The emergence of the European Union (EU) as an international actor is an important development for Europeans, but also for the international community. The EU constitutes a new actor in international affairs. It goes beyond the nation state and seeks to construct a new international order based on rules. This new international actor must deal with a complex security environment, in particular in the Mediterranean region. This thesis seeks to determine how security perceptions in the region will influence the EU’s roles and responsibilities in the Mediterranean region as a new security actor. A detailed analysis of security discourse from both the EU and Southern Mediterranean shows that there are similar security concerns throughout the Mediterranean. Issues like terrorism or illegal immigration are securitised across the region, whereas issues like regional conflicts or weapons of mass destruction are considered security threats in specific areas, in particular the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, security discourse also coexists with strong references to a common Mediterranean identity. This sharing of security perceptions and references to a common identity allows us to conclude that there is indeed a regional security complex in the Mediterranean. After determining the existence of a regional security complex in the Mediterranean, an analysis of the individual actors participating in the Euro- Mediterranean RSC, at different levels, was conducted. This analysis shows that the EU occupies a central role in the region as a global great power. Moreover, an analysis of the RSC in the Mediterranean region shows that it is an unstable security complex, susceptible to internal and external transformation in the medium to long term. As such, the EU could play a more substantial role in the Mediterranean, exercising greater influence to stabilise the region; leading the region away from instability and moving it towards a more institutional framework for conflict resolution. In this role, the EU will need to be more active throughout the region, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean. It must assume its position as a great power but with its particular capabilities and characteristics. The EU must then emphasise mediation and regional integration, including south-south integration in its policies towards the Southern Mediterranean.

Drawing upon data collected as part of the development of a Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) for the West Midlands region of England, the current study presents an attempt to better understand the factors which may hinder or facilitate product innovation within small manufacturing firms. The focus is upon traditional and/or mature sectors rather than the high-technology small firms (HTSFs), or new technology-based firms (NTBFs), which feature disproportionately in academic and policy discussions. The study adopts a model of firm-level innovation which views innovation outputs as a function of, internal and external, resource inputs and enabling activities set within an institutional framework (broadly defined to encompass instituted behaviours). To this end, the study is influenced by Systems of Innovation (SI) approaches and is, in part, a critique of such approaches. More specifically, employing a sample of 228 small manufacturing firms (i.e. less than 250 full-time-equivalent employees), the thesis considers the relationship between 'innovativeness' and: firm strategy and structure; skills; finance; external linkages; and, performance. Empirical observations are set within a broader conceptual framework of learning, discovery and interaction. Moreover, given the context in which the data was collected, policy considerations loom large. In particular, the thesis considers the extent to which 'spatial' systems of innovation represent appropriate models for economic development, generally, and for the revitalisation of areas characterised by industrial decline and restructuring specifically.

The Louisiana Folklife Commission is a 22-member body appointed by the Governor to address the special needs of Louisiana's traditional communities and advise the FolkLife Program. "The Louisiana Folklife Program, or LFP, has as its mission the identification, documentation, conservation, and presentation of the folk cultural resources of Louisiana. (Owens, 1) Folklife, which may also be characterized as contemporary grassroots cultures, includes living traditions learned informally over time within ethnic, regional, occupational, and family groups. The LFP initiates projects, collaborates with other organization provides technical assistance for planning and funding folkJife projects and manages the Division of the Arts Folklife grants with the goal of serving the greater folklife community of Louisiana. To this end the LFP oversees the Louisiana regional Folklife Program, which essentially allows in-depth documentation of Louisiana folklife by providing professional folklorists in each designated region.

A report of the investigation of Mississippi's regional library program. This paper first outlines briefly cultural factors and conditions in Mississippi in relation to library development; then, because a knowledge of the legal basis of the library program in Mississippi aids in understanding of the regional program, a brief history of the legal development of library service is given. Following this background material, the paper contains a summary of the development of the regional program and concludes with a report of the program in operation in the two existing regions. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / At head of title: Florida State University. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Mary Edna Anders, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-56).

