Agricultural policy within the European Union (EU) is but one of the founding pillars upon which unification was developed. Negotiated out of a post-war Europe, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) emphasized the protection of the domestic market, through government subsidies and payment programmes, artificially raising the price of domestic products while restricting access for the foreign agricultural producers. The objective of this paper is to explore the link between the agricultural decisions made by the EU and the effects on citizens in the Least Developed Countries (LDC). To develop a comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand a review of the existing literature will be necessary, as well as an analysis of the available quantitative data. The findings revealed that the CAP is but one factor that impacts development of agriculture in LDC’s, many other factors, such as international and bi-lateral trade agreements, government institutions, and political lobbying also influence the outcome.

Low-income urban settlements in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) present an extreme case where catastrophic hazards (natural events) and chronic hazards (developed through lack of basic services) overlap. These low-income urban populations often occupy informal settlements that are particularly exposed to natural hazards such as flooding, and their vulnerability also reflects multiple deficiencies arising from their lack of basic services; they accordingly face the greatest challenges to adapt. The research reported in this thesis aims (i) to understand the adaptation processes of the urban poor to flooding; (ii) to develop new knowledge about bottom-up ways in which adaptation to flooding emerges and can be enhanced within households and communities in low-income urban settlements; and (iii) to identify how relevant organizations can contribute effectively to the adaptation process, from a more top-down perspective. The particular case study for the research is located in Dhaka East, where there is both high vulnerability to flooding, and also a significant proportion of the low-income population. The research has adopted a mixed methods approach involving different data collection methods primarily governed by the different scales and actors being investigated, i.e. households, communities and organizations (including government and NGOs). Hence, a questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and transect walks have all been undertaken. The diverse forms of data deriving from these methods have been integrated using a qualitative form of systems analysis, to understand the relationships amongst the key variables in the vulnerability and adaptation system under investigation. The research has also developed a form of grounded theory on the processes whereby adaptive behaviour is learned and diffused in amongst the population at risk, and how more organizational-level procedures can positively influence these processes, and be improved where necessary. The research contributes to the advancement of knowledge about (a) the vulnerability of urban poor to flooding; (b) the adaptation process of the urban poor to flooding; (c) the role of organizations in affecting both vulnerability and adaptation amongst the urban poor; (d) a research methodology appropriate for exploring such inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary research issues. The study further provides relevant recommendations, based on conclusions from the systems analyses, which are potentially applicable in similar contexts in the LDCs in helping low-income urban populations to adapt more successfully to flooding. Notably, although the research focuses on adaptation of the urban poor to flooding in Dhaka, its conceptual, methodological and research findings are likely to be applicable in other LDCs where the urban poor are subjected to environmental risks.

The Kyoto related mechanism – clean development mechanism (CDM) – can be used to generate certified emission reductions (CERs) for climate mitigating projects indeveloping countries. These credits provide an opportunity for additional project financing. This thesis has investigated the feasibility of using the CDM for off-grid solar home systems in order to electrify health centers in Uganda. The investigated scope includes two scenarios; one related to a particular project, ICT4MPOWER, and another one related to a national scenario of health center electrification. Two dimensions of feasibility have been targeted; legal prerequisites – various regulations that govern CDM projects – and value creating potential. The latter dimension has primarily focused on whether sufficient CDM-specific profit can be generated, but also looked at broader perspectives of value creation. Calculated break-even scenarios show that the expected scope of the ICT4MPOWER project is far too small to benefit from CDM. A national scenario improves the chances of generating a sufficient profit but would most likely still be too small. A project with broader national coverage would likely need to be arranged as a CDM program of activites (PoA). Such an arrangement has organizational benefits but does further worsen the financial outlook. Apart from the unfortunate value creating prospects, there are also obstacles related to legal prerequisites. To establish a baseline – the business as usual scenario which reflect the emission reduction potential of a project – may be difficult and somewhat ad-hoc. To demonstrate additionality – that the project would not have been carried out anyway – is another potential obstacle which applies to the PoA scenario. All in all, there are clear doubts that CDM would be a feasible solution for the investigated scenarios.

