This essay explores Operation Cobra based on a social constructivist perspective, according to social constructivist Ian Hacking. To do this, I examined newspaper articles from that event. The purpose of this paper was to examine how the border between extortioners and terrorists was constructed during the Swedish 80's and to examine why the perpetrator was constructed as a extortion and not a terrorist. I also examined how a terrorist from the eighties differs from the present-day terrorist. My result shows that the limits of what the perpetrator is being constructed depends on the newspaper articles and how the journalists have described him. He was designed as a terrorist, extortionist, correct, pedant, and also a madman. Operation Cobra took place in Sweden in 1983-1985 and has been described as Sweden's biggest extortion event.

Magister Legum - LLM / The study attempts to identify the concrete mechanisms inherent in the co-operation regime of the ICC in relation to the arrest and surrender of suspects. By doing so, it attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the procedural mechanisms pertinent to the question of arrest and surrender, thereby augmenting the emerging body of international literature focusing on this issue. Moreover, by examining real cases will identify practical deviations and suggests measures that need to be considered to remedy the problem. It is important that the procedures are clarified and followed properly. Otherwise, the ICC will lose credibility internationally, thus undermining the purpose of its creation, which was to combat impunity and to contribute towards achieving justice, peace and well being worldwide.

New Public Management (NPM) – a global administrative discourse – has been controversial in its intentions, implications, and outcomes. It has been the focus of lively academic, political, and public debate, and has been subjected to extensive academic scrutiny over the last few decades. However, 'spatial analyses' of its global–national political implications remain underdeveloped. Thus, the purpose of the present thesis is to investigate the spatial politics of NPM as a global hegemonic discourse, by exploring its emergence, evolution, and current role in the dynamics of global capitalism and governance. The work examines the processes, technologies, and techniques through which governable spaces of governance have been constructed by NPM discourse. In terms of methodology, a critical discourse analysis is undertaken here of OECD annual reports from 1978 to 2011, as well as other OECD 'texts' that propagate NPM discourse. In terms of theory, the thesis draws on Foucault's notions of governmentality, disciplinary power, biopolitics, and heterotopia. The thesis concludes that NPM discourse creates a heterotopian textual space. It constructs a transnational governing space that is biopolitically governed through the exercise of specific heterotopic practices. Through the deployment of NPM discourse, neoliberal subjects have been constructed, and neoliberal governmentality has become transnational. This has transpired because NPM discourse operates as an interplay between heterotopias of deviation and heterotopias of compensation. Using a set of textual practices of compensation and deviation, NPM (re)constructs a utopia of neoliberalism, where NPM deviates and compensates not only national governments and their populations but also individual public organisations at the national and transnational levels. Through such deviation and compensation strategies, neoliberalism is perpetually (re)produced as an ideal type. To this end, various institutional technologies and techniques of differentiation, surveillance, and compensation/normalisation are deployed.

The main goal of this master thesis is to prove by historical analysis the importance of implementation of information systems and information and communication technologies to companies and to show positives and negatives of these changes in an organization. Every single change in a company has its impact on company`s processes which is reflected by changes in organization`s structure and operation. The basic hypothesis of this work is to confirm that information systems and information and communication technologies significantly affect organizational structure and operation, change it and have a positive impact on it.

I am clearing up the situation in sphere of human resources in the Chzech Republic and combining it with the opportunity of gaining money on human resources developing from European Social Found.

The thesis "Legal framework of European union funding programmes for innovation projects" aims to familiarize the reader with the issues of financing projects from structural and investment funds of the European Union and to inform him about the latest changes, which should have positive impact on beneficiaries. The objectives of the thesis were reached by analysis and comparison of European and national legislation. The work is focusing particularly on innovation projects and on the innovative potential of the Slovak Republic, which should be reached by 2020 with the help from EU. Conclusion is that the new programming period 2014 -- 2020 in new EU legislation brings a number of crucial and positive changes, but their implementation at national level in form of individual operational programs is weak and does not use all potential that is brought by new EU regulations

