This dissertation builds on Cezar and Escobar's (2015) study of the relationship between institutional distance and foreign direct investment (FDI), but focuses instead on the nexus between corruption distance and FDI. Along the lines of their study, this dissertation uses a two-stage gravity model derived from the framework of heterogeneous firms to empirically estimate the impact of corruption distance on the inward and outward FDI of European transition economies. This dissertation contributes to the literature in several aspects. First, it proposes a new method for measuring corruption distance, considering the importance of firms' previous experience to the development of necessary skills for navigating a foreign business environment. Second, the empirical study distinguished the impact of corruption distance on the extensive and intensive margin by using a rich dataset with three different corruption indices, which thereby differs from most previous studies on this topic. This is also one of the few papers that specifically study this topic in the context of European transition economies. The results show that both conventional and adjusted corruption distance based on the control-of-corruption index only reduces the extensive margin of transition economies' FDI; and that the magnitude of...

The area of ASEAN countries and the subsequent role of regionalisation were being analysed in this thesis whilst employing the HDI, mortality rate up to 5 years, life expectancy at birth, GDP per capita, unemployment rate, and FDI as the crucial indicators. The study aims to examine the ASEAN countries and its aggregation within both the economic and social spheres. A 10-year period (2006-2016) had been inquired so that the development of each indicator may be examined. And therefore, results of beta convergence could be displayed in a correlation diagrams. The convergence trend has mirrored in five indicators. The only indicator, however, to be diverging has been represented by the unemployment rate. The findings of beta convergence suggest that, in comparison with economic indicators, social indicators tend to converge in a more significant manner in the ASEAN countries.

This thesis addresses the relationship between institutions and foreign direct investments (FDI). While the issue of how institutions attract FDI (selection) is quite well-researched, the empirical evidence for institutions spreading through FDI (influence) is more ambiguous. We argue that past studies have neglected issues of endogeneity and interdependence in their modelling. We amend these issues by using a Stochastic Actor-Oriented network model which allows for interdependent and endogenous processes. The thesis also addresses the mechanisms governing the general relation between FDI and institutions and what these can tell us about institutional change and the process of globalisation. The model provides no evidence that FDI helps to spread institutions from home to host countries, but it does provide evidence that the selection effect can be an important dynamic between FDI and a certain set of institutions. Finally, we argue that FDI does not seem to be a contributory factor to institutional convergence.

This paper describes textile production in Istanbul, Turkey. From its historical background to the challenges of today. The respondents have told about how they work, talked about competition, communication, achievements, investments and much more. The purpose was basically to find out how important the textile industry, with focus on apparel, is in the economy of Turkey today. Also how this industry can develop, and what it will take to reach such development. The empirical material comes from experienced people in the field and is analyzed with the SWOT model besides other marketing and logistics related theory. Used method is a qualitative approach with semi structural interviews. Companies and associations in Istanbul have responded. These contributors are a mix of senior managers, specialists, officials, employees and entrepreneurs. An interview guide was developed after a pre-study in Sweden. Findings of the study shows that these companies are competing for international customers, but also working together for their industry and country. Some important factors to become successful is experience, research, innovation and customer care. To take a step of further development, more strategy, competence and investments might be needed. There are many other countries which can also challenge about the customers in this business. China and Bangladesh do have similarities with the early development of Turkey in the case of textile garment industry, but are now considered different as competitors. Turkey do have some national advantages, and not least its beneficial geographical position.

A diagnosis procedure is an algorithm to detect and locate (isolate) faulty components in a dynamic process. In 1994 the California Air Resource Board released a regulation, called OBD II, demanding a thorough diagnosis system on board automotive vehicles. These legislative demands indicate that diagnosis will become increasingly important for automotive engines in the next few years. To achieve diagnosis, redundancy has to be included in the system. This redundancy can be either hardware redundancy or analytical redundancy. Hardware redundancy, e.g. an extra sensor or extra actuator, can be space consuming or expensive. Methods based on analytical redundancy need no extra hardware, the redundancy here is generated from a process model instead. In this thesis, approaches utilizing analytical redundancy is examined. A literature study is made, surveying a number of approaches to the diagnosis problem. Three approaches, based on both linear and non-linear models, are selected and further analyzed and complete design examples are performed. A mathematical model of an SI-engine is derived to enable simulations of the designed methods.

