An obstacle to the widespread adoption of environmentally friendly energy technologies such as stationary and mobile fuel cells is their high upfront costs. While much lower prices seem to be attainable in the future due to learning curve cost reductions that increase rapidly with the scale of...

This paper explores the characteristics of 238 patents on 94 “inventions” contributed by major multinational innovators to the “Eco-Patent Commons”, which provides royalty-free access to third parties to patented climate change related innovations. By comparing the pledged patents to...

Mobile remittances have a high development potential as they hold the promise of providing quick, easy and cheap money transfers. In Africa mobile phone usage has increased sharply and mobile banking providers are extending their services, enabling greater opportunities for mobile remittances....

The use of internet technologies in daily life has risen dramatically in recent years, increasing researchers' interest in how social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are changing social realities and potentially facilitating innovative research methodologies. As technology and...

In this paper we present a vision for the course Europe should take in its research and higher education policies in order to fully live up to the expectations of its citizens to provide a safe, comfortable, affluent and sustainable environment in this period of considerable financial restraint...

Migration of skilled workers from developing countries has increased substantially in recent years. Traditionally, such patterns raised fears on the ground of the associated 'brain drain' as human capital formation is considered to be of central importance to the development and reduction of...

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part sets out a conceptual framework for diagnostic assessments of agricultural innovation capacity. It explains that contemporary patterns of agricultural development demand fresh thinking on how innovation can be promoted in ways that can deal...

Using the specific case of the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals (TRQN) project, this paper illustrates the effect the short-term return of highly qualified migrants abroad can have on capacity building in the origin country through...

Access to energy is fundamental to improving quality of life and is a key imperative for economic development" (Energy Poverty Action). This is particularly true in Central Asia where winters are harsh and long. Changes in energy prices affect the purchasing power of households, hitting the poor...

Almost all empirical research that has attempted to assess the validity of the Porter hypothesis has started from reduced-form models, e.g. by using single-equation models for estimating the contribution of environmental regulation (ER) to productivity. This paper addresses the Porter Hypothesis...