Local governments during the past few years have been increasingly hard-pressed to make ends meet. Fiscally conservative times are now a political reality with which all of government must learn to cope. Many local officials have responded to this problem by introducing some new and innovative management techniques. But despite its potential economic and political advantages, interlocal cooperation has not received adequate attention as a cutback management technique. This study is therefore designed to increase our understanding of interlocal cooperation by: (1) updating the information currently in existence on interlocal cooperation in the state of Virginia; (2) analyzing, evaluating and describing the administrative processes and structures of illustrative examples of interlocal cooperation in the state; and (3) assessing the relationship between interlocal cooperation and various political, social, economic and demographic characteristics of the state’s political subdivisions. The methodology used in this study includes: (1) state-wide mail survey, (2) data analysis, (3) examination of illustrative examples of interlocal cooperation, and (4) literature review. Major research findings were: 1. There appears to be a relationship between population size, population growth, education, median household incomes, per capita income and per capita market values of real estate and interlocal cooperation in the State of Virginia, but the relationship is very weak indeed. 2. There is no appreciable differentiation by local governmental units in Virginia with regard to interlocal cooperation. 3. There is no appreciable difference between metropolitan and non-metropolitan jurisdictions in Virginia with regard to interlocal cooperation. 4. Virginia cities tend to use written agreement and contract more often than do either counties or towns. Counties are more apt to use contributions of cash and/or other resources than are either cities or towns. Towns, more often than cities or counties use unwritten/informal agreement. 5. Metropolitan jurisdictions used written agreement and contract more often than any other form of interlocal agreement. Non-metropolitan localities were found to use unwritten/informal agreement most often. 6. Virginia cities tend to cooperate more in the functional area of health and welfare, while towns form more agreements in the areas of administration and public safety. 7. There is more interlocal cooperation between counties and towns than between any other combinations of governmental units in the state. 8. Virginia counties and towns participate more often in interlocal agreement than do cities. 9. An overwhelming majority of local officials in the state considered economies of scale to be the major driving force behind their communities’ interlocal agreement. 10. Surprisingly, fear of annexation was not considered by Virginia local officials as the major reason for their communities’ reluctance to enter into interlocal cooperation. 11. In the state of Virginia, joint operation occurs more frequently in those public services requiring large capital outlays. / Ph. D.

Yes / In this paper, we aim to contribute to the literature on post-growth futures. Modern imaginings of the future are constrained by the assumptions of growth-based capitalism. To escape these assumptions we turn to utopian fiction. We explore depictions of work in Cokaygne, a utopian tradition dating back to the 12th century, and William Morris's 19th century News from Nowhere. Cokaygne is a land of excessive consumption without work, while in News from Nowhere work is the route to the good life. These competing notions provide inspiration for a post-growth vision of work. We argue that biophysical and social dynamics mean that in a post-growth economy we are likely to have to be less productive and work more. But, this can be a utopian vision. By breaking the link between work and consumption at the level of the individual, we can remove some of the coercion in work. This would free us to do jobs that contribute to the social good, rather than generate exchange value, and empower us to fight for good work. Finally, we draw on eco-feminist analyses of capitalism to argue that by challenging labour productivity growth we can also challenge wider forces of oppression.

This paper examines peri-urban space existing separate from the urban fabric and often in between urban and rural landscapes. This is a largely neglected area and often considered by each side as belonging to the other. Contemporary studies identify two sides associated with the rural-urban fringe: the expanding built settlements and ebbing countryside, ignoring significance and the circumstance of the spaces. The peri-urban fringe is a planning opportunity, which provides services beyond simple human habitat or wasteland of undesirable function. Through this study I intend to present the peri-urban interface as an intricate element of the urban infrastructure. This paper examines a series of case studies, which display peri-urban land-use planning and design through established areas, boundaries, and buffers spanning North America, Western Europe and Australia. Each area is examined to determine scope, program, and ecological and social impacts. The data informs positive and negative impacts within the peri-urban area. The peri-urban fringe spaces take on many forms and functions. Successful sites enrich the associated urban communities, whereas unsuccessful sites, which often exist in conflict with abutting environments, reduce quality of life and essential ecological processes. The peri-urban interface varies with many scales and circumstances, which affect quality of life for the urban population. Planning in the PUI is essential in promoting healthy populations and ecologies. Scale, program and accessibility determine how effectiveness of a peri-urban interface. Through this study, I want to identify significant value of the peri-urban interface as an opportunity and asset for the urban landscape. / Master of Landscape Architecture