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Ce mémoire analyse l’encadrement juridique et institutionnel des contrats d’État, qui sont à l’origine des contrats innommés caractérisés, non pas par leur objet, mais par les parties qui les contractent — un État et une personne privée ressortissante d’un autre État. Le but de la présente étude est de trouver une solution aux enjeux de déséquilibre entre les parties et de manque de prévisibilité qui affectent les contrats d’État. Cette recherche de solutions sera faite à travers l’analyse de trois théories : le rattachement à un ordre juridique précis, l’uniformisation des normes internationales encadrant les contrats d’État, et la création d’une nouvelle institution pour trancher les litiges concernant les contrats d’État. Nous étudierons alors, dans un premier temps, les solutions fournies par les doctrines internationaliste et contractualiste afin d’analyser leurs points forts et leurs lacunes. L’observation de ces lacunes nous permettra ensuite de rechercher leurs éventuelles solutions dans la jurisprudence interne et internationale. Comme nous le verrons, ces solutions, notamment celles fournies par l’arbitrage international, présentent des limites importantes du fait de ce choix de mode institutionnel. Nous analyserons donc dans une dernière partie si le choix d’un nouveau système institutionnel — comme la CMI de l’Union européenne ou les Cours de Commerce International — permettrait de pallier ces limites et d’accroitre la prévisibilité dans la résolution du litige, ainsi que d’équilibrer la relation contractuelle. / This thesis analyzes the legal and institutional framework of State contracts, which are originally unnamed contracts characterized, not by their object, but by their contracting parties — a State and a private person, national of another State. The purpose of this study is to find a solution to the issues of imbalance between the parties and lack of predictability that affect State contracts. This research will be carried out through the analysis of three theories: the categorization of state contracts in a specific legal order, the unification of international rules governing state contracts, and the creation of a new institution to settle disputes concerning state contracts. We will first study the solutions provided by the internationalist and contractualist doctrines in order to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. This will then enable us to seek their possible solutions in domestic and international jurisprudence. As we will see, these solutions, particularly when they’re provided by international arbitration, have significant limitations. In the final chapter, we will analyze whether the choice of a new institutional system — such as the European Union's MIC or International Commercial Courts— would make it possible to overcome these limitations and increase predictability in the resolution of the dispute, as well as to balance the contractual relationship.

The effectiveness of a universal adhesive applied in different application modes for the preparation of Class V composite restorations was evaluated both clinically and by quantitative marginal analysis (QMA). In each of the 22 patients, four non-carious cervical lesions (NCCL) were restored with Filtek™ Supreme XTE (3M). The adhesive Scotchbond™ Universal (SBU, 3M) was applied in self-etch (SE), selective-enamel-etch (SEE) or etch-and-rinse (ER) modes. The etch-and-rinse adhesive OptiBond™ FL (OFL, Kerr) served as a control. The restorations were clinically evaluated (FDI criteria) after 14 days (BL), 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Additionally, QMA was conducted on all restorations of 11 randomly selected patients. The FDI criteria and marginal gap were statistically compared between the groups at each recall as well as for the time periods between recalls. The cumulative failure rate was non-significantly higher in the OFL group when compared to all of the SBU groups. Marginal adaptation in the OFL and SBU-SE/ER groups was significantly decreased (BL-36 m, p: 0.004) in comparison to the SBU-SEE group (BL-36 m, p: 0.063). More marginal gaps were found in the OFL group than in the SBU-SEE (BL to 36 m, p: 0.063–0.003) and SBU-ER (24/36 m, p: 0.066/0.005) groups as well as in the SBU-SE group when compared to the SBU-SEE (12–36 m, pi ≤ 0.016) and SBU-ER (24/36 m, p: 0.055/0.001) groups. SBU-SEE performed most effectively. The clinical evaluation and QMA corresponded, yet QMA detected group differences earliest after 6 months and is thus a valuable extension to clinical evaluations.

