Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Industrial ecology – Economic aspects'

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117).
Industrial ecology (IE) is an emerging paradigm for environmental control. IE offers a framework for altering industrial activities so that they more closely reflect a closed loop cycle, rather than a linear flow of extraction and disposal. Implementation of IE is occurring through the eco-industrial park (EIP) model. An EIP is a group of businesses that are implementing IE principles, through cooperation between one another and/or other organizations. This Thesis examines the current practice of implementing IE through the EIP model. The research methodology includes assessing the Kalundborg, Denmark EIP example, surveying North American EIPs, and studying a case of implementing an EIP in Londonderry, NH. Findings from the research indicate that there is currently a taxonomy of IE practices being implemented through the EIP model. The taxonomy includes practice in land stewardship, green building design, individual firm environmental practices, and byproduct exchange. Each of the four areas of practice have characteristics with implications for how implementation should occur through an EIP. EIP planners and developers should craft implementation strategies in accordance with their IE objectives. Additionally, the management entity of an EIP should have the capacity to implement all IE objects. Finally, a community education process on IE is necessary during the implementation of an EIP.
by Shanna E. Wasserman.
M.C.P.

Industrial Ecology is an application of environmental management transcending the boundary of the individual firm. By comparing industrial systems to natural ecosystems, Industrial Ecology aims to emulate the sustainable state of the latter. Although research is flourishing, there are only very limited examples of Industrial Ecology in practice. Its proposed end state of a sustainable economic system is encapsulated in Thomas Graedel’s “type III” system, where all ecosystem components live on their exchange products, and the whole system runs exclusively on solar radiation as its source of energy. This doctoral thesis is conceived from the recognition that the idea of Industrial Ecology is in conflict with the application of it, and the field thus needs to be grounded in a solid body of theory. Therefore, this thesis examines for the first time the soundness of ideas and current practice of Industrial Ecology in the context of the fields of science concerned: Ecological economics has the purpose to understand the relationship between ecological and economic systems. It is the recognition of the biophysical limits to economic activity that is applied to Industrial Ecology in this thesis. The aim of embedding the economic system into the natural system that ecological economics and Industrial Ecology have in common is examined in the light of research in theoretical ecology, understanding the dynamics of ecosystem development. The consequences for industrial ecological systems lie in the insight that food chains are merely the expression of underlying energetic relationships, and it is the latter that drive an ecosystem in its development towards a mature and stable state. As Industrial Ecology’s method is to compare economic systems to natural systems, the soundness of this method needs to be ascertained. The translation of ideas from one area to another constitutes a use of metaphor, and it is in the valid transfer of ideas that Industrial Ecology has its merit. Consequently, a chapter of the thesis investigates the transfer of ideas in the context of Industrial Ecology. In a final analytical chapter, the idea of Industrial Ecology is compared to the realities of the current system of international business enterprise.

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente – Perfil Gestão e Sistemas Ambientais
Industrial symbiosis is an application of industrial ecology that consists of a collaborative approach between different industries and firms aimed at improving their environmental and economic performance involving the exchange of waste/byproducts as substitutes for raw materials. This collaboration is conditioned by the geographic proximity between industries and may face some information, economic, regulatory or motivational barriers. The main objective of this thesis was to develop a methodology to find and evaluate new potential exchanges in light of industrial symbiosis and to apply it to Sines oil refinery case study. The methodology was divided into four phases. The first phase is where, through the analysis of similar case studies, the potential new exchanges are uncovered.The second was made based on a literature review on the main barriers to industrial symbiosis development. This phase was developed to swiftly filter potential synergies that would face barriers to its development. The other two phases were only applied to the potential synergies that successfully passed the “filter”. Those phases consisted of an environmental evaluation through a LCA and a financial analysis. The application of the methodology showed two new potential synergetic possibilities for the Sines oil refinery. The results of the evaluation of those potential synergies were very promising both environmentally and financially. This research thus demonstrates the potential and benefits associated with the development of industrial symbiosis networks if the barriers to this development can be successfully surpassed.

As a result of rapid product development, the product life cycle has become shorter, and thus the amount of waste from discarded industrial products has risen dramatically. An awareness of the world???s environmental problems has stimulated researchers to explore the opportunities to reuse, recycle and remanufacture end-of-life products. Disassembly is a systematic approach to separating products into components or subassemblies in order to facilitate recovery of components or materials. However, the full disassembly of a product tends to be unproductive due to technical and cost constraints and product conditions after usage. Therefore, selective disassembly has been introduced as a more practical approach, where only a limited number of disassembly paths that lead to selected parts with recovering potential are considered. This research focuses on the development of a selective disassembly methodology by reversing an assembly sequencing approach. The methodology uses a step-by-step approach to generate a disassembly sequence diagram. This involves listing all the parts within the product, generating a liaison diagram to illustrate part relationships and then establishing precedence rules describing prerequisite actions for each liaison. This is followed by segregating disassembly paths that lead to the removal of selected parts or subassemblies. Then a winnowing process is applied to these paths to eliminate invalid disassembly states and transitions. The last step is to select the optimal disassembly path by using the time requirement as the main selection criterion. In order to shorten the time for carrying out the sequencing process, a javabased program that is capable of performing the first three steps has been created. The program requires three basic inputs in forms of precedence rules, and user-required part (s) and disassembly rules, prescribing which liaison (s) should be done subsequent to a particular liaison. The viability of the methodology and the program is proved through seven case studies conducted on a fishing reel, a single-hole punch, a kettle, an entire washing machine and three washing machine subassemblies. The application of the program allows the users to determine an optimal disassembly sequence in a very short time and with only basic product information as the input.

This thesis consists of three essays in the theory of Industrial Organization. More specifically, the thesis focuses on the interaction of financial structure and market structure. The intellectual starting point of this thesis is the Modigliani-Miller theorem. Modigliani & Miller (1958) show that in the presence of perfect financial and output markets, financial structure has no effect on the value of the firm. This thesis departs from a Modigliani-Miller economic environment by assuming that firms have more information about their projects than financiers have. In imperfect output markets, this departure from Modigliani-Miller world implies that there may exist important strategic interactions between production and financial decisions. In the three essays of this thesis, we derive theoretical links between financial structure and output market competition. We show that in the presence of asymmetric information in output and financial markets, firms may affect the outcome of various oligopolistic and entry games by choosing an appropriate financial policy. We explicitly introduce financial variables in these types of games to show that they may have an important role to play in the resolution of the output competition. The presence of asymmetric information is usually a sufficient condition for financial structure relevance to the firm's market value. However, this is not necessary. It is shown elsewhere that taxes or bankruptcy costs may also affect financial decisions. Throughout this thesis, we abstract from these important determinants of financial structure to focus on asymmetric information in output and financial markets to show that a firm's financial policy may be used strategically in oligopolies. The three essays may be united under the common theme of asymmetric information and strategic financial decisions. In the first essay, the choice of a lender in a debt contract becomes a determinant of the extent of competition in downstream industries. We show that in the presence of imperfect output markets and asymmetric information in financial markets, members of an industry may achieve a partial collusion in the output market by borrowing from the same bank. In an oligopoly, debt is pro-competitive as it gives incentives to the borrowing firm to undertake an aggressive output strategy. This aggressiveness is translated into an increased output. As both firms borrow, the industry becomes more competitive. The industry also becomes riskier and firms' debt value is decreased. A common lender can better control these incentive effects and hence, limit the extent of competition in the output market. This model finds a natural interpretation in an international trade context. In this framework, the result shows that freeing financial markets from trade barriers may decrease the competitiveness of international oligopolies by allowing firms to borrow from the same lender. In the second essay, we develop a theoretical link between firms' financial structure and their output market structure. In the presence of asymmetric information about the incumbent's cost level, an incumbent's financial structure may constitute a signal of its efficiency and prevent potential entrants from coming into the market. A market, threatened by entry, is occupied by one of two possible types of incumbent. The firm's type is completely characterized by its cost level. Only the own firm knows with certainty its true type while the entrant and financiers are uncertain of it. Entry is profitable for the entrant if and only if the market is occupied by the high cost type incumbent. The low cost firm chooses a financial structure that credibly distinguishes itself from the high cost incumbent. From the observation of the incumbent's financial policy, the entrant can correctly infer the incumbent's type. If it observes a financial structure consistent with the low cost incumbent's financial strategy, it stays out of the market. Otherwise, it enters. In equilibrium, financial structure allows credible revelation of all private information and entry occurs in the same circumstances as with perfect information. In the third essay, we give a formal representation of Telser (1966)'s 'deep pocket' argument. We propose that entrants are financially vulnerable because they must signal their value to financiers before entering the market. We assume that there are two possible types of entrant threatening to enter a monopoly market. The entrant's type is parametrized by its cost level. This information is private to each entrant as other players are uncertain of the entrant's true type. Entry is profitable only for the low cost entrant. But if the high cost type can misrepresent as a low cost firm, there exist financial structures which yield positive equity value. The low cost firm must avoid these structures to credibly reveal its type to financiers, secure sufficient funds and finance its entry. In equilibrium, the low cost entrant must issue debt to signal its quality to investors. It enters the market heavily leveraged. This provides incentives for the incumbent to engage in a price war to financially exhaust the entrant and cause its bankruptcy. The price war may be interpreted as the incumbent's predatory response to the entrant's leveraged entry. We argue that a diversified pool of undistinguishable entrants is sufficient to justify the 'deep pocket' argument put forward by Telser (1966). We base our explanation on the presence of asymmetric information in financial and output markets.
Arts, Faculty of
Vancouver School of Economics
Graduate

Australia is recognising that carbon capture and storage (CCS) may be a feasible pathway for addressing increasing levels of CO2 emissions. This thesis presents a preliminary economic assessment and comparison of the capture costs for different Australian CO2 emission sources. The capture technologies evaluated include solvent absorption, pressure swing adsorption (PSA), gas separation membranes and low temperature separation. The capture cost estimated for hydrogen production, IGCC power plants and natural gas processing is less than A$30/tonne CO2 avoided. CO2 capture cost for iron production ranges from A$30 to A$40 per tonne CO2 avoided. Higher costs of A$40 to over A$80 per tonne CO2 avoided were estimated for flue gas streams from pulverised coal and NGCC power plants, oil refineries and cement facilities, and IDGCC synthesis gas. Based on 2004 and 2005 EU ETS carbon prices (A$30 to A$45 per tonne CO2 avoided), the cost of capture using current commercially available absorption technology may deter wide-scale implementation of CCS, in particular for combustion processes. A sensitivity analysis was undertaken to explore the opportunities for reducing costs. The high cost for capture using solvent absorption is dependent on the energy needed for solvent regeneration and the high capital costs. Cost reductions can be achieved by using new low regeneration energy solvents coupled with recycling the waste heat from the absorption process back to the steam cycle, and using low cost ???fit-for-purpose??? equipment. For membrane and PSA technologies, the capture costs are dominated by the flue gas and post-capture compressors. Operating the permeate or desorption stream under vacuum conditions provides significant cost reductions. Improvements in membrane and adsorbent characteristics such as the adsorbent loading or membrane permeability, CO2 selectivity, and lower prices for the membrane or adsorbent material provide further cost benefits. For low partial pressure CO2 streams, capture using low temperature ???anti-sublimation??? separation can be an alternative option. Low costs could be achieved by operating under low pressures and integrating with external sources of waste heat. Applying the cost reductions achievable with technology and process improvements reduces the capture and CCS costs to a level less than current carbon prices, making CCS an attractive mitigation option.

Includes bibliograhical references (leaves 239-251) Concerned with the influence that the production of innovative goods has on the economic growth rate of a country. Proposes that amongst the developed economies, the higher the level of production of innovative goods within a country, the higher the GDP growth rate, all else being equal.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.
The purpose of this study was to analyse the labour relations of the workers in the agricultural sector, with reference to the De Doors area in the Western Cape. Despite the political, social and economic changes to better the lives of the farm workers that have been implemented to rectify the inequalities of the past, the labour conditions on farms stayed unchanged. It is evident that there is a gap in the labour relations in the agricultural sector, due to the 2012/13 strike actions that took place. Qualitative research methodology was employed in the study; it provided the researcher with the opportunity to personally interact with the farm workers. It further allowed the researcher to gain a holistic understanding of the daily lives of the farm workers which would foster a better understanding of their daily struggles. Interviews were used as method of data collection. This methodology also enables the researcher to interpret and describe the actions of participants. Good labour relations play a vital role in any industry or organisation. Farm workers are generally classified as vulnerable and the most exploited group of the South African society. They often work irregular hours throughout the year in various weather settings. Regardless of the physical strain that their jobs entail, farm workers earn a low wage and are often deprived of the basic benefits that an employee should be entitled to. This was the reason the farm workers embarked on a strike in 2012/13. The researcher proposed recommendations to the Agricultural department on how to improve the labour relations on the farms in the De Doorns area by suggesting that more labour inspectors are being employed to oversee that legislation are implemented. Skills Development needs to be become compulsory for all farm workers as farming is becoming more technological. Skills Development unlocks talents and creative energy for the farm workers which have a positive impact on production.

Industries related to agricultural cooperatives record some of the highest injury rates in the U.S. Therefore, agricultural cooperatives are highly motivated to invest in occupational health and safety (OHS). This thesis examines the economic efficiency of OHS investments at agricultural cooperatives and identifies cooperative characteristics leading to greater economic efficiency of OHS investments. A multiple input-output data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to estimate technical efficiency. The effects of cooperative characteristics on the efficiency of OHS investments are estimated using ordinary least squares, censored regression, truncated regression, and the Simar and Wilson (2007) bootstrap procedure. Results show that the mean technical efficiency score was 0.833. Furthermore, a cooperative?s annual insurance premia has a significant, negative relationship with technical efficiency. In contrast, the experience levels of a cooperative?s top safety person and top managerial person and a location?s total workers employed have significant, positive relationships with efficiency in all estimated models.
North Dakota State University. Department of College of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xxiii, 306 p.; also includes graphics (some col.) Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-306). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

This thesis deals with Taiwan as a post-colonial nation, with an identity that remains somewhat ambiguous, from both internal and external perspectives. Specifically, in this thesis, the complexities of its Taiwan’s multicultural legacies are explored through the presentation in industrial heritage sites. Industrial heritage in Taiwan is mainly the product of the Japanese colonial period between 1895 and 1945, which spans the first half of the twentieth century. This fifty-year colonial industrialisation is arguably Taiwan’s most influential industrial heritage because it began a rapid process of modernisation that is continuing today. The key to this process is the industrialisation that led to the development of main parts of the island, catalysed new communities and social patterns and structured daily life. These industrial locations have now become heritage sites for tourism and creative development, Moreover, the interpretation of these sites highlights the re-contextualisation of the Taiwanese legacy from both political and economic perspectives. However, these sites also reveal some highly problematic place-related aspects of the colonial narrative. This thesis examines how this heritage is produced in a society that remains connected to Japanese culture, a society in which industrial heritage is influenced by the increasing convergence between cultural tourism, museumification and commercialisation Furthermore, new relationships are identified, which reflect the patterns and trends of wider economic, social and cultural changes. The thesis concludes by offering a deeper understanding of the valorisation of industrial heritage in Taiwan and its influence on broader Taiwanese narratives of geopolitics and global heritage agenda.

There is an emerging consensus amongst economic policy makers that amongst the most important development problems facing South Africa today are the extremely high unemployment levels (estimated at 40% of the formal labour force) and the need to satisfy the basic needs of South Africa's population (ie, food, shelter, clothing and footwear etc). There is also agreement that in order to achieve these twin objectives it is necessary to obtain positive and increasing economic growth rates. The question of how these high and sustainable economic growth rates can be achieved has spawned an intense debate about South Africa's future growth path. This debate about South Africa's economic future after Apartheid is based on differing evaluations of the opportunities offered by the country's current resource endowments and the constraints inhibiting growth (Moll, 1991a, 1991b; Kaplinsky, 1991; Jordan, 1991, Levy, 1991). Some writers1 have argued that a low wage, labour intensive export strategy is the only way that South Africa can rapidly create employment and meet the needs of international competition (Moll, 1991a). Moll therefore argues that increasing the demand for unskilled labour will benefit the poor most. To compete successfully internationally on the basis of low wages (as Moll suggests) is only possible by increasing relative poverty, resulting in increases in absolute poverty, it has been argued (Kaplinsky, 1992). The recent literature (Amsden, 1989; Wade, 1990) on the success of the East Asian NICs (particularly South Korea and Taiwan) strongly refutes the neo-classical view (Little, 1979; Lai, 1983) that developing countries should grow by exploiting their static Comparative Advantage (CA), that is, exploiting the availability of abundant cheap labour. These writers (Amsden, 1989; Wade, 1990) argue that developing countries can move up the value added chain - making it possible for them to pay relatively higher wages - by selective intervention in the market A recent World Bank study (Levy, 1991) analyses the potential of South Africa's manufacturing sector to move on to a dynamic labour-demanding growth path. In analysing the potential of the Garment Sector (the most labour-intensive sector), Levy (1991) argues that South Africa's international comparative advantage lies in the mid- to-upper end of the world garment industry and expanding expons from this sector will increase employment and allow "moderate increases in real wages". In this paper we develop Levy's proposition - that a labour-demanding expon strategy is possible in South Africa for the Garment subsector - for the Footwear subsector. This study will focus on the Footwear subsector for the following reasons. This is a mature industry which is well-established in South Africa. It still remains labour-intensive and well suited like the garment subsector for a labour demanding growth strategy (Levy, 1992). It has a well developed infrastructure in South Africa. However the relative performance of this sector in comparison to that of countries at similar levels of development (the NICs) has been poor (discussed below). It is striking that Footwear has been a leading export sector for the most dynamic, Developing, as well as, Southern European economies during the 1970s and 1980s (Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Portugal, China). Two sets of questions arise from the above discussion. Firstly, like the manufacturing sector as a whole, the performance of the South Afi can Footwear subsector has been unspectacular during the 1970s and 1980s. Why has ihis been so? What is the capability of the Footwear sector to supply the domestic market and to compete internationally ie, export? What are the implications of this for industrial policy? What incentives have been supplied to support the development of this sector and how effective have they been? What incentives will be required to advance the restructuring and development of this sector? What institutions exist in support of this industry and how can these institutions be developed and extended? Secondly, as South Africa develops a more outward oriented manufacturing strategy, it will have to understand the changing nature of international markets and international competition. How have these markets changed? What is the new basis of international competitiveness? What are the implications for South Africa? The objective of this study is to attempt to answer these two sets of questions. The second set of questions will not be answered in any detail in this study, but will draw extensively on a study undertaken by the author (see Ismail, 1992). Previous attempts at developing an analyses and strategy for the industry have been inward oriented (see Van Wyk's IDC Report, 1988) and ad hoc (BTI, 1990). Whilst Sid Cohn's Strat Plan 2000 has gone furthest in developing a systemic approach to the footwear industry, his focus on subcontracting as the main (labour) cost cutting measure has only served to gloss over the underlying inefficiencies of the industry in the management of raw materials and production. We provide a brief summary and critique of these strategies below before presenting a summary of our argument.

This thesis is a theoretical study of relationships between patent races and market structure. The outcome of a patent race can be an important determinant of market structure. For example, whether or not a new firm enters a market may depend upon its winning a patent race against an incumbent firm already in that market. Moreover, market structure can be a major influence upon competition in a patent race. In the example, the asymmetry between incumbent and potential entrant has an effect upon their respective incentives in the patent race. Chapter I discusses models of R and D with uncertainty. We show that, as the degree of correlation between the uncertainties facing rival firms increases, R and D efforts increase under some, but not all, conditions, and the number of active competitors falls. Chapter II discusses the approach of representing patent races as bidding games. We examine a model in which several incumbent firms compete with a number of potential entrants in a patent race, and ask whether the incumbents have an incentive to form a joint venture to deter entry. They do so if and only if the patent does not offer a major cost improvement. In Chapter III we examine the strategic interactions between competitors during the course of a race, in an attempt to clarify (for different types of race) the idea that a race degenerates when one player becomes 'far enough ahead' of his rivals, in a sense made precise. In Chapter IV we examine the evolution of market structure in a duopoly model when there is a sequence of patent races. The nature of competition in the product market is shown to determine whether one firm becomes increasingly dominant as industry leader, or whether there is 'action - reaction' between firms.

This D.Phil, thesis undertakes a theoretical analysis of the microeconomic incentives for scientific and technical knowledge-creating activities at the firm-level, the channels by which these activities impinge on industrial change and economic growth, and the effectiveness of governmental policies formulated to influence these systemic linkages. The motivation for this work is explained in Chapter 2, which reviews the state of the art in new growth theory and puts forward a typology of privately sponsored RandD activities and knowledge resources defining the premises on which the thesis rests. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate the RandD allocation and output decisions of a profitmaximising monopolist investing in exploratory- and applications-oriented research, dealing separately with product and process innovations. The characteristic properties of the optimal time paths are ascertained by means of formal and numerical optimal control methods, including comparative dynamics. The complementarity between the two modes of research is shown to generate increasing returns, but these turn out to be short-lived. The model is extended in Chapter 5 to study the development of multiple product lines. Knowledge spillovers and demand-side externalities across successive product lines can provide the basis for continued spending on RandD, allowing sustained output growth and profitability. Chapters 6 to 8 turn to the challenges of modelling the irreducible elements of uncertainty in the innovation process and their bearing upon the dynamics of market competition and industry structure. In the sequential game theoretic model introduced, firms can invest in fundamentally uncertain "innovative-RandD," or wait until the uncertainty surrounding original innovation is dispelled and invest in certain but costly "imitative-RandD." These decisions are taken in a vertically and horizontally differentiated market where noninnovating firms can compete with a "traditional" product. The industry-wide scale of RandD investments and the related evolution in market structure are determined endogenously. To do so, a symmetric equilibrium concept is defined and its uniqueness established. The model can support Schumpeterian industry evolutions, in which surges of innovative entry are followed by waves of imitation, and ensuing "creative destruction" in which traditional producers are driven out of the industry and innovators' rents are eventually eroded. Numerical simulations are employed in Chapter 7 to provide further insights into the evolution of product development, market structure, pricing, firm growth, profitability, and consumer welfare. The final chapter considers the implications of this game theoretic approach for competition and innovation policies.

