By understanding current approaches and methods of product development (PD) combined with knowledge of the needs and know-how of customers in the least developed countries (LDCs) associated risks and excessive costs can be avoided. The main purpose of this thesis is to highlight the important need of developing products and services for the LDCs and to look at current practices for PD and to distill these into one method for developing products pertinent to LDC needs and markets. Conversely, the second purpose for this thesis is to examine possible LDC based development tools that can be applicable when designing for the more established markets. There are also crucial social, cultural, economic and political reasons for addressing LDC related issues. The goal is to show companies of all sizes that it can be profitable to expand to new markets in the LDCs and also that the steps used there can help generate new revenue when implemented in their current markets, as well as to provide them a model for it. This thesis includes and clearly demonstrates the importance of development involvement on the local level and the benefit of using complementors. The thesis data and conclusions are based on literature studies and an extended stay in the Dominican Republic. It is here observed that by getting closer to the end customer, a company will get an increased understanding and knowledge that provides an advantage over the competition. And for companies to succeed in the LDCs, the three most significant things to consider are: 1) to find the specific needs of the customer, 2) design for affordability, and 3) to source and manufacture locally. It will be seen that the benefits to such an approach extend outward in essentially all directions.

Various hazardous chemical substances are used daily as part of manufacturing and processing. Exposure to these hazardous chemical substances (HCSs) can cause adverse health effects in the exposed workers. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are used to control exposure to these HCSs and thereby protect workers from the adverse effects that exposure may induce. The aim of this study was to compare South African list of OELs as contained in the Hazardous Chemical Substance Regulations (HCSR) to several developed and developing countries based on two aspects: (1) the number of substances that are selected and regulated by the lists of each country (2) and the overall level of the OELs set by the different countries and jurisdictions. Due to the nature and the large amount of data the study is divided into two parts. The first part is a comparison of South African OELs with nine developed countries and jurisdictions along with the Mine Health and Safety Act Regulation 22.9 (MHSR) of South Africa. The second comparison was conducted between South African and the four developing BRICS countries. BRICS is an acronym for: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all are leading developing countries. Substance selection and coverage was compared by analysing the number of overlapping and uniquely regulated OELs that existed between countries. The over-all level of OELs was determined and quantified by using the statistical method, the geometric means of ratios. These ratios were compared in order to establish how the levels of OELs of the South African HCSR compare with the level of the various other countries. Results indicated that there are large and unsystematic differences between the selection of HCSs that are regulated by different countries and jurisdictions. Individual coverage and selection of HCSs between the various developing and developed countries and jurisdictions in the study was inconsistent and dissimilar. A high number of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various countries included in this study. Among the developed countries 20.8% of substances are uniquely regulated, whereas 46% of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various developing countries. According to the geometric means of ratios Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the only jurisdiction in a developed country that has a higher overall level of OELs when compared to South Africa as for the rest of the developed countries they all yielded a lower overall level of OELs. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygiene (ACGIH) had the lowest overall level of OELs. When compared with the BRICS countries South Africa had a higher overall level of OELs. The average overall level of OELs differs substantially between the BRICS countries; Russia having the lowest, and Brazil having the highest overall limit when compared relative to South African HCSR. Strong similarities were found between South African HCSR and MHSR indicating national similarity. The South African OELs for HCSs have an overall higher level than the majority of developed and developing countries. Various factors may be responsible for these differences among countries and jurisdictions. These factors include, variations in scientific reasoning, the risk acceptance of the negative impact that various HCSs might induce and the time lags that countries have between updates. Further differences may be explained by the difference in consideration of socio-economical and practical feasibility of an OEL and the predominant industries in a country. / Thesis (MSc (Occupational Hygiene))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Various hazardous chemical substances are used daily as part of manufacturing and processing. Exposure to these hazardous chemical substances (HCSs) can cause adverse health effects in the exposed workers. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are used to control exposure to these HCSs and thereby protect workers from the adverse effects that exposure may induce. The aim of this study was to compare South African list of OELs as contained in the Hazardous Chemical Substance Regulations (HCSR) to several developed and developing countries based on two aspects: (1) the number of substances that are selected and regulated by the lists of each country (2) and the overall level of the OELs set by the different countries and jurisdictions. Due to the nature and the large amount of data the study is divided into two parts. The first part is a comparison of South African OELs with nine developed countries and jurisdictions along with the Mine Health and Safety Act Regulation 22.9 (MHSR) of South Africa. The second comparison was conducted between South African and the four developing BRICS countries. BRICS is an acronym for: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all are leading developing countries. Substance selection and coverage was compared by analysing the number of overlapping and uniquely regulated OELs that existed between countries. The over-all level of OELs was determined and quantified by using the statistical method, the geometric means of ratios. These ratios were compared in order to establish how the levels of OELs of the South African HCSR compare with the level of the various other countries. Results indicated that there are large and unsystematic differences between the selection of HCSs that are regulated by different countries and jurisdictions. Individual coverage and selection of HCSs between the various developing and developed countries and jurisdictions in the study was inconsistent and dissimilar. A high number of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various countries included in this study. Among the developed countries 20.8% of substances are uniquely regulated, whereas 46% of HCSs are regulated by only one of the various developing countries. According to the geometric means of ratios Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the only jurisdiction in a developed country that has a higher overall level of OELs when compared to South Africa as for the rest of the developed countries they all yielded a lower overall level of OELs. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygiene (ACGIH) had the lowest overall level of OELs. When compared with the BRICS countries South Africa had a higher overall level of OELs. The average overall level of OELs differs substantially between the BRICS countries; Russia having the lowest, and Brazil having the highest overall limit when compared relative to South African HCSR. Strong similarities were found between South African HCSR and MHSR indicating national similarity. The South African OELs for HCSs have an overall higher level than the majority of developed and developing countries. Various factors may be responsible for these differences among countries and jurisdictions. These factors include, variations in scientific reasoning, the risk acceptance of the negative impact that various HCSs might induce and the time lags that countries have between updates. Further differences may be explained by the difference in consideration of socio-economical and practical feasibility of an OEL and the predominant industries in a country. / Thesis (MSc (Occupational Hygiene))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed July 6, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-362). Also issued in paper format.

