This paper synthesizes five determinants of innovation and productivity of a nation. They are namely: (1) human resources and their characteristics, (2) natural and physical resources and their characteristics, (3) systems and strategies and their characteristics, (4) interactions and...

New development solves housing problems for some workers by creating new jobs that pay sustaining wages. At the same time, it creates additional demand for affordable housing because some of the workers who will be employed will not earn enough money to afford market-rate rental housing. In...

For investing in profitable ventures, the firms intend to recover the investment made in them. Thus, the determination of the respective cost of capital of a venture can provide a base for making decisions on whether to accept the project profitably. In this context, this paper provides some...

The failure to manage risk in large-scale infrastructure projects has attracted intense debate. Recommendations suggest rigorous planning and once the contract is in place, the narrative of account-giving emphasizes constructing audit trails to assure delivery commitments. However, this can lead...

This article considers whether African utility regulators can draw useful lessons from the British experience over the past thirty years. We focus on three features that are considered key properties of the British regulatory model: price-cap incentive regulation, independent regulatory agencies...

In-service teacher training aims to improve the supply of public education. A randomized experiment was conducted in Mexico to test whether teacher training could increase teacher efficiency in public secondary schools. After seven and a half months of exposure to a trained teacher, students...

Neighborhood decline is a complex and multidimensional process. National and regional variation in economic and political structures (including variety in national welfare state arrangements), combined with differences in neighborhood history, development and population composition, makes it...

The author reviews and examines the relevant literature concerning the role that networks have played in the local economic development activities of Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). The analysis focuses on TECs as actors within, and catalysts of, networks -- specifically at the local...

This paper investigates awareness among Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) and firms in the UK of inter-firm networking, and the effectiveness of the instruments used by TECs to generate networking. It evaluates the consequential outputs of and barriers to networking, the level of...

The academic discussion of business co-operation and networks is often undertaken in fairly abstract terms. The objective of this paper is to add some realism through “on-the-ground” examples of inter-firm networks in which Training and Enterprise Councils (TECS) have acted in a facilitating...