crisis and despite mutual distrust in relations between Turkey and the EU, cooperation between Ankara and Brussels has been intensifying. Turkey’s ongoing destabilisation does not challenge the status of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is de facto controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; paradoxically, it strengthens the party. The internal crisis which the authorities have been deliberately fuelling is an element of a plan to rubber-stamp political change by introducing a presidential system of government. This is happening amid a thorough reconstruction of the socio-political order which has been underway for over a decade. In the upcoming months it is expected to result in the constitution being changed and, as a consequence, the institutionalisation of Erdoğan’s autocratic rule.

A expressão e educação dramática : uma área transversal no pré-escolar e no 1º ciclo do ensino básico

Relatório final apresentado para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Educação pré-escolar e 1º ciclo do ensino básico.

Projeto de Investimento

Angola encontra-se em processo de restruturação e de desenvolvimento a nível económico e financeiro. A opção pelo investimento em Angola surgiu com as oportunidades de negócio que o país apresenta e também pela necessidade de descentralização do setor da restauração. Após efetuar uma pequena análise do mercado angolano, foi elaborado o projeto “Sweet Art” que está associado ao mercado da indústria alimentar e o mesmo orienta as respetivas propostas de valor para o conjunto de indivíduos e famílias que compram bens e serviços para o consumo próprio. O objetivo principal desse trabalho consiste na elaboração de um plano de negócios viável para a abertura de uma pastelaria em Angola, na província de Luanda - bairro do Talatona, com oferta de doces, salgados, gelados de frutos naturais e secos e também sumos e batidos naturais. Por sua vez, os seus objetivos específicos compreendem a: descrição da ideia; a composição de um plano estratégico, para um melhor estudo do meio envolvente; constituição de um plano operacional de marketing (marketing mix); o plano de operações; plano de pessoal; e um plano financeiro para analisar a sua viabilidade económica e financeira. Na primeira etapa do trabalho foi abordada a componente conceptual e, em seguida, foi apresentado o plano de negócios em si, que terá uma duração estimada de cinco anos, sendo que no terceiro ano se verifica o retorno do investimento. Após elaborado o plano de negócios foi possível concluir que o empreendimento Sweet Art é viável económica e financeiramente.

La modernisation de Tunis : un urbanisme et une architecture d’État au miroir d’une anthologie de la percée dans la médina (1881-1987)

Cette thèse traite de quelques moments clés dans l’histoire urbaine et architecturale moderne de la ville de Tunis. Elle les aborde conjointement à la problématique du percement de son noyau historique : la médina, née d’un projet de modernisation urbaine lancé par les beys de Tunis à la fin du XIXe siècle, poursuivi par le protectorat français de 1881 à 1956, puis par le gouvernement indépendant de 1956 à 1987. Partant, la recherche est répartie sur trois temps avec, au centre, le projet de la percée dite de la Casbah adopté par le Président Bourguiba à la fin de 1959. Pour plusieurs raisons, ce moment est cité rapidement dans la littérature malgré son importance dans la compréhension du visage actuel de la capitale tunisienne. Pour le saisir, on a dû retourner aux premières tentatives de percement de la médina de Tunis par le colonisateur français en 1887. Puis, on s’est progressivement approché de l’ancêtre direct de la percée bourguibienne paru sur le Plan directeur de Tunis en 1948. De ce premier temps, on a mis en valeur les stratégies coloniales dans leur gestion du territoire et leur rapport au processus de valorisation/dévalorisation du patrimoine issu de la civilisation arabo-islamique. Le second temps, qui correspond au plan de décolonisation mené par l’État indépendant dès 1955, est marqué par le lancement d’un « concours international ouvert pour une étude d’aménagement de la ville de Tunis » organisé par le Secrétariat d’État aux travaux publics en collaboration avec l’Union internationale des architectes. L’étude de cet événement et du colloque qui l’a suivi a ôté le voile sur ses raisons d’être politico-économiques que dissimulaient les usuels soucis de l’hygiène, de la circulation et de l’embellissement du Grand Tunis. Pour appuyer davantage ces constats, un troisième et dernier temps a été dédié au chantier de Tunis au lendemain du concours. L’accent mis sur les lieux symboliques du pouvoir et le désir obsessif des autorités à se les approprier ont réduit ce chantier à une redistribution concertée des symboles de la souveraineté nationale dans le but de centraliser et de personnifier le pouvoir en place. Le présent travail se situe dans le cadre des études postcoloniales et projette un regard critique sur la décolonisation en rapport avec ce qu’on a taxé d’urbanisme d’État. Propulsé par une certaine perception de la modernité, cet urbanisme est indissociable d’une instrumentalisation politique qui met l’accent sur les questions identitaires et patrimoniales, insiste sur la rupture avec le passé et tend à écarter l’opinion publique des questions inhérentes à l’aménagement du territoire et à la sauvegarde de la mémoire collective. En procédant par une analyse contextuelle de faits historiques et une lecture typomorphologique de la percée de la Casbah, cette recherche attire l’attention sur l’ampleur de certaines décisions gouvernementales concernant l’aménagement de l’espace urbain et la conservation de l’héritage architectural à court, moyen et long termes. Elle renseigne aussi sur le rôle des collectivités, de l’élite et des professionnels dans la canalisation de ces décisions pour ou contre leur droit à la ville.

Scioto Basin, Ohio comprehensive study of water resources : too much, not enough;

"February 1962."

Descriptive catalogue of the exhibit of the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories at the International Exposition, St. Louis, 1904 : exhibit no. 15. British Chemical Section. Liberal Arts Building.

Key plan to exhibit on inside of front cover.

Aristotelica /

Includes indexes.

Busse Woods Reservoir : analysis of proposed prinicpal spillway modifications : executive summary /

Since 1974, several reports have recommended modification to Busse Woods Reservoir's principal spillway to provide additional flood protection downstream. Consequently, DuPage County (Ill.) constructed several flood control structures as part of its Lower Salt Creek Watershed Plan, making modification of the Busse Woods Dam the last component of the plan to be implemented.

Final legislative report : 97th General Assembly House Joint Resolution 50 /

House Joint Resolution (HJR) 50 created the Early Intervention Taskforce to partner with the Department of Human Services to undertake a comprehensive and thorough review of the Early Intervention system and develop recommendations and an action plan to address issues related to workforce, financing, monitoring and evaluation, service delivery and transitions. The Early Intervention Taskforce was chaired by the Department of Human Services, with membership defined in HJR 50 to include representation from state agencies, advocacy organizations, professional groups, Early intervention training and consultation groups, the Illinois Interagency Council on Early Intervention, Child and Family Connections managers/staff, and parents of children in the Early Intervention Program.

State of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency 208 water quality management planning program.

Cover and spine title: Water quality management plan.