Previous research has underlined the importance of the connection between the increase of globalization and the increase of terrorism. Furthermore, previous research has made a distinction between direct and indirect effects and the impact the latter has on firms in an international context. However, the research conducted on the subject is implicit thus this thesis has emphasized on the inconclusive parts to explicitly display the relationship. The purpose of this study is to see the implications of terrorism in relation to international business regarding internationalization and risk management resulting in a guideline for Swedish firms entering less developed countries. To acquire a deeper understanding, various parts relevant to the subject was included and analyzed. A qualitative research method was used in order to obtain in-depth insights of great value on how terrorism affects international business and how Swedish firms adapts to it. By doing so and connecting the findings to theory, we were able to see patterns which led to our conclusion. The results made from this study highlighted the importance of preparedness for firms entering less developed countries, including terrorism as a factor to consider while assessing risks. Furthermore, it also showed that Swedish firms prospecting less developed countries are formatting entering strategies suitable for that market with this in mind, as well as de-internationalization if struck by terroristic events.

Recentemente, importantes questionamentos emergiram na literatura sobre repasse cambial. Mais especificamente, foi dada crescente atenção à hipótese de Taylor (2000) de que o pass-through se reduziu em diversos países como conseqüência do ambiente de inflação mais baixa. Esta dissertação investiga o tema através da aplicação de painéis dinâmicos para um conjunto de economias desenvolvidas. Deste modo, são estimados modelos de efeito fixo e Arellano-Bond em janelas fixas (rolling windows), que apontam para uma redução substancial na transmissão do câmbio para a inflação. A análise de potenciais determinantes macroeconômicos dessa queda indica que o ambiente inflacionário foi o principal elemento por trás do fato, sobretudo nos anos oitenta e noventa, em que o processo de desinflação foi mais intenso. Por outro lado, os anos dois mil apresentam um coeficiente de pass-through bastante baixo e estável, visto que o cenário de inflação baixa já estava consolidado para o conjunto de economias analisadas. / Recently, economists have become more interested in studying exchange rate pass-through. More specifically, increasing attention has been given to Taylors (2000) hypothesis that the passthrough has declined in several countries as a result of a lower inflation environment. This dissertation examines this issue through the application of dynamic panels for a number of developed economies. Panel data models are estimated here using fixed effects and Arellano- Bond estimators in rolling windows. The results point to a substantial reduction in the transmission of exchange rate to inflation. The analysis of potential macroeconomic determinants of this decline indicates that the inflationary environment was the main factor behind this fact, mainly in the eighties and nineties when the disinflation process was more intense worldwide. On the other hand, in the first decade of this century the pass-through coefficient was fairly low and stable, perhaps because the scenario of low inflation was already a longstanding reality to the economies analyzed in the present study.