Linking education, science and technology with national development is a subject of increasing concern in many developing countries. In this dissertation, we have studied empirically the contribution, or lack of it, which public investment in education, science and technology has made to the attainment of development objectives in Cameroon since 1960. Using a small computable macroeconometric model of Cameroon incorporating some major relevant quantitative aspects of the knowledge sector, we have investigated the effects on that sector and on the overall economic system of increased education- and research-service resources. We have also analyzed some of the major qualitative factors that are important in this sector.
Our results suggest that, given existing patterns of education, science and technology in Cameroon, the contribution of public investment in this sector may be small compared to the potential contribution suggested in the literature. The implications of these results are examined for policy-making and planning at the national level.

Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018.
Events are happenings that embody certain objectives; business events, sport events and festivals comprise the three general types of events that attract most attention. Design Indaba (DI) is one of the world’s leading design and business events launched in 1995 as a conference, but incorporating an Expo from 2004. The DI Expo triggered a need for buyer and exhibitor interaction and led to the launch of the DI Buyers’ Day, a programme aimed at bringing buyers and exhibitors together on a day set aside for buyers to view the products and services offered at the Expo before the general public. This study seeks to identify the economic contribution of the DI Buyers’ Day Programme to the event, to buyers, exhibitors and to Cape Town as a tourism destination. The study profiles the exhibitors and buyers before focusing on buyers’ spending patterns at the Expo and in Cape Town, their level of awareness and involvement in the event, their satisfaction with and perceptions of the event. Buyers were surveyed post event via electronic mail, while exhibitors were surveyed at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) during the Expo dates of 28 February 2014 to 2 March 2014. Key Informant interviews were conducted with the event organiser and one of the event stakeholders (Department of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government) in order to gain insights from relevant parties prior to the event. The study adopted a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative research (to get an in-depth set of opinions from buyers and exhibitors), with quantitative research concentrating on a stratified sample of the participants. The latter data collected from buyers and exhibitors was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software – Version 22.0, which enabled the data to be tabulated and graphically represented. The qualitative data was analysed using the constant comparative method. The research shows that both exhibitors and buyers regard the programme as a significant platform to build their brands and access business opportunities. However, emerging creatives and entrepreneurs feel that they need additional pre-event assistance/training to be able to maximise the opportunity to make connections with buyers who view their products/services. The event organisers also mentioned that if more governmental departments could be involved, more funding would be available to deal with key questions in terms of creating new markets, growing exports and creating jobs. Overall, the DI Buyers’ programme is one of the biggest trade shows in South Africa, attracting the largest number of buyers. More international buyers should be invited to the event, and design facet categories created so that they can be paired with the appropriate exhibitor. A single day for the DI Programme is also too short: an additional day should be added or a pre-event and post-event networking session should be created solely for exhibitors and buyers.

The current environmental movement calls for a re-evaluation of many economic-ecologic relationships. The objective of this study is to identify industrial sectors and final demands most responsible for particular types of residual discharge and resource use. An economic-ecologic model was constructed for the Canadian economy from the Statistics Canada I-O as modified by Thomassin et al. (1992). This modified version with its 12 agricultural sectors and 16 food processing sectors is best suited for agricultural policy analysis. The model estimates national erosion, pesticide and fertilizer use as well as air and water pollutants, solid waste, and water use associated with specified economic activities.
Two different scenarios were analyzed. In the first, the impact on both the economy and the environment from changes in the final demand for agricultural and food commodities was simulated. Each commodity's final demand was increased by $1 million and its impact compared to the other simulated results. The ten commodities studied yielded similar economic impacts, while their environmental impacts differed considerably. Changes in the demand for wheat and oilseeds had the largest environmental impacts.
In the second scenario, the effects of a $1 million increase in each final demand category were compared. This scenario focussed on markets rather than products. The construction, exports and personal expenditures categories were the greatest generator of wastes and the largest user of free resources. The exports category yielded twice as much erosion than personal expenditures and twenty times more than the next highest value (construction).

A comparative study of the economic benefits that can be obtained from different degrees of power factor correction for medium and small scale industrial installations is shown. A new approach for precise calculation of kws and kvars required at different power factors is presented. These calculated values are used to find the return on investments for the capacitors needed for power factor correction. The developed method is easy to use, cost effective, accurate and will help electrical engineers with minimum knowledge of power systems to precisely determine the savings available by improving the power factor of an industrial load.

There is a consensus globally that climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing operations. Immediate actions are required to reduce the carbon footprint in order for the environment to endure future logistics processes and activities (The National Treasury department of South Africa, 2010). Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emissions generated from manufacturing processes, distribution networks and treatments processes (Verfaillie and Bidwell, 2000). Companies globally are expected to monitor pollution and focus on reducing the discharge of pollutants. Logistics Managers are therefore pressured to reduce the carbon footprint as it affects the environment and our health. Companies are becoming more concerned with the impact of various activities and processes on the environment. Traditional logistics models, primarily focuses on minimising cost with little focus on the environmental impact and sustaining operations for the future (Sbihi and Eglese, 2009) General Motors (GM) is a multi-national vehicle manufacturer with operations in various countries. GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009 resulting in the formation of the new GM; one of the focus areas was to ensure sustainability which resulted in the introduction of the ‘Sustainability in motion’ program in 2009 (New York Times, 2009). General Motors South Africa (GMSAf) is a vehicle assembler with manufacturing facilities and head offices located in Port Elizabeth. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational General Motors Company. The aim of the research is to determine whether a culture that promotes environmentally conscious behaviour exists within employees and their relationships within a team, with management, stakeholders and suppliers. The study will assist in highlighting areas which need improvement to enable the creation of environmentally sustainable initiatives and implementation thereof. The empirical study revealed that the following management commitment, education and training, performance management and participation and involvement were important factors in the effective implementation of an environmental sustainability program.

Based on a case study of the export informatic$ sp1$ services industry, this dissertation examines the prospects for industrial development in Jamaica in the twenty first century. It contends that the island's current strategy of neo-liberal industrial restructuring will not bring about sustained development because it embodies macro-economic reforms that are incompatible with local, cultural and structural realities. Under structural adjustment, Jamaica has embarked upon policies that have been short-term in vision, un-coordinated and subject to the demands of local and global hegemonic groups. These policies have limited the expansion of this export sector and has encouraged forms of work organisation that are deeply exploitative of labour. In the case of the informatics sector, the pressure to satisfy IMF and World Bank macro-economic restructuring requirements, together with, inadequate finance and marketing support, and technical labour, has limited the potential of the sector to become a growth catalyst. Instead of becoming an industry that provides foreign exchange earnings, jobs and technical skills, informatics in Jamaica remains low in value added content, and reliant on sweated, female, low cost labour. The current organisation of work is particularly exploitative of women and their households who provide them with support. The strain that workers and their households sustain creates a vicious cycle, because as workers find ways to resist their employers demands, the industry loses its ability to compete globally. This dissertation concludes that the future of the industry will depend on the extent to which the industry is able to: provide local and foreign firms with equal opportunities to compete in global markets; develop higher value-added services and provide workers with better opportunities for personal and occupational development. I argue that improving the skills and knowledge base of the industry's labour force represents a first step in thi

Thesis (MPhil--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The incidence of HIV/AIDS in Botswana is one of the largest in the world taking its toll on many lives and posing developmental challenges to the nation. Nearly 25% of the population is living with HIV and 14% are newly infected; AIDS is acknowledged as the major cause of death. Most HIV and AIDS studies have been dominated by surveillance, biomedical and ethical methodologies. These approaches failed to stem the tide of HIV infection because they did not follow-up with the tracking of risky behaviours and the underlying causes of the behaviours. This research scrutinized socio-economic factors in relation to the spread of the epidemic. Available literature showed that little or no attention has been paid to the socio-economic backgrounds in which individuals exist in connection with understanding HIV and AIDS. This study used an economic model of risky sexual behaviour to explore the link between socio-economic status and the practice of HIV self-protective/preventive behaviours in Maruapula, Gaborone, Botswana. The research is vital as it goes beyond surveillance in an effort to establish why the community of the study is susceptible to HIV infection. This research l used both collected data and that from BAIS II.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing is oor die verhouding tussen sosio-ekonomiese status en die praktyk van MIV self-protective/preventive gedrag binne Maruapula distrik. Die doel van die studie is om vas te stel of daar 'n verband tussen sosio-ekonomiese status en die praktyk van MIV-voorkomende gedrag onder die inwoners, van Maruapula, Gaborone, Botswana. Data is ingesamel deur die gebruik van vraelyste en die ontleding van die statistiek het getoon dat die is geen verwantskap tussen sosio-ekonomiese status en die praktyk van MIV self-protective/preventive gedrag onder die inwoners. Aanbevelings gebaseer op die bevindinge is gemaak met betrekking tot MIV-voorkoming in die woongebied in die besonder en in die land in die algemeen.

Lake St Lucia in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, experiences severe ecological stress during dry periods largely as a result of diminishing freshwater supplies and conditions of hypersalinity. Possible intervention involves diverting the Mfolozi River to the St Lucia Lake system. However, due to high sediment loading, water from the Mfolozi river requires considerable filtration before a link can be established. A suggested option considered in this study is to restore the existing sugarcane farmlands on the Mfolozi Floodplain (~20 800 ha) to previous wetland conditions to reinstate a sediment removal function amongst other benefits. Proposed restoration will have a direct impact on the industries currently supported by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Mfolozi Floodplain (tourism, sugar, conservation). to understand a measure of such impacts, ecosystem services for both Lake St Lucia and the Mfolozi Floodplain were analysed (flood alleviation, water provision, water purification, sediment regulation, tourism, fisheries, vegetation for harvest, existence, cultural and research). Annual economic values for each ecosystem service were determined by means of valuation methods that included benefit transfer and replacement cost. Results showed a current annual minimum value of the Mfolozi Floodplain and Lake St Lucia as greater than R21 million and R1.1 billion respectively. Partial restoration of the floodplain (~6 000 ha) is expected to increase the sum of all ecosystem services values by approximately 26% for the Mfolozi Floodplain and by 23% for the St Lucia System. Full restoration (~20 800 ha) increases the total ecosystem services value by 88% and 50% for the Mfolozi Floodplain and St Lucia System respectively. Results showed that economic values for existence, fisheries, tourism and water provision increase by the greatest percentage for the St Lucia System under both restoration scenarios. Partial and full restoration of the floodplain will result in the greatest increases in economic value for the services existence, tourism, fisheries and the harvesting of vegetation on the Mfolozi Floodplain.

Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
South Africa has a two-fold agricultural sector consisting of large-scale, industrialised, commercial farmers, as well as small-scale, resource poor subsistence farmers. One of the aspirations of the post-1994 South African Government is to rectify the imbalances in South African agriculture, where less than 20% of the farmers produce more than 80 % of total national agricultural products. In an attempt to improve supply from previously disadvantaged farmers, a land redistribution programme was launched with the goal of transferring 30% of total agricultural land to black farmers by 2014. However, farmers that are beneficiaries of the land transformation and redistribution programme often struggle to sustain the previous levels of productivity of the land. This is due to inexperience in macro-agriculture as well as a lack of resources. In such cases the beneficiaries revert back to subsistence type farming on previously productive and successful commercial farms. This phenomenon can have a devastating effect on the country’s food security, Gross Domestic Product, unemployment rates and the farmer’s prosperity and development opportunities. By reverting to small-scale farming, access to formal marketing chains is also restricted because of the economies of scales required to sustain a competitive supply to these markets. Urgent strategies are therefore required to improve the competitiveness of farmers who farm on a small scale due to restricted resources and inexperience. In this regard two proven theories to analyse industries for improved competitiveness exist, namely value chain analysis and clustering. Both are investigated in this study in order to determine their suitability for application in the emerging farming sector of South Africa. Value chain analysis has been widely applied to production and manufacturing industries (including agricultural production and agri-food manufacturing) to scrutinise production processes. Valuable insight into an industry’s strong and weak points can be gained by studying various factors. These include the inputs required for the manufacturing of the final product, the steps or processes required in the chain of events, the value added in each step, the contributors in the chain, as well as the linkages between the contributors. Knowledge is also gained regarding chain and process optimisation potential for improved competitiveness. The clustering of small firms to improve their ability to compete in formal markets has received a significant amount of academic interest over the past 100 years. In this regard it is important to determine the factors that influence competitiveness, and to develop strategies to improve the potential of small-scale manufacturing firms to compete with larger scale enterprises. The clustering or grouping of small firms to co-operate with each other and to compete against larger firms – as opposed to competing against each other – has resulted in improved competitiveness for many small firms across the world. A number of common key success factors for improving the competitiveness of smallscale, resource poor farmers are identified in this study through the investigation of a host of case studies. The results from these case studies also provide adequate evidence that the analysis and upgrading of value chains, as well as the promotion of collective action by small farmers, are key components for improving competitiveness and market access. This study focuses on the development of a framework to guide the development of strategies for improving competitiveness amongst small-scale, resource poor farming industries, including a production cost analysis sheet to calculate the competitiveness of farmers in this sub-sector. The Framework is also evaluated for its functionality by looking at the implementation thereof amongst a group of emerging farmers in the Western Cape.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Despite the seriousness of HIV and AIDS affecting productivity at workplaces, little attention is being paid to the special needs of the infected people in the world of work and the ultimate reality this will have on the companies’ financial health. HIV/AIDS retards economic development and business growth. The epidemic influences the workforce and markets in which business operates. Business must play a leading part in the internal response to HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is both an ethical imperative and the key to business success. Most research conducted on the subject mainly concentrated on the effects of HIV and AIDS on productivity, emphasizing absenteeism as the direct cause of low productivity. The costs of HIV and AIDS will be felt beyond the direct effect of the disease. The indirect costs include the following: The increased costs of recruiting and training, given the extra deaths and disabilities expected. The negative effect on staff morale Loss of time as a result of management and labor meetings to discuss the AIDS crisis as it develops, this resulting in loss of turnover and profits. With the rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS, businesses should be increasingly concerned about the impact of the disease on their organizations-concerns that should be well founded. At the broadest level, businesses are dependent on the strength and vitality of the economies in which they operate. HIV/AIDS raises the costs of doing business, reduces productivity and lowers overall demand for goods and services. The research process in this article focused particularly on workplace issues, which are a key dimension of the relationship between corporations and HIV/AIDS. Data collection was by both structured questionnaires and unstructured interviews, interviews with both management and workers’ representatives and structured questionnaires with the general workforce. The questions asked were open-ended: “Is HIV/AIDS a problem for your company now or in the future?” and “If HIV/AIDS impacted on your company’ financial performance would you act and why?” The research group consisted of four companies in different areas of operations: retail, service and manufacturing and the participants were chosen on the basis of certain inclusive criteria: The number of employees employed. Length of service operation. Willingness to share certain financial information. A qualitative method of data analysis was used in the study and is described in detail. The qualitative research method looks at the subjective meanings attached, descriptions, metaphors, symbols and descriptions of specific cases. It was found that despite the differences from one company to the other, the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on companies’ financials went beyond the direct costs of productivity. As the debate over the availability of cheaper generic anti-retroviral drugs rages in the background, business is faced with the dilemma of significant investment to keep their labour force healthy and alive. This has to be weighed up against the high costs involved in rehiring, retraining and re-incentivising their replacements.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ten spyte van tekens dat MIV en VIGS produktiwiteit in die werkplek affekteer, word daar nog baie min te doen aan die behoeftes van die werkers wat deur die epidemie getref word. Verder, word min aandag geskenk aan die potensiële uitwerking van die epidemie op die finansiële gesondheid van maatskappye. MIV/VIGS vertraag ekonomiese ontwikkeling en besigheidsgroei. Die epidemie het ‘n negatiewe impak op die arbeidsmag en die market waarin besigheid plaasvind. Besigheid moet dus die leiding neem in die interne respons op die MIV/VIGS pandemie. Dit is eties belangrik en die sleutel tot die sukses van besigheid. Die meeste navorsing oor die onderwerp het tot dusver gekonsentreer op die effek van MIV en VIGS op produktiwiteit met die klem op afwesigheid as ‘n direkte oorsaak van lae produktiwiteit. Die koste van MIV en VIGS behels egter veel meer as net die direkte gevolge van die siekte. Die indirekte koste sluit die volgende in: Die koste verbonde aan opleiding en die soeke na nuwe personeel weens sterftes en siekte van personeel. Die negatiewe effek op die moraal van personeel. Verlore tyd as gevolg van bestuurs- en arbeidsvergaderings om die VIGS-krisis te bespreek namate dit ontwikkel en winste negatief beïnvloed. Besigheid behoort meer bekommerd te wees oor die toename in MIV/VIGS gevalle en die impak wat dit op organisasies sal hê. MIV/VIGS verhoog die kostes van besigheid doen, verminder produktiwiteit en verlaag die algemene vraag na goedere en dienste. Die navorsingsbenadering in die artikel fokus op daardie werkplek-aangeleenthede wat ‘n sleuteldimensie is van die verhouding tussen organisasies en MIV/VIGS. Data is ingewin deur middel van gestruktureerde vraelyste en ongestruktureerde onderhoude. Onderhoude is met beide bestuurslui en verteenwoordigers van werkers gevoer, en gestruktureerde vrae met die werkers. Die vrae gestel was oop vrae soos “Is MIV/VIGS `n problem vir u onderneming huidiglik of in die toekoms? En “Indien MIV/VIGS ‘n negatiewe impak het op die onderming se prestasie sal jy optree en waarom?” Die navorsingsgroep het bestaan uit vier ondernemings in die kleinhandels-, dienslewerings-, en vervaardigingssektor. Die deelnemers is gekies op die basis van inklusiwiteit met die volgende criteria: Die getal werkers in diens. Hoe lank is onderneming in besigheid? Die bereidwilligheid om inligting te deel. `n Kwalitatiewe metode van data analise is gebruik wat breedvoerig verduidelik en beskryf word. Die navorsingsmetode kyk veral na subjektiewe betekenisse, omskrywings, metafore, simbole en omskrywings van spesifieke gevalle. Navorsing het getoon dat MIV/VIGS ‘n impak het op ondernemings se finansiële omstandighede en produktiwiteit. Terwyl die debat oor goedkoper generiese anti-retrovirale middele aan die gang is, word ondernemings of besighede konfronteer met die keuse tussen beduidende investering om die arbeidsmag gesond en lewendig te hou of die hoë koste van herindiensneming, heropleiding en insentiewe.

Water hyacinth is recognised as one of the most problematic invasive aquatic plant species in Africa. For this reason considerable funds are spent each year on itscontrol. As a consequence of the amount of money being spent on problems such as the invasion of water hyacinth, and because of the recognition of the ongoing and accelerated efforts that are required in the future, recent research has focused on accurately quantifying the costs and benefits of control of invasive species to aid policy decisions.A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis would be able to identify if the funds are justified and are being spent effectively. This thesis provides an example of a cost-benefit analysis of funds spent on the control of water hyacinth in an urban environment in South Africa. In order to develop a comprehensive assessment of the total economic value of the control of water hyacinth to an urban population, the Nahoon River in East London was selected as the study site to calculate the benefits of control. In addition to valuing the direct services provided by the resources that are traded in the market (in this case water provision), a contingent valuation study was undertaken in Abbottsford and Dorchester Heights (two suburbs in East London banking the Nahoon River). These were done in order to assess any non-use value a sample of 132 households of the population has for the control of water hyacinth, and any use values that are not traded in the market, for example recreational value. When the benefits of control of water hyacinth were compared to the costs of one of the least cost effective methods of control (herbicidal control), the benefits outweighed the costs by a ratio of more than 4:1, and for the most cost effective method of control the ratio was almost 6:1. These results provide a justification for the funds that are devoted to the control of water hyacinth, providing an argument for the continued expenditure for its control, and for further research into more cost effective methods of control, such as biological control.

