0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

This study investigates the role of the state in Singapore???s political economy. The conventional methodology in the neoclassical economics tradition is essentially apolitical and is thus inadequate to appraise the inner working mechanism of the Singapore polity, given the pervasive influence of politics in policy decisions. This study therefore synthesizes a new analytical methodology, drawn from neo-institutionalism, to analyse the interrelations of state, market and social institutions in the Singapore of the People???s Action Party (PAP). Ronald Coase???s theorem of transaction costs, Steven Cheung???s economics of property rights and Douglass North???s theories of institutions and institutional change, collectively, provide a theoretical framework that allows this study to examine the intrinsic nature and characteristics of the Singapore polity. Three major areas are investigated using this research paradigm. The first is the post-war political transition from colony to self-rule and the eventual emergence of an independent Singapore in the context of Cold War politics. The second is the process of social engineering through reconstitution, resettlement and socialization, a process that has aimed to alter the institutional environment that regulates the state and people and has tended to generate a submissive social ethos. The focus of the third is the redefining of property rights through nationalization, industrialisation, and privatisation that, in effect, has resulted in the extensive transfer of private wealth to the state. Four case studies are offered to demonstrate the impact of politics in the making of economic policy, the general effect of which has been to eradicate entrepreneurs in favour of state-owned entities. The analysis concludes that Singapore is essentially to be characterised as a predatory state, and adopts Mancur Olson???s ???stationary bandit??? theory to reconcile the state???s predatory behaviour with Singapore???s record of positive economic development. The study identifies nine unique features that have characterised the Singapore polity, the single most important feature being the emergence of ???Lee???s Law??? which amounts to the paramount Singapore informal rule in regulating all aspect of social exchange. It is paramount because without reference to this rule the inner working mechanism of Singapore???s political economy cannot be explicated. But the predominance of PAP control imposes a heavy social cost as it risks Singapore???s long-term viability as a national state because of the likely emergence of distributional collusion and institutional sclerosis. Singapore???s long-term viability is therefore contingent upon the kind of political reformation that would reinstitute a low transaction cost mediation mechanism that would then facilitate incremental institutional change.

This study investigates the role of the state in Singapore???s political economy. The conventional methodology in the neoclassical economics tradition is essentially apolitical and is thus inadequate to appraise the inner working mechanism of the Singapore polity, given the pervasive influence of politics in policy decisions. This study therefore synthesizes a new analytical methodology, drawn from neo-institutionalism, to analyse the interrelations of state, market and social institutions in the Singapore of the People???s Action Party (PAP). Ronald Coase???s theorem of transaction costs, Steven Cheung???s economics of property rights and Douglass North???s theories of institutions and institutional change, collectively, provide a theoretical framework that allows this study to examine the intrinsic nature and characteristics of the Singapore polity. Three major areas are investigated using this research paradigm. The first is the post-war political transition from colony to self-rule and the eventual emergence of an independent Singapore in the context of Cold War politics. The second is the process of social engineering through reconstitution, resettlement and socialization, a process that has aimed to alter the institutional environment that regulates the state and people and has tended to generate a submissive social ethos. The focus of the third is the redefining of property rights through nationalization, industrialisation, and privatisation that, in effect, has resulted in the extensive transfer of private wealth to the state. Four case studies are offered to demonstrate the impact of politics in the making of economic policy, the general effect of which has been to eradicate entrepreneurs in favour of state-owned entities. The analysis concludes that Singapore is essentially to be characterised as a predatory state, and adopts Mancur Olson???s ???stationary bandit??? theory to reconcile the state???s predatory behaviour with Singapore???s record of positive economic development. The study identifies nine unique features that have characterised the Singapore polity, the single most important feature being the emergence of ???Lee???s Law??? which amounts to the paramount Singapore informal rule in regulating all aspect of social exchange. It is paramount because without reference to this rule the inner working mechanism of Singapore???s political economy cannot be explicated. But the predominance of PAP control imposes a heavy social cost as it risks Singapore???s long-term viability as a national state because of the likely emergence of distributional collusion and institutional sclerosis. Singapore???s long-term viability is therefore contingent upon the kind of political reformation that would reinstitute a low transaction cost mediation mechanism that would then facilitate incremental institutional change.