Pesquisas sobre instituições sustentam que estas influenciam a natureza da atividade econômica. A argumentação é que um ambiente institucional favorável, com regras bem definidas, é benéfico ao empreendedorismo. Todavia, a literatura disponível é muito focada no que ocorre nos países desenvolvidos, e sabe-se que a atividade empreendedora também ocorre nos países não desenvolvidos, que costumam ser mais instáveis social e economicamente. A partir de tal dilema, a pergunta de pesquisa do trabalho como um todo foi: Qual a relação entre instituições e empreendedorismo de acordo com o nível de desenvolvimento do país? O objetivo geral foi esclarecer como as características institucionais formais e informais dos países afetam o ingresso e a sobrevivência de empreendedores em diferentes mercados. A pesquisa foi dividida em duas etapas: (1) teórica, focando em conhecer a literatura que aborda instituições e empreendedorismo a partir de um estudo bibliométrico com o software CiteSpace e (2) empírica, com o intuito de confirmar que o empreendedorismo dos países desenvolvidos é diferente dos países não desenvolvidos e de apontar quais são algumas das diferenças a partir de dois estudos de caso. Nos estudo teórico encontrou-se que, em relação à rede de citações e cocitações formada, há duas correntes principais de pesquisa: (1) autores neo-institucionalistas com foco econômico, tendo North (1990) como um autor representativo, ligados aos schumpeterianos no empreendedorismo, e (2) autores neo-institucionalistas com foco sociológico, evidenciados principalmente pelo trabalho de DiMaggio e Powell (1983), mais próximos da corrente kirzneriana do empreendedorismo. No estudo empírico, a parte quantitativa confirmou, com base nos dados do Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), que existe diferença estatisticamente significativa entre o empreendedorismo, tanto o estabelecido como o nascente, dos países desenvolvidos e o dos não desenvolvidos. A parte qualitativa do estudo empírico, baseada em dois estudos de caso, mostrou que, para o início da atividade empreendedora, as instituições formais são mais relevantes nos países desenvolvidos, caso da Rede de Churrascarias Brasileira nos Estados Unidos, enquanto as instituições informais são mais valiosas nos países não desenvolvidos, caso do Grupo Pinesso no Sudão. A principal conclusão da dissertação é que, nos países não desenvolvidos \'o jogo não é para todos\', é necessário que o empreendedor esteja inserido no ambiente social e possua relações interpessoais pertinentes para que possa iniciar e prosperar em um negócio. Por outro lado, nos países desenvolvidos é mais importante que o empreendedor conheça e cumpra as regras formais para começar e continuar seu empreendimento. Vale ressaltar que os dois tipos de instituições atuam no processo empreendedor em ambos os grupos de países. / Researchs on institutions maintain that they influence the nature of the economic activity. The argument is that a favorable institutional environment, with well-defined rules, is beneficial to entrepreneurship. However, the literature available is focused on what happens at developed countries, and it is known that the entrepreneurial activity also occurs at undeveloped countries, which tend to be more socially and economically unstable. From this dilema, the research question of the thesis as a whole was: What is the relation between institutions and entrepreneurship according with the country\'s level of development? The general objective was to clarify how the institutional characteristics, formal and informal ones, of the countries affect the entry and the survival of entrepreneurs in different markets. The research was divided into two parts: (1) theoretical, focusing on knowing the literature that deals with institutions and entrepreneurship from a bibliometric study with CiteSpace software and (2) empirical, in order to confirm that entrepreneurship in developed countries is different from the not developed countries and pointing wich are some of the differences from two case studies. In the theoretical study it was found that, in relation to the citation and cocitation network constructed, there are two main streams of research: (1) neo-institutionalist authors with economic focus, with North (1990) as a representative author, linked to the Schumpeterians on entrepreneurship, and (2) neo-institutionalist authors with sociological focus, evidenced primarily by the paper of DiMaggio and Powell (1983), closer to the Kirzner way of think about entrepreneurship. In the empirical study, the quantitative part confirmed, based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data, that there is statiscally significant difference between entrepreneurship, both established and nascent, of developed and undeveloped countries. The qualitative part of the empirical study, based on two case studies, revealed that for the beginning of entrepreneurial activity, formal institutions are more relevant in developed countries, like Brazilian Steakhouses Chain case in the United States shows, while informal institutions are more valuable in undeveloped countries, like Pinesso Group case in Sudan. The main conclusion of the thesis is that, in undeveloped countries \'the game is not for everyone\', it is necessary that the entrepreneur is inserted in the social environment and have the relevant interpersonal relationships to be possible to start and prosper in a business. On the other hand, in the developed countries is more important that the entrepreneur know and comply with the formal rules in order to start and continue your business. It is noteworthy that the two types of institutions operate in the entrepreneurial process in both groups of countries.

The association between cigarette smoking and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is well established. However, the effect of other, less common, types of smoking on CVD risk, such as pipes and cigars in developed countries, remains uncertain. By contrast, in developing countries, a large panel of smokeless tobacco products are consumed alongside smoking products, with unknown effects on the risk of CVD. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the association between various forms of tobacco use with the risk of CVD in the setting of developed countries and of a developing country with a large population, Pakistan.

What is the rationale behind immigration policies? Do developed countries really want to restrict immigration?