La generació de residus no és un fenomen contemporani. Els grans volums, la varietat i la complexitat que han esdevingut un repte aparentment omnipresent i infranquejable per a la societat moderna. Els residus, de fet, s’han tornat prou complexos per exigir tecnologies complexes i atenció especialitzada, alhora que requereixen recursos financers més elevats per dirigir-los a la seva gestió. Aquesta tesi utilitza les illes malteses com a estudi de cas. Inclou tres capítols d’investigació originals (capítols 3, 4 i 5) que exploren la generació de residus i la seva gestió en diferents etapes. L’ecologia industrial (IE) s’utilitza com a disciplina guia bàsica. Eines, com ara l’anàlisi d’entrada-sortida, l’anàlisi del flux de materials, la petjada de carboni i les auditories de residus, han permès visualitzar conjuntament els sistemes econòmics dins de l’entorn on operen. Aquest enfocament posa èmfasi en el desenvolupament i la implementació de solucions i polítiques a nivell del sistema, que poden assolir i incloure el sistema global. Motivada per la relació directa que mostra la generació de residus amb el creixement econòmic i la necessitat de delimitar aquesta correlació positiva, juntament amb la moda lineal que el desenvolupament mundial ha continuat desenvolupant, aquesta tesi proposa examinar i comprendre les connexions que produeix la producció de residus. manté funcions operatives i econòmiques. Mitjançant els resultats obtinguts, la tesi no pretén establir ni mesurar la taxa de desacoblament entre diferents corrents de residus i creixement econòmic, sinó presentar informació que orienti la introducció i l’aplicació d’un sistema integrat de gestió de residus i ajudi a la implementació d’una economia circular. amb l’objectiu final d’orientar la política cap a la separació de la generació de residus del creixement econòmic. La primera reacció a la intensificació de les xifres de residus es va centrar en el tractament, que, en la majoria dels casos, va culminar amb el llançament, l’enterrament o la crema de tot el que es produeix. Tanmateix, les externalitats socials, ambientals i econòmiques d’aquestes pràctiques van créixer de manera directa i positiva amb els volums que necessitaven un replantejament d’aquests enfocaments. Durant la investigació es va posar de manifest la necessitat de passar a un enfocament integrat de la gestió de residus. Això vol dir que, tot i que abans, la gestió de residus era una reflexió posterior, que sovint es presentava en sistemes de tractament per a canonades finalitzats, un enfocament integrat requeriria solucions basades en coneixements i evidències basades en estudis que abasten un intervenció i coordinació multidisciplinària i multisectorial. Aquesta metodologia és crucial per a un país que vulgui establir un sistema que tingui en compte els aspectes socials, econòmics i ambientals dels impactes dels residus i treballi cap a la seva reducció. Aquesta tesi posa de manifest la complexitat que caracteritza la gestió de residus, més que en una illa densament poblada i amb una ràpida expansió econòmica. Aquests reptes s’amplifiquen en vista de les retencions de residus de connexió directa amb canvis econòmics i el modus operandi lineal prevalent de la majoria de sistemes. Es fa priorització de la necessitat d’un enfocament interdisciplinari per a la gestió de residus, ja que això permetria la interacció de sistemes complexos en la societat, la ciència, la natura i la tecnologia, per promoure la percepció que els residus són el resultat del sistema econòmic global i augmentar el potencial. per a l’elaboració d’un sistema integrat de gestió de residus, una economia circular i, finalment, un avenç cap a un creixement econòmic que no està carregat d’externalitats.
La generación de residuos no es un fenómeno contemporáneo. Son los grandes volúmenes, la variedad y la complejidad los que se han convertido en un desafío aparentemente omnipresente e insuperable para la sociedad moderna. De hecho, los desechos se han vuelto lo suficientemente complejos como para exigir tecnologías complejas y atención especializada, al tiempo que requieren mayores recursos financieros para su gestión. Esta tesis utiliza las islas maltesas como caso de estudio. Incluye tres capítulos de investigación originales (Capítulos 3, 4 y 5) que exploran la generación de residuos y su gestión en diferentes etapas. La ecología industrial (IE) se utiliza como disciplina básica de orientación. Las herramientas, como el análisis de entrada-salida, el análisis de flujo de materiales, la huella de carbono y las auditorías de desechos, permitieron que los sistemas económicos se vieran conjuntamente dentro del entorno en el que operan. Este enfoque enfatiza el desarrollo e implementación de las soluciones y políticas a nivel del sistema, que pueden alcanzar e incluir el sistema global. Motivada por la relación directa que muestra la generación de residuos con el crecimiento económico y la necesidad de desvincular esta correlación positiva, junto con la moda lineal que el rendimiento mundial ha seguido desarrollando, esta tesis se propone examinar y comprender las conexiones que la producción de residuos se mantiene con funciones operativas y económicas. A través de los resultados obtenidos, la tesis no tiene como objetivo establecer o medir la tasa de desacoplamiento entre diferentes flujos de residuos y el crecimiento económico, sino presentar información que guíe la introducción y aplicación de un sistema integrado de gestión de residuos y ayude en la implementación de una economía circular. con el objetivo final de guiar la política hacia el desacoplamiento de la generación de residuos del crecimiento económico. La reacción inicial al aumento de las cifras de residuos se centró en el tratamiento, que, en la mayoría de los casos, culminó con el lanzamiento, el entierro o la quema de lo que se produce. Sin embargo, las externalidades sociales, ambientales y económicas de estas prácticas crecieron de manera directa y positiva, y los volúmenes exigieron un replanteamiento de estos enfoques. La necesidad de cambiar a un enfoque integrado para la gestión de residuos se destacó a lo largo de la investigación. Esto significa que, aunque anteriormente, la gestión de residuos era una idea posterior, que a menudo se presentaba en sistemas de tratamiento atornillados y de final de tubería, un enfoque integrado requeriría conocimiento y soluciones basadas en evidencia que se basan en estudios que abarcan un Intervención y coordinación multidisciplinaria y multisectorial. Esta metodología es crucial para un país que quiere establecer un sistema que tenga en cuenta los aspectos sociales, económicos y ambientales de los impactos de los desechos y trabaje para su eliminación. Esta tesis destaca la complejidad que caracteriza la gestión de residuos, más aún en una isla densamente poblada con rápida expansión económica. Estos desafíos se amplifican en vista de la conexión directa que los desechos tienen con los cambios económicos y el modus operandi lineal predominante de la mayoría de los sistemas. Se hace hincapié en la necesidad de un enfoque interdisciplinario para la gestión de residuos, ya que esto permitiría la interacción de sistemas complejos en la sociedad, la ciencia, la naturaleza y la tecnología, para promover la percepción de que los residuos son el resultado del sistema económico general y aumentar el potencial. para el desarrollo de un Sistema Integrado de Gestión de Residuos, una Economía Circular y, en última instancia, un movimiento hacia un crecimiento económico que no esté plagado de externalidades.
The generation of waste is not a contemporary phenomenon. It is the sheer volumes, variety and complexity that have become a seemingly ubiquitous and insurmountable challenge for modern society. Waste has, in fact, become intricate enough to demand complex technologies and specialist attention while requiring higher financial resources to be directed to its management. This thesis uses the Maltese Islands as a case study. It includes three original research chapters (Chapters 3, 4 and 5) which explore the generation of waste and its management at different stages. Industrial Ecology (IE) is used as a basic guiding discipline. Tools, such as, input-output analysis, material flow analysis, carbon footprint and waste audits, allowed economic systems to be viewed jointly within the environment in which they operate. This approach emphasises the development and implementation of the solutions and policies at the system level, which can reach up to, and include the global system. Motivated by the direct relationship that waste generation displays with economic growth and the need to delink this positive correlation, together with the linear fashion that the world’ s throughput has continued to develop, this thesis sets out to examine and comprehend the connections that the production of waste holds with operational and economic functions. Through the results achieved, the thesis does not aim to establish or measure the rate of decoupling between different waste streams and economic growth but to table information that guides the introduction and application of an integrated waste management system and assists in the implementation of a circular economy with the final goal of guiding policy towards the decoupling of waste generation from economic growth. The initial reaction to escalating waste figures was focused on treatment, which, in most cases, culminated in the tossing, burying or burning of whatever is produced. However, the social, environmental and economic externalities of these practices grew in a direct and positive manner with the volumes necessitating a rethinking of these approaches. The need to shift to an integrated approach to waste management was highlighted throughout the research. This means that, while earlier on, waste management was an after-thought, often featuring in bolt-on, end-of-pipe treatment systems, an integrated approach would require knowledge and evidence-based solutions that are grounded in studies which encompass a multidisciplinary and multisectoral intervention and coordination. This methodology is crucial for a country that wants to establish a system which accounts for the social, economic and environmental aspects of waste impacts and works towards their abatement. This thesis highlights the complexity that characterises waste management, more so in a densely populated island with rapid economic expansion. These challenges are amplified in view of the direct connection waste holds with economic shifts and the prevalent linear modus operandi of most systems. Emphasis on the need for an interdisciplinary approach to waste management is prioritised as this would permit for the interaction of complex systems in society, science, nature and technology, to promote the perception that waste is the result of the overall economic system and increase the potential for the development of an Integrated Waste Management System, a Circular Economy and ultimately a move towards economic growth that is not riddled with externalities.

My dissertation develops and analyzes ecological economic models to study the complex dynamics of an ecological economic system (EES) and investigate various conditions and measures which can sustain a developing economy over the long term in view of resilience and sustainability. Because of the intrinsic complexity of the system, I take a systems approach, using economics as the foundation for the basic structure of an ecological economic model, and system dynamics as the method to build and analyze such a complex ecological economic model. Throughout my dissertation, the model developed by Brander and Taylor (1998) is adopted as a baseline model (henceforth the BT model). The BT model explains population-resource dynamics and is characterized as a general equilibrium version of the Gordon-Schaefer Model, using a variation of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. The findings are presented as three articles. The first article provides a comprehensive analysis of the BT model and its descendants, to elicit directions for further research, including population growth logic, substitutability, innovation, capital accumulation, property rights and institutional designs, and modeling approach. The second article extends the BT model to study the resilience of an EES reflecting three key issues in modeling such systems: 1) appropriate system boundary, 2) non-convexity of ecosystems, and 3) adaptation. The article discusses two types of thresholds: the ecological threshold, a threshold for an ecological system independent of economic systems, and the ecological economic threshold, a threshold for an EES. The latter is often different from the former and is highly dynamic and context dependent. The third article is another extension of the BT model to study the sustainability of an EES by implementing the suggestions made by the first article except for property rights and institutional designs. The main focus is on the impact of endogenous innovation regarding input substitutability on the system sustainability. The main finding is that improvement in the input substitutability, ceteris paribus, may not contribute to sustainable development despite its contribution to expanding the economy. However, it could be possible for susbstitutability improvements to contribute to sustainable development when combined with other specific types of technological progress.

Environmentally extended multiregional input-output (EE MRIO) tables have emerged as a key framework to provide a comprehensive description of the global economy and analyze its effects on the environment. Of the available EE MRIO databases, EXIOBASE stands out as a database compatible with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) with a high sectorial detail matched with multiple social and environmental satellite accounts. In this paper, we present the latest developments realized with EXIOBASE 3-a time series of EE MRIO tables ranging from 1995 to 2011 for 44 countries (28 EU member plus 16 major economies) and five rest of the world regions. EXIOBASE 3 builds upon the previous versions of EXIOBASE by using rectangular supply-use tables (SUTs) in a 163 industry by 200 products classification as the main building locks. In order to capture structural changes, economic developments, as reported by national statistical agencies, were imposed on the available, disaggregated SUTs from EXIOBASE 2. These initial estimates were further refined by incorporating detailed data on energy, agricultural production, resource extraction, and bilateral trade. EXIOBASE 3 inherits the high level of environmental stressor detail from its precursor, with further improvement in the level of detail for resource xtraction. To account for the expansion of the European Union (EU), EXIOBASE 3 was developed with the full EU28 country set (including the new member state Croatia). EXIOBASE 3 provides a unique tool for analyzing the dynamics of environmental pressures of economic activities over time.

