Mobile-phone-based, person-to-person payment and money transfer systems are innovative—but are they really good for poverty reduction and development?

The early design stage of a building is decisive for describing the concept of the HVAC system. Designers and practitioners can adjust and optimize the design during this stage as it provides them with enough resilience to adapt new changes. In practice, a well-defined optimization process is essentially required in order to achieve the project’s goals within a reasonable time span. These goals va

In the struggle to reach the national environmental policy objectives, environmental compensation has emerged as a possible policy tool that may contribute to achieving the objectives. In Sweden, environmental compensation is legally mandated mainly in cases of exploitation within Natura 2000 areas and nature reserves, which is handled through the Swedish Environmental Code. In contrast, regulatorIn the struggle to reach the national environmental policy objectives, environmental compensation has emerged as a possible policy tool that may contribute to achieving the objectives. In Sweden, environmental compensation is legally mandated mainly in cases of exploitation within Natura 2000 areas and nature reserves, which is handled through the Swedish Environmental Code. In contrast, regulator

Spatial Data Infrastructure is one of the requirements for sustainable development and many countries worldwide are at different stages of implementation. Several researchers have shown that SDI has helped governments to recover funds due to reduction in duplication of efforts and also has increased efficiency in resource management and planning.Tanzania as other developing countries, is at initia

The thesis aims to contribute to the preservation of traditional medicinal knowledge of the Tacana Bolivian native tribe, as well as to the isolation and characterization of antiparasitic metabolites from plants used for the treatment of endemic diseases. A selection of medicinal plants, made in collaboration with the Tacana communities who decided which plants have a specific medicinal propose, w

Healthy cortical bone tissue is both tough and strong and has a unique ability to resist fracture. One reason is the hierarchical structure of the tissue where toughening mechanisms at all length scales act to slow down or stop a propagating crack. The most potent toughening mechanisms arise at the microscale when cracks interact with the osteonal microstructure and deflect along weak interfaces.

This paper argues that an economic system of large and small technology-based firms which interact through technology-related acquisitions and spin-offs can be highly conducive to overall innovativeness and growth. Based on Williamson's (1975) suggestion of a 'systems solution by classical specialisation', and the empirical research on Swedish technology-based firms reported by Lindholm (1994), an

This study reports the results of an empirical analysis of acquisitions and growth of small technology-based firms. Three issues are focused upon: (1) the importance of technology-based acquisitions among large Swedish companies; (2) the growth patterns of acquired and non-acquired small technology-based firms (STBFs);and (3) factors explaining the growth among STBFs. The results indicate that tec

In this paper we answer the call for a micro-level perspective on regional economic change, in peripheral regions in particular. Using an in-depth and comparative case study approach, we investigate how agency shapes regional development paths, and how agency is in turn shaped by local context. The performance of a single labor market often hides the very different strategies taken by decision-mak