Legacy Problems Research Articles

On the future of the EMU: Is more fiscal integration indispensable?

It is often maintained that the euro debt crisis showed that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was not sustainable without more fiscal integration. However, important causes of the crisis were extraordinary and are highly unlikely to occur again. While the legacy problems of the crisis have been grave, they can be deemed temporary. Therefore, these problems should be combated pragmatically, but with temporary instruments only. A systematic analysis shows that the root causes have been tackled with a wide variety of reforms, both to the EMU itself and by way of structural reforms of the member states. In particular, evidence is presented that the adjustment capacities of the EMU countries are better than commonly recognised. Additional reforms are suggested, especially in the financial sector. With these reforms in place, future crises would have less serious effects. A reformed EMU should be able to withstand such crises without further fiscal integration.

Колониальное наследие как проблема и ресурс сотрудничества Юг-Юг: случай Бразилии

The aim of this article is to identify the key narratives of colonial legacy as nodal points in the articulation of the Brazilian agenda in the South-South cooperation. Brazil’s aspirations for regional leadership and attempts to increase its international prestige are analyzed in a constructivist framework. Most importantly, our theoretical reasoning departs from the constructivist take on the agent-structure debate, proposed by A. Wendt in 1987. This approach, firstly, helps to clarify the main difficulties which Brazil faced in Latin America and to examine Brazilian efforts to overcome colonial legacy in order to secure regional leadership, one of the principal goals of its foreign policy. Secondly, colonial legacy can be seen as an unconditional source for the geographical expansion of Brazil’s influence and the increasing the number if its allies by means of the South-South cooperation. Thirdly, we demonstrate the very complex relationship on the structural level between the BRICS project and the problem of colonial legacy. Using the example of Brazil as a state which, on the one hand, has not been able to overcome the postcolonial complex, and on the other, is actively performing political rituals aimed at demonstrating its increasing power, we can more clearly outline the possibilities and limitations inherent in the structure of contemporary international system. Finally, this research suggests that BRICS, a group that claims to articulate the principles of the new world order, more beneficial for the states of the South, has limited chances to succeed with that mission.

Carbon Footprint Analysis of Fibre Reinforced Composite Recycling Processes

Global rise of composite material demand has led to major legacy problems of manufacturing and end of life waste. The heterogeneous nature of composite material is the main challenge for recycling. In the European Union, tighter legislation on landfill, increasing landfill tax and loss of valuable material are driving the need for development of composite recycling technology. However, the recycling environmental benefits may not be optimised due to lack of high integrity environmental datasets. This study considered mechanical, high voltage fragmentation (HVF) and chemical recycling methods. New carbon footprint models were developed for each process. Experimental modelling was used to provide detailed process data associated with the processes. The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of the processes were evaluated through life cycle assessment studies. This work identifies that the electrical energy demand dominates the overall resource footprint in mechanical and HVF recycling methods. For both processes, extended tool life and optimised processing rate could significantly reduce the carbon footprint per unit of weight of waste processed. Environmental impact of the chemical recycling method was highly dominated by acetone used as the solvent. The refined datasets generated in this study enable better resource analysis to minimise carbon footprint of composite recycling processes. This is hoped to help increase market value of the recyclates by highlighting the environmental benefits gained through potential reuse applications.

Agile innovation management in government: A research agenda

Governments are facing an information technology upgrade and legacy problem: outdated systems and acquisition processes are resulting in high-risk technology projects that are either over budget or behind schedule. Recent catastrophic technology failures, such as the failed launch of the politically contested online marketplace Healthcare.gov in the U.S. were attributed to an overreliance on external technology contractors and failures to manage large-scale technology contracts in government. As a response, agile software development and modular acquisition approaches, new independent organizational units equipped with fast reacting teams, in combination with a series of policy changes are developed to address the need to innovate digital service delivery in government. This article uses a process tracing approach, as well as initial qualitative interviews with a subset of executives and agency-level digital services members to provide an overview of the existing policies and implementation approaches toward an agile innovation management approach. The article then provides a research framework including research questions that provide guidance for future research on the managerial implementation considerations necessary to scale up the initial efforts and move toward a collaborative and agile innovation management approach in government.