Nordic Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) play an important role in providing sustainable development for Africa which accordance with their mandates.  By investing in private equity Funds in Africa, investee companies have covered various sectors inAfricawhich may not only improve economic development but also increase employment. Additionally, investing in a Fund can spread risk through diversifications and help DFIs to share knowledge with Fund manager in local presence.   This study analyzes the management control systems (MCS) of DFIs’ investing in private equity Funds, wherein we mainly focus on output control and behavior control which are two types of control widely discussed in previous research and literature. Hereby we set three hypotheses based on our research and get findings to support the research questions, which are: 1.      DFIs use output control mechanism with contractual framework to secure their investment. Output control sets standards as to targets. It plays a fundamental role in the control process, as the contractual framework is short of standardized in private equity industry and Fund managers are selected strictly during screening process.   2.      DFIs use behavior control to interact with Fund managers. Behavior control means appropriate instruction and guidelines imposed as results become foreseeable during the monitoring process. It becomes a central element where DFIs have to interact with Fund managers to track the investment progress & development effect, including investment decision making.   3.      DFIs’ syndicated investment affects their control activities. Nordic DFIs’ investment strategy is making co-investment in Funds. When more parties are involved, the monitoring and control process become different compared with only one investor and it is affected by syndicated investment. While we did not deeply explore the control mechanism and process under syndication investment by either quantitative & qualitative method or case studying approach, we conclude that it does exist based on communication with interviewees.   The word “Control” looks like a bureaucratic word. However, we found that Alignment is essential in control process for each partners while behavior control helps to assure the alignment. We think that control process become less difficult when previous strict selection of trust partner is successful. We suggest that the alignment between DFIs and other investors as well as Funds should be strengthened in the control process, so that investment objectives can be well realized.   Besides Nordic DFIs, Africa also benefits from others such asChina’s “going global” strategy to encourage outward FDI. China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) is the first Fund focused specially on large scale investment in Africa among Private Equity Funds inChina. China Development Bank (CDB) is the shareholder of CADFund, who provide resources and support to CADFund. By briefly comparing Nordic DFIs and CADFund, we found they use similar investment instruments and also similar strategies, such as investment in less developed countries inAfricato improve economic conditions, support home companies investing in Africa etc. Including an analysis on CAD as well as the comparison with Nordic DFIs not only strengthen the understanding of DFIs’ activities in Africa, but also clarify the different investment characteristics of Western and Eastern investors in Africa. We also suggest that Nordic DFIs and CADFund can share experience and knowledge to promote sustainable development for Africa. / Nordic Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) spelar en viktig roll för att skapa en hållbar utveckling för Afrika i linje med dess mandat. Genom att investera i private Equity-fonder i Afrika har investeringsföretagen täckt olika sektorer i Afrika, något som inte bara kan förbättra den ekonomiska utvecklingen, utan även öka sysselsättningen. Dessutom kan investering i fonder sprida risker genom diversifiering och hjälpa instituten för DFI att sprida kunskaper från fondförvaltare på lokal närvaro. Denna studie analyserar ledningskontrollsystemet för DFIs’ investeringar i private Equity-fonder och vi fokuserar främst på produktions- och beteendekontroll, Dessa är de två typer av styrning som allmänt diskuteras i tidigare forskning och litteratur. Härmed ställer vi upp följande tre hypoteser som är baserade på relevant forskning och slutsats för att stödja nedslående hypoteserna: 1. DFIs använder en produktionskontrollmekanism med avtalsram för att säkerställa sina investeringar. Produktionskontroll-mekanismen är en metod som sätter standard enligt målet. Denna metod fungerar som den mest grundläggande i kontrollprocessen, eftersom avtalsramarna redan är standardiserade i privata Equity-fonder och fondförvaltaren är omsorsgsfullt valda i den initiala urvalsprocessen. 2. DFIs använder kontroll av beteende för att interagera med fondförvaltare. Beteendekontroll används beroende på utfall av investesteringen, och i denna kontrollprocess verkställs lämpliga instruktioner och riktlinjer efter resultat. DFI och fondförvaltaren samarbetar här för att följa investeringsprocessen och utvecklingseffekten, däribland också att fatta investeringsbeslut. 3. DFIs' saminvesteringar i fonder kommer att påverka dess kontrollverksamhet. DFI investeringsstrategier är att göra saminvesteringar i fonder. När flera partier är inblandade blir spårande- och kontrollprocessen annorlunda jämfört med endast en investerare och detta är påverkad av sammarbetsinvesteringar. Även om vi inte gjorde en djup undersökning av kontrollmekanism och processen under sammarbetsinvestering gällande kvantitativ och kvalitativ metoder eller fältstudier. Men vi sammanfattar detta att det existerar via kommunikation med intervjuer i föreliggande studie kan vi sammanfattningsvis slå fast att styrningen via fonder påverkas av att en DFI inte ensamt investerar i en fond. Ordet "kontroll" (på svenska snarare ”styrning”) kan låta byråkratiskt, men vi kommer fram till att kontrollprocessen huvudsakligen sker i samförstånd för varje part, medan beteendekontroll underlättar samförståndet. Vi tror att kontrollprocessen blir mindre komplicerad när val av godtrogna parter lyckas. Vi föreslår ett utökat samarbete mellan DFIs och andra investerare och fonder under kontrollprocessen, så att investeringsmålen kan uppnås. Förutom investeringar från nordiska DFIer drar Afrika också fördel av andra initiativ, såsom Kinas "going global"-strategi för att uppmuntra direkta utlandsinvesteringar. Den Kinesisk-Afrikanska Utvecklingsfonden (CADFund) är den första fonden som fokuserar speciellt på strategiska investeringar, med det största antalet private Equity-fonder i Kina, medan Kinesiska utvecklingsbanken (CDB) är aktieägare till CADFund, och förser fonden med resurser och stöd. Genom en kort jämförelse av Nordic DFIs och CADfund fann vi att liknande investeringsinstrument med samma strategi används, såsom investering i mindre utvecklade länder i Afrika för att förbättra de ekonomiska villkoren, hjälpa företag från respektive hemland att investera i Afrika etc. Detta kan också stärka förståelsen för DFIs verksamhet i Afrika. Vi har valt att även analysera CADFund samt göra en jämförelse med de nordiska DFIs, vilket inte bara stärkt vår förståelse av DFIernas aktiviteter i Afrika, men också hjälpt till att förstå och klargöra skillnader mellan investerare från väst respektive öst när det gäller investeringar i Afrika. Vi föreslår även att nordiska DFIs och CADfond kan dela erfarenhet och kunskap för främjande av den hållbara utvecklingen i Afrika. / 摘  要      北欧发展金融组织构成了为非洲提供可持续发展的重要组成部分，这也符合其运作的使命。通过投资在非洲的私募股权基金，受资公司覆盖非洲的各行业，这不仅促进了当地经济的发展，而且也增加了就业机会。与此同时，投资于基金能够分散风险，并且北欧金融组织能够和当地的基金经理分享投资经验与知识。 本文分析了北欧发展金融组织投资私募股权基金采用的管理控制流程，我们重点研究产出控制和行为控制，这两种控制方法在以前的研究和文献中也被广泛提及。同时我们基于相关理论提出三种假设并得出结论来支持研究问题，它们是：   1.北欧发展金融组织采用产出控制方法及一系列合同及框架条款来保证他们的投资.    产出控制指的是一种根据目标设立标准的控制方法，它在控制控制中起着基础性的作用，因为合同条在这个行业已经基本标准化，而且它们在筛选基金经理时有严格的条件。    2.北欧发展金融组织采用行为控制方法来影响制约基金经理。     行为控制指当结果可以预知时，在控制过程中采用适当的规范和准则.当北欧发展金融组织与基金经理互动来跟踪投资进展，发展效应，以及做投资决定时，它就变得至关重要。   3.北欧发展金融组织的联合投资将会影响到他们的控制行为。      北欧发展金融组织的投资策略是与其他组织共同投资于基金。当多方参与时，跟踪和控制流程就与只有一个投资者参与时不一样，而且其受联合投资的影响。虽然我们没有用定性和定量的方法甚至案例来深入研究在联合投资下的控制机制和流程，但是根据多方面的采访我们认为这个影响确实存在。       “控制”一词虽然听起来官僚，但是我们发现在控制流程中各方的精诚合作至关重要，同时行为控制也能加强这种合作。在这种情况下，我们认为在前期选择好合作伙伴后控制流程就变得相对简单。我们的建议是北欧发展金融组织和其他投资者以及其与基金的合作应该加强，从而实现更好的投资目标。       除了北欧发展金融组织外，非洲也受益于中国的“走出去”对外投资战略。中非发展基金是第一只也是中国最大的专注于非洲投资的私募股权基金。国家开发银行（国开行）是中非发展基金的股东,它可以为该基金提供项目资源与支持。通过对北欧发展金融组织和中非发展基金的简单对比，我们发现他们采用类似的投资工具和策略, 比如投资于非洲的不发达国家来改变当地的经济状况,支持本国企业在非洲投资等.这也将加强读者对北欧发展金融组织在非洲的认识。我们同时也建议北欧发展金融组织和中非发展基金之间能交流投资经验和知识来更好地推动非洲的可持续发展。

