Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Economics." Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-114).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-73). Also available in print.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Growing awareness of world-wide environmental degradation has prompted the global community to explore alternatives to present human activities, and present economic development models. One concept which has emerged within this exploration is that of Sustainable Development. This thesis specifically uses the concept of Sustainable Development as Rees (1988, 1988a, 1989) and Gardner (1989) define it. Sustainable development will require substantial changes in the productive sphere. An 'energy spiral' is used to depict each stage necessary in the creation, use and disposal of a good. The social and environmental costs of each of these stages of production are explored. The positive impact of integrating re-use, recycling, recovery and replacement strategies into the consumption, production and disposal cycle for goods is described. In this thesis dry-cell batteries are used as an example of products which create problems in their disposal: heavy metals contained in these batteries exist in concentrations which require these spent batteries to be considered hazardous waste. Responses to this problem in other countries are described and critiqued. Present methods and planned strategies for hazardous waste disposal within the GVRD and the city of Vancouver are noted, and analyzed as to the sustainability of these methods and strategies. Specific plans for the disposal of dry-cell batteries are described and critiqued. Using the principles for sustainable development from Gardner (1989) and the 'energy spiral' together provides a synthesis of these two concepts. This framework provides planners and analysts a base from which strategies for sustainable production can be determined. The possibilities for use of this framework are explored, with a specific focus on dry-cell batteries. In considering the whole life-cycle of such a product, and not just focussing on the disposal stage of that cycle, responses that are more useful and pro-active can be devised. Some of the organizations and structures which presently exist and will be useful in establishing a base for the kinds of change that sustainable development will require are mentioned. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

No description available.

The importance of public education in rural development has received increasing attention by local and state policy makers as competition for new industry has intensified throughout rural America. Uncertainty about the relationships of public and private inputs to education output, however, presents problems to state and local officials and parents interested in improving the quality and quantity of the public education system. This research examines the education process in a production function framework to identify the relationships of education inputs to education output. A theoretical model that combines public l and household decision making into an education production process is used as the basis for the empirical model that is developed. The estimated model includes input measures for school, family, volunteer and student inputs to education production and is estimated with cross·sectional data for Virginia counties. The expenditure measure used in the model is specified as a polynomial lag. The model also is specified as a joint-product production process. The results of the analysis provide evidence of the importance of expenditures in education production and indicate that the impact of changes in expenditures occurs over time. The number of and educational levels of teachers also is associated with education output. Household and student inputs also are associated with education output. Volunteer input measures are not statistically significant in the estimated equations, a reflection of the difficulty of specifying and measuring specific volunteer inputs into the education production process. The empirical results do not support a joint production hypothesis between outputs as measured by achievement test scores and the school continuation rate. / Ph. D.

Orientador: Salvador Antonio Meireles Sandoval / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T11:19:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ferreira_JoseFerdinandoRamos_M.pdf: 3794306 bytes, checksum: 6ffaaf4cfd235d7e645de80e4c85d15b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: O estudo se refere às relações de trabalho no Brasil, dadas a partir das fábricas, como um conjunto de arranjos que podem ser institucionais ou não, e que organizam as relações sociais de produção em locais de trabalho. Assim, a passagem do capitalismo competitivo para o monopolista, a reestruturação das atividades produtivas não só afetam como transformam as relações de trabalho. Na sociedade de classes, em que as relações de trabalho se apresentam como relações de exploração e de dominação, por meio de arranjos institucionais (aqui chamados de acordo ou negociações) são tomadas decisões acerca do trabalho. Essas decisões expressam relações de poder, capacidade de pressão de grupos sociais (como os sindicatos) na luta pela defesa de direitos (demandas). As relações de trabalho (na sociedade capitalista) caracterizam-se por relações de assalariamento. Na perspectiva marxista por relações de exploração ou de extração de sobre trabalho (mais valia) pelo capitalista que tem por objetivo a realização do valor (a acumulação do capital). Os interesses contraditórios permitem a construção de relações de conflito ou de consenso no processo de trabalho. O consenso, de forma geral, resulta da coerção. O caráter conflituoso das relações de trabalho e suas possibilidades de tornar-se aberto, visível, dando origem aos processos de resistência (como a greve) é o foco desta pesquisa. A greve é tomada como uma ação coletiva que permite a construção de processos de pertencimento de consciência de classe e que também possibilita a mudança nas relações sociais de produção. A questão central que orienta a análise é indagar os alcances e os limites da greve (na dimensão apontada) na sociedade brasileira contemporânea. / Abstract: The study concerns industrial relations in Brazil, taking place in factories, as a set of arrangements which may or not be constitutional and which organize the social relations of production at the workplace. Thus, the change from a competitive capitalism to a monopolistic sort and the restructuring of the productive activities not only affect but also transform industrial relations. In the class society, in which industrial relations present themselves as relations of exploitation and domination, by means of institutional arrangements (herein referred to as agreement or negotiation), decisions concerning labor are made. Such decisions express power relations, and the capacity to exert social group pressure (such as labor unions) in the struggle for the defense of rights (demands). The industrial relations (in the capitalist society) are characterized by salary relations. In the marxist perspective, they are characterized by relations of exploitation and surplus labor (surplus value) on the part of the capitalist, whose aim is the realization of value (accumulation of capital). The opposing interests between capital and labor lead to relations of either conflict or consensus in the industrial process. Consensus, on the whole, results from coercion. The conflicting nature of industrial relations and the possibility of their becoming open, visible, allowing for processes of resistance (such as strikes) is the focus of this research. Strikes are taken as collective actions which allow for the constructions of processes of belonging class awareness and which enables changes to take place in the social industrial relations. The central question which guides the analysis is to question the ranges and the limits of strikes (in the dimension pointed out herein) in contemporary Brazilian society. / Mestrado / Educação, Sociedade, Politica e Cultura / Mestre em Educação

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Innovation incentives are imperfectly provided in market settings: When deciding on their innovation activity, firms tend to focus on the maximization of their private benefits, poorly internalizing social benefits. This thesis analyzes how policy intervention could be designed in order to align private and social incentives. <p><p>In the three papers of this thesis, I will consider three environments where firms' choices in a laissez-faire situation may be socially inefficient. The inefficiencies arise because of learning externalities, free riding when the innovation decision is made by a group of participants, or because firms are not willing to invest in a new activity that has a higher social than private value.<p><p>In the first thesis paper, I deal with the strategies of firms in innovative consumer product markets characterized by demand uncertainty. I analyze the timing and location decision of firms in that context.<p><p>In the second thesis paper, I consider the investment incentives of financial market infrastructures (FMIs). FMIs comprise the set of institutions that allow financial market participants to engage with each other. I assess the innovation incentives for different forms of ownership (user-owned versus third-party owned) and identify infrastructure service provision equilibria. <p><p>In the third thesis paper, I address the question of how a government should allocate a subsidy budget over time in order to maximize the innovation activity in an industry. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished