الصفحة 1
الصفحة 1
Multinational Enterprises, Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Africa : South African Perspectives
How can Africa, the world’s most lagging region, benefit from globalisation and achieve sustained economic growth? Africa needs greater investment by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) to improve competitiveness and generate more growth through positive spill-over effects. Despite the fact that Africa’s returns on investment averaged 29% since 1990, Africa has gained merely 1% of global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. The challenge for African countries is how to be a more desirable destination for FDI. The study integrates three currents of economic research, namely from the literature on (endogenous) economic growth, convergence and regional integration, the explanations for Africa’s poor growth and the growing understanding of the role of MNEs in a global economy. The empirical side of the book is based on an econometric study of the determinants of FDI in Africa as well as a detailed firm-level survey conducted in 2000.
Information and communication technologies in tourism 2007 ; Proceedings of the International Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2007
The 14th ENTER Conference had the theme "Connecting Destinations: New Technologies, New Thinking, New Solutions." This focus reflects efforts to gather cutting-edge academic research and industry applications to address the challenges of ICT advances fostering a globally networked and connected village. The diverse studies including theoretical, empirical, experimental, case studies and policy, all address a myriad of topics, themes, disciplines and approaches, thereby ensuring that any reader will find several studies of interest to them. This year’s proceedings are comprised of 50 research papers that have been double – blind peer reviewed by at three reviewers and represent the global corpus of state-of-the art ICT Travel and Tourism research.
Endosomes
Endosomes are a heterogeneous population of endocytic vesicles and tubules that have captivated the interest of biologists for many years, partly due to their important cellular functions and partly due to their intriguing nature and dynamics. Endosomes represent a fascinating interconnected network of thousands of vesicles that transport various cargoes, mainly proteins and lipids, to distant cellular destinations. How endosomes function, what co-ordinates the molecular determinants at each step of their dynamic life cycle and what their biological and medical relevance is, are among the questions addressed in this book.
Coastal Fluxes in the Anthropocene : The Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
In global coastal zones, the major fabric of goods and services for human welfare as well as global changes are extraordinarily visible. They are shaped by natural Earth systems processes on a planetary scale, which are reflected in a continuously adapting coastal environment. Now, in the "Anthropocene", human society is a greater catalyst for change - impacting and modifying coastal processes. This book synthesizes knowledge on coastal and riverine material fluxes, biogeochemical processes and indications of change, and the human influence, before looking at future research and management needs. It is a milestone rather than a destination on the journey which continues under the new International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) and the LOICZ II (Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) Project.
Complex Variables with Applications
Complex numbers can be viewed in several ways: as an element in a field, as a point in the plane, and as a two-dimensional vector. Examined properly, each perspective provides crucial insight into the interrelations between the complex number system and its parent, the real number system. It explore these relationships by adopting both generalization and specialization methods to move from real variables to complex variables, and vice versa, while simultaneously examining their analytic and geometric characteristics, using geometry to illustrate analytic concepts and employing analysis to unravel geometric notions. The engaging exposition is replete with discussions, remarks, questions, and exercises, motivating not only understanding on the part of the reader, but also developing the tools needed to think critically about mathematical problems. This focus involves a careful examination of the methods and assumptions underlying various alternative routes that lead to the same destination.
Competitiveness in the Tourism Sector : A Comprehensive Approach from Economic and Management Points
International tourism is expected to be a major vehicle of economic development in industrializing countries in the 21st century, especially for Asia. To generate long-term growth, countries with tourism-based economies must develop strategies for employing their comparative advantages to achieve competitive advantages. However, competitiveness in the tourist industry is multi-dimensional and complex. This study evaluates the competitiveness of the Taiwanese tourism sector by a multi-dimensional framework. The theoretical model proposes that the competitiveness of tourist destinations should be composed of Ricardian comparative advantages (like the conditions of natural endowments and the degree of technological change); Porterian competitive advantages; tourism management, i.e., providing high quality education and job training, public goods, support services and reduced transaction costs to enhance comparative and competitive advantages; and environmental conditions.
Cassini at Saturn- Huygens Results
Cassini At Saturn – Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn June 2004 so this update includes 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. As the Cassini spacecraft approached its destination in spring 2004, the quality of the images already being returned by the spacecraft clearly demonstrated the spectacular nature of the close-range views that will be obtained. The book contains a 16-page colour section, comprising a carefully chosen selection of the most stunning images to be released during the spacecraft’s initial period of operation.
Carpooling optimization
The aim of this project is to collect and use the GPS data from mobile devices to get geolocations and translate this data to paths, starting points and destinations to detect patterns out of each individual trajectories that have stochastic nature on the close sight and find representations of those patterns. The second half of the artificial intelligence algorithms has the task of finding the optimal matching of the patterns that were detected in a computation efficient way that achieve the most efficient way of transportation.
Calvinisms First Battleground : Conflict and Reform in the Pays de Vaud, 1528-1559
A specifically Calvinist identity and theology emerged out of two key conflicts in the region: first, the fight to turn away from Catholic practices and traditions a population that had been forced to convert to Protestantism by the Bernese after their conquest of Vaud in 1536; second, the struggle against the Zwinglian political and theological ideas that dominated the Swiss Confederation and differed from the Calvinists' understanding of ecclesiastical discipline, the Eucharist, and predestination. The Pays de Vaud was central to this struggle, for it was subject politically to Zwinglian, German-speaking Bern, but many of its ministers were more strongly influenced by Calvin. Calvin himself was initially excited about the prospects for reform in the region, but frustrations with the Swiss led him and the Genevans increasingly to focus their efforts on France.
Advances in modern tourism research : Economic perspectives
Modern Advances in Tourism Research provides a thorough assessment of state-of-the-art academic research in this recent field of economic science. The authors start by scoping the scene of tourism research, evolving then to a comprehensive analysis of themes of particular interest for researchers and academics interested on the workings of the tourism markets. With a view to go beyond fundamental research, the book closes with a chapter dedicated to applied country and regional studies.
