Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T22:53:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_3699_Pereira2009.pdf: 2088258 bytes, checksum: af0cd3c62d57381ffc56410ddb80c00e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-28 / A implantação de reservatórios para fins de abastecimento de água provoca uma série de impactos positivos e negativos, sejam eles de ordem social, cultural, econômico, ambiental, político, entre outros. A magnitude e extensão de tais impactos dependem dos locais onde os reservatórios são implantados, cuja definição baseia-se, tradicionalmente e predominantemente, em metodologias técnico-especializadas que pouco valorizam o efetivo envolvimento dos atores relevantes no processo de avaliação de impactos ambientais (AIA) referente a cada alternativa locacional considerada. Sendo o processo conduzido, geralmente, por técnicos/especialistas vinculados à empresa de consultoria responsável pela elaboração de estudos de AIA, e ao órgão responsável pelo licenciamento ambiental. Entre as conseqüências da adoção de tais metodologias, não participativas, têm-se: desconsideração de indicadores de AIA relevantes no contexto da realidade local/regional/global, e emprego de outros de menor importância; avaliação deficiente dos indicadores de AIA, por não incorporar a diversidade de posicionamentos e visões quanto à valoração de um dado indicador, função da multiplicidade e diversidade de atores/interesses envolvidos. Observa-se ainda que poucos são os trabalhos científicos que tratam os efeitos das barragens a partir de perspectivas multidisciplinares e envolvendo a participação social ao longo do seu desenvolvimento. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho apresenta uma metodologia participativa para priorização de alternativas locacionais de configurações de barramentos, intitulada MPPAL+-CB, em suporte ao processo de tomada de decisão quanto à implantação desse tipo de empreendimento, a qual, em sintonia com os princípios da sustentabilidade, considera aspectos relevantes das dimensões física, biótica, econômica, social, geográfica e política, através da análise multicriterial. A aplicabilidade da análise multicriterial é ilustrada por meio da realização de simulação hipotética. Com base em análise bibliográfica e avaliação de especialistas, o procedimento metodológico proposto é avaliado, indicando representar uma significativa contribuição sobre o assunto tanto no âmbito científico quanto técnico. Por fim, visando a adequação do citado procedimento metodológico para fins práticos, algumas observações/considerações são apresentadas.

I dagens samhälle har många kundföretag problem med datalagringen vilket beror på att behovet av att lagra data började öka kraftigt under 2000-talet och har fortsatt öka sedan dess. När kundföretagen började använda sig av virtualisering så expanderade även datastorleken. I samband med att datastorleken växte ville företagen att data inte skulle lagras lokalt utan att den skulle vara lagrad på en central plats som en serverhall och vara överskådlig. Studien utfördes på tre sätt, först undersöktes vilka datalagringslösningar som fanns och det skedde genom litteraturstudier. Därefter kontaktades företag som använde olika lösningar för datalagring. Nästa steg var att kontakta de leverantörer som kundföretag använde sig av och som levererade lösningarna. Under arbetets gång upptäcktes olika lösningar på problematiken med ett ökat datalagringsbehov. Resultatet visade att kundföretagen använde centrala datalagringslösningar som NAS (Network Attached Storage), SAN(Storage Area Network) och NUS (Network Unified Storage). De här systemen var optimerade och hade säkerhet för att lösa behovet av datalagring. Efter genomförd undersökning gjordes en analys av såväl litteraturstudien som intervjumaterial. Syftet var att försöka ge en rekommendation på olika alternativ av lösningar som såväl nyblivna som befintliga kundföretag bör välja för att lösa sina behov.

The concept of standing in public interest litigation has not received much attention and analysis post South Africa’s Constitutional era. This dissertation begins with a discussion of the jurisprudence of the South African courts in relation to locus standi since the early 1900s up until the year 1993. The purpose of the discussion is to illustrate the profound transformation the concept of standing in public interest litigation has undergone after the promulgation of the Constitution. A comparison is then made with the legal position on this question with the United States of America, a country that has been dubbed as the most democratic and liberal in the world which has a Bill of Rights dating back some 200 years. The case law of the US Supreme Court is dealt with, followed by the most important trends of academic criticism of this case law. This forms the basis of an informed comparison in relation to the question of locus standi between the two jurisdictions. It is argued towards the end that the locus standi dispensation in public interest litigation that has emerged in South Africa is the better of the two. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Public Law / unrestricted

This dissertation is an attempt to use the radical political economy approach, which assumes that there is a connection between a state’s strategic interests and the interests of dominant multinational corporations (MNCs) located within a state’s territory, to explain continuity in the USAID development agenda and lending patterns during the past 30 years of development aid to Haiti. Employing the qualitative method of "process-tracing," my study concludes that the radical political economy approach has an explanatory power when it comes to understanding continuity in the USAID development agenda and lending patterns during the past 30 years of development aid to Haiti. The evidence shows that USAID has implemented in Haiti, from the 1980s through the post-9/11 Washington Consensus period, neoliberal policies that conform to the political economy of US multinational corporations (US MNCs). Contrary to the claim that the USAID-sponsored post-earthquake development paradigm has departed from previous development strategies, the study has shown that USAID has used the occurrence of the January 2010 earthquake tragedy to accelerate in Haiti the implementation of a neoliberal agenda congenial to the business promotion of multinational investors, particularly US multinational corporations. In terms of the way ahead, the study argues for the implementation of a new development approach articulated by a legitimate Haitian state and primarily intended to promote the socioeconomic development of the poorest Haitians.