Towards a Global Social Support System: A Response to the Recent Commentaries.

Towards a Global Social Support System: A Response to the Recent Commentaries.

Europeans shine in weather forecasting

The US global model lags the performance of two European competitors in predicting weather up to two weeks ahead.

Nuclear Accidents: Consequences for Human, Society and Energy Sector

The article examines radiation and hygienic regulations with regard to the elimination of consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident in the context of relationships with other aspects, primarily socio-economic and political factors. This experience is reasonable to take into account when defining criteria in other regulatory fields, for example, in radioactive waste classification and remediation of areas. The article presents an analysis of joint features and peculiarities of nuclear accidents in the industry and energy sectors. It is noted that the scale of global consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident is defined by the large-scale release of radioactivity into the environment, as well as an affiliation of the nuclear installation with the energy sector. Large-scale radiation accidents affect the most diverse spheres of human activities, what, in its turn, evokes the reverse reaction from the society and its institutions, including involvement of political means of settlement. If the latter is seeing for criteria that are scientifically justified and feasible, then the preconditions for minimizing socio-economic impacts are created. In other cases, political decisions, such as nuclear units’ shutdown and phasing out of nuclear energy, appear to be an economic price which society, as a whole and a single industry sector, pay to compensate the negative public response. The article describes fundamental changes in approaches to ensure nuclear and radiation safety that occurred after the Chernobyl NPP accident. Multiple and negative consequences of the Chernobyl accident for human and society are balanced to some extent by a higher level of operational safety, emergency preparedness, and life-cycle safety. The article indicates that harmonization and ensuring consistency of regulations that involve different aspects of nuclear and radiation safety are important to implement practical solutions to the nuclear legacy problems. The development of regulations on criteria for the classification of radioactive waste and the issues of remediation of radioactively contaminated areas are discussed as the examples.

Emu 2.0 Drawing Lessons from the Crisis - a New Framework for Stability and Growth

This paper, drawing on the lessons from the sovereign debt crisis, tries to give answers to some key questions: Was the strategy and specific actions to cope with the crisis appropriate? Was the priority given to preserving financial stability justified? Are stability and growth objectives possible in EMU? What is the scope for national economic policy in the new policy framework? It emerges from the analysis that, after some initial weaknesses in policy action, decisive initiatives by EU authorities, supported by significant progress to strengthen further economic and financial governance and reduce macroeconomic imbalances succeeded in preserving the stability and integrity of the euro area. While the priority given by the EU policy action to financial stability was fully justified, it is also clear that robust economic growth is essential for durable financial stability and overall welfare. Policies enhancing both stability and growth are possible in EMU and some of them have started being implemented while others are at an advanced stage of development. There is ample scope for national economic policies which, if well-designed and properly implemented, will enhance the growth potential of member countries. However, legacy problems such as the excessive government debt burden in some countries must be resolved

Violated Copyright Protection in the Russian Federation

The article analyzes international and Russian law statutes and court practice about legal protection of copyright. The main legacy problems of copyright protection including modern approaches are noted. The main types of types of violations in practice and forms of protection are shown. The article also deal with problems of application of the copyright law based on the analysis of judicial practice of the state arbitration courts of the Russian Federation. Compensation in money terms is specially attended. There is a conclusion about the need for balance between private and public interests in copyright protection. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n24p471

Yes Virginia, There is a European Banking Union! But it May Not Make Your Wishes Come True