In the context of central place theory, this study develops a hierarchical city-size distribution model and clarifies underlying mechanisms whereby two systematic forces of economic maturity and the population multiplier factor lead to different types of city-size distributions. / For this purpose, this study re-examines the structure of multi-industry equilibrium in the Loschian location model for two equilibrium market shapes: hexagons and squares. Under the assumptions of linear demand and cost functions and assuming relocation costs and sequential entry, it is demonstrated that multi-industry equilibrium can result in densest packing equilibrium configuration as well as non-densest packing equilibrium configuration. / Based on the analysis of multi-industry equilibrium, this study develops a hierarchical city-size distribution model and demonstrates that the square densest packing central place system approximates the rank-size distribution, if the population multiplier factor is very small. Also, it is shown that the non-densest packing central place system and a high value of the population multiplier factor give rise to the primate distribution. / An empirical test is conducted for 122 sample countries which include developed as well as developing countries. The empirical test for the hypotheses indicates robust results against alternative functional specifications and employment of other control variables, when economic maturity and the population multiplier factor co-exist in the regression model. / These findings lead to welfare arguments that the rank-size distribution may be an optimal city-size distribution, while the primate-distribution may be sub-optimal or optimal city-size distributions depending upon the two parameter values. / The analysis provides important policy implications that the rank-size distribution can be an organization principle of city systems planning, when the population multiplier factor of the countries is very small. Meanwhile, it is argued that attempts to develop urbanization policies based on the rank-size rule for the countries with a high value of the population multiplier factor may misallocate resources. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2762. / Major Professor: Peter L. Doan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This study aims to investigate the economic and social changes that occur in rural communities in Thailand, primarily as a result of government development projects. Employing the social system approach, this research concentrates on the structural changes that occur within communities, focusing on the two interrelated processes of differentiation and integration. Differentiation is the diversification of functions and specializations in the community economic and social spheres, whereas integration is the mechanism that combines these parts of the community together. Both processes are observable through the presence of institutionalized patterns in the community. Differentiation is hypothesized to relate to population size and to the linkages of the community with the outside world, or vertical ties, which are made mainly through government intervention, commericalization, and the presence of transportation and communication systems. Nine elements comprise the vertical ties: number of trip destinations, accessibility of the village from the district and the provincial seats, benefits from irrigation projects, transportation and communication facilities, frequency of government officials' visits, sales calls, mail service, and the presence of supplementary programs. It is hypothesized that as the community becomes increasingly differentiated, informal social integration will decrease while formal social integration increases. / The research was conducted in 100 villages in two provinces--Ayudhya and Suphan Buri--in the Central Region. Scalogram analysis is employed to investigate the patterns of structural change. Crosstabulation, Pearson correlation, and partial correlation analyses are employed to test the relationships between differentiation, integration, and related factors. / The findings in the study indicate that (1) there are empirical patterns of structural changes in the rural communities; (2) the levels of differentiation in these communities are relatively low; (3) population size, number of trip destinations, and transportation and communication facilities are most likely to be accountable for these changes; (4) all the related factors tend to generate economic differentiation, rather than social differentiation; and (5) social differentiation tends to generate greater formal social integration but does not lower informal social integration. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-02, Section: A, page: 0666. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The electric utility industry has expressed some reservations about possible widespread utilization of solar technologies exacerbating the peak demand for electricity. This research has examined three decentralized solar technologies (solar water heating, solar space heating, and solar air conditioning) in terms of a potential supply of solar radiation that could be interfaced with an energy demand that can be imposed by heating and cooling requirements. Additionally, present and future load characteristics of most Florida utility companies indicate the industry, in general, will reach peak-demand capacity during the winter season. This is the period in which the solar space heating system could impose a high capacity demand, and, at the same time, require a significant reduction in kilowatt hours. Accordingly, electric utility companies could attempt to recoup the cost to serve solar customers through a rate schedule that thwarts the introduction of solar systems in Florida. However, advanced research and experiments could minimize the potential negative impact of solar systems if utility companies and the state support the development of solar systems that consider the relative demand for electric energy, the operating characteristics of the respective utility, and the regional solar radiation values. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 1250. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

A description study of three competing Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) was carried out in Rochester, New York to investigate the relationship between utilization review and hospital utilization rates. / The three HMOs were: (1) Health Watch (HW), a foundation-type plan sponsored by the Monroe County Medical Society, (2) Genesee Valley Group Health Association (GVGHA or Group Health), a centralized prepaid group practice model HMO sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rochester, and (3) Rochester Health Network (RHN), a decentralized group model HMO which had been a series of neighborhood health centers sponsored by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). / The study design accounts for all major alternative explanations for differing hospitalization rates including: age and sex distribution of the enrollees, geographic region, hospital bed supply, physician/population ratios, income, education, availability of alternatives to hospitalization, case mix, service intensity, adverse selection, scope of package benefits, out-of-plan hospital utilization, length of time in operation and financial risk of the physician. / Utilization review was seen as consisting of the utilization review procedures (prospective, concurrent and retrospective) as well as interaction and communication factors which potentiate the effect of the procedures. Interaction factors include those factors which increase the opportunity for plan physicians to interact with one another such as the number of practice sites. Communication factors include those factors which inform the plan physicians about the impact of their utilization decisions such as the type, specificity and frequency of utilization data available to the physician. / Hospital utilization rates, are considered in the aggregate, and for medical and surgical services, by plan. Rates are also considered in their component parts--hospital admissions and average length of stay. / The major finding is that as stringency of utilization review increases, the hospital utilization rate decreases. This relationship holds for all of the years (1974, 1975, and 1976) studied. In addition it was found that the most stringent utilization review are found in group model HMOs and the least stringent in foundation or IPA model plan. / When looked at in more detail, it was found that the more stringent the prospective utilization review procedures, the lower the hospital admission rates. More specifically, the more stringent the surgical prospective utilization review procedures, the lower the surgical admission rates. It had been expected that more stringent concurrent utilization review would be related to lower average lengths of stay, however this relationship was not found. / The study concludes that peer interaction and data feedback are important components of utilization review programs. Medical leadership appears to be important to the development of peer-interaction and the cost-effective orientation of physicians. / The study is important because before the experience of existing HMOs can be generalized, there must be a clear understanding of the way the physician's utilization decision can be brought into line with the objectives of the HMO. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2902. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 5219. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-08, Section: A, page: 5598. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.