title: Innovation and SME finance: Evidence from developing countries

authors: Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: This paper explores the relationship between firm-level innovation and external finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Our sample consists of 13,430 firms from Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries. A propensity score matching approach reports a positive relationship between formal finance and product and process innovations, which is greater for early-stage SMEs than for mature counterparts. However, informal finance has more significant impact on mature firms’ product innovation. Our empirical evidence highlights policy implications for countries desiring to enhance the innovation of their SMEs by improving the external finance of these SMEs.

text: Innovation and SME finance: Evidence from developing countries This paper explores the relationship between firm-level innovation and external finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Our sample consists of 13,430 firms from Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries. A propensity score matching approach reports a positive relationship between formal finance and product and process innovations, which is greater for early-stage SMEs than for mature counterparts. However, informal finance has more significant impact on mature firms’ product innovation. Our empirical evidence highlights policy implications for countries desiring to enhance the innovation of their SMEs by improving the external finance of these SMEs.

year: 2019-11-01

title: Soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica

authors: Hofstee, Erica H.

abstract: The soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica were investigated during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 summer periods. Seabee Hook is a low lying spit that has been built up by the deposition of material, from nearby cliffs, by strong tidal currents. Seabee Hook is also the location of a large Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony and was the location of a USNNZ research base, occupied from 1957-73.

A soil map is presented of the Seabee Hook area. A soil association was identified between penguin mounds and intermound areas. Penguins build nests of stones on elevated sites, which at Cape Hallett are relict beach ridges. The penguins have exaggerated the topography of the beach ridges, primarily by adding 3-10 cm size stones ("penguin-stones") and guano, to form penguin mounds. Soils on penguin mounds contain guano in the upper 50 cm of the gravelly and sandy profile, and the guano layer overlies sub-rounded beachdeposited gravel and sand. Soils between beach ridges contain a thin veneer ( <3cm) of guano overlying the same basaltic gravelly sand found in the lower parts of the mound soils. The soils formed on the mounds have been classified usingUSDA Soil Taxonomy as Typic Haplorthels, and the soils formed between mounds have been classified as Typic Haplorthels/Typic Aquorthels depending on their soil moisture contents. 
The soil of the penguin mounds was enriched in many elements including nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus, cadmium, zinc, copper and it had increased electrical conductivity in soil horizons influenced by penguin guano compared to guano free horizons, soils from intermound areas, and soils away from the penguin colony. 
Radiocarbon dates from five penguin bones buried at the bottom of soil profiles indicate that Seabee Hook has been colonized by penguins for at least1000 years. That the colonization of Seabee Hook may have been rapid is evidenced by the consistent thickness of "penguin stones" and guano on top of the beach ridges throughout the area.
 Groundwater was situated perched above the ice cement as a shallow (<1-30 cm thickness of groundwater) unconfined aquifer. Groundwater within the penguin colony was sourced from melting snow drifts and ground ice. The occurrence of groundwater within the penguin colony at Seabee Hook showed considerable spatial and temporal variations over the 2003-04 and 2004-05summers, with ice cement levels decreasing from November and groundwater beginning to accumulate in early-December. Groundwater velocity through the permeable gravel and sand (porosity 23-33%) was up to 7.8 m day⁻¹, with hydraulic conductivities of 5 x 10⁻⁴ m s⁻¹ to 5 x 10⁻⁹ m s⁻¹.  Groundwater abundance varied on an annual basis depending on the amount of snowmelt occurring during summer. The 2003-04 summer had a higher water table within the penguin colony than the 2004-05 summer. During 2003-04, surface water commonly occurred as ephemeral and intermittent streams and ponds. During2004-05, water was mostly confined to groundwater within the penguin colony, where it occurred in topographic lows. Surface water was present in only a few ponds within the colony during 2004-05, and was more common in the high meltwater zones away from the penguin colony. 
The penguins and close proximity to the ocean have affected the groundwater chemistry, with groundwater in the penguin colony elevated in salt (14 times more sodium, 41 times more potassium), nitrogen (7 times more nitrate,416 times more ammonia), and phosphorus (33 time more total phosphorus)compared to groundwater sourced away from the penguin colony on Seabee Hookand also compared to other terrestrial waters in Antarctica.

text: Soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica The soils and hydrology of Seabee Hook, Cape Hallett, Antarctica were investigated during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 summer periods. Seabee Hook is a low lying spit that has been built up by the deposition of material, from nearby cliffs, by strong tidal currents. Seabee Hook is also the location of a large Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony and was the location of a USNNZ research base, occupied from 1957-73.