This is a dissertation about urban systems; within this broad subject I tackle three issues, one that focuses on an observed inter-city relationship and two that focus on an intra-city phenomenon. In Chapter II I adapt a model of random emergence of economic opportunities from the firm growth literature to the urban dynamics situation and present several predictions for urban system dynamics. One of these predictions is that the older the city the larger and more diversified it is going to be on average, which I proceed to verify empirically using two distinct datasets. In Chapter III I analyze the Residential Real Estate Bubble that took place in Miami-Dade County from 1999 to 2006. I adopt a Spatial-Economic model developed for the Paris Bubble episode of 1984-1993 and formulate an innovative test of the results in terms of speculative intensity on the basis of proxies of investor activity available in my dataset. My results support the idea that the best or more expensive areas are also where the greatest speculative activity takes place and where the rapid increase in prices begins. The most significant departure from previous studies that emerges in my results is the absence of a wider gap between high priced areas and low priced areas in the peak year. I develop a measure of dispersion in value among areas and contrast the Miami-Dade and Paris episodes. In Chapter IV I analyze the impact on tax equity of a Florida tax-limiting legislation known as Save Our Homes. I first compare homesteaded and non-homesteaded properties, and second, look within the subset of homesteaded properties. I find that non- homesteaded properties increase their share of taxes paid relative to homesteaded properties during an up market, but that this is reversed during a down market. For the subset of homesteaded properties I find that the impact on tax equity of SOH will depend on differential growth rates among higher and lower valued homes, but during times of rapid home price appreciation, in a scenario of no differential growth rates in property values, SOH increases progressivity relative to the prior system.

No description available.

L’objectif de ce travail est de montrer que l’énonciation joue un rôle essentiel dans l’institution et l’interprétation des noms propres.La définition du nom propre comme signe linguistique contient, outre le signifiant et le signifié, le référent, c’est-à-dire un renvoi à l’actualisation du signe dans le discours, ce qui explique la marginalité du nom propre dans la linguistique structuraliste ; d’autre part, le sens d’un nom propre – “x appelé N par S” – est défini comme une relation de dénomination entre un individu (x) et un nom propre (N) exprimée par un sujet énonciateur (S), qui dépend d’un acte de nomination associant tel nom à tel individu et initiant ainsi l’usage du nom.La valeur des variables x, N et S est déterminée pour une occurrence de nom propre donnée, en fonction de la situation d’énonciation et d’un acte de nomination logiquement préalable. La notion linguistique de personne permet précisément de rendre compte de ce rapport entre référent du nom propre et énonciation et du rôle du contexte dans l’interprétation du nom propre. Elle se révèle notamment indispensable pour l’analyse du nom propre hors phrase qui se caractérise à la fois par son indépendance vis-à-vis du cotexte et par une forte dépendance au contexte non verbal. La comparaison des noms propres avec les embrayeurs et déictiques, traditionnellement définis comme impliquant un renvoi à la situation d’énonciation, conduit également à considérer que l’interprétation d’un nom propre est entièrement déterminée par le contexte et en particulier par l’identité des personnes de l’énonciation. / The purpose of this work is to show that acts of utterance play an important role in the institution and the interpretation of proper names.The definition of proper names as signs contains, in addition to the signifiant and the signifié, the referent, that is to say a reference to the actualization of the sign in discourse. That is why proper names are on the margins of structuralist linguistics. Moreover, the meaning of a proper name – “x named N by S” – is defined as a denominative relation between an individual (x) and a proper name (N) expressed by an utterer (S), depending on an act of naming which associates a name with an individual and initiates the use of this name.The value of the variables x, N and S is defined for a given occurrence of a proper name according to the situation of utterance and to a logically prior act of naming. The linguistic notion of person precisely allows to account for this relation between the referent of the proper name and the act of utterance and for the role of the context in the interpretation of the proper name. This notion appears to be essential for analysing out of sentence proper names which are linguistic context-free but extralinguistic context-dependent. The comparison between proper names and shifters and indexicals, which are traditionally defined as involving a reference to the speech situation, leads also to consider that the interpretation of a proper name is entirely determined by the context and especially by the identity of the enunciative persons.