It is a common method to use mergers and acquisitions to grow for enterprises. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions is one of the ways to expand the oversea marker share, besides mergers and acquisitions in domestic market itself. In the past, the enterprises from developed countries took the role to buy oversee targets. The enterprises from emerging markets gradually become the protagonist for the reason of the rise of emerging markets, especially after the Global Financial Crisis and European Debt Crisis. This study refers to literature presented to look deeply into the motivations of mergers and acquisitions from different acquirers. We classified the motivations we found in the secondary data, with year 2007 to May 2012 as the scope, expecting to figure out the differences between developed-country acquirers and emerging-market acquirers. The result shows that the main motivations for developed-country acquirers are seeking for the resources needed, entering local market and increasing the size of itself. On the other hand, going into international market, reaching economy of scale and seeking for the resources needed are the main motivations for emerging-market acquirers. Furthermore, the motivation of mergers and acquisition differs from one industry to another.

This qualitative study examined the differences among the experiences of 7 American undergraduate students; 4 who studied for a semester in Ghana, a developing country, and 3 who studied for a semester in England, a developed country. Using phenomenology as its guiding framework, transcribed interviews were analyzed and the focal phenomenon of the experience was sought. In addition, examination of the literature suggested that study abroad in less developed countries had the potential to impact the experience of students at a deeper level because of the potential for what Jean Piaget termed constructive disequilibrium (Blake & Pope, 2008, p. 61). The data indicated that both student groups had significant experiences abroad but that each group's significant experiences were linked to the nature of their host country. In Ghana, 3 students discussed their sometimes shocking experience as a minority while 1 participant, a 1st generation African-American, discussed the confusing experience of identifying with the racial majority there, but only until she was identified as an American when she spoke. In England, students were appalled to find the English people so openly expressing racism. They encountered people who were considered liberal by American standards and found they were identified in England as conservatives by English standards; a shock of sorts. The phenomenon encompassing all these experiences was of the students discovering they were part of a particular culture and starting to understand why they had certain values and attitudes. Findings of this research merely scratch the surface of the issue at hand and other researchers are encouraged to replicate the study with a larger number of participants, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, and making sure that the shortcomings of this study in regards to validity are avoided.

The United Nations category Least Developed country (LDC) was created in 1971 to ameliorate conditions in countries the UN identified as the poorest of the poor. Its administration and operation within UN development discourse has not been explored previously in academic analysis. This thesis explores this rich archive of development discourse. It seeks to situate the LDC category as a vehicle that both produces and is a product of development discourse, and uses gender analysis as a critical tool to identify the ways in which the LDC category discourse operates. The thesis draws on Foucauldian theory to develop and use the concept ‘technologies of knowledge’, which places the dynamics of LDC discourse into relief. Three technologies of knowledge are identified: LDC policy, classification through criteria, and data. The ways each of these technologies of knowledge operates are explored through detailed readings of over thirty years of UN policy documents that form the thesis’s primary source material. A central question within this thesis is: If the majority of the world’s poor are women, where are the women in the policy about the countries that are the poorest of the poor? In focusing the analysis on the representation of women in LDCs, I place women at the centre of the analytic stage, as opposed to the marginal position I have found they occupy within LDC discourse. Through this analysis of the reductionist representations of LDC women, I explore the gendered dynamics of development discourse. Exploring the operation of these three technologies of knowledge reveals some of the discursive boundaries of UN LDC category discourse, particularly through its inability to incorporate gender analysis. The discussion of these three technologies of knowledge – policy, classification through criteria, and data – is framed by discussions of development and gender. The discussion on development positions this analysis within post-development critiques of development policy, practice and theory. The discussion on gender positions this analysis within the trajectory of postmodern and postcolonial influenced feminist engagements with development as a theory and praxis, particularly with debates about the representation of women in the third world. This case study of the operation of development discourse usefully highlights gendered dynamics of discursive ways of knowing.

