For too long, researchers have regarded local dynamism as the result of the actions of certain entrepreneurs. If this were the case, how could we explain the simultaneous presence of 'winning', stagnating or declining areas with very similar socioeconomic profiles within the same region? Departing from this restrictive and somewhat inadequate approach, Pierre-Andre Julien considers entrepreneurship as a collective behaviour specifically related to the dynamism of the milieu in which it develops. The author introduces a complex, innovative theory of local entrepreneurship, demonstrating that the emergence of new ventures and the development of existing enterprises cannot be understood without taking into account certain factors: locale, social capital, networking and entrepreneurial culture within a given area are all crucial to entrepreneurial growth. Expanding upon this theory, the book demonstrates how entrepreneurship can be fostered in order to support collective development. Various forms of partnership among socioeconomic actors are then analysed to highlight the social conventions and entrepreneurial culture that connect and intensify the energies at the root of local dynamism. This highly original book represents a departure from entrepreneurship literature that is largely limited to the study of entrepreneurs' behaviour. Its dynamic presentation of holistic theory will prove an extremely absorbing read for those with an academic or professional interest in business and management, entrepreneurship and regional development.

This Research Collection surveys the main contribution to labor supply decisions within the family. It covers both theory, from the initial 'unitary' model that postulates that the family behaves as a single decision maker, to modern "collective" approaches that concentrates on differences in preferences and power relationships and empirical applications. Including an original Introduction by the Editors, a special emphasis is placed on dynamic approaches, in particular issues related to intra-household commitment, and on policy implications.

This volume presents the latest advances and trends in nonparametric statistics, and gathers selected and peer-reviewed contributions from the 3rd Conference of the International Society for Nonparametric Statistics (ISNPS), held in Avignon, France on June 11-16, 2016. It covers a broad range of nonparametric statistical methods, from density estimation, survey sampling, resampling methods, kernel methods and extreme values, to statistical learning and classification, both in the standard i.i.d. case and for dependent data, including big data. The International Society for Nonparametric Statistics is uniquely global, and its international conferences are intended to foster the exchange of ideas and the latest advances among researchers from around the world, in cooperation with established statistical societies such as the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the Bernoulli Society and the International Statistical Institute. The 3rd ISNPS conference in Avignon attracted more than 400 researchers from around the globe, and contributed to the further development and dissemination of nonparametric statistics knowledge.

This study of plant anatomy is based on newly available data on the structure and spatial organization of the vascular system of plants. For the first time, by means of a new technique of intracellular moulding, the vascular system can be observed in its length. Many examples are chosen from among the major groups of the plant kingdom to illustrate the vast field of applications of histological moulding: anatomical structures that have so far been little understood or unknown are described and hypotheses relative to the cambial functioning are presented. Following a summary of basic concepts of xylem anatomy, the text is illustrated with many diagrams and photographs of moulds made for the most part with scanning electron microscope. The successive steps of the technical implementation of moulding, are described with precision. The book is addressed not only to scientists and students, but also to professionals concerned with wood, trees, and plants in general.

The family is a complex decision unit in which partners with potentially different objectives make consumption, work and fertility decisions. Couples marry and divorce partly based on their ability to coordinate these activities, which in turn depends on how well they are matched. This book provides a comprehensive, modern and self-contained account of the research in the growing area of family economics. The first half of the book develops several alternative models of family decision making. Particular attention is paid to the collective model and its testable implications. The second half discusses household formation and dissolution and who marries whom. Matching models with and without frictions are analyzed and the important role of within-family transfers is explained. The implications for marriage, divorce and fertility are discussed. The book is intended for graduate students in economics and for researchers in other fields interested in the economic approach to the family.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Published in 1998. This text is designed as not only a summary of a number of years of reflections by many different researchers, but also a guide for future research and for continuing development of a theory of small business and its environment; a theory that will apply to small businesses everywhere and that will help them become what they hope to be in the 21st century.

Published in 1998. This text is designed as not only a summary of a number of years of reflections by many different researchers, but also a guide for future research and for continuing development of a theory of small business and its environment; a theory that will apply to small businesses everywhere and that will help them become what they hope to be in the 21st century.