The quality of health and hospital care is usually measured by one of three basic approaches. Structure measures assess the inputs used or available for use in the treatment of patients. Assessments of process look at "how" patients were treated. Outcomes measures are concerned with the end-results of care. Outcomes have considerable intuitive appeal to consumers and it is assumed in this thesis that quality is defined in terms of outcomes; providers (e.g. physicians) however may have preferences for hospital structure for its own sake. Structure and process measures are generally regarded as proxies for outcomes measures. They are used because they are easier to measure than outcomes, but the relations between the proxies and outcomes have not been completely tested. This thesis is concerned with the empirical verification of the relationship between two types of measures, structure and outcomes of hospital care at the aggregate level, and a possible link between provider preferences for structure and observed "excess" structure. The outcomes measures are based on adjusted hospital death rates. The adjustment factors draw on detailed diagnostic and demographic information available in the British Columbia hospital reporting system. Several possible adjustment factors (proxies for severity) are considered. The structure measures include measures of inputs per case, and measures of the facilities and services offered by a hospital. The discussion centres on three hypotheses. The first two concern the empirical relation between structure and outcomes. The first hypothesis that the two types of assessment are equivalent was tested using correlation analysis of alternative outcomes measures and structure measures. The results indicate that structure cannot be substituted for outcomes measures in the evaluation of quality. The second hypothesis is that there is ineffective or "excess" structure. This is demonstrated if the impact of incremental structure on outcomes is not positive. The results generally support the existence of excess structure. Extensive regression analysis and exploration of possible weakness did not result in the modification of the basic conclusion. The third hypothesis is that such "excess" structure arises and persists because providers value structure for its own sake, and are able to impose their preferences on hospitals. The discussion is essentially theoretical and considerable evidence supporting the hypothesis is provided, although no formal proof is offered. Physicians value structure because it enables them to increase their income and/or leisure, and also to satisfy their professional desires with respect to their working environment. Arguments are presented to support the claim that physicians get some of the structure they want because of imperfections in real-world agency relations and the institutional features of the health care system. Given the basic premise of the thesis (that consumers would define quality in terms of outcomes), the results of both the empirical and theoretical investigations have implications for policy. Policy changes suggested in the discussion that concludes the thesis are concerned with resource allocation within the hospital system, quality measurement, monitoring of policy changes, and incentives and programs to modify provider preferences. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Many North American urban dwellers find lakeshore cottaging to be an attractive activity. On a typical summer weekend in most North American cities large numbers of cottagers make automobile trips ranging in length from only a few miles to several hundred miles in order to reach their cottages. Many cottagers from the Greater Vancouver area travel greater distances to reach their cottages than do cottagers from other large cities. A large portion of these distant cottage areas were developed in the nineteen sixties and early seventies when personal transportation was very inexpensive. The mid nineteen seventies have been the scene of substantial increases in energy costs with subsequent rises in the cost of transportation. When the possibility of further energy price increases is considered it appears that there is a distinct possibility of these distant cottages experiencing a drastic decline in use. This would have a number of implications for planners in British Columbia with one of the most important being the increase in demand for cottaging (or similar activities) close to Vancouver. In order to determine the magnitude of the response of cottagers to transportation cost increases questionnaires were mailed to four different groups of cottagers who resided in Greater Vancouver. Three of these groups consisted of cottagers who owned cottages on the British Columbia mainland at varying distances from Vancouver (the cottages of the first group were located about seventy miles from Vancouver while the third group's cottages were located about 330 miles from Vancouver). The fourth group consisted of Vancouver cottagers who owned cottages on Vancouver Island. The data collected measured responses to recent gasoline price increases, responses to ferry fare increases, and cottagers' anticipated responses to future gasoline price increases. It was found that cottagers had responded to both the ferry fare increases and gasoline price increases with reductions in the use of their cottage. The data was also used to estimate the effect of future gasoline price increases on cottage use. The study reveals that the costs of reaching distant cottages is presently at a level such that further increases could severely curtail the use of these cottages. These findings can be considered in conjunction with estimated future trends for energy prices to determine the magnitude of the effect of transportation costs on cottaging at a given time. This result could then be used to plan for alternative opportunities closer to Vancouver. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Memoria (licenciado en ciencias jurídicas y sociales) / En el mundo actual, los países se han visto inmersos en una realidad que hasta hace poco les era completamente ajena: tener que competir para captar inversiones. Efectivamente, la gran mayoría de las naciones en vías de desarrollo, y varias naciones desarrolladas tienen políticas explícitamente diseñadas para captar la inversión extranjera, con condiciones beneficiosas para los inversionistas. Dentro de los elementos tenidos en cuenta por un inversionista para invertir en un país determinado, el componente tributario tiene una relevancia fundamental. Tanto es así, que se ha originado un fenómeno que algunos han dado en llamar “competencia fiscal” - que pasaremos a analizar en seguida - y que tiene una serie de implicancias fundamentales para los sistemas tributarios de los países involucrados. Una particular faceta de este fenómeno son los paraísos fiscales, los que gracias a los avances de la tecnología y la creciente liberalización de la economía han cobrado particular relevancia en los últimos años. Tanto es así, que diversos organismos multinacionales han comenzado a prestar atención a estos – generalmente – pequeños países que en el pasado eran vistos como lugares de una importancia ínfima. Así, el GAFI se ha enfocado en la criminalidad que a veces se manifiesta en estos lugares, como el lavado de los dineros del narcotráfico y la red de financiamiento del terrorismo internacional, y el Fondo Monetario Internacional, por su parte, creó el Foro de Estabilidad Financiera para – entre otras cosas - revisar el riesgo que revisten estos lugares para el sistema financiero mundial. También han recibido la atención de expertos del Banco Mundial y de las Naciones Unidas, y por ciertos de los encargados de elaborar normas tributarias de diversas naciones, entre ellas Chile. El presente trabajo pretende analizar la faceta puramente tributaria del asunto, manifestado en la pérdida de recaudación argüida por diversas naciones del mundo, y más específicamente, en el trabajo que ha realizado la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE). El trabajo de dicha organización se ha estimado como uno de los más gravitantes en lo que se refiere a la regulación de la actividad de los paraísos tributarios, y sus recomendaciones son escuchadas por los legisladores de los más diversos países del mundo, entre ellos Chile. Durante el curso de este trabajo se analizará si el fenómeno es beneficioso o perjudicial, para lo cual primeramente se determinará el marco teórico de análisis. Luego se detallará lo hecho por la OCDE en la materia, con las críticas planteadas por sus detractores, y los argumentos esgrimidos por sus partidarios. Después se analizará la legislación nacional con respecto a los paraísos tributarios, para pasar a formular conclusiones respecto de los temas revisados.