Compared to the globalized markets of goods and services, technology production has been often described as “far from globalized” and mainly concentrated in the home country of multinational enterprises. However, academics and international organizations recognize that research and development (R&D) activities are increasingly performed at the international level. In particular, the globalization of innovation is a major concern since it is at the crossroads of the rising importance of knowledge economy and the increasing international slicing of firms’ value chains. In this context, the main motivations of this thesis are to investigate the extent to which innovation takes place across national borders and to analyze the drivers of this phenomenon across countries and across industries. For this purpose, this dissertation provides new evidence on the globalization of innovation in four empirical essays using patent-based indicators.

First, the relevance of patent statistics as indicators of innovation is evaluated by studying the relationship between expenditures in R&D activities and patenting efforts. Chapter 2 decomposes this relationship at the industry level to shed light on the origins of the worldwide surge in patent applications. The empirical investigation of the R&D-patent relationship relies on a unique panel dataset composed of 18 manufacturing industries in 19 countries covering the period from 1987 to 2005, for which five broad patent indicators are developed. This study shows that patent applications at the industry level reflect not only research productivity, but also two main components of the propensity to patent which are firms’ strategic considerations: the decision to protect an invention with a patent (the “appropriability strategy”) and the number of patents filed to protect an innovation (the “filing strategy”). The comparison between the results for various patent count indicators provides also interesting insights. While some industries (computers and communication technologies) and countries (South Korea, Spain, and Poland) have experienced a drastic increase in patent applications, the ratio of priority patent applications to R&D expenditures has been generally constant. This result suggests that there has been no spurt in innovation productivity. In contrast, regional applications (filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office or at the European Patent Office) have been increasing since the early 1990s, suggesting that the patent explosion observed in large regional patent offices is due to the greater globalization of intellectual property rights rather than a surge in research productivity. Innovative firms are increasingly targeting global markets and hence have a higher tendency to seek protection in key markets worldwide.

Chapter 3 introduces, firstly, aggregate patent-based indicators to measure the globalization of innovation production. Secondly, it describes the patterns in international technology production for a large panel dataset covering 21 industries in 29 countries from 1980 to 2005. A strong growth in the intensity of globalization of innovation is confirmed not only in terms of cross-border ownership of innovation, but also in terms of international technological collaborations. More interestingly, heterogeneity across countries and industries is observed. On the one hand, more innovative countries (or industries) do not present more globalized innovation footprint. On the other hand, the ownership of innovation is still strongly concentrated in a few countries, although its location is increasingly dispersed across the world. Thirdly, it investigates empirically two main opposing motives driving the internationalization of innovation: home-base augmenting and home-base exploiting strategies. The results show that the degree of internationalization of innovation is negatively related to the revealed technological advantage of countries across industries. Countries tend to be more technologically globalized in industrial sectors in which they are less technologically specialized. The empirical findings suggest also that countries with multidisciplinary technological knowledge are more likely to take part in international co-inventions of new technologies and to be attractive for foreign innovative firms. This aggregated patent-based analysis provides additional evidence that globalization of innovation is a means of acquiring competences abroad that are lacking at home, suggesting that home-base augmenting motives matter in the globalization of innovation production. By contrast, the internationalization of innovation does not seem to be purely market-driven since large economies are not the target of foreign innovative firms and international patenting is more related to international competitiveness of country-industry pairs than to the direction of trade flows.

While the previous chapter studies the globalization of innovation of a country with the rest of world, Chapter 4 aims at explaining who collaborates with whom in the international production of technology. In particular, the impact of technological distance between partner’s economies is investigated for a panel dataset covering international co-inventions between 29 countries in 21 industries between 1988 and 2005. The descriptive analysis highlights that the overall growth in internationalization of innovation is due to both the increase in the number of international innovative actors and the rise of the average intensity of collaboration. The empirical findings then suggest that the two main arguments related to technological distance – ‘similarity versus diversity’ – can be reconciled by taking an industry approach. Indeed, the estimation results show that the impact of technological distance is twofold on the intensity of collaborative innovation at industry level. On the one hand, the more similar the industry-specific knowledge of two countries (low technological distance within the industry), the more easily they collaborate by sharing common industrial knowledge. On the other hand, the more different their non-industry-specific knowledge (high technological distance outside the scope of the industry), the more they collaborate to gain access to broad and interdisciplinary expertise. It suggests that the relative absorptive capacity between partner’s economies and the search for novel and complementary knowledge are key drivers of the globalization of innovation. Moreover, the results confirm the moderating effect of non-technological distance factors (spatial proximity, ease of communication, institutional proximity, and overall economic ties) in cross-border innovative relationships.

The topic of Chapter 5 is the cost-benefit analysis of the creation of a new ‘globalized’ patent: the EU Patent (formerly known as Community Patent) which consists in a single patent covering the entire EU territory for both application procedure and legal enforcement after grant. The objective of this chapter is threefold: (i) simulate the budgetary consequences in terms of renewal fees’ income for the European and national patent offices; (ii) evaluate the implications for the business sector in terms of absolute and relative fees; (iii) assess the total economic impact for the most important actors of the European patent system. Based on an econometric model explaining the determinants of the maintenance rate of patents, the simulations suggest that – with a sound renewal fee structure – the EU patent could generate more income for nearly all patent offices than under the current status quo. It would, at the same time, substantially reduce the relative patenting costs for applicants. Finally, the loss of economic rents by patent attorneys, translators and lawyers, and the drop of controlling power by national patent offices elucidate further the persistence of a fragmented European patent system.

Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
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Thesis (M. Tech. (Business administration)) - Central University of technology, Free State, 2012
Research evidence suggests that South African small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) are not making the desired impact on their societies because they are unable to create jobs. The normative assertion is that by engaging in socially responsible activities, SMMEs will be able to enhance their impact on society. Much “noise”, effort and resources are being made available to South African SMMEs to encourage them to embrace this concept of social responsibility as it is also touted to result in business benefits. Socially responsible behaviour by SMMEs has therefore become an important national issue in South Africa. However, in spite of this realisation, very little is known about how seriously the South African SMMEs really consider and approach the whole issue of business social responsibility (BSR) precisely because of the dearth of empirical research on the subject. Without empirical evidence from systematic research, it becomes extremely difficult to tell for sure what these SMMEs think of and are really doing in terms of BSR; what obstacles they face in their BSR endeavours; what support they need; among others. Without such information, policy makers cannot reasonably be expected to formulate appropriate support mechanisms to enhance the BSR efforts of these SMMEs. In the end, communities like Botshabelo (in the Free State Province of South Africa) might lose out on the benefits that are usually associated with BSR performance of SMMEs. The purpose of this study was to provide such information. Specifically, the research investigated the following issues: SMMEs understanding of BSR; BSR as a sound business philosophy/practice for SMMEs; Why SMMEs undertake BSR; SMMEs’ attitude towards BSR; Barriers to SMMEs’ BSR engagement; and main BSR activities of SMMEs. In this study, research was conducted on the SMMEs of the Botshabelo industrial estate. After a thorough literature review, data were collected from 170 respondents on 137 out of the 150 SMMEs operating in Botshabelo. The results of the data analysis suggest that the SMMEs investigated have a good understanding of the concept and its value. However, the SMMEs focus mainly on employee and customer issues while showing less concern for community and environmental issues. The SMMEs also encounter barriers to BSR engagement which mostly have to do with lack of time. Based on these findings, recommendations are made regarding policy and further research.

Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The world is facing an energy crisis with worldwide energy consumption rising at an alarming rate. The effects that fossil fuels have on the environment are also causing concern. For these two reasons the world is determined to find ‘cleaner’, renewable and sustainable energy sources. The Cape Winelands District Munisipality (CWDM) area has been identified as the study area for a bioenergy project. The CWDM project aims to determine the possibility of producing bioenergy from lignocellulosic biomass, and transporting it as economically as possible to a number of electricity plants within the study area. From the CWDM project a number of research topics were identified. The aim of this thesis is to determine the best location for one or more processing plants that will maximise the potential profit through the entire system. This is achieved by minimising the overall life cycle cost of the project. It takes into account costs from establishing and maintaining the crops, harvesting, transportation, conversion and generation; with a strong focus on the transport costs. In conjunction with a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) specialist and taking into account various factors such as electricity demand, heat sales and substation locations, 14 possible plant locations were identified. The possible supply points for each of the 14 plant locations were then analysed by GIS again to yield data in terms of elevation, road distances and slope. The transport costs were calculated using the Vehicle Cost Schedule (VCS) from the Road Freight Association (RFA) and fuel consumption calculations. It takes into account slope, laden and unladen transport and considers different transport commodities. These calculations together with the other associated costs of the life cycle are then combined with the results of the GIS into an EXCEL file. From this a transportation optimisation model is developed and the equivalent yearly life cycle cost of each of the 14 demand points are minimised by means of LINGO software. Initially runs were done for 2.5 MW capacity plants. From the high profit areas identified here, a single area was chosen and further runs were done on it. These runs were performed to determine the effect of different plant capacities on the life cycle costs, as well as how it affects the farm gate price that can be paid to the farmer. It also determined the effect of farmer participation at different plant capacities. The results indicate that it is currently possible to pay a farmer between R 300.00 and R 358.00 for a ton of biomass. It also revealed that with higher participation from farmers in the CWDM project, lower costs and higher farm gate prices will result, since the transport costs will be lower. Although all the costs within the life cycle are variable over time, the transport cost is the only cost that varies spatially and this will have a major effect on the overall system cost. The thesis found that generating electricity from woody biomass is feasible for all areas that were considered as well as for all variations considered during the sensitivity analysis. For the recommended plant size of 5 MW the transport of logs will be optimum.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tempo waarteen energieverbruik wêreldwyd styg is ʼn rede tot kommer. Die nadelige effek wat fossiel brandstowwe op die omgewing het, is ook ʼn probleem. Hierdie twee redes is hoofsaaklik wat die wêreld dryf om ‘skoner’ hernieubare en volhoubare energie bronne te vind. Die Kaapse Wynland Distrik Munisipaliteit (KWDM) area is identifiseer as ʼn studie area vir ʼn bio-energie projek. Die doel van die KWDM projek is om die vervaardiging van bio-energie vanaf plantasies, die vervoer van hierdie bome sowel as die prosessering koste by die fabriek te bepaal en te evalueer. Vanuit die KWDM projek het `n aantal tesisse ontwikkel waarvan hierdie een is. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die beste posisie vir een of meer prosesserings fabrieke te bepaal wat die potensiële wins van die KWDM projek sal maksimeer. Dit is ook gemik daarop om die ekwivalente jaarlikse oorhoofse lewenssiklus koste van die projek te minimeer. Dit neem die vestiging en onderhoud van gewasse, oeskostes, vervoerkostes en proseskostes in ag, met ʼn spesifiek fokus op die vervoerkoste. In samewerking met `ʼn “Geographical Information Systems” (GIS) spesialis en deur verskeie faktore, soos elektrisiteitsverbruik, inkomste vanaf hitte verkope en substasie posisies, in ag te neem is 14 moontlike fabriek posisies identifiseer. Verder is die moontlike voorsienings areas van elk van die 14 fabriek posisies weer deur GIS analiseer om resultate in terme van hoogte bo seespieël, padafstand en helling te verkry. Die vervoerkostes is verkry vanaf die “Vehicle Cost Schedule” (VCS) van die “Road Freight Association” (RFA), asook berekeninge wat die brandstof verbruik in ag neem. Hierdie kostes sluit in die effek van gradiënt, gelaaide en ongelaaide vervoer sowel as verskillende vervoer produkte. Hierdie berekeninge sowel as die ander kostes in die siklus en die resultate van GIS is kombineer in ʼn EXCEL leer. Hierdie data word dan gebruik om ʼn LINGO model te ontwikkel en die oorhoofse lewenssiklus koste van elk van die 14 fabriek posisies te minimeer. Optimering is gedoen vir 2.5 MW kapasiteit fabrieke. Uit die beste areas is een area identifiseer en verdere lopies is daarop gedoen. Die doel van hierdie lopies is om die effek van verskillende fabriekskapasiteit op die lewensiklus koste te bepaal, asook die effek daarvan op die prys wat aan die boer betaal word vir hout. Hierdie lopies is ook gebruik om die effek van boer deelname te bepaal. Die resultaat dui aan dat dit tans moontlik is om ʼn boer tussen R 300.00 en R 358.00 te betaal vir ʼn ton biomassa. Dit het ook gewys dat hoe meer boere deelneem aan hierdie projek hoe laer is die oorhoofse lewensiklus koste en hoe hoër is die prys wat betaal kan word vir hout aangesien die vervoerkoste laer sal wees. Alhoewel al die lewensiklus kostes veranderlik is oor tyd, is dit net die vervoerkoste wat ʼn ruimtelike komponent ook het en dit sal ʼn groot effek op die oorhoofse lewenssiklus koste hê. Die tesis bevind dat dit lewensvatbaar is vir alle areas in die studie om elektrisiteit op te wek vanaf hout biomassa, selfs al word die uiterse variasie in die sensitiwiteitsanalise gebruik. Vir die aanbeveling van ʼn 5 MW fabriek sal die goedkoopste vervoer opsie boomstompe wees.