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the "limits of arbitrage" on securities mispricing. Specifically, I investigate the effect of the availability of substitutes and financial constraints on stock mispricing. In addition, this study investigates the difference in the limits of arbitrage, in the sense that it will lead to lower mispricing for these stocks, relative to non-S&P 500 stocks. I also examine if the lower mispricing can be attributed to their lower limits of arbitrage. Modern finance theory and efficient market hypothesis suggest that security prices, at equilibrium, should reflect their fundamental value. If the market price deviates from the intrinsic value, then a risk-free profit opportunity has emerged and arbitrageurs will eliminate mispricing and equilibrium is restored. This arbitrage process is characterized by large number of arbitrageurs which have infinite access to capital. However, a better description of reality is that there are few numbers of arbitrageurs to the extent that they are highly specialized; and they have limited access to capital. Under these condition arbitrage is no more a risk-free activity and can be limited by several factors such as arbitrage risk and transaction costs. Other factors that are discussed in the literature are availability of substitutes and financial constraints. The former arises as a result of the specialization of arbitrageurs in the market in which they operate, while the latter arises as a result of the separation between arbitrageurs and capital. In this dissertation, I develop a measure of the availability of substitutes that is based on the propensity scores obtained from propensity score matching technique. In addition, I use the absolute value of skewness of returns as a proxy of financial constraints. Previous studies used the limits of arbitrage framework to explain pricing puzzles such as the closed-end fund discounts. However, closed-end fund discounts are highly affected by uncertainty of managerial ability and agency problems. This study overcomes this problem by studying the effect of limits of arbitrage on publicly traded securities. The results show that there is a significant relationship between proxies of limits of arbitrage and firm specific mispricing. More importantly, empirical results indicate that stocks that have no close substitutes have higher mispricing. In addition, stocks that have high skewness show higher mispricing. Subsequent studies show that the S&P 500 stocks have different levels of liquidity, analysts’ coverage and volatility. These characteristics affect the ability of arbitrageurs to eliminate mispricing. Preliminary univariate tests show that S&P 500 stocks have, on average, lower mispricing and limits of arbitrage relative to non-S&P 500 stocks. In addition, the multivariate test shows that S&P 500 members have, on average, lower mispricing relative to non-S&P 500 stocks.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:34:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Guilherme Guimaraes Coam.pdf: 1212998 bytes, checksum: 00923316eb8e03504303c42cdc605f1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-13 / Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie / The Federal Constitution, in the article 196, states that health is everyone s right and duty of the State . In recent years, the said Constitutional device has been analyzed in isolation, with total disregard for all other constitutional and legal provisions on the matter, including the rest of the article 196 of the precept itself. Thus, despise up all legal and constitutional limits for granting health benefits, adopting the understanding that any kind of provision in health should be granted to any citizen who seeks the judiciary, regardless of public policies, appropriations budget, or any legal limits. The Judicial Activism has been exacerbated with court decisions clearly go against the constitutional principles and the ordinary law. In this thesis, we intend to explore the concept of universal coverage in health, in an attempt to demonstrate that the Constitution allows the ordinary legislator and public administrator, to impose legal limits on health benefits that the state must pay. / A Constituição Federal, no início do artigo 196, estabelece que saúde é direito de todos e dever do Estado . Nos últimos anos, o referido dispositivo Constitucional vem sendo analisado de forma isolada, com total desprezo por todas as demais disposições constitucionais e legais referentes à matéria, inclusive o restante do próprio preceito do artigo 196. Com isso, desprezam-se todos os limites jurídico-constitucionais à concessão de prestações em saúde, com adoção do entendimento de que qualquer espécie de prestação em saúde deverá ser concedida a qualquer cidadão que procure o Poder Judiciário, independentemente de políticas públicas, de dotações orçamentárias ou de quaisquer limites jurídicos. O ativismo judicial vem sendo exacerbado, com decisões judiciais claramente contrárias a princípios constitucionais e à lei ordinária. Pretende-se, na presente dissertação, explorar o conceito de universalidade da cobertura em saúde, na tentativa de demonstrar que a Constituição Federal permite, ao legislador ordinário e ao administrador público, a imposição de limites jurídicos às prestações de saúde que o Estado deve custear.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

No description available.

