Local government in the United States have been collaborating across institutional boundaries, collaborating with other local government to share their resources in the delivery of goods and services in their communities. Although local governments have collaborated for a long time, mixed analysis resulted on which form of government is most effective in the delivery of goods and services based on structure and stability of their financial conditions. This dissertation introduces technology as a key component in the collaborative process in implementing smart initiatives among communities. This dissertation uses surveys conducted from ICMA and Smart City Council, 2016, and a case study comparing two smart cities to test the hypotheses; which structure of government is more effective and whether an increase in financial condition encourages more collaborative efforts. The data reveals that the council-manager form of government is more efficient, however, in contrast, to the case study which indicated that both forms of government were efficient in implementing smart initiatives, however, differences in collaborative efforts were seen based on structure. The results of this analysis provide significant new information for both scholars and practitioners.

[pt] O objetivo deste estudo consiste em analisar o efeito das condições financeiras sobre a atividade econômica e entender o papel destas na transmissão da política monetária. Nossas evidências sugerem que, no caso dos Estados Unidos, um aperto nas condições financeiras possui efeito bastante similar a um choque contracionista de juros. Apesar disso, ao controlarmos a taxa de juros para o FCI, os resultados indicam que inovações de política monetária não atuam através das condições financeiras. Tal conclusão, no entanto, não pode ser generalizada para outros países. Encontramos que, no caso do Canadá, as condições financeiras possuem relevância na transmissão da política monetária, uma vez que o efeito de um choque de juro sobre a produção industrial e a inflação após o controle para as condições financeiras, é praticamente nulo. / [en] The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of financial conditions on economic activity and to understand their role in the transmission of monetary policy. Our evidence suggests that, in the case of the United States, a tightening of financial conditions has an effect very similar to a contractionary interest rate shock. Despite this, when controlling the interest rate for the FCI, the results indicate that monetary policy innovations does not operate through financial conditions. Such a conclusion, however, can t be generalized to other countries. We find that, in the case of Canada, financial conditions are relevant to the transmission of monetary policy, since the effect of an interest rate shock on industrial production and inflation after controlling for financial conditions, is practically nil.

Denna studies huvudsakliga syfte är att belysa hur kollektivet (i detta fall barngruppen och arbetslaget i en förskola) kan fungera som resurs för att främja lärande och utveckling hos barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Aktuell frågeställning bygger på hur ett inkluderande arbetssätt i praktiken kan se ut för barn i behov av särskilt stöd och ställs mot bakgrunden av sparkrav och nedskärningar som slår mot förskolan på många olika håll i landet och det inflytande det har på förskolans resurser. Som metod för datainsamling har fokusgruppsintervjuer genomförts med förskollärare och den teoretiska anknytningen finns i den sociokulturella teorin. Resultatet visar på tydliga brister i förskollärares möjligheter att jobba utifrån en inkluderande praktik där ambition och prestation sällan går ihop i förskolans vardag med allt för stora barngrupper och för lite personal. Samtidigt erbjuder barngruppen i sig en viktig resurs genom att barnen kan komplettera varandra och hjälpas åt. Slutsatser som dragits är bland annat att de begränsade ekonomiska förutsättningarna i stor utsträckning hindrar förskollärarna i den offentliga förskolan från att införskaffa de verktyg och hjälpmedel som är nödvändiga för att främja lärande och utveckling hos barn med särskilda behov på bästa sätt och väcker därför frågan om inkludering i den stora gruppen i  den offentliga förskolan verkligen passar för alla barn.

The aim of this study was to examine how teachers and leisure staff experience that differences in financial conditions among students in preschool class and grades 1-6 are expressed in school as well as how differences in financial conditions affect the students’ social interactions. The ambition was to reach a greater understanding of how children are affected early on by living in poorer financial conditions than other children. The study was conducted through six qualitative, semi-structured interviews with teachers and leisure staff. Five themes were identified in the interviews: concrete examples of differences in financial conditions that are visible in school, difficulties in identifying and talking about financial difficulties, groups that are perceived as particularly vulnerable to financial difficulties, social groupings among children and shame. These themes as well as the theory of stigma by Erving Goffman were used to analyze the results. The results show that teachers and leisure staff see several signs that indicate differences in financial conditions among the students. The students can however be good at hiding their family’s financial situation which makes it difficult to identify financial difficulties among students. Some teachers and leisure staff described children of immigrant parents, children of single mothers and children of divorced parents as particularly vulnerable to financial difficulties. The results also show that teachers and leisure staff experience that differences in financial conditions indirectly affect the students’ social interactions and groupings. The students are aware of their own and others' financial situation which can both divide and unite them.

Les difficultés rencontrées par la banque centrale du Vietnam dans la dernière décennie, qui se sont traduites par des écarts importants par rapport à l'objectif d'inflation, nourrissent le débat sur l'adéquation subsistante de l'actuelle stratégie de politique monétaire en place dans le pays depuis 1992. Partant de cette idée, cette thèse a pour objectif d'examiner la pertinence du ciblage monétaire quantitatif. De plus, celle-ci recommande quelques aménagements pour améliorer l'efficacité de la politique monétaire. Après un chapitre introductif, le chapitre 2 propose un état des lieux de l'économie du Vietnam. Les deux chapitres suivants enquêtent sur la satisfaction des exigences imposées dans le cadre du ciblage monétaire, à savoir l'existence d'une fonction stable de demande de monnaie à long terme (traitée dans le chapitre 3) et celle d'un pouvoir prédictif significatif sur l'inflation que possède la monnaie (testée dans le chapitre 4). Il s'avère que la fonction de demande de monnaie est stable, et que l'hypothèse selon laquelle l'évolution des agrégats monétaires a un pouvoir prédictif sur l'inflation n'est pas rejetée. Le ciblage monétaire se trouve ainsi toujours approprié pour le pays. Les deux derniers chapitres calculent et suggèrent les indicateurs de politique monétaire à travers des évaluations exhaustives. Il s'agit des mesures de l'inflation structurelle et d'un indice synthétique des conditions financières, qui se révèlent utile pour la prise de décision de la banque centrale. / Difficulties of the central bank of Vietnam during the last decade in controlling price inflation and securing its inflation goals have launched and nurtured a vigorous debate on whether the current monetary policy strategy, in place since 1992 remains always appropriate. lnspired of this idea, this thesis aims to examine the relevance of the quantitative monetary targeting framework. Furthermore, the thesis recommends some arrangement in order to improve monetary policy efficiency. After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 propose the state of the art of the economy of Vietnam. Two following chapters investigate the conditions that an effective money targeting strategy requires and whether they are fully satisfied in Vietnam. Indeed, the existence of a stable money demand function in the long run is considered in Chapter 3, and a significant predictive power that money should have on inflation is tested in Chapter 4. It is proved that the money demand function is stable and the hypothesis according to which money growth may forecast future inflation cannot be rejected. The monetary targeting is therefore still relevant for Vietnam. The last two chapters compute and suggest various monetary policy indicators by means of exhaustive evaluation exercises. Different core inflation measure and a composite index of financial conditions are introduced, which are justified to be meaningful for the policy making process of the central bank.