Analysts, politicians and international players from all over the world look at China as one of the most powerful countries on the international scenario, and as a country whose economic development can significantly impact on the economies of the rest of the world. However many aspects of this country have still to be investigated. First the still fundamental role played by Chinese rural areas for the general development of the country from a political, economic and social point of view. In particular, the way in which the rural areas have influenced the social stability of the whole country has been widely discussed due to their strict relationship with the urban areas where most people from the countryside emigrate searching for a job and a better life. In recent years many studies have mostly focused on the urbanization phenomenon with little interest in the living conditions in rural areas and in the deep changes which have occurred in some, mainly agricultural provinces. An analysis of the level of infrastructure is one of the main aspects which highlights the principal differences in terms of living conditions between rural and urban areas. In this thesis, I first carried out the analysis through the multivariate statistics approach (Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis) in order to define the new map of rural areas based on the analysis of living conditions. In the second part I elaborated an index (Living Conditions Index) through the Fuzzy Expert/Inference System. Finally I compared this index (LCI) to the results obtained from the cluster analysis drawing geographic maps. The data source is the second national agricultural census of China carried out in 2006. In particular, I analysed the data refer to villages but aggregated at province level. / La Cina è sicuramente uno dei più potenti paesi del mondo la cui economia può influenzare quella degli altri paesi. Tuttavia ci sono molti aspetti poco indagati di questo paese che necesiterebbero di ulteriori approfondimenti. Primo fra tutti il ruolo fondamentale delle aree rurali sia in termini politici che economici e sociali. Di particolare rilevanza l'influenza che le aree rurali hanno sulla stabilità dell'intero paese. Molti studi recenti si sono concentrati sul fenomeno dell'urbanizzazione tralasciando l'analisi delle condizioni di vita e dei profondi cambiamenti avvenuti nelle zone rurali. In questa tesi ho condotto prima un'analisi attraverso due metodologie di statistica multivariata (PCA e CA). Nella seconda parte ho invece elaborato un indice basato sull'approccio Fuzzy Logic. Infine ho comparato i risultati così ottenuti riportandoli su mappe. I dati utilizzati sono quelli del secondo censimento dell'agricoltura condotto nel 2006. In particolare ho analizzato i dati riferiti ai villaggi e aggregati a livello di provincia.

This thesis contributes to the current debate in literature about local economic development by considering two different topics: quality of institutions, and the role of clusters in innovation and productivity growth. The research is built upon three papers. The first paper deals with the analysis of the effect of administrative continuity on administrative efficiency. The analysis underlines the importance of different typologies of social capital. Findings reveal a positive impact on administrative efficiency (AE) by administrative continuity (AC) when it is coupled by bridging and linking social capital. On the contrary, bonding social capital influences negatively the effect by AC on AE. The second paper investigates the spatial interaction in levels of quality of government (QoG) among European regions. Notwithstanding the largely recognised role by institutions in the design of regional policies, no study has been conducted about the mechanisms of interaction and diffusion of QoG at regional level. This research wants to overcome this knowledge gap in literature. Findings reveal a heterogeneity in spatial interaction among groups of regions, i.e. ‘leader regions’ (Northern regions) and ‘lagging regions’ (Southern regions), when considering different mechanisms of interaction (learning / imitating competition and pure competition). Moreover, the effect of wealth on the levels of QoG is nonlinear. Finally, the third paper analyses the relation among specialization and productivity within the agricultural sector. In literature, the study of clusters dynamics has long neglected agriculture. The analysis describes the changes in sectorial specialization for eight main crop groups in Italian regions (NUTS 3), assessing the existence of spatial autocorrelations by using an exploratory data analysis. Furthermore, the effect of specialization on productivity is analysed within the main crop groups using a spatial panel data model. Findings reveal a marked tendency to specialization in the Italian agriculture, and a heterogeneous effect by specialization on productivity.

This doctoral thesis is devoted to the study of the causal effects of the maternal smoking on the delivery cost. The interest of economic consequences of smoking in pregnancy have been studied fairly extensively in the USA, and very little is known in European context. To identify the causal relation between different maternal smoking status and the delivery cost in the Emilia-Romagna region two distinct methods were used. The first - geometric multidimensional - is mainly based on the multivariate approach and involves computing and testing the global imbalance, classifying cases in order to generate well-matched comparison groups, and then computing treatment effects. The second - structural modelling - refers to a general methodological account of model-building and model-testing. The main idea of this approach is to decompose the global mechanism into sub-mechanisms though a recursive decomposition of a multivariate distribution.

