ASSESSING THE ASSESSMENT OR,THE RAE AND THE OPTIMAL ORGANIZATION OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH

The UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) is assessed as an incentive scheme affecting the allocation of research talent of varying ‘quality’ across departments. The ‘centres of excellence’ policy implicitly pursued through the RAE is an optimal allocation strategy only if all departments in all disciplines are of the generalist variety, i.e. each pursues a research path through all its stages. Conversely, the RAE‐induced research allocation minimizes efficiency if applied to specialist departments, when resources are concentrated on one specific research obstacle. It is argued that the RAE should not take the organization of University research as exogenous, but rather should encourage specialization. All results are obtained by applying to University research concepts and solutions borrowed from the mathematical theory of systems reliability.     

Enlarging and/or deepening the community

Developments in Eastern Europe have forced the EC to reconsider its goal of European union. German reunification and the end of East-West conflict and the division of Europe have given rise to two antagonistic schools of thought. One argues in favour of strengthened integration in order to accommodate a united Germany in the EC; the other implies an opening up of the EC to those countries wishing to join the Twelve. In order to pass beyond the enlargement/deepening dilemma the EC has attempted to implement a strategy whose success is still uncertain. The debate over enlargement is highlighting differences of opinion between and within member states over the objectives of European union.     

Monitoring Accounts Payables

In creating shareholder value, one objective of management is to increase the speed of cash inflows and reduce the speed of cash outflows. To accomplish this task, management must understand the relationships that cause accounts receivable and accounts payable to change. The paper expands a receivable monitoring model by Gentry and De La Garza to incorporate the causes of changes in payables. Several examples are developed to show the operation of the model. The three primary contributions of the paper are (a) developing algorithms that measure the causes of changes in payables, plus an interpretation for each set of conditions; (b) showing that a present value approach to monitoring payables is superior to a recommended accounting approach based on variance analysis; (c) finally, presenting an approach for ranking the performance of payable and receivable strategies.     

Market analysis with rational expectations: Theory and estimation

In a dynamic market structure the rational expectations hypothesis implies the existence of a ‘fixed point’ or‘equilibrium’ price sequence. For a prototype market structure we develop the This approach displays the relationships between exogenous structure, expectations, and behavior. The resulting framework suggests effective estimation procedures and clarifies analysis. Results for an application are presented and discussed.     

Property rights in conflict: wild berry-picking and the Nordic tradition of allemansrätt

Wild berries became a valuable export article in Sweden and Finland at the end of the nineteenth century. At the time, property rights over wild berries were not explicitly defined, and in both countries, proposals were made to subject the berries to the landowner. The proposals did not pass and wild berry-picking on another's land continued, as seen from today's perspective, to be available to everyone. This paper looks at the socioeconomic context of wild berry-picking, and asks whether the principle of allemansrätt – a Nordic tradition of public access to nature – played a role in why wild berries did not become private property. By focusing on the Finnish penal code debate of 1888 and the process of stabilising the property rights, the paper rejects the idea of continuity. It argues that (1) the traditional allemansrätt is debatable as a historical concept and shows how (2) the contingent political process created the conditions, and economic imagination the impetus, that wild berries were not privatised but turned into an open resource.     

巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接绩效评价研究

在全面打赢脱贫攻坚战后,如何进一步巩固拓展脱贫攻坚取得的成果、有效衔接乡村振兴,成为学界关注的重要内容。构建巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接绩效评价体系,是有力推进二者衔接的重要基础。本研究以乡村振兴战略规划目标为依据,结合巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果相关要求及接续发展时期特点,以产业兴旺、生态宜居、乡风文明、治理有效、生活富裕等5个一级指标,农业生产条件等16个二级指标和耕地保有率等38个三级指标构建评价指标体系,并综合运用层次分析、聚类分析和模糊评价相结合的方法构建评估模型,以期为巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果与乡村振兴接续发展成效的评价研究提供借鉴。     

The Contribution of Bioenergy to a New Energy Paradigm

Biomass is a widely available resource that is receiving increased consideration as a renewable substitute for fossil fuels. Developed sustainably and used efficiently, it can induce growth in developing countries, reduce oil demand, and address environmental problems. The potential benefits include: reduction of greenhouse gases, recuperation of soil productivity and degraded land, economic benefits from adding value to agricultural activities and improving access to and quality of energy services. The production of bioenergy involves a range of technologies, including solid combustion, gasification, and fermentation. These technologies produce energy from a diverse set of biological resources - traditional crops, crop residues, energy-dedicated crops, dung, and the organic component of urban waste. The results are bioenergy products that provide multiple energy services: cooking fuel, heat, electricity and transportation fuels. It is this very diversity that holds the potential of a win-win-win for the environment, social and economic development. Bioenergy has to be viewed not as a replacement for oil, but as an element of a portfolio of renewable sources of energy. Coherent and mutually supportive environmental and economic policies may be needed to encourage the emergence of a globally dispersed bioenergy industry that will pursue a path of sustainable development.