This article considers the evolution of international business cycle interdependencies among 27 developed and developing countries since the beginning of 1870s, utilising the generalized vector autoregressive (VAR)-based spillover index of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012), which allows the construction of a time-varying measure of business cycle spillovers. We find that, on average, 65% of the forecast error variance of the 27 countries' business cycle shocks is due to international spillovers. However, the magnitude of international business cycle spillovers varies considerably over time. There is a clear increasing trend since the end of World War II and until the middle 1980s. After that, international business cycle interdependencies declined during the period that was dubbed the Great Moderation, and stabilized around the beginning of the twenty-first century. During the Great Recession of 2008-2009, international business cycle spillovers increased to unprecedented levels. Finally, developed countries are consistently ranked as net transmitters of cyclical shocks to developing counties throughout the sample. (authors' abstract)

Introduction: We describe the use of telepathology in countries with restricted resources using two diagnosis assistance systems (Isabel and Memem7) in addition to the diagnoses made by experts in pathology via the iPath-Network. Methods: A total of 156 cases, largely from Afghanistan, were analysed; 18 cases had to be excluded because of poor image quality. Results: Of the remaining 138 cases (100%), a responsible physician provided a tentative diagnosis for 61.6% of them.With a diagnosis from a consultant pathologist, it was then possible to make a definite diagnosis in 84.8% of cases on the basis of images taken from hematoxylin and eosin staining sections alone. The use of the diagnosis assistance systems resulted in an ordered list of differential diagnoses in 82.6% (IsabelHealth) and in 74.6% (Memem7) of cases, respectively. Adding morphological terminology reduced the list of possible diagnoses to 52.2% (72 cases, Memem7), but improved their quality. Discussion: In summary, diagnosis assistance systems are promising approaches to provide physicians in countries with restricted resources with lists of probable differential diagnoses, thus increasing the plausibility of the diagnosis of the consultant pathologist.

本論文欲研究開發中國家與已開發國家進行技術合作以提升本國技術水準、促進經濟 發展的情形，由於近來政府當局指定汽車業為領導性策略工業，汽車業為火車頭工業 ，故本文選定汽車業作為研究我國與外國廠商技術合作成效探討之目標產業。第一章 為導論，說明本篇論文之研究動機與方法，第二章為文獻探討，將中外學者對開發中 國家自已開發國家進行技術移轉之研究報告，作一整體性之回顧，以明瞭技術引進對 開發中國家技術升級之重要性，第三章是歐美日三地區的汽車工業發展過程，以了解 世界汽車工業技術的演進，第四章是我國汽車工業發展歷史，並說明外國廠商與我國 汽車工業發展的密切關連，第五章是以各項成效指標分析我國汽車業與外國廠商技術 合作的成效，並比較不同技術來源的技術合作成效之差異，第六章是結論，將分析心 得作簡要敘述並提出建議以供參考。

<p>The general objective of the proposed research is to do a needs analysis for the tourism and hospitality industries of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. This will be followed by an alignment of these industries with the provisions of the General Agreement of Trade in Services, commonly known as GATS, so that a Tourism and Hospitality Services Charter may be moulded that may be used uniformly throughout SACU. The specific objectives of the research are: To analyze impact assessment reports and studies conducted on the Tourism and Hospitality Industries for all five SACU member states with the aim of harmonizing standards, costs and border procedures. To ecognize SACU member states&rsquo / schedule of GATS Commitments, especially in the service sectors being investigated, by improving market access, and to recommend minimal infrastructural development levels to be attained for such sectors&rsquo / support. To make recommendations to harness the challenges faced by the said industries into a working document. To calibrate a uniformity of trade standards in these sectors that shall be used by the SACU membership. To ensure that the template is flexible enough for SACU to easily adopt and use in ongoing bilateral negotiations, for example.</p>