Although there are currently a wide variety of software packages suitable for the modern statistician, R has the triple advantage of being comprehensive, widespread, and free. Published in 2008, the second edition of Statistiques avec R enjoyed great success as an R guidebook in the French-speaking world. Translated and updated, R for Statistics includes a number of expanded and additional worked examples. Organized into two sections, the book focuses first on the R software, then on the implementation of traditional statistical methods with R. Focusing on the R software, the first section covers: Basic elements of the R software and data processing Clear, concise visualization of results, using simple and complex graphs Programming basics: pre-defined and user-created functions The second section of the book presents R methods for a wide range of traditional statistical data processing techniques, including: Regression methods Analyses of variance and covariance Classification methods Exploratory multivariate analysis Clustering methods Hypothesis tests After a short presentation of the method, the book explicitly details the R command lines and gives commented results. Accessible to novices and experts alike, R for Statistics is a clear and enjoyable resource for any scientist. Datasets and all the results described in this book are available on the book's webpage at http://www.agrocampus-ouest.fr/math/RforStat

Although there are currently a wide variety of software packages suitable for the modern statistician, R has the triple advantage of being comprehensive, widespread, and free. Published in 2008, the second edition of Statistiques avec R enjoyed great success as an R guidebook in the French-speaking world. Translated and updated, R for Statistics includes a number of expanded and additional worked examples.

Organized into two sections, the book focuses first on the R software, then on the implementation of traditional statistical methods with R.

Focusing on the R software, the first section covers:

• Basic elements of the R software and data processing
• Clear, concise visualization of results, using simple and complex graphs
• Programming basics: pre-defined and user-created functions

The second section of the book presents R methods for a wide range of traditional statistical data processing techniques, including:

• Regression methods
• Analyses of variance and covariance
• Classification methods
• Exploratory multivariate analysis
• Clustering methods
• Hypothesis tests

After a short presentation of the method, the book explicitly details the R command lines and gives commented results. Accessible to novices and experts alike, R for Statistics is a clear and enjoyable resource for any scientist.

Datasets and all the results described in this book are available on the book s webpage at http: //www.agrocampus-ouest.fr/math/RforStat

The contemporary industrial robot is the focal point of a wide variety of elements in modern technology. It is a collection of parts, some of which act as drives and some of which act as architectural materials that give the robot body strength. This book is a thorough inventory of the technologies involved and the way in which they meet and work together in order to produce a functional robot arm. The authors have striven to describe thoroughly the components that make up robot arms. This gives both the student and the practitioner a complete view of the principles involved in such components and the differences between existing technologies. However, it is not only the student who benefits from this approach but also the potential robot user who, at the moment, may be faced with a bewildering choice of combinations of different types of components in the robots that are available to him. For example, it is difficult for a production manager to appreciate the differences between robots that use direct current motors, stepping motors and pneumatic actuators. The authors have succeeded in structuring the book so that the reader can weigh up the pros and cons of these different techniques at whatever level of depth he requires. Certainly, the book aims to provide as much depth as there is in these topics without assuming a detailed knowledge of specialized areas of engineering.

Over the past few decades, matching models, which use mathematical frameworks to analyze allocation mechanisms for heterogeneous products and individuals, have attracted renewed attention in both theoretical and applied economics. These models have been used in many contexts, from labor markets to organ donations, but recent work has tended to focus on "nontransferable" cases rather than matching models with transfers. In this important book, Pierre-Andre Chiappori fills a gap in the literature by presenting a clear and elegant overview of matching with transfers and provides a set of tools that enable the analysis of matching patterns in equilibrium, as well as a series of extensions. He then applies these tools to the field of family economics and shows how analysis of matching patterns and of the incentives thus generated can contribute to our understanding of long-term economic trends, including inequality and the demand for higher education.

Many believe economic growth is incompatible with ecological preservation. Green Capital challenges this argument by shifting our focus away from the scarcity of raw materials and toward the deterioration of the great natural regulatory functions (such as the climate system, the water cycle, and biodiversity). Although we can find substitutes for scarce natural resources, we cannot replace a natural regulatory system, which is incredibly complex. It is therefore critical that we introduce a new price into the economy that measures the costs of damage to these regulatory functions. This change in perspective justifies such innovations as the carbon tax, which addresses not the scarcity of carbon but the inability of the atmosphere to absorb large amounts of carbon without upsetting the climate system. Brokering a sustainable peace between ecology and the economy, Green Capital describes a range of valuation schemes and their contribution to the goals of green capitalism, proposing a new approach to natural resources that benefits both businesses and the environment.

