infonet-economy

The use of small diameter whole-culm (bars) and/or split bamboo (a.k.a. splints or round strips) has often been proposed as an alternative to relatively expensive reinforcing steel in reinforced concrete. The motivation for such replacement is typically cost—bamboo is readily available in many tropical and sub-tropical locations, whereas steel reinforcement is relatively more…

This case study discusses the complex socio-cultural and political dynamics of the Tibetan Diaspora in Switzerland from a multilayer perspective of history, human rights, law, international business, social and developmental economics. We focus on the village Rikon in Tösstal, Canton Zurich as an example of social embeddedness for refugees driven by the Kuhn-Rikon industry and…

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a crucial role in enabling developing economies to embark on a path of inclusive growth. This applies in particular if local subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are committed to ‘principled embeddedness’ meaning that they are prepared to integrate parts of the local economy into global value chains by enabling them to comply with the…

The study examines the banana production operations of Chiquita in the remote region of Changuinola in Panama and contrasts it with experiences from Guatemala and Costa Rica. Of particular interest are the local context and the socio-economic framework conditions in which the company is operating. They are essential to assessing the embeddedness of the company in the region. Moreover…

A variety of studies assess the impact of multinational enterprises (MNE) in developing countries. They mainly focus on the negative externalities of these companies. Therefore, this study focuses on the positive effects emanating from the presence of MNEs in developing countries. It is hypothesised that positive externalities resulting from MNEs have their source in the local…

Purpose: This research presents a methodology to characterize life cycle impact data (LCIA) of alternative construction materials outside of the European context.
Methods: This methodology was based on the characterization of data and life cycle assessment (LCA) using geographic information systems (GIS), which has been proposed as an effective alternative for this purpose. The…