The advances that have been characterizing spatial econometrics in recent years are mostly theoretical and have not found an extensive empirical application yet. In this work we aim at supplying a review of the main tools of spatial econometrics and to show an empirical application for one of the most recently introduced estimators. Despite the numerous alternatives that the econometric theory provides for the treatment of spatial (and spatiotemporal) data, empirical analyses are still limited by the lack of availability of the correspondent routines in statistical and econometric software. Spatiotemporal modeling represents one of the most recent developments in spatial econometric theory and the finite sample properties of the estimators that have been proposed are currently being tested in the literature. We provide a comparison between some estimators (a quasi-maximum likelihood, QML, estimator and some GMM-type estimators) for a fixed effects dynamic panel data model under certain conditions, by means of a Monte Carlo simulation analysis. We focus on different settings, which are characterized either by fully stable or quasi-unit root series. We also investigate the extent of the bias that is caused by a non-spatial estimation of a model when the data are characterized by different degrees of spatial dependence. Finally, we provide an empirical application of a QML estimator for a time-space dynamic model which includes a temporal, a spatial and a spatiotemporal lag of the dependent variable. This is done by choosing a relevant and prolific field of analysis, in which spatial econometrics has only found limited space so far, in order to explore the value-added of considering the spatial dimension of the data. In particular, we study the determinants of cropland value in Midwestern U.S.A. in the years 1971-2009, by taking the present value model (PVM) as the theoretical framework of analysis.

The dissertation is structured in three parts. The first part compares US and EU agricultural policies since the end of WWII. There is not enough evidence for claiming that agricultural support has a negative impact on obesity trends. I discuss the possibility of an exchange in best practices to fight obesity. There are relevant economic, societal and legal differences between the US and the EU. However, partnerships against obesity are welcomed. The second part presents a socio-ecological model of the determinants of obesity. I employ an interdisciplinary model because it captures the simultaneous influence of several variables. Obesity is an interaction of pre-birth, primary and secondary socialization factors. To test the significance of each factor, I use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. I compare the average body mass index across different populations. Differences in means are statistically significant. In the last part I use the National Survey of Children Health. I analyze the effect that family characteristics, built environment, cultural norms and individual factors have on the body mass index (BMI). I use Ordered Probit models and I calculate the marginal effects. I use State and ethnicity fixed effects to control for unobserved heterogeneity. I find that southern US States tend have on average a higher probability of being obese. On the ethnicity side, White Americans have a lower BMI respect to Black Americans, Hispanics and American Indians Native Islanders; being Asian is associated with a lower probability of being obese. In neighborhoods where trust level and safety perception are higher, children are less overweight and obese. Similar results are shown for higher level of parental income and education. Breastfeeding has a negative impact. Higher values of measures of behavioral disorders have a positive and significant impact on obesity, as predicted by the theory.

The objective of this study is to measure the impact of the national subsidy scheme on the olive and fruit sector in two regions of Albania, Shkodra and Fier. From the methodological point of view, we use a non- parametric approach based on the propensity score matching. This method overcomes problem of the missing data, by creating a counterfactual scenario. In the first step, the conditional probability to participate in the program was computed. Afterwards, different matching estimators were applied to establish whether the subsidies have affected sectors performance. One of the strengths of this study stays in the data. Cross-sectional primary data was gathered through about 250 interviews.. We have not found empirical evidence of significant effects of government aid program on production. Differences in production found between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries disappear after adjustment by the conditional probability of participating into the program. This suggests that subsidized farmers would have performed better than the subsidized households even in the absence of production grants, revealing program self-selection. On the other hand, the scheme has affected positively the farm structure increasing the area under cultivation, but yields has not increased for beneficiaries compared to non beneficiaries. These combined results shed light on the reason of the missed impact. It could be reasonable to believe that the new plantation, in particular in the case of olives, has not yet reached full production. Therefore, we have reasons to believe on positive impacts in the future. Concerning some qualitative results, the extension of area under cultivation is strongly conditioned by the small farm size. This together with a thin land market makes extremely difficult the expansion beyond farm boundaries.