The paper discusses the prospects for European Banking Union as they appear in the summer of 2014. The first part gives an overview over the problems that gave rise to the Banking Union initiative, the second part discusses the legislative measures that have been taken towards this objective. The euro area is currently suffering from low growth, high indebtedness of private households and firms, banks, and governments, and the weakness of financial institutions. Weakness of financial institutions affects the economy not only in countries with outright banking crises and sovereign debt crises, but also in some of the core countries that so far have seemed more stable. ECB policies have so far stabilized the system without solving the underlying problems. At the national level, political will to solve the underlying problems is missing; most governments prefer procrastination over cleanups, some governments do not have the funds to recapitalize the banks of their countries, and some governments like their banks to borrow from the ECB and lend to them. The European Banking Union comes with a promise of reducing cross-border externalities in dealing with banks. However, the Single Supervisory Mechanism is hampered by the need to apply national laws that implement European directives; this makes for fragmentation even if the ECB is in charge. Moreover, procedures for the recovery and resolution of institutions in difficulties are problematic: If banks with systemically important operations in several countries enter into resolution, there is no way to prevent the breakdown of these operations and to limit the resulting systemic damage. Further, the legislation makes no provisions for the liquidity needed for maintaining systemically important operations at least temporarily. Finally, there is no fiscal backstop. Because of the deficiencies, the “too-big-to-fail” syndrome is still present. In view of the many legacy problems, this issue is critical. If the European Banking Union is to work, further reforms will be needed shortly.

Post-Communist Democratizations and Historical Legacy Problems

An underplayed area in democratization research, the problem of historical legacies is examined with reference to regime change theory and its negative and positive aspects. These include different patterns and types of legacies, the political utilization of the past and conflicting reactions to the communist period as well as the emergence of political learning and possibilities for ‘overcoming’ the past. It is concluded that such legacies may have a powerful influence during democratization but do not determine its outcome, that they rarely play an objective role in regime change, and that there is considerable cross-national variation in their impact.

The results of the implementation of the strategic master plan gained after five years and the prospects for its further implementation

This paper presents an analysis of the results of the elaboration and implementation of the Strategic Master Plan of utilization and environmental rehabilitation of decommissioned nuclear fleet facilities and the supporting infrastructure in the North-West of Russia, gained after five years. The special features of the elaboration of the extremely complex comprehensive program at the international level and the uniqueness of the result obtained towards the elimination of the problems of a nuclear legacy of the Cold War and the use of the method having been employed in other fields are shown.

Akkŭk Meets Hollywood - The Problems of Colonial Legacy and Post-colonial Modernity in 1950’s South Korean Popular Films

Akkŭk Meets Hollywood - The Problems of Colonial Legacy and Post-colonial Modernity in 1950’s South Korean Popular Films

Vague Kinds and Biological Nominalism

Among biological kinds, the most important are species. But species, however defined, have vague boundaries, both synchronically owing to hybridization and ongoing speciation, and diachronically owing to genetic drift and genealogical continuity despite speciation. It is argued that the solution to the problems of species and their vague boundaries is to adopt a thoroughgoing nominalism in regard to all biological taxa, from species to domains. The base entities are individual organisms: populations of these compose species and higher taxa. This accommodates all the important biological facts while avoiding the legacy problems of pre-evolutionary typological taxonomy, which saw species and other taxa as prior to their members. Species are however not individuals: they are spatiotemporally bounded collections, which are plural particulars.

Legacy Problems in Urban Geochemistry

Research Article| December 01, 2012 Legacy Problems in Urban Geochemistry Stefano Albanese; Stefano Albanese 1University of Napoli “Federico II”, Department of Earth SciencesVia Mezzocannone 8, 80134 Napoli, ItalyE-mail: stefano.albanese@unina.it Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Domenico Cicchella Domenico Cicchella 2University of Sannio, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental SciencesVia dei Mulini 59/A, 82100 Benevento, ItalyE-mail: cidom@unisannio.it Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Stefano Albanese 1University of Napoli “Federico II”, Department of Earth SciencesVia Mezzocannone 8, 80134 Napoli, ItalyE-mail: stefano.albanese@unina.it Domenico Cicchella 2University of Sannio, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental SciencesVia dei Mulini 59/A, 82100 Benevento, ItalyE-mail: cidom@unisannio.it Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1811-5217 Print ISSN: 1811-5209 © 2012 by the Mineralogical Society of America Elements (2012) 8 (6): 423–428. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.8.6.423 Article history First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Stefano Albanese, Domenico Cicchella; Legacy Problems in Urban Geochemistry. Elements 2012;; 8 (6): 423–428. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.8.6.423 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Abstract Modern cities are affected by multiple sources of contamination and pollution, the effects of which overlap in space and time. Toxic metal contamination, organic pollution, smog, acid rain, and greenhouse gas accumulation are the most widespread legacies of an often uncontrolled growth that has deeply changed the geochemical character of the urban environment over the last four millennia. Even though progress has changed human habits and positively influenced the quality of city life, the past is frequently a hidden source of environmental problems with the potential to affect the health of current and future urban residents. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Investigating partnerships with local players: Build, buy or partner?