Using 2005 data from Gallup public opinion surveys on attitudes toward immigration policy in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom this study explores the factors that impact attitudes. Additional analysis is conducted on the United States exploring how economic, political and associative measures impact attitudes. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

Práce hodnotí státní regulaci účetnictví a účetního výkaznictví v ekonomickém kontextu. Zabývá se dopady jednotlivých regulačních mechanismů na kvalitu účetních standardů a zvažuje alternativy státní regulace účetnictví. Hodnoceny jsou systémy US GAAP, IFRS a národní regulace účetnictví. Vzhledem k těsné souvislosti tématu s kapitálovými trhy je věnována pozornost také specifikům burz cenných papírů.

The ascent of China to a global power status has created a new wave of theoretical discourse on what this means for the future of international relations. The general consensus on a unipolar order of international relations is slowly giving way to discourse. The time of polarity shift in the system is associated with a likely conflict between the descending hegemon and the ascending power (Snyder 2002; Mearsheimer 2010). This theoretical background suggest that in the future, we might witness a military conflict between the US and China. On the other side of the spectrum is a more optimistic view of China's rise, which emphasizes the role of economic interdependence and the extreme cost of any aggressive foreign policy that would escalate the conflict potential between China and the US (Ikenberry 2008; Kang 2007; Fravel 2010). This assumption of a future military conflict between the US and China is at the center of this research. In the following pages I will explore the idea of a military conflict between the US and China in an in-depth analysis of the most contested and conflict-prone issues between China and the US: the future of Taiwan and the Senkaku Island dispute.

This thesis deals with methods of improvement of financial statements of European banks and their impact on the economy. The financial statements are the principal information source used by external users when making economic decisions. The thesis is focused on analysis of impairment of financial assets and insufficient creation of provisions for credit losses, on faire value and amortized cost measurement of financial assets, macrohedging of interest rate risk, reporting of goodwill and on derecognition and transfer of financial assets. The thesis investigates major differences between US GAAP and IFRS. Initial hypothesis are set down at the beginning of each chapter. These are confirmed after the analysis of the academic literature, primary resources and empirical data. The thesis confirmed the principal assumption that financial reporting under IFRS provides to European banks several ways how to improve their financial statements, which contradicts to the requirements of fair and true view of economic situation of entities. Low-quality financial information can lead to instability of the financial markets, which does not contribute to the economic growth.

This study focuses on how perceived security environment affect U.S. unilateral, military intervention in civil conflicts, using the concept of Bayesian learning to illustrate how threat perceptions are formed, how they change, and how they affect the U.S. decision to intervene militarily in civil conflicts. I assess the validity of two primary hypotheses: (1) the U.S. is more likely to intervene in civil conflicts with connections to a threatening actor or ideology; and (2) the U.S. is more likely to intervene in civil conflicts for humanitarian motives in a less threatening security context. To test these hypotheses, I compare U.S. military intervention in three temporal contexts reflecting more threatening security contexts (Cold War and post-9/11) and less threatening security contexts (1992-2001). Results of logit regression analysis reveal that a conflict’s connection to a threatening actor or ideology is the most statistically and substantively significant determinant of U.S. military intervention in civil conflicts, both in more and less threatening security contexts. They also indicate that humanitarian motives are not a statistically significant determinant of U.S. military intervention in civil conflicts, even in a more benign security environment. These findings imply that U.S. unilateral military intervention is reserved for more direct national security threats, even those that are less grave, and that the perception of the U.S. as “global cop” may be misleading, at least in terms of unilateral military intervention.

This dissertation consists of three essays investigating the historical roots of economic development and inequality in the US South. The first essay examines the impact of slavery on long-run development. Using county-level data from the US South, I show that slavery has impeded long-run development through the human capital channel. The mechanism involves labor market institutions and their impact on demand for human capital. I find that the history of slavery hindered integration of black workers into the labor market. Moreover, border-county analyses show that selective application of laws and regulations was a primary tool for impeding labor market integration. Through estimating the relative return to education for each county, I further argue that blacks in a region with a greater legacy of slavery had fewer incentives to invest in human capital. The second essay studies the long run effects of cotton agriculture focusing on a novel aspect of structural change. I show that cotton specialization in the late 19th century had long-run negative impact on local development, and the negative relationship became only evident in the second half of the 20th century. I argue that the change was caused by the mechanization of cotton production. After cotton mechanization, cotton labor with low human capital was relocated to local manufacturing. In response to the inflow of cotton labor, there was a decline in labor productivity in manufacturing which persisted through directed technical change. Using census data, I show that initial cotton specialization reduces demand for skills in manufacturing even to this day. The third essay addresses the legacy of cotton agriculture on economic inequality. Using the Gini index of household income, I show that initial cotton specialization increased long-run economic inequality at the county level. Moreover, evidence from the census data indicates that cotton specialization increased wage inequality exclusively in the local service sector, without any effects on the other non-agricultural sectors. As an explanation, I argue that wage inequality in the service sector increased due to expansion of employment in low-wage occupations followed by a decrease in their wage level.