A 7 anni dall’avvio dell’ attuazione della Politica di Coesione dell’Unione Europea 2007- 2013, l’Italia ha il tasso di assorbimento dei Fondi Strutturali più basso d’Europa, insieme alla Romania, e rischia di subire un disimpegno delle risorse, che rappresenterebbe un gravissimo fallimento economico e politico. Il contributo di questo lavoro al dibattito sull’uso dei Fondi strutturali in Italia è duplice. Da una parte, per la prima volta, si propone uno studio sistematico delle criticità nella gestione del periodo 2007-2013, che hanno causato l’attuale ritardo nella spesa. Dall’altra, si affronta il problema italiano sia da una prospettiva europea sia nella sua dimensione nazionale, indagando le differenze regionali nella performance di spesa e proponendo un’analisi basata su tre dimensioni principali delle criticità: finanziaria, politica, amministrativa. L’approccio della ricerca consiste nella convergenza di dati quantitativi e qualitativi, raccolti durante un periodo di ricerca a Bruxelles e presso le Autorità di Gestione dei Programmi Operativi cofinanziati dal FESR. La questione dell’assorbimento finanziario e del ritardo nell’attuazione è stata indagata da tre punti di vista. Una prospettiva “storica”, che ha raccontato il ritardo strutturale nell’utilizzo dei Fondi Strutturali in Italia e che ha chiarito come il problema italiano, prima dell’attuale ciclo 2007-2013, sia stato non di quantità, ma di qualità della spesa. La seconda prospettiva è stata di respiro europeo, ed è servita a indagare le cause del basso livello di assorbimento finanziario dell’Italia suggerendo alcuni elementi utili a comprendere le ragioni di un simile divario con gli altri Paesi. Infine, la prospettiva nazionale e regionale ha svelato l’esistenza di un mix complesso, e micidiale, che ha letteralmente paralizzato la spesa italiana dei Fondi. Un mix di fattori finanziari, politici e amministrativi che non ha avuto eguali negli altri Paesi, e che si è concentrato soprattutto, ma non esclusivamente, nelle regioni dell’Obiettivo Convergenza. / After 7 years of EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 implementation, Italy has the Europe’s lowest financial absorption rate of Structural Funds, together with Romania, and risks losing part of its money because of the “decommitment” under the n+2 rule, that would represent a great economic and political failure. The contribution of this thesis to the debate on the use of Structural Funds in Italy is twofold. On the one hand, for the first time, it proposes a systematic study on the 2007-2013 management problems, that generated the current delay in expenditure. On the other hand, it faces the Italian problemboth from a European and national perspective, exploring the regional differences in the expenditure performance, and proposing an analysis based on three main dimensions: financial, political, administrative. The core of the methodology is the convergence between quantitative and qualitative data, gathered during a research period in Brussels (DG Regio) and in the Managing Authorities of the Italian Operational Programmes co- financed by ERDF. The issue of “financial absorption capacity” and the delay of the implementation are investigated from three complementary points of view. An “historical” perspective, that showed the structural delay of the Italian implementation and the qualitative, rather than quantitative, problem. The European perspective, that served to explore the causes of the Italian low absorption rate, suggesting some useful elements to understand the reasons of the wide gap between Italy and the other Member States. Finally, the national and regional perspective unveiled the existence of a complex, and deadly, mix of factors that paralysed the Italian expenditure of Structural Funds. A unique mix of financial, political and administrative factors, concentrated mainly, but not exclusively, in Convergence regions.