Orientador: Ademar Ribeiro Romeiro
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia
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Resumo: Esta tese teve como principal objetivo contribuir para o aperfeiçoamento metodológico do processo de valoração dos serviços ecossistêmicos. A hipótese básica adotada foi de que esta deve contar com a utilização da ferramenta de modelagem econômico-ecológica como requisito básico para compreensão da dinâmica ecológica envolvida e a incorporação dos valores de outros serviços ecossistêmicos que de outra maneira não seriam captados. Os serviços ecossistêmicos são a interface básica entre o capital natural e o bem-estar humano. São os benefícios diretos e indiretos gerados a partir das complexas interações entre os componentes do capital natural. Apesar de sua importância, o funcionamento dos mercados tradicionais não os considera nas transações econômicas, pois eles são considerados "gratuitos" ou "presentes" da natureza. O fato de não serem precificados como outro bem ou serviço faz com que não haja incentivos para sua preservação, levando à sua superexploração e, muitas vezes, perda total. Enquanto ferramenta importante de gestão, é preciso se avançar em termos de propostas para o aperfeiçoamento da valoração dos serviços ecossistêmicos, de forma a contornar seu viés reducionista. É neste sentido que o presente trabalho apresenta como contribuição maior a proposta da valoração dinâmico-integrada, a qual visa integrar a valoração stricto sensu à análise mais geral das alterações nos fluxos físicos de serviços ecossistêmicos e seus efeitos sobre as variáveis econômicas. Com o auxílio de aplicações práticas da valoração dos serviços ecossistêmicos, demonstrou-se que o processo de valoração não pode dispensar o uso da modelagem enquanto instrumento de avaliação biofísica dos fluxos de serviços ecossistêmicos. Sem essa ferramenta não há como proceder-se a um exercício de valoração que realmente se aproxime do real valor dos serviços ecossistêmicos.
Abstract: This dissertation had as main goal to contribute to the methodological improvement of the ecosystem services valuation process. The basic hypothesis adopted was that it should consider using the ecological-economic modeling as a basic tool required to better understanding the ecological dynamics involved and incorporating the other values of ecosystem services that otherwise would not be captured. Ecosystem services are the basic interface between natural capital and human well-being. They are the direct and indirect benefits generated from the complex interactions among natural capital components. Despite its importance, the functioning of traditional markets does not consider them in economic transactions, because they are considered "free" or "gifts" from nature. As they are not priced like other good or services, there are no incentives for its preservation, leading to over-exploitation and often to its total loss. As an important management tool, it is vital to go beyond with proposals for improving the ecosystem services valuation, in order to overcome its reductionist bias. In this sense the most important contribution of this dissertation is the proposal of a dynamic-integrated valuation approach, which is aimed at integrating the stricto sensu valuation to the more general analysis of changes in ecosystem services flows and its effects on economic variables. Through practical applications of ecosystem services valuation, it was shown that this process cannot do without the use of modeling as a tool for assessing biophysical flows of ecosystem services. Without this tool there is no way to conduct a valuation exercise that really comes close to the real value of ecosystem services.
Doutorado
Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente
Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

This study focuses on communities in conservation in central Philippines, with reference to marine protected areas. It analyzes communities as intersections of multiple actors with stratified interests and power, involving complex processes of place-making, ecological knowledge, tenure, governance, markets, and negotiation with domestic and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). As rights to places are fundamentally at issue with protected areas, matters of tenure are central for the study. And because marine protected areas (MPAs) are community-based, questions of local empowerment have equal centrality.
The ownership of rights to marine resources by village members is a necessary if not sufficient condition for the political empowerment of communities in conservation. The issue of property rights in the Philippines is irrevocably linked to issues of equity, as social actors confront prevailing unequal relations of power. The development of community commitment to the reconfigured arrangements of marine protected area establishment depends on substantial economic gains for marginalized villagers, an equitable distribution of those gain, the ecologically sound management of resources over which rights are negotiated and gains generated, and a socially meaningful realignment of relations of power among nested sources of authority.
My analysis points to the advantages of a reinforced community property regime that would call for measures by the national government to enhance villagers' tenure over their settlements and community waters (katubigang barangay). Such a regime is no panacea for the manifold social and environmental challenges faced by communities, but it would enable them to engage more confidently and constructively with state, NGO and other interests in conservation, and to address the real or perceived threats of dislocation by externally proposed schemes.
Two villages with MPAs in the province of Bohol in central Philippines serve as case study sites to explore intertwined social, economic and political variables that influence issues of conservation, equity and empowerment.

Dissertation (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dissertation firstly outlines the findings of recent studies that have recorded the relationship between transport and economic development. This includes the assessment of a number of economic evaluation techniques that are available to predict the impact of improvements in transport on economic development. An historic overview is provided of the role that transport has played in the development of Cape Town. Due to the fact that the phases of development followed international development trends, it is concluded that development in Cape Town will follow the global trend. A number of economic growth scenarios are developed for Cape Town to assess how the City will be able to cope with the socio-demographic challenges facing it in the next century. The relationship between land price and the economic development potential of land is outlined, as are the factors that determine industrial land price, namely the demand and supply of industrial land. The process of determining the economic value of industrial land is described. This includes the collection and analysis of occupation rent of industrial townships in Cape Town, the calculation of property values and the calculation of the shadow price of land. A procedure of determining accessibility to industrial townships in Cape Town was developed. Firstly, accessibility was defined in broad terms. This was followed by a discussion of each of the elements of accessibility namely proximity, access and mobility in order to understand the factors that may impact on the level of accessibility. Finally, the level of accessibility is quantified in terms of generalised cost. A regression analysis was undertaken to establish a statistical relationship between the economic value of industrial land and accessibility to the industrial townships. The development of a numerical model was based on the regression analyses to forecast changes in industrial land price given a change in accessibility. The model was then tested on a case study. The main conclusions of the study are as follows: (a) The accessibility of industrial land in Cape Town is linked closely to its CSD I Port (it was not possible to separate the CSD and the port), which is typical of a monocentric city structure. (b) There is a positive, significant, quantifiable relationship between accessibility as quantified by means of generalised cost and the economic value of industrial land, which was calculated by means of the shadow price technique. (c) There are a number of conditions that should be met for an increase in local industrial production potential to be translated into an equal amount of economic output.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die proefskrif som eerstens die bevindings van onlangse studies op wat die verwantskap tussen vervoer en ekonomiese ontwikkeling dokumenteer. Dit sluit die taksering van 'n aantal ekonomiese evaluasietegnieke in wat beskikbaar is om die impak van vervoer op ekonomiese ontwikkeling te voorspel. 'n Historiese oorsig word verskaf van die rol wat vervoer gespeel het in die ontwikkeling van Kaapstad. As gevolg van die feit dat die fases van ontwikkeling in die verlede internasionale ontwikkelingstendense gevolg het, word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat Kaapstad die globalisasie markera, wat tans internasionaal gestalte kry, sal navolg. 'n Aantal ekonomiese groeiscenarios word vir Kaapstad ontwikkel ten einde te bepaal hoe die stad die sosiodemografiese uitdagings van die volgende eeu sal hanteer. Die verwantskap tussen grondprys en die ekonomiese ontwikkelingspotensiaal van grond word omskryf, asook die faktore wat industriële grondprys bepaal. Die proses van die bepaling van die ekonomiese waarde van industriële grond word beskryf. Dit sluit die insamel en analise van besettingshuurdata van industriële dorpsgebiede, die berekening van eiendomswaarde en die berekening van die skaduprys van grond in. 'n Prosedure is ontwikkel vir die berekening van die toeganklikheid van industriële dorpsgebiede in Kaapstad. Eerstens is toeganklikheid in breë trekke gedefinieër. Dit is gevolg deur 'n bespreking van elk van die elemente van toeganklikheid, naamlik nabyheid, aansluiting en mobiliteit ten einde die faktore wat op die vlak van toeganklikheid mag impakteer te verstaan. Laastens is die vlak van toeganklikheid gekwantifiseer in terme van veralgemeende vervoerkoste. 'n Regressie-analise is onderneem ten einde die statistiese verwantskap tussen die ekonomiese waarde van industriële grond en toeganklikheid na industriële dorpsgebiede te bepaal. Die ontwikkeling van 'n numeriese model is op die regressie-analise gebaseer ten einde veranderinge in industriële grondpryse te voorspel, gegewe 'n verandering in toeganklikheid. Die model is op 'n gevallestudie toegepas. Die vernaamste gevolgtrekkings van die studie is : (a) Die toeganklikheid van industriële grond in Kaapstad is nou gekoppel aan die sentrale sakekern I hawe (dit was nie moontlik om die sentrale sakekern en hawe te skei nie), wat tipies is van n monosentriese staduitleg. (b) Daar is n noemenswaardige positiewe kwantifiseerbare verwantskap tussen toeganklikheid, soos gekwantifiseer in terme van veralgemeende koste, en die ekonomiese waarde van industriële grond wat deur middel van die skaduprystegniek bereken is. (c) Daar is 'n aantal voorwaardes waaraan voldoen moet word alvorens 'n toename in plaaslike industriële produksiepotensiaal tot 'n soortgelyke toename in ekonomiese ontwikelingspotensiaal sal lei.