Ausgehend von einer immer enger werdenden wirtschaftlichen und rechtlichen Verknupfung Europas betrachtet der Autor die rechtliche und wirtschaftliche Verflechtung zwischen Deutschland und Norwegen. Das Buch setzt sich mit der rechtlichen Gestaltung der Geschaftsfuhrung in der deutschen GmbH und der norwegischen Aksjeselskap auseinander. Hierbei vergleicht der Autor die jeweiligen gesetzlichen Regelungsmechanismen beider Lander und gibt einen Einblick in das norwegische Gesellschaftsrecht.

Environmental challenges, and the potential solutions to address them, have a direct effect on living standards, the organization of economies, major infrastructures, and modes of urbanization. Since the publication of path-breaking contributions on the governance of environmental resources in the early 1990s, many political initiatives have been taken, numerous governance experiments have been conducted, and a large multi-disciplinary field of research has opened up. This interdisciplinary book takes stock of the knowledge that has accumulated to date, and addresses new challenges in the provision of environmental goods. It focuses on three essential dimensions with respect to governance. First, it addresses the issue of designing governance solutions through analyzing systems of rules, and levels of organization, in the governance and management of environmental issues. Second, it draws renewed attention to the negotiation processes among stakeholders playing a crucial role in reaching agreements over issues and solutions, and in choosing and implementing particular policy instruments. Finally, it shows that compliance depends on a combination of formal rules, enforced by recognized authorities, and informal obligations, such as social and individual norms.
The evolution of the research frontiers on environmental governance shows that more legitimate and informed processes of collective decision, and more subtle and effective ways of managing compliance, can contribute to more effective policy. However, this book also illustrates that more democratic and effective governance should rely on more direct and pluralistic forms of involvement of citizens and stakeholders in the collective decision making processes

The family is a complex decision unit in which partners with potentially different objectives make consumption, work and fertility decisions. Couples marry and divorce partly based on their ability to coordinate these activities, which in turn depends on how well they are matched. This book provides a comprehensive, modern and self-contained account of the research in the growing area of family economics. The first half of the book develops several alternative models of family decision making. Particular attention is paid to the collective model and its testable implications. The second half discusses household formation and dissolution and who marries whom. Matching models with and without frictions are analyzed and the important role of within-family transfers is explained. The implications for marriage, divorce and fertility are discussed. The book is intended for graduate students in economics and for researchers in other fields interested in the economic approach to the family.

Over the past few decades, matching models, which use mathematical frameworks to analyze allocation mechanisms for heterogeneous products and individuals, have attracted renewed attention in both theoretical and applied economics. These models have been used in many contexts, from labor markets to organ donations, but recent work has tended to focus on "nontransferable" cases rather than matching models with transfers. In this important book, Pierre-Andre Chiappori fills a gap in the literature by presenting a clear and elegant overview of matching with transfers and provides a set of tools that enable the analysis of matching patterns in equilibrium, as well as a series of extensions. He then applies these tools to the field of family economics and shows how analysis of matching patterns and of the incentives thus generated can contribute to our understanding of long-term economic trends, including inequality and the demand for higher education.

Cet ouvrage presente differents points de vue sur une meme methode, l'analyse des correspondances. Il montre comment cette methode s'est developpee pour traiter des donnees de plus en plus variees et complexes et comment elle s'est enrichie au contact d'autres courants de pensee. De plus, cet ouvrage presente un panorama des applications possibles. "

To date the use of vegetation for the protection and rehabilitation of land is being demonstrated by a few far-sighted individuals. These individuals have recognised the need to consider cost-effective and environmentally friendly techniques. As this group grows in numbers, interest in soil bioengineering is developing, standards are being raised and ideas are being exchanged. Soil bioengineering unites a number of professionals with civil engine ering, geomorphology, planning, forestry and horticultural skills. These professionals have the common aim of designing and implementing a quality solution to a specific problem. This multi-disciplinary synergy of ideas and approaches to solving problems can be an exciting and dynamic way to work; the players bring their own methodologies, bases and views of the problem. Innovative solutions often stern from a knowledge and respect for older labour-intensive technologies. Such skills have, in recent decades, been undervalued and sometimes forgotten. Soil bioengineering offers a chance to revive some of those skills and combine what is best of our modem technologies with a respect for indigenous and sustainable forms of land care."