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:53:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Northon Lee Drunkler.pdf: 686184 bytes, checksum: 22aeae1d648bfa10d2321bffd20c44c6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-01 / The soy-based beverages have been presented as healthy alternative foods, with a growing market in Brazil. The cassava starch (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is a low cost and highly available raw material in the Brazilian market and is widely used in food industry due to its functional properties resulting from the gelatinization process. In this work, commercial samples of soybean beverages produced with soybean extract were evaluated in relation to physicochemical and rheological properties and, the results were similar to those reported in the literature. The samples were evaluated considering their pH, total and soluble solids, lipids, protein, ash, and carbohydrates. For analyzing the rheological behavior, of both the commercial samples and the developed formulations, a Brookfield viscometer, model LDVII + PRO (673.7 dyne-cm maximum torque) was used. The average viscosity was determined at 8 ºC in speed ramps ranging from 50 to 200 rpm and 30 seconds of analysis at each speed; the values of consistency index and flow index were processed by the software Wingather® through the use of the power law model. The viscosimeter was equipped with the 18 spindle, small sample adaptor (15 mL volume) using an attached thermostated water bath. The highest values for viscosity, higher consistency index and lower fluidity index, were also found in the samples with the highest amount of total and soluble solids. New formulations were also developed with the aim of evaluating the effects of cassava starch and soybean extract concentrations on the apparent viscosity and sensory overall acceptance, using a 22 factorial design with three repetitions at the central point. Regarding the sensory analysis, the variables (cassava starch and soybean extract concentrations) had no significant effect at 5 % of probability. The treatment 1, which had a lower amount of both cassava starch and soybean extract showed the lowest score in relation to other treatments. Regarding apparent viscosity, however, these variables presented significant effect, where increasing soymilk and starch concentrations in the formulation resulted in an increased apparent viscosity of the final product. The physicochemical analysis carried out in the formulations included pH, total and soluble solids, lipids, protein, ash, and carbohydrates. Comparing the results of the developed formulations with those of the commercial products, it was possible to conclude that the physicochemical characteristics showed similar values, as well as the rheological behavior, and the beverages behaved as non-Newtonian slightly pseudoplastic fluids, in the same manner as already reported in other studies. The developed formulations were evaluated for the profile and amount of isoflavones, and the results were similar to those of other published studies, with predominance of conjugated glycosides over to the aglycone forms, and the total isoflavone contents ranged from 126.82 to 265.34 mg L-1 of freeze-dried extract . The cassava starch was added in relatively low amounts to the developed beverages (0.2 to 0.6%), but was enough to cause positive changes increasing the apparent viscosity and the sensory acceptance. / As bebidas a base de soja têm se mostrado como alternativas saudáveis na alimentação, e apresentam mercado em franca expansão no Brasil. O amido de mandioca (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) tem baixo custo e alta disponibilidade no mercado brasileiro, e é amplamente utilizado na indústria alimentícia, devido às propriedades funcionais decorrentes do processo de gelatinização. Neste trabalho, primeiramente foram avaliadas as propriedades físico-químicas e reológicas de marcas de bebidas de soja a base de extrato de soja comercializadas em Ponta Grossa-PR. As marcas de bebidas de soja foram avaliadas quanto a quantidade de extrato seco total, lipídeos, pH, proteína, cinzas, sólidos solúveis e carboidratos. Para as análises necessárias para avaliar o comportamento reológico, tanto das amostras comerciais quanto das formulações desenvolvidas, foi utilizado o viscosímetro Brookfield, modelo LDVII+PRO (torque máximo de 673,7 dyne-cm). A viscosidade média foi determinada a 8 ºC em rampas de velocidade que variaram de 50 a 200 rpm e 30 segundos de análise para cada velocidade; os valores de índice de consistência e índice de fluidez foram processados pelo software Wingather® mediante o uso da “Lei da Potência”. Foi utilizado o spindle 18, célula