In order to avoid irreversible damage to global ecosystems, new ‘green’ technologies are needed, some of which are nowhere near commercial maturity. In these cases, governments may create temporary rents to make investments ‘artificially’ attractive, but the creation of such rents...

Motivated by Barron (1986, Ann. Probab. 14, 336-342), Brown (1982, Statistics and Probability: Essays in Honour of C.R. Rao, pp. 141-148) and Carlen and Soffer (1991, Comm. Math. Phys. 140, 339-371), we prove a version of the Lindeberg-Feller Theorem, showing normal convergence of the normalised...

We prove that the Poisson distribution maximises entropy in the class of ultra log-concave distributions, extending a result of Harremoës. The proof uses ideas concerning log-concavity, and a semigroup action involving adding Poisson variables and thinning. We go on to show that the entropy is...

We give bounds on the Poincaré (inverse spectral gap) constant of a non-negative, integer-valued random variable W, under negative dependence assumptions such as ultra log-concavity and total negative dependence. We show that the bounds obtained compare well to others in the literature....

This Handbook is the first attempt to adapt the IS approach to developing countries from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint. The Handbook brings eminent scholars in economics, innovation and development studies together with promising young researchers to review the literature and push...

The success of Asian economies (first Japan, then Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and, more recently, China and India) has made it tempting to look for ‘an Asian model of development’. However, the strength of Asian development lies less in strategies that reproduce...

Production of biodiesel is technologically simple, and the process of value addition – from the cultivation of oilseeds to oil extraction and transesterification – is straightforward. There is, however, great variation in the socioeconomic configuration of this value chain. In some regions...

Recent literature on private-sector development emphasises the need to establish a 'level playing field' and tends to disregard selective supportive interventions. The most commonly highlighted elements are administrative simplification and effective property rights policies, with business...

Technological latecomer countries face a dilemma,they need to pursue pro-active industrial policies to compensate for manifold disadvantages vis-à-vis established competitors, but at the same time, due to neopatrimonial politics and capacity constraints, their institutions are rarely in a...