A soil map is presented of the Seabee Hook area. A soil association was identified between penguin mounds and intermound areas. Penguins build nests of stones on elevated sites, which at Cape Hallett are relict beach ridges. The penguins have exaggerated the topography of the beach ridges, primarily by adding 3-10 cm size stones ("penguin-stones") and guano, to form penguin mounds. Soils on penguin mounds contain guano in the upper 50 cm of the gravelly and sandy profile, and the guano layer overlies sub-rounded beachdeposited gravel and sand. Soils between beach ridges contain a thin veneer ( <3cm) of guano overlying the same basaltic gravelly sand found in the lower parts of the mound soils. The soils formed on the mounds have been classified usingUSDA Soil Taxonomy as Typic Haplorthels, and the soils formed between mounds have been classified as Typic Haplorthels/Typic Aquorthels depending on their soil moisture contents. 
The soil of the penguin mounds was enriched in many elements including nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus, cadmium, zinc, copper and it had increased electrical conductivity in soil horizons influenced by penguin guano compared to guano free horizons, soils from intermound areas, and soils away from the penguin colony. 
Radiocarbon dates from five penguin bones buried at the bottom of soil profiles indicate that Seabee Hook has been colonized by penguins for at least1000 years. That the colonization of Seabee Hook may have been rapid is evidenced by the consistent thickness of "penguin stones" and guano on top of the beach ridges throughout the area.
 Groundwater was situated perched above the ice cement as a shallow (<1-30 cm thickness of groundwater) unconfined aquifer. Groundwater within the penguin colony was sourced from melting snow drifts and ground ice. The occurrence of groundwater within the penguin colony at Seabee Hook showed considerable spatial and temporal variations over the 2003-04 and 2004-05summers, with ice cement levels decreasing from November and groundwater beginning to accumulate in early-December. Groundwater velocity through the permeable gravel and sand (porosity 23-33%) was up to 7.8 m day⁻¹, with hydraulic conductivities of 5 x 10⁻⁴ m s⁻¹ to 5 x 10⁻⁹ m s⁻¹.  Groundwater abundance varied on an annual basis depending on the amount of snowmelt occurring during summer. The 2003-04 summer had a higher water table within the penguin colony than the 2004-05 summer. During 2003-04, surface water commonly occurred as ephemeral and intermittent streams and ponds. During2004-05, water was mostly confined to groundwater within the penguin colony, where it occurred in topographic lows. Surface water was present in only a few ponds within the colony during 2004-05, and was more common in the high meltwater zones away from the penguin colony. 
The penguins and close proximity to the ocean have affected the groundwater chemistry, with groundwater in the penguin colony elevated in salt (14 times more sodium, 41 times more potassium), nitrogen (7 times more nitrate,416 times more ammonia), and phosphorus (33 time more total phosphorus)compared to groundwater sourced away from the penguin colony on Seabee Hookand also compared to other terrestrial waters in Antarctica.

year: 2006

title: Volunteering at the edge of chaos: A case study on the self-organising of younger volunteers during the Rena oil spill crisis