This dissertation determines theoretical targets for producing biogas. Calculations were based on the relationship between the mass of substrate used (assumed to be glucose) versus the amount and composition of gas produced. Methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide were considered as gases produced by biogas processes. The calculations undertaken to determine the production rates and environmental targets of the biogas production system were based on mass and energy balances as well as the second law of thermodynamics. These were applied to determine the limits of performance of the process. These limits are important due to the fact that they cannot be exceeded even if we genetically engineer organisms or change the equipment design or operation. Combining the results enabled us to plot an attainable region that showed the achievable composition of the gas as well as the minimum work and energy requirements for biogas production. It shows that the process is hydrogen and enthalpy (heat) limited. Furthermore the results show that a maximum of 3 moles of methane per mole of glucose are produced sustainably which in turn produces a large heat load of 142 kJ/mol of glucose. / Physics / M. Sc. (Physics)

Magistro darbo tema – Sutarties pakeitimo dėl iš esmės pasikeitusių sutarties vykdymo apinkybių galimybės ir Lietuvos teismų praktika. Darbe analizuojamos galimybės pateisinti sutarties nevykdymą dėl pasikeitusių aplinkybių įtakos remiantis skirtingose teisės sistemose įtvirtintu reglamentavimu. Tyrime analizei pasirinktos tų valstybių nacionalinės teisės sistemos, kuriose įtvirtintas reglamentavimo modelis buvo pavyzdžiu kitoms valstybėms. Darbe analizuojamos Prancūzijos, Vokietijos, Anglijos ir Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų teisėje įtvirtintos sutarties vykdymo pasikeitus aplinkybėms instituto reglamentavimo variacijos. Taip pat darbe analizuojami skirtinguose tarptautiniuose teisės aktuose įtvirtinti pasikeitusių aplinkybių instituto reglamentavimo modeliai, analizei buvo pasirinkti šie tarptautiniai teisės aktai: Vienos konvencija Dėl tarptautinių sutarčių teisės, UNIDROIT Tarptautinių komercinių sutarčių principai, Europos sutarčių teisės principai ir Jungtinių tautų konvencija Dėl tarptautinio prekių pirkimo – pardavimo sutarčių. Ketvirtąjame darbo skyriuje yra analizuojamos sutarties vykdymo pasikeitus aplikybėms instituto taikymo sąlygos, atskleidžiamas jų turinys ir išskiriami reikalavimų tenkinimo vertinimo kriterijai. Prieinama išvados, kad esminiu gali būti pripažintas tik toks sutarties vykdymo suvaržymas, kuris ne tik iš esmės padidina sutarties įvykdymo kainą arba sumažina gaunamą įvykdymą, bet ir itin komplikuoja suvaržymą patiriančios šalies galimybes toliau... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Thesis of the paper – Probability to adjust the contract terms regarding to changed circumstances and the analysis of Lithuanian courts practice. The paper analyzes the justification for the failure to perform on the basis of changed circumstances. The study selected for analysis the national legal systems, which maintained regulatory model has been followed by other countries. The paper examines French, German, British and United States law of contract and the variety of regulatory variations regarding changed circumstances. It also analyzes the regulatory models of hardship established in different international legal instruments. For the analysis were selected following international instruments: the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, the Principles of European Contract Law and United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The fourth chapter analyzes the requirements for the situation in order to claim hardship. This chapter revealed the content of requirements and identifies the assessment criteria for declaring the fulfilment of the conditions. Analysis leads to the conclusion, that the substantial restriction of the contract can be recognized only in cases, which not only substantially increases the price of the performance or reduce the resulting performance, but also substantially complicates and burdens the possibilities of affected contractor to continue performing... [to full text]

In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of a working individual. In order to help an individual live optimally, the work and personal life domains must no longer be regarded as separate domains, but as highly interrelated. The work and personal life domains must influence each other in a positive way to assist the individual in his daily responsibilities at work and in his personal life. A high proportion of employed workers, however, have serious difficulties in combining obligations in their work and personal lives. Educators are one of the occupations that may find it difficult to integrate their work and personal life. The objectives of this research were to determine how Afrikaans-speaking educators experienced Work-Personal Life Interaction (WPLI), to determine the domains in Afrikaans-speaking educators' lives that could interact with one another, to determine the main antecedents and consequences of WPLI for Afrikaans-speaking educators and to investigate which strategies Afrikaans-speaking educators used to deal with WPLI issues. A non-probability purposive voluntary sample (N = I I) of Afrikaans-speaking secondary school educators was used from the North West Province (in the Potchefstroom and Promosa areas). A qualitative design from a phenomenological approach was used to determine educators' experience of WPLI. Content analysis was used to analyse, quantify and interpret the research data. The results indicated that educators experienced certain aspects in their work environment and personal lives as demanding. Certain dimensions were identified in both their work and personal lives. As a result of a demanding work environment, they experienced time and strain-based conflict between their work and personal lives. However, it was found that educators possessed various factors that facilitated their WPLI and strategies they used to deal with WPLI issues. Recommendations were made for the organisation and for future research. / Thesis (M.Comm. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.