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This chapter analyzes the early post-transition privatization and enterprise reform efforts of three major countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia (subsequently the Czech Republic), and the Soviet Union (subsequently Russia). For each, it discusses the prevailing ideologies of key decision makers and their external advisors prior to and during the transition process, the initial conditions faced by reformers and advisors, the policy frameworks that evolved, the results achieved, the mistakes made, and the opportunities missed. The ultimate conclusion is that while privatization could have and probably should have been done better, it nonetheless had to be done. The Czech Republic and Russia, and others in the region, are better off after the flawed privatizations they carried out than they would have been had they avoided or delayed divestiture. Poland, which did quite well at first in the absence of mass and rapid privatization, now finds itself burdened with a number of expensive and unproductive state firms. This chapter shows how and why these outcomes came about, and discusses the role of external advisors in the process.

Adsorption parameters (e.g. Langmuir constant, mass transfer coefficient and Thomas rate constant) are involved in the design of aqueous-media adsorption treatment units. However, the classic approach to estimating such parameters is perceived to be imprecise. Herein, the essential features and performances of the ant colony, bee colony and elephant herd optimisation approaches are introduced to the experimental chemist and chemical engineer engaged in adsorption research for aqueous systems. Key research and development directions, believed to harness these algorithms for real-scale water treatment (which falls within the wide-ranging coverage of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) ‘Clean Water and Sanitation for All’), are also proposed. The ant colony, bee colony and elephant herd optimisations have higher precision and accuracy, and are particularly efficient in finding the global optimum solution. It is hoped that the discussions can stimulate both the experimental chemist and chemical engineer to delineate the progress achieved so far and collaborate further to devise strategies for integrating these intelligent optimisations in the design and operation of real multicomponent multi-complexity adsorption systems for water purification.

This paper provides a theoretical framework for application of Chance-Constrained Programming (CCP) in situations where the coefficient matrix is random and its elements are not normally distributed. Much of the CCP literature proceeds to derive deterministic equivalent in computationally implementable form on the assumption of “normality”. However, in many applications, such as air pollution control, right skewed distributions are more likely to occur. Two types of models are considered in this paper. One assumes an exponential distribution of matrix coefficients, and another one uses an empirical approach. In case of exponential distributions, it is possible to derive exact “deterministic” equivalent to the chance-constrained program. Each row of the coefficient matrix is assumed to consist of independent, exponentially distributed random variables and a simple example illustrates the complexities associated with finding a numerical solution to the associated deterministic equivalent. In our empirical approach, on the other hand, simulated data typically encountered in air pollution control are provided, and the data-driven (empirical) solution to the implicit form of deterministic equivalent is obtained. Post-optimality analyses on model results are performed and risk implications of these decisions are discussed. Conclusions are drawn and directions for future research are indicated.

This study has covered many types of solar-powered air-conditioning systems that may be used as an alternative to traditional electrically powered air-conditioning systems in order to reduce energy usage. Solar adsorption air cooling is a great alternative to traditional vapor compression air-conditioning. Solar adsorption has several advantages over traditional vapor-compression systems, including being a green cooling technology which uses solar energy to drive the cycle, using pure water as an eco-friendly HFC-free refrigerant, and being mechanically simple with only the magnetic valves as moving parts. Several advancements and breakthroughs have been developed in the area of solar adsorption air-conditioners during the previous decade. However, further study is required before this technology can be put into practise. As a result, this book chapter highlights current research that adds to the understanding of solar adsorption air-conditioning technologies, with a focus on practical research. These systems have the potential to become the next iteration of air-conditioning systems, with the benefit of lowering energy usage while using plentiful solar energy supplies to supply the cooling demand.

We study the distortions that downward nominal and real wage rigidity would induce to a flexible form of a notional, rigidity-free, distribution of wage change using the histogram-location approach. We examine alternative methods of generating the histograms that support the econometric search for rigidity distortions and implement our approach to inflation sub-periods that should be characterised by different patterns of nominal and real rigidities. We establish the general applicability of the approach to these sub-periods and find results consistent with expectations.