Orientador: Maria Margarita Torres Moreno / Banca: Lucy Gomes Sant'Anna / Banca: José Francisco Marciano Motta / Banca: Antonio Carlos Artur / Banca: Antenor Zanardo / Resumo: Apesar do processo por via seca não permitir grandes quantidades de aditivos na composição das massas cerâmicas em relação ao processo por via úmida, nada impede que sejam utilizados outros materiais, a fim de melhorar propriedades químicas, reduzir ciclos de queima e economizar energia e combustível, além de racionalizar o uso de jazidas de argila, impedindo que os rejeitos dessas minas contribuam como poluentes para o meio ambiente. O objetivo principal deste trabalho consiste em adicionar filitos do Grupo São Roque, granitos dos Complexos Graníticos Itu e São Roque, rochas intrusivas básicas da região de Limeira, gnaisses e quartzitos do Complexo Itapira e siltitos argilosos da Formação Tatuí às argilas da mina Sartori (Formação Corumbataí) procurando-se melhorar as propriedades cerâmicas dessa massa e demonstrar que a adição de aditivos naturais pode contribuir na solução de muitos problemas apresentados pelas industrias cerâmicas .da região. A metodologia baseou-se na caracterização química (determinação da quantidade de elementos maiores e menores, Capacidade de Troca Catiônica e carbono orgânico), mineralógica (descrição microscópica, Difração de Raios X e análise térmica) e física (ensaios tecnológicos cerâmicos) das referidas argilas, assim como dos aditivos citados, buscando relacionar essas características mineralógicas e químicas com o bom ou péssimo desempenho das massas cerâmicas nos ensaios físicos. Todas as massas aditivadas , apresentaram bons resultados segundo as Normas 13817 e 13818 da ABNT, podendo ser utilizados como pisos e revestimentos cerâmicos. Destacam-se com os melhores resultados de propriedades cerâmicas os corpos de prova aditivados com diabásio, gnaisse, quartzito e o siltito argiloso da Formação Tatuí. A amostra pura de siltito argiloso da Formação Tatuí foi testada como material para revestimento...(Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In spite of the dry way process does not require great amounts of addictive in the composition of the ceramic masses, in relation to the wet way process, nothing prevents that other materials can be used, in order to improve chemical properties, reduce firing cycles and save energy and fuel, besides rationalizing the usage of the clay mines, preventing that the wastes of these mines contribute as poluents to the environment. The main objective of this work consists of adding phyllites from São Roque Group, granites from the Itu and São Roque Granitic Complex, basic intrusive rocks from the region of Limeira, gnaisses and quartzites from the Itapira Complex and siltstones from the Tatuí Formation to the clays from the Sartori mine (Corumbataí Formation), in order to improve the ceramical properties of this ceramic mass and display that the add of natural materials may contribute in the solution of many problems faced by the ceramic industries of the region. The approach based on the chemical characterization (determination of the amount of larger and smaller elements, Cathionic Exchange Capacity and organic carbon), mineralogical (microscopic description, X-Ray Diffraction and thermal analysis) and physical (ceramic technological assays) of the referred clays, as well as of the addictives mentioned above, trying to relate the chemical and mineralogical characters with the good or bad performance of the ceramic masses at the physical assays. All the materials added in the masses from Corumbataí Formation presented good results according to ABNT Norms, and they can be used as floor and wall tiles as well. The best ceramic mass were those added with diabase, gnaisse, quartzit and clay siltstone from Tatuí Formation. The sample of Tt pure was analyzed as raw material for the floor tiles, and it didn't present good results. This sample has a great potential for heavy clay proudcts (bricks and roof tiles). / Doutor

Orientador: Maria Margarita Torres Moreno / Banca: Antenor Zanardo / Banca: Jairo Roberto Jiménez Rueda / Banca: Samuel Toffoli / Banca: José Francisco Marciano Motta / Resumo: O Pólo Cerâmico da cidade de Santa Gertrudes localizado na faixa de afloramentos da Formação Corumbataí (NeoPermiano da Bacia do Paraná) é considerado atualmente o maior do país no segmento de revestimento cerâmico. Por ocupar posição de destaque no cenário nacional e internacional, o Pólo necessita de trabalhos específicos que direcionem as empresas instaladas na região na busca da matéria-prima adequada ao seu processo cerâmico. Com este intuito a presente tese teve como objetivo principal identificar as principais litofácies da Formação Corumbataí visando sua aplicação cerâmica. As litofácies reconhecidas na área estudada foram classificadas em duas associações: Associação Siltito Argiloso e Associação Siltito Arenoso. A Associação Siltito Argiloso é constituída pelas litofácies Maciça, Laminada e Alterada e a Associação Siltito Arenoso pelas litofácies Intercalada I e Intercalada II. Estas duas associações foram cartografadas na escala 1:50.000. A Análise Estatística Multivariada de Agrupamento e a Análise Estatística Univariada (Análise de Superfície de Tendência) demonstraram ser ferramentas importantíssimas no tratamento de dados de caracterização cerâmica. A aplicação da Análise de Agrupamento permitiu tecer uma relação entre as características cerâmicas com as faciológicas. Os mapas resultantes da aplicação da Análise Estatística Univariada revelaram importantes resultados na distribuição das médias da composição química e cerâmica nas jazidas ao longo da área de estudo. / Abstract: Santa Gertrudes Ceramic Cluster, located in the outcrops series of Corumbataí Formation (NeoPermian of Paraná Basin), is considered currently the biggest in national level concerning about floor tiles. As this cluster is a highlight in national and international scene, it needs specific projects in order to guide the industries settled in the region in the quest of the adequate raw material to the ceramic process. Pursuing this purpose the present thesis had as main objective to identify the principal lithofacies from Corumbataí Formation for ceramic uses. The lithofacies recognized in the studied area were rated in two associations (Clay Siltstone Association and Sand Siltstone Association). The Clay Siltstone Association is represented by the Massive, Laminated and Altered lithofacies, and the Sand Siltstone Association is represented by the Intercalated I and Intercalated II lithofacies. These two associations were mapped in a 1:50,000 scale. The Grouping Multivariated Statistical Analysis and the Univariated Statistical Analysis (Trend Surfaces Analysis) proved to be very important tools in the data treatment of ceramic characterization. The application of the grouping Analysis enabled to settle a relation between the ceramic characters and the faciological characters. The resulting maps from the application of the Univariated Statistical Analysis revealed important results in the media distribution of the chemical and ceramic composition in the mines along the studied area. / Doutor