para pequenasamostras com capacidade de 15 mL utilizando-se um banho termostatizado acoplado. Os maiores valores para viscosidade, maior índice de consistência e menor índice de fluidez, foram encontrados nas amostras que apresentaram maior quantidade de extrato seco total e de sólidos solúveis. Após esta etapa inicial, foram desenvolvidas formulações com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos do amido de mandioca e extrato de soja sobre a viscosidade e aceitação sensorial global, por intermédio de um planejamento fatorial 22, com três repetições no ponto central. Na análise sensorial, ficou constatado que as variáveis estudadas (amido de mandioca e extrato de soja) não exerceram efeito significativo ao nível de 5 % de probabilidade. A formulação 1, composta com a menor quantidade de amido de mandioca e de extrato de soja, foi a que apresentou a menor nota em relação aos demais tratamentos. Em relação à viscosidade, porém, as variáveis estudadas exerceram efeito significativo, onde o aumento de extrato de soja e amido na formulação resultou em um aumento da viscosidade do produto final. As análises físico-químicas realizadas nas formulações desenvolvidas foram: extrato seco total, lipídeos, pH, proteína, cinzas, sólidos solúveis, carboidratos e perfil de isoflavonas. Comparando os resultados das formulações desenvolvidas com os produtos comerciais, foi verificado que as características físico-químicas apresentaram valores próximos, bem como o comportamento reológico, onde para os dois estudos os fluídos foram determinados como não-Newtonianos e comportamento ligeiramente pseudoplástico, em concordância com outros estudos disponíveis na literatura. Sobre o perfil e quantidade de isoflavonas, as formulações desenvolvidas ofereceram propriedades similares a outros estudos, ou seja, com predominância das formas com glicosídeos conjugados sobre as formas agliconadas, onde os valores totais variaram de 126,82 a 265,34mg L-1. O amido de mandioca foi adicionado em quantidades relativamente baixas para a composição dos tratamentos (0,2; 0,4; 0,6 %), sendo suficiente para que ocorresse uma variação positiva para o aumento da viscosidade e aceitação sensorial.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:18:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PAULO SERGIO DE OLIVEIRA RESENDE.pdf: 2092987 bytes, checksum: 9b30d95e68cb24f8eac4b2f3156d8b73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-29 / The present study contemplates in a scient ific way the act ion of air ent raining agents in mortars produced in laboratory and the ef fects on the coat ings appl ied on porous subst rates (ceramic blocks, concrete blocks) . This is an experimental work, aiming to test the effect of the air entraining agents in fresh mortars, hardened state and the remaining ai r in coat ing appl ied. The variables were: ai r content , type of subst rate and sur face finishing. Adopt ing a methodology for varying levels of ent raining ai r, keeping fixed the subst rate, the form of appl icat ion and the type of sur face finishing, evaluat ing the propert ies of mortars in order to obtain the ideal air content of dosage. Other studies were done after evaluat ion of opt imal ai r content , keeping i t as a fixed condi t ion and varying the type of subst rate, appl icat ion type and the type of sur face finishing, in order to analyze thei r inter f erence in the amount of remaining ai r, as wel l as such inter ference coat ing appl ied. / O presente t rabalho aborda a ação da incorporação de ar em argamassas de revest imentos, produzidas em laboratór io, e seus efei tos em revest imentos apl icados sobre substratos porosos (bloco cerâmico, bloco de concreto, super fície de concreto). Trata -se de um estudo experimental , onde se aval ia os efei tos dos adi t ivos incorporadores de ar em argamassas nos estados f resco, no estado endurecido e como revest imento apl icado sendo que as principais variáveis estudadas foram: t ipo de adi t ivo, teor de ar, t ipo de sub st rato, t ipo de cimento e o t ipo de acabamento super ficial . Aval iou-se a inf luência da variação do teor de ar nas propriedades mecânicas das argamassas e revest imentos e ver ificou-se a variação do t ipo de acabamento super ficial influencia na resistência de aderência à tração e no desgaste do corte . Na aval iação das caracter íst icas físicas e das propriedades mecânicas dessas argamassas obteve-se um valor para o teor ót imo de ar incorporado. O estudo que teve como condições fixas o t ipo de subst rato padrão e a forma de apl icação, variando o teor de ar incorporado. Como resul tado constatou -se que há um teor ót imo para incorporação de ar , acima do qual as propriedades no estado f resco e endurecido começam a ser prejudicadas, devendo -se evi tar tais teores. Foi possível ainda veri f icar um melhor desempenho das argamassas com ar incorporado com relação à permeabi l idade à água quando comparadas com as argamassas sem adi t ivo incorporador de ar .