From well before the mid-19th up to the mid-20th century those scholars who read and commented on The Essential Principles of the Wealth of Nations, including Marx and Seligman, seem to have been unaware of the very name of its author. Since then it has become accepted knowledge (again) that the work was written by one John Gray. Beyond the name, however, biographical details about Gray have remained extremely sparse until the present day. If one were to use a measure of obscurity, something which perhaps is appropriate in a work devoted to ‘neglected economists’, then one may use the fact that neither the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (old or new editions), nor the Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (any edition), nor any other biographical dictionaries devote an entry to Gray. The modern authors who discuss his economic writings contend themselves with the statement that ‘little biographical information is available about Gray’ (Delmas & Demals, 1995, p. 119, n. 5).¹ This is unfortunate because at least some knowledge about the personal background and career of an author is often useful in arriving at a better understanding of his or her ideas. This, as will become clear shortly, is the case too for John Gray.

This chapter analyses the rise of the ‘global factory’ – the globally integrated network centred on a focal multinational enterprise. This is a response to the increased volatility of the global economy and involves the creation of systems that allow flexibility in both the location and the control of increasingly ‘fine-sliced’ activities, the avoidance of monopoly and the evolution of new management skills. Foreign direct investment is only one strategy amongst several utilised by globally integrated multinationals.

American teens are using online social networks more than ever before. According to a 2010 Pew Internet Project study, close to 75% of teens use social media sites and wireless connections (cell phones, game consoles, and portable gaming devices) to access the Internet (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). These constant connections and ties to the Internet are fascinating to some scholars who see a tremendous value to the communities found and made online. Yet, this ability to be in constant connection is troubling to other scholars who believe that this constant ability to contact and connect is changing society for worst, not the better [Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster; Bugeja, 2005]. This chapter outlines a social media class experiment undertaken by the lead author to provide students with an opportunity to understand their reliance on the new media or media in general and add to the scholastic literature on teaching and technology in the classroom. In the Spring 2010 classes, the majority of students agreed to disconnect from all communication technology and social media for 36hours. The assignment was worth 65 points. As they started to withdraw from the media, the class assignment provided students with insights into their constant connectivity and how they manage information through various mediated channels. After the assignments students were required to complete an 800-word blog or paper. To receive full credit for the assignment, students needed to complete the written component. All the students who participated completed the written requirement. The majority of the students completed their assignments on their blogs but about half of the students both turned in a written paper and posted the assignment on their blogs. The students that provided written permissions were selected for inclusion in this chapter. We were careful to make sure that the students in this chapter were representative of the entire population, including male and female, students who were bothered by the disconnect and those who were intrigued by the possibility of being disconnected, traditional and non-traditional students, and students who worked, had no outside employment, and students with other non-academic obligations. Our insight into students' issues of connectivity was drawn from these stories. This chapter further offers ideas on how to integrate such an experiment in other settings and provides pedagogical rationales for this type of assignment. The names of the students in this experiment were changed to safeguard student anonymity and personal privacy.

This chapter discusses the relationship between the amount of social capital resources and the local response to floods. It contains selected results of a large study on social attitudes towards natural hazards (floods, storm, and landslides) conducted in Southern Poland. The results focus on the actions taken by the inhabitants of six communities of different sizes threatened by floods. Both individual and collective mitigation behaviors are analyzed. Demographic and social characteristics are used to explain differences in local preparedness. Communities were chosen to represent three historical regions with different levels of bonding and bridging social capital. The results indicate the importance of strong ties (bonding social capital) in local flood preparedness and participatory risk management. Weak ties (bridging social capital) seem to be less useful, although their strengthening is necessary in areas with high migratory flows. We conclude that local risk assessment calls for better knowledge and understanding of local network capacities and their possible use in local flood risk governance strategies.