Sustainability is a broad concept which embodies social, economic and environmental concerns, including the possible consequences of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, and related means of mitigation and adaptation. The reduction of energy consumption and emissions are key objectives which need to be achieved if some of these concerns are to be addressed. As well as being an important component of sustainability in other sectors, a good transport system needs to be sustainable in its own right. Energy consumption and GHG emissions are important issues within the transport sector; in the European Union (EU), for example, transport is directly responsible for between 25 and 30 percent of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and the inclusion of indirect (Scope 2 and Scope 3) GHG emissions may increase this proportion further. If reduction targets are to be met, it may be necessary to encourage behavioural change, including modal shift from those modes of transport which are comparatively highly polluting, towards those modes which pollute less. Rail is potentially a suitable target for such modal shift from road transport (notably the private car for passenger travel) and, in some case, from short-haul and domestic aviation. However, modal comparisons are often based on average data, and are reliant on a number of assumptions. There are likely to be some circumstances where modal shift towards rail makes more sense than others, but the use of average data does not enable policy makers to be discerning. It should also be noted that many modal comparisons are also based purely on operational energy consumption and emissions, and neglect to take the whole life-cycle in to account. Embedded energy and emissions from the construction of vehicles and infrastructure can be quite significant, as can the energy consumption and emissions from vehicle idling in the case of public transport modes. After considering the concept of environmental sustainability, this research begins by reviewing existing energy consumption and emissions data for vehicle operation, where it is noted that data for cars in Europe are quite comprehensive. Manufacturers are obliged to publish fuel consumption and emissions data for each model of car they sell, although the type approval tests do not reflect real-world performance. Studies are reviewed which suggest that the gap between the tests and the real-world has been widening in recent years. The gap appears to be independent of the size of vehicle, but is larger for hybrid vehicles than it is for those powered solely by a petrol or diesel internal combustion engine. Data for trains are less comprehensive, and that data which are available are often based on a limited empirical sample, or simulated data for which a number of assumptions have been made. Sometimes, the details of the measurements taken or simulation parameters used are unclear. As a result, published data for a particular type of train in the literature are sometimes found to vary significantly. In order to make more informed comparisons between rail and other modes, two large empirical datasets have been analysed. Two UK Train Operating Companies (TOCs) have also made data from energy metering systems on-board their electric trains available, which have been used to analyse the actual energy consumption of different trains over a number of different routes. The sample size is far larger than that found in literature to date, and it has been possible to consider variation between routes and service types. The v basic principles of simulating the energy consumption (and related emissions) of a train have also been illustrated, and a software tool has been developed for Arup so that it can now make some estimate of operational energy consumption and emissions for a given train over a given route. The aforementioned empirical data have also been used to validate the tool and suggest some appropriate simulation parameters. A review of existing literature concerning whole life-cycle analysis has been undertaken. It is clear that life-cycle costs vary significantly but in general, the overall life-cycle costs of rail appear to be higher than those for any other mode. The biggest additional factors appear to be the embedded carbon and energy in the infrastructure, particularly for a system comprising a lot of bridges, tunnels and large underground stations. For the vehicles themselves, trains typically have a longer lifespan than cars, which reduces the embedded carbon and energy as functions of time. When comparisons are made between modes, passenger-km is a metric which is often chosen, because it helps account for some of the fundamental di�erences between modes, including the fact that public transport modes usually use vehicles which are much bigger than the private car. In order to make comparisons on this basis, however, something about the load factor must be known. The sensitivity to load factor is demonstrated, and the earlier empirical data analysis is used to illustrate the benefits of longer trains. A discussion then follows about the potential pitfalls of making comparisons purely on a per passenger-km basis. This thesis ends by summarising some of the �ndings. Some consideration is given towards the future and the fact that technological developments are being made in Sustainability is a broad concept which embodies social, economic and environmental concerns, including the possible consequences of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, and related means of mitigation and adaptation. The reduction of energy consumption and emissions are key objectives which need to be achieved if some of these concerns are to be addressed. As well as being an important component of sustainability in other sectors, a good transport system needs to be sustainable in its own right. Energy consumption and GHG emissions are important issues within the transport sector; in the European Union (EU), for example, transport is directly responsible for between 25 and 30 percent of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and the inclusion of indirect (Scope 2 and Scope 3) GHG emissions may increase this proportion further. If reduction targets are to be met, it may be necessary to encourage behavioural change, including modal shift from those modes of transport which are comparatively highly polluting, towards those modes which pollute less. Rail is potentially a suitable target for such modal shift from road transport (notably the private car for passenger travel) and, in some case, from short-haul and domestic aviation. However, modal comparisons are often based on average data, and are reliant on a number of assumptions. There are likely to be some circumstances where modal shift towards rail makes more sense than others, but the use of average data does not enable policy makers to be discerning. It should also be noted that many modal comparisons are also based purely on operational energy consumption and emissions, and neglect to take the whole life-cycle in to account. Embedded energy and emissions from the construction of vehicles and infrastructure can be quite significant, as can the energy consumption and emissions from vehicle idling in the case of public transport modes. After considering the concept of environmental sustainability, this research begins by reviewing existing energy consumption and emissions data for vehicle operation, where it is noted that data for cars in Europe are quite comprehensive. Manufacturers are obliged to publish fuel consumption and emissions data for each model of car they sell, although the type approval tests do not re ect real-world performance. Studies are reviewed which suggest that the gap between the tests and the real-world has been widening in recent years. / The gap appears to be independent of the size of vehicle, but is larger for hybrid vehicles than it is for those powered solely by a petrol or diesel internal combustion engine. Data for trains are less comprehensive, and that data which are available are often based on a limited empirical sample, or simulated data for which a number of assumptions have been made. Sometimes, the details of the measurements taken or simulation parameters used are unclear. As a result, published data for a particular type of train in the literature are sometimes found to vary significantly. In order to make more informed comparisons between rail and other modes, two large empirical datasets have been analysed. Two UK Train Operating Companies (TOCs) have also made data from energy metering systems on-board their electric trains available, which have been used to analyse the actual energy consumption of different trains over a number of different routes. This thesis ends by summarising some of the findings. Some consideration is given towards the future and the fact that technological developments are being made in both the motor and the rail industries.