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Sócio-Econômico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Economia. / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-23T06:03:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 252778.pdf: 660756 bytes, checksum: 6705bfac3273438a828af4996697ba7a (MD5) / No presente trabalho é reconstruída a estratégia de desenvolvimento econômico do 2º governo de Getúlio Vargas no Brasil (1951-1954), sob a ótica da EPSM. Para EPSM o desenvolvimento econômico ocorre no sistema-mundo e, portanto, o desenvolvimento de um país ou região deve ser visto em suas interconexões com o sistema-mundo do qual faz parte. Para ver essas interconexões, partimos de uma teoria de funcionamento do sistema-mundo (capítulo 1), em que verificamos como se formam e mantém a divisão internacional do trabalho (estrutura do sistema) através de forças não só econômicas como políticas, que, em grande parte, determina as possibilidades de desenvolvimento econômico em uma determinada região. Em seguida (capitulo 2), é feito um mapa geral da conjuntura do período em questão que é de formação das instituições da hegemonia norte americana na economia-mundo. A estratégia americana para a América latina, na verdade para o terceiro mundo em geral, era a manutenção de portas abertas para investimentos e comércio internacional, possibilitando dessa forma o acesso de empresas americanas a recursos estratégicos para a reconstrução dos centros da economia-mundo da Europa e do Japão utilizando para isso o seu poder militar justificado por uma lógica de combate à URSS, à qual se atribuíam pretensões imperiais e subversivas contra a ordem mundial capitalista. Em seguida, no capítulo 3, analisamos a conjuntura política relevante para o estado brasileiro durante o governo de Vargas. Finalmente, no capítulo 4, reconstruímos a estratégia de Vargas utilizando como fonte não só a política econômica como também seus discursos e pronunciamentos. Procuramos ali, destacar as determinações sistêmicas da estratégia adotada, tanto em sua concepção como em sua possibilidade de sucesso. A estratégia de Vargas era avançar no processo de industrialização o que levava à necessidade de recorrer ao capital estrangeiro. No entanto, a única fonte desse capital, os EUA, não tinham interesse algum em financiar o desenvolvimento brasileiro, obrigando Vargas a entrar em barganhas para conseguir esse capital o que impunha muitas vezes em atitudes aparentemente contraditórias no decorrer do governo. Concluímos que a posição do Brasil como periferia da economia-mundo, justificava a falta de interesse do governo americano no desenvolvimento do Brasil. Ao mesmo tempo as empresas americanas e européias ainda não tinha iniciado um movimento de IED´s em direção aos países do terceiro mundo que pudesse suprir o capital estrangeiro necessário. In the present work is reconstructed the strategy of economic development of Getúlio Vargas 2º government (Brazil - 1951-1954), under the optics of the EPSM. For EPSM the economic development occurs in the world-system and, therefore, the development of a country or region must be seen in its interconnections with the world- system of which it is a part. To see these interconnections, we leave from a theory of the world-system functioning (chapter 1), where we verify how the international division of the work (system structure) is formed and kept, by forces not only economic but politics, which, to a large extent, determines the possibilities of economic development in one determined region. After that (chapter 2), is made a general map of the conjuncture of the period concerned, which is of formation of the North American hegemony institutions in the world-economy. The American strategy for Latin America, actually, for the third world in general, was the maintenance of opened doors for investments and international trade, making possible, in this way, the access of American companies to strategic resources for the reconstruction of the world-economy centers in Europe and Japan, using military power justified by a logic of combat to the USSR, to which was attributed imperial and subversive pretensions against the world-wide capitalist order. After that, in chapter 3, is analyzed the political conjuncture to the Brazilian state during Vargas governament. Finally, in chapter 4, we reconstruct the strategy of Vargas using as source not only the economic policy but also his speeches and uprisings. There, was looked for detaching the systemic determination of the adopted strategy, as much in its conception as in its possibility of success. The strategy of Vargas was to advance in the industrialization process what lead to the necessity of appealing to foreign capital. However, the only source of this capital, U.S.A. government, did not have any interest in financing the Brazilian development, compelling Vargas to enter in bargains to obtain this capital, what imposed, many times, apparently contradictory attitudes on the elapsing of the government. We conclude that the position of Brazil as periphery of the economy-world, justified the lack of interest of the American government in the Brazilian development. At the same time the American and Europeans companies had still not initiated a movement of FDI's in direction to the countries of the third world that could supply the necessary foreign capital.