African markets such as South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria offer diversification opportunities to global investors. Such economies show significant growth and opportunities, notwithstanding peculiar challenges. Domestic custodians offer safe-keeping, settlements, reporting, foreign exchange and corporate action, as well as value-added services. The big question for the global custodian is no longer whether to play in these markets — that choice has in fact been made for them but, how should they enter? Their options are categorised as ‘build’, ‘buy’ or ‘partner’.Building may promise control, brand purity and absence of legacy problems but it is hardly the quickest-to-market option. Buying gives access to existing licences, skills, structures and legacy business and a quicker time to market, but poses usual acquisition challenges. Partnering via an agency would likely provide the quickest-to-market option, links and domestic knowledge on an ongoing basis; however, there is exposure to partner risk, which must be properly appraised.

Statement by the Managing Director to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on the Global Economy and Financial Markets

The recovery remains fragile and uneven. In many advanced economies, activity is still sluggish and unemployment high, while legacy problems in the financial system remain unresolved. Activity is more robust in many emerging and developing economies. However, their prospects also depend on a healthy, broad-based recovery among the advanced economies, owing to deep real and financial linkages. The key policy challenge is to effect a smooth transition from public- to private-sector-led growth in many advanced economies, and from external to domestically driven growth in key emerging economies. While short-term macroeconomic policies are broadly appropriate, completing the two rebalancing acts will require tackling the medium-term fiscal, financial, and structural challenges raised by the crisis. Without such reforms, growth could sputter, with grave economic and social consequences.

Louis H. Sullivan and a 19th-century poetics of naturalized architecture

Contents: Preface Introduction: reviewing Sullivan after modernism The romantic context and Emerson's poetic project for an American art John Ruskin: the picturesque discourse and the language of architectural naturalism Gothic naturalism and the Ruskinian critical tradition in America The auditorium building: a Ruskinian reading Ruskin's reception in the Chicago school Sullivan's emergence as a landscape poet-architect Naturalized technology: Sullivan's theory of skyscraper design Ut pictura architectura: Sullivan's pictorial techniques for representing nature in architecture The transportation building: Sullivan's manifesto of poeticized architecture Epilogue: the problem of Sullivan's poetic legacy Selected bibliography Index.

The Effect of Foreign Bank Entry on the Operational Performance of Commercial Banks in the Chinese Transitional Economy

This article undertakes an empirical examination of the impact of foreign bank entry on the operational performance of the Chinese banking sector, placing particular emphasis on the unique features of China's banking industry as it undergoes the process of transformation. Pooled cross-section (banks) and time series data are employed in the empirical estimation, with the sample comprising 14 Chinese banks and the period 1996–2004. Fixed effects and random effects models are estimated. The empirical results for the whole sample show that the return on assets (ROA) for those Chinese banks that have foreign shareholders is, on average, lower than the ROA for banks that do not have foreign shareholders. The longer a bank has been in existence, the lower its ROA will be, the main reason for this being that the older Chinese banks tend to have accumulated a lot of ‘legacy problems’. Non-interest income is found to have a negative impact on ROA, reflecting a continuing emphasis on traditional lending business. Moreover, an increase in the depth of foreign bank participation does not affect the operational performance of Chinese banks.

Pension Reform in China: The Need for a New Approach

The rapid aging of China's population over the next few decades makes it important for a new pension system with broad and adequate coverage to be put in place quickly. Pension reforms, first initiated in 1997, have become bogged down in difficulties over dealing with the costs associated with the relatively more generous benefits provided under the old system. This paper argues that a way forward is to separate the legacy problem from the problem of setting up a new pension system, and it suggests concrete proposals for setting up such a new system which would cover both urban and rural workers.