This PhD thesis takes a ’micro’ perspective on the production of higher education and research. More precisely, I use tools of industrial organization to study two individual institutions involved in their production process. The second chapter studies universities, the main producers of higher education and research, and the third and fourth chapters analyze scientific journals, which are central in the production and the dissemination of science. Besides being crucial nodes in the production and transmission of

knowledge, these institutions, interestingly, share other common characteristics: they both emerged before the Industrial Revolution, their importance increased over the centuries and they seem unavoidable today, and many actors are private not-for-profit.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
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Orientador: Jose Euclides Stipp Paterniani
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura Urbanismo
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Resumo: Hoje é de vital importância se criar alternativas que levem ao racionamento ou economia de água potável, e uma dessas medidas é fazer uso da água de chuva disponível na natureza. Para tanto, foi necessário avaliar mediante estudo de caso a possibilidade da economia de água, aproveitando-se da água de chuva de maneira qualitativa e econômica num complexo industrial e escolar. O complexo industrial escolhido foi a Fábrica de mancais de deslizamento Grafimec, localizada no município de Araras/SP e a Escola Estadual Dom Idílio José Soares de Limeira/SP que se caracteriza pela formação educacional de jovens. Realizou-se a coleta de água de chuva na Fábrica Grafimec ao longo de um ano, em 4 pontos distintos (telhado, calha, cisterna e cisterna filtrada) para avaliar os aspectos físico-químicos e bacteriológicas dessa água. Uma vez que não existe uma Portaria ou Resolução que discorra sobre o tema aproveitamento de água de chuva, foram adotadas para efeito de comparação dos resultados qualitativos às Resoluções 274 e 357 mais à Portaria 518 do Ministério da Saúde. Paralelamente foi realizado um estudo econômico da Fábrica Grafimec juntamente com à Escola Estadual, para verificar o que um sistema de aproveitamento de água de chuva pode representar em termos de ganhos ambientais para às futuras gerações. Apesar de existirem contaminações bacteriológicas quando os resultados foram suficientemente comparados com a Portaria 518, a qualidade da água atendeu à exigência de uso da Fábrica Grafimec de Araras/SP. A utilização da cisterna nos dois estudos de caso proporcionou uma economia significativa de água da rede pública, ou seja, água essa que sairia dos nossos rios para atividades que não haveria necessidade, tais como: descarga de vasos sanitários, lavagens de piso, irrigação de jardins e plantas, dentre outras. Esse projeto de pesquisa contribuiu de maneira significativa para que novas pesquisas possam surgir no âmbito do aproveitamento da água de chuva, baseado nas práticas adotadas pela Fábrica e pela Escola
Abstract: Today it is essential to find out new alternatives for rationing or saving drinking water, and one of them is to make use of the rainwater available in nature. To achieve this, it was necessary to evaluate through a case study the possibility of water saving, by recovering rainwater with economy and quality in an industry and in a school. The industrial complex chosen was the sliding bearings factory called Grafimec, located in the town of Araras, SP, and the State Public School Dom Idílio José Soares in the town of Limeira, SP, where the activities aim at young people¿s education. The rainwater collection was done at Grafimec factory at 4 different spots (roof, spout, cistern and filter-cistern) to evaluate the physicalchemical and bacteriological aspects of this water. Since there is no Decree or Resolution on the rainwater recovery theme, for the purpose of comparing quality results, Resolutions 274 and 357, and also Decree no. 518 of the Health Ministry were adopted. At the same time, an economics study of Grafimec Factory and of the public school was carried out to assess how much benefit can be obtained in terms of environment for future generations. Although there was bacteriological contamination, when the results were sufficiently compared with Decree no. 518, the water quality met the use requirements established by Grafimec Factory in Araras, SP. The use of the cistern in both case studies provided a significant economy of the public water, which means that some of the water that would be taken from our rivers to activities where it was not essential, such as: toilet flushing, floor washing, gardens and plants irrigation, among others, was saved. This research project has significantly contributed towards the start of many other research studies in the field of rainwater recovery, based on the actions adopted by the factory and the school
Doutorado
Saneamento e Ambiente
Doutor em Engenharia Civil

The national laboratories (NLs) play a critical role in the economic and social development of technological latecomer countries, yet no academic study has ever quantified how knowledge inflows and internal knowledge impact the performance of the NLs. This dissertation identifies and ranks the importance of factors pertaining to knowledge inflows and project-internal knowledge, which determine the success or failure of research projects in the NLs of Thailand. A survey of 123 project managers in the NLs, which covers 208 R&D projects, has been conducted. It consists of a questionnaire and unstructured interviews in which the project managers discuss their project(s). Data from the questionnaire are analyzed by factor analysis, multiple regression and logistic regression; qualitative data from the interviews are used to interpret the quantitative results from the questionnaire. The research finds that, regardless of a project's mission, knowledge inflows from outside the project group impact performance more significantly than knowledge from inside the project group does. Second, the capacity of R&D project groups within the NLs to absorb knowledge from external sources is very selective. Absorptive capacity does not just pertain to prior related knowledge; it is also a function of the source of external knowledge, the knowledge pathway into the project group, the source of complementary or substitutive knowledge that resides within the project group, and the mission to which the knowledge contributes. Third, the NLs face an ambidexterity challenge that is commonly observed in private industry--exploiting current capabilities interferes with the national laboratories' capability to explore. The discovery of selective absorption of knowledge provides practicing managers with a toolkit of micro-levers with which they can enhance performance as measured by a variety of metrics in highly specific ways. The dissertation also proposes and validates a theoretical framework for knowledge management that decomposes the national laboratory system into nine knowledge subsystems, which can be managed at a relatively low level of the organization. The methods by which this research has been conducted can be used as a tool to benchmark how knowledge management practices in different R&D organizations and environments impact performance. Guidelines for structural adjustments to the national innovation system, which are based on these contributions, should enable policymakers in most countries to implement an Open Innovation program for their national laboratories and enhance the ambidexterity of their organizations.

A indústria calçadista faz intenso uso de recursos naturais e gera grande volume e diversidade de resíduos ao longo da produção; muitos deles são perigosos, oferecendo riscos ao ambiente e à saúde humana. Nos produtos, é utilizada ampla variedade de materiais, o que dificulta o seu tratamento ao fim da vida útil, tornando o resíduos pós-consumo um agravante para a questão dos resíduos nessa indústria. A abordagem da prevenção de resíduos busca, de maneira proativa, diminuir ou evitar o ingresso de materiais ou substâncias no fluxo dos resíduos, prevenindo assim os impactos causados por eles no ambiente. A adoção de práticas preventivas na indústria de calçados pode contribuir para mitigar impactos oriundos de todo o ciclo de vida desse produto. Assim, esta pesquisa teve o objetivo de estudar o fenômeno da prevenção de resíduos na indústria calçadista brasileira, buscando sistematizar iniciativas e práticas já existentes e discuti-las à luz da literatura, de modo a encontrar desafios e oportunidades para expansão dessas atividades. Para a análise dos achados, adotou-se o viés conceitual da Ecologia Industrial. Foi realizado um estudo de caso descritivo-exploratório de caso único a indústria calçadista brasileira com múltiplas unidades de análise, buscando responder às seguintes perguntas: i) Como vem ocorrendo a prevenção de resíduos na produção de calçados?; ii) Quais são os desafios e oportunidades para avanços da prevenção nesse setor? A pesquisa revelou que a adoção de atividades de prevenção na indústria calçadista ainda ocorre de maneira tímida, e foca principalmente a escolha por materiais com menor toxicidade ou reciclados, e a eficiência no uso de matérias-primas. Esta última está muito ligada à redução de custos; no setor de componentes ocorre principalmente na indústria química, com o reaproveitamento interno dos subprodutos, e na manufatura, ocorre na otimização do corte das partes do calçado. De modo geral, a produção calçadista brasileira se caracteriza por intensa competitividade, com a busca por redução de custos e maximização de ganhos. Isso apresenta desafios para a implementação das atividades de prevenção de resíduos por colocar como prioridade a busca por preços baixos, geralmente obtidos pela externalização de custos socioambientais; além disso, prejudica o interesse em colaborações entre empresas. As cadeias de produção são extensas e pouco articuladas, o que dificulta a circulação de informações e materiais entre empresas. Com relação aos materiais, a pesquisa revelou possibilidades de ciclagem dentro do ambiente produtivo para diversos deles, embora não sejam colocadas em prática. O caso da indústria calçadista brasileira se apresentou como emblemático para a crise do sistema econômico nos moldes do paradigma técnico-científico, (segundo o qual o desenvolvimento significa crescimento econômico), evidenciando a necessidade de uma mudança de paradigma e uma nova racionalidade material.
The footwear industry is characterized by intense natural resources input and large and diverse waste generation, many of which are hazardous, offering risks to the environment as well as human health. A wide variety of materials are used in the products, which hampers the treatment of post-consumption waste, worsening the scenario for the issue of waste in the footwear industry. Waste prevention aims at preventing or reducing both quantitative and qualitatively the waste flows, and thus, the environmental impacts caused by them. The adoption of prevention activities in the footwear industry contributes to the mitigation of several impacts associated with this products life cycle. This research had the objective of studying waste prevention in the Brazilian footwear industry, as to unveil and systematize existing initiatives and practices, discussing them in light of the literature on the subject and identifying the challenges and opportunities for their progress. The conceptual basis of Industrial Ecology was used to analyze the findings. A descriptive-exploratory single case study with multiple analysis units was conducted aiming at answering the research questions: i) How have waste prevention activities been occurring in the footwear production?; ii) What are the challenges and opportunities for the progress of waste prevention in this area? The research found that waste prevention activities in the footwear industry are still timid, focusing mainly the selection of less toxic or recycled materials, as well as efficiency in the use of raw materials. The last is connected to cost reduction, taking place in the component sector mainly in the chemical industry through the internal reutilization of byproducts and in the manufacture sector, through efficient cutting of the parts. In general, the Brazilian footwear production is characterized by high competitiveness, pursuing cost reduction and gain maximization. That presents challenges for the implementation of waste prevention activities for setting low prices as priority, usually obtained by the externalization of social and environmental costs. It also harms the interest in collaboration between organizations. The supply chains are wide and lack articulation, which hinders information and materials circulation between organizations. Regarding the materials, the research found cycling possibilities within the productive environment for several of them, although these are not put into practice. The case of the Brazilian footwear industry is emblematic for the crisis in the economic system based in the technical-scientific paradigm (according to which, development is equal to economic growth). It underlines the need for a paradigm shift, as well as a new material rationality.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005.
Sokol, Joel, Committee Member ; Wang, Qiong, Committee Member ; Kertz, Robert, Committee Member ; Griffin, Paul, Committee Member ; Deng, Shijie, Committee Chair. Includes bibliographical references.