authors: Lockwood, Sarah Jane

subjects: volunteer

abstract: This thesis investigates the self-organising of younger volunteers during the 2011 Rena oil spill crisis in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It builds on emerging research that considers the relationships between volunteering and activism and focuses on the ways in which younger volunteers carved out a ‘volunteer-activist’ space for themselves on the edge of the formal crisis responses.  
The research adopts a case study approach and uses an interpretive lens to investigate three research questions: (1) How was volunteering conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?; (2) How did the generational dynamics of younger volunteers affect the various organising responses to the Rena event?; and, (3) How was self-organising conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?
The data comprised interviews with 53 participants, 38 of whom were classified as younger volunteers (16-29 years of age) and 15 who held positions of authority in the Rena crisis response and who had high levels of engagement with the younger volunteers. By examining the intersections and overlaps of self-organising, younger generations of volunteers, and crisis events through a social constructionist methodology combined with an interpretive lens and reflexive position, the thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions.
At a theoretical level, the thesis challenges traditional crisis management approaches dominated by command and control, formal, or top down organisational structures and arrangements. The thesis demonstrates how, as active members of society, younger volunteers developed alternate forms of participation to strengthen crisis response. 
Power tensions between younger volunteers and crisis officials were grounded in a deep sense of frustration resulting from negative societal views toward younger generational cohorts and the structural workings of a risk society. By reconciling social and institutional grievances through self-organising, younger volunteers could take advantage of their marginalised position and enact self-reflexive responses in ways that were not readily available to them in everyday life. This sense of empowerment helped younger volunteers navigate the structural uncertainties they faced as they transitioned towards a competitive labour market and also to take greater control of their lives during a crisis.
From an Aotearoa/New Zealand, perspective, the thesis also provides insights into how younger Māori participants made sense of and enacted their ‘volunteer’ experience and how this experience was influenced by culturally embedded principles. Importantly, there appeared to be no generational differences between how younger and older Māori participants made sense of their ‘volunteer’ experience. Both groups were driven by collectivist orientations, which highlights the importance of contextualising culture in volunteer sector research. 
The social constructedness of the media technologies used by participants exposed broader power structures that existed within their generation-specific social worlds. To this end, media multiplexity showed how use of different communication technologies (1) supported the maintenance of relationships between participants and (2) was fundamental to the meaning participants attached to the different forms of technologies. These findings indicate the need to move away from the current literature’s focus on the tools of communication technologies used by younger people during crisis events, towards the meanings that exist behind the use of such technologies as well as the digital relationships fostered among volunteers. 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on volunteering and activism by showing how self-organising emerged as an alternative form of activist—or activator—approach to volunteer participation within a crisis response. This approach enabled young volunteer-activators to move beyond their perceived sense of marginalisation and avoid those formal organisational forces that limit their sense of freedom and personal development. The result was an alternative crisis response of self-organised volunteering on the edge of chaos.

text: Volunteering at the edge of chaos: A case study on the self-organising of younger volunteers during the Rena oil spill crisis This thesis investigates the self-organising of younger volunteers during the 2011 Rena oil spill crisis in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It builds on emerging research that considers the relationships between volunteering and activism and focuses on the ways in which younger volunteers carved out a ‘volunteer-activist’ space for themselves on the edge of the formal crisis responses.  
The research adopts a case study approach and uses an interpretive lens to investigate three research questions: (1) How was volunteering conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?; (2) How did the generational dynamics of younger volunteers affect the various organising responses to the Rena event?; and, (3) How was self-organising conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?
The data comprised interviews with 53 participants, 38 of whom were classified as younger volunteers (16-29 years of age) and 15 who held positions of authority in the Rena crisis response and who had high levels of engagement with the younger volunteers. By examining the intersections and overlaps of self-organising, younger generations of volunteers, and crisis events through a social constructionist methodology combined with an interpretive lens and reflexive position, the thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions.
At a theoretical level, the thesis challenges traditional crisis management approaches dominated by command and control, formal, or top down organisational structures and arrangements. The thesis demonstrates how, as active members of society, younger volunteers developed alternate forms of participation to strengthen crisis response. 
Power tensions between younger volunteers and crisis officials were grounded in a deep sense of frustration resulting from negative societal views toward younger generational cohorts and the structural workings of a risk society. By reconciling social and institutional grievances through self-organising, younger volunteers could take advantage of their marginalised position and enact self-reflexive responses in ways that were not readily available to them in everyday life. This sense of empowerment helped younger volunteers navigate the structural uncertainties they faced as they transitioned towards a competitive labour market and also to take greater control of their lives during a crisis.
From an Aotearoa/New Zealand, perspective, the thesis also provides insights into how younger Māori participants made sense of and enacted their ‘volunteer’ experience and how this experience was influenced by culturally embedded principles. Importantly, there appeared to be no generational differences between how younger and older Māori participants made sense of their ‘volunteer’ experience. Both groups were driven by collectivist orientations, which highlights the importance of contextualising culture in volunteer sector research. 
The social constructedness of the media technologies used by participants exposed broader power structures that existed within their generation-specific social worlds. To this end, media multiplexity showed how use of different communication technologies (1) supported the maintenance of relationships between participants and (2) was fundamental to the meaning participants attached to the different forms of technologies. These findings indicate the need to move away from the current literature’s focus on the tools of communication technologies used by younger people during crisis events, towards the meanings that exist behind the use of such technologies as well as the digital relationships fostered among volunteers. 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on volunteering and activism by showing how self-organising emerged as an alternative form of activist—or activator—approach to volunteer participation within a crisis response. This approach enabled young volunteer-activators to move beyond their perceived sense of marginalisation and avoid those formal organisational forces that limit their sense of freedom and personal development. The result was an alternative crisis response of self-organised volunteering on the edge of chaos.

year: 2019