This research investigates political risk in the context of service offshoring and the corresponding impact on risk management decisions. The first stage of the study uses the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT), to explore key post-contract political risks experiences within offshore outsourcing activities. Twelve key political risks affecting offshore outsourcing decisions are identified, and the moderating effect of offshoring activity types (BPO, ITO or KPO) on political risk exposure and impact perceptions is highlighted. The research also explores the conditioning effect of industry specific exposure to political risk and enhances the explanatory ability of the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) constructs, offering a re-operationalization of the political risk component of external uncertainty. The second stage of the research introduces a series of hypotheses between offshoring flows and political risk profiles, and applies multiple regression to analyse political risk affecting offshore activities in low cost countries across contract-based offshoring engagements and FDI. The findings highlight that political risk is a genuine business concern for offshore contract-based outsourcing modalities, and identify concerns with Intellectual Property protection, Quality of Bureaucracy and Corruption as key considerations affecting location decisions in low-cost countries. The research further suggests a positive relationship between strong country level institutional and regulatory systems and high knowledge content in offshoring engagements. From a practical perspective, the research highlights the need for managerial tools to determine diversified firm and industry specific political risk impact on global service outsourcing engagements. The key practical contribution is the development of differentiated political risk typologies that can capture the nuances of external risks in offshoring, allowing for more accurate risk assessment of offshoring decisions.